This Friday was Valentines’ Day, so since Friday is my writing day, that was on my mind. And since the pattern right now is to do a reflection on our topic from last week’s sermon, it fits.
Last week I spoke about how Resilient Disciples are formed by nurturing our intimacy with Jesus. Intimacy and love are perfect topics for Valentines Day. What came to mind was the old practice of everyone sharing cards with the whole elementary school class! Not a real big risk for intimacy, but memorable for me.
“To form a resilient identity, experience intimacy with Jesus. Experiencing Jesus means clearing religious clutter for closeness and joy in Christ… the church has responded to the identity pressures of our culture by offering young people a Jesus “brand experience“ rather than facilitating a transformational experience to find their identity in the person and work of Jesus.”
David Kinneman and Matt Matlock Faith for Exiles
I don’t know how others went about doing these class-wide valentines card production, but I had a very specific routine. We would go to the store and buy a package of simple valentine’s day cards, preferably with a superhero or baseball theme (nothing mushy that’s for sure), that would contain enough to give to each person in the class. I would then run home and look through all of the remarkably similar looking cards that came in the pack and pick out which ones were my favourites. Those would then be set aside and I would start addressing all of the others without much thought. I had a plan for those “special” cards, though.
When I would get to a specific name on the list those valentines that I set aside would be grabbed and addressed. There were two people who always got those special ones— my best friend and that one girl that I had a crush on. Some years there was a second tier of special cards but those two special people always got the special cards.
The funny part of it is that they would never have known there was anything special about those cards. NEVER! That would have embarrassed me to death. While my best friend knew that he was my best friend, he wouldn’t have noticed anything different about the card. And the girl that I had the crush on—she would have not have been able to tell a thing and no one else would have either! That was the purpose of the whole thing. Only I knew what I was doing.
There was safety in keeping my feelings to myself. To be open about my feelings was to be vulnerable and to be vulnerable meant that I was open to being laughed at, rejected or hurt. Vulnerability was something to be avoided at all costs in my world—especially when it came to my social circles. It was not worth the risk. So I would communicate my thoughts and feelings without really saying anything and therefore without risking anything
Here is the important question that comes from this regarding our relationships with Jesus. If people were to look at what we “give to Jesus,” would it look any different than what we give to other important and non important things in our lives. Or do we pretend that we are giving more to him but without any sort of risk or sacrifice from our lives. I am not calling us simply to live out our intimacy with Jesus so everyone can see it. I am wondering if you can even see it in your own life when compared to other commitments.
If we are going to live out of an intimacy with Jesus we are going to have to risk going against the flow of our culture. We are going to have to openly demonstrate that we love Jesus. We can’t just pass candy hearts and store bought cards to him, we have to give our lives to him because he gave his life for us.
Maybe we make Christian faith too easy and we need to become vulnerable. Maybe we live “Brand Jesus” rather than finding our identity in “Lord Jesus.” Maybe we keep ourselves safe rather than opening up to his transformational power. There is no true intimacy without risk!
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