Archived Article: Making a Real Difference - Part 1

(This article was printed in the August 30, 2009 edition of SpiritAlive! and was seen by the brothers at that point.) Brothers, I read something online the other day that I need to share with you. It’s all about taking our talents, our mistakes, and our desire to be transformed in a direction that will bless the Lord and those around us. Now I can’t speak for the people talked about/interviewed in the article – as to whether or not they’ve given control of their lives to Jesus – but I can vouch for the applicability of what they’re thinking and doing to our circumstances and goals in the Lord. I’ve shared my heart with you regarding the call the Lord gave me about establishing The Fellowship of Saint Joseph in this place. I’ve shared with you how I believe he’s calling us to be men who are committed to Prayer, Worship, and Charity (sharing the love of Jesus in the form of self-giving service to others). In fact, I think he’s calling us to take vows of Prayer, Worship, and Charity – just as other men in the religious life (monks) take vows of Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience. More on that a little later. For now, without any further ado, here’s the internet article I want to share with you. It’s called “‘Put-pockets’ Give a Little Extra Cash”: LONDON (Reuters) – Visitors to London always have to be on the look out for pick-pockets, but now there’s another, more positive phenomenon on the loose – put-pockets. Aware that people are suffering in the economic crisis, 20 former pick-pockets have turned over a new leaf and are now trawling London’s tourist sites slipping money back into unsuspecting pockets. Anything from 5 pounds ($8) to 20 pound notes are being surreptitiously deposited in unguarded pockets or open handbags in Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden and other busy spots. The initiative, which runs until the end of August in London before being rolled out countrywide, is being funded by a broadbrand provider, which says it wants to brighten up people’s lives in unusual ways. “It feels good to give something back for a change – and [the British people] certainly need it in the current economic climate,” said Chris Fitch, a former pick-pocket who now heads TalkTalk’s put-pocketing initiative. “Every time I put money back in someone’s pocket, I feel less guilty about the fact I spent many years taking it out.” London’s police have been briefed about the plan, which will see at least 100,000 pounds given away. Isn’t that something?!? You and I have been placed here because we’ve got issues to deal with – I don’t care whether they’re issues having to do with the law or nothing to do with the law. We’re here because the grace of God knew we needed each other. We’re here because something in our lives needs to be corrected. The best way – the only way – to see real change in our lives is to put our focus entirely on Jesus. Just as the put-pockets are putting the focus on restoring what was stolen – in a manner of speaking – Jesus is calling us to put the focus where it always should have been: On him! We can spend our time in this place thinking about and praying for ourselves – which means that we’ll end up looking like the world, not the men Jesus is calling us to become. Or, we can spend our time here fixing our gaze upon the One who can make us whole, who can restore what we’ve stolen from others and ourselves, and who can put the broken pieces back together in the right way. I’m struck by what those put-pockets are trying to do. I’m struck by the fact that they’re going about their act of charity in a way that could get them accused of doing something very different than what they’re doing, something very illegal. Their willingness to be vulnerable as they seek to restore, share, and love is exactly what Jesus has in mind for any who will willingly follow him. The question for us is this: Are we ready to say to Jesus, each other, and the world around us that we’re now in the ‘business’ of loving God and our neighbor, even if it’s difficult and/or dangerous? I hope so. Because loving the world in the Name of Jesus has never been something for the faint of heart! It requires both a radical giving away of self and a denial of one’s own wants and pleasures and choices in favor of obedience to the Lord. In fact, for centuries faithful men and women have sought to love Jesus and their neighbors by taking vows of poverty (owning very little, if anything at all), chastity (abstinence from sexual activity), and obedience (submitting to the authority of brothers/sisters in Christ within the context of a religious or monastic community). What I want to spend the remainder of this little article explaining (and the one to follow in next week’s SpiritAlive!), however, is not how we can take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience – or even whether we should desire to do that. Let’s face it, we’re already living as though we’ve taken vows of poverty (we own very little in this place), chastity (presumably, we’re abstaining from sexual activity), and obedience (every moment of every day we’re forced to obey the rules of this institution). No, what I want to do is something quite different – I want us to explore the kind of vows that will change our hearts, not just our outward appearance. I want us to explore the kind of vows that will move us toward giving ourselves away to Jesus, just as a bride and groom give themselves to each other. What our friends in London – the put-pockets – are doing, and what our friends who have taken vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience are doing is an attempt to bend and break the heart by acts of self-denial. We are already being denied; the question is, are our hearts being broken open for Jesus? If the point of taking vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience is to force the heart open to Jesus, then, my brothers, we’re a step ahead of our friends in the religious life (men and women who have committed themselves to living solely for Jesus in a monastic community). Where they struggle to rid themselves of possessions and worldly attachments in order to focus more clearly on loving Jesus and their neighbors, we have been stripped naked of those things and left to ask ourselves the question: Jesus, how can I start loving you and my neighbors as you rightly deserve? I guess it all begins where God’s Word tells us it begins: With listening to him, loving him, and loving those around us as ourselves. More to come in next week’s SpiritAlive! Until then, God bless you! Father Todd Boyce, Vicar The Fellowship of Saint Joseph Sunday, August 30, 2009