Prayer Meeting Reflection

The second, fourth, and fifth Wednesdays of the month I am responsible for the prayer meeting at work. Here is the reflection from today’s meeting:

Romans 5:5
The love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

The word love is translated to agape. Agape love is often talked about in the big “C” church, and what it means, is a type of love that transcends feeling. It is about the outward pouring of caring for one another. The response from the person you’re doing this with should not matter. It is love that is perfectly modeled by Jesus.

I have spent a lot of time working in food ministries, and often there is an attitude that, “people should be thankful for what they’re getting from us.” It is either on display in a way that people, who are going through the lines are not outwardly joyful or thankful for what is being received.

There is a scene in Monty Python’s Life of Brian that does a great job displaying this. Michael Palin is begging for alms as a “poor ex leper.” Jesus had healed him when he was not asked, and now Palin’s character has no idea how to live his life being healthy.

Something I have found in my personal, and from speaking to other people I have known journey is, this is where lust sets in. I am not talking about the sexual desires that it is often associated with, but the idea of figuring out what mountain to conquer next.

I was re-listening to a sermon, that turned twenty years old a few days ago, from a former pastor I really enjoy. And he was speaking on how lust promises what it can never deliver. The idea of what is next. Or what more can we be doing?

This is the type of lust that permeates through churches and people disguised at times of agape love. It isn’t bad to ask what more can be done; in fact, it can bring about really great change. But sometimes, what we are searching for is never enough.

The Mandate, St. Thomas Aquinas – Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West translated by Daniel Ladinsky

Because of my compassion, the sun wanted to be near me all night,
and the earth deeded her fields to me,
and all in heaven said,

“We have voted you our governor; tell us your divine mandate.”
And I did, and God will never revoke it:
Nothing in existence is turned
away.

More tender is my Lord’s heart than any heart
has ever been.

So, when the divine realm asked me to govern it
with one simple
rule,

I looked into His eyes and then knew
what to say to any angel
who might serve as
a sentry to
God:

No creature should be
turned away.

The monotony of good work can breed discontent without realizing it.

As we go through this week, may we remember that the love we model in Jesus is about the people we are serving and engaging with, not just ourselves.