HOW IT HAPPENS…
Last Sunday we heard the story of the Gerasene Demoniac. Do you remember? His name was “Legion” because of all the demons his heart was filled with. We know his name because the very first thing Jesus said to him was a question: “What’s your name?” Throughout the gospels, Jesus teaches us the importance of his questions. Here in this story, the question he asks the demoniac leads to a relationship … which leads to a healing … which leads to freedom and finally, discipleship. All that from one question! Jesus knows what we often forget: real love requires a relationship. And too many times in our lives, we skip right to the judgment and conclusion about someone or some group of people before we ever get to know them. As Bruce Condill said in Sunday’s worship, loving like Jesus is very hard. Yes, and probably impossible if we try to do it alone. The question for us then becomes, how do we as mere mortals who call ourselves Christian, love like Jesus. Let’s review the 3-step process we must take as “believers” in order to even begin to love like Jesus loved. STEP 1: UNDERSTANDING – Ask yourself:
- Do you believe in the one true God, the Almighty Creator who at the beginning created all there is in heaven and earth? If Yes …
- Do you believe that the one God created you … and that in doing so created you in the image of God? If yes …
- Do you believe that means you have the potential of the divine, not to be God but to be Christ-like in aspects of your daily life? If yes …
- Do you believe, therefore, your God-given purpose in this life is to do all you can to fulfill your Christ-like potential? If yes …
- Do you believe that this is true not only for you, but for every other person living today: that the one God created them in the image of God and that everyone not only deserves the opportunity to achieve their God-given purpose but also deserve to be loved just as God loves them – just as Jesus asked us to love them?
STEP 2: BEHAVIOR – Ask yourself …
- Isn’t your calling from God a spiritual (not religious) call to nurture your Christ-like potential? And …
- Isn’t the first step necessary to do this to align our lives to the best of our ability with the life that Christ taught and lived himself? And …
- Isn’t “divine love” the only power and means to do this? And …
- Isn’t that really a calling to turn away from our self-centered human instincts and stop playing God ourselves – with all of our judgments and conclusions about people we don’t even know – and start loving them just like Jesus did (including the Gerasene Demoniacs in our lives)? And …
- Isn’t it true that if we start to change our behavior in small incremental ways then, over time, there will begin to be subtle but powerful changes in our hearts as we begin to learn to love like Jesus loves.
STEP 3: CONVERSION – Ask yourself …
- Doesn’t conversion begin as those small changes we make cause us to reflect on our whole life … all of our behaviors … and our true calling from God to love everyone like Jesus did = unconditionally, all-forgiving, never-ending? Then …
- Doesn’t conversion continue as our own consciousness starts to be transformed from the priority of our human/earthly existence to the priority of our heavenly/spiritual existence? And then …
- Doesn’t the tipping point come in our hearts when we realize that the potential that God has given us to be a force of divine love in this world in undeniable, and we can’t turn back?
Then … and only then … does our name become “Friend of Jesus” – because before we didn’t understand the ways of our Lord – but now we do. In one monumental day on the shore directly opposite Galilee, Jesus met a man and asked him his name. The man replied, “Legion” because of all the demons he was filled with. By the end of the day, Legion’s new name became “Friend of Jesus,” and he understood divine love … and he changed his behavior toward other people … and he was converted into a disciple of Jesus Christ. He became a Friend of Jesus. One last question: How about you? A work in progress, I am … Pastor Bob (F.O.J.)
