GOD POSITIONING SYSTEM
I was thinking a lot about this idea that Jesus is the way. He doesn't just tell us the way, He shows us. He is kind of like one of those GPS navigation system. GPS stands for the "Global Positioning System" that was originally designed for military use, but now is open to all. There are 24 satellites that circle the earth pinpointing where you are and where you want to go.
I would suggest that we have a better GPS. Ours is the "God Positioning System." Because of Jesus, we know how to live, how to position ourselves in the world. We each have an internal gauge that points to the right thing to do. Jesus has shown us that love, grace, and forgiveness lead us on the way.
Yesterday when I led my Uncle Bruce's memorial I got to speak about him. Many of you know how much I loved him. As we prepared for the service, Aunt Julia, his daughters, Susan, and Ann, and I sat down to talk about Uncle Bruce, we found ourselves talking about how wonderful he was. Julia said, "We're making him sound like a saint!" He was as close to a saint as I'll ever know. He was kind, considerate, funny, encouraging, loving, smart, patient and generous. Well, you see, he was pretty much a saint. He wasn't perfect, but he was pretty close.
His daughter Susan said that he knew how to help people. Susan remembers him explaining, "If you are going to help someone, help them immediately. Do more than they ask. Stay with them until you are sure they need absolutely nothing else."
A perfect example was the way he helped Susan when she was moving from one apartment to another. He got down on the floor with her and scrubbed the old apartment so Susan would get the deposit back.