Rise Up, Australia

Have you seen the news? Right now, in Sydney, hostages are being held in a cafe in the CBD. The news is sketchy, details vary depending on what article you read. We don't really know how is responsible, or what they want. 

My heart is heavy as I read about what is happening now in my country. I know that love is rarely the response to such violent acts, but as I am praying, the only thing that keeps coming to my mind is Matthew 5:43-47. 

I am praying for the safe return of all hostages to their families. 

But as I think and pray about all this, my foremost thought, after praying that there are no deaths, is that now, hopefully, finally Australia will rise up.

We are the lucky country. We are SO blessed, so rich in so many things. Australia is the land of opportunity. And I know that Australians rally when others are in need. We often give a lot of financial help when international crisis calls for it.

And yet... we are comfortable. We are isolated. It is easy to ignore the injustice in the world as we go through our daily lives.

My prayer is that NOW we, as a nation, will rise up. My dream is that my country will be on the forefront of international efforts to end violence, war and crimes. Now it has come to us, to our home. So how will we respond? Will be jump to judge, make blanket statements about this race or that religion? Or will we choose the radical way of Jesus, to respond first with love and grace and forgiveness?

Justice will be done, sooner or later, but how we respond now will shape who we are and become. Australia now has the opportunity to choose who we will be, what words we will speak over the perpetrators. 

In no way do I believe that violence is ok. I am not softening the hideousness of the crimes. But let us not match hatred with hatred, violence with violence. Let's move in the opposite direction, stay soft hearted, welcoming to the foreigner, the homeless, the destitute. 



"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
Matthew 5:43-47

Undeserving

Yesterday, my husband and I were watching an episode of Undercover Boss, the US version. 

The show's premise is that the head of a large company goes undercover for a week, working at the bottom levels of their own company, to see what life is like down there and to access the company from the inside out. 

At the end of the show, the boss usually does some major acts of generosity towards the various people he worked with during the week. 

It's a pretty captivating show, one that we thoroughly enjoy watching. 

This particular episode (Season 4, Episode 2) featured the company Tilted Kilt, a rather scanky chain of pubs, something like a Scottish version of Hooters. The President of the company, Ron Lynch, went undercover and for one of the days he worked with one of his employees, a family man who worked two jobs and a ridiculous amount of hours, in order to ensure that his family, especial his three children, were well provided for. 

At the end of the week, at the big unveiling, Ron gave this man some serious money, set up a college fund for the kids and sent them all on a holiday. 

The father of the family just sat there saying, 'Thank you, thank you' over and over, crying his eyes out. 

And right there, I had a revelation about grace. Because that's EXACTLY what Jeaus did for me. For us. 

He gave us a gift that we just couldn't repay and we could never work hard enough to earn it. Like the employee, there is no way we could pay the 'boss' back. 

It was a gift: and it's a gift that we can only be deeply grateful for. 

Do you remember the moment you were saved? For me, I grew up being a Christian, but it was only after wandering in my teen years, and then coming back, that the true value of what Jesus had done, and was doing for me, hit me. And like the family man above, I was a shattered mess, weeping on the floor 

If only we could keep that reality at the forefront of our minds. How eternally grateful we would stay, and how deeply in love we would remain. Our love would not grow cold. I guess that's the struggle; to not let the memory of this ridiculous gift of grace to fade.