Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy.
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
I am convinced the hardest thing for us to do is be Christian through the routine of life. I always notice after church service, even after a great message, how everyone gets up and leaves barely making eye contact with the people around them. No one even speaks to the person next to them other than to say ” excuse me.” I will always say and make a comment about the message. Normally I get a friendly response back. Once we get into the lobby and find the people we know then everything is fine. There seems to be this disconnect between what we hear, to what we practice. Even if the message was on loving your neighbor, nothing changes. Have we become hearers of the gospel only? To what end is it to get up, get ready, sit in church, if the end resolve is not to put what we hear into practice? It use to be that what we heard we put into practice then and there. I fear instead of changing our culture, our culture has sadly changed us.
With the holiday season upon us we are going to be in contact with more people, people in the malls, grocery stores, long lines to wait in with people who we have less in common with than the people in church. How am I going to deal with them, ignore them as if that person next to me doesn’t exit? Many of us routinely do this but why, what is the problem of saying hi, hope you are having a good day? Other than you would completely shock them; it’s a great one liner that shows concern for your neighbor. There is a story starting in Luke 7:36 that sheds some light on what the root problem might be. We pick up the story with verse 40.
“And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on.
There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty.
And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?
— Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.”
There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty.
And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?
— Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.”
Simon properly felt pretty righteous and smart at Christ confirmation of his answer, though a child could have also answered correctly. It’s the following verses where Simon gets stung by Christ words. Cultural practices of courtesy that Simon purposely overlooked.
“And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.
Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.
My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.
Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.”
Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.
My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.
Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.”
Could this be our problem, we love little because we fail to understand the enormity of our forgiveness. Five hundred pence is more than the man had and in the light of our debt we to cannot pay it back. Do we think lightly of the Lord’s Cross and of the love that sent him there? We would never admit it, but our actions speak for themselves. For if we truly understood our debt and experienced His forgiveness and love in our hearts, we would be changed. Men and women given a second chance on life respond in a much different way than what I witness in church. We would be humbled by the sacrifice paid for our freedom and seek to know our Savior and grow our faith. God’s Word would be precious and often read. We would truly be a light and not because we are trying to be, but because that is who we are becoming. Care for our neighbor is evidence of the Holy Spirit work in my life. I can only love others because I myself am being loved, and this goes beyond just being a nice guy or gal.
Church is the safest place to reach out and shake the hand next to you, and for some of us who are shy and or interverted this is tough. However a kind smile or greeting I believe is do- able. So much of what I am talking about has to do with how I feel about myself. If I’m insecure about who I am I am not going to reach out. If I feel good about myself then reaching out is not a problem. Without getting to complicated so much goes back to our pass and our personality. Yet a growing relationship with Christ will over time change our areas of weakness making us more secure and confident.
We do not want to become a “culture” of church going people, nice, polite etc., but we want to become a culture of changed people who gather together and become the church collectively. Whether it be an official church building or a rented room. To see ourselves as the woman in the parable whose sins where many but no worse or better than any of ours; for even the most benign sin requires the blood of the Savior, is to truly begin to grasp the Grace of God.
As we come into the holiday season, let us live above it, not in it. Life is not about us but about Him in us. Take time to be in the Word so as you go out you we have the great honor to represent Christ. Amen?
Father,
Thank you for this brief but insightful study. Let us be real with ourselves and give us changed hearts that comprehend the great sacrifice that was made for us to pass from death into life. Thank you and Amen.
Move Forward in His Grace – Arthur