| |
We are called to follow Jesus and live a life of love. We are asked to love our God above all else. We are called to love ourselves, and also to love our brothers and sisters. What is more we are even called to love those that, shall we say, fall outside our comfort zone. With great power comes great responsibility. And whether you know it or not you have great power. We are called to treat others with love in all situations. Basic courtesy and respect is one way that we reflect this love into the situations we encounter each day. Perhaps we struggle with thinking that we all have a great deal of power. Maybe not in the way a weightlifter can move amounts of weight. Maybe not in the way a billionaire can do anything they want. May not in the way a soldier is trained to assault and defend. But there are many different types of power. We each have the power to effect the lives around us. With little more than a kind word and a smile we can let someone know they are seen in the world; they are not invisible; they matter. A random kind word can change the direction of a person’s day. Proverbs 16:24, “Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.” What an amazing power we have. Our mercy and kindness can heal a broken spirit. But like with all of life there is a choice. Proverbs 15:4, A wholesome tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit. We can bring life, or we can destroy it. Oh perhaps not in the way a warrior takes life but a constant barrage of negativity can damage a soul to such a degree that a person forgets their own value and loses the will to go on. Oh what an amazing power we have! We just don’t know the struggles that others are going through. Perhaps that clerk that is moving slow is just learning the job because after 35 years of marriage their spouse left them last month. They have never had to work before so now they have to deal with the sudden fear of spending the rest of their life alone, the stress of a learning a new job, and staying cheerful for customers when inside they are falling apart. We just don’t know. Perhaps that guy that just pulled out in front of you did not see you because his oncologist just called with the news he has been dreading. We just don’t know. Perhaps that person that appears timid and forgetful is just coming out of an abusive relationship and still feels that they can do nothing right. So they are struggling to meet unreasonable internal expectations and this causes them to freeze in fear when confronted with challenge. We just don’t know. We just don’t know what struggles and pain the people we encounter are trying to survive. We don’t know who may be on the edge of collapse. We don’t know who might be fighting to find their way out of a pit of despair. We don’t know who might be contemplating suicide. We just don’t know! We are not called to base our behavior on the behavior of those around us. We are not called to only be loving when the world is going our way. We are not called to judge, lest we fall in danger of judgment ourselves. Matthew 6:12, “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” I want this grace in my life. I need this grace in my life. Just as we do not know what others are going through, they also don’t know what might be weighing us down. On a hard day a kind word might be exactly what I need to renew my energy. Perhaps a little patience and grace would help me to get through what seems like the worse day of my life. Maybe a smile would help me to know that I am seen, that I exist and matter. My clothes may be on correctly; a smile might be on my face; I might go through all the motions but still be collapsing on the inside. You just don’t know. And so I ask for your love. I ask for your grace, I ask for your kindness and patience. And I beg that this grace be shown not just to me but to all your brothers and sisters, especially when you don’t think we deserve it. Because that is what grace is, and that is how we have been called to treat each other. Love, Pastor Drew
| |