Last Week's Morning Minutes: November 17-21

Monday, November 17, 2008

Last week I traveled to Alabama with my mother and my son. Alabama is my mother’s home, and where her mother and two sisters still live. While there, several crises arose. We were able to be present in the midst of them.

Too often, families become estranged because of miles or anger, apathy or inability to communicate. When this happens, we forget how to love the family members God has given us with the active care that is the hallmark of divine love. And when that happens, we are in danger of forgetting how to love anyone at all, aside from ourselves.

Mother Teresa once said: “I have a conviction that I want to share with you. Love begins at home, and every[one] should try to make sure that deep family love abides in his or her home. Only when love abides at home can we share it with the…neighbor. Then it will show forth and you will be able to say… “yes, love is here.” And then you will be able to share it with everyone around you.

Today, let us love those God has given us as family, sharing care, forgiveness, and unity. Thus may we learn the ways of love to share in the world beyond our houses and our bloodlines.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

“Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ,” the Apostle writes in Ephesians. And then he gets specific to marriage. “Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord…Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy.”

Too often, we forget in marriage and other relationships that God has called us to be self-sacrificial, self-giving, self-less instead of selfish. We want to control, dominate, make the rules, get our way.

But the Lord teaches us through the Holy Scriptures that, as Christ our Lord willingly gave himself for the sinners he loved, so we are to humble ourselves and willingly give ourselves to those we have promised to love, honor, and cherish. This is a call to husbands and wives, children and parents, friends and neighbors, strangers and co-workers. Each person around us is a child of God equal to us in God’s eyes. The relationships to which we are called are marked by self-giving agape love, willing submission of our own desires for the building up of another.

Today, let us all examine how well we are acting in selfless love, sacrificial giving, and willing submission in our relationships. Today, might we be willing to put away our own selfish desires, and look to the joy and welfare of the ones we love?

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

“For I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.”

These words were spoken through the prophet Jeremiah to the people of God at a desperate time. The people were devoid of hope; they no longer knew who they were or what they were supposed to do.

God knew their desperation. The Lord knew their confusion. And into that desperate situation, God spoke to them the word that said “I have plans for you, for your life. That plan is for peace and not harm. I offer you a future with hope.”

Today, many of us may feel desperate or confused. We may wonder what we’re here for, what we’re supposed to do. But just as God once spoke to Israel, God still speaks to us. God has put us, each of us, here for a purpose, a good purpose in the Lord’s great plan of salvation. Each of us is unique, with a particular role to play in the healing of the world and those around us. Hear today the word of God: “I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for peace and not harm. I offer you a future with hope.” Today, the word is for you and me. Believe it.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

This morning, I and other area ministers, are speaking at the Fellowship of Christian Athletes prayer breakfast. FCA is a vital ministry in our community, and it is my joy to be able to engage in prayer for our youth with them on this day. The theme of the morning is “Rescuing and Embracing our Youth and Community through Character.”

What FCA knows is the truth: our youth today do indeed need to be rescued from the things that would keep them from full and abundant life in Christ, and they need to be embraced in love. Orangeburg County as a “community of character” is seeking in many ways to do just those things.

Today, let us say special prayers for our young people. Youth of today are affected by things that, just a generation ago, were unheard of. They have temptations most adults cannot comprehend. They fight battles with evil that leave them feeling alone and torn apart.

More than anything, our young people need the love of God and of the community, who shapes in them a character that can endure and triumph, no matter what they face. Let us pray today for our youth. And let us commit to rescue and embrace them with whatever tools we have available.

Friday, November 21

Today, my son’s preschool is holding their Thanksgiving program. I look forward to seeing my little boy up there singing songs of thanks to God, wearing his little Thanksgiving costume. The other day, he came home dressed as an American Indian from school. They are learning about the first Thanksgiving.

As he learns, I hope he learns that Thanksgiving teaches many lessons. First among them is that as we prepare to gather with family or friends, in churches and homes, around turkey and dressing, yams, green beans, and pecan pie, we must always remember to focus our time of joy on giving thanks to God, who is the source of every good and perfect gift.

The day is called “Thanksgiving” because that is what the day is set aside to do: give thanks to the LORD for the goodness provided at harvest time, when the land brings forth the abundance of food we need to thrive, due to the design and nature of God. As we gather with family in this season of thanks, let us gather in the knowledge of the abundance of God’s love, generosity, and forgiveness, and let us allow those same gifts to flow through us to others.