Go and Do Likewise

The Bible is our central authority we turn to as we seek to know God more and to understand the incredible act of mercy and grace shown through Jesus Christ.  We must never lose sight of this truth.

And yet you’ll find some who use the Scriptures as a foundation for supporting their views of who to condemn and who to pronounce judgement over.   All the while, the world outside our churches see more of a message of condemnation, sometimes even hatred, pronouncing judgement on others, all coming from people who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ.

Consider this: the central message of Jesus was to love God and love our neighbors.

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:30-31).

You might say the “litmus test” of who is considered to be a true disciple of Jesus is summed up by this verse:

“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35.) 

Love Our Neighbors – Unlikely Hero

One of the Bible’s most repeated commands (8 times!) is for us to love our neighbors.

Of course the parable of the “Good Samaritan” (Luke 10:25-37) is Jesus’ explanation of what loving our neighbors looks like, and He chose as the hero of the story a Samaritan, of all people. What??? A Samaritan?? Surely not! Samaritans were hated by any supposedly “respectable” Jewish follower of God. Maybe we would do well to be cautious about whom we include and whom we exclude from sharing God’s love and loving our neighbors.

Judging Others – Not Our Job (Seriously, NOT our job)

Our role in demonstrating love to our neighbors also is challenged with a mandate for us to not judge others.  

“Jesus said: Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:1-5)

Oh but we want to stand up for God and demand that we must all hold firm, and not tolerate those whom we label as “sinners.”  Right?

What does Jesus do? He says love them.  Show mercy.

Consider the woman caught in adultery, and the crowd of (self)righteous people all ready with stones in their hands, ready to hurl them upon the woman as a punishment for her sin.  (That is “Biblical” remember.)  But how does this story play out?

Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd.

“Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?”  They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.

When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”  “No, Lord,” she said.  And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.” (John 8:1-11)

Note carefully four key points from this:

1) According to “The Law,” these righteous teachers of religious law and the Pharisees had every right to stone her to death. After all, they had the Law on their side. But Jesus said otherwise.

2) What did Jesus do?  He said to the crowd “the one who has never sinned throw the first stone” and they slipped away one by one. And what is the message in this? It is NOT our place to cast judgement on others. We have no right to do so because in spite of what we might pretend, we are ALL sinners and it is NOT OUR PLACE to condemn others (unless you maybe dare to say you ARE without sin, go head throw that stone).

3) But then what? Jesus said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”  “No, Lord,” she said.  And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”   The ONLY one in the story who had the right to condemn others, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, chose not to condemn her.  He forgave her. He showed mercy upon her.

4) I have heard people push back and say “yeah, but then Jesus told her to “Go and sin no more.”   It’s that sense that, “yeah but she had it coming to her, so she better stop sinning now.” (maybe it’s that judgmental Pharisee coming out in us?)   Even so, what was more important? To pronounce condemnation and punishment (which was made clear WE have no authority to do) OR to show mercy just as God has shown toward us all?  To redeem a “lost soul,” is it better to punish them to death, or to offer them new life?   Either way, the point is that is what Jesus offers: love, mercy, and forgiveness.   And as followers of Jesus, we must do the same. (This part is not optional for Christians. It is at the VERY CENTER of Jesus’ intent for us all.)

Looking Past Our Differences – Focusing on the Way of Jesus

But what about how we should treat fellow Christians who may be different from us?  There are a lot of Christian folks who are quick to point accusing fingers at others who may have different views on a wide range of subjects and they would prefer to condemn them rather than love them.  This happens a LOT.  Just look at the amount of Christian denominations there are, all due to splitting on a wide range of issues that, for the most part, are not central to the core message of Jesus.

This takes us back to that verse I shared above:

“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35.) 

Christian unity has suffered through the decades/centuries as people have fought over all types of issues they decided were so important they could no longer even associate with with “those people.”

And yet, the vision was for us to focus on unity in Christ.

“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)

“I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.” (1 Corinthians 1:10)

“Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.” (1 Peter 3:8)

“Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.” (2 Corinthians 13:11)

“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call – one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:1-6)

“Complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.” (Philippians 2:2)

“I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” (John 17:23)

“Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.” (Romans 12:16)

“Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” (Colossians 3:13-14)

Lest we forget, we are all sinners, all fall far far short of the Glory of God.  But that’s not the whole story. We are so totally loved by God, regardless of the mess we may have made of our lives.

We have a propensity to sin, even when we don’t want to.  We are not above anyone else.  We all look up at the Son of God nailed to a cross and see the depth that God would go to reach each of us with the message that THIS is how much God loves us. THIS is what forgiveness looks like.

So when we think about that parable of the Samaritan, and the question was asked about who was really demonstrating neighborly love, the answer was “the one who showed mercy.”

And Jesus said, “go and do likewise.”

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