Salz und Licht

“You are salt and light of the world” Jesus says in Mt 5. The whole story with our landlord is still rather strenuous and demanding for us. At the same time it’s a great training area in being salt and light. How do you life as a Christian under these conditions? How can you avoid lapsing into a fighting manner? How can you avoid at the same time to live in false humility? How does one live between aggression and obsequiousness? How can one stay straight yet loving, willing to go the second mile (Mt 5:41), willing to give the cloak together with the tunic away (Mt 5:40)? I think, so far we managed well to find a good way of coping with it. But I think also that’s the way which takes the most energy from you. Being patient, endure, loving, and staying persistent can be fairly wearing. Jesus reminded us in July of Mt 5:44 “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”. At the same time He encouraged us with Is 41:10: “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” The best way is not necessarily the easiest one. Sometimes you need promises like this one from Is 40: 28-31:
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. 29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
It’s not always as easy. There has been so less time to relax, to hang out, to cool down your overheated brain. Around the clock there is something which demands your attention. It takes strength to tear away some extra time from your schedule for silence, for talking with God, for listening to His word. It takes strength to tear away some extra time for the family, for playing and enjoying. It takes strength to tear away some extra time from for you, for reading a book or having a workout at the gym. But if you don’t take the time you become angry and everything gets on your nerves. New tensions come up.
At the same time the whole story opened up plenty of opportunities of having conversations with other people. For instance, I talked with a woman here from Sweden and mentioned Jesus as my model, and his message “love your enemies”. Her reply was a long “jååååå…”, which meant that she never thought the whole Christian stuff could become that real and practical, and even if she never expected there are people who take it seriously… Another example: I had many conversations with our neighbors who followed the story with interest. Now they announced to invite us! This means so much. It is like a proof of the relationship we could start over the past months. Things like that can make me very happy and are precious like a reward for me. I know in my heart that there are reasons why we struggle through this, and here I can see little glimpses of it.
You can only be salt and light if you have God’s Word, God’s spirit and thus Gods light in your heart. You cannot train yourself like a tiger who has to jump through the burning ring. It needs to be authentic. It’s only possible by regular times with God, Bible studies, and prayer. There is no substitute. Because of that I want to thank all of you who have been praying for us over the last weeks and even months. I feel your prayers have been answered in a special way. At the same time I ask you to continue your prayers. We haven’t got rid of our landlord so far, there are things left to struggle through. And there are a lot of things to pray for in terms of our new home: New neighbors, many new people we’re going to meet, we’re going to work with etc. Many new opportunities for being salt and light. Thank you so much for your accompanying prayers!!!