Love is a Verb

God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.

1 John 4:16

Dear Friends,

Last Friday, I attended the funeral of a not-so-old man named Chinyere. Though I never met Chinyere, I did know his brother. His brother had come to Canada and was forced to seek asylum here because if he went back to Nigeria, he would have been killed for being gay. Unbelievably, those who sought to do him harm located his brother instead (who had also moved here) and beat him so severely that he died. At the funeral, I was confronted with the horrible things that some people do when they are convinced that they are right. And sometimes they do this in the name of Christianity. There is still so much racism, bigotry, intolerance, and injustice in the world.

After the funeral, Laura and I headed up to Kuriakos for the Annual Pathways of Peace retreat with our Hizmet friends from the Intercultural Dialogue Institute. There, I ate, played, conversed and prayed with Muslims. There was lots of laughter and joy.

At the funeral on Friday, I saw the effects of some of the worst of human behaviour. During the weekend, I experienced the effects of some of the best. Our Muslim friends are part of the Hizmet movement that originated in Turkey about 50 years ago. “Hizmet” is Turkish for “service.” Every time I am around them, I am humbled by their hospitality and by their clarity about what God is calling them to do: Be of service to the world.

During the weekend, we watched, Love is a Verb: Documentary on the Hizmet Movement and Fethullah Gülen. (If you click on the title, it will take you to the YouTube site.) It is an inspiring story about what can happen when people discern God’s calling and get in action. I encourage you to watch the video. As you watch it, what does it stir inside of you as far what God might be calling you and us to be up to at First Lutheran Church. Hizmet is playing a very big game for the sake of God and humankind. Is there a bigger game God is calling us to play?

Peace,

Pastor Phil