Early in my life as a new believer I lived in a Christian commune called the Lighthouse Ranch. It was a five acre former coastguard station located on a high bluff overlooking the Pacific ocean. It was the early 1970's and most had been searching something that brought meaning to their disenfranchised life. It was here that the building blocks of Christian truth was sown into my heart. The central theme was “Practice the Word, be doers of the Word, not just hearers”. We were taught that in practicing the Word we would come to understand it. I still try to live by that principle. We captured by the love of God and opened our community to all. We had a sign posted above the door to the main building that read “Whom so ever may come”. The four years that I lived at the ranch I saw hundreds of folks come through, many giving their lives to Christ. There was over a hundred of us living there and you can imagine the frictions and misunderstandings that can happened when so many live together in close proximity. Many who came had little interest in Jesus they just wanted shelter and free meals. There was always tension, those who wanted to follow Christ and those who were just there to consume our resources. It was easy to become suspicious and cynical about those who would come.

Like those at the Lighthouse we need to be careful that these negative attitudes don't creep into our lives when we are disappointed in people. If we are honest we all have the tendency to judge, to discount people who are different from us, or who believe differently than us. The homeless person, the immoral person, the.... (you fill in the blank). This is were Practice the Word comes in.

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” Col 3:12.

Consider, Jesus chose you when you had nothing to offer Him, He loved you and made a way for you. He dearly loves you and is committed to you. He made you holy. This is foundational and the basis for any virtue in our lives. With this truth firmly in our hearts the scripture tells us to clothe ourselves, to put on compassion like a garment. It is more than a feeling of good will. It is a decision to show the love of God. It is practical, we chose to be kind, chose to be gentle and patient. How do we get there? The answer is humility. The word humility from the Greek carries a deep sense of one’s moral littleness. All humanity is cut from the same cloth, without Christ we are a sinful selfish people. The root was bad and we were powerless to change our nature. This was our condition when Christ gave his life for us. The only difference between those we disparage is what Jesus has done for us. Because of Him we are changed and empowered to live a life that is pleasing to God.

2 Cor 5:17 says “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” 18  And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to Himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to Him.”

Choosing to a compassionate people and to love people flows from our understanding God's love for us. It is a response of gratitude. Think of this, you were rescued for the purpose of reconciling people to Christ!

When I think back to those years at the Lighthouse Ranch, the crucible of difficult relationships caused me to get a glimpse of how much God cared for a wretch like me, surely He cared for those who I struggled with. I'm thankful that as a church family that we are committed to ministries like Celebrate Recovery and Mission of Hope. I'm thankful for the heart we have for our community. Let us never grow weary in well doing