Thoughts of a Ragamuffin Part 9

Thoughts of a Ragamuffin Part 9: Caring, Loving, Keeper

Its a privilege to attend a Sabbath Retreat at Genesse Home.

Under the watchful eye of Charlie and Bev you are directed into a time of

fellowship and communion.

You hear from God, you get in sync,

And connect at a deeper level with your spouse.

You find rest for your soul.

Being a veteran I came armed with an agenda to take maximum advantage of our

week.

Proverbs 16:9 (NLT)

We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.

Into my plans, God directed my steps,

Carol dropped the book “An Arrow Pointing to Heaven” into my lap.

The book is about the spirituality of Rich Mullins,

the way he lived his life, his thoughts.

I felt it would be a blessing to you as it was to me to consider the way Rich

experienced his world.

Today in our series,

Thoughts of a Ragamuffin” we will consider what it means to be our

brother and or sisters keeper.

In Genesis God is questioning Cain:

Genesis 4:9 (NIV)

Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?"

It reminiscent of another question God asked:

Genesis 3:8-9 (NIV)

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"

The “where are you” is a prelude to restoration.

Even though God pronounces a consequence,

He also offers the hope of salvation in spite of the curse.

This is what God does, He asks where you are so that you can come to a realization

of where you really are and call out to him for help.

The question is asked again,

The answer is very revealing.

Genesis 4:9 (NIV)

Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?"
"I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?"

Am I my brother’s keeper?

Am I responsible for him?

God’s answer is yes.

You and I are called to be keepers of each other.

Philippians 2:4 (NIV)

Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Rich wrote: “Someday we’ll be called to give an account and…

I don’t think our crown will be the words we wrote;

I think it will be how we have built up the body of Christ,

how we have torn down walls of suspicion and walls of fear,

how we have shed light on false doctrines,

how we’ve been encouraging truth and how that affects lives,

and how we made Jesus visible.” (Mullins--James Bryan Smith, Arrow Pointing to Heaven, p163)

Jim Smith writes of Rich:

“He became convinced that the only thing that matters is love---

not the emotional feeling but

the acts of love that we do in the mundane moments of life.”

(Smith, Arrow, p 163)

Isn’t in the mundane moments of life that we spend most of our time?

Its in the everyday stuff that we are to be each others keepers.

Its about how we live out our life in the small things.

Its how we approach everyone we encounter.

A number of things come to my mind when I think how to be a keeper

in the every day occurrences of life.

Its doing the kinds of things Jesus did for people

1. Keepers accept people.

Matthew 7:1-2 (MSG)

"Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults—unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging.

If you haven’t noticed people are strange, weird,

and scary until you get to know them.

When you do get to know them they still may be strange and weird,

But at least they aren’t scary anymore.

If you haven’t noticed people don’t do what you want,

They don’t think the way you want;

They don’t act the way you want;

They don’t look the way you want;

They don’t say what you want;

And they don’t even when you’re doing for them.

If you haven’t noticed some people aren’t very respectable or admirable.

You may be deeply troubled by the life style choices they have made,

The sin they embrace,

But there is no room for self-righteousness and judging

when you’re a keeper.

(Smith, Arrow, p 164)

A keeper has no stones to throw. (Smith, Arrow, p 164)

Being a keeper you

“accept people as they are,

you embrace them even with their flaws

you love them without trying to fix them.” (Smith, Arrow, p 164)

A keeper doesn’t judge,

rather they entrust judgment to the One who judges justly.

That One is God.

2. Keepers are compassionate

Mark 8:1-2 (MSG)

Jesus called his disciples together and said, "This crowd is breaking my heart.

Everybody is in the same boat.

The ones in the worst shape are those who have never been loved,

Or at least don’t feel like they are loved.

The ones who have been betrayed.

Hurt people hurt others, hurting people do counter productive things.

You have no idea what someone is going through,

Your compassion can make a huge difference to them.

Compassion is a combination of empathy and sympathy that moves you to

action.

You see the situation and you just can’t leave people to suffer in it.

Jesus has shown great compassion for you.

It was His compassion,

His empathy,

His sympathy,

that He came the way, the truth and the life to

lead you out of an empty and dead way of life.

A keeper responds to the craziness people experience in this life with compassion,

Real compassion moves you to action.

You draw near and try to be a blessing.

Giving away what you have so freely received.

3. Keepers Encourage others

John 16:33 (MSG)

I've told you all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I've conquered the world."

Sometimes just a word of encouragement,

can make a world of difference.

False hope and platitudes, with pat answers, religious clichés—

those do more harm than good.

This past week Carol was speaking to another mom at the hospital and the

mom told Carol that people have told her

“God wont give you more than you can handle.”

That was meant to be encouraging but it wasn’t.

Worse it’s a mis- understanding of 1 Corinthians 10:13

That speaks about God allowing you to be tempted past the point of

your power to resist.

A hand on a shoulder and a simple “I’m so sorry” that’s encouragement

Sitting with someone in silence that’s encouragement.

Listening to their story that’s encouragement.

Praying with them, Bringing a meal, running and errand,

anything that communicates that they are not alone, that you care that’s encouragement.

Then there is the type of encouragement you give by calling out the best you

see in someone.

Acknowledge, appreciate, compliment, wonderful gifts to give.

Knowing God is working in someone’s life,

and nudging someone in the direction of that awareness,

that’s encouragement

Encouragement invites hope,

When there is hope in the future there is strength to carry on.

Keepers encourage hope in us and sometimes hope is all we need.

We’re looking at being our brother or sisters keeper,

From the message we get from reading about Cain’s encounter with God we

know that we are to be keepers,

we have a responsibility towards one another.

We carry out that duty of a keeper in the ordinary things of our day.

Keepers are called to be accepting, compassionate, encouraging.

And to be that for everyone they encounter.

Let’s continue

4. Keepers are merciful towards everyone.

Luke 17:3-4 (MSG)

"Be alert. If you see your friend going wrong, correct him. If he responds, forgive him. ⁴ Even if it's personal against you and repeated seven times through the day, and seven times he says, 'I'm sorry, I won't do it again,' forgive him."

Mercy is giving someone what they don’t deserve.

Mercy is giving someone another chance.

Rich Mullins was very much influenced by Saint Francis of Assisi.

St. Francis said:

“You should not let a single person in the world,

whatever sin that person may have committed,

come before your eyes and

depart without having found mercy with you.

And should that person not ask for mercy from you,

then you must ask it of him.

And were that person to come to you a thousand times,

continue to love them so as to led them back to the right path,

Always have compassion, for all of us have sinned.”

Mercy means you dispense grace

Mercy means you cancel debts.

Mercy means you give another chance

You have received mercy from God,

Give away to everyone what you have received.

Mercy creates space for people to change.

When you are merciful you are a liberator,

You help set captives free.

A keeper dispenses mercy to those encountered throughout the ordinary affairs of

life.

5. Keepers are lovers.

The Apostle John under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote:

John 3:16 (MSG)

This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life.

Father and Son both knew that people would not respond to that love.

To meet humanity’s greatest need,

A love gift was given,

A gift of love,

motivated by love,

the definitive manifestation of love was

given but not all received.

Yet the gift was given to all, without expectation,

So there was no anger when it is rejected.

Where the gift is rejected I am sure there is heart ache and

suffering on the part of God.

So God just offers again and again.

“Love anything and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken.” (C.S. Lewis –Smith, Arrow, p. 179)

Rich wrote:

“Love is a virtue and not a feeling.

It is fed and fired by God—

not by the favorable response of the beloved.

Even when it doesn’t seem to make a dime’s worth of difference to the ones

on whom it is lavished,

it is still the most prized of all virtues because it is at the heart

of the very character of God.” (Mullins—Smith, Arrow, p. 173

A keeper seeks to meet the needs of others and it always costs.

A keeper loves others without expecting a return on the investment.

6. Keepers urges people to accept responsibility

John 5:6 (MSG)

When Jesus saw him stretched out by the pool and knew how long he had been there, he said, "Do you want to get well?"

Here is this cripple guy, years waiting for someone to come along and help him.

I get the sense that he was refusing to take responsibility for his condition,

When asked if he wants to get well, he gives an excuse as to why

he if not.

Could he be expecting others to deal with his situation for him?

Could it be he believed he had no power to change the situation he was in?

Could he have been content with the situation?

There’s a difference between a hand out and a hand up.

There’s a difference between judging and drawing boundaries.

Often its difficult to discern which is the appropriate response

But ask and the Holy Spirit will guide you.

Many of the conditions and situations people find themselves in require them to

take responsibility for their own actions.

When you gently remind people that they have stuff they can to do to change their

situations,

that they have to stop blaming,

and take responsibility you’re being a keeper.

Being a keeper in once sense is part of practicing the 4^th Habit of a Disciple.

Being a keeper is exercise the spiritual discipline of service.

I have often pointed out to you that God has gifted people to do

different tasks within the body of Christ,

that God has written you a specific job description.

When you do what you have been called to so that’s your reasonable service.

Being a keeper is a more general application of the principle of service.

Being a keeper is how we are to love on the people of our world.

Love on them in the ordinary routines of life.

Here’s what we have:

The scripture tells us that we are our brother and sisters keeper.

Keepers are called to be accepting, compassionate, encouraging.

To be that for everyone they encounter.

Keepers are called to be merciful, loving without expectation

while urging others to accept responsibility for their own lives.

Being a keeper is the ministry of every believer.

We do our job when we love people. (Smith, Arrow, p 174)

Romans 12:9-10 (NLT)

Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.

“Service is not a list of things we do,

though in it we find things to do.

It is not a code of ethics,

but a way of living that is ethical.”

We glorify God, manifesting His presence to the people in our world by being their

keeper whether they want us to or not. (Smith, Arrow, p 169)

Again turning to a thought from St Francis:

“Preach the Gospel wherever you go, and use words only if necessary.”

(Smith, Arrow, p. 179)

Being a Keeper is one way to do exactly that.

Bringing the kingdom to others not in some special event,

But rather in the ordinary mundane encounters with

them during your day.

If you are a believer, you are already called to be a keeper.

To be a good keeper it starts with understanding the need,

then asking God to empower you and

the Holy Spirit to guide you in your Keeping responsibilities.

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