Swift & Beautiful

These past 21 months have been real eye-openers haven't they? What's so funny about that question is depending on where you fall along the spectrum of far left, left, center, right, or far right you totally just said a resounding, "Uh hu. You got that right." in your head with a bit of an air to it. Ironic isn't it? Everyone at the same time having an air of confidence about their particular stance. Doesn't that really just mean that no one actually has that edge? I believe this qualifies as what Solomon would have termed "chasing the wind." But, chase on we will... sigh.

Why?

Well, for some (uh hum... for sure me), it may be that we resonate in about 100 different ways with the disciple the bible calls Simon the Zealot. Are you kidding me? Being crushed under the weight of Roman oppression for as long as the Israelites had been by the time Jesus came on the scene could make even the most docile into a pit bull, so imagine those of us who live our lives as pit pulls even on our best days! Oh how I identify with his zeal to the nth degree. But, where healthy passions can serve us and others well, zealotry lends itself to shortsighted selfishness and if just for a moment we were all to be 100% honest, this is where many are today.

But then Jesus.

He just totally low key takes a man like Simon and pairs him up with a man like Matthew, a tax collector and employee of the very same tyrannical governmental regime that Simon loathes to his core. He literally takes two men of completely opposite political persuasions and thrusts them into service together and do you know what? They learn to do it. Why? Because the fact was then and still remains to this very day that:

"My kingdom is not of this world,” said Jesus. “If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight, so that I wouldn’t be handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here."

John 18:36

The fight Simon and Matthew could have fought then and the fight we may be fighting with someone on the "opposing side" today are not the proper ones. We have to stop this politically charged non-sense and start working to advance the correct kingdom. Hint: this world, let along this country, ain't it. However, we shouldn't beat ourselves up too badly. Even Peter had messed up expectations about Jesus' purpose at first too:

"From then on Jesus began to point out to his disciples that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and be raised the third day. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, “Oh no, Lord! This will never happen to you!” Jesus turned and told Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me because you’re not thinking about God’s concerns but human concerns."

Matthew 16:21-23

Ouch! Big time. I share this as a gentle reminder that we all need a course correction on occasion. This was a large one for Peter. His merely human insight had led him to consider this world as greater than the one yet to come when it was the latter that Jesus was concerned with all along. The Roman occupation would have to be put on the back burner to the more important task of saving sinners from the actual hell that could await them. The lesson Peter learned that day is the same one we're still learning today, right this very minute. Hear me now. If Jesus didn't come to free his chosen people from the government of their day, let it be known that his chief concern is not freeing Americans from ours today. Not yet. That, my friends, was just too small a mission for him then and it remains so today.

We sing the hymn Take My Life and Let It Be every so often at church and the last time I heard it, the particular lyric below struck me in a new way. The thought of our feet not only being swift, which most of the time they have no problem being, but also beautiful at the same time is something that has gotten lost recently. Also notice Who the feet are moving for. Interestingly, Mrs. Havergal isn't challenging her feet to be swift for her country, her rights, her liberty, her own abilities, her own desires. She was categorically writing about moving her feet to serve her Savior and her Savior only, swiftly AND beautifully.

Take my feet and let them be

Swift and beautiful for Thee,

Swift and beautiful for Thee.

Lyrics from "Take My Life And Let It Be" by Frances Ridley Havergal

What would that kind of service look like one might ask? Well, I think it's only appropriate to allow scripture to speak for itself. I will try my best to identify not only the swift, but also make some suggestions leading to the beautiful in each of the seven examples below.

(Side note: I urge you to notice the glaringly obvious lack of politics as a theme here. To quote this article, "Political solutions won’t ultimately be our salvation. If we start thinking they will, we’ve put our trust in a false god.") Let's get to the scriptures...

"Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone considers himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Let each person examine his own work, and then he can take pride in himself alone, and not compare himself with someone else. For each person will have to carry his own load."

Galatians 6:2-5

Make it swift: Be quick to offer a hand to a friend who's carrying a heavy burden. They may or may not need the help at the moment, but they'll know who to call when they do.
Make it beautiful: No virtue signaling allowed. We offer help because we know we could be in their same shoes tomorrow. If you're looking for an Instagram photo op, better to hold off. If Jesus taught us not to let our own right hand know what our left hand is doing in regards to giving to the needy (see Matthew 6:3), I think we can safely apply that to any and all charitable opportunities.

"Let brotherly love continue. Don’t neglect to show hospitality, for by doing this some have welcomed angels as guests without knowing it."

Hebrews 13:1-2

Make it swift: Always have an offering of brotherly love and hospitality in your back pocket ready to go at a moment's notice. Yes, even to those whose persuasions are different. The Matthew to your Simon.
Make it beautiful: Keep it simple. People in need do not require fine china and a stunning table scape (although there's definitely a proper time and place for that too!). They need warmth, a comfy couch and a smile.

"This is my command: Love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends."

John 15:12-13

Make it swift: Christ loved us in a way that as humans we certainly can not replicate. However, he is clearly making a proclamation regarding the way we ought to love others. Be hasty with the love even when it means something hard in return.
Make it beautiful: I don't know how much more beautiful Christ's sacrifice could have been. I think we just need to emulate, as much as our finite human-ness will allow, the tone of his sacrifice which means our very lives are put on hold for another if that's what it takes.

"You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven."

Matthew 5:14-16

Make it swift: Before your feet hit the ground in the morning, ask the Lord to help you fulfill your true purpose that day which is always and forevermore to be a living flashlight shining on Christ to a watching world. Period.
Make it beautiful: When we spend our days as if we know our true purpose in life (be it at home, the grocery, the CEO's office, the rank and file office cubicle farm, the classroom or even the church), words are not necessary for others to see the good in that. It's just you... living a simple life... to the glory of God (see 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12). The result is that others may begin to give glory to the Father as well.

"If, then, there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, make my joy complete by thinking the same way, having the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others."

Philippians 2:1-4

Make it swift: Get on board with your church family. Enjoy the fruits and benefits of the "fellowship with the Spirit" offered there. If your local body is in fact "intent on one purpose" (which again is shining a light so bright for Christ that others take notice even without words), you should be excited to do this life together with them and do it to the fullest.
Make it beautiful: Well, I can tell you with certainty what is not beautiful and that is selfishness and conceit. If your actions within your fellowship have led to disruption, divisiveness and discord, I encourage you to consider where your light is really shining. Disagreements occur, of course they do! We are human after all. However, at the end of the day, the resulting fruit says it all. You may be moving swiftly, but not so much beautifully, if the resulting fruit is rotten.

"What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can such faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, stay warm, and be well fed,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it? In the same way faith, if it does not have works, is dead by itself."

James 2:14-17

Make it swift: Many have taken these verses way out of context through the years. What is James really saying here? In a nutshell, authentic faith results in action while so-so faith results in talking. Mrs. Havergal wasn't writing about so-so faith. She was writing about authentic faith which is always proven by swift movement for the good of the body.
Make it beautiful: If our true purpose of shining a light on Christ is being lived out daily then clothing, feeding, or sheltering a fellow member of the body of Christ is so automatic that it hardly requires thought.

"A generous person will be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor."

Proverbs 22:9

Make it swift: Just share what you have been given. Plain and simple. Frankly, there would be no need for debates over Socialism if we all just automatically lived out this principle on the daily. "Socialism takes what the Gospel would freely give." (ref. Uphill Battle). We are people of the cross. People of the cross should be the most freely giving group in the entire world.
Make it beautiful: Isn't it just like God not to leave those who are generous with a sense of loss over the goods and services they part with? No, it's just like our God to reward the givers with an overwhelming sense of blessing even as they might physically have less today than they did yesterday. God is for us! All of us. He is waiting at the ready with blessings galore for those who help tend to his most vulnerable sheep.

By no means is this an exhaustive list of ways our feet can not only be swift in service to Thee, but beautiful too. I think the bottom line is this, we all need to take serious stock of who is getting the glory from our actions of late. From whom do we crave that proverbial pat on the back? If it's our local political action group of choice, we've missed it. If it's our local parent group representing our schooling option of choice, we've missed it. If it's our local pro/anti-whatever social media group of choice, I am so sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but we've missed it! Goodness, I could go on and on.

I am not saying activism is inherently wrong because it's not. What is inherently wrong is forgetting that 50% of the population thinks differently than you. Literally, our personal opinions are so small in the grand scheme of God's great design. Again from the article referenced above, "None of this is to suggest that politics is unimportant or that we should “just preach the gospel” and ignore racial injustice, the plight of the unborn, and other social ills that political action can help redress. I only want to suggest that Christians ought to approach politics with radical humility, guarding against the brash certainty and overconfidence that leads to idolatry."

That last statement sounds a lot like arrogant and prideful zealotry to me. So what's even my point with this long winded blog post? Well, I am sincerely asking, in fact begging you, to ask yourself this one question: If I tried to witness to a stranger who unbeknownst to me had been watching and listening to my actions and words as of late, would that person have a legit reason to call me a hypocrite as they walked away? This question hurts and it's supposed to. Give it some thought.

Lay down your arms and take up the command of Jesus to "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." (Matthew 5:44). This message is still as shockingly hard to grasp today as I know it was to it's original audience, but Jesus meant it then and still means it now. We, just like Simon and Matthew, need help learning how to cast aside our differences and share the gospel, not just our political preferences. Yes, be passionate for your causes! Just abandon the quarreling and proceed with the call to not only move swiftly, but beautifully, for Thee.