I'll Give My Two Cents Worth

Mark 12:38-44

There’s a phrase that is not nearly as popular today perhaps as in years past.  That statement is, “I’ll throw in my two cents worth.”  In most cases, the person should have kept the two cents because that two cents worth really didn’t add anything of value to the conversation.  In general, two cents is pretty miniscule.

What can we get for two cents today?  We probably cannot even get what used to call “penny candy.”  Penny candy is now at least a dime and probably more likely a quarter.  Oh!  You can get a ride on Sandy the mechanical horse at Meijer, but not much more.  No, we can’t get much of anything for our two cents worth.  But two cents was all the woman in the Gospel story had.

She must have been pretty self conscious as she put her money in the treasury.  See, today we have nicely padded offering plates or baskets.  You can throw money into them and no one really knows how much or how little you’ve given.  Many people today give by check which makes no sound in the plate and most churches have gone to offering envelopes that make how much is given even more quiet.  But in biblical days things were different. 

First off, all the money was in the form of coins – no paper money, no checks, just coins – coins.  And these coins made noise!  Also, they didn’t have offering plates that got passed around.  They had big horn shaped receptacles where people came by and dropped their money.  When the money dropped in, it made noise.  It would clang and it would echo.  So, of course, the rich liked to give because the loud noise would let everyone know just how generous they were.

But the poor widow, she only had her two cents worth.  That amount of money would only make a poor, pitiful, “plink, plink” of a sound.  I can understand why she would wait until almost no one was nearby before she gave her money.  She was hoping that no one would hear how little she was giving.  Besides, with all that the “fat cats” were giving, she had to question what possible difference her two cents worth could make?  Let’s face it – most of us won’t even bend over to pick up a stray two cents.

She could have decided not to put anything in the collection and kept what little bit she had for herself.  She could have kept it – no one would even have known – but she gave it.  She gave all that she had and trusted that God could make something of it and that God would somehow sustain her.  That is a lot of faith and trust – I am not sure I would have been able to do the same in her situation.

In the reading from Kings, we have a similar story.  All that the widow had was just enough oil and meal to make a small piece of bread.  Why couldn’t she just go home and eat it with her son and then simply die either of starvation or more quickly, die of thirst as they were in the midst of a drought?  The prophet had the nerve to ask her for water.  Where was she supposed to get any water?  But this poor widow gave the bread and a bit of water to the prophet Elijah.  It probably amounted to about two cents worth – all she had, but she gave it.

Now lets turn to another example.  All this guy had was the entire universe and the immensity of all eternity.  He was the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega.  He was and is the ruler of all. He had it all and should never have to suffer or want for anything.  However, his people were suffering and in pain, they were lost and without hope.  He loved the world enough that he gave it all for others.  He felt our pain and ultimately gave the greatest gift possible – his very life in a gruesome and painful death.

Christ gave his life for us.  When he asks us to give, he isn’t asking for anything that he himself has not already done.  When he asks us to love, he knows what he speaks of.  When he asks us to be willing to risk, he knows what risk and sacrifice are all about.  When Christ asks us to give, he is not asking us to do anything he has not already done.

Everything we have is given to us by God.  We have talents, skill, gifts, likes and dislikes.  Sometimes we think that all we have is just our two cents worth.  We look at our little bit and have to ask, “What difference will my little bit make?”  Sometimes we think we shouldn’t even try because it doesn’t matter and besides, we need this little bit more than the church or that brother or sister in need.  But God calls us to give and gives us examples like those in our lessons today.

The widow is the Gospel is lifted up because of her trust in God.  She gives all she has and then trusts in God.  She does not worry about her own needs; she trusts that God will see to them.

The widow in the OT lesson is cared for because she trusted in God.  Not only is she saved from starving to death, but her whole household is preserved because of her faith.

So where am I going with all this?  Am I suggesting that we should give everything away?  In some ways that wouldn’t be a bad thing, but it is unrealistic.  Does that mean that we shouldn’t even bother trying?  No – we are called as a people to give as God has given to us.

Jesus placed the discipline and challenge of giving before us not to intimidate or shame us, but to challenge us to be the Body of Christ in the world – to see needs and be willing to respond; to be willing to make do with less in order to reach out to others; to trust that God will provide rather than relying on ourselves and what the world “gives” us.

Jesus wants us to live life and to live it abundantly.  However, he does not want us to rely on idols like possessions and money, power, or fame, but to fully rely on God’s goodness and that God will provide.  The goal of giving that is put before us is there to motivate us to be the body of Christ in the world.  We need to begin to see the world through God’s eyes.

To what is God calling us today as individuals and as a congregation?  Some would say that St. Augustine is just a small church and that we can’t make much of a difference in this community let alone the world.  But St. Augustine has made and is making a difference, starting right here with each one of us, and proclaiming love, hope, peace and joy to a people and a world in need. 

Last week, I gave you a domino to remind you how you fit into the great cloud of witnesses, the Communion of Saints.  Today I give you two cents. 

There is a story about how Mother Theresa wanted to start an orphanage.  She was told that how could she hope to start an orphanage, all she had was two cents.  She said, “For me it would be impossible, but with God and my two cents, anything is possible.”  Take these two cents and let them be a challenge to you.  Let us, with our two cents worth share our gifts with each other, with God, and with the world.

If you have the gift of gab, get out there and visit with those who cannot get out.  If you have the gift of teaching, who might God be calling you to teach?  If you have the gift of hospitality, I bet God is asking you to welcome those who come into our midst.  If you are a tinkerer, maybe God is asking you to come up with some innovative ways to look at problems and find creative ways to solve them.

We may feel like we, personally or as a congregation, may not have a lot to give.  We may feel like we only have a measly two cents to give.  We may feel like our gift would not have any effect at all.  But we would be wrong!  We have our gift, we have our two cents to give.  And if we are willing to give what we have, and are willing to trust in God, who knows what can happen!

Yes, I Hate Her.

I was all ready to go out on a major job hunt.  I was about to pitch the whole church thing and decide that being a clergy being was now something that was in my past.  I was all ready to tell the deacon that we needed to start working on how to move myself out of the congregation and how to get the congregation relying on themselves.  I was all ready to have this happen!  Well, yep, you guessed it!

IT DIDN'T HAPPEN!

The deacon (actually, Archdeacon) told me that after talking with the Bishop and telling him about what has been happening with the congregation, she is going to back out of the picture and I am being allowed to fly solo.  She said that I needed to get everyone out of my way and just be allowed to be.  She told me she has seen immense growth in this congregation and is very excited about what is happening! 

I was a bit whiny about how hard things have been going lately, but the deacon said, "God NEVER promised it was going to be easy."

I still want to find a new job, though.  I need to get out of Starbucks land and get somewhere where I can work and where the job doesn't attack me as a person.

I had the day off today and was quite irresponsible!  It was wonderful! 

Tomorrow, I have to get a sermon done.  Have to work on glass.  And have to do some research on baptisms.  Nick will be gone for the day and for Sunday, so I will be, to quote Lemuel, Homo Alone.  Hopefully I will be able to get a lot done tomorrow.

Why Reinvent The Wheel?

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My Lifestyle is an affront to me!

It is really a bit of a problem when what you do is in direct opposition to who you are. I am not talking about some big homo/hetero thing here. What I am talking about is an introvert/extrovert thing.

I am really VERY introverted. I can function in the world, but after a while, I need to get away. It really wears me down when I cannot get renewal time. This is something that other introverts will understand, and something that many extroverts just don't get.

I know my career is not the best for introverts. Being a clergy means that one needs to be out in the public world. But also, being a clergy means that we usually have an office into which we can retreat.

But when you are an introverted clergy who also works at Starbucks, it gets crazy. There seems to be no way to get recharged. The job involves being in an area with no escape, dealing with people who are just being what they should be, self-centered consumers. There is no way to get out of the spotlight.

Yesterday I had one of those humiliating events happen. Being closed into close working surroundings with someone who is acting very childish.(This person is 19 and is painfully extroverted.) I tend to back away because he can be so overbearing, but he sees it as rejection. He sees the overbearing as "trying to cheer you up!" I have tried to explain but it does no good. In many ways, this feels as attacking as a physical attack. I could not get away from the behavior. I could not get the person to talk to me. I just about walked off the job. All this for just $8.50 an hour without tips.

My problem is that when I get cornered, I go into escape overdrive. Major panic attack mode. THIS IS VERY EMBARRASSING! I don't want to return today because I am embarrassed for my actions. I feel like some kind of drama queen.

I just want to do my job.

All Saints

One of the strongest memories I have of All Saints’ Day is being annoyed.  I know it might seem odd that I would have a vivid All Saints’ Day memory, but it is easily explained:  My childhood friend, Tom, would always have a Slumber/Birthday Party on Halloween Night.  Now, the problem was that I could not go because November 1^st was All Saints’ Day and in the Roman Catholic tradition, that was a “Holy Day of Obligation.”  For those of you who may not be familiar with this term, it meant that all good Catholics were to go to church on this day.  And the problem was that it really ruined the slumber party when you had to be up and leave early to go to church.  But, in my family, if it was a “Holy Day of Obligation,” then you were in church!

Of course, I would whine and try to get out of going, but my mom would not be budged.  God was more important than any slumber party, so the slumber party always took second place.  But I wanted to know WHY we had to go to church on All Saints’ Day.  She explained that it was to thank God for all the Saints that God put into the world to show us how to be Good Christians. 

Oh!  We were going to thank God for Grandma!  Grandma taught us how to be good Christians!  And we were going to thank God for Sr. Vencita, she also taught us to be good Christians.  (I was not old enough then to realize that I should thank God for my Mom and Dad, too, as thy were teaching us, in this very act of making us go to church, how to be good Christians.) 

But I was to learn that this is not the case; on All Saints’ Day, we thank God for the REAL SAINTS, the saints that use capitals letters to call them “Saints” and have churches named after them.  When we were to thank God for Grandma was on All Souls’ Day, the day after.  This was the day we thanked God for all the nice people who have died but were not good enough to be considered Saints; and since this was not a “Holy Day of Obligation,” it was up to us to decide if we wanted to go to church or not.

This always seemed odd to me.  I remember reading about some of the “Saints,” and really didn’t see how these people taught me about being a good Christian.  They were doing things like dying of stoning for being a Christian and suffering from boils to proclaim the faith.  And in my life, nothing like that ever happened.  And if having people throw stones at you was what it took to be a “Good Christian,” then, quite frankly, I was pretty content to be a mediocre Christian.

You see, I think I was right!  If a saint is someone who teaches us how to live our lives to be the best Christians we can be, then my Mom, my Dad, my Grandma, and even Sr. Vencita, did a better job than St. Stephen ever did.  St. Stephen may have gotten stoned for his faith, but it was in seeing each of these people, living out their faith through their lives, that truly taught me what it meant to be a good Christian.  These quite ordinary people were the ones who helped me to learn about the love of God.

For most of us, our faith is not something that is plopped down upon us, fully formed, from Heaven; it is something that is grown over time.  It is something that we have nurtured by those, who, as I like to say, live their faith “out loud.”  It is something that is planted and tended by those who live their faith in their lives.

I am willing to bet that each of you sitting here today is sitting here because of a saint in your life.  You are here because your mother, father, grandma, grandpa, godparent, teacher, lived their faith through their life and challenged you to live out your faith too!

Faith is spread like dominoes.  It started with God and is passed through people.  Each person lives out their faith and passes it on to another.  Just like dominoes toppling, one saint passes the love of God on to others who in turn pass that faith on even farther.  Many of us are here today because Fr. Jerry passed his faith on to you.  He lived his life of faith, passing God’s love on to those he met.  And it was through him, and through the others in our lives that we find ourselves sitting here this morning.

I have given each of you a domino as a way of remembering and also as a challenge.  When you look at this domino, I ask you to remember those who have passed their faith on to you.  I ask you to remember the parents, the friends, the Sunday School teachers, the priests and deacons, all those people who have been important in your growth in faith.  Whenever you look at this domino, I would ask you to thank God for those people who loved you and cared for you.  Whenever you look at this domino, I would ask you to thank God for those who cared enough to spread the story of God to you.

But also, whenever you look at this domino, I ask you to be challenged.  Are you sharing your faith with those around you?  Are you nurturing the love of God in those whom you encounter on a daily basis?  When you look at this domino, ask yourself if you are part of the chain that has started with God, and will pass on through the ages, or have you pulled yourself out and now there is an empty spot.  I ask you to see this domino as a challenge to spread the faith that has nurtured and sustained you.  I am asking you to be a saint in the world, just as others have been a saint to you!

If you feel so inclined, I also challenge you to share the story.  I challenge you to take a domino and give it to someone who has been a saint to you!  Give it to a person whose love and kindness helped you to learn what it meant to be a Child of God.  Give it to the person whose unselfish act reminded you that there is more in the world than just the greed and self-centeredness we seem to be surrounded by.  Give it to that person, and share with that person why he or she is part of the chain of faith, the Communion of Saints, that have made up your life.  Give it to that person, and let him or her know that their love has changed you.

A final challenge I give you, especially you who are parents, is to  take a domino and give one to each of your child and tell them how you have worked to nurture the love of God in each of their lives.  Share with them the dreams you have for their lives and let them know the joy God has brought to you because of them.  Give this domino to them the same way that I give it to you, as a reminder and as a challenge.

Today, we gather to thank God for the saints in our lives; the ones with the first name of “Saint,” but also the ones whose names begin with Mom, Dad, brother, sister, Father, Deacon, aunt, uncle, or friend.  We gather to thank God for those who have shared their lives with us and in the process shared God with us.  Today, we come to church, not because it is a “Holy Day of Obligation,” but because we wish to thank God and praise God for all the saints that God has placed into our lives.  We thank God for those who helped us to make the hard decisions, the faithful decisions, even when we would have preferred to go to the slumber party or the soccer match.  We thank God for those who taught us what it means to be good Christians in the world, not just mediocre Christians ruled by the world.

We gather today to give thanks for all the saints in our lives. We thank God for Fr. Jerry and all those who, like him, took the time to teach us and nurture us.  We thank God for all those called to the table and those who may not yet feel welcome to the table.  We join in thanks for all those who have gone before, and we gather to ask for the strength to continue the chain of faith and to be part of the Communion of Saints.

God has given us the gift of saints, and we are grateful!  And now we are called and challenged to go out and become saints for others.

Happy Halloween!

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Two Months to go!

Believing is Seeing

Mark 10:46-52

Yesterday, Gigi, Kelly, and I were at the Diocesan Convention.
As part of the convention, our Bishop, The Right Rev. Harvey Holy was speaking about perspective. He was talking about how our perception on the world has a major effect on how we see the world. He showed the picture, asking if it was a vase or two faces. He showed a glass, asking if it was half-full or half-empty. He talked about how in most of these situations, how we saw the picture had little to do with what was there and everything to do with our perceptions.
The glass is both half-full AND half-empty. The picture is both a vase AND two faces. They are both! But where we get into trouble is when we start insisting on one and only one perception. If we see the glass as only half-empty, and insist on only that perception, then we have a problem with someone who perceives that glass as half-full. And the same with the vase and the faces: as long as we insist that only one view is correct, there will be problems with those who perceive otherwise.
This got me thinking about a class in sensation and perception that I took many years ago and also about the gospel reading for today. From the class, we talked about how our perceptions can totally effect what we see and what we don’t see. Depending upon our perceptions, we may actually be blind to some very obvious thing. From the gospel, I started to think about being blind and how our perceptions can cause us to be blind to some things that may be totally obvious to someone else.
In the gospel reading, we have the story of Bartimaeus, a blind beggar. Bartimaeus’ one wish is to be able to see again. I guess this is an understandable request. But actually, it is not one that most of us would understand. Thankfully, most of us have never been blind; so we cannot know what it would be like to be without sight or what it would be like to desire to have that sight returned. But for most of us, if not all of us, we do know what it is like to be blinded by our perceptions. And it is in being blinded by our perceptions that we can learn much from Blind Bartimaeus.
As I said, perceptions can blind us just as much as having no sight at all. When we believe that our way of perceiving is the only way, we can become blinded to what Christ may have in store for us. When we believe that what we have always been or what we have always done is the only way it could ever be, we become blinded to the potential that could be ours in Christ. When we are not in contact with Christ, we lose our perceptions, we lose our way, we lose our sight.
Bartimaeus had it nice, he was able to be right there in the presence of Christ. He was able to ask Jesus to change his perceptions and to help him see. For us, this is a little more difficult; Jesus is not walking the world any more. But this does not mean that we are totally left alone. This dos not mean that we are totally left to our own perceptions. It is the view of the world that we do not have Christ to lead us, and that is what has gotten us into the troubles we see around us.
But we have not been left alone. We have been promised that we would not be left alone. Christ promised us that we would have a comforter and an advocate that would be given to us. And we have! We have the Holy Spirit. Christ gave us the Holy Spirit to support us and guide us. Christ gave us the Holy Spirit to help us with our perception.
Part of how we maintain our perceptions in Christ is when we gather together as the body. When we gather together as the church we support each other and we help each other to grow. When we invite others to join us in worship, we broaden our perceptions. Instead of just seeing the vase, we can now see the faces. Each new person who joins together in community increases our perception and helps us to see the fullness of Christ in the world.
But coming to worship is just the beginning. We also need to continue to learn. We need to continue our life long study of scripture. If we never had an experience of a vase, we would never see the vase. If we have never seen a face, we would not understand that the background was composed of faces. But because we are familiar with these things, they alter our perception of life. When we limit our faith to those things that we learned in confirmation, we limit our perceptions and choose to walk through our world with blinders on.
The Bishop spoke of the three steps in changing our perceptions. The first step is “Repentance.” Now this is not the usual way we think of repentance. We usually think of repentance as being “oh so sorry” for all the things that we have done. But there is a problem with this; if we don’t’ perceive properly, we will never know what we should be repenting of. So our first step, our repentance step is to work to see the world as it really is, not as we wish it were. And again, I believe the Spirit is best comprehended when we gather together as a community to worship and to study.
The next step is that of Renewal. Renewal is being open to change. We may see reality truly and accurately, but if we are not willing to make the necessary changes, we are just as blind as if we did not see reality at all. Change may be frightening, but one of the facts of life is that change will and does occur. When we open ourselves to renewal, we open ourselves to the changes that God will bring into our lives.
And the final step is Revitalization. Revitalization is exactly what it says, it is making us once again vital, bringing us new life that we can find in Christ. When we look at life in an open and honest manner, when we join together and open ourselves to the working of the Spirit, when we join together as a repentant community of renewal, we open ourselves to change that God will bring into our lives. And when we are open to this change, God will bring new life to us. When we are open to new life, God will open our eyes so we can truly see.
Bartimaeus wanted to see, and he knew that Christ could give that gift to him. We, too, are blinded by or perceptions, but when we come together as a community of faith, we find our perceptions changed and our true sight restored. We find the gift of perception when we join together for worship, for communion, and for study. This is a great gift that has been given to us, and it is a gift we are call upon to share with others.

Why Do We Grasp?

Mark 10:35-45

I think one of the downfalls of having a background in psychology is that you become a watcher of people.  Whether you like it or not, it just becomes something you do.  And you don’t just watch people, you pay attention to what they are doing and try to figure out just exactly why they are doing what they are doing. 

Take kids for instance.  I used to direct an after school program.  No matter what we were doing, if it involved a line, all the kids would try to get to the front of the line.  If we were going outside, there would be a push to be the first one by the door.  It we were going to have a snack, there would be a push to be the first one by the window.  It didn’t matter what, there was always the push to be the first one in line.

This behavior confused me.  If we were all going to be going outside, then why was there such a rush to be the first one?  We always had enough snacks for everyone.  Why would there be such a rush to be sure to be the first to get one?  What was so important about being the first person to get something?

Well, I was thinking about this while swerving in and out of traffic while trying to get to the Meridian Mall.  And while I was driving, I started thinking: Why was I rushing?  Why did I need to get ahead of everyone else?  It was not like the mall was going to disappear at a certain time; it would still be there.  So why was I rushing?  It really struck me as weird.  Why was I putting so much effort into rushing, pushing, and trying to get there first?

Now, not to be so hard on myself and on the kids, but trying to be first does make some sense.  When things are limited, trying to get there first makes real sense.  If you are not one of the first, you may not get what you want.  I don’t know if you remember, now what is many years ago, the whole big uproar over Cabbage Patch Kid dolls.  I remember people getting into fights just to get one of these things.  People would wait in line for hours and then push and fight just to one of the few dolls that were available.  If you wanted one, you had to be first.

I guess we want to be first because we want our own part of the limited supplies that there are.  And not only do we want a part, we want the best of it all.  We want to be first so we can have the best seat in the house, the best gaming system, or the best new gadgets there are.  We want to be first so we can get the best.  And really, wanting what is best is quite natural.  If you have the best, you tend to live better; you tend to live longer.  Having the best is not a bad thing.

So when we look at James and John in today’s gospel reading, we can understand what they are trying to do.  They really are not doing anything that is all that unnatural.  They wanted to be assured that they would have the best places, the places next to Jesus.  I guess it would be like having front row seats at a concert.  To sit at someone’s right and left would be to have your status publicly acknowledged.  To sit at someone’s right and left would be to say that these people are “second in command.”  By sitting on someone’s right and left, you get to bask in the light of the person who is sitting at the head.

John and James wanted these positions.  They wanted to be seen as those who were in power.  They wanted to bask in Jesus’ light.  They were like the people waiting to the Cabbage Patch Kids, they wanted to be there first so they could get the best.  Although they wanted to be in positions of power, they really didn’t seem to understand the whole message of Jesus.

But not too surprisingly, the other disciples didn’t seem to understand the message either.  The others become angry with James and John.  I am guessing the reason the others were angry was because they had not thought of asking first!  When they heard James and John’s request, their thought was probably, “Why didn’t I think of that!”  The other disciples didn’t want James and John to get the best positions, so they got angry with the two.  But, you know, the other disciples didn’t understand Jesus’ message either.

Our reading for today follows the stories of bringing the children to Jesus and the rich young man.  In these past stories, Jesus was showing them, and showing us, that in the reign of God, things are not always as they seem.  The young children are the ones Jesus tells should be brought to him, and all the wealth in the world cannot buy our salvation.  What we see is not what is real. 

The reign of God that Jesus has been trying to show is the reign of abundance.  In the reign of God, the blind see and the deaf hear.  The ill are made well and the poor hear the good news.  The reign of God is not filled with Cabbage Patch dolls or other things that will parish.  The reign of God is unlimited!

The request of James and John, and the other disciples’ response to this request, shows us just how much they believe in a limited God.  The disciples were constantly with Jesus.  They saw how Jesus healed, how Jesus taught.  They heard Jesus tell that the reign of God is at hand.  But even with all of that “proof,” the disciples still didn’t get it.  Even with all they had seen with their own eyes, they still believed that the world of limitations that they saw around them was the world of reality.  Even though they saw the abundance poured out through Jesus, they persisted to believe in the world of scarcity.

Our whole economy is powered by our belief in scarcity.  Our prices are set, based on how scarce an item is; whether this scarcity is real or perceived.  Because this belief in scarcity surrounds us, it is hard for us to think in any other manner.  However, Jesus presents us with a different worldview, a radically different worldview. 

So often we say that Jesus presents a radically different view of the world, but have we really considered how different this is?  Jesus does not view the world from a viewpoint of scarcity.  Jesus does not see the limits that we impose on the world.  Jesus functions within a worldview of abundance and tries to pass this view on to his followers.  He tells them that whoever wishes to be great must become a servant and whoever wishes to be first must become a slave to all.  We have been given a choice:  if we wish to be first, we must become a slave, if we wish to be great, we must become a servant.

Have you ever been someplace with a caterer?  Often the staff is allowed to eat.  But when do the servants eat?  (Or maybe I should call them “waitstaff.”)  Do they eat first?  Do they eat before the people at the party?  No, they would eat after the party is over and all of the people left.  It is then that they can eat.  But lets think of something else.  What would happen if the servers knew that the way they were serving the food would result in there being no food left for them to eat?  What would happen then?  Would the servers truly serve?  Would they give all they were supposed to give or would they hold some back some food for themselves?  To truly serve, there needs to be the assurance that there will be enough for all.  After the guest have eaten their fill, the servers need to be the assurance that there will also be enough left for them.  If there is not the assurance of abundance, the servants will hold back food for themselves and not truly serve as they should.  Because we are human, we can only truly serve when we have the assurance that there will be enough.  When we are assured that there is an abundance, it is then that we humans can serve with a loving heart.

Jesus calls us to be servants.  He wants us to go out and serve with a happy heart.  When he calls us to drink the cup that he drinks and to be baptized with his baptism, Jesus is calling us to God’s reign of abundance.  In these words, Jesus is calling us to give our lives in the service of others.  If we believe that God is limited, like Cabbage Patch dolls, we will have trouble giving our life, but Jesus shows us that we have life in abundance.  In the reign of God, there is so much life that death does not even have the final say.  Although Jesus was killed on the cross, death did not have the final word.  In the reign of God, abundance of life will always have the final word.

What is interesting is that Jesus does not say who will sit at his right and left.  Jesus says that is for God to decide.  So who does God choose to sit in these coveted positions?  Well, when Jesus is crucified, who flanks him on the cross?  Is it his disciples?  No, when Christ is undergoing the ultimate humiliation, the two who are on his right and left are two criminals.  Two recognized sinners are placed in the positions of power!  God’s love for us is so abundant that even the criminals are included!  In God’s reign, even the sinners are given positions of honor!

We can be servants because we know there is an abundance.  We can be generous because Christ shows us that scarcity is an illusion.  The world of God is not a Cabbage Patch kind of world!  It is a world where leaders are servants.  It is a world where the powerful are lowered and the lowly are raised up.  It is a world where the killed becomes the savior who brings eternal life.  The world of God is the world where the place of honor is reserved for you and for me.  The world of God is where all are wanted, all are cared for, all are loved.  We don’t need to rush, we don’t need to be first, we don’t need to grasp for whatever we can get.  The God love has placed a world of abundant love right in our midst!  We just need to look with the eyes of faith.