Today’s Lectionary Readings: Psalm 63; Deuteronomy 10:12-22; Matthew 10:34-42; Galatians 5:13-18; Psalm 15
Today’s readings offered what I feel are two foundational principles of our faith. The first principle from Galatians 5:14 is pretty self-explanatory: “For everything we know about God’s Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself.” Of course, while the first foundational principle is simple and rather straightforward, most of us spend our lives trying to put that principle into practice. The second foundational principle, however is a bit more difficult to grasp. The principle comes from Matthew 10:39: “If your first concern is to look after yourself, you’ll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you’ll find both yourself and me” (both passages from The Message). In an American society that teaches us to worship the individual and participate in NOTHING that limits the freedom of the individual, let’s face it: the words from Matthew are offensive. For those words challenge these societal notions to the core. As a result, we find clever ways to rationalize why those words should no longer apply to us modern folks. We tell ourselves things like, “Forgetting yourself means becoming a doormat. That would set you up for abuse or neglect so I can’t do that.” While I would agree that forgetting yourself for the sake of another person IS very dangerous, forgetting yourself for the sake of God is entirely different. For most (if not all) persons would exploit someone who forgets him or herself, God – the very source of life and love - would never do that. This Lenten season I invite you to start doing the unthinkable – start forgetting yourself a little bit. Stop filtering every thought, every idea, and every instinct through the filter of “what’s in it for me” and start listening for the Spirit with an open heart and mind to see where God is leading. The irony is that through this process, you won’t just find God – you’ll find deeper and more authentic pieces of yourself. Til next time…
Today’s readings offered what I feel are two foundational principles of our faith. The first principle from Galatians 5:14 is pretty self-explanatory: “For everything we know about God’s Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself.” Of course, while the first foundational principle is simple and rather straightforward, most of us spend our lives trying to put that principle into practice. The second foundational principle, however is a bit more difficult to grasp. The principle comes from Matthew 10:39: “If your first concern is to look after yourself, you’ll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you’ll find both yourself and me” (both passages from The Message). In an American society that teaches us to worship the individual and participate in NOTHING that limits the freedom of the individual, let’s face it: the words from Matthew are offensive. For those words challenge these societal notions to the core. As a result, we find clever ways to rationalize why those words should no longer apply to us modern folks. We tell ourselves things like, “Forgetting yourself means becoming a doormat. That would set you up for abuse or neglect so I can’t do that.” While I would agree that forgetting yourself for the sake of another person IS very dangerous, forgetting yourself for the sake of God is entirely different. For most (if not all) persons would exploit someone who forgets him or herself, God – the very source of life and love - would never do that. This Lenten season I invite you to start doing the unthinkable – start forgetting yourself a little bit. Stop filtering every thought, every idea, and every instinct through the filter of “what’s in it for me” and start listening for the Spirit with an open heart and mind to see where God is leading. The irony is that through this process, you won’t just find God – you’ll find deeper and more authentic pieces of yourself. Til next time…
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