Just do it!
In our Christian Fellowship in work we’ve been looking at the parables of Jesus. The other day we came to the story of the Good Samaritan… which of course you all know by heart :o)
Anyway, the thing that struck me was that it is clearly not enough to simply agree with Jesus, we have to do something about it – our faith is all about ‘doing’ not ‘agreeing’.
Just then a religion scholar stood up with a question to test Jesus. "Teacher, what do I need to do to get eternal life?"
He answered, "What's written in God's Law? How do you interpret it?"
He said, "That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and that you love your neighbour as well as you do yourself."
"Good answer!" said Jesus. "Do it and you'll live."
Looking for a loophole, he asked, "And just how would you define 'neighbour'?"…
The Jesus tells us the story about the Good Samaritan which you are undoubtedly familiar with, but if not click here.
"What do you think? Which of the three became a neighbour to the man attacked by robbers?"
"The one who treated him kindly," the religion scholar responded.
Jesus said, "Go and do the same." (Luke 10:25-29,36-37 MSG)
Sometimes I really like the paraphrasing of The Message but on this occasion it lets me down. The Good Samaritan that Jesus described did not behave ‘kindly’ [what a wet term!] he behaved sacrificially. He took on the role of a paramedic, then a nurse and then he made sure that others had enough money to continue the care while he was away but then returned later; all this on his way to work [probably]! This is not being kind – this is above and beyond that!!!
Agreeing with Jesus, as this religious scholar did, does not breathe life into your faith; you can agree with everything Jesus says and still be dead.
“You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.” (Jam 2:19 NIV)
On the weekend I read a very amusing interview with the actor William H Macy (he’s a funny man), but one thing he said struck me as being very sad. He said that he deeply respected Jesus. He felt that everything Jesus said was intensely wise and he just wished that people would listen to him more (himself included). Despite this he did not trust or know Jesus as his saviour/redeemer. How sad to know so much and experience so little. Sadder still is the fact that he is not alone; you may well find many of his compatriots are in church pews each week.
The words of Jesus that really struck me the other day were these: "Go and do the same."
If only faith were about knowledge, then we could study hard and pass the test before teaching other willing pupils. But that’s not what Jesus wants – he wants followers who are doers! Our purpose is not to impress the ‘enlightened’ (although we should encourage one another – regularly) but to show people [who are sometimes too injured to notice or respond] the love of God through the way we treat and care for them. I don’t know about you but I don’t schedule this sort of thing into my daily routine and so this would have to be a sacrifice, but it is this that we are called to do. No questions asked.
“As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” (Jam 2:26 NIV)
Anyway, the thing that struck me was that it is clearly not enough to simply agree with Jesus, we have to do something about it – our faith is all about ‘doing’ not ‘agreeing’.
Just then a religion scholar stood up with a question to test Jesus. "Teacher, what do I need to do to get eternal life?"
He answered, "What's written in God's Law? How do you interpret it?"
He said, "That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and that you love your neighbour as well as you do yourself."
"Good answer!" said Jesus. "Do it and you'll live."
Looking for a loophole, he asked, "And just how would you define 'neighbour'?"…
The Jesus tells us the story about the Good Samaritan which you are undoubtedly familiar with, but if not click here.
"What do you think? Which of the three became a neighbour to the man attacked by robbers?"
"The one who treated him kindly," the religion scholar responded.
Jesus said, "Go and do the same." (Luke 10:25-29,36-37 MSG)
Sometimes I really like the paraphrasing of The Message but on this occasion it lets me down. The Good Samaritan that Jesus described did not behave ‘kindly’ [what a wet term!] he behaved sacrificially. He took on the role of a paramedic, then a nurse and then he made sure that others had enough money to continue the care while he was away but then returned later; all this on his way to work [probably]! This is not being kind – this is above and beyond that!!!
Agreeing with Jesus, as this religious scholar did, does not breathe life into your faith; you can agree with everything Jesus says and still be dead.
“You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.” (Jam 2:19 NIV)
On the weekend I read a very amusing interview with the actor William H Macy (he’s a funny man), but one thing he said struck me as being very sad. He said that he deeply respected Jesus. He felt that everything Jesus said was intensely wise and he just wished that people would listen to him more (himself included). Despite this he did not trust or know Jesus as his saviour/redeemer. How sad to know so much and experience so little. Sadder still is the fact that he is not alone; you may well find many of his compatriots are in church pews each week.The words of Jesus that really struck me the other day were these: "Go and do the same."
If only faith were about knowledge, then we could study hard and pass the test before teaching other willing pupils. But that’s not what Jesus wants – he wants followers who are doers! Our purpose is not to impress the ‘enlightened’ (although we should encourage one another – regularly) but to show people [who are sometimes too injured to notice or respond] the love of God through the way we treat and care for them. I don’t know about you but I don’t schedule this sort of thing into my daily routine and so this would have to be a sacrifice, but it is this that we are called to do. No questions asked.
“As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” (Jam 2:26 NIV)
-Andrew Carey
posted by Andrew at 9:02 am
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