Live Out Your God-Created Identity

Matthew 5 (The Message)

“When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives His best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good, the bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.
In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.”

At first, I went down the usual line with this passage. Bless those who curse, etc. I do want to use my energies to pray rather than to respond in anger. It says that if I pray instead of react “I am working out my true self.” I want to be who I really am when I am alone and especially when I am with others.

Father, help me to pray instead of react.

Then while I was in the bathroom straightening my hair another stream of thinking took place. I could hear and feel the swarm that goes on in my mind and heart at times. That overwhelming feeling of anxiety and movement toward some nebulous next thing.

I wanted to take a deep breath and be in the moment, receiving “the sacrament of the present moment.” I heard God say, “I love you, right now, in this moment.”

My backtalk took off. I really don’t believe He loves me when I am doing nothing or even when I am doing something—whether that something is good or bad. I am constantly striving to reach that place of being/doing the “right” thing. The thing that brings peace/satisfaction/joy. There is this nebulous “next thing” that I am pushing toward.

I must choose to believe that I am loved even if I am not doing all the things I “should” or if I am doing the things I “shouldn’t.” I don’t think I will be free of this anxiety until I can realize more deeply that You love me in every moment no matter what I am doing or how I am acting.

Today, I will acknowledge when I become aware of that anxiety and I will counter it by reminding my self that I am loved in that moment. I will take a deep breath and experience the grace of that moment.

Father, will you please calm the racing inside of me as I learn to believe Your love. I am sorry that I spurn Your love. You sent Your Son and still I can’t enter into it. But that will change. I am going to “respond with the energies of prayer, for then I am working out my true self.”

Listening Well

Listening well is becoming a precious commodity. Have you noticed the speed with which people interact? Picture yourself at the grocery checkout line. There is friendly banter, of course, but you must be rushed along so that the person behind you doesn’t get agitated. What about the fast food drive-thru? More quick talking and moving so that you can get in, out and gone. If you are a parent, do you find yourself hurrying your children along so that you can get to the next thing or just get done with whatever is next on the to-do list?

When was the last time you had a leisurely conversation? Do you find yourself talking fast, and cutting people short so that you and/or they can get on with whatever you/they were doing?

I have been finding lately that many people don’t have someone who just simply listens to them. This might be a wonderful gift to give each other.

In The Contemplative Pastor, Eugene Peterson speaks about listening. He is referring to pastoral listening in this quote, but I think it translates to any one of us who is willing to take the time to give the gift of an unhurried listening ear.

“....listening requires unhurried leisure, even if it’s only for five minutes. Leisure is a quality of spirit, not a quantity of time. Only in that ambience of leisure do persons know they are listened to with absolute seriousness, treated with dignity and importance. Speaking to people does not have the same personal intensity as listening to them. The question I put to myself is not “How may people have you spoken to about Christ this week?” but “How many people have you listened to in Christ this week?” The number of persons listened to must necessarily be less than the number spoken to. Listening to a story always takes more time than delivering a message, so I must discard my compulsion to count, to compile the statistics that will justify my existence.
I can’t listen if I’m busy. When my schedule is crowded, I’m not free to listen. I have to keep my next appointment; I have to get to the next meeting. But if I provide margins to my day there is ample time to listen.” (Eugene Peterson, The Contemplative Pastor, Eerdmans Publishing: Grand Rapids, MI, 1993, p. 21-22)