JC's helper: The Jesus virus...

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

The Jesus virus...

Just a thought or two more on "salvation". To me "Salvation" is being infected by the "Jesus Bug". It is allowing his ways to become our ways. Sometimes we religious people have developed an immunity to the bug. We will be involved in religious activity with fervour, but somehow immune to his giving, generous and free flowing lifestyle.

Another picture is allowing ourselves to dance to the Jesus music. I was watching a country music dvd of a concert. I love the music because they look like they are enjoying making music. (Watching choirs they look like they are at funeral and so much rock music looks angry!) The audience participation was interesting. There were people sitting tapping their toes to the music. Others were clapping in time to the music. Still others were dancing in the isles, full bodied clapping. Its like that with Jesus. Some are just tapping their toes, starting the "loving, giving journey". Others are getting more into it.... but all are to some extent, at different times opening themselves to be moved by his love as his way as and when they encounter it. I love seeing people even in little ways, "catching the beat" or "getting into the Jesus rhythm". We have a guy we call Ozzy who comes to our drop-in. He's a pain in the backside because he loves to tease people. But he is changing! He now dresses differently. He helps hand out the food and clean up. He helps us host the nights, in a weird sort of "Ozzy" way but he's slowly getting into the rhythm, catching the bug, and becoming more whole.

Dave Andrews says, "The essence of being a devotee of Jesus is to live in sympathy with God as Jesus did; feeling the throb of God's heartbeat, and teaching our hearts to beat in sync with the love that sustains the universe." A song that I love goes "Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me.... let the love of the master be seen in me... etc. " I love seeing people changing in that direction, sometimes even catching the bug without being aware of it. I love being able to look back on my life and being able to say in surprise... "Hey? I'm different... I have grown as a person! What do you know?!" That's "Amazing Grace".

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The Blog's title

I am a Workplace Chaplain to the NZ fireservice.

At the firestation every time one man sees me he yells, "Here comes JC's helper!". I guess I am happy to be called just that... "Jesus' helper". I am a follower of Jesus.
A a quote from Dave Andrews in his book, "Not Religion but Love".
"Being a devotee of Jesus is not a matter of subscribing to a certain set of dogmas, obeying rules and regulations, and getting others to subordinate themselves to them.

The essence of being a devotee of Jesus is to live in sympathy with God as Jesus did; feeling the throb of God's heartbeat, and teaching our hearts to learn to beat in sync with the love that sustains the universe.

It means developing our capacity to sense intuitively what causes love pleasure, and what causes love pain, and doing everything we can to enhance the pleasure, and diminish the pain."

I love this charter.

The Charter for Compassion

The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves. Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the centre of our world and put another there, and to honour the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect.

It is also necessary in both public and private life to refrain consistently and empathically from inflicting pain. To act or speak violently out of spite, chauvinism, or self-interest, to impoverish, exploit or deny basic rights to anybody, and to incite hatred by denigrating others—even our enemies—is a denial of our common humanity. We acknowledge that we have failed to live compassionately and that some have even increased the sum of human misery in the name of religion.

We therefore call upon all men and women ~ to restore compassion to the centre of morality and religion ~ to return to the ancient principle that any interpretation of scripture that breeds violence, hatred or disdain is illegitimate ~ to ensure that youth are given accurate and respectful information about other traditions, religions and cultures ~ to encourage a positive appreciation of cultural and religious diversity ~ to cultivate an informed empathy with the suffering of all human beings—even those regarded as enemies.

We urgently need to make compassion a clear, luminous and dynamic force in our polarized world. Rooted in a principled determination to transcend selfishness, compassion can break down political, dogmatic, ideological and religious boundaries. Born of our deep interdependence, compassion is essential to human relationships and to a fulfilled humanity. It is the path to enlightenment, and indispensable to the creation of a just economy and a peaceful global community.