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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