Goodness from God's Perspective

I’ve been thinking about the Good Samaritan in Jesus’ parable. I’ve found myself envisioning him as an almost non-religious character. A non-Jew or half-Jew who despite his tribe’s longstanding hate of the Jews, does the kind thing and stops to help someone in crisis. I missed the fact that Samaritans were also highly religious people, with their own version of the Torah and temple worship.  This Samaritan would have been an active participant in the worship life of his people. What makes the Samaritan good is not simply that he stops. It’s who he stops for. I see the Samaritan as someone who is a good steward of his life. He believes that all he has comes from God and acts accordingly. Thus to stop and help the enemy of his people is an act of generosity. Generosity gives me the courage to love my neighbor as I love myself. Generosity is my good use of those things God has entrusted me with. It is my response to Jesus' "Go and do likewise." Such generosity can only inspire an equally generous response from God. "Well done, my good and faithful steward." You see, goodness and generosity define us as God's stewards.

And You Shall Be Blessed

I learned early last week that Mercy Elizabeth has passed away. My heart is profoundly sad, but here’s what I've come to realize. The short time that I got to spend with Mercy, it was not me who had blessed her but Mercy who was blessing me.  Her fight for survival; her parent’s deep abiding joy in her brief life; how many people she has touched simply by being loved. And that’s when it hit me. This was never about me stopping to help. Rather it was Mercy who was holding me; Mercy who comforted me, who warmed my heart and kept if from going cold…and this sweet baby is helping me heal even now. And now it is left up to each of us to respond to Jesus', "Go and do likewise." (adapted from Sunday's sermon on the Good Samaritan)

Mercy and Grace

First, a follow-up on my last blog entry.  Mercy Elizabeth is holding her own and her parents, Rodney and Allison continue to thank God for every moment they are blessed to spend with her. Please continue to keep the Whitfield family in your prayers. I know the unknown weighs heavy on their hearts. I've been thinking about "grace" and how we define it. We say, "It's amazing" and sometimes "prevenient" (meaning, before faith) and something to "thank God for." But what exactly is it? There are as many definitions of grace as you can find salads at a church potluck. One classic definition of grace is God's unmerited favor (i.e. God treating us better then we deserve). In John's Gospel, Jesus tells his Disciples,  "The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you." (John 14:26). In my view, grace is the Holy Spirit at work in our lives. It is how we experience God's love for us in Jesus on a daily basis. When understood in those terms, I find grace to be less of an abstract concept and more of an ongoing reality. And it is amazing, to say the least.

Making Sense of Things Part 2

The newest member of our congregation was born last week. Mercy Elizabeth is a beautiful, precious baby girl. You can read about her story using the following URL, http://m.caringbridge.org/visit/mercywhitfield. I had the privilege of visiting Mercy and her parents, Rodney and Allison Whitfield in the hospital last week. Mercy was born with a rare chromosomal defect called Trisomy 13, meaning she's unlikely to survive long. Its not for want of faithful prayer. Between our church and First UMC Richardson where Rodney works as an associate pastor, there are thousands of prayers being made to God. To look upon this tiny baby and know her odds of surviving, its easy to conclude like Job, sometimes there's no making sense of things. And yet I am continually moved by the incredible grace of this family and their thankfulness for what time they have with their child. They see Mercy's birth as a miracle, not a tragedy. They treat each day, each moment they have with her as a gift from God. As a pastor, I've been fortunate to see hundreds of newborns but I've never witnessed a child more cherished, more celebrated, more the focus of attention. I'm sure at times Mercy's parents struggle with the "why" and are clearly grieving, but I have no doubt that their faith in God has never been stronger. In fact, they have described the support they are getting from family, friends and church as evidence of God's presence with them. Yesterday I learned just prior to the 11:00 service that Mercy's lungs are wet meaning she will probably only live a couple more days. My heart wants to frame this as a tragedy but Mercy Elizabeth's parents have challenged me to see it otherwise...that Mercy's short but beautiful life is a gift from God and a glimpse of the Kingdom of God, where the least of us become the greatest.

Making Sense of Things

Sometimes there's no making sense of things. At least that's the conclusion drawn by the biblical character Job. He doesn't understand why God has treated him unjustly, as if he were a reprobate.  Surely God knows his heart and yet he believes that God has taken from him everything he cares about. Job's theology acknowledges freewill but leaves little room for evil. And because of this, Job spends a majority of his book questioning and even challenging God (see Job 13:20-24).  He's so convinced of God's "sovereignty" that he's forced to accept a God who does evil in the world. As you can imagine, Job is having a crisis of faith. It never dawns on Job to question his theology instead of questioning God's character. That's the same dilema many Christians are faced with. They've been raised on such a hefty diet of God's sovereignty  that they cannot digest into their theology, a God of self-giving love.  In this post 9-11 era, this has contributed to a crisis of faith for many Christians. But the biblical tradition proclaims that the God we crucified on a cross 2000 years ago is at war against (to borrow from our baptismal liturgy) the spiritual forces of wickedness and the evil powers of this world. Isn't this the whole premise of the book of Revelations? The good news is, we know how this ends...God wins!