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By: Pastor Bruce You may listen to this devotion in audio form via podcast here.
A lawyer stood up to Jesus to put Him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus said to him, "What is written in the Law? How do you read it?" And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." And Jesus said to him, "You have answered correctly, do this and you shall live.”
This past week I was given the privilege to speak to Mrs. Kostelyk’s 6th grade Bible class. I asked them to comment on these two statements. “Becoming a Christian is the easiest thing a person can do." "Being a Christian is the hardest thing a person can do.” We talked for awhile about the first statement. And it wasn’t long that we learned that to become a Christian all one has to do is accept the gift that God offers to us in His Son, Jesus Christ. That’s all. Then, we talked about that second statement and why it is so hard to be a Christian. I told them a story about a girl who was bullied on the school bus that my dad drove after teaching high school. I told them how no one stood up for that girl who was bullied out of the 60 or so kids that rode the school bus that day. I asked them what a Jesus follower might have done. And we also talked about why it is so hard to follow Jesus in situations like that.
Now I tell you this story because I am wondering if we might have lost our way in showing charity to one another in these past few months and perhaps these past few years. I am wondering if that is true not only with those who do not know Jesus and are not following Him, but even with those who are following Jesus. And I am especially wondering about that when we find ourselves in disagreement with our fellow Christians over a hot button issue that is being discussed and debated in our culture.
Let me give you an example. And it is easy for me now to speak on this, since you will read this after I have already gone on to other fields of labor. “Vaccinations.” I have found that there is no one mind in the church, here and elsewhere, over whether one should get vaccinated. I, myself, have been vaccinated. I did it quite early in the game when I was still pastoring the Zuni congregation. I did it because I had come to believe that it would keep me healthier; and also, that it might keep those with whom I work healthier. In Zuni it really was not much of an issue. However, when I left Zuni, I found it was much more of an issue. And what I found after leaving the reservation was a zealous fervor for and against vaccination the likes of which I had not seen in quite some time. I witnessed high emotions being expressed on both sides of the argument. And I found these same high emotions being expressed by my fellow believers in Christ; again, on both sides of the issues. And at times, as I listened to, and read the emotions being expressed against one another, I grieved sometimes over the lack of grace and love being shown to those with whom we disagree.
My friends, we will not always agree on every issue. And when we disagree can we do so in love? Can we show grace to those with whom we disagree? Do we really need to “take sides” on these things? And finally, I wonder, what would happen if we brought this same emotion and this same fervency that some of us have toward these hot button issues, what would happen if we brought this same emotion and same fervency to telling others who do not know Jesus what Jesus can do for them?
After Jesus told that lawyer that by loving God and by loving his neighbor he would gain eternal life, He went on to tell the story of the Good Samaritan. Now there is a story of grace, and love, and civility!
Prayer: Lord, make me an instrument of your peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console; to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to love; for it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
--St. Francis of Assisi