What's So Great About Poor People?

Why is God so in love with the poor?

Have you ever wondered that?

It’s easy to romanticize the poor.

I remember the first time I saw the Franco Zeffirelli film about St. Francis of Assisi, Brother Sun, Sister Moon.

I was young and the movie touched me with the truth of Christ and somehow the poor ended up in the middle of our relationship and I thought I would love them easily, too.

Then I met the poor.

They’re a pretty mixed bag, I have to say.

Not always easy to love.

Well, sure, initially, when you have some notion that the moment you enter their world things are going to improve. I mean, you’re walking in with Jesus and applications for heating assistance, things have to get better, right?

But it doesn’t take too long to see something that is true about the poor that you just didn’t get from the Franciscan recruitment posters – they’re sinners, man!

Seriously, some of these people lie, steal, cheat, hate God, live immoral lives, and will swindle you as they’re offering you a chair.

I mean, you knew that corporate CEO’s, Wall Street players, and the hedonistic rich fat cats of Hollywood were sinners and you know, first-hand, middle class people who cheat on their taxes and their wives, but somehow, you expected the poor to be, well, sort of above that,

sort of, noble.

But, turns out they’re just like everyone else – just – well, poor.

What’s up with that?

And what makes them so endearing to God? The Bible spends a lot of time addressing the value of ministering to the poor but, seriously, He sees what goes on down here.

There is no one righteous – not the man in the Lexus or the old lady pushing the shopping cart full of her worldly possessions.

But He’s constantly pushing believers toward the poor with verses like Psalm 41:1-3 ESV “Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him; the Lord protects him and keeps him alive; he is called blessed in the land; you do not give him up to the will of his enemies. The Lord sustains him on his sickbed; in his illness you restore him to full health.”

I’ve been thinking about this lately.

One thing I do notice is that I am different when I’m with the poor than when my time is focused on the rich.

When I’m working with the poor, I ask God better and bigger questions: Rather than feeling full of envy and asking God why my life falls so far short, I start asking God what I can do about injustice, poverty, hunger, addiction, systemic oppression, and other hard topics. I ask God where He is and where I can find Him in the midst of the poor. I ask Him to teach me how He sees suffering and about the power of deliverance.

When I’m working with the poor, I lean on God more naturally: I ask God what to do, how to act, how to be more often when I’m hanging with the poor. With the rich, I sometimes forget about talking with God, I get so caught up in their world but with the poor, I'm constantly aware of my need to rely on God every moment.

When I’m working with the poor, I see myself clearer and am more aware of what Christ is working on in me: I can see my lack of patience, my selfishness, my fear. I am deeply aware of how limited my love is and how little I pray. I know that “there but for the grace of God go I” and that knowledge hones my humility and planes my pride.

When I’m working with the poor, I see how desperately humanity is in need of Jesus: When I spend my time with the rich, I start to think humans are pretty cool, that our abilities are limitless, and I struggle to see our need for God. When I walk daily among the poor, it’s deeply apparent that humans don’t have the answers we need to save ourselves and I'm constantly in touch with the limitations of our humanity. When I’m with the poor, I can even see clearly that money and riches are not the solution to every problem.

One thing I’ve noticed is that the more money one has, the easier it is to hide one’s trash – that’s true literally and figuratively. So, working with the poor, it’s easier to speak of spiritual things because no one can afford to hide anything.

The rich can dress their ragged souls up in haute couture and convince, even themselves, that nothing’s wrong.


The poor don’t have that luxury. And therein, I believe, lies the gift of poverty.

What are your thoughts on this issue? I have more questions than answers on this topic, I think. But I don't hear a lot of down-to-earth dialogs about the reality of working with the poor and where believers who do the work see Jesus in it.

No matter where you're called to minister, I'm interested in your views.

The Emperor's New Clothes for Christians - Do You See What I See?

Jesus told us there are separate kingdoms that co-exist:

the kingdom of this world

And the kingdom of God.

I understand that a little better these days.

Last year, I spent my work hours with people of means who retire at fifty, spend their days scanning the stock exchange, vacation in exotic locales, and complain about getting their second homes ready for “the season.”

This year, I drive the same roads in the same towns but now I spend my hours with people who have first-hand experience with homelessness, no bank accounts, no jobs to take vacations from, and who struggle to provide one meal a day for their families.

The people in these separate worlds are almost hypothetical to one another – topics for debate on the evening news, political pawns, targets of envy, derision, or hate, the nameless rich, the faceless poor.

They coexist, though, walking the same streets, driving the same roads, visiting the same locales. A few individuals cross over into both worlds but for the most part, they can go for vast periods of time without acknowledging one another’s existence, sometimes beginning to wonder if the “other” is perhaps not a myth, exaggerated by the media.

I believe God’s heart beats for the lost of both worlds. Unsaved souls have no investment portfolios from which to draw on the last day.

But it's clear to me that one's reality is often a constructed thing based on where we choose to set our eyes and ears and hearts.

Just as the worlds of the rich and poor coexist, so does the kingdom of this world coexist with the kingdom of God.

And just as many realities are different for the rich and for the poor, so reality is markedly different for a citizen of heaven as compared to her worldly neighbor.

There is no verse that captures that for me as much as 1 Corinthians 6:7, ESV, “To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?”

That verse is like a slap in the face to the kingdom of this world that is very concerned with rights – exercising them, protecting them, defending them, feeling entitled to them.

The kingdom of this world does not tolerate being “ripped off” or “taken” or “used.” In fact, the kingdom of this world would rather fall short on compassion, generosity, and love than to have “the wool pulled over our eyes.”

The kingdom of this world chooses something that looks like prudence and wisdom over sacrifice and selflessness every time and pats itself on the back for its shrewd ability to self-protect.

The kingdom of God believes that to miss the mark on love, compassion, sacrifice, and selflessness is to miss the point of Christ all together.


The kingdom of God worries less about being wronged and more about missing Christ in disguise, his gnarled and muddy hand outstretched, begging for a crumb of our affluence as evidence that we have sat at His table and fed on His word.

The kingdom of God suffers injustice to self for the sake of the gospel.

The kingdom of God relinquished all “rights” at the foot of the cross and now trusts God for protection, wearing a soft-shelled armor than can be pierced but will not allow eternal damage nor wounds that cannot be healed by Christ.

“Why not rather suffer wrong?” is the cry of a child in the crowd at the usurping emperor’s parade shouting that the prince of this world has no clothes.


If citizens of the kingdom of God do not worry about what we shall eat today or wear tomorrow, what concern is it of ours if, as we give to others out of obedience to Christ, some are wanton with our generosity?

Our generosity, after all, flows from a never-ending stream of riches provided by the King who rules the kingdom that is the only reality that matters, the only reality that extends beyond our final exhale.


So, in those moments today, when you have to make a choice, consider this verse – “Why not rather suffer wrong?” – and weigh your “rights” against the building of the kingdom of God. Then decide.

Verses I Don't Believe - When It All Looks Like C**P

In our writing group, we have a rule before reading our work aloud: No disclaimers.

It’s an important rule. Without it, each of us would spend precious minutes describing what’s wrong with our work and what we intend to change rather than just letting our words breath the air and receive a hearing.

Sometimes, one of us will forget and begin to disclaim.

Another will raise a hand and say, “Stop. Of course, we know it’s c * *p, read it anyway.”

Everyone in the group has solid writing ability so no one’s work stinks. That saying is just our way of acknowledging that first drafts, beginning efforts, works in progress, all have their rough edges and pot holes but there’s no point in waiting for perfection.

Perfection happens in the process.

As writers, we labor under constant fear that our words fall short of our vision, and at various stages along the way from first sentence to final product, they do

Until one day, they don’t.

But it doesn’t happen without sticking with a poem or a story or a paragraph that initially wasn’t right, wasn’t exact, wasn’t up to par. And a new writer’s moods are fickle, so she must exercise caution before declaring a work not worthy of completion.

Veteran writers understand that great final works often looked like unpromising c**p somewhere along the way but someone with a vision and a faithful heart hung in through the process until what was useless, dry straw was finally spun into gold.

Among the verses I struggle to believe is I Corinthians 4:1-5: “This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.” ESV

Paul warns us against judging our lives too early in the process. He knew that, very often, a life can be at a stage where it looks unpromising, where it falls seriously short, where, if it were judged, it might seem destined for destruction.

But he also wisely knew that it is best to leave the judging of a life to God and to let it happen at its proper time because the light of Christ can reveal aspects that are not visible to the naked, fallen human eye.

Are you struggling with what your life looks like right now?

Are you trying to judge your own work or standing by as others judge it?

God has a vision for your life and He is faithful and has a heart for sticking with us until we reach the perfection of looking like Christ. He is a veteran of this work and does not discourage easily nor judge too early.

As the author of our salvation, He doesn’t throw out His first drafts. Revisions and edits can be as painful as surgery but they are not judgments that we are useless; they are the process of bringing our lives to perfection.

There’s a saying for parents that goes, “Don’t judge October apples in June.” We would be wise to apply that saying to our own lives

Too often, I get bogged down in sorting through and judging my life rather than moving on with it, submitting to the Lord’s correction or pruning, and living in the trust that He is the only One with the wisdom to judge.

Not people who don’t know me.

Not my friends and family.

Not I.

Perfection happens in the process.

As fallen humans abiding under grace, a long way from glory, we frequently labor under the fear that our lives fall short of our vision, and at various stages along the way from first breath on earth to first breath in glory, they do

Until one day, they don’t.

That day will come. And the story of your life will become a classic, revered in its proper context, and retold for eternity because your story has intersected with His story, and that, my friends, is a recipe for perfection.

Taking Him Along to Meet "The Gang"

The woman gave her best friend the once over. “Okay, fine. You can come with me but you need to wear clothes designed in this century – something simple like jeans and a T-shirt. And, I don’t know, can you handle a hat?”

“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”

“Nothing. I mean, I like it, but that’s me. It’s a little dated, that’s all.”

“Are your friends into fashion?”

“No, I just want them to like you and it will help if you show up looking like you fit in. Why make your clothes a stumbling block? Is it that big a deal to wear something more culturally relevant?”

“Not at all. I’d be happy to update the wardrobe.”

“Good, and, okay, don’t get angry . . .”

“Something else?”

“I’m just hoping that you’ll stick to positive topics – you know, nothing too controversial.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, you know how you are. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I like you. I love you, even, and I’ve gotten accustomed to the range of topics you expound on at the drop of a hat. I even agree with you on most things, you know that.”

“Then, I don’t see the problem.”

“Look, I’m not asking you not to be you, just tone it down a little until my friends get to know you better. Is there anything wrong with that?”

“How fragile are these people?”

“They’re not fragile, they’re just sensitive about some things and you can be, well, sort of, insensitive.”

“Insensitive?”

“That’s the wrong word. Not insensitive, just, unconcerned with people’s opinions of you.”

“We’ve been over this. I’m not concerned what people think of me.”

“I know that, and it’s something I love about you but I do care what people think of me.”

“Fine, then you avoid controversial subjects but I’m going to talk about whatever comes to mind.”

“There you go again. I thought we were friends. Look, you know your business but I know this group of people and you’re not going to get anywhere with them by jumping into touchy topics. Just trust me on this.”

“Funny you should mention trust.”

“And, there’s one more thing.”

“I can’t wait to hear it.”

“Just for this little meeting, I’m going to stick with your title. No need to get all caught up in calling you by your first name.”

“My name is an issue.”

“You know it is. I don’t know why but there’s just something about that name.”

“There certainly is.”

“Well, there’s nothing wrong with calling you by your title, right? Or your generic name. Or whatever. I mean, you know who I’m talking about even if I just refer to you as God, or Lord, or Messiah, right? That’s what’s important.”

“So, you think your friends don’t want to hear you say Jesus?”

“I knew you’d understand.”

“But I don’t.”

“Seriously, you understand everything. You know that people stay calm and accepting if I refer to you as God or the Lord but as soon as I say the name, Jesus, it escalates everyone’s comfort level.”

“I don’t have as much problem with that as you do.”

“Right, so, can you just do this for me, friend?”

“No.”

“Just like that. No.”

“Just like that. If we’re best friends and you love me and you want me to go with you then I am who I am and anything you do to try to hide that or tone it down is just plain disrespectful and unloving.”

“I don’t want to be that way, I just . . .”

“You just care what other people think.”

“About you.”

“You mean, about you.”

“Fine. Yeah. I care what they think about me. I wish I was more like you.”

“Now, we’re talking. I can make that happen.”

“How?”

“It’s easy. Take me with you everywhere you go and let me be exactly who I am.”

“That sounds really scary.”

“It is, for you. But don’t worry. I’ll be there.”

The Day Your Child Becomes a Sinner

The perfection of their birth is so complete, there’s a kind of lingering anesthetic that tricks us into thinking that perhaps this child has not been touched by Adam’s DNA.

It’s not a conscious thought.

We know we’ve given birth to human children

But when we hold them to our breasts, inhale the scent of their newborn heads, count their fingers and toes, and stare into their sleeping faces,

there rises within us some unnamed hope that this one will, perhaps, not exhibit the traits of one who has fallen from grace

Like his parents have

And theirs before them

And so on, back to the Garden.

Unthinkable that this child will do wrong.

Oh, small things, we know. Little lies to cover spilt milk or

Small defiances over bedtime or curfew

But not the big sins

Not the leap from rooftops ruin their lives and those around them kind of rebellious choices

Not the bold-faced name in the police logs or headlines on the local news or small-town whispered gossip types of decisions that

Would put our child in the same category as Adam or Cain or Jonah or David or Sapphira

Because these are stories, we’ll teach them from the womb,

There will be verses they memorize and songs they sing, classes,groups,retreats,summer camp and prayers spoken over them long into the night

And so they will learn their way into the family, remaining as perfect as the day they were born to us, announced, rejoiced over, and received into hope.

But then they fall.

Not so much from grace as from our well-laid plans

Bursting the foolish lining of our self-deceptive dreams

and then we must look upon them and see, not our swaddled imaginings, but a sinner sprung from, not only our impure bloodline, but also from our tainted family tree.

And we will look into the mirror that is our loved one and face the shame of our own fallen state all over again and wonder about the hope of our faith and sigh with Elijah when he cried out “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” I Kings 19:4b

For we must confess that our children, too, would bite into the fruit.

But in this moment, we have the chance to awaken a second time to the truth that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” and that all must come to Him through Jesus Christ.

There is a Way but it is not us, or the home we built, or the church we chose, or the plans we laid.

We are not the Door for our children.

We cannot save our children by raising them properly.

Only Jesus.

Always, only Jesus.

And in this, there is hope again.

Because if our children’s salvation depended on the perfection of our parenting then the whole planet would be doomed.

Instead, there remains, the hope and love of faith in Jesus Christ

Not just for us

But also for our children, fellow sinners in need of grace.

Our blood is contaminated but any one of us, or our children, can receive an infusion from the pure blood of the Lamb and be saved from death.

But we must remember this in that moment

When our beloved child, though small or grown, stands before us

And we see a fellow sinner

And we must hear the voice of Jesus crying ““Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” Luke 18:16

And we must stand aside, get out of His way, and let Him do the work that only He can do.

And that is when we must remember that only Jesus saves.

The day your child becomes a sinner is the day you remember that you, too, are a child saved by grace.

Playing the Fool in a Wise World

The man in the broken recliner was much wiser than I am.

I was there to offer him assistance in his impossible situation. He didn’t have much and he was about to lose what little there was of that – including his child.

He told me his story, contradicting himself so many times, it was hard to imagine that any of it was true. It was my job to sift his world for potential resources or support systems – not easy since he’d burned through so much of what had been available to him and done nothing more with those opportunities than to let them pass and grasp for the next one.

“What about your spiritual life?” I asked, suspecting the answer. “Are you connected in any way to a church community?”

He exploded in bitter laughter. “God? There’s no God. Right? I mean, look at my life. If there was a God, I wouldn’t be going through this. And churches are a scam, don’t you know that? I’d have to be a fool to believe in God or ask the church for help.”

I have spent most of my life as a fool.

But he wasn’t the only wise man I met that day.

Later, I was discussing his situation with a local church representative, asking what his faith community might have to offer to someone facing homelessness after years of unemployment, stretches of drug abuse, disability due to mental health issues, faced with losing their children.

“Why are you even spending your time with this person?” He asked. “I could never do your job. These people create their own problems and they’re not going to change. I’d hate to be in your shoes. Isn’t there some other kind of work you could do?”

Again, I’m such a fool. (Twice, actually. Once for doing what I do and twice for thinking this brother was in the same business as I.)

I’d suspected that the church nearest this gentleman would not have much to offer but I didn’t expect that it would even be stingy with hope.

Later, back at the office, I was a fool again. “Why would you even ask at the church? They don’t have any answers. You’re wasting your energy with this guy but it’s an even bigger waste of time to think the church will help.” This wisdom offered with a superior smile and a shaking head.

What a fool.

I’m not naïve. I’m too old for that and been lied to too often.

I don’t see either the troubled or the church through rose-colored glasses, I’ve been stung too frequently by both.

But neither can I make a Biblical defense for cynicism.

I understand why people become cynical and lose hope. Faced with habitual liars, people who embrace chronic sin and unbelief, and repeated disappointments from the institutional church, it seems wise to don distrust and jaded skepticism as a type of body armor when dealing with either the world or the community of faith.

And we certainly shouldn’t deal with these people or institutions armed only with enthusiastic naiveté, or worldly bright-eyed faith in humanity. That’ll get you killed quick.

We need to walk into these situations knowing that humans are sinners, aware that we operate on a battlefield against serious weaponry, conscious that the enemy has infiltrated even our own ranks,

but equipped with weapons that are not of this world, filled, informed, and protected by the Holy Spirit, ever hopeful in the possibility of change through the power of Jesus Christ.

I don’t believe in people but I do believe in Jesus so I hold out hope in an age of despair.

I am a fool

However, I’m not a fool by accident but by design. I choose the foolishness of the gospel, the hope of Jesus Christ for every situation, every morning and repeatedly throughout my day.

“Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's. I Corinthians 3:18-23 ESV

I am the same kind of fool as a Marine assigned to recon behind enemy lines searching for survivors to recover. I walk into situations laden with risk where the odds of success are stacked against me but I come trained, equipped, and called to a task that is better attempted than abandoned.

And there are many other fools in my battalion. Other believers who resist the wisdom of this age to embrace the jaded notion that it’s foolish to continue to hold out hope for a broken world.

Are you a fool? Would you like to enlist? Semper fi, baby, semper fi.

Oorah.

**In the spirit of full disclosure, the man in the recliner chair has not changed but that's not the point of this post because neither did he steal a piece of my soul.

Verses I Don't Believe - The Recipe for Strength

There are Bible verses I don’t believe.

There, I said it.

I think they make amazing statements.

I’m drawn to them and I know that because they come from God they’re true.

I would stitch them on a wall hanging,

Teach them to my children,

And meditate on them throughout the day

But I struggle to believe them to the level that they influence my daily perspective on life.

Take, for instance, 2 Corinthians 12:9-12 (ESV)

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

I just don’t believe that when I’m weak, then I’m strong.

If I did, I’d be happier, believe me.

To my thinking, weak is just weak. And when I’m weak, I don’t feel strong, I feel like a loser. I don’t boast in my weaknesses, I work to hide them. I cover them with concealer. I press “delete.”

I’m not content with weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, or calamities. I rail against them. I weep. Loudly. I scramble and scratch like a cat about to fall into a full bathtub.

When confronted with any of these things, I flip out.

If I believed this verse, I’d be more relaxed and secure. I’d laugh more often. My prayers would be deeper and richer and more concerned with intercession than with pleading for God to please, please, please change my bad situation.

If I believed this verse, I wouldn’t cringe when people saw through me or when I stumbled in public. I would thank God that He would get the glory for whatever good He does through me.

If I believed that God’s grace is sufficient for me, I wouldn’t spend my time searching for additional solutions to my shortcomings, I would simply spend more time accessing His grace.

But I want to believe this verse.

I ask for the faith to believe this verse.

Because locked within these verses are promises of grace, sufficiency, power, contentment, and strength.

And a precious ingredient in this formula is my weakness.

Well, I’ve got that in spades.

Like a top shelf cook who offers to take the worst ingredients in your pantry and produce an unforgettable gourmet meal, Christ offers to take my weakness, my hardship, my calamities, and everything in my life I would reject, and use it to create strength fueled by His power.

He can even make me a believer.

That, I do believe.

How about you? What passage do you NOT believe?

Don't You Hate It When People Don't Do Their Jobs?

Don’t you hate it when people don’t do their jobs?

If we’re facing a national disaster and the President is perfecting his golf game, there’s something wrong with that.

If a crime is committed but the police are distracted negotiating their own contracts instead of investigating the incident, it’s a grievous thing.

If a man arrives in the ER with a heart attack but the doctor is slow to come because he’s flirting with the nursing staff, that’s criminal negligence.

It even irks most of us to witness less serious infractions of this principle such as when a clerk is too busy yakking to take our money or a waitress hands us an incorrect meal order. I said NO MUSTARD. What’s hard to understand about NO MUSTARD? I don’t want anything special! I just want people to do their job. Right?

People should do their jobs and when they do, the world spins properly on its axis

But when they don’t it all goes to hell in a hand basket.

Sure, all of those jobs have their risks and demands. It must be tiring to handle crises, crime, cardiac arrest, and customers day in and day out, but hey, that’s they’re job.

I mean, you do your job.

Right?

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” I Peter 2:9 ESV

We are a royal priesthood. Each of us that calls ourselves Christian has been ordained into the role of priest.

A priest represents God to the people and represents the people before God.

This requires knowing God and knowing people.

This requires spending time before God talking about people and

Spending time with people talking about God.

Day in and day out.

I mean, you do that, right?

Because, you have a deep appreciation for the fact that when people don’t do their jobs things go awry.

So, you’re out there every day going about your priestly duties. You represent.

Of course, you’re very understanding.

You understand that some of those people who aren’t doing their job are just suffering under an incompetent boss

but fortunately, that isn’t the case for us.

“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:14-16 ESV

And, of course, you understand that some of those workers haven’t been supplied with the right tools of their trade and that’s why they fall down on the job

But that’s not us. We are fortunate.

“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” 2 Peter 1:3 ESV

So, we can all agree that no matter the demands, the risks, the hardships, the distractions, or how we feel in the moment, if everyone just did their jobs, the world would instantly improve.

Which is not an issue for you because you would never neglect your priestly duties –

Would you?

The Blessing of the Burden of Caring for Another - In Honor of Caregivers Everywhere

Have you ever considered that taking care of another being is as valuable an enterprise for the caretaker as it is for the soul in need of care?

I mean, it must be.

Otherwise, God would have designed children to be independent shortly after exiting the womb . . .

Baby birds would hatch knowing how to fly . . .

People would neatly deactivate at the first sign of aging . . .

Too often these days, we see caretaking as an interruption, a burden to be hired out, an inconvenience, something that stands in the way of us achieving our goals, an undesirable season we hope will pass quickly

But I don’t think that’s how God sees it.

Taking care of another being is profitable in both directions.

When we take time to care for another being, it pulls us from the linear forward thrust of life and forces us to live in the moment

Of the sponge bath

The bedtime story

The spoonful of soup

Of the temperature taking

The hand holding

The chemo room

Of the lost library book

The meltdown

The shared laugh, the retold story

The extra minute.

Life is not about what we accomplish but about becoming like Jesus
 Through loving

Through serving

Through being there for others

It’s easy to lose that

And never find it again

But there it is.

If you are caring for someone – a child, a parent, a spouse, a stranger – consider yourself favored by God.

He has smiled on you in His willingness to inhabit your hands, your feet, your ears, your voice, your smile.

He has visited you with a special grace – one that streaks across the sky like a shooting star and only those that are watching for it don’t miss it.

He has allowed you to live in this moment rather than in the next
And the beauty of that

Is that He is in the moment

And so You are WITH Him

And He with you

As you care for the other

Whether they are aware of Him or you or anything else.

God is aware

And completely present.

Inhale deeply.

As the world rushes past, know that Jesus lags behind with you.

 “Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’” Matthew 25:37-40

Forcing Back My Inner Pharisee

Here’s the thing.

I get how serious sin is.

I can see how bad things are these days, how bad people are, in fact.

Every day, I encounter people who make choices so contrary to God’s plan for their lives, who fall so far short of His standard of holiness, and who deserve, not grace and acceptance from heaven but separation and condemnation –

And that’s before I leave my own house -

That I COULD walk around all the time in a justified snit of righteous indignation.

Even as I look into the mirror, I think that, this person, too, does not deserve a smile or a pass or a cup of water in the desert. She needs to straighten up and fly right. She needs to get things straight with God, to obey, to submit, to keep the faith, to press in, press on, to overcome.

But, then I think about Jesus.

And I think,

If He, the Holy Only Son of the Almighty Father who knew where He came from and where He was going, the Perfect One, the Author of Salvation, the Lamb without Blemish

If HE could walk around earth eating, drinking, and laughing with people without a sour face or a clucking tongue or a raised eyebrow or a scowl

If He could love on the spot those who had yet to receive Him and who, in fact, would reject and condemn Him,

If He could heal and forgive and deliver and impart grace to the thief, the demoniac, the hooker, and the outcast

If He could be full of light, telling stories, playing with children, touching fevered brows,

If He didn’t stop to weave a whip before every evening meal and overturn a table in every sinner’s home

Then, maybe I don’t have to walk around angry all the time either.

Maybe I don’t have to wear disapproval on my face like a monk’s cowl

Maybe I can speak the truth but not act as if I don’t fall under the same sentence as those who hear my words

Maybe I can share a meal with the imperfect and not feel it’s my job to hold up a mirror to their every flaw

Maybe I can impart grace to the undeserving,

Acceptance to the outcast,

Forgiveness to the fallen

Even when I meet her in the mirror

And that can be part of what I do in building His kingdom on earth.

Maybe loving a sinner is not the same as winking at sin and sharing their table is not tantamount to blessing their lifestyle

And maybe it's even better than yelling in through their window with a rock in my hand.

I don't know. I'm just trying to figure all this out, too.

There's all these rules that I know I break but then, there's Jesus and if I want to gulp Him in like fresh clean air than I can't put my hands around the throat of someone else who needs to inhale God's grace to survive.

I don’t want to be “easy on sin;”

I just don’t want to be harder than God.