Look in the mirror!!

    Almost never, when someone tells you to "Go look in the mirror!" does it mean good news for you.  Often it means you have some big blotch of dirt or food (or a booger) on your face that has been there for some time.  As you wipe whatever it is off, you ponder to yourself "How long has it been that way?" and "Why didn't anyone else tell me?"

   Mirrors are wonderful things.  That have been around for thousands of years as a way for us to see who we really are and what we look like to others around us.   Sometimes when we feel really horrible about ourselves we may even find ourselves looking intently into the mirror to stare into our own eyes to tell ourselves to fix what ails us.   In movies, main characters often stare at themselves intently trying to tell themselves to "get with it!" or to motivate themselves to take on some great task by urging them to have some backbone or hold it together as they face some great challenge ahead

  Today our country is deeply divided.  Some say we are more divided today than we were in the days of the Civil War and Slavery.   We all like to point the finger at a small group of people to hold the responsibility.  Maybe you blame Trump or Obama for the mess we are in.  Or maybe you blame more broadly the GOP or DNC as the culprits.  It doesn't matter really because the real person to blame is much closer than that probably.   That person may be, in fact, staring you directly back at you in the mirror.

   I feel that to really see the cause, everyone should take a good look in the mirror and say "I am the cause of our nations division!".  Ask yourself intently

• Have I posted or shared angry articles on Facebook?
• Have I issued snarky Tweets on Twitter?
• Have I gotten into comment wars on websites?
• Have I stopped talking to people I know because of their party affiliation? 
• Have I made jokes about the other sides ideas?

But it's not enough to just look at those questions and say "I have not done any of those!" but to also ask yourself

• Have I offered any kind comments in response to others Facebook articles?
• Have I offered positive Tweets on Twitter when I find agreement?
• Have I tried to be a peacemaker on website comment boards?
• Have I made amends with those I disagree with politically?
• Have I apologized for any rude jokes that others might have not found "funny"?

   Wars only last as long as there are people on BOTH sides willing to fight them.  So also, our country will only come together when BOTH sides stop fighting and antagonizing each other.  This is where it becomes very difficult.  The question is WHO will stop first?   We are shown countless videos of the other side calling US all kinds of names, fighting, hitting, spitting, hurling bricks and other objects at each other.   We want our side to win and by stopping what we would consider our defense of "our values" we view that as "losing".   But understand that even if your side eventually wins, you still lose.

 

The Greatest Act of Valor

   The other night I was channel surfing and was looking for something good on TV.  I came across a movie on TBS called "Act of Valor".  I had seen the movie in the theaters already several years ago and even though the movie was almost over I decided to watch it anyway.

    When I selected the movie, the scene I caught was the final scene where the Navy SEALS are driving into a Mexican stronghold. The terrorists were thought to be planning their entry into the US through a tunnel.  As the men fought there way through the buildings , a man drops a hand-grenade from above them.  The SEAL in the back of the group, a Lt Anglo, sees the grenade and realizes he is the only person to know it's there.  He yells "GRENADE!" and then proceeds to throw himself onto it and prevents the explosion from hurting anyone else.  Because of his selfless act of valor his men were able to continue their mission and prevent the terrorists from fulfilling their plans.

   The scene ends with sight of blood running out from under Lt Anglo's body onto the ground and him shutting his eyes in death.

   In similar fashion, Jesus saw the 'live-grenade' of God's wrath against sin and our love of sin.  We are like those other men who were oblivious to the presence of the explosive waiting to go off.  Jesus, like the soldier in the movie, didn't hesitate and threw himself on that wrath by willfully allowing evil men to condemn him to the cross in our place.   He took the full impact of that wrath on himself and once that wrath was expelled it no longer posed any danger to us who deserved it so much.

   Why did he do this?

    Jesus said,

"No greater LOVE can a man have than to lay down his life for his friends!"

    He loves you right now!
 
    Not after you respond to his love!
    Not after you reach a certain level of goodness! 
    Not after you  can wrap your mind around why or how!

    He simply wants us to receive his love and follow him.

     But unlike the soldier in the story, Jesus story doesn't end here.  We don't follow a dead person.  We follow Jesus who was raised from the grave as "proof" that God has accepted his payment for our sins.  He is with us today as we make our way through this life.  He is with us to help us to complete the mission the Father first sent him and now sends us as well.