That They Might Have Lifestyle

How is everyone? Seriously. I’m wondering. If you want to comment here, or email me. Remember if you are one of those who receives this by email, if you hit reply it goes to everyone. Which might not be a bad thing. Unless everyone responds and some folks feel overwhelmed by the emails. But I really want to know. I promise to check the blog for comments, I promise to respond to your email. I just want to know how you’re doing.

We watched the “One World: Together At Home” concert event last night. We heard amazing stories, terrifying and wonderful stories. There were moments of tears and worry, alongside those of hope and amazement at the compassion of people. We know many folks in the medical profession and are worried about them. But then we also know folks in the food industry of all kinds (grocery, restaurants, farms), and those who deliver packages and mail, child-care workers, and service workers of all kinds. We know those who are suffering and those who are worried about the future, we know those who are safe and doing their best to follow the rules (anyone else tired of washing hands so much?). We know of those who have contracted the virus, those who have succumbed to it, and those whose lives will never be the same because of it. And we are concerned, but hopeful. We have faith.  Faith in the goodness of people. Faith in the strength of our humanity. Faith in decision-makers and leaders, scientists and researchers who are working for the good of all and not just for some. Most of all we have faith in God. God is with us. God’s body the church is with us even when the doors are closed. The church was never a building anyway, we just got confused at times. We love our buildings, but they aren’t the church. If there is one thing this time is reminding us, confirming in us it is that the church is more than a building.

We are the church. You are the church. Claim it and live it in whatever ways you can right now. And remember, as I and too many others have said, we do what we not just to keep ourselves safe, but for the safety of others. We do this because we were taught to love by the One who loves us unto death and rose from the grave out of love for us. So, how can we do otherwise? How can we not love one another as He loved us?

It’s easy to be frustrated. It is easy to think that this is all an overreaction. That, sure, a few might get sick and a few might even die from this, but the risks we take by this shut down are worse. We are, some have said, killing our lifestyle to save a few lives. The protests to open up the economy are making that argument. We want to save our lifestyle. 

No one appreciates our lifestyle more than I do. I like the stuff I have, I like the freedom that I have to just go and get something that I want, whether I really need it or not. I like having enough money in the bank so that I won’t worry about the future when I retire. I like the benefits and the privileges I have here. I really do. But, who am I willing to sacrifice in order to keep it?  Because that’s the culmination of the argument being made. Some lives are worth sacrificing in order to keep our lifestyle. 

Wait, some will say, we make sacrifices all the time. Someone, a “Doctor” with only one name, went on TV and pointed out that we don’t shut the country down because of the car fatalities, or the cigarette fatalities. He’s right, we don’t. But then as far as I know car accidents aren’t communicable. You can’t spread them by breathing. On the other hand, we have shut down certain facilities to smoking, and there were those who complained saying we were going to ruin the economy by declaring no smoking zones. But we decided that life was more important than lifestyle. So, we lost the smoke filled rooms, good riddance. We adapted, we adjusted. There’s a pub in our neighborhood that everyone was worried about, said it was a shame that it had to close. But now they are so busy we couldn’t place an order for take out. We adapt, we adjust. 

Because we believe life is more important than lifestyle. Someone taught us that. Here’s another of my favorite passages: John 10.

John 10:9-16  I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. 11 "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away-- and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

“I have come that they might have lifestyle,” no, wait, that’s not it. Oh, I know He says “abundant life.” And our image of abundant life is all the stuff we could want. But I don’t think that’s what He meant. I think He was offering us a life that meant something, to us and to everyone else. A life that was rich in love, that was spent in service not because it was what we were supposed to do, but because we couldn’t help it. Helping, serving, loving, caring just flows out of our heart like streams of living water. It isn’t what we do it is what we are. We are the ones who believe that life matters. Life, not lifestyle. We believe that all life matters.

“I have sheep that do not belong to this fold.” You’ve noticed that, haven’t you? Yeah, He meant the Baptists down the road.  He meant the Lutherans and Presbyterians, He meant all those who are just like us with a different label. Right? Maybe. But I don’t think so. I think He meant the ones we would least expect. The ones living in a care facility where a stray virus can run through like a tsunami. The ones struggling to breathe, carrying around oxygen in a tank, hooked up to tubes to bring air. He meant the ones who can’t shelter at home because they don’t have a home. He meant the ones who are crowded into inadequate housing, gathered into home unequipped to care for them, to feed them, to love them, or keep them safe. He meant the ones dumped into refugee camps and prisons and ships at sea. He meant the ones have suddenly become “essential” and yet still don’t make enough money to feed their children. He meant the ones across the globe who look to us to set an example of what it means to love our neighbor as ourselves. Those are the sheep of other folds. Sheep we may never see, may never love in person, and yet by choosing to do all we can, all we can including sacrificing some of our lifestyle, in order to love we bear witness that life is more precious than lifestyle. 

There are supposed shepherds who are running away because the wolf is at the door. Let’s admit it. So, let’s look to another shepherd. One who invites us to value life. Not just our lives, but life. (I wonder how many of those protesters at various statehouses also call themselves “pro-life”) I love too many people who are vulnerable to say we’re ready to go back to our lifestyle as we knew it. In fact, I would venture to say we will never go back. But we will go forward and live differently because of what we have learned and how we value life. We go forward and maybe even begin to understand what abundant life really means.  

And maybe that’s what we’re learning right now. Thanks be to God. And really, how are you?

Shalom, 

Derek