Is God's love in what you do?

1 John 4:20 (ESV)

If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.

When Ireland was invaded by the Normans in 1169, they had no idea that they would have to endure British rule for the next eight centuries. English laws were soon enacted to strip them of their land as well as of their unique cultural heritage, including their customs, language, laws and religion. It was like they were being punished simply for being Irish. People were unimportant in the face of the enforcement of British law.

By the mid-16th century, the fertile lands in the Eastern part of the island were beginning to be confiscated by the British. By 1691, about 80% of the land had been seized. The local people had no choice but to move to Western Ireland, where the poorest farmland of the country was located.

Penal laws followed the confiscation of the land. Irish land could only be possessed by British landowners, and the British bought up large portions of it. The Irish found themselves without property of their own, and because it was a requirement to be a landowner in order to vote, the people couldn't vote in their own country.

The English landlords didn't have time to take care of these large parcels of land, however, so they subdivided them into smaller plots and rented them out to Irish tenants at exorbitant rates, often renting to the very same people who had once owned and worked that same land! These poor farmers had no choice but to pay the high rent with the profits of their yearly harvest. They were literally enslaved to their British landowners. Unfortunately, this didn't leave them enough money to survive the year.

In order to survive, the Irish needed to find an additional crop that could be grown even in the poorest soil. Potatoes to the rescue. There were no other alternatives, and soon the people of Ireland found themselves living off of a diet that centered around potatoes.

According to the foreign rulers, the Irish people were only there to serve them. Law was more important than the people themselves. Though this sounds terrible, we unfortunately still find this mentality in our day and age, even in our own culture. In some cases, people attend churches where doctrine is more important than the people themselves. I have to ask myself: Where is God's love in all of this?

How many people have I not encountered that had been shunned by their own congregations because they were considered "sinners" for not abiding by the rules of their denomination? "No one is talking to me. My circumstances can't allow me to abide by a certain rule. When I ask for help, they shrug their shoulders and tell me: 'You have no faith!'"

I ask you again: Where is God's love in all this? Where is the Christ who they proclaim to worship?

The Pharisees were no better: "Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jewish leaders that it would be good if one man died for the people." (John 18:14)

Just like in our legalistic denominations, just like in Ireland during British rule, people are not important. They would rather crucify the Son of God in order to maintain their own agenda of doctrines and regulations.

What does our Father in Heaven think of this?

"Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone." (Luke 11:42)

Where there is no love, there is no real worship.

"If anyone says, 'I love God,' yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen." (1 John 4:20)

May we wake up and realize our own condition. Without love, we are truly filled with emptiness. Only by really realizing the love from above can we become pursuers of that same love.

Dear Lord, help us be so filled with love that it overflows onto those around us so we can share the plan of salvation with them. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

Two thoughts on Saint Patrick's Day

Genesis 9:12-14 (NIV)

12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds.

On this Saint Patrick ’s Day let’s look at two things:

First, Irish

St. Patrick’s Day is correctly associated with Ireland, but St. Patrick himself was not Irish, but British. He might not have even been officially declared a saint. Even so, historians believe he was born around 389 AD near Wales and given the name of Maewyn Succat. Like Daniel and Joseph of the Bible, he was captured and sold into slavery when he was only teenager (16 years old). Life was difficult for slaves. Not only was life difficult, but he was dragged from his home and sent into slavery in another country without his family. Tradition says that as a slave in Ireland he was forced to be a shepherd, herding sheep and pigs. His father had been a church deacon, and his grandfather a clergyman, but by his account Maewyn only turned to religion and prayed out to God when he was in captivity. After six years as a slave he escaped by boat to Britain. He traveled the 200 miles to the ocean and according to some stories either stowed away or booked passage. The boat landed not far from where his parents lived, and one would expect a joyful reunion and for him to remain with his parents. But instead of staying with his family, he traveled to France to study and become a priest. While studying for ministry, he received a vision from God to return to Ireland as a missionary. He only took the name Patrick when he later became a Bishop. It was a great act of forgiveness that he returned to the people who enslaved him in order to share with them the love of Christ. Because of his ministry in Ireland he brought not only Christianity to the whole country, but also an end to slavery. In the same way, through God’s forgiveness and sending of Christ to us we also experience his love and are delivered from our slavery to sin.

If you were captured and put into slavery as a teenager, do you think you might feel called to return to those who enslaved you and work for the salvation of their souls? Is forgiveness easy or difficult? Why is forgiveness an important concept to Christians?

Second, A Pot of Gold at the End of a Rainbow

When you see a rainbow associated with St. Patrick’s Day, it is because there is supposed to be a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. According to Irish fairy tales the pot of gold is guarded by a Leprechaun – a short little old man, who lived alone and worked as a shoemaker. You could supposedly find him by the sound of his hammer as he made shoes, and if you managed to catch him you could force him to reveal the location of his treasure of Gold. But leprechauns were clever and if he tricked you to take your eyes off him for even a second he vanished.

The rainbow in the Bible doesn’t lead us to a pot of Gold, but was intended to lead us to God. For the Christian, our “Pot of Gold” lies in heaven, in eternity with God because of Jesus. Earthly treasures are fleeting and incomparable to the joy of knowing Christ. (Ecclesiastes 5:19-20; Matthew 6:19-21) We can find the original significance of the rainbow in Genesis 9:12-14 “And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.”

St. Patrick was quite successful at evangelism and traveled the length of Ireland setting up schools, churches and monasteries. In response, the Celtic druids apparently managed to stir up enough trouble to get him arrested several times. Each time he escaped, and after 30 years he was quite instrumental in converting much of Ireland to Christianity.

Will you let God use you today?

Dear Lord, we thank You for those who served You faithfully even when things looked bleak. Thanks for their courage. We pray for that same courage today. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.