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Category: Love (Page 7 of 9)

Maundy Thursday

April 2, 2015 / / 0 Comments

On this fifth day of Holy Week, the “4 Amarillo” churches are assembling together at Polk Street United Methodist Church this evening for a traditional Maundy Thursday service. “Maundy” comes from an old French word (mande) and a Latin term (mandatum) that mean “command,” and point to Jesus’ words around the table with his disciples on that night he was betrayed: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”  Tonight we are reminded of the sacrificial and self-giving love demonstrated by our Lord as he washed the feet of his followers. We’re reminded of his faithfulness and obedience as he went willingly to his death that very night. And we’re inspired to imitate our Savior in living lives of service to others, considering their needs more important than our own.

And they’ve asked me to preach it again.

Still not sure why. It probably has something to do with the fact that Howie and Howard and Burt all have Good Friday services and multiple Easter Sunday services they’re preaching this weekend. And I don’t. So I get the Maundy Thursday gig.

Regardless, I’m very, very honored and excited to do it. This is a communion service. And there’s nothing more distinctly Christian we can do than to share the Lord’s Meal with a bunch of different disciples from a bunch of different denominations and backgrounds and interpretations. Christ died to destroy all the things that separate us from God and from one another. He died to tear down the walls, to annihilate the barriers, to rip the veil in two from top to bottom so that we all have equal access to the Creator of Heaven and Earth and all his people. So that we can all eat and drink together in his everlasting face-to-face presence. That’s why he died. And the only thing that keeps us from enjoying little slivers of that eternal feast here in this life is our refusal to love one another as Christ loved us.

Our own prejudices. Man-made lines of distinction. Our own arrogance and pride. Our unwillingness to practice the same love and acceptance and forgiveness and grace to other Christians that God in Christ showed and continues to show to us — that’s the only thing that keeps all God’s churches from expressing and practicing the kind of unity that would flat-out change the world.

I am grateful to belong to a faith community that understands this. I praise God that the leadership of our four downtown churches is pushing us to do more together, not less. And I cherish my partnership and friendship with Burt, Howard, and Howie. I pray that our Maundy Thursday gathering tonight encourages our churches, that it testifies boldly to the transforming work of Christ Jesus, and that it results in praise and glory to God.

Peace,

Allan

 

 

The Same Love

June 19, 2014 / / 0 Comments

“This is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ.” ~Philippians 1:9

The King wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, they brought before him Allan, a man who owed ten million dollars. Since Allan was not able to pay, the Master ordered that he and his wife and his three daughters and all that he owned be sold to repay the debt. Allan fell on his knees before the King. “Be patient with me,” he begged, “and I will pay back everything.” Allan’s Master took pity on him. And he canceled the debt. And set him free.

But when Allan went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him ten bucks. Allan grabbed him and began to choke him. “Pay me what you owe me!” he demanded.

How can Christ’s love for me not be the same love we have for each other?

I always forgive you because Christ always forgives me. I make sacrifices for you because Christ gave the ultimate sacrifice for me. I serve you because Jesus served me. I give in to you, I submit to you, I defer to you, because Jesus went to the cross for me. He died for me while I was his enemy. He buried my sins at the bottom of the ocean floor. He’s removed them from me as far as the East is from the West.

My friend, you don’t owe me anything. You owe me nothing. And I will never, ever demand anything from you. I can’t.

How can Christ’s love for me not be the same love we have for each other?

If it is — when it is — then we’re able to discern what is best for our congregations and for our relationships within our congregations. There’s not a situation or circumstance or problem that can possibly come up that can’t be navigated correctly  when everybody abounds in love. When decisions do need to be made and lines do need to be drawn, we always err on the side of love and grace. We err in the way of sacrifice and service. We err in the name of Christian love.

Peace,

Allan

The Work We’ve Been Given To Do

July 29, 2013 / / 0 Comments

“Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.” ~John 17:1

Jesus begins his very public prayer at the end of that last meal with his disciples acknowledging that the time for him to die, to glorify the Father in a selfless act of unconditional love, was at hand. The hour had come. It was here. It was time. The prayer is certainly set in and around the context of his impending death. But for a brief moment at the beginning of this prayer, Jesus allowed himself room to reflect for a moment on his brief earthly life and ministry.

“I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. I have revealed you…”

Jesus always told people if you had seen him, you had seen the Father. If you knew Jesus, you knew the Creator of Heaven and Earth. Yes, Jesus revealed God to the world. Jesus reveals God’s glory. Jesus allows us to see God. Jesus allows us to experience God. Jesus’ compassion shows us God’s compassion. Jesus’ mercy shows us God’s mercy. Jesus’ gentleness shows us God’s gentleness. Jesus’ intolerance for religious people who judge others and think they’re better than everybody else shows us God’s holy intolerance for religious arrogance and pride. Jesus’ love and forgiveness shows us God’s great love and forgiveness. Revealing God — this was a large part of the work God had given Jesus to do.

And, to borrow the powerful language from Christ’s prayer, the time has come for the Church of God to do the work God has given us to do. The time has come for us to reveal our God to the world. If we don’t, who will?

This world is full of cops and lawyers and judges and juries who accuse and prosecute and punish. The time has come for God’s people to be the ones who forgive. The world is full of writers and broadcasters and politicians who spread hate and fear in order to divide and conquer. The time has come for Christ’s followers to be the ones who spread love and hope in order to reconcile and restore. The world is full of soldiers and generals and armies and kings who take and kill in the name of country and security. The time has come for Christ’s Church to be the ones who give life, who give resources, who give of themselves, who give and give and give in the name of the One who came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

The time has come for us to complete the work we’ve been given to do, to reveal the love and grace of Almighty God to a world that does not know him. If we don’t, who will?

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m not playing “Taps” for the Rangers just yet. It’s not completely over. But this team is on life support. They’re barely breathing. The family’s been called in. The grandkids are gathering photos for the slide show. It’s not looking good.

The Rangers have lost four straight and nine of their past eleven games. They have been shut out — zero runs! — in three of their past four games. The Rangers haven’t scored a run in 21 straight innings. They have scored three runs or fewer in twelve of their past fifteen games and hit .177 with runners in scoring position during this same fifteen game stretch, including yesterday’s 0-3 showing in Cleveland. As of this very moment, Texas is six games back of Oakland in the AL West and fourth in the Wild Card standings. Worse than that, yesterday marked the 30th consecutive day the Rangers have not made up ground in the division. They’ve gone a full month now either staying put or losing ground to the A’s.

Yikes!

I’m still convinced that Nelson Cruz will be suspended this coming weekend, probably Friday, for the remainder of the season. So now the Rangers need at least two or three brand new bats, not just one or two. I was hopeful that the Garza signing would spark something in these guys. No, it hasn’t. And I’m afraid Ron Washington’s 45-minute closed door team meeting after yesterday’s embarrassing effort won’t do it either.

We’ll know for certain this time next Monday whether to pull the plug on this team. Texas plays the Angels in a three-game set in Arlington beginning tonight and then go head-to-head with the A’s in Oakland this coming weekend. So, come Monday, we’ll know.

It’s been three or four years since Cowboys pre-season football was more interesting than watching the Rangers.

Crud.

Allan

The Bible’s Broken Record

February 18, 2013 / / 1 Comment

God loves you.

From before the beginning of time and throughout all eternity, God loves you. It’s so basic and so fundamental, it could almost go unstated. But it doesn’t. The Holy Spirit-inspired writers of Scripture state it and state it and state it and state it. Over and over and over and over again.

God is love. God is love. God is love. God is love. God is love. God is love. God is love.

It’s the Bible’s broken record that sounds like a symphony to our souls.

The one thing we need the most is the one thing our Scriptures make abundantly clear.

God loves you.

Everything we know about love and the things we don’t yet know about love begin and end with our God. The love of God is the first letter of the first word for everything we know about God. There’s nothing we can say about God or his character or his plans for us without first considering his great love. His love is unrelenting. It never quits. It never slows down. It never gives up. God’s love overcomes every obstacle and clears every hurdle. God’s love pursues us. It chases us. It’s active and working around the clock. It’s what moves God. His love is what compels him. It’s the driving force behind every single thing he does.

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” ~1 John 3:1

If God so loves the world — and he does! — that means he loves you, too. There’s nothing our God does that is not compelled by his great love for you. And there’s nothing he allows to happen to you that is not driven by his goal of living with you in eternity.

Peace,

Allan

God’s Gutsy Love

February 12, 2013 / / 3 Comments

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” ~Matthew 22:37-40

Love is the beginning and the end of our righteous relationship with God — and everything in the middle. Love pushes us. It moves us. It defines us. Love is what Scripture says binds everything we do together in perfect unity. We must place unconditional, God-ordained love in the supreme position of our hearts and minds and in our churches.

God’s love for us depends completely upon his character, not ours. Everyone stands before our God equally. No human being can ever do anything to earn God’s love. The fact that we are sinners is woefully inescapable. The fact that God still loves us anyway is amazingly wonderful. And we respond to that matchless grace and undeniable love by loving him back and by loving all people the way he does.

And that doesn’t mean surface relationships. It doesn’t mean love at arm’s length. It doesn’t mean love all people, OK, but don’t get too involved in their lives. It does mean imitating God’s gutsy love, his all-in love, a love so full and so complete that it compelled Christ to suffer and die to show us.

May we be a people who receive one another as Christ receives us, who forgive others as we’ve been forgiven by God, and who love God and others as fearlessly and unconditionally as he loves us.

Peace,

Allan

Love Trumps All

October 1, 2012 / / 1 Comment

(Posting a comment on this blog still qualifies you for the books to be given away later this month. Just click on the “comments” line in the upper right hand corner of the post. Scroll down — way down — to the September 20 & 21 posts for more details on the drawing.)

We spend a lot of our time and energy in God’s Church, it seems, on things that don’t really matter at all. Special meetings are called in the church foyer and around the church library conference table to discuss and decide critical matters of corporate worship and important points of Christian doctrine and pressing items regarding belief and/or practice and/or politics. We spend a lot of time and energy on all that. Way too much time and energy.

We spend a lot of our time and energy in God’s Church, it seems, complaining about things that don’t really matter at all. Concerned members question the order of service, worried ministers dispute the makeup of a committee, discontented congregants accuse others of straying from the path, uneasy elders lament the fading away of old leadership structures. We spend a lot of time and energy on that. Way too much time and energy.

We level charges and voice complaints, we fire off emails and whisper in the halls. There’s way too much of this going on in Christ’s Body. Too much.

We’ve lost our focus on Christ’s command, our Lord’s singular command, the most important command that outweighs them all.

“Love each other as I have loved you.”

While attempting to settle disputes between Christian brothers and sisters over gender issues and economic segregation and spiritual snobbery, the apostle Paul tells the Corinthian church that love trumps everything. Everything!

In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul makes it crystal clear that love is the question and the answer; it’s the beginning and the end; it’s the end-all, be-all to everything that might possibly harm or divide the community of faith.

All the preaching, all the prophesying, all the giving, all the good works are worthless — they have absolutely no value — if there’s not any love. Love is more important than faith. Love is more important than hope. I don’t know if we’ve ever really read that the way Paul wrote it. Love is more important than Christian faith. Seriously.

So, if love is really more important than faith and hope, if love is really more important than good preaching and good works — and it is — then love is more important than everything. Love trumps our worship assemblies and our worship styles. Love is bigger than our business meetings and church budgets. Love is more critical to life in Christ than any of our rules or doctrines. Love is bigger and more important than any issue that could ever possibly divide us.

And, if that’s true, why aren’t we as committed to loving each other as we are to our doctrines and practices?

We must place unconditional, God-ordained love in the supreme position of our hearts and minds in God’s Church. All our time and energy, all our strength and resources, should go first and forever toward loving each other. Then, as has been my experience and as is the teachings of our Lord, all that other stuff takes care of itself. Love trumps all.

Peace,

Allan

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