Scripture
10For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do. 11Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true. 12Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their faith and endurance. Hebrews 6:10-12
Observation
Paul had just finished describing the horrific reality of those who have found Jesus and have chosen to walk away from Him. A truly unsettling thought that would no doubt have caused great concern for the readers of this letter both then and now. Then, Paul turns to pastoral encouragement and exhortation of believers who haven’t fallen away but are growing weary and wondering if what they’re doing even matters. It get’s easy to believe the lie that God has forgotten us when it seems like nothing is changing no matter how hard we work and pray. When we lose hope we lose heart and, if we’re not careful, we can end up falling away as well. The sign of dullness and indifference is when we just don’t care anymore. When we see someone in need and you keep walking. When we see the opportunity to witness and we keep our mouths shut. When we see the opportunity to pray for someone’s healing and we decide someone else can do it. When we buy into the lie that God doesn’t care about us we stop caring for others. This is when we go from sharp to dull. We go from making a difference to complete indifference. The opposite of love isn’t hate. The opposite of love is indifference. If we’ve stopped loving, caring, serving, praying what is the path back to a passionate pursuit of Jesus? Find a person who is passionately pursuing Jesus and “follow the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their faith and endurance.”
Application
One week ago today, Ben and I had the privilege of joining with hundreds of other people who’s lives had been impacted by the life and faith of Aunty Claudia Alford. I was invited to speak at her celebration of life at New Hope Oahu and it truly felt like a family reunion. So many precious people I hadn’t seen for years and who hadn’t seen each other for years. You would usually never see Aunty on the stage but she was the one behind the scenes working the camera and coordinating with the production teams to capture every moment of what Jesus was doing. One by one as people shared of how their life had been impacted I realized why she was so good at capturing the beauty of what Jesus was doing… because she was captured by the beauty of what Jesus was doing in her and the lives of those she served. It didn’t matter as much that she served for 25 years at one the largest and most influential churches in the State of Hawaii. What mattered most was each person, many of whom were young and inexperienced, that Jesus brought to her to pour into. One person at a time she became a spiritual mother to so many. She wouldn’t just use people to “get the job done” as if they were cogs in a machine. No, she would holistically mentor them. My son Ben was one that she challenged to never grow dull or indifferent. Aunty saw our service to Jesus as including every area of life. Aunty would ask Ben if he was cleaning his room, obeying his parents, doing his homework, journaling every day. These are the things that would keep a Christ follower sharp. She taught by example that the way we treat others is the way we are treating the Lord. She modeled that it didn’t matter if you were proficient in production at church if you didn’t care for the needs of those around you. My final text to Aunty Claudia before she passed was about how my 16 year old Ben was now the production lead at The Father’s House thanks to all she had taught him. She would trust $5,000 cameras in the hands of pre-teens only when she saw they were trusting Jesus with their whole lives. Aunty Claudia personified what makes New Hope Oahu a great church! She new the way to make a difference in a world of indifference was to serve Jesus by serving the person in front of her.
Prayer
Thank You Jesus for this example to follow. When I start to grow spiritually sluggish or I find my heart caring less than it did before I need only think of Aunty Claudia and her faith and endurance. Whether it was leading a massive team for a service of thousands or talking story at the boat ramp in Kailua she was always loving the person in front of her. Whether it was working to provide scholarships for young people who couldn’t afford college or working to keep the faith while she fought cancer she never gave up. My heart grieves at the thought that she is no longer here and rejoices at the thought that I will see her again in Heaven with You!
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