The Sheep and the Goats

Scripture:

Matthew 25:31-46

Quick Summary:

Jesus separates people into two groups like a farmer separates sheep and goats. He welcomes into heaven those who: fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, invited in strangers, clothed the needy, visited the sick and imprisoned.

The Point:

Jesus says when we help others, it is as if we were helping Jesus himself.

Questions for Family Time:

1.Tell me the story you heard today.

        a. (see above)

2.  Who does Jesus call sheep?

        a. the people who help others.  

3.How did you help others like Jesus said to?

        a. We fed the hungry, (and visited) the elderly    

4. How does our church do these things?

a. Feed the hungry and  give drink to the thirsty - help at the food pantry, Feed my Sheep

       c. invite the stranger- welcome people into our church; Heart House shelters the homeless, YES home provides housing for teens

       d. clothe the needy- help at the food pantry, make blankets for babies

       e. visit the sick and imprisoned- visit those in the hospital; Bible Study at the jail

4. How can you help others?

     a. Come up with some creative ways you can do each one of these: feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, invite in strangers, clothe the needy, visit the sick and imprisoned.

Deeper:

          This is one of those stories Jesus tells that is pretty foundational for how we understand who we are and what our responsibilities are as followers of Jesus. This passage says that if we are to call ourselves Christians, our lives are to be filled with acts of compassion. Jesus’ disciples are to treat every person they meet as if that person was Jesus himself.  We are to help those in need, whatever that need is.

  

I think Jesus was intentional to make a list of needs that we can easily look past. It is easy to avoid people struggling with these needs. It is easy to say that it is someone else’s responsibility. But Jesus says his followers go out seeking these people, stuck in their home because of their health, or even tucked away in jail out of the view of the community. He tells us to find ignored people, people struggling with the daily necessities of life, and to help them. He tells us that we are to be proactive with our compassion.

          Jesus is such a strange king because rather than bowing at his feet, or demanding our praise, he instead says he is The Poor. The God of the Universe says he is the person who can’t afford their next meal. He is the child who walks miles each morning to find clean drinking water. He is the kid who grows too fast for his parents’ income to manage. He is the refugee running for their lives with only what they can carry. He is the sick patient. He is the inmate. How we treat the poor is how we treat Jesus. If we choose to demonize them and blame them for their struggles, we do it to Jesus. If we choose to come alongside them, empower them and treat them as wholly human, we do it to Jesus. When we love them like neighbors, we love Jesus.

          It’s easy to lose sight of these people in our busy lives, to say we have too much on our plate already. I get it. But, it’s important for us to teach our children compassion now. It’s important for us to notice Jesus in our midst, dressed in rags instead of robes. So I want to encourage you to start seeing the invisible people in the world. Let us teach our children that we have a responsibility not just to help those closest to us, but to all humankind.

Personal Reflection:

Answer #4 for yourself and your family. When have you specifically done each one? How can you show compassion in a new way in the next month?

The Good Samaritan

Scripture:

Luke 10:30-35

Quick Summary:

Jesus told a story about a man beaten by the side of the road. Two honorable men pass him by, but then a third man stopped to help. The third man was a Samaritan, which Jews didn’t like. Even though he came from the wrong family and community, he still stopped and helped the hurt man.

The Point:

No matter who is hurt or even what they think of us, Jesus wants us to help them.

Questions for Family Time:

1.Tell me the story you heard today.

        a. (see above)

2.  Who would be hard to stop and help for you? Why

            a. (this is a personal answer. The why should by along the line of “we don’t get a long.”)  

3.Who would you be surprised if they helped you?

        a. (similar answer to above)    

4. What does it mean to “love your neighbor”

       a. To help people when you see they need help, even if they are not people you like.

Deeper:

We throw around the term “Good Samaritan” a lot. It has become short hand in the news for a stranger helping a stranger. But Jesus did not call the Samaritan a stranger. He called him a Samaritan. He also didn’t call him good. For the first hearers of this story, Samaritans were neither strangers nor good.

Samaritans were Jews who had intermarried and chosen to worship God on holy places that were not considered holy to those in Jerusalem. They were living reminders of the sin that Jews felt had caused their national downfall in the Old Testament. Also, in times of national crises, they were unreliable allies. Good Jews often chose to cross the Jordan River into Gentile territory and then cross it again to avoid Samaria. That’s right. The pagans Gentiles with NO belief in God were better to travel by than the Samaritans.

That means our society’s “Good Samaritans” were not like what the readers imagined this Samaritan to be like at all. They would be the ones our society looks down upon. They are the people we expect just by the label we have given them to be unreliable.

And yet, Jesus takes this “Samaritan” and makes him the one who fulfills God’s law. It is this Samaritan who chooses to stop rather than the most respected men of the community. Which makes this parable hard for us to swallow.

First of all, because it makes us confront the fact that even when we try to treat everyone equal, we have biases about people that our society has labeled. It makes us call the person we would rather protect our children from the hero of the story.

Second, it makes us redefine our neighbor. Dearborn County residents are very good at dividing by honor. There are desirable neighborhoods and undesirable neighborhoods. We place ourselves among people like us, just like the Jews did, and avoid neighborhoods that have reputations like Samaria. Like the man who asked Jesus who his neighbor is, we find it easy to love people in our geographical neighborhood because, for the most part, they are like us. But then Jesus comes and says, your neighbor is the person in need, not the person next door. Jesus tells us we aren’t allowed to ignore the needs of others just because it isn’t happening outside of our front door. He says we are to love people in other neighborhoods.

Third, if we are really being asked to love our neighbor like the Samaritan, it means we have to be willing to help those who look down their noses at us. It means we have to love the naysayers and snobs who have torn us down and told us we are not worthy. When our hearts are cheering, “they finally got what they deserved!” Jesus bids us to show them kindness and help them get back up.

It would be easier if the Good Samaritan was just about a nice stranger. Loving your neighbor like Jesus calls us to is much harder. Not complicated. Just Hard. Thankfully, God is there to help us do the hard things he calls us to do.

           

Personal Reflection:

Who are the Samaritans that you avoid? Who are the people who treat you like a Samaritan? How is God calling you to love those neighbors?

Good News is Proclaimed to the Poor

Scripture:

Luke 6:17-23

Quick Summary:

Jesus blesses the people who thought they were cursed.

The Point:

No matter what is going wrong in your life, God still love you and is with you!

Questions for Family Time:

1.     Why did people think they were cursed by God?

a.      Bad stuff was happening to them.

2.     Like what bad stuff?

a.      They were poor and hungry. People they loved kept dying.

3.      What was the good news Jesus proclaimed?

a.        When we go through hard stuff, it’s not because we are cursed by God.

Deeper:

In the Old Testament, when the Hebrews came into the Promised Land, they were told to stop in a valley. On one side was Mount Gerizim, on the other side Mount Ebal. There in the valley, the whole Law was read to them. Every rule, every commandment was said in front of all the people. Then half of the Hebrews went and stood on one mountain the other half on the other mountain. The ones on Mount Gerizim shouted out what would happen if they followed God’s Law. They shouted The Blessings. Then, those on Mount Ebal shouted out what would happen if the law was disobeyed…the curses.

Right at the birth of the nation, the people learn that if they do right by God, they will be blessed. If they do wrong by God, they will be cursed. For thousands of years later, they held this belief that if your life appears to be cursed, like you live in poverty, or are disabled, or keep losing people you love, you must have broken God’s law to receive such a curse.

This is the world that Jesus comes into. In this world, to these people who seem to be cursed by God, Jesus comes down the mountains to the people. He proclaims good news by blessing the cursed people:

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

²¹ Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.

Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.

²² Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.

²³ “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.

Jesus takes the cursed and rejected and he tells them that God has not cursed them.  Instead God has blessed them. God has given his kingdom to the poor. He will feed the hungry. He will bring joy to those with sorrow. He will bless the lonely and rejected. God has an eternal home for these people.

Jesus lifts the curse that these people were carrying. When everyone around them are accusing them of sin, and telling them they must have deserved their misfortune, Jesus shows up.  Is there really any news that could have been better for them?

This is the good news He proclaims for us: No matter what circumstance you find yourself in, God loves you. Our blessings are not how well it rains, or how well the stock market does. Our blessings are not even if we are popular and well liked. Our blessings are this:

Ours is the kingdom of God!

We will be satisfied.

We will experience joy again.

God does not reject or desert us!

We have an eternity with him waiting for us.

This is the Good News! Even when the world tells us we are cursed, We know that God is for us!

Personal Reflection:

               When have you been surprisingly blessed in moments of hardship? What hardships are you facing right now? How do you see God blessing you in the midst of them?

David Spares Saul's Life

Scripture:

1 Samuel 24:1-22

Quick Summary:

Saul was chasing David to kill him. Saul went to the bathroom in the very cave David was hiding in. David could have killed him, but instead he cut off just a corner of Saul’s robe to show Saul he meant no harm. David repaid Saul with good, even though Saul had repaid evil.

The Point:

Do good to your enemies.

Questions for Family Time:

1.     Why was David hiding from Saul?

a.      King Saul was trying to kill David.

2.     What did David have a chance to do to Saul?

a.      He could have killed him.

3.     What did David do?

a.      He spared Saul’s life even though his friends told him to kill Saul

4.     How do you do good to those who are your enemies?

a.      (Share with them, include them in games, etc.)

Deeper:

This is one of those simple yet hard principles of being a disciple. It is simple to do good to our enemy. We don’t have to do a lot of thinking to figure out what will benefit people. The good things we can do are the same good things we do for our friends. Be kind. Be generous. Treat them as we would like to be treated. It’s not complicated, but it is hard.

It is hard, because even though we know what to do in our head, our heart screams to do the opposite. We want them to hurt as bad as they have hurt us. We want them to experience the pain, anger, etc. that we have felt because of them. Those who witnessed what they did whisper in our ear to hurt them back.

David was no different. King Saul had torn David from his family and now forced him to live as man on the run. What had David ever done to deserve any of this? He had won war after war for King Saul. He had played beautiful music when King Saul was restless. He had befriended Saul’s son. David didn’t deserve what Saul was doing to him. David’s friends whispered into his ear, “This is your chance. Look, God brought him right to you.” Maybe God wanted him to get back at this crazed murder…

No. That isn’t the kind of God we serve. Our God is a God of forgiveness and compassion. David chose the hard option. He chose to treat Saul as he wanted to be treated. Rather than giving Saul a taste of his own medicine, he chose to do good.

He chose to offer Saul mercy. Mercy is when we don’t give someone the bad they deserve. That’s what Jesus did for us. We deserved punishment from God, but Jesus gave us friendship with God. We deserved to die for our sins, but instead Jesus gave us eternal life. When we do good to our enemies, we offer Jesus to them. And when we offer Jesus, we find fulfillment. Mercy is simple, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Sometimes it is the hardest things that are the most rewarding.  

Personal Reflection:

               Who do you need to offer mercy too? How can you do that? Remember, it’s not easy, but it’s worth it.  

David and Jonathan’s Covenant

Scripture:

1 Samuel 18:1-4 (Chapter 20)

Quick Summary:

David and Jonathon cut a covenant, which is a vow of being best friends (BFFs). When Jonathon’s father, King Saul tried to kill David, Jonathon protected him because of their covenant.

The Point:

God wants a covenant with you. 

Questions for Family Time:

1.     What did it mean that David and Jonathon had a covenant?

a.      They were BFFs and everything they had belonged to both of them.

2.     What does it mean when you have a covenant with God?

a.      It means that you are BFFs with God. Everything he has is yours. You stand up for each other.

3.     How are you a good BFF to your friends?

a.      (I help them when they need help. I tell the teacher if someone is bullying them…)

4.     How are you a good BFF to God?

a.      (I take good care of the world. I help people out that he loves, which is everyone…)

Deeper:

There are a couple themes that run through the whole Bible beginning to end. Covenant is one of those themes. Covenant is the old school word for relationship. But not just any kind of relationship. It is the word for an unbreakable relationship and bond. David and Jonathon had this kind of bond.

David and Jonathon were said to love each other as they loved themselves. That language should sound familiar. Jesus uses that same language, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ to describe the 2^nd most important rule in the whole Bible. (Matthew 22:39). So many of us struggle to know what that looks like. We see a good example in David and Jonathon in Chapter 20. Jonathon’s father, King Saul wanted to kill David. David was a great commander in the military and had become a threat to his throne. This put Jonathon in a weird position. He was the rightful heir of the throne and siding with his father was the socially accepted thing to do. (Let’s be honest, siding with your family is still a socially acceptable thing to do.) On the other hand, he had cut a covenant with David. That covenant meant his loyalties were to be to David. David had done nothing to deserve this death sentence.

Jonathon chose to protect David’s life, even though it meant his father would be so angry he would pull a knife on Jonathon. He would warn David and send David away for his own protection. He would do for David what he would want David to do for him if the roles were reversed. He loved David as he loved himself.

Sometimes we see a glimpse of Jesus in others. I see a glimpse of him in Jonathon. What Jonathon did for David was a selfless act. He reminds me of how Jesus gave up his own life for us. Jesus could have been royalty, but instead he chose to hang on a cross for our well being.

We don’t get a chance to have many relationships that our covenant relationships these days. For me, I have had two:

 1. Nick, my husband. He has been there for me through depression, a master’s degree, negative bank accounts, and the like. He has loved me like he loves himself, and has sacrificed for me. To the best of my ability, I’ve done that stuff for him too. I have loved him as I love myself.

2. Jesus. He has never left me, not once. Even when I have been angry at him, refused to talk to him, or questioned his very existence. Jesus loved me before I loved him, enough to suffer and die for me. And one day a long time ago, I decided I wanted to love him as I love myself. I chose to live for him, rather than myself. And it is in living for him, that I have found life.

Jesus invites all of us into covenant relationship with God. Jesus has already held up his end of that covenant. He has loved us more than he loved himself. He offers each of us a chance to love him back, to live for him. And it is in that covenant relationship, we find someone who will never let us down, who will always be there for us, and who will perfectly love us as they love themselves.   

Personal Reflection:

Who do you have a covenant relationship with? Who do you love as you love yourself and they do that back to you?