Latest / The Holy Pause / Breaking Free From the Trap of Transaction

Transcript

Breaking Free From the Trap of Transaction · The Holy Pause

• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: A reading from Scripture, Luke chapter 6, verses 27 through 36.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: But to you who are listening, I say, love your enemies.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: Do good to those who hate you.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Bless those who curse you.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: Pray for those who mistreat you.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Give to everyone who asks you and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: Do to others as you would have them do to you.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: Even sinners love those who love them.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you?
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: Even sinners do that.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, What credit is that to you?
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: Be his kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: Transactional love is something I would never do.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: But when we dial into what it looks like to live a transactional life,
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: it gets much harder for me to defend myself.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: How many times have I held a grudge because someone slighted me?
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: How often do I say yes to something,
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: secretly thinking about how that might buy me good favor or come back
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: to help me later?
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: And yet,
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: how often do I find myself offended
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: when others Do unto me these very things I have done to them.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: It seems almost human nature to put cost analysis into our everyday actions and lives.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: The problem is,
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: that isn't how God designed us, nor is it how God asks us to exist with each other.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: We don't love other people so that God will love us more.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't work that way.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: Our love of others isn't attached to any sort of divine scorecard.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: We don't serve so that God will finally notice us.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: God already notices us, constantly, and out of gratitude we notice and serve others.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: We don't forgive because someone has earned it.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: We offer grace because God offered it to us first,
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: despite the fact that we continue to mess up and require redirection.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus reminds us that God is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: This is a real stumbling block if we are keeping a tally sheet of right and wrong
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: and find ourselves needing God to be fair as we see it and putting conditions
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: of favor around our actions.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: God's goodness towards us was never based on our performance.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: If we can understand how abundantly God loves us at all times,
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: Perhaps we can begin to put that love into the way we treat others,
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: even those who cannot repay us.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: This is what makes Christian love so powerful.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: We shouldn't be trying to get something through our love.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: We are giving because we have already received everything we need from God through
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: the love of Christ.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: We can be merciful.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: We can love openly.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: And we can share in life together without scorecards.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: Because that is just what God has done, is doing, and will do for us.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: We can do it.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: Now will we?
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: Today, see if you can love and live without keeping score.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe for at least an hour of today.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: Tend to your thinking very intentionally.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: Let that person jump in front of you on the interstate because it isn't about you, is it?
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: Allow yourself to notice the beauty in others without making tally marks on your own flaws.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: Offer someone forgiveness who didn't deserve it or earn it from you.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: Then actually let it go.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: But you really take time today to simply be in God's love and live
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: through God's love for one hour.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: See how it feels.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, thank you for loving me when I could never earn your love.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: Help me to live from the abundance of grace I have already received.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: Teach me to love without keeping score.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: Serve without expecting repayment and show kindness even when it is not returned.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: May your grace overflow through me so that others encounter your love.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: This podcast was written by Katherine Piper and recorded
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: by Reverend Elizabeth Troyer with audio engineering and editing assistance
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: from Jermaine Taylor.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: This podcast will always be free.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: But if you would like to donate to our online ministry,
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: you can do so at wakeforestpres.org slash give.