Hello friends,
This is Mark Gladman,
Also known as Brother Frederick James,
Your friendly neighbourhood monk in dogs.
Welcome as we continue our series,
God is.
Day 17.
And today I want us to think about God is self-giving.
And so I invite you just to close your eyes.
Take a deep breath in.
And out.
And as you breathe out,
Just allow.
.
.
All the things that you've brought into this space that you know you don't need on you for the next.
10 or 12 minutes or so.
Just let them go.
Feel your body relax.
Feel your mind become attentive and present.
Feel your breathing.
Just keeping a nice steady gentle pace your heartbeat just slowing into the moment.
When we think about love like we did yesterday.
I think we often think about love.
Like it's a possession,
Even the way we say it.
Things like I love this person,
I love my family,
I love my work.
I love God.
Comes across as though love was some feeling that we carry around inside ourselves and then we direct it towards other people.
But I'm thinking today,
What if the deepest reality of love isn't possession but gift.
I mean,
Love gives itself away,
And if God is love.
.
.
Then this should tell us something beautiful about who God is,
And that is that God is.
Self-giving.
And it's one of those ideas that can sound all theological until you realize how radically it changes the way we see almost everything.
If the God at the center of reality is self-giving,
Then reality itself isn't about holding onto things,
But reality itself is also.
About giving.
Think about creation.
I don't think God needs creation.
I know there are some people out there who'd suggest that God created things because God needed something to love and someone to love God.
I'm not so sure about that.
I don't think God creates because God's lonely.
Or lack something.
Creation's a gift.
Existence,
Your existence,
My existence.
It's gift,
The fact that you and I are here,
Breathing,
Seeing,
Hearing,
Thinking,
Loving.
It's not something we're making,
It's received.
It's a gift.
And then look at Jesus.
Paul tells us quite clearly.
Blatantly in Philippians 2.
Jesus never grasped at things.
Jesus gives attention,
Healing,
Welcome,
Forgiveness,
Gives himself and eventually on the cross he even gives his life.
And so the cross then.
.
.
Far from being some sort of.
.
.
Divine retribution for the sins of the world like you and I.
The cross is actually a revelation of what divine love looks like.
It shows us the extent of that love.
That love is willing to die,
Even in the face of violence.
Why?
Because love is self-giving.
Love gives itself away.
And this is why Jesus continually turns our instincts upside down.
We're the people who ask,
What can I get?
What do I need?
What belongs to me?
How do I protect this and protect myself?
How can I be sure I have enough?
But Jesus spins that with the simple four-word question,
What can I give?
Just be careful here because self-care is not selfish.
That's not what I'm saying.
God doesn't want or need us to be exhausted and depleted and to give of ourselves till we've got nothing left.
But there is something deeply life-giving about moving beyond the gravitational pull that our self can often be.
I mean,
The strange thing about love is that the more tightly we cling.
.
.
Especially to ourselves,
The smaller the world becomes.
But the more freeing we give of ourselves,
Well,
The larger the world becomes then.
Think about it,
You could sit there and eat a meal by yourself,
But when you share a meal.
It changes.
Sharing a conversation where we give our full attention to it,
When we give forgiveness and time.
When we welcome a stranger.
When we take time to listen.
To a child.
That we accompany a grieving friend.
That we treat a difficult person with dignity.
None of these things is particularly impressive,
But.
.
.
They are literally participating in the deepest structure of reality,
Because if God is self-giving love,
Then every act of self-giving becomes a small icon of God.
And that's what it means.
To be made in the image of God,
Friends.
We are capable of giving ourselves away.
In love.
There's also something I think beautifully paradoxical here as well.
We spend enormous amounts of our energy.
Trying to find ourselves.
As human beings,
But Jesus suggests that maybe we find ourselves by giving ourselves.
In that way,
We become more fully ourselves through love.
Love asks,
How can I become a gift?
And that's why the Christian life.
Is ultimately about becoming available.
Available to God,
Available to others,
Available to the moment.
And available to love.
This is what God's like,
Not grasping or hoarding or keeping everything safely contained within the divine self.
But God is eternally giving.
Yes receiving too,
But also sharing.
Communion.
And loving,
And if that's true.
Then maybe self-giving is the way back into the life that we're made to live.
John tells us in One John God is love.
And friend love gives itself away.
And may grace,
Peace and yes that love be received by us.
But then may we also learn and have the courage to give.
That grace,
Peace and love in return,
Today and always.
Until tomorrow.
Peace be with you.
