May 19, 2018

Show the World Jesus

Jesus wept. – John 11:35

It happened again. That which we vowed wouldn’t, did. Students ran for their lives as a student-gunman aimed to kill those in a place that should have been safe.

Shootings within our schools simply shouldn’t happen. But they do. Why? Our hearts cry out in anguish. It is so senseless. Young lives cut short. A teacher gone too soon. Others suffering in hospitals. Lives that will relive the trauma forever.

Jesus wept. It’s the shortest verse in the Bible. It’s very simplicity draws us closer to the One who came to save us all. Jesus had the power to save Lazarus from death. And though He knew He would raise His friend from the dead, still Jesus let Lazarus die. He let Mary and Martha suffer.

But Jesus is not a Savior from a distance. He stands beside us to comfort and strengthen us when the senseless dramas of this world threaten to destroy us. He mourns with us.

Why did this happen? How can we stop it from happening again? I wish I had all the answers but I don’t. No one does. Is this pure evil or does it stem from the brokenness of people who are hurting so badly that they want others to hurt badly too?

Our mental health system fails kids every single day. So do the social service agencies designed to keep them safe. We are so focused on saving the family that we send children back again and again to places where they aren’t safe and nurtured and loved. We ignore obvious signs of distress because we don’t want to get involved and we don’t want to provide the resources to help children who are hurting. We’d rather look the other way than deal with the stigma called mental illness.

I don’t know this young man’s story. All the details haven’t begun to show themselves. Maybe we will never know it all. But I do know that a young man wearing a trench coat in the Texas heat should raise a few questions. It’s not normal. It’s not okay.

We’d rather not know. We prefer to isolate ourselves in our own little worlds rather than extend a helping hand. We prefer to talk with our friends, to gather with those who are like us, than welcome someone who is different, someone who is alone. We marginalize people who desperately need to belong somewhere, to someone.

Maybe the answer isn’t in big programs with lots of money thrown at them. Maybe the answer lies a little closer to home. Maybe it’s found in our hearts. Can we be the people who extend kindness to those who seem the least deserving? Can we reach out to those we don’t particularly like so that they can come to the altar of Christ?

It all begins with Jesus. It all ends there too. We have forgotten how to love the lost, the lonely, the poor and the rejected. We have forgotten that they are our problems, our challenges, our responsibility, because Jesus said it was so. Jesus told us to love one another. Why do we think He didn’t mean us?

Once again we have children hurting, parents grieving and a town shattered by violence. Instead of looking to others for answers, maybe it’s time we looked inside ourselves. Ask Jesus to meet you there. Open your eyes and your heart. People everywhere are hurting. Extend a helping hand. Show them Jesus by your words and your actions. Live your faith, one hurting person at a time.

February 26, 2018

Get Up and Work

But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. – Colossians 3:8

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you almost must forgive. – Colossians 3:12-13

She gets so angry at the “sins” of others. She sits on her sofa, watching Fox News, and gets more and more upset about all that others have done to persecute Jesus. She goes on social media, blasting the liberals, those in favor of gun control, immigrants, those on welfare. And on and on.

She looks in the mirror and calls herself justified because she reads her Bible and prays daily. That is where her faith ends.

What is she doing to bring about change she claims to want? Nothing. Unless, of course, you count ranting and pointing her polished nail at all those she sees as wrong. All those she sees as less than acceptable.

She is a modern-day Pharisee and she doesn’t have a clue.

She is not alone. There are a great many who share her views and her lack of action. One main point of contention: “They” have banned Jesus from our schools. I agree that Jesus needs to be invited back into our schools. But are we going to use hate or love in our efforts to bring Jesus to the students?

What is she doing to make a change? What are you doing? Our town has a wonderful program called FPKids. It was started as a way for kids to meet at the flag pole at their school, share a Bible lesson and a prayer, before school begins. It is run by volunteers. Some are parents. Some aren’t. All simply love Jesus and are reaching out to kids in any way they can.

The elementary-age kids meet – with parental permission – once each week. The volunteers are amazed at the response. One school had to divide the students by grade levels because there were too many children for one group. There is a hunger there that I don’t think anyone really expected.

Is it a sacrifice for the volunteers? Of course, it is. Some must get up earlier than usual because the group meets for 30 minutes before school. Others must arrange to go to work late that day. But all believe the sacrifice of time is worth reaching children and teaching them about Jesus.

These people aren’t focused on anger or revenge. They aren’t pointing fingers at what others have done “wrong”. They’re simply loving those God has placed before them, offering up kindness and compassion with a large dose of Jesus’ love. They are being the hands and feet of Jesus.

It is so easy to forget that we aren’t called to a life of sitting on the sidelines and pointing fingers at other sinners. We are called to action. We are called to love those who aren’t easy to love. We are called to do good where we are. Sometimes that means getting off the sofa and actually working to change what we don’t like.

So what are you doing today? Are you sitting around pointing fingers and spreading hate? Or are you actively loving those God has put in your path? 

Monday, August 20, 2012

Urge Students To Show Kindness

With what shall I come before you LORD and bow down before the exalted God?

Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?

Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil?

Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

-- Micah 6:6-8

Children all across our area are heading back to school today. Some are excited. Some are bummed out. Some are filled with anxiety.

At church Sunday, we had the traditional blessing of the backpacks. During the Children’s Moment, Pastor Danny asked if anyone was excited about going back to school. No response from the kids. Their parents were loudly applauding.

It can be an exciting time. It can also be an awful, traumatic time for those kids who are left out, ridiculed, bullied. I’d like to think we’re more sensitive about these things now but, truthfully, children can be especially cruel.

Each of the children today received a sticker for their backpacks with the word THINK written on it. Pastor Danny explained why. He urged the children to THINK about their words before they say them, to ask themselves if the comment is HELPFUL, to use words to INSPIRE, to ask themselves if the words are NECESSARY, and to be KIND at all times.

I pray all the adults listening in heard the message as well. Because we all could, and should, be more thoughtful in what we say. Words wound. And, no matter how many times we apologize, nothing can ever erase them.

Another friend, a retired teacher, shared a Facebook post urging students to be kind to others. Kindness is one of the best and greatest gifts we can give to anyone. Why does it sometimes seem so hard? A smile, a friendly word, an acknowledgement that the other person exists can mean so much.

In every school hallway today there likely will be at least one student who is new, one who feels embarrassed because he/she isn’t dressed in the “it” style, and one who is an outsider, no matter how long he’s been in that school system. So take a moment to remind your kids to be nice. To think. To smile. To be helpful. To be kind. Because kindness is a gift. It is a way we show others who Jesus is within us.