Love That Saved the World

        So, I have a confession to make.  I am not only a Geek, I am also a “shipper”.  So, I believe that Superman belongs with Lois Lane, Spiderman belongs with Mary Jane, Mulder belongs with Scully, Captain Sheridan belongs with Delenn, and Supergirl belongs with Brainy and Saturn Girl belongs with Lightning Lad (no matter what Earth CW may try to tell us.)  But I digress…

          So in the beginning of Aquaman Arthur’s voice over says, “ She had fled an arranged marriage, left her whole world behind. But in my father’s lighthouse, she found something unexpected. And my father found the love of his life.”  From that point on, I knew the movie was going to be OK with me…  OK, yes, I did also hope for Arthur and Mara to hook up.  But that kind of love isn’t what I want to talk about in this devotion.  My favorite quote from the movie actually came in the end. Arthur says, “My father was a lighthouse keeper. My mother was a queen. They were never meant to meet, but their love saved the world. They made me what I am. A son of the land, a king of the seas. I am the protector of the deep. I am Aquaman.”

          It isn’t the love of a lighthouse keeper and a queen that I want to discuss today, but a love that saved the world.  I believe that love is the most important theme in the Bible.  The word love is used in the Bible around 310 times, depending on the translation.  There is love like Jacob had for Rachael, or Ruth had for her mother-in-law Naomi, or the brotherly love of David and King Saul’s son Jonathan.  But the most important love is the love of God.  In Hebrew it has its own word, “Hesed”. It is a faithful, forgiving, accepting, never-ending love.  That is the love that God has for creation.  That is the love that God has for each one of us.  As it says in John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

          It is God’s love that literally saved the world.  It is God’s love in Jesus that taught the world compassion and challenged us to live like he did.  It was God loving us enough that God came down and was born in a manger, lived among us, went through all that we go through, suffered and died on a cross so that we would know God’s love and forgiveness.  It is a love beyond our understanding.

          Now in Aquaman the love of a lighthouse keeper and a queen wouldn’t have done anything to save the world if Arthur didn’t have compassion for it.  It was Arthur’s love of both the people on the land and in Atlantis that compelled him to act.  It was love for all mankind that saved the world.

          God’s love for the world that is shown in Jesus saved the world, but it didn’t just end at the cross.  God still loves the world and Jesus still longs to heal it.  But now, as followers of Jesus we are called to be his hands and feet.  We are to show God’s compassion to the world.  It is God’s love through us that continues to work in the world today.  When we love our neighbors as ourselves we are showing God’s love to the world.  When we love our neighbors we are showing love to God as well.  In Matthew 25 Jesus talks about the final judgement.  The only thing we will be judged by is how we treat other people.  Mathew 25:34-40 says: 34 Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35 for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38 And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39 And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 40 And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’

              We may not be super heroes.  The fate of the world may not rest in our hands.  But when we show the love of God.  When we show “Hesed” to our brothers and sisters we participate in God’s saving the world.  So go out and share that compassion and love.  God knows the world needs it.

Make All Things New - A Geeks of Faith Devotion

          It is a new year.  People are making resolutions.  Some people are glad the old year is gone, and some may wish it wasn’t.  We lost some great icons this past year: Jerry Vandyke from coach, David Ogden Stiers from Mash, Steven Hawking, Tim O’Connor from Buck Rogers,  Margot Kidder, Charlotte Rae from Facts of Life, Aretha Franklin, Robin Leach, Burt Reynolds, Anthony Bourdain, Stan Lee, Both George and Barbara Bush, and at the very end Penny Marshall and many more.

          Sometimes it makes me feel old to see my childhood (and even adult) heroes pass away.  So we look into the new year and hope it will be better than the last.  Every year we will lose people who meant something to us.  Every year we will have some good times and some bad.

          This new year is what we make of it.  We can face it with dread or we can face it with hope.  Our attitude makes a difference.  When I am down I often turn to the Psalms.  The psalmist really knew how to look toward God in good times and bad.  For example listen to the first few lines of Psalm 96: 

O sing to the Lord a new song;

    sing to the Lord, all the earth.

2 Sing to the Lord, bless his name;

    tell of his salvation from day to day.

3 Declare his glory among the nations,

    his marvelous works among all the peoples.

4 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;

    he is to be revered above all gods.

We are called to tell of God’s glory on a daily basis.  This Psalm makes me think of one of my favorite songs from the musical “the King and I”

“Whenever I feel afraid, I hold my head erect

And whistle a happy tune so no one will suspect I'm afraid

While shivering in my shoes, I strike a careless pose

And whistle a happy tune and no one ever knows I'm afraid

The result of this deception is very strange to tell,

For when I fool the people I fear, I fool myself as well

I whistle a happy tune, and every single time,

The happiness in the tune convinces me that I'm not afraid”

Now the Psalmist isn’t telling us to fool ourselves into being happy.  The Psalm wants us to remind ourselves and others every day about God’s faithfulness and how much God cares about us.

          It is all in our attitude.  If we face the new year with the thought that God goes with us, it makes a difference.  Yes, there will be hard times.  Sometimes we will fail.  Sometimes we will get hurt, but that doesn’t mean that God won’t be there to bless us this year, too.  We have scripture to remind us of God’s faithfulness.  We also need to remind each other that not only is God there for them, but we are, too.  We don’t walk through this world alone.

          One last bit of hope for the new year.  The scriptures also allow us to peek at the end.  Spoiler alert:  God wins in the end!  So I will leave you with the words of Revelation 21:5: 

And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

Happy New Year!