Reflection on Matthew 4:1-11

 

It was a terrible choice to make.  The whole family was hungry.  It had been days since they had had even a slice of bread.  The father of the family was approached by a rich man from the edge of the village who offered a year of food in exchange for his daughter’s hand in marriage.  The girl still had growing to do.  The girl was in no way ready for marriage, and the father did not know if he could trust the man.  He was not exactly known as good and honorable.  What if something happened to his daughter?  But, if they did not get any food, she would be dead soon anyway.  Like I said, it was a terrible choice to make, made even harder by a starving body and mind.  I cannot even fathom having to make that sort of decision.  Hunger can tempt us in ways that other things cannot. 

Was in not eating a very nice piece of fruit that led to the downfall of Adam and Eve?  Adam and Eve failed to trust God’s wisdom.  They failed the test.  Was it not the lack of food in the wilderness that caused the Israelites to rebel against God and desire slavery in Egypt once again where they could find food?  The Israelites failed to trust God.  They failed the test. 

You might be wondering what the man decided?  He chose to give away his daughter in marriage.  I do know that his family was fed, but I am sorry to say that I do not know how it all worked out for his daughter.  I was never told that part of the story.  

Was his decision a failure of an eternal test?  Was he just in a bad situation with no good solution?  I actually do not know the answer these questions.  Hunger has a tendency to drive us to do things that we normally would not.  What I do know is that the man said that he felt like he failed to trust God.  He tried to fix things himself. 

The man went to church ever morning, guilt clinging to the shoulders where his daughter should have been carried.  At the church, he knelt in front of the carved wooden crucifix, the carved eyes of Jesus looking at him, and he asked for forgiveness from the one who did not fail the hunger test; Jesus, the one who forgives.

When driven into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to be tested by the devil, Jesus, like his ancestors Adam and Eve and all the freed Israelite slaves, was also given a test with food.  Jesus was weak, after-all.  Jesus was famished after eating nothing for forty days and forty nights. 

Coming near the weak and famished Jesus, “The tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’”  Notice that the tempter did not give Jesus some bread; rather he suggested that Jesus create bread for himself.  “Fix yourself.  Trust in yourself.  Have faith in yourself,” the tempter enticed.

It is the test that Adam and Eve failed.  They wanted wisdom for themselves.  They wanted to decide things for themselves.  So they ate of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil.  They did not trust that God had their back.  Adam and Eve wanted to be in control.  In the same way, Jesus is tempted with anxiety.  Jesus is tempted with self-reliance.  Jesus fought back with scripture.  “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

This answer is so cool.  Do you realize just how cool this answer is?  Jesus admits that we do need bread to survive (“We do not only live on bread”), but more than bread, we need something that reaches all the way back to the beginning of all creation.  In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, God’s “Spirit,” God’s “wind,” God’s “breath,” or as the Gospel of John puts it, God’s “Word” created life out of the chaos waters.  God’s very breath hovered over the waters and created everything.  God’s very words spoke everything into existence.  God’s breath filled the dust and created a person.  God’s breath and words are what fill us with life.  Without that Word, that breath, we would not even have wheat to make any bread. 

In other words, Jesus is saying, “Bread is good, but God is even better.  I will trust in God.”  “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”  And, Jesus does.  Jesus trusts that God will provide, even when things have gotten desperate.

Moments later, Jesus is tempted again by the devil.  The devil places Jesus on the very peak of the temple; the temple in Jerusalem, the place where heaven and earth touch; the temple where God resides.  The devil tells Jesus to jump off; after-all God will not let anything happen to him.  God is right there, just through the curtain.  Surely, God will send angels to catch him. 

The devil is proposing a test; not of Jesus, but of God the Father.  Will God truly provide?  Will God truly care?  Is God even there?

I have tested God.  I have set up challenges by which God can prove that God is there and that God cares.  I have stared at the stars, waiting for the shooting star to come, only to see none.  I have prayed to hear a voice in the night, only to hear silence.  I have tested God, and I think that most of you have also.  Here is the thing.  God will do what is right and good; not what I want God to do.  God does not jump to it if a little boy wants a meteorite to fall from the sky.  God does not snap to it a bored boy wants the rain to dry up.  And, God will certainly not be tested when we are the ones being tested. 

Faith means trusting that God will provide, and trusting is done without proof. 

When a parent says to the teen, I trust that you will not drink tonight when you go out with your friends; they send the teen out not knowing the results.  They send them out without any proof.  They trust that the teen will do the right thing.  In the same way, Jesus trusts God the Father without prior proof.  With scripture on his lips he declares, “It is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”

Do you see a theme with scripture going on here?  Do you see how God’s word is guiding Jesus’ every decision, especially when he is weak and famished?  I am not certain, but there seems to be something to that.

The last test is one that Israel failed again and again throughout the scriptures as they inhabited a land of their own.  They were given the gift of land from God and they immediately and continually thanked and worshiped other gods.  They would go up to high places and worship other gods.  They would appease the culture and allow other idols of other gods to reside in these high places, so as not to cause a fracture in the culture.  Over and over other gods were worshiped and put on high places.

And, it is not different today.  We too put people and things on high places.  We too lift up people and things and allow them to have a say in our lives.  We too worship other gods; we just do not call them that.  We call them celebrities.  We call them influencers.  We call them political analysts.  We call them our beloved.  We call it money.  We call it power.  We call it our truth.  We look up to them and they dictate our lives.

On a high place, Jesus is drawn to look at all the land that he can see and he is tempted by the devil, “Worship me and you can have it all.”  This seems so easy.  Just say “no.”  But, in real life it is not easy.  A single mother struggling to get by once said to me, “I feel like money is my God.  I don’t want money to direct my whole life, but when I have to struggle so much every day and work hours and hours to get enough, how can it not?”  Sometimes, it is hard to not worship the very things that we despise.  “I hope that Jesus forgives me,” she said, knowing that she cannot change a thing.  Hopefully, Jesus can overcome what we cannot.  Hopefully, Jesus understands.  Hopefully, Jesus can make a difference.

Jesus said to the devil, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’”  Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on [Jesus].

The Bible says, “Suddenly angels came and waited on [Jesus].”  You see?  God did not forget.  God did not forget Jesus.  God did not forget his needs.  God did not forget to love.  God did not forget.  “Suddenly angels came and waited on [Jesus].” 

I gawk in awe at the power of Jesus and I ask, “Where do I find myself in all of this?”  I find myself with that father, begging for forgiveness.  I find myself asking Jesus to forgive my inability to trust.  I find myself in awe of Jesus’ ability to trust God the father, even when things were rough and the road clearly led to death on a cross.  Like that father, I find myself just staring at Jesus, hoping that he gives me even an ounce of that trust.  And, maybe that is a good place to start.  Maybe, staring at Jesus, hoping that he can provide, is the start of something that we call trust and the church calls faith. 

Maybe, I will spend my Lent staring at Jesus, trusting in his power and his love. 

And, maybe I will give a hungry person some food, so that they do not have to try trusting God on an empty stomach.  After-all, we do not live on bread alone.

Reflection on Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

 

Some people like to have their names plastered across buildings, engraved on plaques, and videos of their giving hearts spread across social media.  Jesus pointed them out as the ones who like to have trumpets blown before them so that everyone will turn and look and see how absolutely generous they are.  They are dust, just like you and me.  They will return to the dust.

Some people like to have everyone know that they are praying.  “I am praying for you,” they announce loudly so that all can hear.  “Thoughts and prayers” they announce on the televisions, without actually stopping and taking a moment to talk with God.  They are dust, just like you and me.  They will return to the dust.

Maybe, you have done something very good and been disappointed when nobody noticed.  Maybe, you have muttered to yourself, “Why do I even try if it doesn’t make a difference!”  Maybe, you want your trophy, your treasure, handed to you on this earth and have not even thought that it might be handed to you later by God in heaven.  Maybe, you and I are no different than those who fast for religious reasons, but for selfish reasons want others to see that they are fasting and sacrificing.  Maybe, we forget that following Jesus is not about us.

We are dust; all of us.  We were formed out of the mud of the earth and we will return to that same mud.  We are dust.

But, we are God’s dust.  In the beginning of creation, God took a little water, mixed it with the dirt, took the mud and shaped our every single part.  Then, God breathed life into us.  That divine breathe makes us who we are.  That divine spirit is what animates us and fills us with all that is good. 

We did not fill ourselves with life.  We were not created for ourselves.  We are God’s dust.  We are God’s living, full of love dust.  We are carefully crafted dust that does give (in secret), and prays (in secret), and fasts (in secret), and seeks to be like the one who created us (without recognition).  

We are dust balls of God’s life and love, rolling into every corner of the earth.  We are God’s dust of love.  Our hearts are not filled with the breath of life from the stuff of this earth.  Our treasures are not found here.  Our hearts cling to the one who gave us the breath of life: God.  Because God loved us, we are God’s dust of love.

Reflection on Matthew 17:1-9

 

“God can be found hidden in regular things, sometimes even in me.”  This was one answer that I heard when I went around one year and asked people, “What does the transfiguration story mean to you?” 

You see, that year I was coming up very, very dry as I tried to prepare a transfiguration sermon.  That happens sometimes to preachers.  The Spirit is surely speaking a word to the preacher, but for some reason the preacher just is not listening.  And, that week I could not figure out how to listen to the Spirit.  

So, I reached out to other people around me.  I asked, “What does the transfiguration mean to you?”  You know, that story where Jesus and his closest disciples go up a mountain and Jesus becomes all bright and shiny, like my shining little Jesus nightlight that I bought at the dollar store.  The story where Peter offers to pitch some tents for Jesus and the shockingly appearing Moses and Elijah.  The story where a cloud suddenly overshadows all of them and a voice declares, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!”

I asked a number of people what the story meant to them.  And, in the end I think someone convinced me to focus on the pitching of tents because I loved talking about backpacking and camping.  I do not remember for certain what that sermon was about, but what I do remember, as if it were burned into my skull by the Holy Spirit was the answer a woman gave me, “God can be found hidden in regular things, sometimes even in me.”

For some reason, her answer made me think of Jesus’ baptism as we read it in Matthew.  Matthew’s story of the baptism is unique because in it when Jesus rises up out of the waters, immediately the heavens were torn open and Jesus saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and Jesus saw it coming to rest on him, and he heard the voice say, “This is my Son, the beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”  In Matthew, all of the action happens for the benefit of Jesus, as if Jesus needed a reminder of who he was.  There is no mention in Matthew’s story of other people standing around.

Matthew does not want us to forget that Jesus was a guy who got dirty and needed baths too.  He was “God with us,” but he was also one of us.  He identified with us.  He lived in this beautiful and harsh world, just like us.  He needed to wash his feet and pray to God the Father just like us.  I imagined that he even needed to brush his teeth just like we are supposed to; twice a day for two minutes.  Do not forget to floss.  My dentist would be so proud of me.  By the way, I asked my dentist once what he thought about Jesus.  He said, “I don’t know, but I really want to see his teeth.”  What ever gets you moving in the morning, I guess.

To come back to my point, for some reason God the Father thought that Jesus really, really needed the gift of the Spirit, just like us, and God the Father also thought that Jesus really, really needed to hear that he was proud of him, just like us.  God the Father really wanted Jesus to know that he was “beloved.”

Now, jump forward in the gospel of Matthew and this same voice bursts from the “bright cloud” overshadowing the shining Jesus and the fearful disciples on top of the mountain.  The voice declares the same message, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!”  This time the message is directed at the disciples rather than Jesus, though I am certain Jesus felt strengthened by the words coming from his Father. 

“Listen to him,” the voice says.  “Listen to him.”  “Listen to this guy who walks and baths just like you.”  “Listen to his guy who was birthed and whose body will bleed and die just like yours,” I imagine the voice urging.  “Listen to him, because even though he is flesh and bone just like you and will die just like you, I am going to do something great through him,” I imagine God the Father’s heart pouring out. 

“God can be found hidden in regular things.”

And, that is what moved the woman about the Transfiguration, because we expect to see big and wonderful things from God, unimaginably big things like seas parting; and walls falling down; and men walking on water; and huge catches of fish, but notice that even these huge events, these huge miracles of God all came through very normal people.  The shy Moses raised his staff and the waters parted.  The small army made a loud noise and the walls of Jericho tumbled down.  And, it is a humble guy who walked and talked, and ate and drank who stilled the waters under his feet and gathered together the fish of the sea. 

“God can be found hidden in regular things, sometimes even in me.”

Jesus was a humble man, but hidden underneath the sweat of his brow God’s light was shining.  God’s love was burning.  Hidden away in a very real human body, God was at work. 

Only when the going was starting to get tough; only when the threat of death was starting to become evident did Jesus go up the mountain to give the disciples a glimpse of God’s light; God’s work hidden underneath the threat and fear.  The sight of Jesus shining with God’s light like Moses did when he was on the mountain of God, might give the disciples reassurance.  The sight of Jesus on the mountain with two other great prophets, Moses and Elijah, might provide hope and trust.  The words, “Listen to him,” might provide the disciples with a vitally needed trust in the promise that even though things will soon appear to not be going well, underneath it all, salvation is actually coming to the world.  The disciples are to listen to and trust Jesus when he says that his death and resurrection must happen. 

God can be found in regular things, like death, even death on a Roman cross.  God can be found in regular things, like simple tombs on the third day…a normal work day.  God can be found in Jesus Christ.  God’s salvation can be found on a cross.  God’s new life can burst out of a tomb.  God’s loving presence can be found in normal water and at a simple meal of bread and wine.  God’s healing can be found in Tylenol and in your mother’s tender hug. 

“God can be found hidden in regular things, sometimes even in me” the woman told me.

“If God’s light can shine in Jesus, I guess that God’s light can shine in me also,” the woman believed to her core.  And, here is the thing, Jesus believed that to his core also.  One of Jesus’ first teachings in Matthew was:

14“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. 15No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:14-16).

Maybe, if we looked underneath our fleshy and sometimes dirty nature we would see that God shines us on the world also.  Maybe, we would come off of the mountain, shining like Moses on the people.  Maybe, sometimes God can be found working through our hands and our feet.  Maybe, sometimes God can be found in us.

This came out of the mouth of a woman who had a very “colorful past,” and by “colorful” I mean terrible and sin-filled.  Years later, after the really bad stuff, the woman  would lay awake at night wishing that she could take it all back.  She wished that she could fix it all.  She wished that she could restore all the hurt.  And then she heard the story of the transfiguration, and how God could be there, hidden away.  And, she heard the promise of Jesus that she is the light of the world and she told herself, “God can be found hidden in regular things, sometimes even in me.” 

From that time forward, she devoted herself to living a life of love and service.  She devoted her life to looking like Jesus.  And, she failed “sometimes.”  And, she accomplished some wonderful things, “sometimes.”  And, God’s light shined through her “sometimes;” only sometimes.

But, that was good enough for her because she knew that Jesus’ light was shining on her all the time.  She knew that the light radiating out from Jesus on that mountain could not be hid.  She knew that the light coming from Jesus could burn away and overcome the horrible things of her past.  She knew that the light coming from Jesus could overcome crosses and tombs.  She knew that hidden away in Jesus was a love that was so big that she could not believe that she went so many years unable to see it, how could she have missed his glorious brightness?

“Get up and do not be afraid,” Jesus says, touching his fearful and dust ridden disciples.  “Get up and do not be afraid,” Jesus said to the woman with the “colorful” past.  “Get up and do not be afraid,” Jesus says to you.  It is time to go down the mountain and shine some light on the world.  After-all, “God can be found hidden in regular things, sometimes even in you.”

Reflection on Matthew 14:13-21

 

The Lord provides and we give.  Let me say that again, the Lord provides and we give.  That is at the root of our Christian value: “Giving of Yourself” or “Active Generosity.”  The Lord provides and we give.

After a long day of person after person coming up to Jesus to be healed, the stomachs of the disciples and stomachs of the thousands of people began to get the best of them.  “This is a deserted place,” the disciples reminded Jesus, as if he needed reminding.  “The hour is now late;” they continued, “send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 

Out of concern for the people who had come to see Jesus, the disciples wanted the people, and their hungry stomachs, to get into town before it became too late for them to find some food. 

Believe me, I know what it looks like when four children do not get fed on time.  As you probably already know, it is not pretty.  Usually screams and fists and time-outs become involved.  I do not even want to imagine what 5,000 men, plus women and children all hangry at the same time would possibly look like. 

Now, Jesus had the same concern for the people as the disciples, but what he said next is quite shocking.  Jesus said to the disciples, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.”  You heard Jesus right, he said “You give them something to eat.” 

Now, I know that the men and women of this church have historically been able to feed a great many people, but 5,000 men plus women and children?  Where would you get that much food?  How much money would it cost just to provide that sort of meal?  Well, I will tell you.  Let have taken the time to calculate.  So, 5,000 men, plus 5,000 women, plus an average of four children per family (they had bigger families back then), would add up to 30,000 people, if my calculations are correct.  Now let us take that 30,000 people times $13.50 a plate in today’s money, and we come to the small sum of $405,000 total to feed all these people for one meal.

A disciple in the back has the nerve to pipe up enthusiastically, “We have five loaves of bread and two fish.” 

Actually, that is not true.  The real reaction is not enthusiastic at all.  The Bible says that the disciples replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.”  Did you hear that?  The first thing out of their mouths is, “We have nothing here…”  “We have nothing.”

I cannot tell you the number of times that I have heard, “We have nothing.”  We should do something about the homeless in our community.  “We have nothing.”  We should serve a meal to the poor, hungry, and lonely.  “We have nothing.”  

And, maybe it is true!  If I were asked, “Can you provide some lobster for a meal tonight in say…thirty minutes?” living near the almost nonexistent town of New Albany, Pennsylvania, I could honestly answer, “We got nothing.” 

Or, maybe you have had a completely emotionally draining week, and when you get home and crash on the couch and when you get a call that a neighbor is in crisis, and that their marriage just fell apart, you think to yourself, “I have nothing.”

“We have nothing,” it is a mindset of scarcity.  It is a mindset that assumes defeat from the start.  But, I would like to point out that “we have nothing” never got anybody to the moon.  “We have nothing,” never helped a nation rebuild after a devastating disaster. 

Remember, in the beginning of creation, there was nothing, and God created something.  God created light and dark.  Then, God created the sun and moon and stars to rule the light and dark, to take over the job from God.  And, it was good. 

God created dry ground and plants and animals.  God blessed the animals, allowing them to multiply.  Then God created humans out of the dirt in order to rule over the ground and the animals so that they can multiply.  Humans were created to be a helper with God in the job of blessing creation and making it thrive.  And, it was good.

And, the humans were themselves blessed so that they could multiply and then there would be more people with the task of making sure that all creation was blessed and thrived and multiplied.  And, it was all very good.

From the very start we have been in the business of multiplying all that we touch.  We were created to be in the business of multiplication.  And, that is saying a lot from the lips of someone who is terrible at math.  But, what I am trying to say is that from the very start we have been people who were created to trust that there will always be enough.  We are not a people who were created to believe that “we have nothing.”  God is able to create enough.  God is able to multiply.  God always provides enough.  The Lord provides and we give.

Looking at the five loaves of bread and the two fish Jesus says, “Bring them here to me.”  Jesus blesses the loaves and the fish, the Bible tells us.  This seems like such a minor detail.  I think that when I was a kid, when I heard that Jesus blessed the meal, I just thought that the story was reminding me to never forget to pray before we eat.  But, blessing in the Bible means something specific.  Coming right out of the creation story, God’s blessing means multiplying.  It means abundance.  If you are asked to bless the meal, you are actually being asked to pray that it be abundant.  If you are asked to bless the animals, you are actually being asked to make sure that they thrive and have an abundance of offspring.  So, when Jesus blesses the loaves and the fish, the baskets actually overflow in blessing.  $450,000 worth of food flows out of the baskets of food that the disciples, then, give to the people.  God provides and we give.

Do you want to know what the real problem with the “we have nothing” attitude is?  It assumes that the Lord forgets about us.  It assumes that the Lord does not care and does not provide.  It assumes that the Lord was mistaken at the beginning of creation when God made us partners in making sure that the world is thriving and blessed.  The “we have nothing” attitude assumes something to be true that is not.  It assumes that we are not enough. 

That attitude reinforces our deepest fears that we are not enough.  We are not good enough.  We are not smart enough.  We are not lovable enough.  We are not worth enough.  It tells the lie that we tell ourselves over and over again when we look at our faces in the mirror and nitpick over every single flaw.  “You are not enough.”

Do you want to know what Jesus actually says to the disciples when they are confronted with the thousands of people who need food?  Our English translations tell us that Jesus says, “You give them something to eat,” or another reads, “You give them food to eat.”  But, do you want to know what it actually says?  This is really amazing.  It literally says, “Give to them you to eat.”  Our translations throw in the word “something” or “food” to make it sound pleasing to the ear, but it actually says, “Give to them you to eat.”  “You” are the gift the people need, Jesus is saying.  “You” are the one who has been given to be a blessing to the people.  “You” are enough.  “You” can provide.  “You” are the real gift.  The real gift Jesus Christ gives to the people is “you.” 

At the top of the sermon I repeated the phrase, “The Lord provides, you give.”  That is actually just another way of saying, “The Lord provides you.”

When retiring from the food service department of the school, the “lunch lady” as she was affectionately called, was given a party.  The party was unexpectedly big as former students came to honor the woman who had scooped up mashed potatoes and plopped them on their trays as children.  To the woman, it was a repetitive job of cooking and serving, cooking and serving day in and day out.  But, to the students who were touched by her smile, kindness, and listening ear in the lunch room, she provided so much more than an abundance of mashed potatoes. 

One student said it best, “On my worst days, when I felt the most picked on, the most alone, the most like a ‘nobody,’ I would come in here and you would smile at me, love me from across the table, and show me that I am still somebody.  On those days, God gave me you.”

“Giving of yourself” or “Active Generosity” is not simply writing out your check to help (though it could include that).  It is so much more.  It is living the life of generous love that God gave.  It is living the life of partnership with God in blessing the world.  It is living the life that Christ lived as he gave of himself to heal, to feed, and on the cross to save, so that all might live a life of abundance.  “Giving of yourself” or “Active Generosity” is living as the person that God created you to be when God took some dirt and then molded and shaped your every piece and part.  The Lord provides, and because God does, we give.  It is who we are as children of God and siblings of Jesus Christ.

Reflection on Matthew 16:24-28

 

There were two men terrorizing the town.  The two men lived in the graveyard on the edge of town and would run out into the street, madly screaming and pounding their fists whenever someone tried to pass by.  Everyone considered them dangerous and mad.  No one dared come near.  You could say that their spirits were unclean.  You could say they were demon possessed.  You could say they were very sick in the head.  You could say that they were poor in spirit.  However you considered them, they were best left alone.  Some people are just best left alone, most people would say.

But, when Jesus came along and they threatened him in the street, he did not turn away.  He did not leave them alone.  He cast out the demons.  He released the madness.  He cleansed their poor in spirit souls, and he cast the madness into some pigs.  He served the men when no one else would.  Love looks like something.  Love serves.  Blessed are the poor in spirit.

When the ruler came and knelt before Jesus, the grief and shock was dripping off the cheeks of his face.  “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live” the man cried out to Jesus (Matthew 9:18).  And, while on the way to comfort this mourning father, a woman touched him, hoping to be healed as the life slowly drained out of her body, drip by drip into red pools on the ground every single day. 

“Take heart, daughter, your faith has made you will” he said to the woman (Matthew 9:22). 

Life from death was granted again just moments later when the ruler’s grief was turned from tear of sadness to tears of joy as Jesus took the hand of the dead girl, the man’s little girl, and literally lifted her back up into life.  Love looks like something.  Love cares for those who mourn.  Love serves.  Blessed are those who mourn.  Blessed are those who are meek, who are so low that they have no choice but to depend on God.

Two blind men were groping around in the world, and Jesus stopped and touched their eyes and their eyes were opened.  There was a man who could not speak, and Jesus cast out the demon that was keeping his tongue from functioning, and the man could talk.  Previously, these men could not possibly depend on themselves for nearly anything, they depended on God for all blessings, and Jesus served them.  Love looks like something.  Love serves.  Blessed are they.

And, when Jesus was betrayed by Judas and soldiers came to arrest him, one of those who were with Jesus took out a sword and cut off an ear.  And, Jesus stopped the misguided disciple telling him that people who live by the sword will die by the sword.  “Blessed are the peacemakers.”  Had the disciple already forgotten?  Jesus continued to explain that he has a task to do, and it has the shape of a cross.  Love looks like something.  It looks like a cross.  It looks like giving it all so that others can live, and have a new life, and have blessing.  “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you…” (Matthew 5:11). Love looks like Jesus.  Love serves. 

A man came up to Jesus and asked Jesus what he needed to do to have eternal life.  “What do I need to do to truly live?” he was asking.  “What do I need to do to live the ways of God?”  Jesus asked if he followed to commandments.  He did.  Then Jesus told him “go sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”  The word here for poor means the “destitute.”  He was to give his wealth to those who have no choice but to trust in God and trust in the goodness of others.  Jesus wanted the young rich man’s love to looks like something.  It looks like a cross.  It looks like giving away what you have so that someone else can be blessed.  It looks like serving.

It looks like Judah, one of Jacob’s twelve sons found in the Joseph story in the Hebrew Bible.  It looks like Judah who says “take me instead” when a supposedly stolen cup is found by the now powerful Joseph, in the sack of Benjamin, the youngest of the twelve brothers.  Judah does not want to see his father die of despair.  Benjamin, Jacob’s beloved youngest son, cannot be lost to a lifetime in prison.  “Take me instead,” Judah pleads.  It is a shocking act of love because Judah was the one who tried to get rid of Joseph.  But, his life has turned around and he now understands what it is to love.  Love looks like something.  Love does something.  Love serves.  It is giving up a part of yourself, or maybe even your whole self so that someone else might live.  It is shouting, “take me instead.”  “Put me in jail instead, but let him live.”  

It is taking up a cross and following Jesus.  It is a life of “sacrificial service” or “loving service.”  It is living the life of Jesus, who gave up his life for a world who did not deserve it.

Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.  For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24-28).

“Let them deny themselves…”  I know teen who has two younger siblings.  He loves those younger siblings.  Their happiness is what makes his day.  He only wishes that his father would care as much about their happiness.  The guy barely works.  He is too wrapped up in himself.  He is too wrapped up in his liquor.  He has been given the gift from God of three wonderful kids, but he cannot see them.  The need for a drink clouds his vision. 

So, the teen works.  He works a lot.  He goes to school, then he comes home to help with his siblings with their homework, he gets them food, then he goes to work.  You might ask yourself, should he not be enjoying his evenings with friends, experiencing the life and love and joy of those who are in their youth?  Is he not missing out?

The truth is, he is.  He is missing out.  He has missed dances.  He has missed games.  He is missing out.  But, someone needs to love and feed his siblings.  Someone needs to make sure they get to school and do their homework.  Someone needs to have a sort of love that looks like something; that does something; that denies itself because sometimes there are more important things in this world than late nights by the river with friends, as great at that can be. 

Sometimes, we are drawn through God’s love to deny ourselves and follow Jesus.  

Sometimes, Jesus convinces us to take up a cross because it has the power to save very real people in very real ways.  Sometimes, we deny ourselves so that our siblings can get food.  Sometimes, we deny chances in life so that those who are dependent on others can be loved.  It is a life of “sacrificial service” or “loving service.”

To be clear, “Sacrificial service” or “loving service” is not a task that we just check off in order to get some sort of heavenly reward, though Jesus promises that our reward will be great in heaven.  It is not something that we make sure to schedule in at 3pm on Saturday, though someone may need us at 3pm on Saturday.  “Sacrificial service” or “loving service” is living life to its fullest.  It is the way of Christ-like love. 

After-all, love is not just a feeling.  Love looks like something.  Love does something.  Love is willing to throw away everything to which we cling, so that we can cling to that which is eternal.  Love is taking up a cross, it is taking valuable time, it is taking all that has been given to us in this life, and using it to bless someone else. 

Blessed are the pure in heart, who desire to see God.  Blessed are those who care.  Blessed are those who love.  Blessed are those who follow Jesus and his cross.  Blessed are those who hear Jesus voice, leading us toward “Sacrificial service” or “loving service.”