Set Your Hope on Christ by Renee Fisher

Ephesians 1:3-4 (from NRSV) : Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love.

Have you ever had to say you’re sorry when you really didn’t feel like you had done anything wrong?  Did you say you were sorry anyway?  If you did, why did you?  If you did not, what would it have cost you if you had? 

Have you ever later come to see the issue from the other person’s perspective and then understood how they could have come to the conclusions they did, why they might have been hurt or frustrated?  Did you say you were sorry then?

I have worked in retail customer support for more than 2 years at my current job.  Before that my husband and I had our own business and before that I worked for more than a decade for a debt collection company.  In that time, I have had to say “I’m sorry” many times for problems I did not cause, for mistakes others made, even for blunders the customers themselves have made.  But, I have learned it doesn’t hurt to say you’re sorry, even for things you KNOW you didn’t do, for problems you KNOW you didn’t cause.  You may think this is because I don’t really feel sorry, that I don’t mean it when I say it.  But the truth is, I do mean it.  Every time.  I AM sorry.  I’m sorry they are hurt, or frustrated, or in pain.  I’m sorry I can’t fix it.  I’m sorry for whatever part I have played in it.  I am sorry. And I say so.

This doesn’t mean I have no regrets and I’m always the one to say I’m sorry first.  I have as much self-righteous anger as anyone else.  The personal problems and pains, where I HAVE played a part, those are much harder.  Whether I have been the receiver or the giver of pain, frustration, anger, it is much harder to come to peaceful resolution when the issues are near and dear to my heart.  But the reality is, if I could have the same ease and willingness to say I’m sorry for my part in whatever the situation, the sooner peace will be in my relationships.  When my heart is hardened, there is no peace.  Not because I have all the power over all my relationships.  When my heart is hardened, there is no peace for me.  I have no control over the other person.  They could be going along happily in their lives, not giving one more minute of thought to my regret, my pain, or my frustration.  I keep the pain alive if I’m not willing to let go of it.

I think is what this scripture is about.  This scripture is a blessing and even a prescription for our lives. 

Our amazing God has given us life, the very breath in our bodies.  God has given us the beauty of creation around us, but most important, God has given us love.  From the gift of love, all other gifts come, all of the Fruits of the Spirit: joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  All of these come from love.  Every Spiritual Blessing is from the “heavenly places.”

The writer of the scripture reminds us we have the answers.  We know them and we only have to live them.

God blessed us with Christ’s teachings of love and forgiveness.  Christ taught us God’s love is as boundless as the wind, as caring as the Samaritan, as forgiving as the Prodigal son’s father.  And through Christ’s example, we, too, can understand God’s love and experience the “heavenly places.”  We can understand heaven through love, through our willingness to repent, to forgive, to give up our own comfort for the comfort of another.  To the extent we can give of ourselves, we can understand God’s love for us.  And when we do this, when we love in such a way, then we will experience Heaven on this earth.  We can experience joy, peace, hope, kindness, and all the other fruits of God’s love.  If we but open our hearts, become who God calls us to be, then all of heaven will be ours.  The Kingdom of God will be in our midst. 

Love is the answer to all the pain and misery in the world.  Love is the answer to hate, to war.  Love is the heaven that we seek when we look to life after death.  Love is the place where we experience God.  Open your heart, right here, right now.  Experience God’s heaven.  Live in God’s Love.

See with God's Eyes by Kathy Jones

     The big man with flowing hair and long beard walked into the shelter with backpacks on both sides of his chest and a huge, beautiful walking stick.  I greeted him as he moved to fill his plate with breakfast and he smiled with the bluest eyes ever. This was my first encounter with Dan, a homeless gentleman whose life included severe war injuries, PTSD, family dysfunction and anxiousness if he was crowded. He had several outdoor camps around town and usually carried everything he owned so it would not get stolen. This rough and perhaps scary looking man was one of the most generous and caring people I had met in a long time. He was always ready to lend a helping hand or tell stories that left us in amazement.  When I first met him, I was looking at him through my human eyes. As I got to know him, I could see him through God’s eyes. A precious, gentle soul who lives life in ways that most of us are working so hard to avoid. Dan’s testimony of his relationship with God was inspiring.  His belief was unpolluted and not shackled by worries, stress, programs, time, or guilt. His belief in God was pure.

    We all come across situations which call for courage in action. When I was working in an elementary school, we decided to have a food drive contest for our local food bank. The top two classes with the most items would win ice cream for their snack. (Never underestimate the power of elementary children in their quest for ice cream!)

   Each class began filling up their boxes and counting their items. One mother bought 12 jars of baby food so another student brought 13 jars of baby food so it would count more.  Soon, the contest took on a life of its own and even adults began encouraging students to bring in smaller items because they would count more towards their goal of winning. About 3 hours before the contest was to end, an administrator got caught up in the contest and left campus to purchase more items for her child’s class so they would win.  All of a sudden, a good and caring activity turned into a contest filled with greed, competition, manipulation. The goodness and initial caring of the food drive was lost in selfish ice cream.

    Could I do it? Could I walk into the principal’s office and stand there and tell her I thought we needed to get back to the reason for the contest in the first place? Would I have the courage to express my sense of injustice and unfair practices in a contest which started with compassion and turned in to greed?  You bet I could do it. Because God was allowing me to see this teachable moment through His gracious eyes and the knot in my stomach was pushing me forward right into her office.

    After visiting about my concerns and the real meaning of the food drive, it was as simple as an announcement over the intercom to tell all the classes that everyone would be getting ice cream and no grand total would be necessary. The task of feeding the hungry was the real success.

   How can we see a situation so ghastly like the earthquakes in Nepal through God’s eyes?  It is a blessing we cannot see as thoroughly as God sees because we would not be able to humanly process the entire pain and destruction. This does not mean God wants us to ignore the situation or the feelings of kinship with the mother desperately hanging on to her children in the middle of the street while buildings crash all around them. Or the look on the face of the elderly man as he realizes that he has nothing left – no home, no food, no clothing, and no possessions.  So how can we see this through God’s eyes? God wants us to see the world as one. One in humanity. One in caring.  One with us. One in action. God desires our prayers and generosity in response to situation that was not in our own back yard, but which is still in our world.

   Not every person in the world is easy to love. There was an old man that passed away. He lived a long life, but his life reflected greed, love of money, lack of compassion, selfishness and absence of emotion for his family. He was not an easy person to be around, and you often left his home feeling angry, insulted, frustrated, even saying the words, “I hope I never have to see this guy again.”

   When he passed away, the family asked if I would do the funeral service. Whew! What do you say about a person who lived such a life? How do you comfort loved ones when they need little comfort? What scriptures can you choose when you know he could have cared less?

   We all know people that make it very difficult to see them through God’s eyes. I was reminded of something we always used to say when I volunteered as an EMT with our rural ambulance. “Do no harm.” 

   As I prepared his service, I took great care to be positive and encouraging for those who attended his funeral. I read scriptures of hope and peace. I talked of a family who gave of themselves for his benefit. I smiled.

   Standing at his gravesite, the warm breeze and sunshine were welcoming moments of peace. The words spoken were being led by God.  Although in my experiences with this old man, I could not see the love God had for this person, my role was to do no harm. No disapproval. No harshness. No negativity. Only ministry.

   Whether in the homeless shelter, in your community or across the world, God talks to us.

   D & C 161: 1 “Community of Christ,” your name, given as a divine blessing, is your identity and calling. If you will discern and embrace its full meaning, you will not only discover your future, you will become a blessing to the whole creation. Do not be afraid to go where it beckons you to go.

    D & C 163: 4 a. God, the Eternal Creator, weeps for the poor, displaced, mistreated, and diseased of the world because of their unnecessary suffering. Such conditions are not God’s will. Open your ears to hear the pleading of mothers and fathers in all nations who desperately seek a future of hope for their children. Do not turn away from them. For in their welfare resides your welfare. 

   D & C 162: 6a. From the earliest days you have been given a sacred principle that declares the inestimable worth of all persons. Do not forget. 

   It is not enough that we see through God’s eyes because what we see calls for action.  There is ALWAYS something we can do.  

•   Arrange for a prayer group to lift up those living in world conditions which reflect suffering.
•   Use only encouraging words to support the worth of all persons.
•   Seek out volunteer activities that match the mission of Jesus.
•   Stand up for justice and fairness.
•   Reflect on the generosity you can share by making a donation to Abolish Poverty, End Suffering.
•   If you see a need, make plans to meet it.

   God sees us through His eyes every day and it is a look of love. As we attempt to see through God’s eyes, let us also be vulnerable to act upon what we see.