Day 149: Searching for Jesus

"You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of me.  But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life."  John 5:39-40

This reprimand from Jesus is pretty harsh, but there is an important message that will bring us closer to him.

A page from the Cordúa cookbook

This reprimand reminds me of how cooking works.  There are countless cookbooks in circulation.  Even some high end restaurants will put out books full of their own recipes, some of which must seem to be secret.  And they'll even be in plain sight, where somebody could turn to a specific page and take a picture and have the recipe, for free!  But, no matter the number of resources available, there is still a thriving restaurant industry, and many restaurants that have their own recipes out there are still in business.  Why is that?

Well, none of us are using those recipes!  None of us are taking the time to actually cook them.  Even worse, we don't even know how to do half of the things that are described in them.  Blanch a chicken?  Stir-fry?  Julienne carrots?  Sous vide cooking?  If we learned how to do all of these things, we would no longer need cookbooks.  We would be chefs, rendering both restaurants and cookbooks useless.

But that's where Jesus' reprimand comes in.  We can comb through every single page of the bible, read every single commentary on the bible, learn about every single tradition, but we'd be nothing if we don't go to Jesus ourselves.  The bible testifies of Jesus.  We have so many things to learn about Jesus.  And, all the scriptures point out a focal point of Jesus: Jesus is love.  We have to love if we are going to follow Jesus.  We can talk all we want about the bible, but if we don't put any of the words into practice, we're going to have to keep going back to the same chapters, the same verses, hoping that maybe another time we will learn ourselves.  Our bible is our recipe, our instruction manual.  And there is a lot in there!  We might not be able to put every single thing into practice in our lifetime, but if we continue to put more and more of it into practice everyday, then maybe, just maybe, we will start getting closer to Jesus.  It will be difficult, but Jesus has shown that every step of the way will be glorious.  We will see miracles happen, we will see joy, we will see the Kingdom of God materializing in our midst.  When we love, we will have the eternal life that is promised us by God.

Day 144: Taking the First Steps

"But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?  My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.  And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him."  1 John 3:17-19

This is where we need to start.

We know what love is, but we don't choose to show it.  Instead, we prefer to comfort ourselves by making up stories and trying to qualify our lack of love as a sign of our true love.  That's not what we are taught, though.  As Christians, we are called to show love to every single person.  We need to take down all of our barriers and start loving those around as God has taught us.

Love starts with action, not with words.  Jesus even said, "If you love me, then keep my commandments."  It all starts with living a life where we show love for others.  If all we do is sit around in front of a computer screen, typing everything about loving and not doing a single thing that we teach, we aren't loving others around us.  That's it, plain and simple.  We have to live what we have learned.

Living a Christian life involves lots of self reflection and self evaluation.  If we do not look at our lives through the lens of love, then we aren't looking at our lives in the purest way.  We have come up with systems of mathematics that require precision: taxing, interest, transactions, rent, and even work.  That's what love does for us.  It shows us everything very precisely.  We might not like how our lives look after we look at them through love, but that is the only way we will be able to change.  Our change, our journey, will only start when we get honest with ourselves (for how could we be honest with anybody else if we can't be honest with ourselves?).

When we find ourselves in a situation where someone in need is talking to us, we shouldn't look for a way out of it.  That's not showing love.  Instead, we should look at the opportunity as the greatest gift for us, for through that opportunity, we can express the love that God has shown us for that person.  We can give both a gift to that person, and, even better, give ourselves the gift of knowing that love, the Kingdom of Heaven, is spreading.  We need to be excited to love and to show our love.  We need for that to be just as exciting as our favorite praise song from church!

Onward!

Today's readings show two road blocks in Jesus's ministry.  The first is when the pharisees question Jesus for forgiving sins.  The second is when Paul is shown a prophesy against him, where a prophet said that he would be bound by his own belt, to which he replied: "What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." (Luke 21:13)
Sometimes we face persecution from our own kind.  Rather than receiving encouragement from our own advocates for our rights, many times they question us LGBT Christians, saying, "why are you a part of an organization that's against us?" It is these "authorities" that can and have proliferated a negative image of Jesus Christ.  In response, let us go onward, serving in the church, preaching the good news.  Sing a hymn, such as "He Touched Me," or "Total Praise." Just as how Jesus and Paul continued on their ways by preaching as radicals to those who didn't want to believe, we must go onwards living our lives as a prayer answered, a breathing gospel.

He Touched Me:
http://youtu.be/5m--ptwd_iI

Total Praise:
http://youtu.be/Vv9-WlymKg0

They Will Know We Are Christians

Today's gospel reading applies very well to our community today.  Recently, I have read an article talking about how it was difficult for one gay Christian to find communities of gay Christians all over the United States.  Mikah Meyer said that, "when I interacted with local LGBT communities, they often mocked me for being Christian."  A fellow member of the LGBT family was condemned among his own distant relatives (figuratively speaking) was rejected for being Christian.  In the same way, Jesus was also not accepted in His own hometown.  He says, "Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet's hometown." (Luke 4:24)  It was then that He was driven out of the city by a crowd so large that they did not even notice when He had fled from them.
So, what is there to do?  Sure, we can gather in secluded communities and praise God.  However, that is contrary to Jesus's command to go out and preach the Gospel, the Good News of God's Kingdom and love for all of us.  What we can do is to live our lives in a Christian way.  Show love to all of your friends, enemies, and strangers.  Be a good host.  Live kindly.  Share with the less fortunate.  In this way, we can find our own divine joy, and, as a result, we can be radiate the grace of God.  Then, when the "why are you always happy?" or "why are you always so lucky?" or "why are you so positive?" questions come, explain the goodness of Jesus Christ living in each of our lives.

Here is Mikah Meyer's article:
http://www.believeoutloud.com/latest/journey-find-lgbt-christians

when I interacted with local LGBT communities, they often mocked me for being Christian. - See more at: http://www.believeoutloud.com/latest/journey-find-lgbt-christians#sthash.ofc650AB.dpuf

when I interacted with local LGBT communities, they often mocked me for being Christian. - See more at: http://www.believeoutloud.com/latest/journey-find-lgbt-christians#sthash.ofc650AB.dpuf

when I interacted with local LGBT communities, they often mocked me for being Christian. - See more at: http://www.believeoutloud.com/latest/journey-find-lgbt-christians#sthash.ofc650AB.dpuf