On "Getting It"--February 4, 2020

On "Getting It"--February 4, 2020

"It is well with those who deal generously and lend,
    who conduct their affairs with justice.
 For the righteous will never be moved;
    they will be remembered forever.
 They are not afraid of evil tidings;
    their hearts are firm, secure in the LORD.
 Their hearts are steady, they will not be afraid;
    in the end, they will look in triumph on their foes.
 They have distributed freely, they have given to the poor;
    their righteousness endures forever;
    their horn is exalted in honor." [Psalm 112:6-9]

You know what I notice about people who "get it"?  They are generous in ways that bring others to life.

I bet you know what I mean when I talk about people who just seem to "get it" about what life is all about.  There are folks who have just a sense about them: maybe it's part wisdom, part faith, and part love.  They may have gotten life really figured out after many decades of learning, or they may be wise beyond their years.  But you see them make choices, or you listen to how they think, or you just watch their kindness lift someone else who is feeling stepped on--and you think to yourselves, "This person really... you know, gets it."

This is a different kind of thing than just having a mentor at work supervising your achievements or guiding you up the corporate ladder--those folks may be useful for getting ahead in business, but sometimes they don't seem to be decent human beings outside of the office.  And it's likely different, even, from most of your friendships or social relationships, too--because, let's be honest, all of our friends and social relationships have flaws and streaks of not-getting-it, too, and we love those folks anyway all the same.

But there are some people whose lives bump into our own, and you just sort of find yourself in awe that they seem, rather naturally, to just "get" what matters, and what is worth spending their time, their energy, and their love on. And when you see folks like that, people who really do seem to "get it," you want to learn from them. You want to be in tune with whatever it is that they understand, and you want to become the sort of person who just seems to know how to use their days in ways that bring others to life.

Well, what I notice here as an ancient poet thinks about those people he knows who "get it" is that they are generous as a way of life, they treat people with justice and decency, and they are so grounded in God that they can keep on putting one foot in front of the other even when there is bad news to face.  And the more I think about it, the more it seems these are not random traits, but they all go together.  I think that the more God brings you to life, the more you let it flow through you so that others can be given life as well.  

When I trust that God will be reliable to provide and sustain, I can unclench my greedy fists and quit obsessing over putting "Me and My Group First." And I can share with others, freely.  When I dare to believe that God has made a world where there is enough for me and for my neighbors, I can lend without worry about making a profit out of my lending, and I can give my time for the sake of someone who might need what I can offer.  In fact, I might just be willing to rearrange my priorities so that I can use the empty space in my calendar and life to be available for others.  When I am grounded in the goodness of God that is kind and generous to me even when I've been a stinker, then I can do right by other people even if they have not been kind or fair to me.  And when I can look and see what it's been like in my life for God to lift me out of those times of deathly darkness, I will be more willing to let God use me to help lift someone else out, too.  Really, the more in tune I am with how God's goodness has pulled me into a fuller and deeper life, the more I am going to let the same happen for others around me.  And the more I want to be a part of God's work bringing others more and more fully to life.

All of that sounds like a good way to spend a lifetime, honestly.  If I get to the end of my life and can be anywhere in the same ballpark as those wise and grace-full saints I have known and been loved by, I will say it's been a worthwhile life.  Notice here, we're not talking at all about doing enough good deeds or giving enough money or volunteering enough time as a way of "earning" good standing with God or reserving a spot in the afterlife.  It's not about doing something in order to get something.  The heresy of transactional thinking ("I'll do this for you if you'll do that for me in return") has infected our Christianity so much that we don't even realize the ways we have let it shape our faith.  But that's not at all how the psalmist is talking--you don't do enough "righteous" deeds in order to get something from God.  It's the other way around: when God has brought you to a fuller and deeper life that is in tune with God's kindness and justice, you want to become a part of God's mission to bring the whole world to fuller and deeper life, too.  Being generous, or just, or decent, or steadfast, or goodhearted, isn't a pre-requisite for getting God to love you--it is what flows from you when you "get it" that you are already beloved infinitely.

That's what I'm longing for in this life of mine, too--to be more and more in tune with the love of God that brings me to life that I can be useful in bringing others more fully to life as well.  And that's where, at least in my best moments today, I will try and spend my chips.  I'll be thinking of the people I know who just "get it" like that... and will be walking in their footsteps two paces behind Jesus, as he keeps stepping into graveyards and calling the dead to life.

Sounds like a solid way to spend a Tuesday, don't you think?

Lord Jesus, help me to get it.  Help me to be in tune with your goodness, and to let it resonate in me like a tuning fork.  Use me to bring others more fully into your life, just as you have used others to reach to me every day.