WHATS IN YOUR BASKET?

PART III:  IT'S A BIG BAD WORLD

Matthew 5:43-48
Romans 13:8-14

When Little Red Riding Hood set out that day, do you think she expected to meet up with a hungry wolf?  I don't think so.  In the story, there's no mention of a can of pepper spray or a cell phone with animal control on speed dial being in her basket.  

More than likely, her basket might have held  a  fresh baked loaf of bread, perhaps a jar of  homemade jam and some cookies...nothing that she could use to defend herself against the big, bad wolf.

No, Red was not prepared for her encounter with the darkness of evil.  We can never be sure of what awaits us around the bend on the path of life.  Which makes me wonder -- are we prepared?  What's in our baskets?

When we went to visit my grandmother, we took worms because Grandma enjoyed fishing at the gravel pit at the end of her road.  It was how we showed we loved her.  And my dad showed he loved us by not getting upset when we dug up the yard.

I have lots of good memories of my grandmother.  On a shelf in her living room was a white nesting hen candy dish filled with wintergreen butter mints.  If we were good (and we were always good), we got a mint.  She lived across from the school, and I remember waving to her at recess time.  It was reassuring knowing she was watching over us.  Grandma had a way of making me feel so special and so loved.

Love is what it's all about, and God calls us to be in loving relationship with each other in the church and with our neighbors, even if they're our enemies.  In Matthew 22:36-40, Jesus lays it right out there for us.

"'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment.  And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (NRSV)

Love is the spirit of the law -- it's what the Ten Commandments are all about!

Loving our neighbor, be they friend or foe, is about:

• Seeing the hallmark of humanity, the image of God, that we ourselves bear.
• Remembering that they, like us, have troubles and cares, and we, like them, have made mistakes and been unwise and unloving and need the forgiveness of God.
• Desiring the same dignity, compassion, mercy and love that we want for ourselves.

It is also remembering that, no matter who we are or what we've done, God loves us unconditionally.  God makes a world of "us" and "them" into a community of "we" through Christ because Jesus went to the cross for all human kind.

To love is an unending obligation.  According to Paul, it's the only one we have.  It's a 24/7 until the day we die commitment that is best expressed through involvement in acts of caring and compassion with our neighbors.  What people desire today, most of all, is to be in genuine, caring relationships in a community that loves and supports them.  A church that can do that in the mission field of their neighbors' lives, will flourish in the 21st century.  

During the witnessing time at Grandma's funeral, a woman shared how much Grandma Ola meant to her.  She looked like she had had a rough life; someone who probably wouldn't have felt very welcome in a church, but Grandma always made room for her at her kitchen table.  Grandma welcomed her into her home and into her life, loved her, listened to her and shared her wisdom with her.  Grandma was compassionately involved with her.

See, that's when love becomes a verb, when we get involved with people.  You know, the opposite of love isn't hate.  It's indifference.  It's not caring; not doing anything; turning our backs on the people who in trouble.  It's ignoring the evil and wrong that is going on around us.

We can never be sure of what awaits us around the bend on the path of life.  In our passage from Romans, Paul reminds Christians that Christ could return any day.  He warns us we against centering our lives around our our selfish desires and indifference that draw us into the darkness of sin and evil.  Rather we need to be intentional about living in the light and about loving others and doing good.  Don't center our lives around our selfishness and indifference.

That's why we need to be prepared, with our baskets overflowing with the love of Christ which we are called to share with the world.

It's all about love and being in loving relationships with all people.  It should be our top priority whether Christ returns tomorrow or in ten thousand years.  Do love. Live love as a verb, 24/7.  In doing so, we bring the light of Christ into the darkness of this big, bad world, overcoming it with love.

What's in your basket?