Cut To The Chase

There were two schools of Hebraic thought in the years immediately preceding Christ.  Shammai the legalistic one, whose school had filled most of the priesthood in Jerusalem, and Hillel the teacher of grace, whose lessons were quoted by Jesus more than any other.  There is a story in the Talmud in which a man came to Shammai for conversion to Judaism and said, “I will convert to Judaism on the condition that you will teach me the Torah while I stand on one foot.  Shammai shoved the man aside with a rod.  After all it might well take years to teach someone to serve the Lord.  The man went to Hillel with the same request.  Hillel answered, “That which is hateful unto you, do not do unto your neighbor.   This is the whole Torah, all the rest is commentary.  Now, go and study.” (Shabbat 31a).

Jesus said it in a similar way, “Matthew 22:36 Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 And he said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second like unto it is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 40 On these two commandments the whole law hangeth, and the prophets.

I write this not because it is some great revelation but because it makes our walk with Christ so much easier.  Like the great Rabbi said afterwards, “Go and study.”  The man needed to know about God and what he required.  He needed to know about offerings and sacrifices and service to God.  All those things are important but there is a central truth I learned years ago that was quoted succinctly on the sign of a church near my home.  It said, “Go out and be a fisher of men.  You catch them and God will clean them.”

Our primary responsibility is to reveal the love of God to a lost world and help them embrace that love.  To do this we must love them and then they will desire to know more about this love and God will clean them.  You aren’t trying to create Bible Scholars at that moment.  You are adding your long lost brethren to the family.  Finding out where they fit in the hierarchy of the family will all shake itself out eventually with training and encouragement.  The trick is to show them they are loved and what their basic responsibility to those around them is.

Our walk is not about rules; it is about respect and love.  We respect each other enough to treat each other with respect.  We respect and love God enough to study to see how we might please Him more, not so we can learn to be little Jesus robots.  If you love your spouse and they love you it is easy to discover what they like and do it for them.  If you treat them badly they will find it difficult to do nice things for you even if they are mature enough to try.  God always wants to do nice things for us even when we fall short.  Our response is to do it for Him and all those he sends our way. 

If we keep this in mind and remind ourselves that we are doing it for others because He would do it for us then it becomes easier. 

Matthew 25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

Now is the acceptable time.  Now is the day of your salvation.  At this very moment Jesus is separating the sheep from the goats.  It’s a yes or no test.  Did you do the right thing or not.  Did you do what you wish someone else had done for you (and so rarely does?)  That last part is no excuse beloved.

35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

Why were you hungry, thirsty, naked, sick or in prison?  Was there sin in your life?  Did you fail to love God properly and so you weren’t taken care of?  It doesn’t matter.  God doesn’t judge the life or sin of those who come to Him.  All have sinned and come short of His glory.  Just love them and offer His love to them.

37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38-- When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39-- Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

Notice it is the righteous who are asking the question.  They didn’t consider they were loving God when they did the right thing.  It was just in their heart to help those in need so they did it.  The Love of God was apparently shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Spirit.  It constrained them to go the extra mile.

40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

If you are not in Christ you are the least and the worst.  Your quality of sin doesn’t matter.  The love of God is available to you and we who know this must be willing to share that marvelous love.

41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. 46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

This is the portion that was on my mind before the Holy Spirit even brought this particular scripture to me.  The righteous were those who loved.  The righteous were those who the love of God constrained.  The righteous were those in whom the love of God was shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Spirit.  It doesn’t speak of who said the magic words, “Jesus come into my heart.”  It says that the one in whom the fruit of the spirit is found, they are the ones in whom the love of God abides. 

If the fruit of love is not found in you, can the blood of Christ really be in evidence.  We often say it’s not about works, but that is not exactly true now is it?  Faith without works is dead.  Faith works by love.  The love of God constrains us. 

I remember someone once saying that a smile is not a smile unless it reaches your eyes.  I suppose a conversion is not a conversion unless it reaches your heart.

All the rest is just commentary.

Now go out and love on someone.

Bishop J