Today I was standing in the entrance of a Cracker Barrel in Terre Haute, In. When a sign hanging on the wall caught my eye.
The sign read: "Our employees are the lifeblood of our business. It’s these employees who help us achieve our mission of Pleasing People®. We want employees who share a common value of mutual respect for all persons regardless of their race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, age or disability."
AS I read this-I asked myself....If I had a mission statement-what would it be? I believe I would borrow part of this sign, and it would read as follows: "God is the lifeblood of my soul. Through me He will share his love and hope to all persons regardless of their race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, age or disability. For:The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised."
That is the message I want the world to see. When they see me....whomever they are-right or wrong-I want them to see Jesus in me. The God of Hope and Glory! Our Saviour and SOON coming king!!!
What is your life saying to others????
Monday, March 14, 2011
Friday, March 4, 2011
Thieves in the neighborhood....
For some time now the Lord has been dealing with me about the story of the Good Samaritan found in Luke 10:25-37. A Jewish traveler is beaten, robbed, and left half dead along the road. First a priest and then a Levite come by, but both avoid the man. Finally, a Samaritan comes by. Samaritans and Jews generally despised each other, but the Samaritan helps the injured Jew. Jesus is described as telling the parable in response to a question regarding the identity of the "neighbor" which Leviticus 19:18 says should be loved. Portraying a Samaritan in positive light would have come as a shock to Jesus' audience.
The Bible says that this man FELL among thieves. Imagine with me if you will...a man traveling along on this narrow road-minding his own business-when all of a sudden he is overpowered, and attacked by people who strip him of his clothes, take his possessions, and beat him so badly that he is left "half dead". What is it about this man that caused these thieves to attack him? Who was he? What was he wearing? What did he have? Whatever the case-they left him there to die. The Priest and the Levite (representatives of the church) passed by him on the other side of the road. Now the law said that if they touched a dead corpse-they were no longer holy/clean. But the fact that they passed on the other side of the road without even checking to see if there was any life left in the man-deeply disturbs me. Every time I think of this parable-I am reminded of modern day "hate crimes" which according to FBI statistics have been up to nearly 10,000 reported cases in the last two years. These reported hate crimes were committed against people for reasons of race, religion, sexual orientation, and disabilities. Was this man on the Jericho road attacked because of his race? his religion? his sexuality? or some disability? Only God knows. We know that he was a Jew-and that his "rescuer" was a Samaritan,(one who normally would not even speak to a Jew) yet, this man crossed the road and found that there was some life left to salvage. So, he did what needed to be done, and paid the price to restore this man. In this story-WHO really acted in a Christlike manner? The priests/levite? or the Samaritan?
Speaking now to the church of the living God-my question is: How many times do we as true believers of God-become thieves, and attack others through our harsh judgments, and unkind words? How often do we do other harm, and even though we can see someone is greatly wounded-we pass on the other side and leave them there in their pain-because we do not want to "touch" something that would make us "unholy"? WHEN are we going to realize that EVERYONE is our "neighbor"? That God is the one, true, and only judge. We are simply-His servants. And if we are really going to be like Him-then we are going to touch the unclean, love the unlovable, reach the unreachable, and salvage all the life we can! How many of us are going to cross the road and check for signs of life? Who will pass on the other side?
Who is my neighbor? I tell you: It is the black "thug" down the street, the strung out white girl on the street corner, it is the disabled, poor man living under a bridge, it is the homosexual across town, It is the person of whatever religion you can't tolerate........and the list goes on and on....
And to think-I am just getting started with this...It will be a full blown sermon when I get finished, and I just may stop and preach it at your church......=)
Bless You!
The Bible says that this man FELL among thieves. Imagine with me if you will...a man traveling along on this narrow road-minding his own business-when all of a sudden he is overpowered, and attacked by people who strip him of his clothes, take his possessions, and beat him so badly that he is left "half dead". What is it about this man that caused these thieves to attack him? Who was he? What was he wearing? What did he have? Whatever the case-they left him there to die. The Priest and the Levite (representatives of the church) passed by him on the other side of the road. Now the law said that if they touched a dead corpse-they were no longer holy/clean. But the fact that they passed on the other side of the road without even checking to see if there was any life left in the man-deeply disturbs me. Every time I think of this parable-I am reminded of modern day "hate crimes" which according to FBI statistics have been up to nearly 10,000 reported cases in the last two years. These reported hate crimes were committed against people for reasons of race, religion, sexual orientation, and disabilities. Was this man on the Jericho road attacked because of his race? his religion? his sexuality? or some disability? Only God knows. We know that he was a Jew-and that his "rescuer" was a Samaritan,(one who normally would not even speak to a Jew) yet, this man crossed the road and found that there was some life left to salvage. So, he did what needed to be done, and paid the price to restore this man. In this story-WHO really acted in a Christlike manner? The priests/levite? or the Samaritan?
Speaking now to the church of the living God-my question is: How many times do we as true believers of God-become thieves, and attack others through our harsh judgments, and unkind words? How often do we do other harm, and even though we can see someone is greatly wounded-we pass on the other side and leave them there in their pain-because we do not want to "touch" something that would make us "unholy"? WHEN are we going to realize that EVERYONE is our "neighbor"? That God is the one, true, and only judge. We are simply-His servants. And if we are really going to be like Him-then we are going to touch the unclean, love the unlovable, reach the unreachable, and salvage all the life we can! How many of us are going to cross the road and check for signs of life? Who will pass on the other side?
Who is my neighbor? I tell you: It is the black "thug" down the street, the strung out white girl on the street corner, it is the disabled, poor man living under a bridge, it is the homosexual across town, It is the person of whatever religion you can't tolerate........and the list goes on and on....
And to think-I am just getting started with this...It will be a full blown sermon when I get finished, and I just may stop and preach it at your church......=)
Bless You!
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