On Fidelity

They were passing around a great picture on the web yesterday, maybe you saw it.  It was a picture of the soldiers guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the pouring rain.  The caption explained that these brave souls were going to stay faithfully at their post no matter how bad Hurricane Sandy got.  They risked their safety, probably got completely soaked, for their calling.  That is fidelity!

As Christians we are called to be faithful.  So why are the pews empty when it rains, or when it's cold, or when there was a big game or party the night before.  We could stand to learn something from the honor guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  It is considered one of the highest honors in the military to be chosen to guard the tomb.  We have been chosen by God to represent the body of Christ on earth...  Shouldn't that be the biggest honor there is?  Shouldn't that make us want to be more faithful?

For the next couple of weeks our lectionary gives us readings from the book of Ruth.  This is an amazing little book.  If you haven't ever read it, look it up.  It is only a few pages long.  In the Old Testament there is a Hebrew word, Hesed.  It means unending, faithful, love.  It is often used for God's faithful love of us.  It is not often used for humanity.  One of the few times the word Hesed is used to show a human showing God like love is here in Ruth.  Ruth gives up her way of life, he country, and her gods to go with her mother-in-law back to Israel.  She loved Naomi too much to leave her.  How many of us would be that faithful to our Mother-in-law?

Jesus said that the two greatest commandments are to love God and love our neighbors.  We are called to show Hesed, faithful, unending, Godlike love.  Most of us have trouble showing this kind of love to God, let alone to our neighbors. 

The honor guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier risked way more than just getting wet to show their faithfulness.  What do we risk to show Hesed to those we come in contact with every day?

Blessings!