Living the Life of a Saint ~ Blessed

This month we are talking about what it means to live the life of a saint by looking at the process of canonization in the Catholic Church.  In each of the four steps to becoming an official saint we learn a little bit about how we can live more faithful lives that reflect the life of Jesus.  The first step to living the life of a saint is to be a servant of God and the second step is to be heroic which we defined as someone who serves promptly, joyfully, frequently and sacrificially.  Today we shift our focus a little because the last two steps for official sainthood both center on performing miracles.  

A miracle is required for a person to become a saint so once a miracle has been identified, investigated and declared as being brought about by the touch or the prayers of the candidate, they are then declared blessed by the church and worthy of becoming a saint.  So if we want to live the life of a saint we need to live a blessed life and be a blessing to others – so does that mean we need to perform miracles?  At first I was going to say no because I really don’t think that following Jesus faithfully means walking on water or calming the wind and waves, but then I remembered what Jesus said.  Look at John 14:12 - the one who believes in me will do the works that I do and in fact will do greater works than these.

Jesus said that we will do greater works than he did and Jesus performed lots of miracles so maybe we need to take seriously what it means to be miracle workers in the world today.  Maybe we do need to think about doing miracles – but what exactly is a miracle?  The dictionary defines a miracle as an unusual and welcome event that is not explained by natural law so is considered to be the work of the divine (or God).   So at its very core, a miracle is just a change in a situation – a change for the better, so let’s look at three examples of miracles performed by Jesus and how things changed.

The first miracle we are going to look at comes from Matthew 8:1-3.  Jesus chose to change this man’s situation by reaching out to heal his skin disease.  With the touch of his hand Jesus healed this man and radically changed his life.  Just moments before this man’s body was wasting away but now it was healthy and becoming strong.  Before Jesus he would have been considered unclean and forced to live in isolation from his family and friends but after Jesus’ miracle he could now return home and actually eat with and live among his family and friends.  In the touch of Jesus, this man’s life was changed for the better.  It was a miracle.

The second miracle comes from Matthew 9:2-8.  This man’s life was also changed but it wasn’t primarily a physical change that we see here but a spiritual change.  When this man got up and started to walk what people focused on wasn’t the physical ability of Jesus to heal but the power he showed to forgive.  The reason the religious leaders got so angry was because they believed that a person could not forgive sin.  We aren’t talking about forgiving someone who has sinned against us, we all can and need to do that, we are talking about pronouncing someone’s sins forgiven.  This kind of forgiveness was seen as only God’s job and yet Jesus did it and the reason we know he did was because the man got up and walked.  The physical healing here was a sign of a deeper spiritual healing and the miracle of forgiveness.  What Jesus did here is change the man’s heart.  Jesus set him free from the guilt and burden and the consequence of sin.  He forgave him and that was a miracle.  

The third miracle of we are going to look at is found in Matthew 14:13-21.  When Jesus fed thousands of people when there seemed to be no food around, it was clearly an unusual and welcome event that could not be explained in any human terms which meant that it was a miracle, but it was a miracle that changed a person physically or spiritually,  it changed a community.  With this miracle we see that people were cared for.  Where there once was hunger there was now food to eat and even leftovers. The situation had changed.  It was a miracle.  

In each of the situations something changed.  There was a changed body or a changed heart or a changed community which means at its core a miracle is just a changed situation and that is what saints are to do.  Saints live blessed lives that bring about unusual and welcome change and as we read the book of Acts we see that this what the first saints did.

The first saints were the early followers of Jesus and as we read about them we see that miracles were a regular part of their lives.  They changed situations.  They changed people physically and spiritually, outside and inside, and they changed their community and in time the world.  We see the outside and physical miracle of healing in Acts 5:12-16.  Many people were healed by the touch of the disciples and even by the touch of their shadow.  Physical change was taking place in people’s lives because of these first saints.  They were blessed and their miracles were a blessing to others.

But like the miracles of Jesus, it wasn’t just the outside body that was changed, people’s hearts were changed as well.  In Acts 2, Peter tells the people that they were all sinners who had turned away from God and it was time for them to turn back.  And then we hear this in Acts 2:37-41.  3,000 people had their hearts and lives changed because of the message of Peter.  Clearly this was an unusual and welcome experience that could not be explained in any way other than the power of God.  Peter had never preached before and to have his first sermon change the hearts and lives of so many people was a miracle and to have so many people accept God’s grace and experience forgiveness was a miracle.  3,000 people had their lives changed from the inside out. It was a miracle and o the disciples were clearly living blessed lives.  

The disciples also performed miracles that changed their community; let’s keep reading in Acts 2:42-47.  So the change the disciples brought about was not just a spiritual change of heart or the physical healing of the body, it was also a radical change of their community.  No longer did people live isolated and alone and only take care of themselves - they came together to share and support one another so that there was no one in need among them.  That is a radical change.  Small groups formed so that people could worship and pray and learn more about Jesus and these small groups, or churches changed the community in which they lived and these churches have been changing the world ever since.  That this all took place in a dangerous and hostile environment was a miracle.  

So Jesus lived a blessed life that was filled with miracles.  Jesus worked to change people inside and outside and he worked to change the community and world in which he lived.  When the first saints worked to change people inside and outside and when they worked to change their community they were also performing miracles and living blessed lives.  You can see where I’m going with this right?  If we want to live blessed lives then we need to perform miracles and we do that every time we work to change people inside and outside and we perform miracles when we work to change our community and world and these are the kind of miracles that our world needs.  Our world doesn’t need us to walk on water or turn water into wine – but it does need the miracle of change.  Our community and world needs us to our work in ways that will change people inside and outside and our world needs us to work in ways that will change our community so let’s talk about performing these kind of miracles.

While we cannot forgive people the way Jesus did, we can share with people that there is true and lasting forgiveness IN Jesus.  We have a message of love and grace from God which really can free people from the guilt and shame and burden of sin and every time we share that message and someone experiences God’s grace and freedom it is a miracle.  Is there someone you know who needs to hear this message?  Is there someone you know that is struggle with the pain of their past faults and failures? If there is then maybe you can be the miracle worker who can set them free.  Every time we tell someone about the love of Jesus that was poured out on the cross and every time someone accepts this sacrifice for themselves and finds forgiveness and salvation – it is a miracle.  Will we be miracle workers and share this message of God’s grace and love?  

There are internal miracles of healing and hope and there are external miracles as well.  We often become uncomfortable talking about miracles of healing because we think they need to look like what we read in the Bible where the blind could suddenly see again and those who suffered from leprosy saw their skin literally grow healthy in front of their eyes.  While this certainly did happen and were miracles of healing and while this kind of power is still at work in the world today, this is not the only kind of miraculous healing we need to think about.  Unexpected and welcome physical change can come in many different ways.  Simply holding babies can help them grow stronger and studies have shown that infants and children who are held tend to heal faster.  There is power in our touch to bring healing to others which means that we can help perform miracles by just being willing to help children in need.  

At the other end of life, the power of touch has also been shown to be powerful and healing.   Holding hands with those who are dying can bring comfort and peace as they let go in this world which means that we perform miracles every time we are willing to simply reach out to those who are dying.  And our prayers can help bring about physical healing.  I don’t know why we don’t see it this way, but when we pray for people and they get better and experience healing, we often don’t see that as a miracle – but it is.  And so is taking meals into a person or family in need.  The gift of that food brings healing and hope and when people get better – it is a changed situation.  There are so many ways we can offer people physical healing and every time we do we are miracle workers changing people’s lives.

And then we need to perform miracles that will change our community and world and the possibilities here are endless.  Like the disciples, when we help feed those who are hungry it is a miracle.  When we reach out to welcome and love those who are feeling depressed, lonely and isolated we are performing miracles.  When we share what we have with those in need around us – it is a miracle because it helps change someone else’s life.  

If miracles are just situations that change for the better – then we need to start doing miracles and work for positive faithful change and we need to do it all with the understanding that what brings about the real change isn’t us, but God working through us.  Let me be clear that we can only do miracles when we are trusting in the power of God because it is God who brings lasting and effective change.  It is God who ultimately changes someone’s heart and sets the free.  God may need us to share the message of forgiveness and grace so we are part of the miracle, but clearly we need God’s hand to make it all possible.  

God may use our fingers and hands and words to physically heal people and made whole – but it is God who restores the body to health – not us.  And when the hungry are fed and feel satisfied and cared for – it is because God has used our hands to provide what is needed.  A truly blessed life that is filled with miracles only happens because we are willing to once again draw upon the power of God.  Being a hero requires us to ask God for his spirit and power and so does being a miracle worker.  We can’t do this on our own – we need the power of God.  So once again, let’s ask for that power and then lets use that power to change people’s hearts and lives and the life of our community and world.  Let’s perform some miracles.  Let’s live the blessed life of a saint.

Next Steps

Living the Life of a Saint ~ Blessed

A blessed life is a life filled with miracles.

Miracles are simply situations that are changed for the better by the power of God.

1.  What miracles have you experienced?  

• What miracles of healing have you experience?

• What miracles of hope and forgiveness have you experienced?

• Who did God use in these situations to bless you?

• What miracles have you seen or heard about in others? 

2. Where do you see miracles needed today?  Specifically: 

• Who needs to experience God’s forgiveness?

• Who needs physical healing and strength?

• In what ways does our community need to change in order to look more like God’s kingdom?

3. What can you do in each of the situations listed above to bring about an unexpected and welcome change?   

What miracle is God calling you to perform?

4. Ask God for His divine power so you can live a blessed life and be a blessing to others.  Remind yourself daily that we can do even greater things than Jesus.  

Living the Life of a Saint ~ Heroic

Did you have a hero growing up?  I grew up in the age of the Apollo space missions so many of my friends had heroes like Neil Armstrong who on July 21, 1969 became the first man to walk on the moon. I remember this day well.  I was six years old and my parents wanted me to come inside and watch history being made on TV, but I was six, it was July and I was living at the beach so I was much more interested in playing outside.  While I admire what the Apollo Astronauts did, they weren’t heroes to me in the sense that I wanted to follow in their footsteps, after all if I don’t like international travel – forget space travel!

Some kids I knew had heroes that were athletes and wanted to become the next Joe Namath.  Others looked to Mark Spitz or Olga Korbut, heroes from the 1972 Olympics in case you don’t recognize these people.  Mark Spitz held the record for the most gold medals in an Olympic game winning 7 until Michael Phelps won 8 in 2008.  Some kids had larger than life heroes that they found in the pages of comic books, otherwise known as super-heroes, but I wasn’t much into comic books.  I did love Saturday morning cartoons, however, and my favorite was always Superfriends with the heroes Superman, Batman & Robin, Aquaman and Wonder Woman.

Today the hero’s of many children and youth continue to be superheroes and athletes, but unfortunately many also look to entertainers and let me just say that Justin Beiber and Katy Perry should not be anyone’s hero no matter how many twitter followers they have or don’t have.  While these heroes are fun to think about and talk about, this is not what I am talking about when I say that as saints we need to live heroic lives.  I’m not talking about living a life of fame or fortune.  I’m not talking about being well known or well followed on Twitter, I am talking about being a true hero.

In ancient mythology, a hero was a demigod, or a person born to a god and a human being.  In time the title was given to real people who lived courageous and sacrificial lives in the face of great obstacles.  It was St. Augustine who first used the word hero to talk about Christians and he used the word to describe the life of the martyrs, those men and women who gave their lives in order to be faithful to God.  The Bible talks about these kinds of people in the book of Hebrews.  Look at Hebrews 11:32-38

While the author of Hebrews is talking about people who trusted in God before the time of Jesus, many early Christians faced this same kind of persecution.  Many early believers died for their faith in horrendous ways but because they remained faithful and true in the face of such obstacles, they have been called heroes.  They reflected courage, humility and self-sacrifice in the face of incredible persecution and they did it all for the greater good of spreading their faith and trust in God.  But I don’t want us to think of saints and define heroes as just the people who live extraordinary lives and stand strong while they are being fed to the lions, I want us to think about people like you and me.  While we live very ordinary lives we seek to do it in very faithful ways.  That can be heroic.  So here is how I want to define being a hero: a hero is someone who draws on the spirit and power of God to perform good deeds promptly, joyfully, frequently and sacrificially.

Now I did not pull this definition and these four categories out of thin air, this is all based on the process of canonization in the Catholic Church.  Last week we saw that the first step to being a saint was to be seen as a servant of God.  The second step is to be considered heroic in virtue, which means that these men and women have performed virtuous acts (or good deeds) with “uncommon promptitude, ease and pleasure, without human reasoning… and make it a habit so it become second nature.”  While these words come from the teaching of Pope Benedict the 14th from the late 1700’s, they are still appropriate today.  The four qualities of a heroic life are serving others with promptness, joy (which we could define as ease and pleasure), frequency (a habit that becomes second nature) and sacrifice (or giving beyond human reason and what makes sense to us).  What is interesting is that these four qualities of a heroic life are clearly seen in the life of Jesus.
Throughout the gospels what we see from Jesus is that when people were in need, Jesus met that need promptly.  Jesus didn’t mull it over and then get back to people.  He didn’t take the matter under consideration, weigh the pros and cons and form a committee to discuss the need and response.  Jesus didn’t call in a tech surge to take care of the problem, he just met the need.  A great example of this can be found in Mark 5.  Jesus had just made his way across the Sea of Galilee and as soon as he stepped off the boat a demon possessed man approached him.  Jesus didn’t wait to act; he immediately reached out and healed the man by casting out the demons.

When Jesus crossed back over the Sea of Galilee he was approached by a religious leader who asked Jesus to heal his daughter who was close to death.  Jesus didn’t stop to think about it, he simply went with the man to heal his daughter.  As they were going, a huge crowd pressed in around Jesus and in that crowd was a woman who was sick and she reached out to touch the hem of Jesus’ robe believing in that touch, she would be healed – which she was.  Now Jesus could have kept going, but he didn’t.  Jesus immediately stopped because he knew someone had been healed and he wants to add his blessing. Look at Mark 5:29-34.

Jesus didn’t wait to offer this woman a second blessing.  He stopped and acknowledged her faith and offered her a blessing of deeper peace.  While Jesus stopped in this moment to help the woman, he didn’t forget about the leader’s daughter who was close to death so when some friends of the leader came and told him that his daughter had died, Jesus immediately said to him do not fear, only believe .  Jesus promptly went to the man’s house, found the child and brought her back to life.  Again and again what we see is that Jesus simply acted when there was a need.  When people were hungry he fed them.  When they were sick, he healed them.  When sinners were brought to Jesus, he forgave them and he did it all promptly, in that very moment.

There is a promptness to Jesus which is part of what it means to be a hero.  A hero doesn’t wait; they reach out to meet a need when they see it and if we want to live a heroic life we need to simply reach out and meet the needs we see.  From my own experience, if we see a need and stop to think about what to do, or consider whether or not we want to get involved, chances are we won’t do anything.  Too many times when I have seen a need and then stopped to ask myself, should I stop and do something?  I never do.  A heroic life acts and serves promptly.

Nancy was a hero.  Nancy was a friend in college and as a group of us were walking down the street one Saturday afternoon we walked by an alley and saw a man picking through a dumpster looking for food.  We all saw the need and in that moment what I did was say to myself, I don’t have much money, and there aren’t any places to buy food around her and what can we really do about this anyway.  I kept walking, but Nancy stopped.  Nancy just stopped, so we all stopped and turned to look at her.  She finally said, let’s take him to lunch.  We pooled our money and took the man to lunch.  It was a moment I won’t forget – not because I was heroic but because Nancy showed me what being a hero looks like – she was following in the footsteps of Jesus by promptly meeting a need.

A heroic life sees a need and meets the need, it responds promptly and it does it joyfully.  Jesus was filled with joy as he reached out to people.  There was an ease and pleasure about him when he forgave people, healed peopled and fed them.  When parents brought their children to Jesus it was his disciples who sternly told the  parents to go away but it was Jesus who welcomed the children, took them in his arms and blessed them.  Jesus shared his love and joy with people as he served them and I am convinced that it was this love and joy that drew the crowds to Jesus and not just his power to help.

I think people wanted to be around Jesus because he was a man filled with joy and love and laughter.  When Jesus ate and drank with sinners and had dinner at people’s homes, I think it was the laughter that came from those homes that drew people in as much as the stories of Jesus power.  Jesus was a man of joy and as followers of Jesus we need to be heroic and share that same joy in the midst of our sad and troubled world.  We need to live joyful lives like another heroic friend of mine, Dave.

Dave was a hero to me because he was the man who introduced me to Jesus and he did it through his joy.  Dave was filled with purpose and power and he exuded a sense of joyful adventure and as a freshman in college I wanted to spend time with him because there was an ease and pleasure about his life, a joy that drew me in.  He struggled financially to get through school and went through some difficult times, but you wouldn’t know it because he was always thinking of others.  He worked to lift others up and encouraged them every chance he got.  With joy, Dave taught me how to pray, he taught me how to study the Bible and he taught me how to lead a Bible Study.  It was the joy of Dave’s life that drew me to Jesus.

Some of the people who have had the greatest impact on my life and faith have been people of great joy.  My grandmother was a woman of great joy.  My youth leaders were always and to this day remain joyful people.  The most influential leaders of the churches I have served I consider people of joy and I don’t mean they were funny people who could make me laugh – what I mean is that they were positive, encouraging, loving and uplifting people.  I wanted to be around and it was easy to be around them and maybe above all else I knew that they trusted God and that is where their joy came from.  Joy comes from a deep and abiding faith and trust in God.

What our world needs today are followers of Jesus who are willing to live joyful lives.  The world needs positive, loving, smiling people who no matter what we are going through have a deep and abiding faith and trust in God.  And being joyful is a choice.  Joy is not a byproduct of our circumstances when everything is going well, it is a choice remain hopeful and faithful at all times.  When the Bible says Rejoice always, again I say rejoice, we see that joy isn’t something that comes upon us spontaneously but a choice we can make in every situation.  We need to cultivate joy in our lives, we need to nurture it and make it our choice each morning we wake up.  If we are willing to do that, we will become heroes who can change our community and world.

Being a hero also means that we serve people frequently.  Joyful service has to become a habit in our lives and a habit is formed when we repeat the work over and over again.  So a hero isn’t someone who does a good deed every once in a while, a hero is someone whose entire life is filled with God’s grace and power flowing through them in tangible ways.  Again, this is what we see in Jesus.  Day after day Jesus served people, loved people, forgave people and lifted them up.  Day after day Jesus spread God’s grace and filled people with joy.  Day after day Jesus lived a life that made a difference in the people and the community around him and that is what a hero does, they live a life of constant service.

Maybe the best place that Jesus shows us this is on the cross.  In the darkest and most painful moment of Jesus’ life when he must have felt like everyone had turned on him – even his father in heaven - what do we see him doing?  Jesus forgives the thief who was at his right hand.  He forgives the crowds who are taunting him and he cares for his mother and his friend who are at the foot of the cross.  Love, grace and service were such a constant part of Jesus’ life that he simply never stopped reaching out to help those around him and a hero never stops reaching out.  There is a consistency and frequency of service that shapes a heroes life and it needs to shape our lives.

The cross of Jesus also shows us the last characteristic of a heroic life and that is sacrifice.  From a human stand point, sacrifice doesn’t make sense.  What sense does it make for us to lose our rights our resources, our desires and even our lives?  From a purely human point of view, sacrifice doesn’t makes sense but a hero doesn’t think about what they lose – they think about how their giving helps others.  Jesus didn’t think about his life being lost on the cross, he thought about how the cross would bring forgiveness and eternal life to the world.  The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross is what forgives us.  It saves us and brings us back into a relationship with God and every time we are willing to sacrifice for someone else we are helping bring them life and that is the life of a hero.

In many ways sacrifice is what we think of when we think of a hero.  The Congressional Medal of Honor is given to soldiers who are willing to sacrifice their own safety, and many their own lives, to help save others.  As we celebrate Veteran’s Day tomorrow, we need to remember that our Veterans and the active duty men and women of the military show us what sacrifice looks like.  It looks like people willing to risk their own lives to serve those in need around the world.  It looks like men and women willing to sacrifice themselves to help save others on the field of battle.  Read some of the stories of the Congressional Medal of Honor winners – they are amazing stories that show us what sacrifice looks like and part of what a heroic life is all about.

So a heroic life is one where good works and service are done promptly, joyfully, frequently and sacrificially and they are all done in God’s power, not our own.  The truth is that to be a real hero we have to rely upon a power greater than our own – we have to rely upon the power and spirit of God to work through us.  To stop all that we are doing to serve the needs around us promptly takes the prompting of God’s spirit.  To be joyful at all times and in all places takes the power of God’s spirit.  The frequency of service that defines a hero takes the persistence of God’s spirit shaping us and the sacrifice that we need to offer the world takes the passion of God’s spirit working in us.  A truly heroic life requires us to ask for, draw upon and trust in the power of God.  That is what sets us apart as heroes and that is what helps us live the life of a saint.





Next Steps
Living the Life of a Saint ~ Heroic

1. Questions for reflection:
• Who were your heroes growing up and why?
• Who would you define as a true hero today and why?
• What characteristics would you give to a heroic life?
• In what ways would you define Jesus as a hero?

2.  Using the teaching of Pope Benedict XIV, we can define a hero as someone who draws on the spirit of God to perform good deeds promptly, joyfully, frequently and sacrificially.

• What needs do you see that God is calling you to meet today?  Ask God for His Spirit and then step out and meet that need.

• Identify people of joy who have shaped your life.  How can you reflect that same joy to others?  Ask God for His Spirit so you can “rejoice always.”

• Service and good works of faith are not a once a year activity but a daily habit.  Find ways to reach out and help others everyday so that service and good works in God’s name because a frequent part of your life.

• This week give thanks for the Veterans and Active Duty men and women who have been willing to and today continue to sacrifice for others.  How is God calling you to sacrifice your wants, rights, possessions and life for others?  Ask God for the passion of Christ so you can take up your cross and daily follow Jesus.

Living the Life of a Saint ~ Servant

Many churches today are celebrating what is called All Saints Sunday.  It is a tradition that dates back to the seventh century when Pope Boniface IV had the church celebrate the martyrs who had died for their faith in Rome.  Through the years the tradition has changed some so that today we don’t just remember those martyred for their faith but all those who have gone before us.  Many congregations today remember their faithful members who died in the past year and yet whose memory and witness will live on for years to come.

The word saint really has two distinct meanings.  The first is the official designation or title given to men and women for their extraordinary lives of faith and service.  People like St. Peter and St. Paul who we read about in the Bible and maybe soon both Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II will be referred to as saints.  The second meaning of the word is what we find in the New Testament where saints are not extraordinary people of faith, but very ordinary people who simply strive to live their lives with and for God.  This is what I want us to consider this month as we look at what it means to live the life of a saint.  How do we as very ordinary people live out our faith today so that we can be seen as saints tomorrow?

To shape our thoughts this month, we are going to look at the four categories that a person has to pass through to officially become a saint in the Catholic Church, this process is called Canonization and includes people being examined as a servant of God, being heroic in virtue, being blessed and as someone whose prayers have helped bring about miracles.  So we are going to define the life of a saint as someone who is a servant, heroic, blessed and a person of prayer.

Today we are going to start by considering what it takes to be a servant of God and to do that we are going to look at a story of Jesus that shows us three necessary steps to being a servant.  Let’s look at John 13:1-2a, 3-5.

The first thing we need to do to be a servant is stop and see the needs of the people around us.  Jesus and his disciples had already gathered at the table and since there were no household servants to wash the feet of the guests and none of the disciples wanted to stoop that low and do the job, they all gathered around the table with dirty feet.  Now for us, this might not be so bad because our feet are tucked away in shoes and safely slid under tables, but this is not what it was like in Jesus’ day.  They all wore sandals, the roads were dirty and at dinner they would be lounging on pillows and mats on the floor which meant they were close to their feet and the feet of others.

Jesus washed the feet of the disciples because he saw the need for their feet to be washed.  If they were going to enjoy this meal together, which was not only the Passover meal but the last meal Jesus would have with his disciples before his crucifixion, then someone was going to need to do something.  Jesus saw the need and someone who has the heart and mind of a servant sees the needs of others.

The second thing Jesus shows us about being a servant is that a servant doesn’t look to someone else to meet the need that is seen but meets that need themselves.  Jesus could have asked one of the other disciples to wash everyone’s feet and he would have been totally justified, after all he was not only the son of God, but he was their master and leader.  But as a servant, Jesus doesn’t push the work off onto someone else, he does it himself.  Jesus takes up the towel and basin and begins to wash the feet of his friends.  A servant doesn’t look at the needs of others and decide it is someone else’s responsibility or job to meet that need – they are willing to do it themselves.  A servant doesn’t look at others to work, but looks at himself or herself to say, what can I do to meet this need?

And the third thing a servant does is actually work - John 13:4-5.  There is a lot of action here.  Jesus gets up, takes off his robe, ties a towel around his waist, pours water into a basin and begins to wash feet.  He works.  A servant’s life isn’t filled with good intentions and great plans but actual work and that work often is repeated in different ways over and over again.  So there are really just three steps to becoming a servant,
• see the need
• don’t look at others to meet the need – look to yourself
• do the work

Now let’s look at two saints who followed this path set out by Jesus and became servants of God themselves, this is from Acts 3:1-5.  Peter and John see a man in need.  In fact, the author of Acts makes it a point to say that Peter and John looked at him.  It says they looked straight at him, other translations say they looked intently at him.  They not only see his need for money, they see the deeper need he has for healing.  So they have the first step down – they see the need.

Now look at Acts 3:6.  Did you notice that Peter and John don’t look for someone else to meet this man’s need.  They don’t tell the people to give the man more money, they don’t ask someone else to pray for his healing and strength – they look at themselves and offer what they have.  They didn’t have silver or gold, but what they did have –faith and trust in God and His power – they were willing to offer.  Too many times we look to other people to meet the needs we see because we don’t believe that we have what it takes to help or make a difference, but we do.  We have what it takes to meet the needs we see around us and if we step out in faith - God will use.  It might not happen as instantly or miraculously as it did here, but God will use us if we are willing to meet the needs of others.

Now this all leads to the third step, look at Acts 3:7.  Peter did the work, he reached out and took the man by the hand and the man was healed.  Again, all the planning in the world is no good if we aren’t willing to act.  Peter and John were willing to act and this moment led to more acts of service and faith during their lives.

So to live the life of a saint we need to serve and that means first seeing the needs of people around us.  So what needs do we see?  Now that is a loaded question because there are countless needs all around us.  There is hunger, thirst and the need for basic medical care for more than a billion people in the world.  There is injustice and child slavery taking place across the globe.  There is the need for education and sustainable agriculture and businesses to lift people out of poverty.  There is need for basic human dignity and hope for people around the world.

The truth is that there are so many needs that it often overwhelms us so we look away.  So let’s start smaller.  What needs do we see around us right here in our community, schools, church and home?  Are there people in need of companionship and encouragement?  Do we see people in need of food and housing and jobs?  Are there children and youth who need mentors to help with school, sports and music?  What specific need can we identify.  That is what Jesus did.  When he wanted to teach us about being a servant he didn’t tackle world hunger or poverty, he just washed the feet of his friends.  Jesus saw a specific immediate need that he could meet in that moment.  So we need to ask ourselves, what specific immediate need do we see in this moment?  Where can we start?

Once we identify the need we need to stop looking at someone else to meet that need and look to ourselves.  I’ll be honest and say that I think this is our greatest problem.  We are always looking to someone else to solve the problems.  We assume someone else will bring in food for the food bank so we don’t need to.  Someone else will support the Faith Centre or the Church so we don’t need to give.  We think it is someone else’s job to visit those who are alone and lonely so we don’t do it, someone else will fill a shoebox, so we don’t take one.  Many times we see the needs around us and around the world but we just assume it is someone else’s responsibility.  Each time we say it’s not my job we aren’t stepping out as a servant and we aren’t allowing God’s power to flow through us.


What if Peter and John had said it was someone else’s job to help the man at the gate?  Not only would the man not have been healed, but Peter and John would never have had the experience of seeing the power of God work through them.  That’s what happens when we say no.  People aren’t served but we also fail to experience the power of God working in and through us.  We miss out on that awesome experience.

So we have to take responsibly for the needs we see and then we have to just step out and work.  Maybe it starts by bringing in a can of fruit cocktail and cranberry sauce.  When we do this we will feel energized and helpful so that maybe we then feel like we can fill a shoebox and then sign up to help with the Christmas Dinner.  All of this service might lead us to volunteer at the food bank, which then leads to a mission trip to Red Bird Mission or maybe even Sierra Leone.  We have to start somewhere.  We have to do something if we want to be a servant and live the life of a saint.

Let me end with a final thought about who we need to serve.  The obviously answer is everyone, but let me offer us 4 circles of people to think about serving: our family, our friends, the family of God and the friends of God.  I believe that our first responsibility to serve is our family.  God has placed us in families and as parents we have a responsibility to serve and care for our children and as grown children we have the responsibility to serve and care for our parents.  Brothers and sisters have a responsibility to serve one another when we can and so service might need to start with our family.  Even if our family is broken, awkward and dysfunctional, it might be where God is calling us to serve.

Beyond our family we all have a circle of friends that we need to think about serving.  What needs do we see in our friends?  How can we serve those with whom we choose to spend our time and with whom we we live and work and play?

And then there is the family of God, the church.  What needs do we see here?  Is it a need to serve the children or our shut-ins?  Is it a need to support the church with our money or time?  Again, if you think that it is someone else’s job to keep the church going with time, money, prayer and work – you are wrong – it is our job so if we see or hear about a need, are we willing to not look at anyone other than ourselves to meet that need.  A few weeks ago someone here heard about the need to visit someone who was in the hospital and so he didn’t look to anyone else to do the job, but went himself to visit and that visit was a blessing.  God used this man in powerful ways because he showed up at the right moment, it was all God’s timing.  Are we willing to actually step out and do what we see and hear needs to be done in the life of the church?

And then the largest circle is the friends of God, but the truth is all human beings are friends of God.  They may not be friendly toward God, but God loves them all and so we are called to serve them all.  This circle might not be the place to start serving because the problems are big, but we cannot overlook this circle.  There are big problems in our world that God is asking us to meet and if we are servants we won’t look to others to do the work, we will find ways to do it ourselves.

Living the life of a saint starts by being a servant of God which means seeing the needs of others, not looking to someone else to meet those needs but being willing to meet them ourselves and then stepping out in faith to do the work.  Let’s be the saints of tomorrow by living the life of a servant today.
 
Next Steps
Living the Life of a Saint ~ Servant


1. Jesus teaches us what it means to be a servant when he washes the feet of his disciples.  Read again John 13:1-17.  What new insights do you see about being a servant?  Who has “washed your feet”?  What did that experience feel like?  Give thanks for those who have served you.


2. Being a servant begins by seeing the needs in others.  What specific needs do you see in:
• Your family
• Your friends
• The family of God (the church)
• The friends of God (the world)


3. Don’t look for others to meet those needs, look to yourself.  How can you specifically meet the needs you identified in:
• Your family
• Your friends
• The family of God
• The friends of God


4. The life of a servant is not a road of good intentions and well thought out plans but action.  What action can you take this week to serve:
• Your family
• Your friends
• The family of God
• The friends of God
 

Soul Detox ~ Toxic Comparisons

Today we are going to finish up our Soul Detox series by looking at what might be the spiritual toxin the leads to all the rest: envy.  In his book, Soul Detox, Craig Groeschel defines envy as the marriage of comparison and resentment. Comparison + Resentment = Envy.  When we compare what we have to what others have and resent that they have it instead of us – it’s envy.  Harold Coffin says that envy is counting the other person’s blessings instead of our own. 

Envy is dangerous because it leads to many of the other toxic things we have been talking about.  Envy can lead to toxic words because we not only resent what others have but we end up putting them down because they have what we want.  Envy can lead to toxic fear when we see others get ahead in life when we aren’t and we wonder what will happen to us in the long run.  Envy can lead to toxic relationships when we start comparing our marriages and children with others and when everyone else’s families look perfect we start asking ourselves what’s wrong with ours.  Envy can lead to toxic beliefs about ourselves because we tell ourselves the reason we don’t have what others have is because we aren’t good enough.  Envy also permeate much of today’s toxic culture because everywhere we turn we are told to compare ourselves to others and that if we want to be happy we have to have all the things that everyone else has.  In so many ways envy, or our toxic comparisons of others, is at the root of much of what is poisoning us.

Now envy is not just an issue with material things.  While we can be envious of someone else’s bigger house, newer car or smaller phone, we can also be envious of relationships.  When we start comparing our marriages to the marriages of others and our families with the families we see around us it can lead us to want something different or something more.  We can also envy appearances.  When we start comparing what we look like to what others look like, we can begin to envy someone else’s shape and size and ability.  This kind of envy leads to eating disorders in some and the use of steroids in others.  Some people are looking to get smaller and others are looking to get larger.  Toxic comparisons keep us unhappy and dissatisfied by always by telling us that we need to be someone and something we aren’t.

In high school I was envious of Dave Lyons.  Dave was athletic, good looking and had lots of friends.  One day I happened to hear that Dave weighed 135 pounds and so I thought that if I could just weigh 135 pounds I would be happy.  Remember I was overweight and so I envied those who were thin and I believed that if I could just be thin – I would be happy.  To this day I tell people that my ideal weight is 135 pounds.  Now I know it’s not but that toxic comparison has stayed with me for 35 years.

After college I envied the manger I worked with.  I worked harder than she did and I had better relationships with our staff than she did and our district manager even said, you know I really see the two of you as co-managers – which was nice, but I wasn’t getting the salary or the bonus she was getting.  I had to fight the poison of envy in that job and sometimes I have fight the poison of envy in this job.  Pastors are not immune to toxic comparisons.  In both Altoona and Lewisburg I envied the parking lots that other churches had because we had almost no off street parking.  Do you know what I did my very first week here at Faith Church?  I walked through the parking lot and counted every space!  I was excited to have a parking lot that with 237 parking spaces, but I’ll be honest, there was a little bit of pride and ego that I now served a church that had this kind of parking.  I’m not proud of this, but I share it because envy is all around us and if left unchecked it can lead to many other kinds of evil.  That’s what we read in James 3:14-16.  Every evil practice!

The truth is that envy is not only all around us; it has been around from the very beginning.  Let’s go back to Adam and Eve.  God placed them in the Garden of Eden and told them they could eat anything they wanted except the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, but then the serpent came to Eve and started talking to her about that particular tree and how good the fruit looked.  It was then that she started to make some toxic comparisons.

Look at Genesis 3:6.  Look at the words here, she saw that the fruit was good and pleasing and desirable.  All the rest of the fruit that she had been given was also good and pleasing and desirable, but Eve wasn’t looking at those things, she was looking at what she didn’t have.  She knew this fruit wasn’t hers, it belonged to God and she knew God said don’t eat that fruit, but because in her comparison it looked better than what she had, she and her husband both took it.  Toxic comparisons and envy was part of original sin which means that in some way we all struggle with it.

To prove this point, let’s look at the children of Adam and Eve, Cain and Able.  Cain was a farmer and Able raised livestock and one day they both made an offering to God.  God looked on Able’s offering with favor, but not Cain’s and while we don’t know what the difference was in their offerings, we know that Cain looked at his brother and envied the blessing he received and instead of being happy for his brother and working on his own heart and life in order to bring an acceptable offering to God himself, he went out and murdered his brother.  For Adam and Eve, envy led to disobedience to God but with their children it led to murder.   Envy leads to all kinds of evil and we see it all through the Bible.

In Genesis 30 it says that Rachel envied her sister Leah because Leah could have children and Rachel could not.  Rachel and Leah were both married to Jacob and because Rachel wanted children like her sister, she sent her servant to have a child with Jacob in her place which only led to more children and more dysfunction until that family became the poster-family for toxic relationships.  Envy led to a broken family full of strife.  The brothers born to Leah and Rachel and their servants also struggled with envy because they compared their fathers love and favor for his favorite son Joseph with how they were being treated, and that comparison and resentment led them to sell their brother Joseph into slavery.  Again, we see envy leading to all kinds of evil.

King Saul envied the praise and adoration that the warrior David was receiving with his victories in battle.  Instead of being happy for David and even taking David along side of him to celebrate their victories together, his envy led Saul to be consumed with an anger and jealously that not only cost him the throne, but it cost him his life.  And if you think it about, Jesus was condemned by the religious leaders of his day because they envied the crowds that followed him.  The religious leaders envied the praise that Jesus had among the people and they feared losing their own power so they took action to not only silence Jesus, but to destroy him.  So we see that envy leads to disobedience to God, family dysfunction, sibling rivalry, the loss of jobs, the loss of life and even the death of Jesus.

Envy truly does lead to all kinds of evil.  Proverbs 14:30 says a heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.  Envy rots the very fabric of our lives and maybe it was the philosopher Socrates who said it best, “envy is the daughter of pride, the author of murder and revenge, and the perpetual tormentor of virtue.  Envy is the filthy slime of the soul; a venom, a poison, which consumes the flesh and dries up the marrow of the bones.  Envy is an ulcer of the soul.”

So how do we guard against envy and rid ourselves of this poison?  The first thing we need to do is guard ourselves from the comparisons we make with others.  Envy actually begins innocently enough when we stop and compare what we have with others and these comparisons aren’t bad if we can celebrate the blessings and gifts we see in others.  The Bible tells us this is what we need to do.  Romans 12:15 says, rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.

Rejoicing with those who rejoice means looking at the lives of others and not wanting what they have but celebrating with them what they have and how God has blessed them.  Think about the difference in the story of Cain and Able if Cain had celebrated with Able the blessing of God.  Think about how Saul’s life and maybe the nation of Israel would have been different if Saul had taken David under his wing and celebrated his victories and success instead of envying them.  Celebrating with others can transform our lives and bring its own blessing.

When someone is promoted at work above us – we should celebrate with them and not be bitter that we were overlooked.  When people around us find success while we are experiencing failure we shouldn’t resent what is going in their lives but throw a party for them.  It’s not easy, but when we do this we cut envy off at the knees and open the door for God to bless us as well.  The same is true in relationships, when someone finds their true love we should celebrate that relationship and not be angry that our relationships are far from ideal or that we don’t have any relationships at all.

So we need to guard ourselves against toxic comparisons and one way we can do this is to just be thankful for what we have, look at   1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. When we are thankful for what we have, it’s hard to be envious of what others have.  When our eyes are fixed on the blessings God has given us it’s hard to see how green the grass is on the other side of the fence.  One of the ways to fight envy is to simply make a list of all we are thankful for.

What are you thankful for today?  When you look at your life, your marriage or friendships, your children and family?  What are you thankful for?  When you consider your job and career, your home and community, what can you give thanks for?  Can you thank God for the love of family and friends?  Can you thank God for a job and the resources to make it to through the day?  Can you thank God for friends that support you and a church that provides opportunities for worship, support and service?  I am convinced that once we stop comparing ourselves with others and begin to thank God for what he has given us – it begins to beak the power of envy in our hearts and lives.

Not only is giving thanks for all God has given us a way to clear out envy, but so is spending time with people who are truly thankful.  This week at the Young at Heart lunch, Jim McKinley shared about his battle with guillain-barre syndrome and how in a matter of days that sickness took Jim’s health and strength and in time took his home, truck and much of his money.  But it doesn’t take long being around Jim to see that he is an amazingly thankful person.  When he shared with us on Thursday he said over and over again how thankful he was for our prayers, our love and our invitation to him to come and share his story.  After feeding tubes for a long time, Jim is thankful that he can eat and he was thankful on Thursday for all the good food that was provided.  I was humbled. When I envy what others have and get frustrated that my life isn’t what I thought it would be or want it to be and then see what Jim goes through… honestly, I’m embarrassed by my toxic comparisons.  Jim doesn’t envy the life of others – he is thankful for his life and the blessings God has given him even in the midst of his limitations.  I tell you what, spend some time with people who are truly thankful despite their situations and envy disappears while gratitude and humility fills the heart.

Toxic comparisons and envy leads to all kinds of evil and it enters our heart and minds so easily and quietly, so we need to guard against it and overcome it by everyday giving thanks for what we have and truly celebrating when we see God’s blessings in the life of others.  If we can get this right, I believe that toxic words, relationships and beliefs begin to lose their power and we find strength to stand against the pull of the toxic culture around us.  If we get this right and really learn how to give thanks – we begin to the find the life God has given to us.
 
Next Steps
Soul Detox ~ Toxic Comparisons

1.  In what areas of your life do you tend to make the most comparisons?  
• Material possessions
• Relationships and family
• Appearance
• Ability
• Jobs and career
• Faith

What might this tell you about toxic fears and insecurities that need to be overcome or how toxic words that have shaped your life?  


2.  In what ways have you seen envy lead to other problems in your life, relationships and family?


3. If one antidote to envy is to “rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep”, who are the people in your life with whom you can rejoice?  What might that celebration look like?  Who are the people with whom you can weep?


4.  Spend time each day giving thanks for what God has given you.  Share these thanksgivings with others.


5.  Ask people this week to tell you five things they are thankful for and help others overcome envy.