Luke 10:25 - 42
A priest, a Levite, and a lawyer all walk into to bar…. Or so a joke would go. In this passage a lawyer ask a question, “What do I need to do to inherit eternal life?” The Bible says he was testing Jesus so He threw the question back at the man, “What do you read in the scripture?” The Lawyer answered, “Love God heart, mind, soul, and strength and you neighbor as yourself!” Jesus said, “Do this and you will live!” emphasizing that this is really the truth the lawyer is missing in his life. There were certain people all of the Jews hated; the Samaritans were one of them. Jesus never fooled around with a teaching moment He went straight to the heart. “Who is my neighbor?” the lawyer asked. Then the story begins!
I believe this to be more than a simple story about generosity but one of the heart of true faith. True disciples of Jesus allow love to rule their hearts not their preconceived religious ideals. Don’t get me wrong, traditions help us to remember why we do what we do, they are not wrong in themselves but when they get in the way of serving Jesus and being Jesus to people, they have become our god!
Priest and Levites were in the service of God. If they were to touch a dead body they would have become ceremonially unclean. They would not be able to perform their duties in the synagogue. It seems like a legitimate excuse but which do you think is more important to God, a ceremony or touching someone with love. The ceremony is meant to point people to God and be a representation of His love. The actual caring for a wounded person would have really been His hands extended. The people at the synagogue could have lived another day without the ceremony. The man on the road could not.
It is nice to get the accolades of man. It is nice to get the pat on the back, the “atta boy”, but what God is looking for is, “Who are you?” We are who we are, not when everyone else sees, but when we are faced with a private problem. Our reaction in private reveals our character. The Priest and Levite, if they were living the life they espoused, would have responded to the heart of God rather than the tradition. We all have our weaknesses, we are often defined either by what we do or the relationships we have, both of those should be defined by who God is in our lives. It is great to be the pastor, teacher, usher, worshiper, servant, they are all very key roles in the church but if we forget why we are doing it we need to go back to our first love.
If you have failed a test of character like the priest and the Levite, don’t panic! As humans we will do that from time to time. Our humanity gets in the way of our Christ-likeness. We need to look at it as God revealing something in us that needs correcting. In the follow up story, it happened to Martha. She got so caught up in the service that she forgot the love. Keep your relationship fresh with the Lord everyday. Keep His heartbeat in your heart and you will always know what the right thing is. Your character will be revealed both in the light and the dark as the same. Don’t be afraid when the Lord points things like this out to you. Embrace it as something the Lord is doing to bless you and help you become who you are called to be.
No comments:
Post a Comment