Christian Reflection and Prayer

"Increase our faith" (Luke 17:5).

A popular author and Pastor recalled the day when
a Church-member approached him after the Sunday
service. "I wish I had half as much faith as you," the
member admitted. The clergyman said he felt like
laughing and quickly explained that while he may
serve as Pastor, his faith is at times as rickety as
Doubting Thomas. "Like so many," he said,
"sometimes I find it challenging to maintain any
level of real trust in God, in the church, or in my
own decision to follow Christ." And then he added,
"sadly, living in this insane asylum we call planet
earth is enough to grind the truest believer into
the dust."

An honest yet jarring assessment to which many
of us can no doubt relate. So how do we do it?
How do we keep the faith when it is sometimes
so hard to believe? The pastor continued, "We
believe because we have chosen to believe. We
will never understand all there is about Christian
spirituality, about following Jesus, or how faith is
best expressed in the world. But we do not have
to understand it all. For in believing, we begin the
life-long, eternity-long journey toward understanding.
As we seize with faith the day that is before us,
God opens our eyes to His reality, to see what
actually is."

Recently my youngest son and I had kind of an interesting
conversation. He began asking me questions about
“conservative" "Christians". We began talking about the
term conservative and the term Christians. He gave me
some interesting insight into some of his life's experiences
with people who term themselves as conservative Christians.
All of the experiences that he talked about were negative.
I usually don't like the term conservative or liberal linked to
followers of Jesus Christ. But I must say I agree with my
son. I've seen a lot of people in the media link conservative
and liberal to the Christianity
.
If we are going to deal in terms here, I kind of follow the idea
of being a "Red Letter Christian". You may have noticed that
some of the older Bibles, especially in the Gospels, would
put in red letters the words of Jesus. That's kind of how I'd
like to live my life, from the words of Jesus. And if I want to
put a modern-day spin on it I believe the best way to be a
Christian is to ask "What Would Jesus Do"? You see if you
do that, as I see the term, you're not a conservative. If you
do that, as I see the term, you're not a liberal. If you do that,
as I see the term your a Christian.

So if you see a person in need and you asked the question
what would Jesus do the answer you come up with makes
you what I believe is a Christian. I think that's a typical
formula to follow. Go to any verse in the Bible that talks
about Jesus, any quote taken from Jesus you will know
what Jesus would do. He would help those in need. You
see that's not conservative and that's not liberal that's being
a Christian. Now I believe people of other faiths could ask
the same question about their beliefs and get the same kind
of answer.

Now, when it gets right down to it, all these politicians that
call themselves Christian, I don't think for 1 min. ever asked
that question, "What would Jesus do?". Now I'm not about
to say here that I'm always right about what I think Jesus
would do because if I was always right I'd be as perfect as
Jesus was, and I'm not. But my son brought up a real good
idea and it's true. You know with some things there's only
one way to interpret it.

So Mr. politician if you call yourself a Christian and you
believe that we should bomb the hell out of Syria I don't
think you're asking the question what would Jesus do.
Mr. politician if you think it's right to close the government
and not only affect veterans, but little kids in operation
Headstart, and the food stamp program, and put out over
900,000 people out of work, then I don't think you're asking
the question, "What would Jesus do?". And the sad thing
about all of this is that there are politicians who are asking
that question and coming up with the wrong answer.

Finally, I think there's something even sadder here. And
that is that there are too many people who are in position
of power, who are in positions of leadership, who call
themselves Christians, who influence many people, who
have no idea what Jesus would do. And unfortunately there
are too many people who follow these, "Christians", believe
what they say, and vote for them time and time again. I say,
before you believe in them, before you let yourself get
influenced by them, before you vote for them, asked the
question, "WHAT WOULD JESUS DO!".

Pastor Kim

Scripture:

"...and threw himself at the feet of Jesus and thanked
Him" (Luke 17:16).

A Franciscan Brother named Phillip Kelly was
ministering to a large group of migrant workers from
Puerto Rico. Every year they journeyed to the U.S.
mainland to pick fruits and vegetables for a big canning
company. Many of the workers brought their families
with them, and they all aspired to earn enough money
to one day build a house on their native island.

Each December, the workers and their families would
gather together in a Church basement for a holiday
celebration that culminated with a drawing for a chance
to win an all-expense-paid luxury vacation. To fund the
drawing, each of the several hundred families contributed
five dollars or more. As the workers arrived at the church
they would deposit their contribution into a box along
with a slip of paper with the family name on it.

It so happened that one year the party was attended by
the canning company foreman. A twenty-five year
employee, he had worked closely with the migrant
workers and was now retiring. He very much loved these
people and, over the years, he had befriended them and
been of service to them in many ways -- and they loved
him.

When it was time for the drawing, Brother Kelley was
asked to pick the name of the lucky family from the box.
Wearing a blindfold, he reached into the box and pulled
out a slip. And incredibly, the name he drew was that of
the retiring foreman.

When the name was announced, the workers cheered
and hugged each other and danced around as the foreman
joyfully thanked his co-workers. During the commotion,
the curious Brother Kelley reached into the box and
grabbed a handful of the remaining slips. And much to his
surprise, on each one -- in different handwriting -- was the
foreman's name.

To all of the foremen and forewomen, teachers and tellers,
doctors and lawyers, CEOs and short order cooks here
today -- no matter what your name is or who you know --
it's not your title, your tenure, your rank, or your seniority
that matters most. Instead, its the simple and direct job
description assigned to every follower of Christ:
Love one another!

It's the job of responding to the Father's gift of love as
Jesus responded -- through our ministry of loving service to
our brothers and sisters, everywhere. And to all who
faithfully report for the job, give thanks to the Lord. Give
thanks to the Lord who assures us, "your names are
written in heaven"” (Lk.10:20).

(Excerpts from Sunday Sermons Online)