It’s been an interesting day to say the least. It seems like we went from highs to lows. Conversations were in full gear between individuals, some strangers to each other and others who knew each other. Did the decision raise the very deepest feelings about this subject? Yes it did. Is it a sore point? Yes it is but what other acts are sore to your heart? At the end of the day there is a choice that we will all make. Who we associate ourselves with, what habits and traits we display, whether to hold our tongue or not. BUT where do we balance incestuous release of point of views versus healthy, respectable conversations?
We hold on to our thoughts like fine gold and let our hearts and love evaporate so that words are more hurtful to the image of a God who loves all His children. We become so antagonistic and poisonous with some subjects than others. I agree that love and compassion will always win this war on social existence between races, cultures, beliefs etc. This is my personal take (true story). When I was hungry, I needed a pillow, a bath, refuge, love and support. The family who took me in was not my church family because they were too busy talking about me. Who took me in was an amazing family who shared their home with me. Two sisters took me as a sister without question. Their preference of partners is opposite to mine and neither one of us chose to cut each other down but was mutually respectful of our views HOWEVER they took me in and treated me as one of them. This is how love wins all the time!
Till today I’m forever grateful for this family and I LOVE LOVE LOVE my sister/friends and will do anything for them. They are a living example of love! And till today they have never thrown it in my face nor asked me for their food back. Their mom refused to have them not be of service to their community and the community began at home. Thank God for them. We won’t agree on everything but we won’t reject the concept of unshakeable LOVE.
- Who have you fed without interrogation?
- Who have you shown love without criteria?
- Who have you taken off the streets so that they can be protected?
- Who would you want to help you in a time of need or would that make a difference if they were different from you?
- Who do you say you are? Your brother’s keeper or it all depends?
This is hard for many to do because unfortunately many false teaching about the heart and mind of a true Christian have been given and accepted as merit based works. But these questions are not unreasonable, no they are substantiated by a direct Executive Order from God.
“The LORD has shown you what is good. He has told you what he requires of you. You must treat people fairly. You must love others faithfully. And you must be very careful to live the way your God wants you to.” Micah 6:8 (NIRV)
Paying tithe and giving offerings or to the Sabbath School fund are great but if we do not use our time and bodies, get uncomfortable and immerse ourselves into the cause of justice, we are rich in knowledge, poor in spirit, and the world won’t be able to see Christ in us. Philippians 2: 1-5 (CEV)
1 Christ encourages you, and his love comforts you. God’s Spirit unites you, and you are concerned for others.
2 Now make me completely happy! Live in harmony by showing love for each other. Be united in what you think, as if you were only one person.
3 Don’t be jealous or proud, but be humble and consider others more important than yourselves.
4 Care about them as much as you care about yourselves
5 and think the same way that Christ Jesus thought:
Our thoughts and actions are supposed to model after Jesus’ thoughts and actions. Bearing His image also means when people see us they see Jesus. John 14:9 (KJV)
9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?
Jesus was trying to elevate the minds of His disciples to show them that everything He did was in alignment with the mission of His Father. He was intentional of doing the will of His Father so that there would be no confusion about the character and unity of the Godhead. This is not blasphemy nor is it when we strive to do the same. When we model our thoughts and actions after Jesus, we too are doing the will of God. We are not claiming to be God, we are claiming to be His hands and feet.
We are partners in God’s mission to share the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus. That gospel did not begin at the cross. One can argue that the cross was the end of a 3 1/2 years long sermon/evangelistic series. Calvary was the appeal to to believe and be saved. So this Gospel of love was Jesus’ mission then and our mission now and we must nor be mistaken about Heaven’s criteria for us who claim to be followers of Jesus the Christ. Jesus was clear about His Father’s mission and even after stating it, the people still couldn’t recognize that this was the character of God. Here was His mission and now our mission. Luke 4:18-22 (KJV)
18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
22 And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph’s son?
On the other side of His ministry and mission is the stark reality, that God isn’t looking for a perfect law abiding Christian. The law is great and we can try all day long to obey all of them, but only Jesus accomplished that great feat and lived in perfect obedience! So here is the newsflash, we on the other hand break at least one law – therefore all laws everyday/multiple times a day.
“Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.” 1 John 3:4 (NIV)“but if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” James 2:9-10 King James Version (KJV)
The love of Shepherd Jesus Christ, who saves lambs from the edge of a high cliff, extends his hand and helps sheep in crisis and danger.
But Jesus has given us a work which we can totally do, day in and day out, with our eyes closed. Love! Love! Love! Love and care for the Lord, ourselves and each other just the same. Care in action, not just words. That Jesus calls the greatest commandment and He can help us to love. Love in season and out of season. Think of each other and treat each other the way Jesus would. Fight for the safekeeping of each other and especially the ones who cannot fight for themselves or help themselves. It is only in server we can come close to honoring the law not in selfish inclement and complacency. Jesus minced no words about this and has shared the fate of those who scoff and discard the sacred work of justice and mercy. Matthew 25: 31-46 (NIV)
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
The question we must all answer when we are faced with the temptation to kill with judgement and stone with our own verdicts…Is my mess lesser than anyone else’s or yours?
You still have the gift of choice to model the attitude and actions of Jesus.
- I choose to be that bread and butter for the hungry without first asking them why they are hungry.
- I choose to have my home open to be a shelter.
- I choose to clothe without interrogation.
- I choose to shelter the underdog.
- I choose to love even from opposite points of views.
May our intentions and deeds not be in vain. We all will end up on our backs at least once in our lifetime and will need a hand to help us up despite whether we are dirty or clean at that moment.
I choose not to tear down. Instead I choose now to look up to the clouds and await the end of pain, prejudices, death, sorrow, fights, hatred, bigotry, insensitivity, error, persecution and heartbreak when the Lamb finally wins. #lovedoeswin #Jesuswins #mercydoeswin #justicedoeswin
