Seven Days of Praise

 

It might just be good to praise God! Take some time to follow these guided devotionals. Keep a journal of your responses for seven days. See if it might transform your life and perspective. 

The challenge is on!

 

DAY ONE

Purloined Praise

Scripture: Exodus 1-4

 

Heavy bricks. Raw hands. Aching backs. Straw dust. Sleep deprivation. Survival. Little reason for praise. For generations the Hebrews knew these things as their constant companions. Any reason for praise had been stolen (purloined) from them for centuries. God’s people were suffering terribly and for no other reason than they were alive and numerous.  They needed help.

 

In Exodus 3 we read that God sent Moses with a message. “So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians.” What a great thing to hear! At last, a word from Elohim the God of justice! He has heard! He is going to act!  He will see them through!

 

God is the glorious God of mercy and justice. He does have compassion. He will see right done in his time. He is all about saving people from their troubles. In the book of Exodus we see how God performs his mighty work of justice, mercy and compassion for all those who would follow him.

 

We, the adopted descendants of  Moses, Aaron and Miriam, the orphans collected off of the pagan streets, the frazzled slaves of sin, know this through the marvelous work of Jesus Christ. This is the same God who called a group of slaves to be his own and, in a time when praise seemed impossible, gave them a future of praise.

 

God looks at you the same way he looked upon Moses, Aaron, Miriam and all of the Hebrew people.  He sees an individual and a people who need help and compassion.  He also invites us to be part of his great work in the world, to lead people to the Savior so that their stolen joy can be returned.

 

Points to Ponder

·       Read Acts 7:1-53 (a brief history of the Israelites as recounted by Stephen) and write down your observations of the kinds of things that stole points of praise from God’s people.

·       What kinds of things are weighing you down and stealing your joy right now?

·       Have you asked God for help in these things? If not, why not?

 

Prayer: Dear God, I need your help. I ask you to help me to return to a place of praise.  Help me to see through the sorrows, sins and disappointments of this life to the kind of hope that I can seize hold of again. Return to me the joy of my salvation.  Amen

 

DAY TWO

Postponed Praise

Scripture: Exodus 5-6:12

 

Chronic pain, long-term pain, never-ending pain—now those are ugly words. They cast a spell of gloom and torment, depression and resignation. We don’t want those kinds of things in our lives, do we? Neither did the Hebrews. For four hundred years they had been in slavery to the Egyptians. After four hundred years of brick-making don’t you imagine the Hebrews would have just given up?  How many times does a person have to be beaten down by hard labor and cruel slave masters before they give up?

 

There is a reason human beings keep on going even in the face of what seems interminable pain—we have hope woven into our very being.  We were created in God’s image and he gives us his great and precious promises (2 Peter 1:4), so we bear within us this eternal hope that things can get better.

 

No matter how weary they became and no matter how many times they were beaten down, the Hebrews had hope in their hearts because of the promise God had made to their ancestors (Genesis 12:1-3). In the song “When You Believe” sung by the character of Miriam in the film “Prince of Egypt”, songwriters Kenneth Edmonds and Stephen Schwartz penned these wonderful words, “Though hope is frail, it is hard to kill.”  Even though outright praise had been postponed, this tiny flicker of hope could not be snuffed out because the eternal God of Goodness had made a promise to them.

 

Let us remember that our pain is temporary and if we do just as the Lord God has commanded us, as the Lord Jesus Christ has taught us, and as the Spirit of the Lord has enabled us, we will be able to praise God again.

 

Points to Ponder

·        Reflect on Proverbs 13:12. How has hope been deferred in your life?

·        Recall a time when it was difficult for you to praise. What did God do to get you beyond that?

·        What promises has God made to believers generally and to you personally?

·        Read Colossians 3:12-17. How can you help instill hope to those around you?

 

Prayer: Lord God, I thank you for what you are going to do for us in the future. By the power of the Holy Spirit I reach out to take hold of hope for me, for my family, for my church and for our world. Give me the long view—the eternal view—of your work in this world. Amen

 

DAY THREE

Prelude to Praise: Part One

Scripture: Exodus 6:28-7:13

 

It’s going to get worse before it gets better. Have you ever had anyone tell you that before? This is something a doctor hints at. It is another reminder that pain can be temporary. If you have a tumor or a broken bone or an infected tooth, the doctor has to do something. He’s got to cause you more pain to get to the healing place. Doesn’t that seem odd? Recovery from surgery is no fun. But we enter into an agreement with the doctor that we will let him cut our skin, muscles and nerves, causing us pain, so that the pain and poor health conditions we are currently living with would be diminished, if not obliterated.

 

The Hebrews had a cancer—it was the cruel oppression of slave drivers. This cancer, this evil had to be dealt with in a war-like manner.  But they also had something else. The Hebrews had God, the Creator of the Universe, the Sustainer of Life, the Merciful, Jehovah the Provider, the God of Covenant and Promise. God is all-powerful, all mighty, all strong and all compassionate. He brought healing and restoration, hope and comfort, reclamation and strength for their journeys—even through the war of good versus evil.

 

With God, sometimes our path to freedom gets worse before it gets better. And Satan does not want to let us go. So he engages in great spiritual battle with God and with us for our souls. Then God, like a good surgeon who sees exactly what the problem is, also knows that sometimes the pain intensifies before it subsides.

 

Our God is all-powerful, all mighty, all strong and all compassionate.  He brings to us healing and restoration, hope and comfort, reclamation and strength for our journey—even in the middle of the battle.

 

Points to Ponder

·       Where does your strength come from in the middle of your battles?

·       Do you need to rely more on your Savior?  If so, in what specific ways?

·       What kinds of weapons of righteousness do you use the most?

·       Reflect on Ephesians 6:10-20. What else could you employ as you wait for God’s victory?

 

Prayer: I thank you God for my battles. For without them I would not understand how great of a Savior you are. I ask you to give me a taste of the victory that can be ours. Help me to know that the pain that I experience now is not forever. Amen

 DAY FOUR

Prelude to Praise: Part Two

 Scripture: Exodus 7:14-11:10

 

There were ten plagues of Egypt, each topping the other until the final plague that touched the household of the Pharaoh in a very personal way. God gave plenty of room and time for the Pharaoh to make the right decisions for his own people and for the Hebrews. Each plague was announced by Moses and Aaron prior to its arrival. Over and over again God gave Pharaoh the opportunity to change his mind. Imagine how different this would have all been if Pharaoh had acknowledged God! 

 

In the middle of all these plagues, the Hebrews suffered terribly as well. God spared them some of the plagues, but some of the others they had to endure.  It certainly got worse before it got better. What a terrible night during that last plague! Making war with God guarantees sorrow.  

 

It got worse before it got better. In fact, it got really, really bad. What do you imagine the Hebrews were thinking during all of this?  What do you imagine the Egyptians were thinking?  There’s one thing that we know for certain. The Hebrews had God, the Creator of the Universe, the Sustainer of Life, the Merciful, Jehovah the Provider, the God of Covenant and Promise.

 

Indeed we suffer greatly at times—and many times not from things we ourselves have done. We suffer temporary pain from corrupt systems and bad leaders, from the sins of the world, and the sins of our parents.  But we who believe have a promise from our God that our suffering leads us to release from captivity and into peace with him. We must always remember that even when war is raging in our bodies, in our culture or in our spiritual world it is God who leads us into his great future.

 

Points to Ponder

·       What kind of impact has suffering had on your life?

·       In what ways has God sustained you during times of trouble?

·       Meditate on Psalm 116 and share with someone how God has helped you.

 

Prayer: Oh, God my Savior. Thank you for how you have helped me in the past. I pray today for your strength and comfort. Give this same strength and comfort to my neighbors who suffer as I have. Amen

 

 DAY FIVE

Patterns for Praise

Scripture: Exodus 12:1-30. 

 

There are events in our lives that are important to remember. It is important for us to remember how God has delivered us. God knows this about us and he knows how quickly we forget. He is mindful of our humble condition. So when God sets up rituals and remembrances he does it so that we won’t forget his love and compassion.

 

God had given the Hebrews very specific directions to follow to avoid the troubles that the Egyptians experienced. The very specific directions God gave them not only helped them to avoid the pain of death, but prepared them to leave four centuries of Egyptian slavery, and more importantly, to remember his work on their behalf. The very specific directions incorporated the following:  readiness to go, a special type of meal and an offering or sacrifice of the most unique kind.

Readiness, for God, does not imply a state of being perfect, or being cleaned-up or being absolutely prepared for any contingency. It means you are willing to let him do what he is going to do and that you are willing to obey despite your fears. Readiness is required for deliverance.

 

God initiated the Passover—a tradition of helping the Hebrews remember a great and decisive victory of God on behalf of his people. God described precisely why they were to celebrate. In verses 14 and 17 we see that the Hebrews were to celebrate “as a festival to the Lord” and to “celebrate God bringing them out.” In advance of their complete deliverance, God was setting up a time of remembrance for them.  Before they took one step further they were to incorporate patterns of remembrance into their lifestyle and that would lead to praise.

 

Points to Ponder

Each one of us have Passover experiences in our lives.

·       How do we remember them? 

·       What do we tell our children about these events? 

·       Do we tell them that the symbols that we have of our new life with God are far more than just symbols—that they are tangible reminders of God’s deliverance from terrible trouble?

·       How can you set up patterns for praise in the future?

 

Prayer: O Lord, my God, I remember today what you have done for me. Thank you for the symbols of our deliverance. Help me to teach others the importance of setting up patterns for praise in their lives.  Amen

 

 

DAY SIX

Pursuit of Praise

Scripture: Exodus 13:17-14:31

 

The threat of death was all around the Hebrews. Behind them the Egyptian army raged toward them. On their right and on their left walls of water could have collapsed and thundered over them at any moment. And before them the narrow gap that they could see could collapse and destroy all hope. But this was God’s miracle of deliverance. And every one of the Hebrews passed through God’s miracle. As the last foot was planted on the opposite shore, they had the opportunity to pursue praise.

 

God kept his word! God did deliver the Hebrews—and with plunder. They piled so much stuff onto their carts and wheelbarrows that they had more than what they would need for provision ahead! The 600,000 men, besides women and children, literally walked out of slavery and crossed an impassible sea on dry ground! Not one sword or whip touched their skin. That is something worth remembering!

 

You have been given many opportunities to look back and see the times and ways that God has delivered you. How do we know this? It is because you are reading this right now. If it were not for God and his great power and mercy you would have been destroyed multiple times. God’s grace and his power are eternally linked together. Over and over again he has offered the strength of his right arm to you, the deliverance from enemies, the miracles that keep you from ultimate harm.

 

We should respond the very same way the Israelites did.  And when the Israelites saw the great power the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant. (Exodus 14:31)

Points to Ponder

·        What is your life like now because of God’s saving work?

·        How are you now behaving in light of God’s saving work? 

·        Do you need to refresh your memory, repeat some patterns that lead to praise?

·        How should we respond to his great demonstrations of love and power? 

 

Prayer: Oh, God! Let me pursue praise instead of despair; thanksgiving instead of disappointment; rejoicing instead of grumbling. I want to praise you the rest of my life. Free my lips to praise you more! Amen

 

DAY SEVEN

Promoting Praise

Scripture:  Exodus 15:1-21

 

Now the Hebrews truly knew the reasons for unbridled praise! They sang and danced for they had been redeemed! The whole nation rejoiced. Why would they not do so? Four-hundred years of oppression had been obliterated. The oppressors had been completely stopped by God’s mighty right arm. Nature had been deployed on their behalf. Fire, cloud and water were the defensive weapons of their Savior.

 

Moses’ voice range out, “I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted.” And then, as one voice, the entire nation joined in! They had everything to celebrate. This was their very personal God and he deserved their very personal, individual and corporate praise. The moment was ripe for praise. “The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him.”

 

They retraced all of the events together, singing of the sure victory provided by their God.  Aaron, Miriam, their families, their cousins and their neighbors raised their voices in adulation. No one else could have provided such a deliverance! He was most worthy of their praise.

 

And then Miriam picked up a tambourine and delighted the Lord with praise that could not be constrained to just her voice. Her entire being was employed to praise God. She took Moses’ phrase of personal rejoicing and turned it into an exhortation for her people. There was still more singing to be done!  “Sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. Both horse and driver he has hurled into the sea.”

 

Today, remember what God has done for you, your family, your church and your world. You need to sing to the Lord today for he is indeed highly exalted! Write a song to God, declare it publicly, rejoice with your whole being! Lead your people in praising God for what he has done!

 

Points to Ponder:

·        Have you written down God’s victories in your life? Do so in detail thanking him at every word.

·        Have you shared these with other—even the “old victories”?

·        Read Psalm 118 standing up, out loud and with gusto—in front of your Bible Study, family or during your personal devotional time. What did it feel like to praise God in such a way?

·        Sing your favorite praise song as loud as you can and from the depths of your heart.

 

Prayer: Oh, God, you are my God and I praise you today. May my life be filled with praise and thanksgiving to you for all that you have done and all that you will do. I use every fiber of my being to give you praise so that others may join me in the celebration. Amen

 

Excerpts from Who is God? A Devotional JourneyThrough Genesis and Exodus by M.R. Hyde

© M.R.Hyde 2024

 

Good Neighbors Make Good Fences

I want you to imagine with me a beautiful picket fence. There’s one in my neighborhood that I particularly have in mind. It has those wide slats that run along the rails. The tops of the slats vary in such a way that there is an artful sweep between the posts. At the top of each post is a beautiful, simple finial. Let’s image that that fence runs along the boundary of our property. Yes—our property. 

 

You know what they say, don’t you?  “Good fences make good neighbors.” Inside this lovely fence, we can feel safe and relaxed. We can feel comfortable sitting on the porch, drinking iced tea and watching the world go by, while a lovely breeze pushes the baskets of hanging flowers in slow rotations. Occasionally, we have to go out and get our mail from the mailbox near the gate. Ah, yes, good fences do make good neighbors.

 

What is the function of a fence? To beautify, to keep things in, to keep things out, to protect. There are all kinds of fences—pretty white ones, chicken wire fences, split rail, chain link, razor wire. I remember a particular kind of fence from childhood. It was an invisible one. My brother is only two years older than me and when we were young and on family vacations this line drawn between us. It was alternatively him or me who drew it right down the middle of the back seat. It was drawn with precision and much animosity. You know what we said to each other, right? “Don’t you dare cross this line.” That was a type of fence.

 

There appears to be a Biblical law about this matter. In Deuteronomy 22:8 the Old Testament law says, “When you build a new house, make a parapet around your roof…”  What? A fence, a barrier, on the roof? That seems odd, doesn’t it?

 

This portion of the law we just read from Deuteronomy was just that—a portion.  Here’s the whole law. “When you build a new house, make a parapet around your roof so that you may not bring the guilt of bloodshed on your house if someone falls from the roof.”  To understand the cultural context of this law we’re going to have to dig a little deeper. During the time of this law, most homes had flat roofs. The roofs were far more than a covering for their heads or protection against storms. These roofs, as you can also see in many places in the world today, were used for a variety of things. They were used to dry herbs, to thresh grain, to air laundry, to host larger parties and sometimes were even sleeping areas for guests. So, when the Old Testament Law includes the need for a fence on the roof of a house, it is a law based on care and concern for others—for the neighbor. If a guest was sleeping on top of that roof, and woke in the middle of the night, got up and stumbled off of the roof without a fence, what would become of that person? If the roof were high enough that person could die or if were just a single story, that person might break their legs. So, this law was in place to protect fearless children, unfamiliar guests and residents of the house who just might stumble. A pretty good law, right?

 

Again, why are we talking about roof fences? We have a good enough fence right here in front of our place. What would our neighbors think—since we are good, biblical Christians—if we suddenly hired a fence builder to move our lovely picket fence up around the roof of our lovely home because the Bible told us to?

 

Here is where we have to dig deeper still. The Law of God was first given to Moses and a scraggly group of ex-slaves. They had lived under another and brutal law for over 400 years—that law was the whip of the slave driver. Suddenly, by the hand of God, they were freed! Freedom without guidance results in chaos, anarchy and violence. Therefore, one of the most loving things God did when he freed the Hebrew slaves was the establishment of his Law entirely based on his love for his people.

 

Tremper Longman III wrote a great little book called Making Sense of the Old Testament: Three Crucial Questions. In the chapter “How is the Christian to Apply the Old Testament to Life?” Longman describes the structure and function of Old Testament Law. There are three types of Law in the Old Testament:

Ceremonial:    How to worship as God’s people

Civil:   How to be God’s Nation

Moral: How to behave with each other

These laws can be considered either general or ethical laws and are firmly rooted in the oldest set of laws for God’s followers, the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17.)  The first half of the Ten Commandments is about love toward God, while the second half is all about love for our neighbors. The rest of the Law in the Bible, that followed this revelation to Moses and his people, comes directly from just these ten. In fact, there is a wonderful ancient command that sums the Law up beautifully. Deuteronomy 6:4-5 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Love is the foundation of the Law!

 

There is a fourth type of law in the Old Testament. These are called case laws. They are laws which are derived from all the preceding Law of God. In other words, when a situation arose wherein it was not clear how the Law of God was to be interpreted, God spoke through Moses to describe how the underlying principle of Law would apply in that case. Longman states that these are not laws in addition to the Ten Commandments, rather they are applications of the Ten Commandments to the specific situations of the Old Testament people of God.  This is precisely the kind of law we just read in Deuteronomy 22:8—a case law derived from the foundational Law of God.

 

Longman summarizes the role of the Law in this way. “The role of the law remains the same today as in the past: it is our gracious God’s guideline for living that pleases him and is good for us.” It is God’s good fence.

 

So, let’s take that fence down off of the roof and talk about how that case law might be interpreted today in our modern location. There are many local and state laws that require builders to build in certain and safe ways. These laws were made not just to delay building projects or to avoid litigation, but to do what? To protect people. Whether or not you have ever looked at building codes this way, those are codes of love—a rudimentary respect for the life that God has given to every person who enters that house.

 

There are many other laws. The speed limit is not there just to keep us from going fast, but to protect the lives of other drivers and pedestrians. How about city codes that say we have to keep our sidewalks free of snow and ice?  It’s not just a rule that makes us get out of our warm house to do something we really would rather not do. Does that not provide safe passage for anyone on our property, helping them to avoid falls, concussions and medical bills?

 

Centuries after the Law of God was handed down through Moses, a group of religious folks called the Pharisees, challenged our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Now these folks, along with other religious leaders called the Sadducees, had taken hold of God’s law and made it burdensome by adding hundreds of other petty rules that they thought were important to keep the faith with God. But these rules, let’s call them that rather than laws because they were man-made, were so restrictive that they choked out love. These religious folk followed Jesus and his disciples around demanding that they follow rules such as never threshing grain on the Sabbath. But their definition of work was extreme. Some of the disciples were hungry one Sabbath day and simply gathered some grain into the palms of their hands as they walked along. They rubbed the grains together to remove the husks and popped them into their mouths to eat the good protein. The rule-makers condemned them for meeting a basic physical need on the Sabbath. The religious leaders were so consumed with following the Law of God and their own rules that they denied, crushed and obliterated love.

 

In Matthew 9:9-13 we come across another scene where they attempted to abolish love for what they thought was God’s Law.

 

As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

 

While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

 

On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

 

Here Jesus tried to move those religious leaders back to the true meaning of the Law of God—mercy. Mercy speaks to those who others will not. Mercy sits down to table with them and listens to their stories. Mercy feeds, clothes, heals and cares for those within its reach—our neighbors.

 

In Peter’s great sermon after Pentecost he confronted his listeners with this truth. Acts 10:37-38. “You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached—how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.”

 

Do you know that if it were not for the love and mercy of Jesus Christ, our beloved Gospel writer Matthew may never have come to know true freedom and salvation? And then he would not ever have written one of our Gospels that we pour over today? Jesus Christ, who is the one and same God of the Old Testament, lovingly called out to Matthew a Roman tax-collecting, reviled neighbor.

 

Take a look at Matthew 22:34-40. “…the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

 

Can we go back to the Old Testament Law for a minute? Go to Leviticus 19:9-18 and read these words about how love works itself out toward the neighbor.

 

“‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God.

“‘Do not steal.

“‘Do not lie.

“‘Do not deceive one another.

“‘Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.

“‘Do not defraud or rob your neighbor.

“‘Do not hold back the wages of a hired worker overnight.

“‘Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the Lord.

“‘Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.

“‘Do not go about spreading slander among your people.

“‘Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life. I am the Lord.

“‘Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in their guilt.

“‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

 

The Law of God is shot through with love for our neighbors! Everything we do has consequences for our neighbors. Everything we say has consequences for our neighbors. And if those things are done without love . . . may God help us!

 

The Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 2:1-5

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,  then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.  Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus…

 

Do know what love does? It inverts our fences. It pushes our self-protectiveness, our isolationism, our self-satisfaction and self-righteousness, our love-less defenses to the back instead of the front. It reaches out in love to our neighbors because God in Christ Jesus first reached out to us! It doesn’t care what the Pharisees say or think, it sits down with the addicted and demonstrates compassion toward them. It doesn’t think about how lonely it might be; it reaches out to the lonely. Like the good Samaritan, it doesn’t put its nose in the air and walk by the suffering. It stops and provides safety and security for the battered and bruised.

 

I’ve got something new to declare to you today—Good neighbors make good fences.

Good, godly, loving neighbors look out for those around them. We put up fences against wickedness, evil, injustice and hate and open wide our arms to those around us. We are thoughtful about preventing injury to the children in our streets. We vote against destructive legislation. We speak kindly to the abrasive co-worker. We reach out to the wayward and plead with them to come on back to the house that has fence of active love all around the roof.

 

The Apostle Paul had experienced this kind of love when on that Damascus road his Savior confronted him with a full, direct, light-filled intervention of love. After his profound conversion, the teaching of loving Christians and the infilling of the Holy Spirit, he went around doing good as well. He established churches, evangelized the Gentiles, mentored young pastors, rebuked wayward believers and guided congregations into what real love meant.

 

Before we get much further we must come to terms with what godly, neighborly love is not. John R.W. Stott, was an English Christian leader and Anglican cleric who was noted as a leader of the worldwide Evangelical movement. (1921-2011) He wrote a little booklet that was published by Intervarsity Press entitled Who is My Neighbor? The Challenge of Christ’s Compassion. In this booklet Stott comes face-to-face with what it really means to be a loving neighbor. (Emphasis added.)

 

The only limit we have the liberty to place on our giving and serving is a limit placed by love itself. Probably all of us go through a stage of what might be called “indiscriminate charity.” We take certain phrases from the Sermon on the Mount with unimaginative literalism, especially “give to him who begs from you.” So we give to every beggar and respond to every appeal. And certainly an indiscriminate charity is far better than no charity at all. But then we come to see that true love is discerning. It looks beyond the appeal to the real need. It recognizes that it is not always in the best interests of the beggar to yield to his every demand, for he may be a gambler, a spendthrift or drunkard. Then love limits giving, not in order to dodge the challenge but in order to meet it more responsibly.

 

John Stott reflects the actions of Jesus toward the combative religious neighbors of his day. Jesus did not give in to the Pharisees’ tricks or try to placate them. He did not overreact to their loud noises and bristling threats. He rebuked them, calling even some “a brood of vipers”. But he did this out of love for their dying, love-constricted souls. He wanted them to know the love of God in its true state, not bound to religious rituals or petty practices, but pouring out through them to their lost and suffering neighbors.

 

We must read 1 Corinthians 13 in relation to our neighbors.

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love I, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

It is here that we see how love throws down the gate and moves the fence built to keep others out. It moves it behind us to provide for protection for those within our reach. Read how the fence moves because of love.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trust., always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

Paul knew that all the fences we put up in self-righteousness, in fear, in sorrow, in self-centeredness, in stunted spiritual growth, will eventually fall down.

But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man [woman/mature Christian], I put the ways of childhood behind me.

If Paul could use his God-given will and the power of the Holy Spirit to move and replace his Pharisaical, violent, destructive fence, so can we!

Paul also gave us some grace. For we all know that we cannot be completely loving all of the time. Sometimes we’re going to mess up this loving-our-neighbor stuff. And when we do, we ask for forgiveness from God and our neighbor and push that fence back into its right place, believing by faith that someday, when we are sitting at the feet of Jesus, our love will finally and truly be like his.

For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

What if love for our neighbor did not have to be a law? What if it just flowed out of us naturally? Paul wrote that it can. If the love of God, through Jesus Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit, fills our hearts, guess who it pours out on?  Our grumpy, mean, destitute, filthy, lonely, combative, pharisaical, not-like-us neighbors.

Today we have the opportunity to take action with the help of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit may be talking with you about some things right now.

-Is there someone or some people group, some neighbor, that has been brought to your mind?

-If you don’t have love for them, maybe we need to start with two of the most fundamental prayers.

Our Father, in heaven, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. 

Ask God to forgive you of your prejudices, your bias, your blindness—for not loving your neighbor as yourself.

Oh, God, give me more love and love for my neighbors! 

Then we open our hands to receive the limitless love of God for others.

What if we did not feel compelled to draw a line between ourselves and our neighbors? What if we cut down our razor wire fences and put up loving fences behind us? What if we embraced with true love those within our reach and put up protective fences to keep them from harm? What if we had a big pitcher of iced tea and invited neighbors to come to table with us on the front porch—no matter what the Pharisees said?

Will you imagine, visualize, what it would be like if you invited those neighbors to join you at the table of Jesus Christ?  He invited you there. Good neighbors make good fences, my friends, just as Jesus did.

 Amen

 

Copyright 2021 M.R. Hyde