How well do you maintain love for your city? I’m sure we all enjoy little flourishes of
compassion now and again, but how consistently are you able to maintain a heart
for the boys, girls, men and women in Bloomington/Normal and the surrounding
area? From time to time I hear things
that shock me as people tell me about how they occasionally harbor ill-will
against drivers, fellow employees/bosses, government workers, store clerks,
etc. They share thoughts and feelings
that, while honest, aren’t very kind.
The thing that shocks me isn’t their words, it’s that I know they are
good people, with kind hearts, who have joined in many efforts to love our
city. They simply need . . . to maintain
that love through a close walk with Jesus, our Lord. The closer we get to Jesus our Love, the more
we are filled with His love for others.
It’s a common problem.
There are a lot of Christians who walk around completely oblivious to
the fact that their “check engine” light is on.
In Luke 9, James and John remember a time when Isaiah called down fire
on some resisters. So, when the city of
Samaria refuses to let Jesus and His disciples pass through on their way to
Jerusalem, James and John show some ugly shades of bad attitude and resentment
in their heart by asking, “Should we call fire down on Samaria?” Jesus, of course, replies, “Um . . . no . . .
not today . . . not any day . . . no need for fire balls, James and John . . .
but, you might want to check your attitude, your heart . . . your check heart
light is on, Buddies!”
I was sitting with an elderly man who was in his 90s
once. He was a decades-old believer and
he and I were talking about the state of the world. He said, “Oh, Todd, I just keep hoping and
praying that Jesus returns soon so that this old world can get what’s comin’ to
‘em.” I just nodded in agreement, just
sure that every word that came out of his mouth would be dripping with wisdom,
but then thought, “Wait! What? No.” I
laughed and said, “Do you really mean that?
Do you really hope that people in the world, ‘get what’s comin’ to
‘em’?” He paused and thought, then said,
“Well, I suppose that doesn’t sound very nice, does it?” No . . . no, it doesn’t. Maintenance needed. It can sneak up on even the most saintly
God-lover.
This Sunday we’re going to look closer at this story . . . forgive
those who have hurt us . . . ask God to help us show kindness . . . ask the
Lord to remove any wickedness in us . . . request that the Lord checks all of
the systems of our heart, soul, mind, and strength so that we can maintain a
Spirit-filled love for our city.
You All Rock!!!!!
Invite like crazy! See you
there!!
Pastor Todd
P.S. Thank you for
loving your city today by passing out 3500 bottles of water. That was fun!
Loved serving with you! Let’s
keep it up. It just feels right, doesn’t
it?
I really enjoyed your thoughts on loving our city and the people around us. I consider myself a pretty nice and pleasant person but as soon as I get into a car drivers better get out of my way. I all of a sudden become so competitive. So thank you for that reminder. Every single person on this earth is a child of God and should be treated as such. Thank you again. A friend of mine recently wrote an article on kindness and how it would solve many things. I thought that you would enjoy it, let me know what you think.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.reallifeanswers.org/love-and-relationships/is-kindness-for-everyone-a-possibility/