Love God, Love Your Neighbors

It's a scary day when your little brother turns 18 and is not so little anymore... Happy 18th to my favorite little brother!

So today at church, Mark gave a sermon and the title of it was called 'Romancing the City'. It doesn't have to be the city, it could be your neighborhood, your college campus, your apartment, etc etc. His sermon definitely got my mind churning. One thing he said that really stood out to me was how we as Christians should relate to the city. We shouldn't simply be "in" the city, because that just means we go about what we normally do with our lives, without any affect on the area or the people. We shouldn't be against the city, where there's a divide between sinful and sacred and we're the "sacred" people. We shouldn't be of the city, where no one can tell if there's a difference between us as Christians and everyone else. Instead, we should be for the city. I loved that. For the city, which means that we are active and loving the city, where we make a difference in the lives of the people, and not just for the sake of it, but out of a love for Jesus. Where we believe in it and believe that God can work and do so much in it. One of the biggest ways to be for the city is to listen. To listen to the people and what they really need. Mark told this neat story of these missionaries who went to the slums of India with lots of money. They asked the people there, "What is it you need? We can get you clinics, schools, hospitals, etc. What do you need?" And the people there said they wanted a post office. The missionaries were confused. "What? A post office? Are you sure? But we can get you a hospital! A school!" In India, if an area doesn't have their own post office, their own zip code, then they don't exist on a map. There was no door to the world for them. No one can aid them because no one even knows that they are there. So those missionaries ended up using their money and efforts and got those people a post office. They didn't just fly in there and plop a church down or a clinic. Instead, they listened to the people for what they needed and that ended up meaning more to them than anything else. Mark also talked about Isaiah 58. The Israelites all thought they were doing the right thing, by fasting and marching around somberly to prove it. They asked God, "Why are you not doing anything? Have you not seen us fasting?" And God responds with Isaiah 58:6-12. "Loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free..." [...] "...share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter--" [...] "and if you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness and your night will become like the noonday." And this isn't the only place in the Bible where God calls us to care for the poor and the widow, and to love justice. It's in Proverbs over and over again. Proverbs 31:8-9 "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy." It's in Micah 6:8. "He has showed you O man what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

Today's sermon just really got me thinking about how God has uniquely called me to carry out these passages in my life. I don't know if West Lafayette is considered poor by any means, but whether it is or it isn't, there are definitely places that really need love. I'm sure we don't have to look very far to find hurt, pain, and brokenness. There's always someone who simply needs a listener or someone to stand by them. Maybe that means taking the time to get to know my engineering group outside of class, riding the Citybus just for the sake of having a conversation with someone, engaging in conversation with the cashier at Walmart. And that's on the smaller and more personal scale. In the larger picture, it means romancing the campus. It means loving your campus and not just the "Of course I love you! Look at what I did for you! And if it ever changes, I'll let you know" kind of love (that's not really love...). But really loving the community, being there for the community, and walking alongside it. A challenging question that was asked to the congregation was "If this church was no longer here, would anyone notice?" And on a more personal level, "If you weren't here in this community, would anyone notice?"

Anyway, right now I'm currently trying to figure out how I can do that in Knoxville, even though I am here for only 4 more weeks. And I'm excited to see what God will do through the Campus House community next year. I still don't have all the answers but it's okay, because God laid it down pretty plainly with this:

Matthew 22:36-40

New International Version (NIV)

³⁶ “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
³⁷ Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’^[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[b] 

Hope that all made sense. There's a lot going on in my head that I can't seem to type up clearly... so sorry if it's a jumbled mess! Yup, that's it for now.

Ps. Totally went back to Magiquest. Had an AWESOME time. No shame.