Sue Guck

Michelle was on the phone. She had lost her mom to cancer, 9 months previous.
And now Michelle was calling me to tell me that now her father had passed in his sleep of a diabetic coma.
She was in her early twenties and now she and her older sister were left alone… far too young to have to deal with what life had dealt them.

But she was not alone… for she was now a part of a large, very large group of people that through life circumstance had or were in a new season of questioning.

Why me?
Why now?
Why this?
Where is God in all of this?

During several of our conversations she would declare that she was losing her faith.

She was losing her faith… her faith in the kind of God she used to believe in.
She was losing her faith in that “vending machine God”… you know the transactional faith where we try desperately to play our role… we put in our bit, and then God will do God’s bit.

But I was heartened by a future I believed was waiting for her. A future of more, not less, faithfulness…

So let’s talk about faithfulness.
Faithfulness is not all about unicorns and rainbows.
Faithfulness is not always easy or simple.
Faithfulness is not about burying you head in the sand and ignoring the reality of life.
Faithfulness is not just making lemonade out of the lemons we experience.

Faithfulness is a living, breathing, journey filled with twists and turns, ups and downs, joy and pain. Even excruciating pain…

For all of our efforts we are still left with the confession that we don’t know all there is to know about our reality.
There is a lot of ambiguity that we have to deal with…
Faithfulness is the ability to stay in relationship with the creator of the universe in the midst of ambiguity.

Why do bad things happen to good people?
Why do we come pre-wrapped in bodies that are so frail and prone to disease and simple accidents that can be so devastating?

Faithfulness is being able to seek hope and beauty in the midst of all this ambiguity.
This also helps us know what is not unfaithful…
Being upset at God is not unfaithful…
Being frustrated with God or questioning God’s motives or plans or intentions is not unfaithful.

But that is not an unfaithful stance before God.
It’s real and it’s honest.
And God encourages real honest relationships and real relationships have all of that stuff in them.

Years ago, while on a youth group retreat, we had all finished breakfast at a McDonald’s and were walking back to the bus when I heard some loud shouting in the drive thru. It was clearly a man’s voice loudly berating the McDonald’s drive thru employee and as his car pulled away I could see a young woman hunched at the window, sobbing. The pastor on the trip with me also heard it and after a quick nod of the head we both jogged over to the drive through window.

As we attempted to comfort her, the pastor asked her what was wrong.
She told us that the man had paid with cash and some change… the change totaled 11 cents and she mistakenly thought the dime and the penny he gave her were two penny’s. The dime was darkened and looked like a penny– with a quivering outstretched hand she showed us – and she told us she simply asked him for the other 9 cents. Instead of extending kindness he exploded with vile anger, and reduced this young woman to rumble.

Have you ever wondered God is so concerned about how we treat each other?
You and I… we are created in God’s image…
How we treat one another is how we treat the image of God.
What are your 9 cent moments? We all have them.
It might not be destroying the spirit of a fast food worker in a drive thru…
But being unkind is not new…

Over this next week take some time to reflect on your past 9 cent moments.
What was it that led you to that 9 cent moment?
What continues to wind you up, producing those 9 cent moments?

And in all of that may you remember that you are made in God’s image… so are others…
You were made for more… more kindness.

More…. Patience

Ephesians 4:1 I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Eph 4:1-3 NRS)

In this letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul he urges them to be patient with one another.
Why patience?
Why exercise patience with each other?
What a text for us… as we wait and wait and wait…

Patience is that great giver.
Patience gives the other time.
Time to reflect… time to get things sorted out… time to be themselves.
Patience gives the other respect.
Respect their wishes and desires… their backgrounds… respect the others opinions
Patience gives the other understanding…
Understanding of their circumstance… understanding human nature… understanding that we all have hopes and dreams…

And along the way of giving patience – patience gives the giver of patience a new heart.
A new heart that is softer and more open.
A new heart that seeks to help others have a new heart too.

More… love
John 13:34-35

34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35 NRS)

More love, Jesus says, more love
And in this case a very particular kind of love.
Not the love you have for your spouse or partner.
Not the love you have for your family.
Not even the type of love you have for friends.

It’s a type of love that should be present in all those relationships, and it’s also the type of love that extends outward, seeking no reward, without expectation.

A love that is more because what it does in the world.
This love is sacrificial love.
The type of love that sacrifices for the other.
The type of love that breaks down the clusters we form.
The type of love that extends beyond boundaries.
More love. In humbling yourself the kingdom of God comes near.

So… why the struggle with love? Why don’t we do this? Why don’t we love more?
Sacrificial loves comes from a commitment to God’s kingdom coming near… not an imposition of our own kingdom coming near.
When we are busy every single day, sorting ourselves into ever smaller and smaller groups of people, building our own kingdoms of people who think, act and see the world the same way we do we can far too often howl and rail against everyone else… our love… get’s small… shrivels.

And so our kingdoms, our world view get’s small… shrivels.
And we no longer see God’s kingdom…

But what if… we seek more love not within ourselves but by giving ourselves away?
But what if… we live into God’s kingdom by living into the creed Jesus is Lord?