Guilt & Service... the Struggle

Today I attend church (not a surprise, just stating a fact)... and after attending and sharing some time with someone about the sermon, I decided I would gently blog on a topic that is hard for anyone, but I think especially pastors and those "serving" in the church proper... the call to service.

Today's gospel reading was from Luke 10:25ff... aka the Good Samaritan.  Its a common story, very powerful and dramatic and where I think Jesus provides an excellent view of how we are to live as followers in the world.  Just to recap (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2010:25ff&version=TNIV) --  its where one of the expert Law jews was trying to catch Jesus & asked him about how to get eternal life.  And the expert eggs Jesus on about asking who is your neighbor.  And then Jesus points to do likewise as the Samaritan took care of the one in need.

Now... biblical speaking--it is clear there is a call to serve.  And I do believe that as Christians we are all called to service.  But it is extremely hard to call others to serve with you without pressing upon their guilt.  We had this problem in shepherd rescue... a request for more to volunteer frequently made me feel like I wasn't doing even though i was doing what I could.

So how does one teach/preach/call service?? on top of that stewardship (asking for money-- which in these days is a lot hard....) I am glad our pastor pointed out this morning it is doing what you can... doing what good you can do because the world needs everyone doing good, not one person trying to do it all.  But it still can one feel guilty if you think you are not doing enough.  My fiancé stressed the important part---remember that your service should come from the Word to Love God, Love One Another.  I think that is the key to emphasis to serve.

The continuing effort to write....

Something interesting happened today.  I went to church (that isn't the interesting part.)  And i was intently listening to the sermon today because they were in Isaiah 55 for the OT verse because my paper for Prophets is dealing with Isaiah 40.  And in the midst of the sermon I noticed something.  Another theme of the Bible... then the idea of the blog/book came to me.

Whenever someone in the Bible questions the thoughts or plans of God/life, God responds in a very consistent way.  He talks about how He is the Creator of the world, how we, as creation, cannot even begin to fathom His thoughts or ideas but that there is no need to worry---only to Trust, Have Faith in Him.  Here are some examples...

Job (look at God's response when Job finally cracks)
Isaiah 40:27-31 & 55:8-11
 or even when God reveals Himself.  He states " I will be who I will be" meaning that God will determine His character, not humans or manmade concepts.  There are countless examples of God explaining Himself as the Creator in the Bible.

And you want to know what a Creator does? (just in case God throughout history saving & redeeming His people isn't enough...) look at Genesis.  God takes chaos, takes nothing not only creates the world, but creates everything living thing including humans.  In fact, humans became special to God. (Genesis 1 & 2)

So when you think about it .... its kind of neat.  God, the Creator wants to be with His Beloved Creation.  And the Bible is the documentation to show how God has done this.  It may or may not be historically accurate, but they are the complete stories and tales we have to understand how God works.  It could (meaning this does not apply to all biblical tells) be like fables: stories with a moral teaching.

anyways... I just thought this was an interesting thought... along with the idea that God is demonstrated as a warrior.  I'm glad that God knows what He's doing because I sure couldn't handle everything He works with/handles.

(p.s. if anyone steals my book idea above... i want credit :-P)