First responses

All photos from BBC Day in Pictures, January 2

I woke this morning with a to-do list and a song in my head. The to-do list whirled around with possible outcomes:

• Did I understand that email correctly? Was I supposed to extend an invitation or is the meeting host making the arrangements. Check in with the leader before moving ahead.
• When I ask the store for this item, the response might be a) ... or b) ... or c)...
• The list from last week's team meeting: pull it out and get moving on it.
• Write a thank-you to ...

And so on.

The song conducting my waking toe movements is a happy one: (Click here to listen.)
Chorus:
You have been so good to me
You have been so good to me
I came here broken, You made me whole
You have been so good, You have been so good
You have been so good to me (repeat)

Verse:
How can I thank You, there is just no way
How can I thank You, Lord, how could I repay
For Your kindness, for Your tenderness
For Your constant Presence here with me

Before I roll out of bed, I grab the IPad on my nightstand to listen to a daily coaching moment with Dr. Dave Martin. This morning he talks about the consequences of humanity's fall. God asks Adam and Eve two questions: 1) Where are you? 2) What have you done?

In a coaching setting, what great questions to evaluate the past before doing the next thing.

As usual, my mind churns in a direction not necessarily intended by Coach Dave. My question is: What would have happened if Adam had been honest and repentant? What if, instead of trying to stay hidden, the first people had confessed: "We both messed up. We did what you forbade. How can we make it right?"

From everything I read in scripture, God responds to sincere grief over wrongdoing. An entire wicked city was spared from judgment when they mourned their sins. (Read about it here.) Would God have reacted differently to Adam and Eve, had they fallen on their faces with a heartfelt "Help us! Forgive! We are sorry!"?

Instead, Adam and Eve go into the world, raise children, and die at an old age. We can't prove that Adam and Eve were good people among sinners, as many of us assume. Adam died in the generation before the flood of Noah, when Noah's father Lamech was an adult and wickedness was rampant on the earth. Adam may have been the model of awfulness that his kids and grandkids followed, though the Redeemer was promised in his lineage. (Crazy to think about, isn't it?)

How faithful God is to his promise. How can it be that I fall among those chosen to believe? Unfathomable. Amazing.

By the time I eat breakfast, my head fills with theological possibilities, my heart's singing about God's faithfulness and "Barmherzigkeit" (lovingkindness and mercy coming from the heart), and I'm eager to see what the day holds.

What a wonderful way to start the week! How was your Monday awakening? What was your first responses to God's "Good morning, dear one?"

Read more:
*Then Solomon and all Israel celebrated the Festival of Shelters in the presence of the LORD our God. A large congregation had gathered from as far away as Lebo-hamath in the north and the Brook of Egypt in the south. The celebration went on for fourteen days in all—seven days for the dedication of the altar and seven days for the Festival of Shelters. After the festival was over, Solomon sent the people home. They blessed the king and went to their homes joyful and glad because the LORD had been good to his servant David and to his people Israel. 1 Kings 8:65–66

*Psalm 18:7-15; 1 Chronicles 26; Acts 16:30-17:3

*The Lord put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Psalm 40:3

*Jesus said to the blind man, “Receive your sight; your faith has saved you.” Immediately he regained his sight and followed him, glorifying God. Luke 18:42-43

Moravian Prayer: Compassionate Savior, we praise you this day. Keep your praises on our lips and in our hearts. Touch our spiritual eyes that we may see you more clearly and worship you faithfully as you created us to do. Amen.

Love without fear

(Jesus said, ) But the third servant brought back only the original amount of money and said, "Master, I hid your money and kept it safe. I was afraid because you are a hard man to deal with, taking what isn't yours and harvesting crops you didn't plant."

"You wicked servant!" the king roared. "Your own words condemn you." Luke 19:20–22

What’s wrong with bringing back an original investment? It’s better than risking all and losing, isn’t it? Re-reading the verses above, I wonder if unearned gains are the reason the king reacts. Perhaps it’s not as much about keeping what we have, as hoarding out of fear. Perhaps it’s not doing our best because of our trepidation of failure … or success.

I’ve been thinking about what life would be like if we loved without fear or faltering. Most of us, in loving and living, have a certain amount of anxiety or hesitation about risking all in the act of giving ourselves to others.

But what if we threw ourselves into life with reckless love, regardless of the perils? What if we were willing to put everything on the line – our reputations, our dignity, our sense of entitlement to reciprocal love – to embrace others and our opportunities with all our personalities and character?

From some, that would look extravagant and extroverted, a splash of kindness in every direction. It’s scary for those who are used to being pushed away from their attempts to do things for others to keep an outgoing flow of love. Especially when we’re told over and over again, “No thanks! Keep away!” “I don’t want your attention!” or “I’ve got life under control, back off!” More devastating still, hearing: “Who do you think you are? You’re not good enough to contribute to me/ this project/ this ministry (etc.)”

Others would quietly serve, wholeheartedly seeing to the good of those around us. Sometimes a gentle spirit is crushed by not being noticed, by having attention drawn to good deeds, or hearing a scathing remark about the inadequacy of such actions. Having someone take the credit while belittling us for loving acts or sacrificial commitments can wither the heart, too.

It might also be shocking to receive such unfeigned grace and good deeds. After all, aren’t we sometimes suspicious of those who lavish good works around them? Don’t we fear that someone who does us a favor may want something from us? Something we might not be willing to return to them?

With all the talk of “love banks” where good actions or “deposits” accumulate to balance “withdrawals” of human need or unkind actions, it’s hard not to start measuring what we are owed and what we owe others. Sometimes, starting from a core distrust, such measurements begin to build a relationship. In truth, we’re so far in debt as far as God is concerned, that the accounting of rights and wrongs smacks of humanism, not godliness.

Scripture says we owe an un-repayable debt of love – that we have become debtors to Christ. In fact, we are His slaves, entirely purchased at Calvary through a bloody ransom. Therefore, if our Master asks us to love other, we don’t have permission or power to refuse – if we want to stay in right relationship with Him. (“By this everyone will know you are my disciples, that you have love one for another,” Jesus said bluntly.)

We probably try to like and love most people. However, I’m thinking beyond the human ability to do no harm and to be nice to those who are our friends and family.

LOVE WITHOUT FEAR. What would a day of that look like to those around me? To those around you? How would such courage feel?

Read more:

*Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him. Lamentations 3:22-25 NIV 

*I will rejoice in the Lord; I will exult in the God of my salvation. Habakkuk 3:18

*Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them?” Mark 2:19 (NIV)

Moravian Prayer: Creator and Sustainer, you have provided such bounty for us, your children. When we feel a lack of earthly things, help us to trust in you to provide for our needs, on earth and in heaven. In Christ’s name. Amen.