i would like to get your opinion on something. maybe i am a bit off base here, maybe i’m a bit calloused, but it seems to me i am hearing an awful lot of promotion towards what i would describe as “random acts of kindness” as if that is what the bible means when it calls us to love our neighbors as ourselves. now let me say as clearly as possible, i am not opposed to random acts of kindness. my problem is with the idea that this is what “love your neighbor as yourself” actually means. when jesus called us to love our neighbors as ourselves he gave us a vivid picture of what that means. we call it the story of the good samaritan. when the samaritan encountered the man beaten and left for dead along the road between jerusalem and jericho he risked his life to help him. he had pity on him. he applied medicines and bandaged his wounds. he put the injured man on his donkey and took him to an inn where he continued to take care of him. he then took the equivalent of 2 days wages and gave it to the inn keeper to continue the care he had started (the text indicates the samaritan had to leave the next day). but in communicating with the inn keeper, the samaritan promised to return and reimburse the inn keeper for any additional expense. jesus closes the story by challenging us to go and do likewise. or you could go to the early chapters in the book of acts where xtians willingly sold their properties, brought the proceeds to the church, and the various needs within the congregation were met. they sold their properties…wow.
but what i continually hear is things like, pay the toll for the guy behind you in line. put a quarter or whatever in an expired parking meter. buy someone a happy meal. give the guy on the corner a slurpee or something. really??? is that what christ meant??? again, i’m not minimizing random acts of kindness. but i am clearly stating they are not the equivalent of love your neighbor. love is relational, sacrificial, and requires commitment beyond the moment. it is the spirit of jesus telling us you cannot be my disciple unless you deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow him. we may feel good when we bestow a kindness on a fellow adventurer with whom we share life. and there is nothing wrong with that. but please, can we stop watering down and minimizing what it means to follow jesus. a random act of kindness changes a moment, love on the other hand is far more reaching. there is no guarantee, but it can change a life forever.
i have nothing against slurpee’s, but i’m glad the samaritan didn’t hand out slurpee’s to the guy left for dead. i for one am striving to live out the reality jesus described when he said…all men will know you are following me when you love one another. i’m trying. it’s hard. it would be much easier to buy you a happy meal. but that wouldn’t change the world. just a thought. i would love to hear what you think.
hi folks. been doing a lot of thinking about ancient egypt and pharaoh this week, he’s our next biggest loser. it really is an interesting story and i would encourage you to check it out in exodus 1-14. the focal point of the story in my humble opinion is pharaohs unwillingness to submit his will to god (for those unfamiliar with the story, god sent moses to tell pharaoh to let god’s people, israel, go free from their captivity in egypt). but when you think about it, why would he? he was the most powerful man on earth at that time. his god’s, his belief system, his culture were clearly superior to anything he had ever experienced. the god of israel moses referred to, was inconsequential to pharoah. from pharaohs perspective, this god was incompetent and powerless. he could not prevent israel from enslavement, and in seeking their freedom he sends a shepherd type who hardly impresses with his party tricks. this is further compounded by the political reality that egypt was by this time dependent on israel being there workforce. there really is no reason pharaoh should submit.
well, that is until god gave him a nudge, or many nudges, painful nudges. if it weren’t for the horrific consequences, the story would be quite humorous. god rains down plague after plague, pharaoh repents until the plague subsides, only to change his mind and refuse to let israel go free. finally after the last plague, pharaoh tells them to leave. but no sooner do they leave, than he changes his mind, collects his army, and chases them down. the story ends with israel crossing the red sea on dry ground (god miraculously parted the sea for them) and when the egyptians try to follow, they are swallowed up by the sea coming together. now why do i think this is remotely important?
let me share 2 thoughts. 1st, i think we need to understand history really is “his story”. god’s plan is gonna move forward whether we co-operate or not. we are not gonna defeat god’s will. pharaoh tried. he lost. israels captivity in egypt was a part of the story god started writing hundreds of years earlier. their liberation was promised, their future home secure. the sooner we accept this reality, not in a fatalistic sense, but in an enthusiastic, wow i get to partner with god kind of way, the better off we will be. i, like pharaoh have tried to resist god’s forward movement of “his story” in my life. i have always lost. and that is good. the worst thing i can imagine at this point in my personal journey is what might have been if i actually succeeded in resisting god.
the 2nd thought that comes to mind, closely connected to the 1st, is how self will leads to incredible loss. that should not surprise. jesus said “if you save your life for yourself, you will lose it, but if you lose your life for jesus, you will find it”. pharaoh was saving his life for himself, he lost. jesus also said if we want to be his followers we MUSTdeny ourselves, take up our cross (mission in life), and follow him (i think this process describes what it means to lose your life for christ). sadly, pharaoh did not take this path. he started resisting by making life more miserable for israel. his thinking was this problem would go away if i make things hard (see exodus 5:6-9). when that didn’t work, and the nudges were getting more painful, he started to negotiate. worship here in the land, okay you can leave but don’t go far, okay you can leave but only the men, the women and children stay here, okay you can leave but your flocks and herds stay here. as i mentioned earlier, god turned up the heat and finally pharaoh told israel to leave. but almost immediately he changed his mind and pursued them to his demise. he went all in, and lost. i don’t think he even considered that to be a possibility, after all, he was pharaoh. what pharaoh wanted, pharaoh got.
i don’t know about you, but as i alluded to earlier, there is a lot of pharaoh in me. i have insisted and demanded god see it my way. i have negotiated, and in my humble opinion, i have offered god some really good deals. i have operated out of anger, arrogance, and feelings of entitlement. i have done just about everything but hold my breath until i turn blue. i would try that (i am kind of stubborn) if i thought it would work. but you know what, at this point in my personal spiritual journey, i don’t want to prevail. maybe its growing older, wisdom and experience. maybe it’s the realization that my way can get pretty painful. maybe i’m tired. maybe some all of the above. but i would like to think i have grown a little more spiritually mature, become a little more like jesus, and as such am much more comfortable with him in the lead.
god is writing “his story”. i think it is incredibly cool that i can have a part in it,. you can too. and as we partner with him, as we follow him, we are living in the greatest story i know. at least that’s what i think. love to hear your thoughts. blessings. vince
consider this another wrinkle to yesterdays blog. as i reviewed the news of the day, i was amused by how many people are calling for an end to the israeli blockade of gaza. without going into all the details, practically this is what that would mean. iran is busy pursuing nuclear weapons, last report i read was they have enough nuclear material to build 2 bombs and could do so within 1-2 years. and here is the best part. without a blockade, they could put a bomb on a ship, dock in gaza, unload the bomb, and boom. mission accomplished, israel or at least a big chunk of israel is obliterated. it’s like a suicide bomber on steroids. does anyone really think that’s a good idea?
