Dear Jesus,
I want to thank you for letting me spend some time with you this morning. When I first walked in to Food and Shelter for Friends I saw you in the corner, covering your face with your hands, and weeping. I was a little shocked to see you like that, so I let you be. You were dirty, wearing an old worn out coat, and my fear kicked in. I assumed that because no one else was helping you that maybe this was normal for you. How silly of me. Like I said, fear kicked in and I just kept moving.
I went into the kitchen and made omelets for you. Sorry. I'm not much of a cook. My omelets were the one's that were too brown; the fluffy ones were made by a young man who lives at Bridges (non-profit in town for homeless kids). He showed me how to flip an omelet and my timing is still horrible. It's okay though. You ate them and were grateful. You came up to me as an old lady with a scarf, an old coat, a worn face and shoes with holes in them and said thank you. You even blessed me for making over-cooked omelets.
I'm not the only one that fed you today. The StarBucks gave you dairy while Panera Bread provided amazing breads. A local farmer provides meat and Coach's Brew House opened it's doors for a Christmas party just a week ago. Other businesses and individuals really care about you, and I'm amazed at their generosity. I can only give over-cooked omelets.
I can't wait to come back to see you again. It dawned on me, while I was there preparing the salad for your afternoon lunch, that I spend too much time preoccupied with myself. I say my prayers, I read my scriptures, I go to my church for three hours every Sunday. To be honest, I'm not sure if you want me spending my day of rest sitting in a church for three hours. I think you would prefer I spend more time with you, here.
When I walked out the door you waved good bye to me and wished me a Merry Christmas. You were an old man without teeth. Merry Christmas to you too.
Matthew 25:31-46
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Where is line drawn between "my" and "His"? Too often I find myself in the repetitive cycle of checking off my proverbial spiritual to do list. How do I break that cycle without falling right back into it? And if I can't, is it okay to be an ignorant follower?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous,
ReplyDeleteThank you for some thoughtful questions.
Where is the line between 'my' and 'His'? There is an inherent vagueness to the question, but here are my thoughts. It becomes his when you approach it with an air of reverence and excitement. For example, you read the scriptures because someone told you so. I would call that 'my'. You read the scriptures because you know that you are interacting with the Word of God, it will change you and you are both frightened and excited about the change that will result. That is 'His'.
How to break away from the cycle of a check box list for being in a good relationship with God? In trying to stay with the theme of this post I would suggest that time with the least of our brothers and sisters will move us away from a check list approach to God. People know when you are not genuine, and it is too easy to be disingenuous with a check-box approach to people. If we learn from our brothers and sisters and realize just how organic love is in the midst of an immaterial life then we lose our self-interest (which is what a to-do list is typically motivated by) and simply get caught up in being. It is all about time with God and time with people we would define as 'other'. I wonder if we are spending enough time with the other? That's a personal question. Realize also that a to-do list approach to spirituality is much the same as the approach that some Pharisees of Jesus' time took. It is shallow and misses the mark of the heart of the matter (Matt. 5-7). Something I think is helpful: the more spontaneous, the more intimate, the more your action draws from your own creative mind to love, at this point the more your action to be with others is in tune with the will of God. You can get to a point wherein you are no longer worried about a check list, but simply being a bearer of Good News. You are being.
Is it okay to be an ignorant follower? Yes. Ignorant of how salvation works, the mystery of the Godhead, the heavens, scripture, the full extent of the Atonement; we are all ignorant to some degree. But to be a follower does not require knowledge. It requires something to follow, and Christ gave us that. I imagine that not knowing the example he left us would definitely hinder our ability to follow Him; however, there is an example to which we have access. Learn of this example as best as possible and know that God will not condemn you for not knowing something (that last thought is something checklists don't help us remember).
But maybe this isn't your question. Maybe what you meant was, can one consider themselves a follower of Christ and have a check list? I want to say yes, but in my experience I find checklisters to fill a quota and then stop giving service, love, compassion. It seems like once the box is checked that's good enough when in fact love would bring them to a new level of interaction much more genuine than a checklist can do. Could you imagine having a checklister for a spouse? He/She comes up to you, kisses you on the cheek, says 'I love you' and then literally marks a box on a to-do list. Not very intimate. Not very organic. They did it! But they kind of missed the point. You appreciate it, but the love was lost.
One final thought. Does God condemn checklisters? I doubt it. There are so many people that can't even do a check list, let alone be loving without one. The question is, what does Jesus call us to be? I believe it is something greater.
I agree with you Travis in your responses to Anonymous. The checklist is an artifice, a seperation from the things on it, and an objectifying and quantifying that is foreign to their reality. Relationship with the least amount of expectation or formality is a good start to overcoming the checklist. This is what I understand you saying about "spending time", "organic love", and "get caught up in being". When we interact with people because they are people, not officials or sources of knowledge, and when we interact with the Word of God because it is God speaking to us, not just a manual, then we are open to all that they and we are can offer eachother and be together.
ReplyDeleteThe checklist is synonymous with religion or religiousness. Both can actually be helpful in the beginning - a simplified, and concrete way to approach a new and greater reality. But at some point the training wheels and bumpers (that they put in bowling lane gutters) have to come off.
With each day we should be getting closer to experiencing God in every part, ascpect, event, thing, place, time, relationship and person of our lives. Far from a checklist or religious construct.