ruminations

That’s my new favorite meme. Let me explain.

Remember the ‘Pay It Forward’ movie with Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt, and Haley Joel Osment?

In the movie a young Trevor explains his ‘Pay It Forward’ idea.

“You see, I do something real good for three people. And then when they ask how they can pay it back, I say they have to Pay It Forward. To three more people. Each. So nine people get helped. Then those people have to do twenty-seven.” He turned on the calculator, punched in a few numbers. “Then it sort of spreads out, see. To eighty-one. Then two hundred forty-three. Then seven hundred twenty-nine. Then two thousand, one hundred eighty-seven. See how big it gets?”

It's a great idea—did you know its biblical?

Remember after Jesus’ resurrection He and Peter were on the beach eating breakfast and Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these do?” Peter replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.” Jesus told him, “Feed my sheep.” In fact He said it 3 times.

So, Jesus says if you love Him, feed His sheep. Jesus doesn't say if you love my sheep, but if you love Him. And if we answer, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.” He says to us, “Feed my sheep.”

Which brings us to my picture. ‘I Owe You Love’. If I accept God’s gift of love, if I answer “Yes, Lord you know I love you,” then Jesus tells me to pay it forward—feed my sheep. And when His sheep ask me why do I want to 'feed' them, I can answer “because I owe ‘you’—I owe you love.”

Which brings us to this part of our worship, the part where we get to pay God back for His many blessings in our lives. And how does He ask for us to re-pay Him? He asks us to pay it forward. If we love Him, we owe it to Him, therefore, we owe it to each other. We owe each other love. ‘I’ owe you love.