Springtime is a time for LOVE!

"This is love: not that we loved God, but that God loved us...." 1 John 4:10 

May seems to be a good month to talk about love. There are so many reasons to feel love from God in the Spring. When we look at the blooming roses, feel the heat, smell the Eucalyptus tree leaves and watch the grapes around us grow, spend time with our friends, God’s love is communicated.

         An Upper Room devotional by Dan Johnson, discussed the different definitions of love and how God’s love is distinctive. Johnson said, “Love has been defined in many different ways. One of those ways is that love is something we do. We love. We do. We make a difference. Yet, the apostle John saw it differently. Love, he says, is not primarily something we do but something God does — something God is.

         Our love for others and ourselves is a response to God’s love. We can let go of the notion that love — or anything else — starts with us. It begins with God, who is the alpha and omega, the beginning and end, the first and last.”

         Johnson calls God’s love “great news,” Because: “We can relax, knowing that love doesn’t originate with us, but comes from an endless, abounding, overflowing, and incredible supply. We can draw on God’s love and let it overflow to and through us. God’s love may lead us to some surprising places and circumstances, but God will already be there. God sets an example of sacrificial love for us. Because God’s love is sacrificial, we often need to make some sacrifice to love others well. We love because God first loved us.”

         So in the spirit of God’s love, let’s sacrifice some time and energy to help our church’s mission and activities grow and flourish to show God’s love in our community and beyond. Here are some ways:

1. Attend worship services and show your love of God in worship.     

2. Participate in our garden maintenance and care of the earth.

3. Come to the Boy Scouts BBQ on May 7^th to help our Troop 135.

4. Bring lots of friends and neighbors to our Spring Fling May 21^st.

5. Embrace our new members with your love by getting to know them and invite them to church programs you are a part of.

6. Pray for our church and help it grow by wearing your t-shirt, talking to your friends about coming along with you to worship, and inviting your children and grandchildren to join you on Mother’s day to celebrate your Mom and their Mom.

         God is good all the time and God is love ALL the TIME! I’m sure you can think of even more ways you can show love by loving and giving and caring for your church and our mission in the world. I would LOVE to hear your ideas and plans.

Why I Support Same Sex Marriage

Photo credit: http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/09/opinion/stanley-same-sex-marriage/

In 2nd Samuel 1 there is the sad conclusion of the story of the love between David and Jonathan (the son of King Saul). In declaring his joy about the love Jonathan showed to him, David says: "Your love for me was wonderful, more wonderful than that of women.”  And in1st Samuel 20: 16-17 it says they kissed and made a covenant of love between them. This relationship between David and Jonathan was undeniably a same sex loving relationship. We don’t know if they acted it out beyond kissing. But that is not important. That is private and should remain so. 

         I am very happy the PCUSA has affirmed same sex marriage. I look at it from a nurse’s perspective and know that whenever two people are allowed to make a covenant of love and commitment it is a healthy loving thing to do for their lives. (It is not sexual behavior. It is about LOVE!) Then when one is in the hospital the other in the married couple is legally allowed to be a part of their hospitalization decision-making and intimately support the healing process as any spouse is allowed to do. We have no business speculating if their loving relationship is enacted in their bedroom or not. That is none of our business. But I do know that people who are allowed to marry help build a healthier society. Less STDs and AIDS. Less alcoholism and depression and less suicide. More joy and happiness for all.

         God’s creation is good. God’s unique creation in its various forms of diversity includes not only different colors of skin but also different sexual orientations. If someone is born gay they are not born wrong, that is just part of the beautiful diversity of creation that has existed since the beginning of time. Anthropology is a favorite subject of mine and gay people can be found in every culture around the world and same sex coupling in the animal kingdom as well. 

         I have studied the science that being gay is an inborn genetically influenced trait and as the child develops they become more aware of their uniqueness. I have friends who knew around 6 years old that they were “different” but didn’t know why or how. They have grown up to be wonderful parents with same sex spouses and have become upstanding professors, doctors, choir directors, and teachers. 

         When a person doesn’t know anyone personally who is gay why do they think they can judge the moral correctness of their sexual orientation? They have no understanding of the difficult struggle many gay people experience growing up in a society with judgmental people who assume things about them but don’t take the time or energy to really get to know their life journey. No one chooses to be gay. You know it must be an inborn trait if a person is gay because choosing to be gay would be crazy in a society that kills people for being gay. (A 2001 review of twin studies found identical twins were significantly more likely to share a sexual orientation – that is, to be either both gay, or both straight – than fraternal twins, who are less genetically close. Such findings indicate that genes do factor into a person's orientation. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biology_and_sexual_orientation)

         Just as the church changed her stance on slavery and women’s role in the church, many theologians and biblical scholars now understand these biblical prohibitions of homosexual behavior to refer instead to violent sexual acts (such as the horrible way the guards at Abu Graib prison treated their male prisoners with sexual torture in 2003).  We need to shift our focus to promoting fidelity and respect in marriage between two people. When we do not allow people to marry who love each other, we are interfering with God’s most important creation: Love. And we are putting an obstacle in the way of the Holy Spirit who inspires love between people. Who are WE to put an obstacle in the way of love and allowing people to share love with another in a mutual caring way? I don’t pretend I am God and understand all the mysteries of creation. But I do respect God’s creation and I am an ambassador of God's love.  

         In the days when Paul was writing about homosexual behavior, the Christian community needed to multiply and be very fruitful. So the big cultural pressure was on having children and more of them. It was a sin to “spill their seed on the ground” because they were supposed to use it to create more children. Now our world has over population and we don’t have that cultural influence that greatly affected what they wrote about same sex relationships. 

         Jesus never said anything about homosexual relationships. But he did explain about eunuchs: "For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.” (Matthew 19:11-12)

         When allowed to get married, those born gay are able to be faithful to each other as well. Which is what we should promote for our society’s health in general. What I believe is immoral, wrong and a sin is making gay people feel as if they are second class citizens who can never marry when they fall in love and have happy families. Unless you have journeyed alongside someone who realized they were born gay and struggled to find their place in this world, you have no ability to understand the pain and hardship they go through. Remember Matthew 7: 1-3. 

         And most of all remember 1st Corinthians 13: 1-13:

“If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly,^* but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is LOVE.”

The Most Important Healing Formula in the Commandments

“One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one;  you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:28-31)

Some of the strongest faithful people I know are in recovery from alcohol/drug addiction. They are faithful because many of them know that all they have to depend upon is their faith in God to keep them sober one day at a time. The shame of being addicted to drugs and the awareness that they must admit it to be healed, strips away the pretenses and falseness the rest of us hold on to.

All of us can benefit from understanding the key lessons about healing that I have learned from my friends in recovery. They are based on great teachings from the Bible. The first lesson is: In order to have a full connection with God and others we must allow ourselves to be real, and honest about our strengths AND our weaknesses. I believe that is the reason God calls us to confess our sins openly in worship. Our connection with God and others is hampered when we pretend we are perfect and don’t humble ourselves before God and our neighbors.

The 12 step programs are famous for the way they demand humbleness in their introductions at meetings: “Hi, I’m Jane Doe, and I am an alcoholic.” Bill Wilson and Dr. Robert Smith, founders of the 12 step program Alcoholics Anonymous, understood that being vulnerable, humble, and honest about the illness of addiction was the first step to healing. They based their immensely successful program on having a connection to God (higher power) and to others in the recovery process.

This leads to the second lesson I have learned about healing from my friends in recovery. Healing doesn’t happen independently. Deep lasting healing requires connection to others, and that requires believing one is worthy of being healed, worthy of being loved, and having a sense of belonging. These key lessons are found in the first and second commandments which contain the formula for deep healing: “To love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.” And the second: “To love your neighbor as yourself.”  These incorporate dependence and faith in God to heal, plus the added ingredients of believing yourself to be loveable while sharing that love with others.

During this cold winter flu season, may we all focus on boosting our immune systems and connecting with others through the healing formula that Jesus provides in the two most important commandments. Love is the most important healing medicine of all!

A Cheerful Heart is Good Medicine

 “A cheerful heart is a good medicine, but a downcast spirit dries up the bones.” (Proverbs 17:22)

Last weekend a staff member commented that it was good to hear laughter in the congregation during the service. She believes it attracts more people to our church when they hear how happy and fun we are. I agree with her! When we count our blessings here at PCM we have lots to be thankful for and show it with joyful laughter.

"The power of humor can transform heads and hearts," said Michael Farrell, author and publisher. He believes God gave us a whole system of facial muscles designed just for laughing; so we must use them! We are created to laugh! Yet, life is a mix of tragedy and comedy. Soren Kierkegaard wrote: “Wherever there is life there is contradiction and wherever there is contradiction the comical is present.”

As our church seeks to connect more people to Jesus Christ, we can do so with our facial muscles to greet visitors and old friends with smiles and laughter. People are automatically attracted to laughter when it is positively based on God’s good humor. Plus, a light-hearted look at life can give us hope and optimism in times of trouble.

God had a plan when human creation was blessed with the ability to laugh. Laughter lowers your blood pressure, improves your digestion, and increases the serotonin in your brain that enhances your mood. One of my favorite sounds is a baby’s belly laugh when playing peek-a-boo. I find it impossible to not laugh along with the baby I hear laughing. Humor is contagious! (I can't help but laugh when I look at this photo of my son, Ian, who was laughing at me when I took this picture.)

As a Psychiatric Nurse Therapist/Pastor, I must share with you more of the mental health benefits of humor. Laughter adds joy and zest to life, eases anxiety and fear, relieves stress, improves mood, and enhances resilience. A dose of laughter is important to have each day. Look up a new joke-a-day on the internet and start your day with a laugh. Share the good medicine by making one of your daily goals to make another person laugh heartily and positively.

Strive to see the funny side of tension, disagreements, disappointments, or surprising changes in plans. Marriage counselors say that one of the key qualities to a successful marriage is when one of the couple is able to step back and diffuse an argument with genuine positive laughter or lightheartedness. Not to ignore the problem, but to give a new perspective on it that changes the tone from hopeless to hopeful.

God created us to enjoy three L’s:  to laugh and love and live together. Angela Macnamara suggests it is best to seek the lighter side of life in all circumstances. She said, “There is no period of life that does not have its own silver lining.”

As we become more “silver,” over time, let us keep the gift of laughter active to enhance our faith and mental health status as we respond to the contradictions and calamities of life on earth. (For more on the health benefits of laughter see: http://www.helpguide.org/life/humor_laughter_health.htm)

A Christ-like Deed of Love a Day in 2011.

“Joy to the World the Lord is come; let earth receive her king! Let every heart prepare him room and heaven and angels sing!” (Isaac Watts)

We all love singing this hymn at Christmas time. But after the “joy” part Watts is telling us to make room for Jesus Christ in our hearts. How do we make room for J.C. in our hearts and lives? We are too busy, too frantic, too worried, too tired. But Christ said, “Come to me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11: 28) As Christians, our trust is to be in Christ and we are to rest in him and allow him room in our hearts and lives.

In David Bryant’s book: Christ Is All! He explains his belief that the most significant crisis emerging today among Christian churches everywhere is the diminishing of the uniqueness of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Do you believe Jesus Christ was more than a man? If not, then why worship him?

"For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels- everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was supreme in the beginning, and – leading the resurrection parade – He is supreme in the end. From beginning to the end he’s there, towering far above everything, everyone. The mystery in a nutshell is this: Christ is in YOU. Therefore, you can look forward to sharing in God’s glory. It’s that simple." (From The Message version of Colossians 1).

“You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is the Son of God; or else a mad man or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool; you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God.” (C.S. Lewis)

Jesus Christ showed us God’s love by his deeds. Christ calls us to GO out into the world to DO something that demonstrates God’s love for all his children. From the very beginning of Christ’s life, God asked people to show they are Christians by their actions. The shepherds had to believe and GO to see the child. The Wise Men had to trust in the star’s guidance, and GO by risking their lives to find the baby in a manger. Mary and Joseph had to pack up and flee and protect their precious baby from death. Our God is a God of loving actions. We are not to sit around and judge others as not as faithful or worthy as we are. Jesus said “Go and make disciples of all nations.” You do so by showing the love of Christ in all you do and say wherever you may be. Let Christ dwell in your heart and life by doing a loving action a day for your New Year’s resolution in 2011. Then they’ll know you are a “Christian” by your love.