Genuine Love = Peaceful Living

Paul the Apostle calls us to BE a living sacrifice in Romans 12:1-8.  How is that possible?  Love ... pure, real, genuine.  

As I have contemplated the depth of love Paul invites us to embrace, especially his instruction to live peaceably with all, I am reminded of St. Francis of Assisi.  St. Francis was a rich young Italian born in the 12th century.  While on his way to fight in a war he had a vision of Jesus which changed his life.  St. Francis soon took a vow of poverty and sought to live in peace and harmony with all, even the animals.   He knew what it meant to "BE" a living sacrifice.  He knew what it meant to live in peace with all.  And he invites us to do the same.

I invite you to spend a few moments considering the word “Love.”  Read and pray and listen and celebrate God’s Love through the Word.  Breathe and settle into a place of openness within yourself with a simple breath prayer.  Use this one or create your own (six to eight syllables is good for beginning breath prayer but I’ve used more as I've breathing more deeply, you really have to learn to move with your own breathing patterns:)

Breathing in ... God of Pure Love

Breathing out ... Help me love ALL

and when you are ready to move deeper into the text ... Pray:  God of Love, speak into my heart, lead me into your Word and illuminate your way of pure Love.   Amen. 

Read Romans 12:9-21 (NET) slowly.   Immerse yourself in these holy words as you engage in Lectio Divina, which means sacred reading.  Allow yourself to be drawn deeply into God’s love as you read and pray and listen.  Let the words wash over you and take you where God is leading you ... 

Love must be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil, cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another with mutual love, showing eagerness in honoring one another. Do not lag in zeal, be enthusiastic in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, endure in suffering, persist in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints, pursue hospitality. Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty but associate with the lowly. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil; consider what is good before all people. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all people. Do not avenge yourselves, dear friends, but give place to God’s wrath, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Rather, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing this you will be heaping burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Read the passage again slowly and Reflect ...
How does your word or phrase from this passage illuminate your life or the life of your community right now?  How is God inviting you to change or grow or pray or act?

Read the passage again slowly and Respond ...
What do you say to God about your life and how you feel you are being called in this moment?   How do you pray when you consider what God is saying to you?

Rest ...
Come to a place of silence within yourself and just "BE" with God.  Try for 10 minutes or beyond.

A couple of Roseate Spoonbills, the older one leading the younger one.  Cinco Ranch, Texas ... in a "channel" of water

When you are ready to move on, Pray the Prayer of St Francis:  

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
It is in dying to self that we are born to eternal life.

If music is a pathway to God for you, take this link to youtube, watch the beautiful scenes of nature and listen to a song based on the Prayer of St. Francis: Make me a Channel of your Peace which is sung by Susan Boyle. 

Jesus: No Worries

Who is Jesus?  A bible study through the season after Epiphany during which you use the See-Judge-Act methodology.  Aida Irizarry-Fernandez describes this way of bible study as an "action/reflection process rooted in liberation theology and thinking." (Engaging the Bible: Critical Readings from Contemporary Women chapter III "A Communal Reading" page 17)  You'll need an open heart, a willing spirit, and a creative imagination to explore the text in this way.  Today you are invited to be immersed in The Prayer of St Francis and make it your own … create a breath prayer from it …

Study Suggestion:  Why not consider asking a few people to join you in a "communal" reading using this See-Judge-Act method!   

Matthew 6: 24-34     “No one can serve two masters.   For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.  “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing?   Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?   Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?  “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are.  And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?   “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’    These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.    Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.   “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries.   Today’s trouble is enough for today.

Movement 1/See (Read the Text closely/Examination:) We pay attention to the story, the characters, and their original context.   Re-create the scene in your mind’s eye.  Consider time, place, and people.  Consider what you learn from your five senses.    What do you see, hear, smell, taste, and touch?    Visualize what Jesus was doing as he engaged other people … family, friends, strangers and enemies.

We are just past midpoint in the Sermon on the Mount, which is Jesus’ longest teaching session in the bible.  This is our last week to study this extended passage.    By the time Jesus brings it all to a close at the end of chapter 7, “the crowds were amazed at his teaching.”  (verse 28)   Jesus had an inner authority that attracted people and invited them to grow in their discipleship as they followed.   I confess that I am a little perplexed at the exclusion of verses 19-23 in our lectionary reading.    Important excerpts include: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth … but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven … for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”    I sense that Jesus has just told a great “treasure secret” before challenging the loyalties of those who would seek to follow him.   

As Jesus says “No one can serve two masters,” I hear echoes of Joshua 24:15 … “choose today whom you will serve!”    The deeper we grow in our discipleship, the more problematic our attachment to our “money” becomes.    Indeed Paul says, “the love of money is the root of all evil.”   (1 Timothy 6:10)   And yet, I wonder just how much “money” these particular followers of Jesus really had.    Somehow I think it must have been comforting to them to know that the real treasure is theirs to have with a little faith and those with faith had no need to worry.

St. Francis of Assisi was born into a life of privilege and then turned away from materialism in a dramatic and effective devotion to apostolic poverty.  He gathered a small following that grew into the Franciscan order.  Francis took this particular passage to heart and changed the world in many ways as he turned away from the rich to serve the poor.   Watch these 2 clips from the end of Franco Zeffirelli’s Brother Sun, Sister Moon (If you can find a way to watch the whole movie, do so!) on youtube:  St Francis Pt 1    St Francis Pt 2

What do you find most striking about Francis?  Does he attract you or repel you?  Why?   What do you find most striking about the Pope?    How do you view his effort to meet Francis “where he was?”  How does this clip change the way you read this text?

I invite you to reread this passage as one who is wealthy, one who has many material possessions and money.    What are the emotions that begin to arise in you as you read?    Do you agree with Jesus or disagree when he says that you cannot serve both God and money?  What arguments do you want to make for or against this line of thinking?  How does it challenge you to grow deeper in your discipleship?   

I now invite you to reread this passage as one who has nothing.   What are the emotions that begin to arise within you now?  How are your emotions different with this reading?    What causes you to worry?  How would this passage encourage you to look beyond what you didn’t have?   What do you see?   How does this passage invite you to see those who are less fortunate than you are … the homeless for example.

 

Movement 2/Judge (Look at your Life/Spiritual Discernment:) We seek to examine our own lives as we live in community ... search the text as you keep it in its original context and bring it into the "now" through the act of cross-cultural reading.   Consider why Jesus acted as he did and said the things that needed to be said.  Concentrate your attention on Jesus as you seek to be formed in his image and live as he lived.  

Which of the readings you did embodies your own situation?    What kind of struggles do you face with money, having too much or not having enough?   Where do you find yourself on your faith journey?    How have money issues impacted your journey of faith?     

How much do money issues drive your church?   What is God’s purpose for our church in light of what we have heard?  Do we need to reconsider any corporate decisions or ways of being?  Are we making a difference in the life of our people, our church, our community, our nation and our world?  What challenges do we hear from the text and amidst our dialogue with one another?

Movement 3/Act (Take action in Light of your Faith/Transformation:) We are called to work so that the reign of God can be realized in the world today.  Work with creativity and compassion, follow the Spirit, meditate on the Word and expect that God will show you how to take action as you apply what you have learned.  

Watch another clip from Brother Sun, Sister Moon that I'll call Francis and Clare in which there are 2 movements.  The first movement shows an encounter between the Brothers and some poor field workers whom they have been working beside.  Some of the poor workers do not want to share bread with the brothers but finally they are given bread and Francis lifts the bread and says The Prayer of St Francis.  In the second movement, Clare of Assisi, who many say was his best friend from childhood, runs to share her spiritual awakening with Francis and begs to join him and the brothers … many echoes here again of The Prayer of St Francis. 

You viewed St Francis and St Clare as they responded to God’s invitation … what steps do you need to take in order to be responsive to the invitation you have heard in the biblical text and in your study today? 

Prayer:  “From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required.”  (Luke 12:48b NRSV)  As we are called to act, we sincerely seek the empowerment of Spirit and we are changed.  We become more like Christ.  I invite you to listen to a unique musically prayerful arrangement of The Prayer of St Francis and then discover your breath prayer …

•  View the video: Children of New Covenant Fellowship, artwork and narration of the Peace Prayer of St. Francis, set to original music composed and performed by Michael Linder.
• Now, take time to quiet yourself within. Acknowledge and then let go of all your busy thoughts ... 
• Allow a “new” name for God to emerge or simply use the name you usually use when you pray to God  
• Consider the invitation to follow Jesus that has emerged during your time of study and prayer
• Work with your words until you have about 6-8 syllables which is the most comfortable to breathe … or pray this one: 

(breath in) Make me an instrument … (breath out) of your peace … 

As you continue to pray your prayer as you breathe throughout the day, you may find that God’s invitation seeps into you and that God’s love begins to flow in to you and out from you into a world that hurts.  

If music is a pathway to God’s presence for you, listen to this beautiful arrangement of The Prayer of St Francis by  Sarah McLachlan OR this one which is a lovely video of Make me a Channel of Your Peace by Angelina which was filmed with scenes of Assisi