Rembrandt van Rijn, 1606-1669
Two women teaching a child to walk
via Wikimedia Commons[Jesus said,] “No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other,or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon.” Luke 16:13
I always have a choice:
patience over impatience;
politeness over rudeness;
compassion over self-centeredness;
acceptance over prejudice;
love over indifference.
Who will I choose to serve today?
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Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn 1606 – 1669
The Return of the Prodigal Son (1642)
drawing with pen and brush (19 × 23 cm) — ca. 1642 Teylers Museum, Haarlem
via Wikimedia Commons
He said to him, ‘My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’” Luke 15:31-32
This week I have felt lost in a maze of stuff. Medical stuff, workplace stuff, family stuff. Obligations, responsibilities, personalities. World strife, political mayhem, power struggles.
God is looking for me and looking out for me as I stumble through the maze of life. When I remember God, remember to call out to God, remember to place my life and will into God’s gentle care, I am not lost but found and that is cause for rejoicing.
[Jesus addressed them,] “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:27
My “own cross” is my responsibility to love God with all my heart, soul, and mind, and my neighbor as myself.
How have I shown love for God today? How have I loved myself today? Who are my neighbors? How have I loved a neighbor today?
JESUS MAFA. The poor invited to the feast, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN.
[Jesus said,] “Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you.
For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” Luke 14:13-14
I cannot imagine seeking out the poor, crippled, lame, or blind to have a meal at my home. What would I cook for them, I who am not much of a cook? Annie’s gluten free macaroni and cheese?
I think the point Jesus is making is that I must learn to overcome self-centeredness and become aware of others and their needs. I must learn to help others quietly and unobtrusively, without expecting thanks or any kind of return. I must learn to give freely, with open hands, just as God gives me love and compassion without end. I must learn to welcome everyone I meet, not just those who might be able to further my career, or those who make me smile, or those whose opinions match my own. I must learn to look at everyone with eyes and heart open to see and welcome a precious child of God, a member of God’s beloved human family. I must learn that we all have a place at God’s table and my place is not at the head.
Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off. Isaiah 56:5 (KJV)
And people will come from the east and the west
and from the north and the south
and will recline at table in the kingdom of God. Luke 13:29
Sometimes I am so quick to judge others by how they look, speak, act, smell. I forget I am in the presence of a child of God, of a more than son or daughter of God. I forget I am looking at God’s image and likeness of goodness and love. I forget to look with my own eyes focused in goodness and love.
Jesus tells me that people from every corner of the earth come to be in God’s presence. Jesus tells me to love my neighbor as myself, to let go of fear, to forgive my enemies, and to do good to those who hurt me.
Today I am going to make a commitment to remember to look beyond surface idiosyncracies and treat all people with kindness and compassion.
[Jesus said,] “For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.” Luke 12:34
The heart leads where the mind is afraid to go. The heart trusts what the mind cannot make sense of. The heart opens and welcomes when the mind stays closed and isolated.
The heart knows sorrow, experiences compassion, abounds in forgiveness. The heart recognizes God in the faces of all people, finds God in the beauty of the natural world, discovers God in silence. The heart shines out love, expands in gratitude, heals with grace.
Luke 12:13-21
Then [Jesus] told them a parable.
“There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. He asked himself, ‘What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?’ Luke 12:16-17
I’d like to cultivate a practice of open hands that give freely, reach out with compassion, touch gently, and comfort others in times of need.
I’d like to cultivate a practice of open hands that humbly express my need to be shown God’s will.
I’d like to cultivate a practice of open hands that let go of greed, resentment, and all that prevents me from loving God, my neighbor, and myself.
Luke 10:38-42
Johannes (Jan) Vermeer – Christ in the House of Martha and Mary, 1654
Google Art Project
Wikimedia Commons
I tend to be like Martha – keeping busy, doing the laundry, making a meal, getting the groceries, rushing to work, paying the bills, checking my email… and welcoming friends and even strangers who need a listening ear.
On the other hand, I tend to be like Mary – taking time to ponder the things of God. I love to sit on my step and look at the trees and feel the Holy Spirit wind. I love to walk on the beach and feel the rhythm of the ocean and watch the sea gulls soaring. I love to talk to friends and hear their stories and insights about life. I love having time to do nothing in particular except be.
Jesus is right: Mary has chosen the better part. But he didn’t say that Martha’s part isn’t good or necessary. I think he is giving me a gentle reminder about balance. If I am a spiritual being in human form, then I need to consciously place my spirit in the presence of God every day.
The Good Samaritan
Luke 10:25-37
When I notice your pain, your grief, your struggle—compassion moves me to reach out, to comfort, to console. I have been where you are. I have experienced rejection, abandonment, abuse, and loss.
It starts with the awareness. If I am not aware of my own pain, I will never notice yours. If I am not aware of my own suffering, I will walk by and leave you on your own. If I am not aware of my own humanity, I will tend to overlook yours. If I am not aware of the Truth of my place as a beloved child of God, I will never welcome you as an equally beloved child of God.
Open my eyes and heart to love my neighbor as myself.
[Jesus] said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” Luke 10:2a
Do I bring peace with me wherever I go, whatever place I enter? Do I smile, say please and thank you, hold the door for others? Do I make eye contact and greet everyone I meet? Do I stop to help someone in need, listen to someone’s story, comfort someone who is suffering? Do I remember to be grateful for running water, plentiful food, access to education, and all the other gifts that fill my daily life?
How can I bring a bit of the Lord’s peace with me today?
Mary Ann McSweeny 