November 14
Beloved of Good Shepherd Church,
Grace to you and peace in Jesus Christ our Lord!
There is a lot to be upset about in the world, but Jesus has ruined my outrage impulse. I used to have a really good mechanism in my body that allowed me to jump to incredulous, angry, dismay at other people’s behavior in an instant. But Jesus has really messed me up. The parable of the prodigal son is one of the things He used to work me over. You know the story. A father has two sons. One of the boys is a total derelict. He is an outrageous, disrespectful, disappointing human being. The other boy has a fully intact and functional outrage impulse, and when he sees his brother acting like a fool he loses it. He spends days on end allowing his brother rent free space in his head which only makes him more and more miserable. Anger overwhelms and consumes him, and he gives his peace of mind and great swaths of his time away to his brother over whom he is powerless. Then his Father pulls him back to center by saying, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.” This line of scripture is a shimmering contemplative diamond. We’d all do well to write it down on a piece of paper and carry that paper in our pocket always. Here’s what it means: the fullness of God dwells within you, and the infinity of God’s love is your birthright and the source of an endless inner peace that is in no way dependent upon or connected to exterior circumstances. With that parable Jesus calls me back to the center of my own being, where God’s ground and my ground are one, and I am reminded that everything I am looking for can only be found in an intimate and personal relationship with God. That is a great relief because all evidence suggests that the peace I’m looking for is not going to come from the world.
To be clear, this is not a simple plan to avoid upsetting people and situations. Quite the opposite. Once one is called back to center, then one is sent out into the world from the landscape of union in the seat of one’s own soul to love whatever and whoever is right in front of them with God. The difference is my advantage, which is that I am no longer driven by sharp edged anger, rather I now face the world with the ferocity of pure love which burns like a fire and a storm inside my chest. Who better to wade into the middle of the disappointments of the day than us, followers of Jesus who don’t need anything from the moment because all our needs are constantly supplied from the inside by God who is our source and our salvation. That all sounds pretty crazy I know, but I’m telling you Jesus has ruined my outrage impulse. Here’s my advice: if there is any part of you that likes being upset and angry, stay as far away from Jesus as you can because he will mess you up with love from the inside out. Your impulse to fight with people like the derelict brother will dim and you’ll start to be driven by a sparkling curiosity about what makes them tick and how you can meet them where they are and learn to love them as they are. Seriously, Jesus will mess with your life if you let him. If you like your life as it is, then avoid Jesus.
But don’t avoid us, come join us at Good Shepherd for worship this Sunday…and bring a friend!
Remember this always - God loves you, and I do too!
Love is all,
Hendree+