Friday, November 17, 2017

Spiritual First Responders (Aug. 5, 2017)


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Love God, love people.

Where did that come from? Why does it matter? Do we really have to do that?

Let’s take just a second here and briefly give these questions a look. Where did it come from?

It came from Luke chapter 10, Matthew chapter 22 and Mark chapter 12:30-31 where when asked what the greatest commandment was Jesus says, “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.”

This was written in the Gospels, the Gospels which are the part of the New Testament that speaks to us about Jesus and His coming, dying, and rising again so that we could have eternal life.

Loving God and loving people matters because Jesus, the one who did come, die and rise for us said it did. Oh it isn’t really that simple. But since He gave everything for us, I’d say that He has the necessary credibility that it would take to at least get me to listen.

As I listen to Him talk about loving our neighbor I come to realize that if I look back at His roughly three years of ministry loving His neighbor is exactly what Jesus did everywhere He went. He was the living example for us. He showed His love everywhere He went because He came for all of us. He died for all of us. He rose again for all of us. That matters.

Do we really have to love God and love our neighbor? Actually, yes, yes we do. And we are to love others as we would want to be loved ourselves. That’s what Jesus was saying when He said, that we need to love our neighbor as ourselves.
You see, it is a command for those of us who follow Jesus. Since God and Jesus love everyone, when we love our neighbors as ourselves we are at the very same time showing our love to God. It is kind of like this…when you love on my kids the way you would want me to love you, you are showing me love too.

But how do we show that love to others especially to those who don’t know or believe in Jesus?

We’ll come back to that…

Bear with me for a minute…

I want you to picture yourself as a first responder.

What is a first responder?

A first responder is someone who is the first to respond right? That seems straight forward enough. Today we look to police, fire and rescue personnel as first responders. They are called to respond to the emergency needs of another, but while we call them first responders, quite often there are others who have the chance to respond before trained personnel can arrive.

STORY ABOUT “EMERGENCY!” TELEVISION SHOW WITH JOHN GAGE AND ROY DESOTO PLAYED BY RANDOLPH MANTOOTH AND KEVIN TIGHE. THEY WERE PARAMEDICS ON A LOS ANGELES RESCUE UNIT. (Emergency Intro…..You Tube). DEFIBULATOR OR AND IV WITH RINGER’S LACTATE FIXED EVERYTHING.

PASS AROUND HELMET-

You know what I mean. When someone begins choking in a restaurant it is a good idea to call 911, but the first person to respond is most likely someone who is already at the location. We give training to as many people as we can so that they can be ready when these kinds of events happen around them. People learn the Heimlich maneuver, CPR or even how to use a tourniquet to stop bleeding. When a seemingly regular person leaps into action to rescue someone in some form of distress, we say that they are a hero.

But you know, I think that if we take a minute to look at it through the lens of scripture, we might find that it is something other than heroic.

Turn with me to Luke chapter 10 verses 25-37.


Luke 10:25-37New Living Translation (NLT)
The Most Important Commandment

25 One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?”

26 Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?”

27 The man answered, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”[a]

28 “Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!”

(We heard this earlier from the passage in the Gospel of Mark.)
But there’s more..

29 The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
Parable of the Good Samaritan

30 Jesus replied with a story: “A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road.

31 “By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. 32 A Temple assistant[b] walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.

33 “Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. 34 Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. 35 The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins,[c] telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’

36 “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked.

37 The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.”

Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”

Isn’t Jesus great? We just read12 verses and there is SO much there. Let’s unpack it just a bit this morning.

First of all we see where another one of those troublemakers is trying to trap Jesus into saying something that they can use against Him. They were always trying to do that kind of thing to Jesus, but seeing as how Jesus is God incarnate there was really no way that they were ever going to pull one over on Jesus was there? So Jesus used them to teach the rest of us.

I have to admit that this is one of my very favorite parts of scripture.

Jesus turned the tables on this guy. Then He used a parable to show not only him what He is trying to say, but also to teach the rest of us what it means to be a follower of Christ.

I realize that there is a pretty good chance that you have heard or read this parable several times. But it really does speak to the heart of what it means to be a Christian. The majority of the people around us who live in the world would cross over to the other side of the street to avoid the messiness of getting involved. They believe that they are either above getting soiled in the process of helping someone who is most likely beneath them socially or they would not want the responsibility of doing whatever it would take in time and money to get involved.

It is sad that both society and the church have lost their compassion for their neighbor.

If we go back to Nehemiah we see what it looks like to care about a community.

In Nehemiah Chaper 1 we read…

In late autumn, in the month of Kislev, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign,[a] I was at the fortress of Susa. 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came to visit me with some other men who had just arrived from Judah. I asked them about the Jews who had returned there from captivity and about how things were going in Jerusalem.

3 They said to me, “Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.”

4 When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven.

Then in chapter two we read….

2 Early the following spring, in the month of Nisan,[a] during the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign, I was serving the king his wine. I had never before appeared sad in his presence. 2 So the king asked me, “Why are you looking so sad? You don’t look sick to me. You must be deeply troubled.”

Then I was terrified, 3 but I replied, “Long live the king! How can I not be sad? For the city where my ancestors are buried is in ruins, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.”

4 The king asked, “Well, how can I help you?”

With a prayer to the God of heaven, 5 I replied, “If it please the king, and if you are pleased with me, your servant, send me to Judah to rebuild the city where my ancestors are buried.”

Nehemiah had a passion for his home. It was so strong that it showed in his face, he couldn’t help but feel that way as he was connected to that place. It was home. His people still lived there and to be without a wall was to leave the city and those he loved unprotected. He needed to respond. It was the right thing to do. It was second nature.

The same thing was true for the good Samaritan. While the religious leaders who first passed the injured man did their very best to avoid the situation by crossing the street, the Samaritan cared. Where the others most likely talked a good game where God was concerned and could recite scripture, the Samaritan did something about it.

He didn’t stop to evaluate the situation, he didn’t get out his cell phone and take a picture to post on Facebook and he didn’t make any excuses. He jumped right into the situation and did what he could. We don’t know if his stopping was making him late to an important business meeting or for a family gathering, but we do know that he was on his way somewhere. Even so, he took the time, went out of his way and was willing to to have his day interrupted to tend to the injured man.

How many of you have been to paradise? You know…Iowa!

Well each year there is something that happens there that has put Iowa on the map. It is called RAGBRAI. RAGBRAI is the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa. This is where more than 2,000 people ride their bicycles from the Missouri River on the Western boarder of the state all the way across the state to the Mississippi River on the Eastern boarder of the state. It is absolutely amazing!

Why am I telling you this? Because I want to tell you about the Air Force Cycling Team. The Air Force Cycling Team is made up of members of the Air Force from all over the country. More than 100 of them attend the ride each year. They all wear matching jerseys and they have some pretty fast riders. One of those fast riders is a 23 year old Airman named Jacob Pinkney who is stationed at Travis Air Force Base in Northern California. You see, the Air Force Cycling Team is not like any cycling team that I have ever come across. They aren’t out to win anything or to be the fastest. While they attend RAGBRAI they do their best to assist any rider who may need help. Airman Pinkney was a great example. He didn’t ride past pretending not to see folks in need, he made it his mission to search them out and help them whenever he could even above and beyond what the team’s overall mission was. He fixed flats, repaired bikes, bandaged a skinned knee or two, was late arriving at the campsite due to helping others and even attached a bike trailer to his bike and pulled it with child inside to a campsite after the woman pulling it needed assistance. That’s the kind of thing that Jesus is talking about.

Jesus asked the expert in religious law which of those in the story of the good Samaritan was the neighbor to the man who had been attacked. His answer? The one who showed mercy. Then Jesus gives the command. “Now go and do the same.” He doesn’t say only do it if it is safe, only do it if you can afford it, or only do it if no one is looking. He says, NOW go and do the same. Jesus calls His church to show mercy no matter what the cost.

Charles Stanley makes the point that it is a sad commentary on the church when he said, “it  (the church) has open arms for a homeless Savior, but arms crossed for a homeless neighbor.”
The truth is that the two actions are connected. Isn’t having open arms for a homeless neighbor part of having open arms for a homeless Savior?
One of the best ways we can show our love for Christ to love those He loves and do it without reservation.

PANDEMIC

The early church is a great example of how Jesus would encourage us to love others. A plague struck Alexandria  and when everyone else ran away, the early Christians risked their lives for one another by simple acts of washing the sick, offering water and food, and consoling the dying. That was pretty incredible by itself since everyone else was fleeing, but the first Christians took it to the next level when they reached out to sick non-Christians. Large numbers of lives were saved by their actions.Their elementary nursing greatly reduced the rate at which the sick were dying. Simple provisions such as food and water allowed those who were sick and too weak to care for themselves to recover instead of succumbing to the sickness.

The pagans couldn’t help but notice that Christians not only had the strength to risk death, but through their care for one another they were much less likely to die themselves. Christian survivors of the plague became immune and were then able to move throughout the afflicted without concern.

So much like first responders, the early Christians ran to the fire instead of away from it. You see, much like the good Samaritan when we come across someone who is hurting we have the opportunity to show the love of Christ. Those who cross to the other side of the road, are missing the opportunity and very well may not be true followers of Jesus to begin with.

James 2:14-17

James the brother of Jesus writes about just that in the New Testament.
James 2:14-17 says, “14 What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? 15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, 16 and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?

17 So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.”

So if we go back to the command at the end of the parable we find something interesting. Jesus didn’t say now go and think the same, go and speak the same or go and write the same. What He did say was to go and DO the same.This is a call to action. A call to to put the love we are supposed to be sharing with our neighbors to work.

Today we, the church, have the opportunity to make a difference in amazing ways. Instead of retreating from the epidemic of pain and death we have the chance to demonstrate that Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Instead of fear which can cloud our vision followers of Jesus can show that it is in giving our lives away that we find life. The way in which we live and die is our message.

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