(First posted August 19, 2010)

That’s a significant question.

We read. A lot. We hear. A lot. We say A lot.

And then we live. A lot.

Some of us are very comfortable keeping the input and the output separate. Some of us avoid the hard work of taking the interesting ideas we hear and the fascinating role models we read about and working to understand how all of that would work in real life, in our lives.

But you know what? Most of us actually are trying to make a connection. Most of us are attempting to change, to grow, to deepen. We are attempting, like the wise man, to hear the words of Jesus and put them into practice.

I mean, when we read that Jesus says,

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

we do it.

• We listen to someone who annoys us and we say, “what would it look like to love this person in the way Jesus loves me?”
• We think, “what specific loving action can I do?”
• We pick one “another” out of all of the “anothers” in our life and we identify one specific action today that will prefer them to us and then we make sure that we do that one specific action today.
• We don’t look for the most extreme, most “anyone but that person” person, but we start with the first name and action that comes to mind when we say, “So God. Who would you like to love through me today?”
• Right after we read this post, we pick up the phone or we put down the keyboard or we pick up the floor.

Right?

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(This was first posted May 5, 2010)

We want to do huge magnificent works of passionate loving action. We want to have a significant impact. We want to do something massive that will transform the world. We want to focus all of our energy into something amazing.

That’s what we want to do.

Instead, we decide that we can’t do anything massive, anything that will make any big difference. Or we get caught up in nothing.

An anonymous writer suggests that sometimes you don’t need massive works projects. Sometimes, the most effective way to help is with little pieces of love. Little bits of encouragement. Little words of affirmation.

Here’s what is written:

But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

That deceitfulness, that deception includes stories we tell like the “No one cares what I do” story or the “What I do isn’t significant” story or the  “What difference do I make to anyone” story.

In fact, any story that I am telling that claims complete independence from other people or complete inadequacy compared to other people will kill me, will paralyze me, with consume me.

And that is why I need to give and to get encouragement. Telling you that I need your contribution helps me think about your work and your presence and your existence. It chips away at my sense of independence. It chips away at your sense of inadequacy.

And chipping is the best image I can find.

It isn’t one time huge affirmations. Though they are nice.

It’s a day at a time, noticing that person, thanking that person, encouraging that person, redeeming that person.

Yes, that one. the one who just flitted through your mind.

Followers don’t leave each other alone. Like pests. Like partners.

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I told you about the email letter I’m using. The other day, I got this comment:

I want to know if God really hears me. I feel that he does, and that he sends signs letting me know I’m okay when I pray for him to stay with me and keep me safe, but I don’t want him upset with me that I’m not going to church regularly.

I believe in Him though, and know that if I believe, I’ll always stay safe.

I searched for the phrase “God hears”. I ended up with Ishmael, whose name means, “God hears.” It’s an odd story from Genesis 16 to answer this email.

God has promised Abram and Sarai an heir. But Sarai is past menopause and Abram is 86. God can do amazing things, but sometimes he needs help. So Sarai decides to use a surrogate, her servant Hagar. In those days, there were no embryo transplants. Surrogacy looked a lot like having a mistress. And after the procedure worked, Sarai sounds a lot like a wife who has discovered the mistress. Sarai verbally abuses Hagar. Hagar flees to the desert.

And in despair, Hagar cries out.

An angel, looking a lot like some guy, engages Hagar in conversation about her travel plans. And Hagar says that she is running. She has no plans. She has no toward. She only has an away.

The angel tells her to go back and then tells her to name her son Ishmael — “God hears” –. because God heard her frustration and pain. The angel doesn’t excuse Sarai’s actions, nor does he offer any hope she will be scolded. People who follow God often make bad choices.

Hagar heads back. She has a son. And a new nickname for God: “You are the God who sees me.”

I’m talking about you this morning. I just wanted to let you know that. I’m talking to a group of people from non-profits in the Fort Wayne (IN) area about social media and I’m talking about you. I’ll tell them about how grateful I am for your interaction and reading and challenges and, in some cases, friendships. It’s gossip, but it’s good gossip. And I won’t mention your name.

Even as I was thinking about confessing my gossip, I remembered that Paul talked in his letters about good gossip, too. He told the people in Philippi that he talked to God about them all the time, thanking God for the relationship.

He told the people in Colosse that he had heard about their faith from a mutual friend, and that he was praying for them all the time.

He told the people in Ephesus that he prayed for them all the time and then detailed some of that prayer for them.

He told the people in Thessaloniki that he prayed for them all the time and then told them specifically that he was grateful for

your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

I was suddenly convicted. Not in a “I am the worst of all sinners” way. More in a “what if didn’t start with ‘what should I write’ approach to praying before I write but in a ‘God, you know these people. Take care of them. Help them understand You, especially for those who have been so confused and abused by people who use your name. Thank you for curiosity and a willingness to try to learn a bit more about you” way of talking with God before I write.

So that’s what I’m doing.

When Martha walked to see Jesus, there was no question that her brother was dead.

Four days in the grave in a culture where burial happened the same day as death, where the body was wrapped. This was not a simple “he’s asleep”, a mistaken diagnosis. Some of the other times that Jesus had resurrected dead people were in the “I suppose they could be asleep” category. The little girl had just died. The widow’s only son was being carried to the burial.

I’m not saying they weren’t dead. When Jesus said, “She’s asleep”, there was universal scoffing. Of course she was dead. But Lazarus wasn’t just dead, he was dead and buried.

So when Martha walked out to see Jesus, to see the person who she believed could have done something, there was no question that her brother was dead.

“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”

On a Monday morning after a hard weekend, we start out a lot like Martha. “Lord,” we say, “If you would have been here, Jesus, my feelings wouldn’t have been hurt. My exercise program would have kept going. My baby wouldn’t have died. I wouldn’t have been fired. I would be happier. I would understand. Life would be fair.”

Unlike Martha, I often just stop after that first sentence. I’m not interested in pursuing the conversation. Martha that day pursed the conversation, even knowing her brother was dead and buried, knowing that Jesus could have done something to stop the illness before the death. Because her only hope.was the Jesus who hadn’t acted yet but still could.

Even though Jesus may not raise my Lazarus, I have no other hope.

“Lord?”