Good Morning All,
Deuteronomy
10:18; “He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.”
The
singer James Taylor released a song in 1971 called “You’ve got a Friend.” It is a song about the singer telling his
friend that he could call him at any time.
It was supposed to convey a message of "a
universal, sisterly/brotherly, agape-type love of one human being for another,
regardless of gender.” That
is kind of a tall order but it is one that you and I as Christians should be
familiar with.
So do you need a friend? Can you
be a friend? That is always the question
before believers. It speaks to the
second layer of being a Christian and that is “love your neighbor as yourself.” Christianity does not occur in a vacuum,
which was quite different from the other religions that existed at the time of
Christ. The Greeks, and by extension the
Romans, had separated belief from ethics.
The Greek and Roman idols placed no type of ethical requirements on
their worshippers; they simply wanted offerings. It was from the philosophic thinkers that the
idea of ethics was derived. Judaism had
deteriorated into a religion that only required ritualistic actions but no
faith. So when the teachings of Christ
connected our faith life and its relationship between God and man to man’s
relationship with each other, some would think this was a new idea or teaching.
In fact, this teaching is as old as Genesis. It is part of what “being human” means. From the very creation of Adam and Eve, “to
be human” meant three things; to worship and praise God, to take care of God’s
creation and to take care of each other.
So taking care of each other is an essential part of what makes us truly
human. This is how God designed us but
sin destroyed that. Now, through the new
life that we receive from Christ, we are “becoming human” again. Instead of our desire being for our own
selfish wants, God’s Spirit instills in us a desire to love and care for
others.
So God calls us to live as humans, to care for each other, especially
those who are in greatest need. We see
basic humanity as for all, not just the wealthy or the beautiful, but for all
of God’s creatures. It is the love that
God showed us. He loved us at our most
broken and crushed days. He continues to
love us as the world and the devil continues to try and crush us and break us down. He picks us up and cleans us off and comforts
all our pain. He provides for us in all
that we need. For this we thank and
praise him.
Yet God is making us human again, we love one another, we come to each
other’s aid and we comfort one another; most of the time. Sin still rears its ugly head and causes us
to hate and despise or to experience apathy and callousness. Yet God Spirit keeps calling us back to him
and back to being human.
Gracious
Lord, in you we find our hope, our security, our humanity. Help us to find and to keep our true
humanity. Help us to love and care for
one another. Be with those who are
broken and hurt and in need of our compassion and move us to show that same compassion
that you gave us. In Jesus’ name, amen.
God’s Peace,
Pastor Bret
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