OPPORTUNITIES TO DEMONSTRATE GOD’S LOVE

“When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them.  The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”  (Leviticus 19:33-34 NIV)

I have been exploring my genealogy for a number of years, thanks to the initial work of my maternal grandfather over 50 years ago. I have also had my DNA explored as part of that to see where I have come from – mostly Germany and Great Britain. My ancestors immigrated to Wisconsin in the early to mid 1800’s. I have been married to a Canadian for 50 years. My sister married a man whose ancestors came from Mexico. (Happy Cinco de Mayo to that part of my family.) A niece is exploring her Jewish roots and coming to a realization that some of her ancestors survived the Holocaust and some didn’t. And here in Door County, Wisconsin, we are awaiting an influx of J-1 Visa students -- from a variety of countries in Eastern Europe and South America -- to bolster our service industry for the summer.

All that being said, I share this reminder from Leviticus (above) along with the quote (below) from “The Life Application Study Bible”  that goes along with the scripture:

“How do you feel when you encounter foreigners, especially those who don’t speak your language? Are you impatient? Do you think or act as if they should go back to where they came from? Are you tempted to take advantage of them? God says to treat foreigners as you would treat fellow countrymen, to love them as you love yourself. In reality, we are all foreigners in this world because it is only our temporary home. View strangers, newcomers and foreigners as opportunities to demonstrate God’s love.” 

-- Rev. David T. Wilkinson, SOUND BITES Ministry

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THE THINGS WE DO AND SAY

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”  (Ephesians 4:29-32 NIV)

It's one thing for the world to reject Jesus because the people in secular society consider the Gospel to be ridiculous.  It is quite another thing for the world to reject the Gospel because Christians are an embarrassment to God.  The Bible warns us against conducting ourselves so that people end up rejecting Jesus, not because of who He is but because of the stupid things we do and say. 

-- Tony Campolo in “Following Jesus Without Embarrassing God” 

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THE LANGUAGE OF PRAYER

When it comes to prayer, despair makes one eloquent… Sometimes our prayers lack eloquence because prayer seems to us, in truth, to be rather incidental, or perhaps a kind of convenience.  After all, if prayer doesn't work we can always invest more of our hopes in those remedies that money can buy, or that logic can contrive.  I hate to say it, but our comparative abundance may get in the way of greater skill in our native tongue, prayer.  Mind you, despair and faith are not the same, but sometimes despair impels our search for faith.

I want so much for you and me to understand the importance of being bilingual.  I want us to realize that a person who can talk only in the dialects of business, sports, sex, literature, philosophy, and the news of the day is fatally disadvantaged.  Because you and I must eventually, some day, do business with God -- in this world, and in the world to come.  How pathetic to think that we might have to stand before God, eloquent in business, sports, and gossip, and babbling like an infant when it comes to the divine tongue!

Here's the good news -- Divine eloquence is within every person's reach, because it involves the language all of us are equipped to speak.  But -- as with any other language -- you have to care enough to spend some time learning the fundamentals of the language and then expanding your vocabulary and your ease of expression.

Now is the time to be at it.  Not when you're facing surgery the next day, or when your family is falling apart, and certainly not when you're dying.  Now is the time, the ideal time, to become eloquent in our native tongue.  Prayer -- the language that works in both time and eternity.

-- J. Ellsworth Kalas in New Testament Stories from the Back Side

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