Two brothers, Kevin, age 6, and Ryan, age 4, were waiting for breakfast one Saturday morning. As their mother prepared pancakes, the boys began to argue over who would get the first one off the griddle. The mother, sensing the opportunity for a spiritual lesson, told them, “If Jesus were standing right here, he’d say, “Let my brother have the first pancake.” Whereupon the older boy turned to the younger and said, “Okay, Ryan you be Jesus!”
In the familiar words of the celebrated newscaster, Walter Cronkite, “That’s the way it is!”
That’s the way it is when we size up others in terms of what they can do for us.
That’s the way it is when we relate to others in terms of how they can feed our egos.
That’s the way it is when we exploit others in order to satisfy our desires.
And that’s the way it is when we dare try to use God to our own advantage!
That’s the way it is when we expect God to give us a “blank check” for whatever we want.
That’s the way it is when we try to enlist God in our efforts to get the first pancake!
On the other hand, Jesus’ design for living – LOVE ONE ANOTHER – has resounded through the ages, and will continue to resound in all of the ages to come. By God’s own design, the building of his kingdom is an affair of the heart. By God’s own design, the building of the kingdom is a family affair. By God’s own design, his kingdom will come when it has been structured by us, the children of God, in the image of our benevolent, compassionate, merciful, forgiving heavenly Father! By God’s own design, his kingdom will come, Jesus assures us, when we have truly learned to “love one another as he has loved us!”
These days, who still knows that love is about giving, sharing, and caring?
These days, who still knows about the experience of deep joy in giving oneself to another?
These days, who still knows about giving one’s heart to another with tenderness, kindness, gentleness, and forgiveness?
These days, who still knows that love is about humility?
These days, who still knows that love is about commitment and responsibility?
Wouldn’t it be wonderful, beyond all of our imaginings, if we were able to say, we know about all of the above and we know about our responsibility, individually and collectively, to embrace that God-given design for living!