We are a people whose characteristic trait is to value life. It’s when life and lives are broken, or in some ways devalued that we have a responsibility to step up to the plate and do what we can to restore that life or those lives that seem half-dead yet still possess the possibility to live again.  It sounds easy enough, but it requires some spiritual growth and resolve on our part. Many of the lives we encounter are half-dead because we — sometimes by neglect, prejudice, and indifference — are responsible for the state of their existence.  It may be because they don’t represent who we are.  It may be because we share our own personal biases against them.  But the biggest reason people are half-dead and devalued is because we have — by our actions — prevented them from living.  We sap the life out of people who are lying broken and in the middle of life’s road because we have something more important to do or we’re afraid they may take advantage of us.  It may even be that we’ve accepted stereotypical views about them and — because we’ve accepted those views — we’ve chosen to sever our connection to them as fellow human beings.  When that happens, then they become invisible to us.  At that point, as far as we’re concerned, they’re as good as dead to us. 

         The difficulty occurs at the point that we begin to justify our behaviors as an acceptable reason for being disobedient to God’s laws, refusing to admit the inconvenient truth about our justified position to ourselves — that our decision to disdain another human is contrary to God’s commandment to love one another.  And it’s those inconvenient truths of contradiction to God’s commandment that gives life to our ability to make people invisible — to not see them or avoid helping them when they are in distress.

         But if we are who Christ calls us to be, then our response to their broken condition is to be a neighborly one — to love them as least as much as we love ourselves.  We’re supposed to be guided by the first and great commandment and the second, which is equal to the first — to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.  Seeing others as God sees them often requires admitting the inconvenient truth about what we believe so that we can see the truth about others more clearly.

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Loving God, empower me to see those half-dead souls on life’s highway in my community. Enable me to remove my own prejudices tearing down the walls within me that I may love my neighbors with the mercy and compassion of Christ, the original Good Samaritan.

         Practicing the art of Christian patriotism is not totally an act of self-reflection or evaluation.  Our patriotism to the Kingdom of God has always been, is now, and will always fall under the scrutiny of Him who rules the Kingdom.  It is not an act of patriotism only for those who believe but it is the obligation and role of every human living or dead.  Our actions, however well or ill-intended they may be or have been, will always be measured against the standard of expectation of the rule of law in the Kingdom of God.  From that expectation, no one will escape.  “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. (2 Corinthians 5:10).  And for those of us who believe, that may be enough to put the fear of God in everyone.  And yet, there is a caveat.  For written within the laws of judgment which we must all face is a law of grace.  It reminds us of and comforts us to know and remember,

“But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.  2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:1b),

It’s not exactly a “Get out of Hell Free” card.  But it is God’s law of immutable love operating within a Kingdom in which God is love and rules by the same laws that he prescribes for its citizens.  Christian patriotism leans into the laws of love and mercy, because we serve a God who is Love and is merciful.  The role and goal of every citizen of the Kingdom of God is to practice the art of Christian patriotism until they have perfected it.  As God’s word reminds us, we must become patriotic Christians …

17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.  … that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge — that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:17-19)

• In what ways are you laboring to become better at being a patriotic Christian as a citizen of God’s Kingdom?
• Where can you find help to practice and hone your skills of patriotic Christianity?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Gracious and Merciful God, empower me to practice the art off Christian patriotism so that my life will mirror the love and grace You’ve shown me as a citizen of Your Kingdom.

         Law-abiding citizen is a term that is used to reflect one’s commitment to the law in any and all circumstances.  It says that one is committed to being faithful to the standard of equity and justice imposed by the authorities over the citizenry of any given community.  To that end, any patriot should account themselves as being a law-abiding citizen — someone who follows the restrictions and freedoms afforded by the community in which he or she is a citizen.  And yet it’s difficult in the human world.  There are so many laws to keep up with.  They change based on culture, based on privilege, based on wealth.  The laws of humanity quite frequently favor those who have power — or who desire to have it — and can affect the writing of the laws of any land.  However, the Kingdom of God is driven by one law that never changes.  It is the law of love.  It is the one law that is prescriptive for every action we take and sets both the boundaries and the scope of our interactions with each other.  And yes, it is a risky venture to love.

         To love anyone is to hope in the always.  Love never ends.  From the moment we begin to judge anyone, to limit our confidence in them — from the moment at which we identify them and so reduce them to that — we cease to love them and they cease to be able to become better.  That doesn’t mean that we can’t name their need for growth.  That doesn’t mean that we can’t speak the truth in love.  That is a requirement of our faith.  We all fall short of the glory of God.  But it does mean that the door of love must be as open to our neighbors as God’s love is open to us.

         To be a law-abiding citizen in the Kingdom of God is the only law of God that demands that we love our neighbors as we love ourselves — to be as forgiving to our neighbors as we are to ourselves.  Loving others is the type of Christian patriotism that develops into an art as we practice it and fulfills every law necessary as a citizen of the Kingdom of God.

• In what ways has your judgement of someone else hindered your ability to fulfill the law of God’s Kingdom to love your neighbor?
• What is necessary for you to grow spiritually enough to get past your judgment in order to love unconditionally?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Merciful God, as You have loved me, empower me to become a more patriotic Christian by being faithful to love my neighbors, even after I have broken your law of love by having judged them.