Day 27: Beyond the funny...

Today is Red Nose Day.  Many of you may be dressed in red, doing something funny for money, or contributing to a collection at work or at school.  If you watch the BBC this evening you will undoubtedly be moved by the video documentaries of material and emotional poverty both here in the UK and internationally.  The aim is, of course, to move you to give financially, and as Christians we should be generous givers whenever we can.  Sharing from our material wealth is an important aspect of loving others.  Meeting practical needs - whether ourselves or via a charity - has always been the calling of the followers of Christ.  Jesus spoke regularly about material injustice and the early church pooled their resources to make sure that everybody had what they needed.  Many charities who receive money from Comic Relief will have been set up by or staffed by those Jesus has called into this work.

But maybe you can also give beyond your finance today.  Perhaps you can use any new awareness that Comic Relief may bring to you to pray more intelligently.  Maybe you could take notes while you are watching and allow the Spirit to speak to you about things that you can bring before God.  This will enable us to pray about international and national situations and take responsibility for interceding for others.  Furthermore, we can take this further and use the national and local media - newspapers, tweets, television updates - to stir us to pray.

If you feel so led, perhaps God is also calling you to take practical action to love others by meeting their practical needs.  There are various avenues within our church: to help serve local families through the Allsorts toddler group, to serve the rough sleepers of Bromley by serving with the Curry Union, to deliver leaflets to our community letting them know about Church for people who don't do Church.  There are even more opportunities to serve with the local churches together: FoodBank, Street Pastors, the Night Shelter, the list goes on.  If you are a school parent, you could seek opportunities to volunteer at the school, if there is a social responsbility programme in your workplace you could investigate this further.  Consider your passions - remembering that they are God-given.  If you are moved, investigate the ways that you can give time to showing the love of Jesus through your practical service.

Be generous today - and use it as an opportunity to hear how God is calling you to live a life full of life, following the example of Christ.... (Ephesians 5:2)

For the kids:
As a parent, you will know how much your child is able to understand about the reasons why Red Nose Day exists.  Make the most of the conversations that will arise as they seek to understand why they are wearing different clothes or doing different things today.  And use them as the basis of prayer time.  Encourage your children to be generous givers - with their finances and their time.  There will always be ways that they too can serve in a practical way - helping you shop for the Larder, donating their extra toys to a children's charity, visiting older neighbours to cheer them up.  Don't be limited and let them dream along with you...

Day 26: Words, words, words...

When thinking about loving others, particularly those who don't know Jesus yet, do you ever worry that at the most important times your words will fail you?  What if they ask a question and you don't have a good answer?  What if you stumble or look foolish?  What if, as it turns out, you don't really know what you are talking about?

The Bible has two pieces of advice for us as we seek to love one another and share Jesus' love with our words.

Firstly, 1 Peter 3:15-16 says this: and if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way.

Secondly, Matthew 10:19-20 says this: don't worry about how to respond or what to say.  God will give you the right words at the right time.  For it is not you who will be speaking - it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

So one verse is telling us to prepare our words and be ready.  And the other is telling us not to worry for God will give us the words to speak.  But these are not contradictory...

Both verses remind us that we need to be seeking God.  If we know Him better we will be more able to explain our Christian hope.  We should be preparing answers and learning more about the character of God so that we are able to share the good news that has changed our lives.  Our ability to talk about God should be natural and free-flowing because we are talking about somebody we love and spend time with.  We should know who we are talking about.  Equally, if we know Him better and spend more time with Him we will be more tuned to the Spirit whispering the words we need at the right time.  We don't need to memorise a script because our God is living in us and will give us everything we need.

And if we have been reading God's word, the Spirit will have more material to give to us at the right time!

If you have any examples of where God has given you the words to say during the Love 40 days journey, please do share them to encourage your fellow journeyers...

For the kids:
Talk about whether it is always easy to know what to say when we are trying to love other people.  Read the two verses together and talk about how God wants us to think about Him and know Him so that we can share Him with the people we - and He - love.  And talk about who He will talk through us too.  Spend some time asking God to meet with you as a family today so that you can all know Him better.


Day 25: Expecting the unexpected...

I wonder whether, while you pull out your name for today, you have put yourself in the shoes of the person whose name is written on the paper.  They have no idea that they are going to get loved on today!  They think they are just living their lives as usual, but God has other plans.  He put their name into your head when you prepared your name slips.  And He knows that today is the day that you will love that person with the love that He has given you for that very purpose.

That person has no idea what is coming...

Throughout the New Testament we find stories of people who thought that they were going about their business, or thought they were encountering God on their own terms, but God had plans to blow their minds. 

Think about Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1-11.  We read that he wanted to get a look at Jesus.  He thought that he was just following his own curiosity and checking out the local celebrity of the hour.  Little did he know that Jesus would stop at his treetop viewing post, invite himself for dinner, and change Zacchaeus' life, relationships and work ethic forever.

Think about the beggar at the Beautiful Gate in Acts 3:1-11.  He thought at best he might get a coin from Peter and John, and would have seen a financial donation as a win.  He wasn't thinking that these men would call upon the name of Jesus to bring healing to his legs, meaning that he would be able to live life in a way that he had never experienced or imagined would be possible.

The person on your name slip is not expecting an encounter with God today.  But God is wanting an encounter with them.  And that is where you come in.

Are you expecting to be part of the unexpected?  Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you with love, anticipation and faith today.  Keep your eyes and ears open and be ready to be guided by His promptings.  And don't be afraid to ask God for big, unexpected things...

For the kids:
Choose one (or both!) of the stories above and read it together - especially if you can read it in a children's Bible with which they are familiar.  Talk about how Zacchaeus or the beggar thought their day was going to turn out.  Talk about how they felt after God turned up and changed their lives with a single encounter.  Then pray together for the faith to expect the unexpected today and lift up the person on your name slip in prayer.

Day 24: Power along the way...

Mark Daniel spoke powerfully to us on Sunday morning.  If you didn't hear the message yet, please be encouraged to get a copy or download the podcast here when it becomes available.  Not only did he help us with a fresh perspective on John 14 (which we looked at back on Day 13 if you want to remind yourself), but he also encouraged us to seek after God so that our faith will increase - and encouraged us to step out in faith.

Mark shared stories from the Bible where people had to trust in God that His plans were going to come together even though to human eyes things may have looked hopeless.  He reminded us of the stories of the Israelites approaching the Red Sea with the Egyptian army at their back, and the story of the lepers being healed as they returned to their village in Luke 17, where we read: "Jesus looked at them and said, "Go show yourselves to the priests."  And as they went, they were cleansed of their leprosy." (Luke 17:14)  Mark encouraged us that we see from these stories that there is power along the way - as we follow God's word, He shows up.

The lepers would likely have been expecting their healing, since they had just asked for it, but the Israelites probably were not anticipating the sea parting so that they could walk through on dry land.  In both circumstances, whether the answer looked as they had imagined or not, God met with His people in mighty ways - bringing salvation in each situation.

As we seek to follow Jesus' commandment to love one another (John 13:34) today, we need to be expecting power along the way.  We might not feel like loving that person, we may think we have nothing to offer, or that the person shows no discernible need that we can meet.  It may be a challenge to open ourselves up and love somebody today.  We may even be becoming a little jaded with the effort of thinking of creative ways to love another person.  But we need to remember that our God is the God who provides power along the way.  As we seek to love one another, we should expect to see His power.

And when you have seen it, please be encouraged to share it in the comments!

(Side note - don't forget that Mark is speaking again tonight at 7:30pm - be there if you can!)

For the kids:
When you read a story or watch a TV show you can often guess what is going to happen.  There is usually a lesson to be learnt and a happy ending and chances are that you could pause midway and figure out the rest of the plot and get it right most of the time.  Life is not always like that.  Sometimes we don't know what is going to happen.  We can't tell for sure. 

There are lots of stories in the Bible - like Moses and the Israelites crossing the Red Sea - where if you paused midway and tried to guess what would happen, without having read it before, you might not be able to imagine how it was going to turn out.  Would you have guessed that God would part the ocean so that the Israelites could walk through on dry land?  The Israelites definitely didn't know that was coming up!  But God always shows up when we follow Him and trust Him.  Sometimes we need to step out not knowing what the ending is going to look like - but we do know this - the ending will always involve God and it will always work out for the best even if it doesn't look how we thought it might.  Loving others is hard.  Sometimes we have to make ourselves uncomfortable or do something for someone else when we have other plans or even do something when we don't know for sure that we can really do it - but we can remember that with God there is always power along the way.  And He will never let us down when we are trying our best to love one another.  No matter how old or experienced you are, expect to see His power in your life today...


Day 23: Gone fishing...

When Jesus called his disciples in Matthew 4:18-20, his invitation to them was not that they follow him to learn the truths of the universe, although they did.  It was not that they follow him to learn godly wisdom or a new way of living, although they did.  It was that they follow him to become "fishers of men."  In the New Living Version we read: "Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!"  In The Message this is translated: "Come with me.  I'll make a new kind of fisherman out of you.  I'll show you how to catch men and women instead of perch and bass."

Jesus' initial call to Peter and Andrew was that if they followed him they would learn how to love others - to bring others into his Kingdom.  They might not have understood exactly what he was saying to them, but we know that they dropped their nets straight away, no questions asked, and followed him.  And then saw the world change as people came to know salvation through Jesus Christ.

We too are called to this mission.  We might not see netfuls of people affected by our love today as those early net-fishing disciples did, but we can and should expect that as we love the person we pull out today with the love that God gives us, that they will be changed.  Jesus will show us how to fish for people too.  Even if we just take our rod and go after the one "fish".  Because God's net is quite big enough to cast over our town, our city, our nation and gather in His catch.  We just have to be willing to go fishing...

So be encouraged - get your net or rod and go fishing with Jesus today...

For the kids:
In Matthew 4:19, Jesus invited Peter and Andrew to become his friends and followers by telling them that if they went with them he would "show [them] how to fish for people!"  He invited them to learn how to love others and in so doing bring them into a new life with Jesus.  This invitation changed the world.  Peter and Andrew knew all about fishing for fish - they were fishermen and spent their lives throwing their nets overboard and bringing them back up full of fish - just like in today's picture.  Jesus showed them how to fish for people by loving them - and he will show you too.  Spend some time today praying for Jesus to show you how to love the person on your paper today - that he would show you how to fish for people.  And spend time praying that the person you are loving would be caught by the love of Jesus.


Day 22: Extreme...

Jesus did not come to live a "nice" life.  "Nice" is not going to change the world.  The Bible calls us to live extreme lives.
 
2 Corinthians 9:7 tells us that "God loves a person who gives cheerfully" - extreme generosity.

Matthew 5:42 tells us to "give to those who ask, and don't turn away from those who want to borrow" - extreme service.

Matthew 18:22 tells us that we should forgive "seventy times seven" times - extreme forgiveness.

 All of these will help us to love with an extreme love.  Some of the passages we have seen in the last 20 days call us to this extreme love.  For this is the love that we have received - "for God so loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

Spend some time thinking about what extreme love might look like for you.  And ask God to help you understand His extreme love and help you love others with an extreme love today.

For the kids:
God doesn't call us to be good - He calls us to be like Jesus.  We can't do this by ourselves.  Share some of the verses above as a family and think of real life examples of how you could respond with extreme generosity, service, forgiveness and love.  Take time to thank God for his extreme love - "for God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life."  (John 3:16)

Day 21: And who is my neighbour...

The commandment to "love one another" that we are trying to obey as part of Love 40 days is important.  So important that in Mark 12:31, Jesus states that, together with the commandment to love God: "no other commandment is greater than these."  In case we missed it in the Gospels, Paul later repeats this in Galatians 5:14: "For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: Love your neighbor as yourself."

In Luke 10:27, in response to Jesus' questions about the Law of Moses, the expert in religious law replies that part of the law tells us to "love your neighbour as yourself."  In response to the expert's next question to Jesus, we read the well-known story of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:30-37.

Jesus is obviously telling us that the term "neighbour" includes everyone.  We already know this.  But do we live it?

"Neighbour" includes our annoying boss, our best friend, the group of school kids on the bus using inappropriate and offensive language at high volume, the other driver who just cut us up for no reason, the lovely old lady who lives across the street, the person whose sexuality we haven't quite figured out or can't quite understand, the vocal atheist who belittles and ridicules our faith to get a rise out of us, the rough sleeper with obvious material needs.  The person who makes you smile most in the world and the person who cuts you the deepest without even noticing they have done it.

The story of the Good Samaritan is so well-known, that we often let it pass us by without thinking of the effect that it might have had on those listening to it for the first time - the effect that the very word "Samaritan" would have had on them.  For us, the word will mainly have associations with this story and the kindness of the gentleman described.  For the Jews listening to Jesus, not so much.  We have already talked a little about Jesus' challenge to love our enemies - or frenemies - back at Day 7 - but it is worth considering what Jesus is trying to tell us about loving others from this story...

As you read the story today, why don't you replace the word Samaritan with the word of a type of person or people group that you find it particularly difficult to love?  You may or may not have these people on your list of forty names - it doesn't really matter - you can love them anyway!  We know that as followers of Jesus we don't want any prejudice or judgement to affect our loving - so let's take time today to pray that God will continue to widen our hearts and expand our territory of loving to continue to change us and change others for His glory.

For the kids:
Read the story of the Good Samaritan together, either from Luke 10:25-37 or from a Bible story book.  Talk together about how Jesus wants us to include all sorts of people in our loving.  Pray again for any people who they find it difficult to love for any reason.  Talk about how Jesus has placed them where they are - in their street, their school, their classes etc. - because He needs them to love the people in their world.  Thank Jesus for this special mission and ask for His help to complete it!