1501AFC010215 – Watch out!

Read it online here, please.

Matthew 2:1-2 – In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising,and have come to pay him homage.”

Hau’oli Makahiki Hou! Happy New Year!

E pili mau na pomaika‘i ia ‘oe a me ke akua ho’omaika’i ‘oe, ʻŌmea! (May blessing always be with you and may God bless you, Beloved!)

We are finished with 2014. Think of it like this: Go out into deepest space and build a 12X12X4 wall. Everything on that side of the wall is the Past and beyond your reach. Everything on this side of the wall is the future … and beyond your reach. Don’t look back unless you want to go back. Stand on the top of the wall and look forward with eagerness to everything that will come your way for all of it will be a blessing to you if you accept it as a gift from God who gives you only the Good Gifts which you need so that you will know him better, love him more, and serve him well – all through HIS Eternal Power.

If, however, you try to use your own power to bless your own life, 2015 could turn out to be uncomfortable at best and even disastrous. This is a mistake we earthlings very often make. I’d like to show you a few examples today about how seemingly simple things can be very harmful.

We all know that “too much of a good thing” can be damaging – the sun for example. For some silly reason we seem to think that toasting our hide like a marshmallow so that it’s all brown and crispy is a good idea; I’ve done that! We all know that UV exposure damages skin cells and raises the risk of skin cancer. Then, somewhere along the line, we notice that our skin is aging faster, and filled with hard little bumps called actinic karatoses – scaly, crusty growths (lesions) caused by damage from the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays. At that point – hopefully – sunscreen sounds like a better idea. Some of us find that inhaling noxious fumes, gases, and ashes is pleasing; I’ve done that! Then we find out that our lung tissues are chock-full of gooey gunk, the air sacs that exchange oxygen are dissolving, and it’s harder and harder to breathe. That knowledge – late in acceptance – causes us to rethink the whole idea of smoking whatever it was we inhaled (you know what else I’m thinking of here!). And of course, some of us can recall moments when the recognition that alcohol was slowly killing us and our relationships with others, or that sexual appetites were damaging us in body, mind, and spirit. Perhaps we realize that the way we eat – or don’t eat – is treading on the very borders of death. When we wake up and realize we are denying the presence of things that are killing us, we may – though not always – try to make a change in our lives. At this time of year we often do that with “Resolutions.”

So what do New Year’s Resolutions have in common with the Wise Men – the Magi – visiting the Holy Family? It’s the Magi – the magicians “from the East,” the astronomers who relied on astronomy. They became part of the Nativity Narrative as a demonstration that Jesus the Christ came for all earthlings – Jew and gentile, holy and profane, rich and poor – as the angels heralded “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Now this was said to the shepherds on the night of Jesus’ birth – and we must not forget that the Magi showed up at least two years later – so also, I believe, it applies to these astronomers who came to honor a Divine King despite not being subject to his Kingship yet nonetheless subject to his Divinity. I have wondered many times if their encounter with that Divinity affected them spiritually. It certainly affected the shepherds who left the stable glorifying God; but of the Magi we only know that “being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.” (Matthew 2:12) My conclusion is that they arrived as sorcerers and departed as sorcerers, unchanged by choice. Like our “little bad habits,” which we cling to so dearly, they chose to stick with the status quo.

Beloved, we often err in much the same way. I’m not going to head off on a diatribe about Harry Potter and Hogwarts; read those fantasies with a wary mind and stand firm in the Truth. They will not harm you. Nor will I repeat my warning about the practice of yoga and other occult practices. I do want you to think about other little things that subtly maneuver us away from God, and that’s where this post connects with the Magi – magicians, sorcerers, astrologers, “dividers of the sky.” God is very explicit about trusting in our own powers, or – worse still – in the powers of our ancient enemy Satan. Check this out: Isaiah 47:12-15– Keep up, now, your spells and your many sorceries; perhaps you can make them avail, perhaps you can strike terror! You wearied yourself with many consultations, at which you toiled from your youth. Let the astrologers [literally “dividers of the sky”] stand forth to save you, the stargazers who forecast at each new moon what would happen to you. Lo, they are like stubble, fire consumes them; they cannot save themselves from the spreading flames. This is no warming ember, no fire to sit before. Thus do your wizards serve you with whom you have toiled from your youth; each wanders his own way, with none to save you. Astrology, numerology, witchcraft, mediums (Tarot and palm readers for example), amulets and lucky-pieces are quick traps to life-threatening habits.

It comes up in the New Testament, too. Here’s a little excerpt from the travels of Paul and Barnabas. Acts 13:6-12 – When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they met a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet, named Bar-Jesus. He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear the word of God. But the magician Elymas (for that is the translation of his name) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith. But Saul, also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him  and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? And now listen—the hand of the Lord is against you, and you will be blind for a while, unable to see the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he went about groping for someone to lead him by the hand. When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was astonished at the teaching about the Lord.

Notice it doesn’t say that Bar-Jesus the Elymas (which means sorcerer) was converted! Sometimes the conversion we need comes at the cost of our lives. Here I am thinking about Samson. Note there is no letter P in that name; it’s not Sampson – it is Samson שִׁמְשׁוֹן (Shimshon) {shim-shone’} which means “like the sun.” Samson knew he was set apart by God for God’s service, but he thought he was so powerful in his own right that he could get away with fudging the lines. His troubles started when he moved close to the border of an area under control of the Philistines near Timnath. He spotted a good-looking woman named Delilah, went home and told his parents to get her for his wife. We know how that turned out. Later, he went to Gaza, shacked up with a harlot, and then lay in wait outside the city. In the middle of the night he tore that city gates off their hinges and put them on top of a hill. He kept doing things that were right on the border of temptation; he desired to be tempted, and gave in to that desire one time too often. Samson here was deliberately exposing himself to the danger of temptation instead of fleeing from it and as a result he gets trapped in sin. That eventually cost him his pride, his vision, and finally his life. When we constantly place ourselves in the path of temptation – you may recall the phrase “the near occasion of sin” – we are essentially risking our souls for the thrill of confronting God’s law. We open ourselves to spirits other than God’s, spirits who are real and truly seek our destruction – eternal destruction. “But it was only a little bit, only a little sin, only a little rebellion.” We are deliberately disobeying God and putting our trust in something (or better, someone) other than Him.

Beloved, watch out! Satan is always on the prowl for “silly little, harmless mistakes,” our flirtations with evil, and one by one these little easy betrayals of God build up until – like Samson – we are captured by the very sins we dared to try. That is when we realize that what Paul said about the wages of sin is true. It is death. Better to put the temptation to death by knowing the purpose of the Devil’s deceptions. Remember, his “little mistake” was the sin of rebellion. Read what God says about that in this passage from 1 Samuel as he prophesies against Saul. And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obedience to the voice of the Lord? Surely, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is no less a sin than divination, and stubbornness is like iniquity and idolatry. Trusting in occult practices is rebellion.

Don’t.

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved

Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

1451AFC121914 – Generous Helpings

Read it online here, please.

Romans 12:6-8 – We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.

Proverbs 11:24-25 – One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.

2 Corinthians 9:7 – Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Luke 6:38 – Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.

Patience; kindness; generosity; humility; courtesy; unselfishness; good-temper; guilelessness; sincerity–these make up the supreme gift, the stature of the perfect man. The most obvious lesson in Christ’s teaching is that there is no happiness in having or getting anything, but only in giving. ~ Henry Drummond

 Happiness is not in having what you want. It is in wanting what you have. Use of our spiritual and temporal gifts must be based on prudent stewardship and not on selfish motivations.

I have delivered that line hundreds and hundreds of times, in fact that short paragraph is part of my personal Mission Statement. You can see the whole thing online by following that link. I think it is an important distinction to understand; getting what you want is nowhere near as fulfilling as giving others what they need. Another adage that comes up often in what I write is …

Always seek,
Expect to receive,
And accept
The Greater Gift.

What is the greater gift? It is the joy of giving. Paul is recorded as having said in Acts 20:35 – In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive'” Some of you may wish to point out that there is no quote exactly like that in any of the Gospels. That’s OK because in the Gospel of John, the author himself tells us that not everything Jesus said or did was written down. Besides, Paul did actually meet Jesus, so who knows? Surely the awareness that Jesus held the gift of giving in high esteem is a reasonable inference from what we have of his teaching. There are few instances of the words generous or generosity in the Bible, and perhaps the most noteworthy is in Paul’s list of the Fruit of the Spirit. In the King James Version of the Bible, these words are phrased as “Dealt graciously,” “has done good to me,” or just “good.” (See Matthew 20:15 for example).

Generosity is something God understands very well. I have mentioned previously that the “famous Bible verse” about God’s generosity isn’t actually in the Bible. What is that verse? It is “God will not be outdone in generosity.” While it is true, it is not stated directly in the Bible. It is God’s own pattern of behavior. God is capable of awe-inspiring generosity, as scripture itself attests in so many places. He is teaching that they will have their needs met and more. His provisioning for believers covers not only supplying their needs, but also increasing their righteousness. Paul challenges them – and us – to emulate God’s generosity and reminds them that God’s goodness is the basis for great encouragement: God himself cannot be outdone because he is infinitely good, gracious, and does only good to those who love him; in fact he is so generous, he does good even to those who do not love him because ” … he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:45)

Personal generosity is a character trait that often astonishes me. Not so much ostentatious philanthropy like Buffet and Gates – although their generosity is certainly genuine and effective – but more like the impoverished widow who dropped her two small coins into the temple treasury box because “for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God,but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.” (See Luke 2:1-4) You and I might find that challenging, but you and I also know people who live incomprehensibly blessed lives because they rely entirely on God. There are the parents with 14 children – many of them adopted – who somehow hold the whole family together with what would appear to be insufficient funds for “the average American family of four.” We see news reports from time to time about men and women who work multiple jobs so that they can help disadvantaged youth in their neighborhood. There are stories of ordinary people who do extraordinary things because it is their heartfelt mission to “accept the greater gift.” This is the kind of generosity that is admirable to most of us because it is difficult – or so we think. Yet if others can do that, why can’t I be that generous? Are you generous like these people I have described? What stops us from being godlike in our generosity?

I know many people who are really, really good people, and most of them are also really, really generous. Is there a connection between goodness and generosity? Of course there is! God is Good and God is Generous. When we are generous, we are good. Now, are we good because we are generous, or generous because we are good? The philanthropic people I mentioned earlier are probably generous because they are good, but they are also generous because it is advantageous. It helps with taxes, it helps with esteem, and it helps others who in turn convey their gratitude. It’s always nice to have someone be grateful for what we do for or to them. I think that is the key – GRATITUDE. Generous people are grateful people. They know they are blessed and they know blessing others helps others to feel grateful. Even if one’s generosity is mostly self-serving, the fact that it makes someone else feel gratitude is a way of perpetuating and nurturing generosity.

Generosity seems to me to be a natural part of human nature. We often see it in babies and toddlers when a small child spontaneously offers to share food or toys with a parent, a sibling, or another toddler. They know what it means to be taken care of, and in their innocence, they return that caring – often with complete strangers. Somewhere along the line we learn to be selfish, and that pretty much puts an end to our spontaneous generosity; we have to relearn it, and we relearn it by being grateful. We are enriched by blessings, and especially enriched by bestowing blessings for “one who waters will himself be watered.”

Think back to the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. Generosity does not judge others by exalting self. Generosity serves others. The Pharisee was being generous to himself, taking credit for all his “goodness.” The Tax Collector was acknowledging the generosity of God by asking God for Mercy. When we show mercy to others without their asking, we are being humbly, quietly, and justly generous. That kind of generosity is something to which I can aspire. I usually fall short of that, though, and my shortfalls are for thousands of pointless reasons. In what ways is God calling you to be generous as we approach the close of Advent and anticipate the Joys of Christmas?

Is there a Giving Tree you pass by frequently but ignore. Is there a Red Bucket next to a bell-ringer you pass by and slip in a few coins? Do you give of your surplus instead of sacrificially? Have you felt the Spirit reaching into your wallet, moving things around on your calendar, or prompting you to do good to “even to the least of these?” If you and I feel we have stopped that Spiritual inclination, perhaps it’s time to be humbled and to let God know how grateful we are for all good gifts. Remember “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will repay him for his deed”. (Proverbs 19:17), for truly Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (2Corinthians 9:7) How much is enough and how much is too much? Better to ask, “How much is too little?” Turn your eyes upon Jesus for the answer to that one.

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved

Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

1450AFC121214 – Fully Aware I Trust Him

Read it online here, please.

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 – May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this. New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

1 Corinthians 1:9 – God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

Deuteronomy 7:9 – Know that the LORD your God is God, the trusted God who faithfully keeps his covenant to the thousandth generation of those who love him and obey his commands. International Standard Version (ISV)

1 Corinthians 4:1-2 – Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV)

Matthew 25:23 – ^“His lord said unto him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.'” Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV)

Psalm 12:1 – Help, O Lord, for there is no longer anyone who is godly; the faithful have disappeared from humankind. New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

“Let us give glory to God who is steadfast in his love and faithful in his promise.” That statement per se is not in the Bible, but it does echo other passages that attest to God’s faithfulness. The first passage presented, the one from Thessalonians, is part of the second reading for the Third Sunday of Advent also known as Gaudete Sunday, based on the Introit Antiphon “Gaudete in Domino semper” (Rejoice in the Lord always). Indeed, as we go through the Advent Season, we are reminded that we have much for which we can rejoice and the greatest cause of that rejoicing is the coming of our Lord to a stable in Bethlehem as a helpless infant. On that Holy Night, the promise made to Eve after the serpent tricked her in Eden was fulfilled: and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Genesis 3:15 (AKJV) It took many generations to make that promise a reality, but God did as he had promised. He was faithful to his word.

We hear the word faithful throughout the Bible. In many places, as in these shown here, the text testifies that God is faithful. In other places, we are challenged to be faithful – not just faith-filled, but faithful. What does it mean to be “faithful?” Once again if we look into the original languages, we get a fuller picture of the words we read. In the Old Testament the word translated as faithful is אָמַן  ‘aman {aw-man’} and it connotes to support, to confirm, to be faithful, to uphold, to nourish, or to be reliable or trustworthy. In the New Testament the Greek word is πιστός pistos {pis-tos’}, an adjective which connotes unwavering faith, to believe, to be a believer in Christ, one who believes the faith given to us by God. Pistos is derived from the verb πείθω peitho {pi’-tho} which means to persuade, to have confidence, to obey because of trust, to have faith.

When we use the word faithful to describe someone, we mean that person is trustworthy, someone who can be relied on to be honest in word and action. In the parable of the Good Steward, Jesus describes the servants who meet or exceed their master’s will as “good and faithful servants.” We can contrast that with Jesus’ statement in Luke 10:16 – “So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’” Someone who is faithful is not worthless but rather valued, and a faithful servant will – at the very least – follow all of the master’s orders. A good and faithful servant will endeavor to exceed the master’s expectations. Good stewards do good work and for that they are counted as reliable by their master and by others. Good stewards do the right thing even when the master is not good. But, what if the master is good?

A good master and a good servant are the basis for a good household, a good community, and a good nation. God himself is the epitome of the Good Master. Who is more faithful than God? Who can be trusted more than God? Who is more reliable, more believable, more honest? Who else is the embodiment of Truth? St. Augustine in his sermon on The Creed stated there are three things God cannot do. He cannot die, he cannot lie, and he cannot be deceived. These are not failings that arise out of weakness, but rather a testament to God’s infinite power and dignity. If a good master and good servant make a good combination, how much better is a combination of an infinitely good master and a good and faithful servant? We can only speculate about that because we, too, have at most done only what is expected of us; truth be known, we don’t make it to that level of excellence very often. How, then, can we hope to hear or Lord call us “good and faithful?” We have that hope because HE is faithful! Paul explained that in his second letter to Timothy.

2 Timothy 2:11-13 – Here is a saying that you can rely on: If we have died with him, then we shall live with him. If we persevere, then we shall reign with him. If we disown him, then he will disown us. If we are faithless, he is faithful still, for he cannot disown his own self.

He cannot lie, he cannot “go back on” his promise to deny those who deny him, nor will he fail to remember those who honor him. We see the same idea in Paul’s letter to the Romans. Romans 3:3-4 – What if some were unfaithful? Will their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Although everyone is a liar, let God be proved true, as it is written, “So that you may be justified in your words, and prevail in your judging.” Being faithful is, or should be, more than just a goal; it should be a lifestyle. In the Gospel of Luke we read, He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much. He who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. (Luke 16:10, World English Bible WEB)

Stewards must be “found faithful.” The title of this post has the acronym Fully Aware I Trust Him. What God says and does are always, always trustworthy because HE is always, always trustworthy. We know implicitly and explicitly that we can trust God even though we ourselves are unfaithful, not trustworthy; but how do we live in a way that is worthy of being called faithful? I think we have a very good plan laid out for us in the letter to the Thessalonians, quoted above. I’m going to end with a larger quote from that passage – you’ll hear it in many churches this coming Sunday. I trust that if I, if you, if we could make this list our lifestyle, we would be well on our way to being good and faithful servants. If we can make this lifestyle our own, then – perhaps, just perhaps – there will still be some who are godly and the faithful will not disappear from humankind. This is quite a list! Read this a few times, and let me know what you think.

1 Thessalonians 5:15-25 – See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil. May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this. Beloved, pray for us.   New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved

Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

December 12
Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

1449AFC120514 – Did you do that?

Read it online here, please.

ADAM! WHERE ARE YOU?

Genesis 3:9-12 – But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” He said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, ”The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.”

Adam was trying to shift responsibility from himself to Eve. It was clear to God that Adam had disobeyed because he and Eve knew they were naked. How and why is that important? It is because earlier in the story of Eden in the book of Genesis, we find in Genesis 2:25 – And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed. Adam knew he had lost his innocence. He tried to blame it on Eve: “It’s her fault! She made me do it!” Eve was already two steps ahead of him. First, she lied to The Serpent. God had told Adam in Genesis 2:16-17 – And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” When the Serpent was tempting Eve she told him in Genesis 3:1-3 – “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.'” Notice that God said nothing about touching the tree!

As we continue in this account, you will recall that in Genesis 3:4-9, the story continues with – But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. Eve’s defense was, “But God! We only wanted to be like you! It was the Serpent who tricked me!” And Adam? He was there, and he tried to pin it on her. Neither of them would take responsibility for what they had done; the first sin was disobedience with a nice dollop of lies for a topping. Also note that this first sin for earthlings was strikingly similar to Satan’s first sin – attempting to place himself equal to or above the God who had created him. Oh, Beloved! We still fall for this trick. And we still try to make excuses. What can we say about people who are supposed to be stewards of the earth and all its contents who will not take their stewarding responsibility seriously? Well, first, let’s think a bit about what responsibility is.

“Responsibility” implies there is a opportunity and duty to take control independently – as an individual or corporate entity – and to be accountable for the effects of how we exercise that control. We make the decisions based on a priori authorization. In The I.D.E.A.S. FORMAT ™ – Tools for Performance Improvement – Responsibility is defined as “A pledge to act consistently in the best interests of the party being served.” In the case of Adam and Eve, the party being served was God. Whatever they did or were going to do should have been done in the best interests of God. So what were HIS best interests?

God’s best interests in Creation were that he should create and love all the he created and that all of Creation should love an acknowledge him. Our First Parents failed the Responsibility Test through their disobedience. It became a pattern throughout scriptural history right up to this present moment. We fail to act consistently in the way God designed us to act – because we are sinners – and then we say it is someone else’s fault. That is irresponsible. God expects us to be responsible. He tells us that over and over in scripture. In Genesis 4:7 God told Cain, “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.” Instead of mastering the sin of jealous anger, Cain lured his brother away to the field from which Cain had taken his offering and killed him there. Cain repeated the pattern of sin which started with his parents when God asked him “Where is your brother, Abel?” Cain’s reply was, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”

Jonah was held responsible for running away from God. The Apostles were responsible for spreading the Gospel. The Apostles appointed Deacons to be responsible for the  care of  the members of the Jerusalem church. In all these instances, the people involved carried out their responsibility. God respected and rewarded their decisions to act responsibly. He also respected and rewarded the decisions of the people who chose to act irresponsibly. He allowed them to choose their course of action, and rewarded them accordingly. Why does that happen? It is because God loves and respects his Creation – which includes us. He allows us to choose – we call it Free Will – to love and serve him or to disobey and refuse to serve. We, in turn should respect him and each other, and everything else that is a gift from God. But what is respect.

We often hear it said, “You have to earn my respect!” I think that’s backwards. That’s not the way God does things, so it’s not the way we should do things. Returning to THE I.D.E.A.S. FORMAT ™ Working Definitions, respect is the gift of courteous consideration of others. Respect is not earned because that would make it a commodity that can be bought and sold. Respect is a gift given unconditionally and continuously. To accept the gift is to honor the giver, and that is also respect. God expects us to be stewards of everything on earth. When we do that, we are being responsible and returning God’s respect as our gift to him. Respect that deep is called reverence. In scripture this deep feeling of awe is called “Fear of the Lord.” It is not a fear that is frightening, but a powerful understanding that knowing and obeying God is an amazing and humbling fact. For this reason our goal should be to know fear. That is the responsible thing to do.

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved

To know him is to love him.

Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
 

Scripture quotations from New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) or Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV)

1448AFC112814 – Grateful Stewards

Read it online here, please.

Psalm 138:1-2a – I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart, for you have heard the words of my mouth; in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise; I will worship at your holy temple.

1 Chronicles 16:34 – O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 – Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Some of you already know this is my favorite Psalm. Every time we use it as the Responsorial Psalm, I think about how wonderful it will be to stand at the entry to the Throne of God. There will be myriads and myriads of Angels serving and listening to God. I imagine the sounds of singing and shouts of praise coming from billions and trillions of angelic voices will be awe-inspiring. Thinking about it is, of course, only a glimmer of what it will truly be like. Whatever I can conceive about it is a pale and poorly-extended metaphor – a paltry parable – but still illustrative of the eminently elegant Glory of Heaven. The parable I can grasp; the reality mystifies and humbles me. Part of the Preface of the Eucharistic Prayer consists of the invitation to sing the Sanctus – the Holy, Holy – and reads,

“And so, Lord, with all the Angels and Saints, we, too, give you thanks, as in exultation we acclaim …” In this verse the word for angels in Hebrew is אֱלֹהִ֣ים  ‘elohiym {el-o-heem’}. It is a plural word which translates as rulers, judges, divine ones (hence in some translations “gods”), or angels. In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, the word used is ἀγγέλων angelōn {ang’-el-on}. When I hear that, it seems to me that as we sing that ancient and sacred hymn of praise, we are singing along with the Angels – those myriads and myriads – as a sort of rehearsal for when we are among the saints in heaven. I love singing with the Angels! I am so very grateful to have a chance to sing with them here, in this world, knowing that soon and very soon I will go to see the King and sing to him in person. I choose to offer up that hymn of praise gratefully and joyfully; it’s not a matter of obligation at all because it is a moment of Joy. Here’s a little story about making choices. You might have heard before. It’s about a guy named J. J., and his friend.

   J. J. and I worked together building and repairing transmission towers for cellular networks. J. J. is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, “If I were any better, I would be twins!”

    He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, J. J. was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation. Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and asked him, “I don’t get it! You can’t be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?”

    He replied, “Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or … you can choose to be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or…I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or … I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.

    “Yeah, right! It’s not that easy,” I protested.

    “Yes, it is,” he said. “Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It’s your choice how you live your life. You can be angry about what you don’t have or grateful for what you do have. I choose to be grateful. The more my life is filled with gratitude, the more I find for which to be grateful.”

    I reflected on what he said. Soon thereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of merely reacting to it. Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back. I saw him about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, “If I were any better, I’d be twins! Hey! Wanna see my scars?”

    I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.
    “The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter,” he replied. “Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or…I could choose to die. I chose to live.”

“Weren’t you scared? Did you lose consciousness?” I asked.

    He continued, “The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read ‘he’s a dead man’. I knew I needed to take action.”

    “What did you do?” I asked. “Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me,” said J. J. “She asked if I was allergic to anything. ‘Yes,’ I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled,

 ‘Gravity!!'”

    Over their laughter, I told them, “I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead!”

    He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude – his choice to be grateful instead of hateful. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully. Attitude, after all, is powerful because it is our attitude that sets our altitude and that sets our capacity for gratitude. Gratitude is the first and most important characteristic of a Good Steward.

There are days, I confess, when J. J.’s attitude seems impossibly bright, even wacky or foolish. Those are the days when my own little pity party is running full bore and I’m a first-class curmudgeon. That is when I most need to sing with the Angels, and sure enough God sends one along in a friend, an email, or maybe a few measures of a well-loved hymn that mysteriously enters my mind. Sometimes, it takes a reminder that is less gentle such as an angry response to my grouchy behavior. I can choose not to be grouchy about what I don’t have or about having something I don’t want. I have often said “Happiness in not in having what you want, but in wanting what you have.” To that I would add, “And to be grateful for it – so grateful that you share it.” Of all the things I have, I am most grateful for the gift of Faith and  my faith is multiplied as my gratitude is multiplied. That always happens when I share my faith, especially with you, Beloved! Stewardship is caring for and sharing of the gifts that matter to others. Therefore let us choose grateful stewardship, Beloved, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for us.

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved.

Yesterday was Thanksgiving. We want you to know that we are thankful for your participation in the MBN. All of us who take the time to pray for, with, and about each other become a source of great blessing for each of us. As the Apostle Paul said in Ephesians 5:19-20 – Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. May God be with you and may our Almighty Everliving God, or El Shaddai Olam, bless you always and all ways in all things both now and forever. Amen.

Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License