No Choice
by Pastor Jeff Blain

“We love because he first loved us.  Those who say, ‘I love God,’ and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen.  The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.”  1 John 4:19-21

I don’t know about you, but when I read the verses above, there is no “wiggle room” to get me off the hook of loving others.  In my mind, I might be able to come up with all kinds of reasons and excuses and to why I should be able to pick and choose the people I love based upon any number of criteria that they need to meet.

The only problem with this kind of thinking is that it aligns up perfectly with that lawyer in Luke 10 who was trying to get Jesus to tell him that he only needed to love certain people who made it on his “neighbor” list.  And that’s when Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan and basically obliterated the “Who is my neighbor?” question and replaced it with the “How can YOU be a neighbor to others?” question.  And just in case you thought Jesus’ question still allowed for some wiggle room to write off the Samaritan’s actions, Jesus ends the encounter with the lawyer by giving this command, “Go and do likewise.”  (Luke 10: 37) 

So it seems to me that we have 2 options here.  We can be immature and put up some kind of childish fight in which we say it isn’t fair and that Jesus doesn’t really know what He is talking about, and how other religions don’t make their followers do this kind of stuff – at least not to this extreme.  Or, we can be mature and grown up and TURN IT INTO AN ADVENTURE!!!

How are you going to serve this week?  Where is that brother or sister in need who gives me a concrete way to show God that I truly do love Him?  What things are we good at doing that can be used to help make the world a better place?  What life experiences do we have that can be harnessed for Kingdom work?  What can we done both alone and together to reclaim the world for God?  Where do we need to ask God to stretch us and challenge us?  What resources do we have and what resources do we need to ask God to supply so we can carry out His commands to us?  What kind of “God-sized” project should be go after so that it will be obvious to the world that our God is alive and active?  Little projects are okay – don’t get me wrong here.  But little projects should at best be “practice” and “training” for us as we get ourselves ready to go after some the big ones.  After all, if we only do things that we KNOW we can do, that really doesn’t leave much room for God, does it?  And if we don’t leave room for God, it’s pretty easy to fall into the trap of thinking that God doesn’t do much these days.

So, since we have no choice in the matter, LET’S GO FOR IT!  And while we are at it, we might just be surprised to meet God anew!!!

Gracious God, send us into Your world to love and care for our brothers and sisters.  Help us to see them as a neighbor in need.  Help us to BE a neighbor.  Thank You for Your love for us.  Thank You for the privilege of loving You as we love others.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN.