Familiar With His Voice

Posted on by Betsy

I had spotted her at events we both are required to attend and felt her discomfort. An episode in our past that did not directly involve either one of us had created a social divide. I don’t know how she had processed what happened, but I know we both have felt pain and awkwardness since.

I spotted her again at a recent event and knew I had to approach her. I suppose I will never know how it felt on her end, but I felt the strong leading of the Holy Spirit to “break the ice” and hopefully make it so that when we encounter each other again, we can nod and say good morning rather than circle the room to avoid each other.

I cannot say it was a break-through moment. I could feel her body stiffen up as I approached her. I said good morning, asked her how she was, and let her know I was praying for her family. Her responses were polite and minimal, making me fear that my “drive-by compassion” had really caught her off guard and did not bridge the awkwardness that I had hoped it would. Worse, I fear I may have caused her pain by speaking to her, something completely opposite of what I was hoping to do.

So then I did what we all do in that moment. I began to question whose leading I was truly following by approaching her. … God’s or mine?

I talked to a mom in my church last week who expressed the same confusion. Praying for her son had led her to believe that a situation would be resolved in a particular way. When that did not transpire, she naturally began to question whether she was hearing God’s voice or her own as she prayed.

God speaks to us in ways that we do not communicate with others. His Spirit speaks to our spirit and we “hear” what he is saying….but only if we are tuned in with fine precision. This requires spending a lot of time in his presence, so that the voice becomes clearer with each encounter. We tune in every time we pray, serve, worship, meditate, fellowship, and SIT with his word.

John 10 The Message (MSG)

He Calls His Sheep by Name

10 1-5 “Let me set this before you as plainly as I can. If a person climbs over or through the fence of a sheep pen instead of going through the gate, you know he’s up to no good—a sheep rustler! The shepherd walks right up to the gate. The gatekeeper opens the gate to him and the sheep recognize his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he gets them all out, he leads them and they follow because they are familiar with his voice. They won’t follow a stranger’s voice but will scatter because they aren’t used to the sound of it.”

6-10 Jesus told this simple story, but they had no idea what he was talking about. So he tried again. “I’ll be explicit, then. I am the Gate for the sheep. All those others are up to no good—sheep stealers, every one of them. But the sheep didn’t listen to them. I am the Gate. Anyone who goes through me will be cared for—will freely go in and out, and find pasture. A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.

14-18 “I am the Good Shepherd. I know my own sheep and my own sheep know me. In the same way, the Father knows me and I know the Father. I put the sheep before myself, sacrificing myself if necessary. You need to know that I have other sheep in addition to those in this pen. I need to gather and bring them, too. They’ll also recognize my voice. Then it will be one flock, one Shepherd.”

Recognizing God’s voice in the cacophony of all the sounds swirling in our minds and hearts takes practice, discernment, and the constant abiding in God’s word, God’s will and his presence. The good news is he loves his sheep. He is constantly calling, cajoling, rebuking, correcting, wooing, comforting, directing, and saying words of caring to us.

Are you trying to hear God today? Tune in, stay tuned, adjust your dial, and wait. The Good Shepherd is calling.

Determined Pansy by Kathy Schumacher

Don’t Let Go of the Rope

Posted on by Betsy

I have been blessed to serve two churches with outstanding preschools. At both the Peachtree City United Methodist Church and the Kitty Hawk United Methodist Church, I have been able to look out my office window and see kids running around, playing, laughing, and learning. When I moved to the Outer Banks and had my first conversation with my District Superintendent about where I might serve, I emphasized to him that I hoped I could serve a church with a preschool. It is that important to me.

One of my favorite things to see in September is the youngest group of children learning how to walk in a line. Isn’t’ it funny to think that at one point when you were little, you had to be taught how to walk in a line? For safety and for learning, our two-year old class of Seal Pups walks with a rope. The rope has handles for each child, and they go marching along the sidewalk to the playground each holding on tight. Kids-on-a-rope is one of the cutest things you will ever see.

We all need a rope to hang on to, don’t we? We need the security and comfort of attaching ourselves to something bigger and stronger in those times when we feel weak and afraid. We need to attach ourselves to something that won’t let go of us.

Let’s see what Joshua says about it:

Joshua 1:9 New International Version (NIV)

9 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

That, right there, is your rope. The Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Every preschool child knows that the teacher will never let go of them. And those kids hang on for life.

So, too, should we hang on to Jesus….for life. One of his strongest promises to us comes in the book of John when he says, “I came that you might have life and have it ABUNDANTLY.” Not just ordinary life, not just plain day to day life, but abundant life. Think about that last word … abundantly. The Greek translation of that word is “pertaining to that which is not ordinarily encountered.” So what Christ offers is something extreme, something extraordinary, something that surpasses everything else. Christ offers true, real, deep and abiding happiness.

But sometimes our happiness, our joy, and our peace get stolen. And we know by whom. It says in the Scripture, “The thief comes to KILL, STEAL and destroy.”  We know that this passage is referring to Satan. And we know what tools he uses … he uses worry. He uses anxiety. He uses fear. He uses distraction and confusion. And when those things are deployed, we lose our grip on Jesus and let go of the rope.

Friends, don’t let go of the rope. Don’t take your eyes off of Jesus. Don’t let worry blur your vision. Do not be afraid! For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

Don’t Let Go by Michelle Robertson

What, Me Worry?

Posted on by Betsy

A few weeks ago I led a women’s workshop on anxiety and worry, and I was profoundly moved by the responses around the room to the subject matter. There was not a single person there who does not struggle with anxiety in some form. Several women approached me during the breaks and said that they feel overwhelmed with worry about what is happening in our country. Does that describe you, too?

Our worries typically center around family, security, finances, health, self-esteem, and other personal issues. What do you worry about the most?

Today we will look at the beautiful story of Joshua, who provides an antidote to worry for us this morning.

Joshua 1:8

“Never stop reading The Book of the Law he gave you. Day and night you must think about what it says. If you obey it completely, you and Israel will be able to take this land.”

You remember that Joshua was the successor to Moses. The Israelites had escaped from Egypt and Moses sent out twelve spies to check out the land. Ten came back and spread fear and anxiety about the “giants” they saw. But Joshua and Caleb came back with calm reports of a land filled with milk and honey. So Joshua was chosen to lead the people after Moses died, and he took the nation of Israel into the Promised Land. There were many battles to be fought, rivers to cross, hardship and hunger to endure … not to mention that the people had already proven themselves to be a bunch of whiners and complainers. But Joshua understood that God would be with them all the way and he could count on God to give them everything they needed.

So looking at that passage again, we can see three things that we can do when worry overcomes us:

READ GOD’S WORD

THINK AND MEDITATE 

OBEY

So the way we can use this as a weapon in the battle against worry is this: Let’s say your morning worry is about traffic, car accidents, personal safety, or concern for your family’. You might find that it is while driving your car that your worries begin to take you over and you fall prey to WHATIFITIS….what if this happens, what if I’m late, what if that car suddenly stops in front of me, what if my son gets in an accident on his way to work, what if my child gets hit by a car getting off the school bus, what if I didn’t latch the baby’s car seat correctly, etc.

So now, let’s imagine you schedule a mere five minutes extra in your morning routine. In fact, you don’t need five extra minutes, just keep your devotional resource available in the bathroom. Most of us spend more than five minutes in there getting ready for the morning. You may be reading this in the bathroom today as you are brushing your teeth and preparing for the day. Good on you!

So, you read a five minute devotional with a bible verse in it. You get in your car. Instead of going through your Worry Loop, you force your mind to think of nothing else but the verse and the devotional that you read first thing. You feel God urging you in some way to respond to the passage. You obey that nudge and think of ways to live that out today. Read, think about it, and obey.

It is in the obey part that we turn our worry into action. When you meditate on Scripture first thing in the morning, you can use it to beat back the worry and focus on what God is calling you to do. Is the Holy Spirit prompting you to call and check on a friend? Are you being directed to stop at the grocery store for donations to your local food pantry? Do you need to write a quick text or email to offer a word of encouragement to someone who is struggling? Based on the Scripture you read, what are you supposed to do today?

Obeying the Word and the prompting of the Holy Spirit is a fine way to keep worry at bay. Taking a proactive stand and living out that Scripture will re-focus your thoughts on what God is doing in your midst, with you as his vessel.

Are you worried today? Go and do something about it.

No Worries Here by Kathy Schumacher

Over ALL Things

Posted on by Betsy

Let’s take a look at Paul’s famous love passage one last time, and today, pay particular attention to verse 7:

1 Corinthians 13 (New Revised Standard Version )

4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable; it keeps no record of wrongs; 6 it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. 

7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

This love comes from Jesus, who loves with an agape love that Paul contends is patient, kind, and “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.”

Did you notice how Paul repeated the word “all” four times in one sentence? Paul used the Greek word “panta” for “all things” in this passage, which leaves no room for doubt about what he is saying. 

Panta means “all encompassing.” For example, the word pantheism is the belief that God is in everything. The word pantry is the place where you put all your food. A panacea is a cure for everything. So Paul is emphatically saying that love doesn’t exclude anything or anyone in the way that it bears everything, believes everything, hopes everything, and endures everything. No one is left out. Cherry picking things to love that are lovable doesn’t qualify. 

This passage challenges us as individuals and as a church that we are to love as Christ loves. Are we truly a church of open hearts, open minds, and open doors? Even when we experience differences, do we put on love over everything?  Remember what Paul wrote to the church at Colossae: 

Colossians 3 (Common English Bible)

12 Therefore, as God’s choice, holy and loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13 Be tolerant with each other and, if someone has a complaint against anyone, forgive each other. As the Lord forgave you, so also forgive each other. 14 And over all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. 

There’s that word again: all things. Over ALL THINGS put on love.

To be called to offer agape love to the world is the mission of the church, and it starts here. Our one and only job is to teach the world hope that is grounded in God’s unconditional and unwavering love for all of us. At the end of time we will be judged on one thing alone, and that is our ability to love.

How are we doing?

Over All Things by Michelle Robertson

What Love Isn’t

Posted on by Betsy

1 Corinthians 13 (New Revised Standard Version)

13 If I speak in the tongues of humans and of angels but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all my possessions and if I hand over my body so that I may boast[a] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable; it keeps no record of wrongs; 6 it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

One of the things I love about Scripture is how you can read it at about 85% of your weddings over 25 years of ordained ministry and all of a sudden you spot something new when you read it one day. That happened to me last week when I suddenly noticed that of all the things Paul said that love IS, he mentioned way more things that love ISN’T. Did you ever notice that before? Do you think that was intentional? Given what he was up against at his church, I definitely think he was calling them out because they were doing way more things that love isn’t than what love is. So Paul is giving us multiple words about what love isn’t in order to help us discover what love is. Listen again to what he said:

4 …love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth.

So that is what love isn’t. 

It isn’t arrogant, so love would never think its own opinion was more intelligent or valuable than another person’s idea. Indeed, love would quietly accept diverse thoughts and listen carefully to other perspectives. 

Love isn’t jealous and doesn’t covet the things other people have. Love is satisfied with what it has and doesn’t need to go out and look for a younger model.

Love doesn’t seek its own advantage, which means that love celebrates everyone else’s achievements and success, and doesn’t put someone down in order to lift itself up. When there is no jealousy, there is no competition for attention. 

Love isn’t rude, so love is careful to be polite in conversations. Relationships break down when labeling, finger-pointing, and name-calling happen, so love is careful to show respect to others. 

Love isn’t irritable, so love takes a moment when something irritates it and prayerfully figures out a mature way to respond. 

Love never enters an argument with a list of past grievances, because love FORGIVES. Have you ever been in an argument with a loved one and find yourself re-hashing old issues? Is that love? What love forgives, love forgets.

One of the things love doesn’t love is injustice and so love works hard to be sure everyone is treated fairly. And love loves truth, especially the One who is the Way, the Life, and the Truth.

I think Paul’s advice can stand as a valuable checklist for evaluating the quality of our love. If you approach your loved ones, your friends, and your neighbors as a jealous, complaining, irritable, rude, and offensive smart-alack, you might need to have yourself a “come to Jesus moment”. Because nowhere in scripture does it say that Jesus loved like that.

Take a look back at what love isn’t and use it as an evaluation of the love you show people. How do you measure up to Paul’s standard of love? Are there any areas for improvement?

Paul says if we do not have love, we are nothing. Go out and be a something today.

Rejoice by Michelle Robertson

Agape Love

Posted on by Betsy

Last Sunday I had an opportunity to preach and the lectionary assignment was 1 Corinthians 13, Paul’s famous “love passage.” I think I have read this at about 85% of the weddings I have officiated. It was read at my wedding and my parents, too. Was it read at yours?

1 Corinthians 13 (New International Version)

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

While this is a fabulous choice for a wedding homily, Paul did not have weddings in mind. Indeed, he wrote this as a kind of rebuke to his church in Corinth. You see, the church had fallen into divisions based on several popular leader’s personalities. Some people in the church claimed to be “from Apollos,” others from “Cephas,” and others from Paul himself. Paul insisted they all consider themselves to be from Christ and Christ alone. He pleaded for them to be of one mind and one purpose, pointing out in Chapter 12 that each person was given a spiritual gift to be used in conjunction with the others for the betterment of the entire Body. This current division along the lines of personality cults was very disturbing to Paul.

The result of their infighting was bitter partisanship that resulted in a complete failure to relate to one another in love. The dramatic failure of these church leaders to act humbly and appropriately in the face of competition for status and influence fueled the division, and some took to adopting arrogant positions of theology that opposed what the Scriptures actually said. Does any of this sound familiar? I think we could drop Paul’s response right into today’s world. Corinth was in the middle of a culture war … I would argue that so are we. Corinth was suffering greatly from people blindly following personality cults, and they completely forgot that Jesus is the only leader we should follow.

So, let’s talk about love.

In the New Testament, we find three forms of the Greek word for love. The first is eros, which describes the intimate, passionate love between two people. This is the love we experience in physical intimacy, and it is a love to be celebrated according to Paul.

The second form of love in the New Testament is philia, which describes the love between friends. It is a fellowship love, a brotherly love … in fact, philia is the root for the name of the city of Philadelphia, the “city of brotherly love.” Many of you know that I grew up eleven miles outside of Philadelphia, so you will forgive me when I point out that if you want to experience the brotherly love of that city, don’t attend a sporting event there. Philly fans are a breed unto their own, I’m telling you!

The last form of love is the word agape, which is defined as a love that is given with no expectation of return or reward. It is a self-sacrificing love. It is a love that gives no thought to self-interest, self-gratification, or self-preservation, but offers unconditional love at any cost. It is a Jesus-on-the-cross kind of love. Some of you have experienced agape firsthand on a Walk to Emmaus. This is the kind of love that Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 13, and I promise you, it will be agape love that will save the world.

The challenge of the church and the mission of the church is to show agape to a world that doesn’t understand the concept. How can you do that today? How can you show undeserved love to your family, friends, and neighbors? Where will you be the reflection of Jesus that loves with no expectation of return or reward?

Go out today and agape someone. You will be blessed if you do.

Jupiter and the Moon by Gary McDonald

Baby Dunes

Posted on by Betsy

Sand dunes grow. They are a complex, living infrastructure of sand, water, vegetation, and wind. Along the Outer Banks, the dunes protect the inner parts of the island from the encroaching seas. We boast of having the largest sand dune on the East Coast here in Nags Head, called Jockey’s Ridge. This massive, moving dune is so big, it has completely swallowed up a mini-golf course.

In the last few years, the Outer Banks has recently undergone extensive beach nourishment along our coastline. Erosion, seas and winds have threatened our beaches for decades, and so our towns have responded with a nourishment program that effectively extended the beach by pumping off-shore sand onto the shoreline.

The Baby Dune Planting effort began in hopes of stabilizing the protective dunes. Baby dunes are intentionally planted with vegetation such as sea oats, hearty grasses, and dense patches of dune mats that take root and hold the dune together. If the vegetation is damaged, the dune will fail, the water will breach, and roads and homes are affected.

The most threatening thing to baby dune growth is people. People ignore the “Keep Off” signs and walk over the dune rather than go a few hundred yards away to a groomed beach access. Beach goers, not wind, are the biggest threat to the stability of this fragile ecosystem.

Colossians 2 (The Message)

My counsel for you is simple and straightforward: Just go ahead with what you’ve been given. You have received Christ Jesus, the Master. Now LIVE him. You’re deeply rooted in him. You’re constructed upon him. You know your way around the faith. Now do what you’ve been taught. School’s out; quit studying the subject and start LIVING it! And let your living spill over into thanksgiving.

This passage talks about taking root in Christ. One of the interesting things about the dune grasses and vegetation mats is that their roots aren’t exceptionally deep, but they spread over the top of the dune and provide anchoring to the top layer of sand. Their extensive system of creeping underground stems keeps the dune intact in the winds.

Much in the same way, rooting ourselves in Christ protects our lives and keeps us intact when the winds of change begin to blow hard. In the midst of adversities, when in the blink of an eye something changes, those matted, secure roots of faith, fellowship, meditation, prayer, worship, and scripture reading can provide resistance.

A friend suddenly lost her mother last week. The death was unexpected and has caught the family terribly off guard. As she is slowly negotiating her new reality, it is her roots in Christ and the interconnected family around her that is keeping her together right now. Another friend is struggling with her spouse’s addiction. The vegetation mat of hope, help, and knowing she is not alone is keeping her strong in her storm.

I don’t know what kind of figurative or literal hurricane you are going through this morning but hear this: You are meant to just go ahead with what you’ve been given. You are meant to receive all that Christ died to give you. You are well constructed on him, and no wind of change, no matter how strong, is going to blow you over. Now do what you’ve been taught! Stay strong, stand firm, and let your living spill over into thanksgiving, even in the storm. God’s got you…and he will never let go.

Sunrise Dune by Michelle Robertson

Perfect Peace

Posted on by Betsy

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

This beautiful prayer is a hallmark of 12 Step groups such as AA. The origin of it is somewhat disputed, but look at this longer prayer written by theologian Reinhold Niebuhr:

God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things which should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.

Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time, accepting hardship as a pathway to peace.

Taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it.

Trusting that You will make all things right, if I surrender to Your will, so that I may be reasonably happy in this life, and supremely happy with You forever in the next.

Amen.

The pursuit of serenity and peace is something that consumes many of us, with little to no results. The reason may be that we are using the wrong things to find it. Hoping to find serenity in alcohol, drugs, food, “retail therapy”, inappropriate relationships, overworking, over exercising, attempting to control everything around us … even the list itself is exhausting.

I know someone who religiously gets up every morning to pour over every single page of a national newspaper, thinking that intellectual pursuit of answers to her anxiety about the current state of affairs will bring her peace. It does not. I know someone else who is up at the crack of dawn to exercise, followed by more cardio work and group classes throughout the day, in hopes that physical exhaustion will settle her mind down. It does not. Neither will the every-afternoon Happy Hour routine, the weed smoked before class, the sexting, the pornography, the overspending, the under-eating … nothing we can produce or manufacture will bring us true peace. It is all lies, smoke, and mirrors fueled by industries who are just trying to entice more consumption of useless things.

Niebuhr was right. Accepting hardship, rather than denying it, is the pathway to peace. Living one day at a time, rather than spinning with worry about tomorrow, will lead us to serenity. Enjoying one moment at a time rather than comparing that moment to the fun everyone on Fakebook seems to be having will lead to acceptance of the world as it is. And the key? “Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His will.”

Take a look at verses 3 and 4 of this passage from Isaiah. Note that the voice changes in this passage; verse 1 and 2 describes what is happening, verse 3 addresses God, and verse 4 addresses us.

Isaiah 26

1 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

“We have a strong city;

    he sets up salvation

    as walls and bulwarks.

2 Open the gates,

    that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in.”

3 You keep him in perfect peace

    whose mind is stayed on You,

    because he trusts in You.

4 Trust in the Lord forever,

    for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.

To be kept in this perfect peace, our minds must be “stayed” on God. The Hebrew word “sawmak” comes from the root “to prop,” and is translated as “to lean upon or take hold of; to bear up, establish, uphold, lay, lean, lie hard, put, rest self, set self, stand fast, stay, sustain.” (Strong’s Dictionary)

So, what sustains your mind? What do you lay your mind upon? What does your mind stand fast upon? What is your mind leaning on? To have perfect peace, your mind can’t just occasionally visit the Lord; it has to be STAYED on him. Keeping your mind, heart, soul and activity wholly centered on God is the way to peace.

Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.

Serenity by Michelle Robertson

Feeding the Lord

Posted on by Betsy

There is a town in central Florida called Celebration that has a charming, old-fashioned downtown area. The businesses that line the streets often have dog water bowls and little baskets filled with dog treats to entice you to stop and look in their windows. You can imagine my dog Georgia’s incredible joy when we discovered this on a recent visit! The downside for the other dogs is that her stop at the bike rental water bowl completely depleted their offering.

Now mind you, my girl is no angel, but the kindness these folks show the local dogs made me think about the scripture about “entertaining angels” in the book of Hebrews:

Hebrews 13 New International Version (NIV)

13 Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. 2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. 3 Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

Providing hospitality is a common theme in the Bible. Think about travel in those days; Inns were few and far between or completely absent all together. Travelers could only get by with a little help from unknown friends, so providing shelter and a meal was commonplace.

Remember the story of Abraham and Sarah from Genesis 18? Three strangers came along as Abraham was sitting outside his tent. He jumped up and offered them water, bread, and the shade of his tree:

Genesis 18 Common English Bible (CEB)

18 The Lord appeared to Abraham at the oaks of Mamre while he sat at the entrance of his tent in the day’s heat. 2 He looked up and suddenly saw three men standing near him. As soon as he saw them, he ran from his tent entrance to greet them and bowed deeply. 3 He said, “Sirs, if you would be so kind, don’t just pass by your servant. 4 Let a little water be brought so you may wash your feet and refresh yourselves under the tree. 5 Let me offer you a little bread so you will feel stronger, and after that you may leave your servant and go on your way—since you have visited your servant.”

They responded, “Fine. Do just as you have said.”

Abraham offered the standard of care: water for foot washing and a little bread. But look what actually happens:

6 So Abraham hurried to Sarah at his tent and said, “Hurry! Knead three seahs of the finest flour and make some baked goods!” 7 Abraham ran to the cattle, took a healthy young calf, and gave it to a young servant, who prepared it quickly. 8 Then Abraham took butter, milk, and the calf that had been prepared, put the food in front of them, and stood under the tree near them as they ate.

It was a five-star meal. Course after course of breads, meat, butter, milk … he opened up a smorgasbord of hospitality for these three men. And mind you, while we’re in on the fact that it was the Lord whom he entertained (read vs. 1 again), Abraham wasn’t. He was simply extending gracious hospitality because he had it to give, thereby entertaining angels.

How would you respond differently if you suspected that the hungry, dirty people needing your hospitality were the Lord and his angels? Would you lavish your resources on them, or offer water and a little bread? Would you close the door in their faces?

Jesus was very clear when he said that whenever you have offered the cup of cold water to the “least of these,” you have entertained him. So keep on showing hospitality to strangers. Keep on feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the unclothed, and most of all, keep on loving one another as your brothers and sisters.

Gracious Hospitality by Michelle Robertson

How to be Great

Posted on by Betsy

With all the broken news that broke last week, you probably missed Starbuck’s announcement that they are no longer permitting non-paying customers to use their restrooms. A flurry of comments followed, including a lot that chastised people from ever thinking they should be allowed to use a restroom in a business without purchasing anything. “Entitlement!! Entitlement!!” people yelled. It reminded me of a time that I witnessed a woman acting out her entitlement on an airplane, and it did not go well.

This very disgruntled passenger was loudly complaining that she had been re-routed because of weather, and she was MAD. She had requested a window seat on the flight she had originally booked, but she was given an aisle seat on the re-route. Everyone’s seats had been reassigned, as the second plane was a different size and configuration as the first.

At first she refused to take her seat, blocking the aisle so that people had to try to get around her to board. She actually delayed our take-off. Then she rang her flight attendant call button and argued with a very polite flight attendant, who could do nothing because the flight was full, and all the window seats were taken. The woman kept getting louder and louder, and all of us sitting near her were uncomfortable and embarrassed.

Finally, a second flight attendant came from the back and leaned over and spoke to the man who was seated at the window seat in the row behind her. He bent over the seats and said something to the man in a conspiratorial behind-the-hand way. The man looked up at the row signs and got a big grin and nodded “yes”. The flight attendant then told the obnoxious woman that the gentleman in the window seat behind her had graciously offered to trade seats. “Well, thank you mister, and no thanks to Delta!” she harrumphed as they made the seat switch.

As I watched this exchange, I realized why the fellow was grinning. The agent at the woman’s departure airport who had handled her re-direct had upgraded her. Her aisle seat was actually in Comfort Plus. Comfort Plus is an upgraded section in the first several rows behind First Class. This section has wider seats, more leg room, free movies and games, a snack basket with a variety of premium snacks, and free adult beverages. Naturally, Comfort Plus costs more. The row behind her, where the gentleman had been sitting, was the first row of Economy with none of these perks. So she got the window seat she had demanded … in Economy. The generous fellow got several free glasses of wine, lots of free snacks, and a much better seat, while the woman got what she deserved.

We live in a culture that is plagued with an entitlement disorder. It’s the 11th Plague. Moses thought he had it bad! Actually, his people suffered from entitlement disorder also. Do you remember what they said after God delivered them from slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land? They complained, “at least we had something to eat in Egypt!” Entitlement disorder has been with us for thousands of years.

People feel entitled to everything nowadays, and if they don’t get what they think they deserve, somebody has to pay. If we had a modern day beatitude, it would probably be, “Blessed are the aggressive, for they shall get what they want.” It is a push-to-the-front of the line mentality that goes against everything Christ calls us to be.

In the 10th Chapter of Mark, we see this unusual exchange between James, John and Jesus.

Mark 10

35 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 36 And he said to them, “What is it you want me to do for you?” 37 And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” 38 But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking.

42 So Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. 43 But it is not so with you; whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

NOT SO WITH YOU. You are a part of me, and I came to be a servant. I came to serve, not to be served. The greatest of you will be the one who is the servant of all. The gentiles have authorities over them who report to authorities over them, but my Kingdom will have no chain of command. Why? Because mine is a Kingdom of love. And love doesn’t seek position, it serves.

How about we covenant to put God’s agenda first? Find someone who needs the better chair and trade places. Seek out a place to let someone else go first. Hold a door open, let someone in front of you in traffic, volunteer at the food pantry, skip worship and go hold a baby in the nursery (yes, I said skip worship) and put someone’s needs before your own. And may we do it all with a servant’s cheerful and generous heart!

Don’t be a James or a John. Be a Jesus.

Silhouette Tree by Michelle Robertson