"I serve at the pleasure of the president."

This line has been used in TV shows and movies about the presidency, and by real-life servants of real presidents. It ran through my mind yesterday morning when Pastor Perry spoke about 1 John 5.3: "In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome..." It is an honor and a delight, he said, to serve God. It's not drudgery or joyless duty to live for Christ. Living a life worthy of the calling we've received is what we were created to do, it's what makes us feel most truly alive. (Eph. 3.16-4.1)

The Apostle Paul longed to be in heaven with the Lord, to see him face to face, yet he knew that life here on earth had a great purpose: "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain" he said in Philippians 1.21. Every breath we're given is a gift, meant to be used to serve God and not for our own pleasure.

Let's shift our focus. Let's remind ourselves and those around us that we exist to serve God. We were created to love and serve God, and it's a delightful thing. The moment we begin to feel that God's commands are burdensome, it's time to renew our minds through time in the Word, time with God's people, time meditating on Christ's sacrifice, and simply serving and obeying. These things will help us get our focus back where it belongs.

A Family Affair

Yesterday we honored mothers. Why are mothers so important to God? Why fathers, for that matter? Aren't we all just people, individuals whom Jesus loves? What is the big deal about families and the roles we each play, whether father, mother, sibling, child?

As Pastor Perry said in his sermon yesterday, "Home is where we learn to live with other people; to forgive other people when they are wrong; to extend grace when it is difficult; where we learn that love is more than a feeling; it is a deep and abiding commitment that overcomes our feelings." I'd like to explore that concept a bit.

Families were a part of God's original design for humanity. When he created humans, he made a husband and a wife (Gen. 1.27). You probably remember the dramatic unveiling of woman, the perfect compliment for the man (Gen. 2.18-25). We see in that story that God had joined the husband and wife together in a special, "one flesh" connection. He created them as partners in the work of filling the earth and subduing it (Gen. 1.28).

It's been said many times from the pulpit that families are the most basic unit created by God to spread his glory and character through the earth. Sadly, however, the state of families is often far from a clear reflection of God's glory and character. We can look at sitcoms, or actual families all around us, and point to symptoms of dysfunction, but even in the Bible we find many bad examples of families living out their God-given purpose.

In the very first family, Adam, Eve, Cain, and Able (and certainly other sons and daughters as well, Gen. 5.4), we find a breakdown when Cain murders his brother because of jealousy. It doesn't take any longer than the first generation to realize the devastating effects of sin on families.

The priest Eli, who mentored Samuel, robbed glory from God with his family dysfunction. Eli's sons were crooked and were stealing from the people and sleeping with women at the entrance to the tabernacle (1 Sam. 2.12-17, 22). David, one of God's "Good Guys," had a family life that was less than healthy, including a son that murdered all his brothers (2 Sam. 13.30.

It's not all gloom and doom. There are some good biblical examples of family, though. Ruth followed her mother-in-law Naomi back to her homeland of Israel, became a follower of the one, true God because of Naomi's example of faith (Ruth 1.16). Timothy became a faithful follower of God because of the godly example of his mother and grandmother (2 Tim. 1.5).

Families are a laboratory for love. If we can learn to love within our families, we have a much greater chance to love others. It is relatively easy to show "love" to strangers, acquaintances, or casual friends, but it becomes much more difficult in the laboratory of the home, where we see one another day in and day out, and are more intimately acquainted with one another's faults and shortcomings. We quickly extend grace to perfect strangers when we let someone go ahead of us at the grocery store, but won't let our spouse off the hook when they make a mistake.

It's easy to say we care about the institution of the family, to wear a T-shirt or apply a bumper sticker in support of family values, even to vote for propositions that protect a Biblical understanding of family. It's much harder to live out godly love in our families. But the latter will likely have much more impact on our world. Our neighbors, friends, and relatives need to see what faithfulness looks like. Even when it hurts to keep our promise.

Only by looking to the sacrificial example of Jesus can we hope to love unconditionally. Lord, help us learn how to show love in the family. Help us to live out that love in a world that needs to see it.