Monday, December 8, 2014

Things Bigger Than Us...

Have you ever had one of those times where you realized you were so caught up in your own "life" or "agenda" that you completely missed out on what God had in store for you?  I've had a handful of things on my mind lately that I've wanted to Blog about. I'm going to try and incorporate two of those ideas into this one blog today.

Children have been on my mind heavily the last week or so, children being mistreated, and I don't mean not getting enough attention or a parent missing a birthday party, but I'm talking about horrible and unforgivable atrocities against children. Stories I've read lately include one child who was tied up to a stake in the ground with a collar around his neck outside in the cold and watching his parents beat his pet dog to death and another story coming out of Scotland, where a 5 year old child from Botswana literally had his heart ripped out of his chest while was still alive for some sort of a "ritual sacrifice." 

 I'll post links to the stories below if you don't believe me. It is absolute horror. I can't begin to fathom what goes through the minds of people, to hurt and even kill a child. These stories make me think of my own 4 year old son, it brings me to tears to think of something like this happening to him. For those of you who are parents you'll know what I mean when I say I would do anything I possibly could to keep my children from having to experience pain. There is no part of me that ever would want my children to suffer. What in the world is wrong with people that would do these kinds of things to children? 
Only thing I can come back to is that there is an absence of true love, the "Agape" love that our Father in heaven has for us.  John 3:16 is one of the most famous and well-known Bible verses. It has been called the "Gospel in a nutshell" because it is considered a summary of the central doctrines of Christianity. The verb translated "loved" in this verse is ἠγάπησεν (ēgapēsen), past tense of "agapaō".
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
—John 3:16, KJV

 Agape received a broader usage under later Christian writers as the word that specifically denoted "Christian" love or "charity" (1 Corinthians 13:1–8), or even God himself (1 John 4:8, ὁ θεὸς ἀγάπη ἐστίν, "God is Love").

 The term agape was used by the early Christians to refer to the self-sacrificing love of God for humanity, which they were committed to reciprocating and practicing towards God and among one another. When 1 John 4:8 says "God is love," the Greek New Testament uses the word agape to describe God's love.

 A self sacrificing love, a love that knows that there are thing more important than our selves, things bigger than "us." Children are to be loved, my son's memory verse for this month is, "Jesus said, 'let the little children come to me' - Matthew 19:14 (in his voice he says Maffew, but I know what he means). The stories mentioned above just ripped my heart out at the cruelty these two children had been shown vs. what they really deserved. 
On another level I felt God speak to me about children, we are all God's children, not just kids, but adults as well. I had a man come by the church today, down and out, homeless at the moment, trying to piece his life back together. Just before Thanksgiving we had done some things to help him and try and get him back on his feet. He's still trying, has a job, but just lost his spot in a shelter he'd been staying in. I didn't really have the ability to help him from our "benevolence" account again this month. He asked if I could at least get him some food, I told him I was sure I could manage that. 

 Now, this all came at a bad time for me in my day, I was on an important phone call when he came in to the church and I had an appointment I was trying to make at 12:30, so I was rushing a bit with this guy. I told him, ok let's go and I'll take you to get some food (in my mind, I'd decided that I 'd take him to get lunch at a buffet somewhere, drop him off, pay for it and still have time to make it to my appointment). So we go outside and load is bike, bag of clothes, backpack, tent, and machete (yes a machete) into my Tahoe and I take him to Western Sizzlin, as I'm going through the line with him (ready to hurry up and pay so I can go), I had a real check in my spirit, "Are you too good to sit down and have lunch with this man? My child?" Yeah, at that moment I felt like a dirt bag, nobody in his situation should have to eat alone, I was about to miss an opportunity to do something bigger than myself, I could encourage this guy, pray with him, maybe make a difference. At least show him that someone, somewhere cared.

 Turns out he's trying to get enough money to be able to take care of his wife who is in a nursing home, the right half of her body is paralyzed and they don't really have any other family to help them out. We had a good lunch, he said that his steak was a little too pink, but the fried chicken was good, he was extremely grateful, said that he never gets to eat in nice places like Western Sizzlin. He "snuck" a few cookies into his jacket to take to his wife, and I dropped him, his bike and all his gear (yes the machete too) off at the nursing home so he could spend some time with his wife before going into work, to try and do his best to take care of his family.
There are things in our life every day that are "Bigger Than Us," don't get too busy and miss out on opportunities God puts in front of you. You have the ability to have a great influence on people around you and make a difference in this world, which is full of people that don't know what true Agape love is, you can show it to them. That Self Sacrificing Love that knows no bounds, and is willing to not just give out of abundance but out of need as well.

 "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me."
- Matthew 25:40