I'm Having a Party. You're Invited.

Friends of Faith:

I’m having a party. Are you coming?

Essentially that is what God is telling us every day. He’s inviting us to a party. And it is our choice as to how we respond-- yes or no, there is no “in between” or “maybe” answer. We either show up or we don’t.

We must not be too busy, too worried, too anxious, or too ready to do it ourselves. We must rejoice that he is asking.

Brothers and sisters: Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice! Your kindness should be known to all. The Lord is near. Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Phil 4: 4-7

We must love him more than our jobs; the Iowa Rosebowl, Iowa State basketball or the Chicago Cubs playoff; our kids soccer coach who says the kids won’t play if they don’t go to practice; The Voice or whatever it is on TV that is “our show;” our lake house or whatever else it is that keeps us away from church, prayer and working with the poor.

We must choose him over everything else.

Jesus again in reply spoke to them in parables, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast^* for his son. He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they refused to come. A second time he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those invited: “Behold, I have prepared my banquet, my calves and fattened cattle are killed, and everything is ready; come to the feast.”’Some ignored the invitation and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. The rest laid hold of his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged and sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, ‘The feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come. Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find.’ The servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found, bad and good alike,^* and the hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to meet the guests he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment. He said to him, ‘My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?’ But he was reduced to silence. Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’ Many are invited, but few are chosen.” Mt 22: 1-14

And because God says “what we do for the least of our brothers, so we do for Him” sometimes the choice isn’t just about my attendance at church (that’s a given) but the tougher choice about choosing to stay home from work, shopping, or skipping something recreational, to take care of my family or my neighbor; have a listening ear to someone who is lonely; or spending time with someone who is ill.

The great thing about God though is that he keeps giving us a second chance, and he asks us for nothing, only that we ourselves be with Him. He does not ask us to bring presents, food, or challenging games or conversations only the gifts of our time and talents. And He continues to give us the chance to say yes with the opportunities for giving into faith and shutting out the worlds call for more success, more money, and more happiness. He simply calls us to love him through our love for others.

Heavenly Father, I want to say yes! Help me to shut out the worldly distractions. Help me to realize I can’t do everything by myself. Help me to realize that others need what you have given me as a gift. Thank you for giving me answers to my prayers and the faith to see you in the tough choices I am called to make. Please give me and others peace, joy and comfort when we say yes and when we see others say yes because we have been a witness for you. Amen.

Will you be one of the chosen because you said yes when he invited you? God asks everyone but His question requires an answer. Make your RSVP this Advent season! 

Let’s not forget that Christmas is His party. I’m hoping to see you there.

Blessings,

Charlotte

Monday Morning Reflection

On Your Mark, Get Set, Get Ready

Friends of Faith:

Am I chosen OR am I ready to be chosen?

“I heard the number of those who had been marked with the seal, one hundred and forty-four thousand marked from every tribe of the children of Israel.” Rv 7: 4

Many of us have read this passage and probably wondered like I have what I could possibly do to be a part of the “chosen” 144,000, knowing as I know myself that this number over the last 2015 years is minutely small – a sliver of all of the Christian people that have come and gone, and in humility, without trying to fool myself, honestly knowing that I am not even close to being or becoming holy enough to being ONE of only 144,000.

So why do I, and should we, continue to seek holiness, to be Christlike, and to live for God? Why do I continue to strive to achieve heaven when at times it can appear to be so unachievable? Why do I have hope? Because this verse is followed by this passage:

“After this I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne, and from the Lamb.”

All the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They prostrated themselves before the throne, worshiped God, and exclaimed: “Amen. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving, honor, power, and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”Then one of the elders spoke up and said to me, “Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?” I said to him, “My lord, you are the one who knows.” He said to me, “These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb.” Rv 7: 9-14

God may have only “marked” 144,000 but he has left the door open for all those who in hope seek his mercy; for those who in perseverance and patience seek to know Him and to do His will; and for those who remain faithful to Him despite temptation, persecution, sufferings and sorrows.

This passage is not about a few, about being “gifted or chosen,” this passage is about being prepared, about hope and mercy and about a lifelong journey towards God. For only God will know whether I am ready and whether I have done what it is that he has called me to do. My job is to be willing and to be humbly ready to lay down my life for Him so that I never feel too “chosen” or so “privileged” that I fail to do the one and only job he calls me to do – to love everyone else as unconditionally as He loves me.

Lord, we are a people that long to see your face. Help me to be ready to do your will, to stand against evil and to desire what is not vain. Help me to seek to know and acknowledge all that I have been blessed with, to be in your presence every hour of every day, and to be ready when I am called. Thank you for your patience and your mercy. It is through my hope in you that I find peace and joy. To all may there be blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving, honor, power, and might to our God forever and ever. Amen. (From Ps 24)

So I strive to give up my prideful ways and my desire for earthly belongings and in humility to become “marked” by a ready willingness and an eternal hopefulness that through His grace and blessings I will be chosen BECAUSE I was ready AND willing to do His will: in love, with love, by love and for His love.

So on your mark, get set, get ready – Love – because God awaits,

Blessings,

Charlotte

Choosing or Being Chosen

Friends of Faith:

I feel the greatest sense of peace, of freedom and of joy when it is not I that chooses, but when I have been chosen. God gives us free will, but the reason he made us was to choose us.

If I believe I can choose my own destiny then the struggles must likewise be of my own making.

But if I believe God is choosing me then the “freedom to choose” isn’t really a freedom but a test.  And the real pursuit of happiness comes from a choice to follow Christ’s footsteps; and real peace and joy comes not from having chosen, but from the knowledge and faith that God is and will choose me.

"The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they refused to come…..those who were invited were not worthy to come. Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find.’ The servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found, bad and good alike, and the hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to meet the guests he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment. He said to him, ‘My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?’ But he was reduced to silence. Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’ Many are invited, but few are chosen.” Mt 22: 1-14

Will I refuse, will I be worthy, or will I be ready when God says, “Now, Charlotte, I choose you?”

The readings this week remind me that to expect something back from God, makes me like the hypocrite Jesus describes in Matthew, trying to get ahead while inadvertently pushing or leaving others out: “Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You lock the Kingdom of heaven before men. You do not enter yourselves, nor do you allow entrance to those trying to enter.” Mt 23 13-14

“The last will be first and the first will be last.” Mt 20:16 Just as real peace comes from making right Godly decisions, so real freedom comes from following God’s rules, His commandments.

Can I accept and trust the fact that my perceived needs should come last, and that only God can provide me with the gifts that I really need? Can I be content with putting everyone else before me instead of seeking power and control of things or the situation I find myself in?

Heavenly Father: Your way is above our way. Your way of thinking is not the way many humans teach others to think or for what to desire. Thank you for giving us the life of Your son, Jesus Christ to be our example. Help me to focus my eyes on Him and open my heart to let His love be my guide.  “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!  How inscrutable are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor? Or who has given the Lord anything that he may be repaid? For from him and through him and for him are all things.  To him be glory forever. Amen.” Rm 11: 33-36

I am invited. I don’t know when it will be my time to be chosen. Will I be wiling? Will I be ready?

Blessings,

Charlotte

Power and Equality

Friends of Faith:

First I would ask your prayers for Andy who began a seven day silent retreat yesterday as part of his orientation to Mundelein seminary where he will be studying theology for the next 4 years before his priestly ordination. Please pray that the challenge of living physically and mentally without any “outside” interference (primarily his IT devices) will lead to a deep spiritual “inside” connection to God’s call in his life.

"Thus says the LORD: Observe what is right, do what is just; for my salvation is about to come, my justice, about to be revealed.
The foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, ministering to him, loving the name of the LORD, and becoming his servants—all who keep the sabbath free from profanation and hold to my covenant, them I will bring to my holy mountain and make joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be acceptable on my altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. Is 56: 1, 6-7

Insiders and outsiders, power and equality, foreigners and citizens, the chosen and the outcasts.

Our world is a dichotomy and a struggle to have both equality and power. In order to have earthly power, control, superiority, and to be “inside” then someone else must be “outside.” It is common to give power to the governmental elite who are able to make decisions which affect my lifestyle; to let the “inside”elite set societal norms; and to feel that the “chosen” are those who have money which set the standards for what I then think I deserve.

And these power struggles in turn create a social struggle directly opposite because of our innate desire to be “equal” – to have “equal” rights, “equal”opportunity, and “equal” choices.

Reality and entertainment are challenged by our competitive nature: our desire to win, to be the best, to be the leader, to be big, and to be chosen, accepted, powerful, and righteous.

And yet in “equal” there is no winner or loser, no hierarchy of power, no big or little, no leader or follower, no inside or outside, no control over another person, no principality, no more or less, there is nothing that is deserved.

“I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But the woman came and did Jesus homage, saying, “Lord, help me.” He said in reply, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” She said,“Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” Then Jesus said to her in reply, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And the woman’s daughter was healed from that hour. Mt 15: 21-28

While I might deem the most powerful person as the pope, president, king or queen or doctor; you might deem the most powerful as your boss, the mayor, even a sports team, coach or player. It depends on our context in asking the question, or even in the context of the time the question is asked.

So who really deems me “the winner?” Who do I think is the most powerful? Who really chooses me as an “insider?”

As a Christian whose ultimate goal is heaven, there can be only one answer: God! It is through him I am created equal, it is in Him I am given power. It is by Him I will be allowed “inside” and it is by Him I hope to be chosen.

HE must be first and I must be last. Will I choose to be the obedient child of the Father, with no false god’s before me? Will I give selfless, unconditional service to all others? Will I live and serve faithfully under His commandments? And will I respect those to whom God has given earthly authority?

Heavenly Father, You are the one and only power. We are created in Your image and likeness. I strive to live as Your chosen. Thank you for giving me all that I need each day. Help me to honor you by living in faithful acceptance and with the sincere trust it takes to set aside worldly inequality. Help me to accept the challenges of sacrifice and suffering so that I may be your willing witness to others. Amen.

God is the only power. And thankfully we are created equal in His likeness. I seek only to be accepted and chosen by Him. May you choose the same.

Blessings,

Charlotte

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