Hi there! Nice to see you. Say, the timing here is a little off—okay, it’s like a month off—but something occurred to me the day after Super Bowl Sunday and this is the first opportunity I’ve had to mention it.
Do you remember the Super Bowl this year? Did you watch the game? I’m not much of a football fan, and we don’t have TV at our house, so I wasn’t very highly motivated to watch the game myself. However, I heard these two teams played, the Packers and the Steelers.
People got together and had Super Bowl parties and stuff just to watch these two teams play a game of football. There was media hype. There was retailer hype. There was family hype. Lots of hype about this humongously important football game. Some churches I know of even cancelled services on Sunday evening so their regular folks could watch the “big game.”
So what do I see splattered all over Facebook on Monday morning, the day after the “SUPER” Bowl? Not a single recount of the game. Not a single mention of the winners (or the losers for that matter; and I expected some goodnatured ribbing among my friends). No, the single most prevalent comment was, “The commercials weren’t that good; the Black Eyed Peas half-time show was about as entertaining as an old can of pork ‘n beans; and some women should not try to sing soul on the national anthem, especially without cue cards.”
Commercials? Half-time shows? Butchered renditions of the national anthem? Did I miss something? Wasn’t there supposed to be a football game? Did the primary event get lost among the accessories? Did the substance disappear among the superficial?
It happens. It happens a lot. We focus on the tinsel and lose sight of the tree. We’re captivated by an ant and miss the elephant bearing down on us. We major on the minors.
In the realm of the spirit people say, “I’d like to know more about Jesus and faith and God, but I don’t like all those do’s and don’ts and stuff.” People who have never seen the big picture often get caught up in the details. We need to see the big picture. We need get past the commercials and watch the big game, if you will.
God, who is perfect and holy, utterly self-sufficient and in need of nothing, loves you. Not because he has to. Not because he is left with no other choice, but because he wants to.
Everything God does flows from love. It must, for love is his nature. God is love. If he gives, it is an act of love. If he withholds, it is an act of love. If he retrieves what he has given, it is an act of love. If he rebukes? Love. If he encourages? Love. If he disciplines? Love. If he rewards? Love. If he circumscribes and sets parameters? Love! If he judges and applies justice? Love. If he punishes? Love. If he relents? Love. Everything God does flows from and is an expression of love.
Love is the divine big picture. Love is what God is. Concentrate your attention here on the big picture: God loves you with all he is.
That’s the Good News.
Each month a member of the Cook County Ministerium will offer spiritual reflections. This month’s s contributor of The Good News is Pastor Dale McIntire, who has served as pastor of the Cornerstone Community Church in Grand Marais since April of 1995.
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