One of the lessons to be learned from the Good Samaritan is that while we are taught to love our neighbor as ourselves, being human, we can’t express love to the whole world at once. We are limited by an imperfect body and spirit, and the only way we can express a consistent love is to do so one opportunity at a time.
In the case of the Good Samaritan, he saw the man on the side of the road, beaten and robbed, and left to die. Instead of seeing the man as “just one of those Jews”, an enemy of his people, and someone to be ignored, he saw the man as another human being who needed help, and compassion. He took the man, put him on his own donkey, and brought him to an inn to be cared for until his return.
He took the opportunity to express love and compassion to a human being in need. Christ never said where the Samaritan was going, or if he missed something important, because in the end, that wasn’t important. The point was the Samaritan didn’t say to himself, “I’ll think about helping him,” or pass by on the other side of the road like the others. There was no hesitation in his actions. He saw the opportunity, and rushed in to help out of love for his neighbor. He put the needs of another person above his own, and isn’t this what love is all about?
Another thing people fail to see about love is that it is neither easy, nor casual. If you don’t take a rest once in a while, it will drain you both physically, and emotionally. One of the things the book pointed out was that Christ retreated every day to a quiet place, and he is the model for the perfect love.
God gives us the opportunities to express love, it’s up to us to open our hearts so we can see the opportunities and accept them. Once it comes to the expression of love we must never hesitate to accept or we might miss the chance. If the Samaritan had hesitated the man’s injuries might have killed him. If you devote your life to love as Christ taught, don’t forget to give yourself time to rest, or you will wear yourself down.
Challenge: Trust God to give you the strength to love as you should, and find a quiet place to rest and recharge.
Enjoy,
Allen
Showing posts with label opportunity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label opportunity. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Friday, June 5, 2009
Love, the equal opportunity emotion
Luke 10:25-37
25On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
26"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"
27He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
28"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."
29But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
30In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'
36"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"
37The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."
Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."
This is another passage where the same two Old Testament laws were brought up. “Love the Lord your God…” is in Deuteronomy 6:5, and “Love your neighbor…” is in Leviticus 19:18
Keep in mind that Christ was talking to Jews, and to them the Samaritans were bitter enemies. The first two people were of the same faith, maybe even the same congregation, and yet they went out of their way to avoid helping this person who was beaten and left for dead. The person who ended up helping was a sworn enemy, and yet he went beyond just bandaging the man up, he also took care of his shelter needs.
The message here is very clear. You must love everyone, even those you once considered an enemy. The thing to remember is that God created us all equal, different, but equal. That means that no one is any better or worse than anyone else. If we were to put this in terms of a business, the president is no better than the janitor. As long as they both do their part the company can flourish.
In this world, there are thousands of religions, and cultures. In the various religions, there are different philosophies, but just because someone doesn’t believe the same way as you do, does that mean that you should love them any less? Of course not; right or wrong, we can disagree with a person’s beliefs, but it is not our job to judge them. Only God has that right. Our job is to extend love to that person, and live life by our beliefs. If we are true to our beliefs, we can lead more people to Christ by example than by force.
I once went to a church that had a sermon that day on loving unconditionally. The one thing I noticed is the dirty looks I got for wearing Jeans instead of slacks, and even though there were different races in the church they still segregated themselves from each other. Unconditional love is a colorblind emotion. It doesn’t segregate, or judge another person’s differences.
The most basic way to put this is, if God created everyone equally, and loves us for who we are, then we should follow his example and love everyone equally.
Challenge: see beyond the exterior appearance of a person to find the good, and love them, as you would have them love you.
Enjoy,
Allen
25On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
26"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"
27He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
28"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."
29But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
30In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'
36"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"
37The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."
Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."
This is another passage where the same two Old Testament laws were brought up. “Love the Lord your God…” is in Deuteronomy 6:5, and “Love your neighbor…” is in Leviticus 19:18
Keep in mind that Christ was talking to Jews, and to them the Samaritans were bitter enemies. The first two people were of the same faith, maybe even the same congregation, and yet they went out of their way to avoid helping this person who was beaten and left for dead. The person who ended up helping was a sworn enemy, and yet he went beyond just bandaging the man up, he also took care of his shelter needs.
The message here is very clear. You must love everyone, even those you once considered an enemy. The thing to remember is that God created us all equal, different, but equal. That means that no one is any better or worse than anyone else. If we were to put this in terms of a business, the president is no better than the janitor. As long as they both do their part the company can flourish.
In this world, there are thousands of religions, and cultures. In the various religions, there are different philosophies, but just because someone doesn’t believe the same way as you do, does that mean that you should love them any less? Of course not; right or wrong, we can disagree with a person’s beliefs, but it is not our job to judge them. Only God has that right. Our job is to extend love to that person, and live life by our beliefs. If we are true to our beliefs, we can lead more people to Christ by example than by force.
I once went to a church that had a sermon that day on loving unconditionally. The one thing I noticed is the dirty looks I got for wearing Jeans instead of slacks, and even though there were different races in the church they still segregated themselves from each other. Unconditional love is a colorblind emotion. It doesn’t segregate, or judge another person’s differences.
The most basic way to put this is, if God created everyone equally, and loves us for who we are, then we should follow his example and love everyone equally.
Challenge: see beyond the exterior appearance of a person to find the good, and love them, as you would have them love you.
Enjoy,
Allen
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