Half-full, half-empty,

The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life in all its fullness.  John 10:10



Common myth says there are two types of people in the world - those for whom the glass is half-full and those for whom the glass is half-empty.  Less visual people might use the words pessimist and optimist.  I would like to pose a third option - those for whom the glass is always over-flowing.  In our best moments, that can be used to describe those of us who are Jesus- followers.

In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus essentially tells his hearers that it is not simply enough to not break the commandments, but one must act in all ways to the betterment of others and the community.  That was the blessing and the gift of the commandments in the first place - a shaping of a new community in which relationships are held primary; first the relationship with God and flowing out of that, the relationship with community.  Jesus takes us one step further - turn the other cheek, walk the extra mile, give up your coat AND your shirt, love and pray for friends and enemies alike. Martin Luther did likewise when he wrote his explanations of the Ten Commandments and included with his "thou shall not" a caveat of "but instead .." which calls us to do everythng within our abilities to work toward the betterment and wholeness of neighbors.

These can be challenging concepts for us.  And Jesus doesn't just stop there.  Throughout the gospels, Jesus is portrayed as ever-broadening the meaning of neighbor and stretching the limits of community until boundaries are completely broken.

As challenging as it may seem to us at times, it is through the fullness of his call to be in relationship with him and others and this stretching and broadening of community that God, through the working of the Holy Spirit, is bring forth the kingdom among us.  This is part of what Jesus meant in the gospel of John when he proclaimed his intent that we have abundant life, life in all of its fullness.

Abundant life is not meant to describe a preponderance of possessions or some lovely place we 'arrive at' in the hereafter.  It is the beginnings of the kingdom that is happening all around us in the here-and-now every time we experience the fullness of relationship that goes beyond merely keeping the letter of the law given to us in the commandments.  That experience of abundance and fullness can only happen by the grace of God in Jesus the Christ and through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. 

A glass may be half-full or half-empty.  There is no such thing as half-obedience.  That is why the grace of God is such a beautiful gift for which we must regularly give thanks and praise to God.  Without it, we are left to our own broken, half-hearted attempts at obedience and we discover over and over again that we have fully missed the mark of obedience!

May your cup runneth over.

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