Work Hard, Play Hard

We live in a world that overvalues excess. (Yes, that is redundant.) Many live by the motto "work hard, play hard." Christians tend to just add "pray hard." But living the Christian life, and a life in balance is not a matter of finding the right proportion of working and playing and then going at it full tilt until you drop. And adding to that a few pauses to pray as fast and furious as possible.

Living the Christian life means sharing God's peace and God's love with others whether you are working, playing or praying. You cannot do that if you are going at it hard. Sharing God's love requires an easy pace.

Life is an eternity - Pray at God's pace

Lounging Under a Fig Tree

Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth." Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, "Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!" Nathanael asked him, "Where did you get to know me?" Jesus answered, "I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you." Nathanael replied, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" Jesus answered, "Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these." And he said to him, "Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man." John 1:45-51
 
Lessons
1. Jesus loves you and me - enough to give us a fig tree.
2. Jesus sees us just as and just where we are (under the fig tree) wasting our lives in idleness, wasting our lives in business.
3. Jesus calls us to himself. Jesus uses others to call us to himself.
4. Jesus hears our cynical response to that call.
5. When we come, Jesus tells us everything we have ever done or said.
6. When we come, Jesus accepts us anyway.
7. We are impressed by the insignificant things about Jesus' love.
8. Jesus promises to show us the truly marvelous things about his love anyway.
 
Application to Poverty
1. Jesus loves you and me - and he has given us plenty.
2. Jesus sees us enjoying what we have busying our selves with getting more.
3. Jesus uses events such as the conference on poverty to call us to be about his work in his world.
4. Jesus hears us when we are cynical. "Homeless people choose to live that way."
5. When we come Jesus shows us how selfish and uncaring we are
6. When we come Jesus accepts us and gives us good things to do in and for his kingdom.
7. We are impressed when we have been able to help one person.
8. Jesus promises to change this world through his love.
 
Question for today:
Was Nathaniel lounging under the fig tree just waiting for a fig to fall into his mouth?
Are we just lounging in our affluence just waiting for God's blesses to fall to us?

Jealous of Generosity

In the 20th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew the vineyard owner asks the workers who have been there all day if the are jealous because he is generous, after he has paid those workers who have only worked for an hour the full days wages.

How often we are jealous when we see God's generosity to others. We are jealous when we see how many good things God has given to others. We are jealous when we see how many wonderful talents God has given to others. We are sometimes even jealous when we see how freely God forgives others and brings them into His kingdom - so much so that we sometimes try to add our pre-conditions for salvations.

Jealousy is so easy to fall into, seems so natural, becomes a habit. We can begin to think it is a part of our human nature. And perhaps it is. But our nature includes both the goodness that God originally created in us and the sin nature which we have acquired from the other.

So, yes jealousy is part of our human nature, but it is also a sin.

God forgive.