Ever felt like giving up?

But he (Elijah) himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down  under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, "It is enough; now, O Lord, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers."  --1 Kings 19:4

Have you ever felt like just giving up?  I think we all have, at some point or another.  There comes a time when you feel like it's not worth it any more, and you simply want to throw your hands up and walk away.

Sometimes walking away may be the best thing you can do.  If you are involved in sinful, immoral, or unethical/illegal behavior, turning away from destructive behaviors is not quitting, it is called repentance.  God will honor that, if He is guiding you to walk in a different direction.

Unfortunately, we do not always go to God with those decisions.  In hindsight, quitting may not have been the best thing for us.  I can think of some examples in my family history.

The story goes that my grandfather heard of a government land grant program in the 1930s or 1940s.  The US government was promoting agriculture, especially in the Western states.  If an applicant would stay on the land for four years, then the land would become theirs; the government would deed it to the grantee.  So my grandfather moved to eastern New Mexico, and took up residence on about 400 acres of land there.  He tried farming it, but the yields were quite low.  Three and a half years in, he took stock of the situation: the land was no good for farming, it wouldn't support him and his family, it was costing more in maintenance and upkeep than it was bringing in.  Furthermore, he had no real friends or family there, he was isolated.  Finally, there was an upswing in demand for factory workers in the cities as the US began its military buildup leading into World War II.  Given all this information, it seemed good for him to abandon the claim, move to San Antonio, and get a factory job.

I don't know if my grandfather prayed about this decision.  I do know that within 10 years of his giving up those 400 acres, they discovered oil on that land.  My grandfather could have been filthy rich if he had found a way to stay on the land for another six months.

My father wanted to move out of the house and go out on his own at a very young age.  He convinced his parents to sign a waiver so that he could join the Marines as a 17 year old.  Over the next four years he was promoted to Sergeant, and was for a time a drill instructor.  He told me that he was approached by his CO about enrolling in Officer Candidate School.  They thought he might have a good shot at becoming a commissioned officer.  Unfortunately, the next OCS class would not start for another six months, and my dad was scheduled to end his initial four-year stint in just a couple of months.  He said he did not think he wanted to re-up in the Marine Corps, then just hang around for four more months waiting for OCS training.  He decided to pass on an extended military career as a potential Marine Corps officer.  He could have retired after 18 years will a full military pension, and at age 35 he could have gone on to a second career.

I am pretty sure my dad did not pray about this decision.  It may not have been God's will for him to continue in the military--the conflict in Viet Nam had not yet started, and he might have been sent over there.  He may have been a war hero, we'll never know.  His thinking, though, was that he did not want to wait another four months for the opportunity to come to fruition.

I was a music major in college.  I loved to sing, and I could read music pretty well.  I did have some trouble learning piano, and that was a requirement.  Also, my original voice teacher retired after my sophomore year, and the new voice teacher to whom I was assigned did not like my vocal technique, and I was forced to repeat a semester.  The news came as I was signing up for classes my senior year that I would not have enough credits to graduate from the School of Music by the end of four years.  I had the choice of sticking with it, fulfilling all the requirements as a "fifth year senior"; or I could change my major, go with a "General Studies" curriculum, and graduate with my class.  I chose the latter.  I didn't want to endure undergraduate work one more year.  I was pretty sick of living in the small college town I had been in for four years.  I was engaged to a pretty young Sophomore, and I was anxious to support her and perhaps start a family.

I don't remember praying about this decision.  I thought it was the logical thing to do--everything I wanted to do next I could do with a General Studies degree.  I could go on to graduate school, I could get married, I could get a full time job.  As it turns out, I never used my graduate degree for anything.  The marriage didn't last--she went back to school and left me for a graduate assistant.  The full time job I got did not turn into a career for me.  Things might have been different if I had stayed with my original degree plan for one more year.

You may have a similar story in your background.  In hindsight, things definitely would have been different had you chosen another path, maybe for the better.  Thankfully, God is able to make all things (including our bad decisions or our quitting too soon) work together for our good and for His glory (see Romans 8:28).  Never lose sight of that.

Many people do lose sight of that fact.  In the examples I cited from my own family history, the decisions had a bearing on potential wealth, glory, or even happiness; but in all those situations, life continued on.  For many, the struggles are not just life altering, but potentially life-ending.  According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, there are at least 123 suicides in the United States each day.  That's an average of one every eleven and a half minutes.  For every "successful" suicide, there are 25 unsuccessful attempts.

Last Sunday, the Associate Pastor of my church cited statistics that said the highest rate of suicide in our county occurred within a three mile radius of our church building.  That's staggering!  As we come together for fellowship and worship, praising God and enjoying communion with other believers, the people around us are losing all hope, and are literally dying.

What can we do?  We can go and find hurting people in the highways and hedges.  We can combat isolationist tendencies, and share hope and healing where we can.  We can identify those whose depression is deep-seated, and try to get them professional help.  Most of all, we can pray.

What would you say to someone who came to you at a vulnerable moment in their lives, and admitted to having suicidal thoughts?  The Bible speaks to this very situation, and it would be beneficial for us to be aware of it.  I know of two people in the Bible who actually committed suicide.  One was King Saul, who found himself overrun by the Philistine army.  1 Samuel 31 tells of Israel losing this battle, and of Jonathan (Saul's son) being killed on the battlefield.  Saul and his lieutenant came under fire from the enemy archers, and Saul was wounded.

As an aside, this chapter comes right on the heels of chapter 30, where we learned of David's successful campaign against the Amalakites, another of Israel's enemies.  David had God's blessing; Saul did not.  David inquired of the Lord before engaging in battle; Saul had not.  David was victorious; Saul was not.  So Saul, having lost his son and half his army, seeing himself wounded and defeated, fell on his own sword and killed himself.  He told his lieutenant that it would be better to die there than to have the Philistines "make sport of me."  Perhaps if he had called upon God, as David had, God might have heard him and had compassion.  God could have turned the battle around, but He was not invited.  I don't want to simplify things too much here, but God will not intervene where He is not welcomed.

The other suicide in the Bible is the disciple Judas.  After Judas betrayed Jesus, he went to the Temple and tried to undo it.  The Jews had given Judas 30 pieces of silver to show them where Jesus was;  Judas tried to give the money back, as if they would release Jesus and things could go back to the way they were before.  That didn't happen, and Judas lost all hope.  He died before he could witness the resurrection of Jesus.  Perhaps if he had waited three more days, Jesus might have forgiven him personally, in bodily form.

I think, though, that people who have lost all hope don't like to deal in "what-if's".  They can't see potential like those of us can who do have hope.  They can't relate to suppositions about what might have happened if someone had not gone through with self destructive behavior.  I think that's why the Bible also includes stories about real people who lost hope, but did call on God, and who had their lives spared from self-harm.  Two immediately come to mind.

The first was Elijah, the great prophet of God. 1 Kings 18 tells of a mighty miracle God performed through Elijah.  The king and most of the Israelites worshiped the false god Baal.  Elijah proposed a test: they would set up two altars, one for Baal, and another for the true God.  Whichever deity that would answer prayers by sending fire from the heavens would be shown to be the true God.  You can read the story.  Baal didn't answer.  God sent fire, and consumed not only the altar before Elijah, but also consumed the altar set before the prophets of Baal.  This resulted in many in Israel returning to the true God.  Not the king, however.  The king sent threats that he would have Elijah killed.  Elijah was deathly afraid, and literally ran for his life.

Exhausted, he sat under a Juniper tree and prayed that God would kill him, or give Elijah permission to kill himself.  Elijah fell asleep, and when he awoke, he saw that God had sent an angel. The angel was preparing food for him to eat, and encouraging him to keep going.  After his physical needs were met, Elijah heard God's voice.  God gave him a kind of object lesson: Elijah's complaint was that he thought he was the only one left in Israel who feared God.  What can one man do?  What difference can one lonely voice make in a world of chaos, in a cacophony of opposing messages?

God's answer is interesting.  He set Elijah up on a mountain, and sent an earthquake.  Elijah knew that God was not in the earthquake.  God sent a mighty, rushing wind, like a hurricane.  Elijah knew God was not in the wind.  God sent fire and smoke, but Elijah knew God was not in the fire.  Finally, God spoke in a still, small voice, and Elijah knew that it was the Lord.  The lesson was that God can work in the smallest, most quiet way, even in the midst of noise from the fire and wind and earthquake.  So Elijah should not worry that he is only one man, with one small voice speaking against kings and princes and prophets and priests, all with a bigger megaphone than he.  Besides, God told him, there were still 700 people in Israel who had not bowed the knee to Baal, who were faithful to the One True God.  He was not alone.

The other story is from Jonah chapter 4.  Jonah had tried to run from God, but God sent a storm to slow the ship sailing the opposite direction.  Jonah had spent three days in the belly of a great fish, who took him back to where he started and vomited Jonah back onto the dry land.  Finally, Jonah brought the word of the Lord to Nineveh, however begrudgingly, and the people heard the message and repented.  Jonah, however, sat on a hillside wishing that God would send fire from heaven to consume the people.  The sun became unbearably hot, and Jonah wished he was dead.  His mortal enemies had been spared by God; the message that he had preached, a message of destruction, had not come to pass.  What good was he?  He hadn't been obedient to God.  He had prophesied one thing, and something totally different had actually happened.  So what good was he?  He might as well be dead, because his identity and purpose had been irreparably compromised.

Again, God saw to his physical need by sending a plant to shade Jonah.  Then He gave Jonah and object lesson: he sent a worm to destroy the plant.  God listened to Jonah complain about the plant dying, then He made this point--Jonah was more concerned about a stupid plant than he was about people.  One plant died, and Jonah had a fit.  Why didn't he care as much about the 120,000 people in Nineveh that had been spared?

If you or I come upon someone in a crisis, who is crying out for help and seems to be longing for death over life, we can do the same three things that God did for both Elijah and Jonah.  First, we can see to their physical needs.  If they are tired, we can encourage them to rest; if they are hungry, we can give them food; if they have a need, we must do whatever we can to meet that physical need.  Jesus encouraged His followers to treat needy people as if they were Christ Himself: "For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited me in; naked, and you clothed me; I was sick, and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to me." (Matthew 25:35-36).  James 2:15 and 16 encourages us to reveal our faith through actions: "If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warm and filled,' and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?"

Second, we can listen to them.  People are crying out, yet no one truly hears them.  That is why they feel alone.  Isolation kills relationships, yet when people feel alone they tend to isolate themselves even more.  They stop talking if they feel like no one is listening.  In our examples from the lives of Elijah and Jonah, God listened to those men, and He heard their hearts.  If we are the Body of Christ, then we must listen as He listened.  We must hear the heart-cry of the helpless and the hopeless.

Third, we must bring a message from God's heart.  Not a message of "be warm and filled", not "hey, get over it," but rather a message that says God has sent someone to meet their unique need at this point in time. We may not be able to preach a sermon to them, but we can show them God's hand in other real-life situations.  Remember, God used object lessons to reach Elijah and Jonah.  He took things they knew, experiences they'd had, and drew spiritual truths out of them.  We can encourage other broken people by being vulnerable, by sharing our own brokenness and showing how God has healed us, how He has made Himself real to us.  God may have brought us out of a very similar situation to the one that our friend who has lost all hope is going through.  All we have to do is share what God did for us.  First-hand experience with loss, with poverty, with abuse, with illness--whatever we have gone through, others are going through it, too.  If God can bring you through your crisis, He can certainly do the same for others that we meet, that we are called to minister to.

We don't have to be perfect.  Thankfully, God can use broken vessels.  We just need to be available.  If God can use a worm to teach Jonah, he can sure use us.

Uniquely equipped for the work of the ministry

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.  --Ephesians 4:11-13a

My father would have been 81 today.  He was a pastor/teacher with a heart for evangelism.  He always taught, however, that it was not his job to be a professional Christian--that we are all called to ministry in whatever capacity God gifts us for.  It is only the job of a pastor to teach us, train us, and motivate us to do the work of the minister.

See, we all have this pre-conceived notion that since we are not Ministers by profession (that is, we are not all called to be pastors or evangelists), that we should leave the work of real ministry to the professionals.  I believe that this is a misinterpretation of the word "ministry".

Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. (Romans 12:6-8)

Nowhere in that scripture does Paul ever say that all of these services are reserved exclusively for the clergy.  In fact, the terms "clergy" and "laity" are mentioned nowhere in the Bible.  Each of us is given a spiritual gift, and each one of us is encouraged to use it for God's glory. "Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs all glory and dominion forever and ever.  Amen." (1 Peter 4:11).

Let me give an example here.  I am a big fan of professional football.  Apparently I am not alone, because hundreds of thousands of fans flock to stadiums all over the U.S., and millions more tune in on television.  Really good players get paid huge sums to play this game in front of all those fans.  But notice this: whenever one of those well-paid players is injured on a play, who is it that comes out to see about him?  Is the one of the other players?  Surely the quarterback would know what to do; does he go to see about his teammate?  No.  What about the coach--isn't his job to look after the health and well-being of all of the players?  No, because the coach and the quarterback are not equipped for this work.

When play is stopped on the field because of an injury, there are two types of people who trot out on the field.  One is a trainer, the other might be a doctor.  And although the doctor makes more money, he isn't the first responder in most on-field injuries.  No, the first one on the field is a trainer, someone equipped with the knowledge of how to assess and deal with sports injuries.

I know some pretty rabid NFL fans.  They know the names and salaries of virtually all of the players, and most of the coaches.  I would venture to say, however, that none of them knows the names of the trainers.  Yet when an injury occurs on the field, who is the most important person in that situation?  Is it the highly paid player?  No, it is the trainer, the one who is uniquely equipped and qualified to offer first aid and medical assistance.

I have to laugh every time an NFL game is broadcast, because the professional broadcasters make a mockery of the English language. Invariably, they will say something like, "The team trainers are administering to" the injured player.  They may be trying to say "administering first aid" or "administering medical assistance."  But that is not what is being done at all.  In this situation, the trainer is ministering to the injured player.  What he (or she) is trained to do is ministry, pure and simple.

We may not have the calling or the training or even the opportunity to minister to someone's physical needs.  Our calling may be to minister to their mental, emotional, spiritual, financial, social, or professional needs.  We may not be well known outside of our circle of influence, and we may not think we are that important since we do not have the salary or title or position of someone else in our circle.  However, our calling is to do the work of the ministry that God has equipped us for, in the place and time He has put us in His sovereign plan.

Because the world does not value ministry (or actively tries to re-define the term--see above--or even devalue it in order to make us ineffective), we may shy away from ministry opportunities.  We may hear the enemy saying, "Don't get involved," or "It's not your problem."  One of my favorite objections is this: "Who died and made you a (fill-in-the-blank)?"  Are you following me here?  The question goes to identity and purpose.  If you are trying to defend the weak, someone may ask "Who are you (identity) to stand up for the rights of this person (purpose)?"

Scripture addresses this, as well.  In the second chapter of Exodus we read about the birth and background of Moses.  Through a divine set of circumstances, Moses was placed in a position of influence in the Egyptian court.  He was literally raised as a prince, but never forgot his identity as an Israelite.  At that time the people of Israel were being persecuted.  Moses observed one of his countrymen being abused by an Egyptian overlord, and he took matters into his own hands.  He killed the Egyptian, and buried him in the sand.

He went out the next day, and behold, two Hebrews were fighting with each other; and he said to the offender, "Why are you striking your companion?" But he said, "Who made you a prince or a judge over us?  Are you intending to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?"  Then Moses was afraid and said, "Surely the matter has become known." (Exodus 2:13-14)

Moses had not yet heard from God, but he was, in fact, a prince over the people.  God had placed him in this unique position in this particular time and place for a purpose.  So the answer to the man's question, "Who made you a prince or a judge over us?" is this: GOD DID.  God put Moses in that position of authority.  God Himself was preparing Moses for greatness.  Later on, God would speak to Moses directly, first from a burning bush, then from a cloud by day and fire by night, and finally "face to face as a man speaks to his friend."

The point is that God has uniquely qualified you for a specific purpose in this place and time.  If men voice objections, we must be secure in our calling.  We must remember that we were appointed by God, not elected by men.

This past week the US president has been in Brussels, Belgium for a meeting of the NATO member nations.  Afterward, he visited London and met with the Prime Minister as well as the Queen of England.  There have been quite a few news stories about different government Ministers over there, and their reaction to the President's visit.

My point here is that each government department or agency has a Ministry, with a Minister appointed to head it up.  There is a Minister of Defense, for example, and a Minister of Education, or Health, or Foreign Affairs.  These positions are important in their function and their purpose within the government, but they are not elected positions.  No one would think of approaching the Minister of Education, for example, and seriously ask, "Who elected you head of all the schools?"  The answer is obvious--the position was appointed by a person of higher authority than the one asking the question.  In the same way, whenever we get called out for exercising our spiritual gifts, we must remember that we were appointed by a Higher Authority.

A friend of mine has the gift of discernment.  When she points out doctrinal error, one might take a defensive position and ask her, "Who made you the authority on Scripture?"  Her answer is always, in the kindest, sweetest way possible, that on her own she is not an authority, but that God has given her a gift, and she is duty-bound to speak the truth in love to all kinds of error, wherever she may find it.  I believe that my gift is teaching.  However, when someone stands up and challenges me, I am often weak and wounded.  I will apologize, and back down, thinking that maybe I was in error on this issue; maybe I don't have the authority God gave me to speak truth to power.  "Maybe," I am inclined to say to myself, "I don't have the knowledge or experience at this time to address this issue to this purpose."  It is at those times that I need to reaffirm the calling of God in my life, and with Queen Esther say, "Who knows whether I was placed in this position for such a time as this?"

 

 

Pike's Peaked

If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.         --Psalm 139:8

When I was younger, my mom would often look at me and assess my well-being.  If I looked a little pale, drained, washed out, pallid, anemic, sallow, indisposed or ill, she would say, "Son, are you all right?  You look a little pekid."  (I think that is a mis-spelling, but I did it on purpose--the term as she used it had two syllables, whereas the more proper spelling "peaked" is often spoken with one syllable; and that pronunciation has a different meaning, as in "his work peaked in the 90's, and it has gone downhill from there.")

Fast-forward to this week.  I have just gotten back from a family vacation with my sister and our mother.  We spent three days in the Colorado Rockies, marveling at God's creation.  One of the sites we visited was Pike's Peak. At 14,115 feet, it is one of the tallest mountains in the Colorado Springs area.

It was my turn to drive my mother's brand new crossover vehicle--bigger than the car I drive, but not as large as some of the Sports Utility Vehicles on the road today.  Needless to say, I was trying to be very careful.  As we ascended past 11,000 feet, near the tree line, my sister commented that I seemed not to be enjoying the scenery as much as she was: my eyes were focused on the center-stripe in the middle of the road.  After she had made this observation, she laughed.  Out loud.  This was followed by some good-natured teasing.  "Don't drive too close to the edge, it's a sheer drop-off there," she said, followed by more laughter.

My grip tightened on the steering wheel, and after a few switch-backs where the road snaked up the mountain face, I started panicking.  I mouthed a prayer, "God help us."  Apparently, my sister thought I was kidding, because she laughed again.  "Mom," she said, "he's praying up here."  I was very thankful when the park rangers motioned us off the road into a parking area, and we had to ride a shuttle to the summit.  Even then, however, I could not look out the window of the 16-passenger van:  my eyes were focused on the seat-back in front of me.  I was praying for myself, my family, and the thirteen strangers in the van with me, but especially for the driver.

You could say this event brought me closer to God.

I let my sister drive down the mountain.  I was still not comfortable on the descent until we reached the tree line again.  I don't know if I thought that, in the event of an accident, the trees would break our fall, or if I felt more comfortable with evergreens in my line of vision, as opposed to only the sky and a sheer cliff past the edge of the road (mere inches from our vehicle.)  I suppose that I should be grateful that my sister felt secure enough with me behind the wheel that she could engage in some light teasing and laughter.  Unfortunately, I did not share in her revelry at the time.

You know, people sometimes talk about "mountain-top" experiences contrasted with periods "in the valley," to describe the highs and lows of their spiritual pilgrimage.  I get it.  In the modern mind trained by charts and graphs, up is always good, and down is always bad.  However, in the real world, valleys are often lush and fertile, while mountains are treacherous and steep.

Jesus said that with a little faith, we can move mountains (Matthew 17:20).  As we watched the mountain move past our vehicle, it took all the faith I had to continue the ascent.  It is the same with our walk:  if God has called us to climb the mountain, it is our duty to continue the ascent, step by step, even if our path seems unstable.  Even if the devil laughs at us, and mocks our fear, and points out the perils in our path, our God-given responsibility remains the same: to put the mountain behind us, and move past it.

There may be a time when our faith is strong enough to remove the mountain, and cast it into the sea (ref. Matthew 21:21).  I believe, however, that the only way to strengthen our faith to the point where we can remove the mountain completely is to climb it ourselves, as many times as it takes to conquer it.  The lady who was driving the shuttle to the summit of Pike's Peak was about as old as I am, but she was not afraid like I was.  She had been on that same road before, many times.  She was more familiar with the terrain because she had been over it time and again.  To her, it was like driving in the valley, but only because she had developed the skill and confidence brought on by climbing to the summit again and again.

You may think that your situation is difficult, that the climb is hard or the path treacherous.  You may wish that God would remove the mountain from your path.  However, it might be that God has placed you on that path for a purpose.  As John Bunyan wrote in Pilgrim's Progress,

“This hill, though high, I covet to ascend; 
The difficulty will not me offend. 
For I perceive the way to life lies here. 
Come, pluck up, heart; let's neither faint nor fear. 
Better, though difficult, the right way to go, 
Than wrong, though easy, where the end is woe.” 

Friend, do not think your spiritual walk has peaked.  You may feel pekid along the way, but the Great Physician is by your side. I would encourage you to read the rest of Psalm 139.

You have enclosed me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me.  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is too high, I cannot attain to it.  Where can I go from Your Spirit?  Or where can I flee from Your presence?  If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.  If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me.  If I say, "Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, and the light around me will be night," even the darkness is not dark to You, and the night is as bright as the day.  Darkness and light are alike to you.  --Psalm 139:5-12

My weekly men's Bible study has been reading through the book of Jonah.  In chapter 2, Jonah said he prayed to the Lord from the belly of the fish--a cold, dark, isolated place that Jonah likened to Sheol, which means the placed of the dead.

I called out of my distress to the Lord, and He answered me.  I cried for help from the depth of Sheol; You heard my voice.  For You had cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the current engulfed me.  All Your breakers and billows passed over me.  So I said, "I have been expelled from Your sight.  Nevertheless, I will look again toward Your holy temple."  Water encompassed me to the point of death.  The great deep engulfed me.  Weeds were wrapped around my head.  I descended to the roots of the mountains.  The earth with its bars was around me forever, but You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.  --Jonah 2:2-6

Jonah was truly in the "valley of the shadow of death" (see Psalm 23:4), yet God was with him.  He is with you, as well.  Revelation 21:1 says that in the new Heaven and new Earth, there will be no more sea.  The treacherous oceans will no longer be allowed to swallow us up.  The pit will be there for the devil and his demons, but the mountain of Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be the throne of God.  We will be on that mountain in the presence of the Lord if we seek His face, and call on His Name.

Is it any wonder, then, that when I was feeling pekid on Pike's Peak, I prayed God's protection?

The Kindness of Strangers

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.  --Hebrews 13:2

God has abundantly blessed us.  He really has.  You may not realize it at any given moment.  You may seem overwhelmed by the pressures of a materialistic society, and only see what you do not have, what you wish you had, or maybe what you once had but don't have any longer.  But when you think about it, if you are breathing, you are blessed.

If you have everything you need, take a moment to thank God for giving you your daily bread, your job, your skills and purpose--He has uniquely placed you where you are to be blessed by Him, as well as to be a blessing to others.

The Bible is replete with stories of how God has blessed His people, both individually and corporately.  As an outgrowth or a continuation of reminders of God's blessings, we are commanded to be a blessing to others.  No less than 36 times the Old Testament records the command of being kind to strangers.  God gave the command to Moses, who in turn commanded the people.  The reason given was so that the people would remember their history, how their forefathers were oppressed in Egypt, and how God delivered them out of the land.  They were to recall how they wandered in the desert for 40 years, a nomadic people without a homeland.  They were never to forget how they were treated during this time, so that they would treat strangers and sojourners in their land with greater respect and love.

The writer of Hebrews repeats this command, but his reasoning pre-dates the Mosaic law.  He reminds his readers, who were mostly from a Jewish background, to be a blessing to all, because in so doing, "some have entertained angels without knowing it (some translations say unaware)."  I can think of two stories of men who entertained angels, and one of an angelic confrontation that might also fit the description given in Hebrews 13:2.  In each instance, the men extended an invitation to one they did not know, and it resulted in a blessing.

The first occurs in Genesis 18.  Abraham is sitting in the shade of his tent during the heat of the day.

When he lifted up his eyes and looked, behold, three men were standing opposite him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth, and said, "My lord, if now I have found favor in your sight, please do not pass your servant by.  Please let a little water be brought and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, and I will bring a piece of bread, that you may refresh yourselves; after that, you may go on, since you have visited your servant. --Genesis 18:2-5

I believe Abraham was a good man.  He had been blessed richly by God.  He had lived a good, long life.  I also believe that when he saw these three men travelling in the heat of the day, his heart went out to them.  He got up from the shade of his tent, and ran to the path or road as the men approached him.  Finally, I believe that Abraham had no idea who they were; to him, they were total strangers in need of rest and refreshment.

Abraham gave them more than a little water and a piece of bread.  He killed a tender and choice calf, and prepared it for them to eat.  He presented the strangers with cakes of bread, curds and milk--all freshly prepared for them.  While all of this was being prepared for them, Abraham spent time talking with the strangers, and listening to them.  At some point, he must have realized that they were not mere mortals, but rather from the heavenly realm.  Perhaps it was when one of them asked for his wife Sarah by name.  Maybe it was when they prophesied that in a year they would have a son.  It could have even been when one of them asked why Sarah had laughed at this prophecy--I can imagine she remained out of sight (but within earshot) of the men while they talked.

The point I am trying to make is that Abraham offered them hospitality first, and then discovered their identity later.  He did not offer them a Mitzvah, (a blessing, or act of kindness) knowing that he would be blessed in return.  He simply offered a meal and the shade of his tent to some weary travelers during the heat of the day.  It was only afterward that he learned of his blessing  We, too, should take this to heart.  When Jesus was on this earth, He relied on the kindness of strangers.  His message was that we should not only offer kindness to those in a position to repay, to those who can offer kindness back to us; rather, we should offer kindness to those who cannot possibly repay (Luke 6:33, 14:14).  When we do this, God will bless us, either in this life or the next.

The second story of showing kindness to angels unaware of who they are is found in Genesis 19, involving Abraham's nephew Lot.  While Abraham detained the Angel of the Lord (who I believe was the pre-incarnate Christ) and interceded for Sodom, the place where Lot lived, the other two angels walked through the city gates.  Lot was sitting at the gate, which meant that he was likely seen as an elder in the town.

Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed down his face to the ground.  And he said, "Now behold, my lords, please turn aside into your servant's house, and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go your way."  They said however, "No, but we shall spend the night in the square."  Yet he urged them strongly, so they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he prepared a feast for them, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.  --Genesis 19:1-3

Again, I believe that Lot did not know who these angels were, or even that they were angels.  They did not appear in glowing white robes, they did not have visible wings, there was nothing angelic about them.  Being an elder of the city, Lot knew those who lived in Sodom, and those who frequently did business in the town.  When he saw the two men enter the city gate, he knew he had not seen them before.  He approached them and offered them rest and refreshment in his home, much like Abraham had.  I believe he would not take no for an answer, because he knew the city streets were not a safe place to be after dark.  I believe he offered them hospitality because he knew they had nowhere else to go.

I also believe that Lot did not realize they were angelic beings until after the feast had been prepared and consumed.  Perhaps it was when the wicked men outside the house were all struck with blindness by the two visitors inside his home.  Perhaps they had told Lot during the feast who they were and why they had come.  In any event, the blessing came only after he had showed them kindness.

What was the blessing?  He was given the opportunity to escape with his wife and daughters before God destroyed the city.  Interestingly, even after being given the opportunity to escape, Lot's wife looked back longingly, and was destroyed just like those within the city.  In a similar way, Jesus taught His disciples to forego the pleasures of this life and strive diligently for the next.  "Remember Lot's wife," Jesus said.  "Whoever seeks to save his life will [eventually] lose it [through death], and whoever loses his life [in this world] will keep it [from the consequences of sin and separation from God]." (Luke 17:32, 33 AMP).

The third angelic encounter to which the writer of Hebrews could have alluded is found in Genesis 32.  This is the account of Jacob leaving the land of his father-in-law, and heading home toward Canaan.  Foreshadowing the story of his descendants, he left a life of servitude, of forced labor (in that he had served Laban for 14 years for the privilege of marrying his wife Rachel, with Leah thrown in as a bonus) and was headed home, toward the Promised Land--the land of his Fathers, the land bequeathed by God to his descendants, a land "flowing with milk and honey."

Unlike the stories of his grandfather Abraham and his cousin Lot, Jacob knew that the encounter was with angelic beings.  The story begins, "Now as Jacob went on his way, the angels of God met him.  Jacob said when he saw them, 'This is God's camp.'  So he named that place Manahim (Two Camps)." (Genesis 32:1).  Some commentators cite this passage as a bookend to the story of Jacob's exile: some 20 years prior, Jacob had a dream of angels ascending and descending a ladder; and now, he has a vision of a company or encampment of angelic beings, whose purpose is unknown to us.  Other commentators say that this angelic sighting is a transition to the next adventure in Jacob's life, one in which he will encounter his brother Esau, and receive the promised inheritance.

In any case, Jacob hears that his brother Esau is heading toward his family and flocks.  Further, it is reported that Esau is accompanied by 400 men.  Jacob is deathly afraid.  He knows that he had cheated his brother out of the birthright, and that he had stolen the blessing of his father Isaac.  Now, he assumes, Esau has amassed an army and they are advancing toward him.  What to do?  They cannot retreat, as Esau's army would surely overtake them, and Laban would not likely defend him.  Perhaps Jacob could appease his brother by sending a huge gift.  If that didn't work, he separated his family into two companies, the first with Leah and her children and servants (if Esau attacked her party, perhaps the others could escape unharmed).  The second company he sent had Rachel and her family and servants.  Jacob stayed behind, isolated and fearful, worried to death about what Esau would do to him.

As Jacob was hiding by himself, with all these unresolved fears and worries, he sees a figure approaching.  It looks like a man; is it a messenger from Esau?  A spy sent to find his whereabouts and report back to his brother?  I can imagine Jacob pouncing on this person.  Genesis 32:24 says they wrestled until daybreak.  As dawn approached, Jacob could surely see that this man was not who he had thought.  Maybe he recognized the angel as one of those within the camp he had seen in verse 1.  Perhaps he realized that this was a supernatural agent when the angel touched his thigh and dislocated his hip.  Maybe the Angel of the Lord (the pre-incarnate Christ) identified Himself to Jacob as they fought.  In any case, Jacob's focus clearly changed.  He wanted certain assurances.  Perhaps remembering the stories he had heard from his grandfather Abraham, Jacob demanded a blessing from this encounter.  He was promised he would prevail, both with men and with God.

From that moment on, Jacob walked with a limp; he likely needed a cane or walking stick to help him get around.  Similarly, when we meet Jesus, our lives are forever changed.  Simon Peter was a gruff fisherman, profane and uneducated, and quite fearful; after he met Jesus, he became a bold proclaimer of the Gospel, a spokesman for God at Pentecost, and an eventual martyr for Christ.  Paul had been a persecutor of the early Church, but when Jesus spoke to him on the highway, he became a prolific defender of the faith and authored much of the New Testament.

In conclusion, angels are messengers from God.  Whenever we meet them, we should treat them well, with respect and hospitality.  However, angels can appear in human form, and we will not know them when we see them.  Therefore we should treat everyone we meet with respect and hospitality, feeding them when they are hungry, clothing them when they are naked, taking them in when they are destitute.  We should do this, not only because we may entertain angels without realizing it, but because Jesus commanded us to do it.  Either way, we will receive the blessing "pressed down, shaken together, and running over."

Our Purpose and Our Calling: Our Faith

I feel like I'm too busy writing history to read it.  --Kanye West

I used to love to study history.  It was so interesting to me, the things that people did that made them famous.  Some stumbled into fame, but most worked hard to make a difference in their world.  George Washington led men into battle, successfully leading a revolution by overseeing the Revolutionary War, then helped shape the new government that transitioned America from being a territory of a foreign monarch into a self-sustaining democratic republic.  George Washington Carver overcame slavery and racial discrimination to gain an education that allowed him to develop innovations in agriculture, compile and promote uses of alternative crops such as peanuts and sweet potatoes, and offer advice to such luminaries as Henry Ford, Calvin Coolidge, and both Roosevelts (Teddy and Franklin).

Some people, however, do not enjoy the study of history.  They claim it is a waste of time to remember names and dates in order to regurgitate them on some academic exam, only to forget them soon after.  The names and dates of the past, they believe, are not as important as the people, places, and things that are going on right now.  The events of today that will somehow shape the future, or will soon be forgotten, consume their thoughts and feelings, their hopes and dreams.

In my men's Bible study that meets every Friday morning, bright and early at 6:00 a.m. (before the workday kicks in and the weekend starts), we have been studying the book of Hebrews.  We have camped for several weeks on chapter 11, the Hall of Fame of Faith.  After six or eight weeks of study, we have finally gotten through that one chapter.

In a way, Hebrews 11 is a historical study, a place where the writer mentioned the names of people throughout Israel's history, with special attention given to the importance of faith to their lives and legacies.  A list of people mentioned specifically includes Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and Rahab in some detail.  Other names mentioned in passing are Gideon, Barak (an assistant to the only female Judge in the Bible, Deborah), Samson, Jephthah, David and Samuel.  Each of these people made a difference in the world, and in history, through the faith that they each individually had in God.

Now, some may say, "So what?  I'm not a king like David; I'm not strong like Samson; I haven't heard God's voice like Noah, Abraham, or Moses.  What does all this have to do with me?"  Fair question, and one that I think the writer of Hebrews addresses in verses 33 and 34.  Each of these people are mentioned by name for their faithful obedience

who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.                 --Hebrews 11:33-34

If we look at our existence not just in the physical realm, but also in the spiritual, we can begin to see the purpose of our calling.  Ephesians 6:12 says, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places."  This is why Paul advised us to take up the whole armor of God.  We can, by faith, make a difference in the spiritual realm.

 Who by faith conquered kingdoms....  The King James Version translates the word conquered as "subdued."  The Greek term actually means "to struggle against, to overcome."  Remember, "our struggle is not against flesh and blood..."  1 John 5:4 says, "For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith."  Fellow Christian, this means you!  The Ruler of this present darkness, Satan himself, comes against you with all his demonic forces to make you weak, ineffective, and demoralized.  Let me remind you, Believer, and Jesus has defeated the enemy--greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.  "Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" (1 John 5:5).

...performed acts of righteousness....  The word translated perform is a word that actually means "work; produce; acquire."  The King James Version translated this term as "wrought"; when we think of wrought iron, we think of metal that has been shaped, hammered and twisted until it becomes something both beautiful and useful.  The word righteousness can mean two things:  In a broad sense, it is the condition acceptable to God; but in a narrow sense, it is the virtue of justice which gives each his due.  Philippians 2:12 admonishes us to "work out your salvation with fear and trembling."  Part of that work is to point out error (not in a judgmental way so as to condemn someone to hell, but rather to bring them to the knowledge of God.)  If someone will not heed our warning and mend their unrighteous ways, we are to follow Jesus's admonition in Matthew 10:14, "Whoever does not receive  you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet."

...obtain promises....   You can obtain something in one of two ways:  either you can work for it, or you can come upon it by chance.  The promises of God are outside of ourselves, and by the Providence of God (by His grace and mercy), they are available to you free of charge--you don't have to work for them.  As for the promises themselves, they are an announcement or proclamation of life in fellowship with Christ.  As a child of God, a joint-heir with Jesus Christ the Son of God, you have access to more than you know.  "Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen." (Ephesians 3:20-21).  Again, Beloved of God, that means you.

These divine promises do not come without peril.  There may be obstacles placed in our path. There may be persecution for doing the right thing.  Seeing the next phrase, shut the mouths of lions, I am reminded of the story of Daniel.  However, we know that 1 Peter 5:8 says, "Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." If we are faithful, we can not only ignore the growling we hear from Satan, but we can actually shut it up completely.  Be vigilant, my friend.  Never let your guard down.

Many martyrs throughout history have been burned alive for their faith.  The phrase quenched the power of fire reminds me of Joan of Arc.  Some may remember her as one who was burned at the stake for her faith.  But it was her words that are her lasting legacy.  When asked at her trial whether she believed she was in the grace of God, she said, "If I am not, may God place me there; if I am, may God so keep me."  Like the Old Testament story of Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego, the fire had no power to command them to renounce their faith.  The fire was ineffective; their faith remained.

Though many have been killed for their faith, many more have escaped death in order to accomplish God's purpose.  In the 1950's, there was a Dutch missionary who called himself Brother Andrew.  His mission was to smuggle Bibles into Eastern Europe, past what was called "The Iron Curtain."  His 1967 book God's Smuggler is a testament to one man's faith and the good that can be done for God if we are obedient to Him.  Truly we can escape the edge of the sword by God's hand.

You may be thinking, "But my faith is so weak."  In our text, we see the phrase from weakness were made strong.  The Apostle Paul got a word of knowledge from God, a divine message that he shared with us in 2 Corinthians 12.  Paul was being beset by "a thorn in the flesh."  Whether this was a physical ailment, or (as the phrase was commonly used in the Old Testament) a reference to nay-sayers, people who would follow him around and refute everything God had told him to say, we don't know for certain.   What we do know is God's response:  "And He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness'.  Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me." (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Do not lose faith.  Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual forces of darkness.  Thankfully, God has equipped us with the tools to overcome.

Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength

God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.  --Genesis 1:27

Have you ever gone out in the country at night, away from all the city lights, and looked at the night sky?  You can see millions of stars that seem to go on forever.  Sometimes, when I gaze at the universe, it makes me feel small and insignificant--one of almost 8 billion people on the third planet from an insignificant star, one of billions of stars in one of trillions of galaxies.  Yet all of these galaxies, all of these solar systems, all of these people--everything was created with a word.  That word was spoken by a God who loves us deeply, passionately, without equivocation; a God who lives within the heart and soul and mind of every believer.

Knowing this, that the God of the Universe created me, and loves me without end, what does He require of me?  One of the Pharisees in Jesus' day asked that very question.  Jesus answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." (Luke 10:27).  Have you ever stopped to think why Jesus would answer in this way?  I'm not talking about the battle of wits the Pharisees were trying to have with God-in-a-man, or how He was so adept at side-stepping their attempts to trap Him with His words.  I'm talking about the truth that was spoken by Jesus in this statement: we can do nothing more holy, more righteous, more god-like, more loving or respectful or pleasing to Him than to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength.

Why is this so?  I believe I know the answer.  He wants us to love Him in this way, because this is how He loves us, and we are created in His image.  We were made to be like Him.  "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." (Ephesians 2:10).

So how can we know what God is like?  How can we emulate His heart, His mind, His soul, and His strength?  The only way we can truly know God is by studying His word, the Bible.  Yes, we can confirm experientially what God says in His word, but we cannot change the word of God by our limited, sometimes sinful, experiences.  I would like to point out a few verses that show us what His heart and mind and soul and strength is like.

His Heart and Soul
Ezekiel 36:26 says, "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh."  God wants to take away our hard-heartedness, and replace it with a soft heart.  The term "of flesh" here is the same as we would use in the phrase "my own flesh and blood," when speaking of a close relative.  Several scriptures use a similar term, "my bone and my flesh" (see Genesis 29:14, Judges 9:2, 2 Samuel 5:1 and 19:13--in all these examples, people were expecting grace and favor because of the familial connection).  So when God takes away the stony heart, and replaces it with a new one, it is as if He endowed us with His own heart, or welcomed us into His family.

Gazing upon the heart of God is like studying astronomy--thousands of scholars working thousands of years could not fathom it all.  But there is one man that Scripture said had the heart of God, and that was King David.  David was said to be "a man after God's own heart", not because of David's righteousness, because David sinned many times.  Rather, it was because God had chosen David (see 1 Samuel 16), and David answered God's call.  The least of Jesse's sons was destined to be the greatest of Israel's human kings; and when God through Samuel sought him out and anointed him, David took his anointing seriously.

We, too, were chosen by God.  "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9).  It was God who reached out to us first so that we could respond, either by accepting His call and His anointing, or by rejecting Him completely.

The Bible also says that David was led by the Spirit of God.  "Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward." (1 Samuel 16:13).  We, too, must be led by the Spirit of God.  This does not mean we must be perfectly righteous for all time.  It does mean that our world-view is a spiritual world-view; that our foundation is a spiritual foundation; and that our goals are generally and specifically spiritual goals.  We are to glorify God in everything we do, and when we fail, we must pick ourselves up, accept the consequences, and keep on trying to glorify God.

Finally, the Bible says that David spent time alone with God.  After Samuel anointed him king, David went back to his job as a shepherd.  He wrote many of the Psalms we find in the Bible during this time of preparation.  In the same way, when Jesus was on the earth, he often got away by Himself to pray.  How much more should we zealously protect alone-time with God!  We must not waste the time that God gives us, but rather turn off electronic media, and redeem the time by getting to know God first-hand through Bible study and prayer.  It's what David did.  It's what Jesus did.  How many more examples do we need?

His Mind
1 Corinthians 2:16 says, "For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him?  But we have the mind of Christ."  As we begin to know God's heart, He will give us insight into His mind.  Paul said:

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men.  And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.  --Philippians 2:5-8 (NKJV)

God thinks of us all the time.  Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." (NKJV).  We, therefore, should think of Him all of the time.

Finally, believers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by God's word, whatever is pure and wholesome, whatever is lovely and brings peace, whatever is admirable and of good repute; if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things [center your mind on them, and implant them within your heart].  --Philippians 4:8 (AMP)

 His Strength
God is all-powerful, yet He became a man--a man unlimited in power, but limited in strength.  Jesus slept, because He was tired.  He ate, because He was hungry.  He had all the physical limitations of a man, but spent all of His strength doing good.  He taught men about God.  He healed the sick, raised the dead, caused the blind to see and the deaf to hear.  And when all of His strength was ebbing away in death, His last prayer for us was, "Father, forgive them."

He literally spent all of His strength so that we could have access to God.  By His sacrificial death, our sins were atoned for; we can stand spotless before the Throne of God because "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3:16).

Knowing what we know about the heart and soul of God, the mind of God, and how His omnipotent strength was applied, how can we not follow Him?  How can we not love Him with all of our heart, with all of our soul, with all of our mind, and with all of our strength?  We must, so that the world may know Him through us.

Going against the grain

In return for my love they act as my accusers; but I am in prayer.  --Psalm 109:4

Yesterday we heard a sermon on forgiveness.  One of the things the preacher said in passing really stuck with me.  He said when someone comes to him complaining about being mistreated, or being called names, or generally getting their feelings hurt, his first response is generally, "Well, did you die?"

His point was not that we tend to blow things out of proportion, which we do.  His point was not that we are raising a generation of coddled, thin-skinned, crybabies (which we are).  His point was that we shouldn't be taking our complaints about someone to another person.  We should first take it to the person who offended us.  If they don't repent, we take one or two of the elders to act as mediators.  Finally, if that doesn't work, we give it to God, who knows all about mistreatment.

You see, Jesus was mocked.  He was spat upon.  He was smacked around, beaten by fists, flailed at with reeds, flogged by a Roman cat-o'nine-tails whip, and finally nailed naked and bleeding to a wooden cross.  His reaction?  "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

This attitude of forgiveness was foreshadowed in Jesus's teaching to His disciples.  Matthew 5:44, Jesus rebuked those who preached hate by saying, "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."

The words Jesus used do not really translate well into English.  We have all heard great preachers and orators.  One of the things that made them great was the word choice, the cadence, the alliteration and imagery and synecdoche.  Let me explain.

The Greek word Jesus used that is generally translated, "those who persecute (you)" is dioko which means to pursue, to chase, to drive or cause to run, and when used in a legal context, is means to prosecute.  This is who Jesus was telling the disciples to be on the watch for.  He knew beforehand what He would suffer at the hands of the relentless prosecutors.  He also knew that His followers would be persecuted in much the same way.  He told them this, not to scare them or to make them avoid persecution, but rather to encourage them.  "Count it all joy, my brothers," James said, "when you fall into various trials." (James 1:2).

How do we do that?  The Greek word Jesus used that is generally translated "bless" is proseuchomai (pro-seh-YOO-koh-mah-eh).  Sounds a lot like "prosecute", doesn't it?  But its meaning is quite different.  It literally means to offer prayers for.  It is a combination of Greek words: pros, meaning towards or by reason of, and euchomai meaning to pray to God.  It is the root word for eucharist, which we usually think of as a Latin mass, but literally it means thanksgiving.  Can you imagine someone who would endure a beating and think, "God, thank you for that person who just struck me.  I lift up that person to Your throne; make Yourself real to them."  It is almost unfathomable, but it reveals the heart of Christ.

But wait--there's more!  The companion verse in Luke 6:28 says, "Bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you."  The Greek word for bless is eulogeo.  It's where we get the term Eulogy, the nice words we say about someone when they pass away.  Jesus's message to us, however, is not to wait until they die to say something nice about them, but to even say it when they are mistreating us.

Now, I'm not saying that you should stay in an abusive relationship.  But when you get to a safe place, I believe that Jesus was telling us not to speak ill of that person.  I must confess, this part of Sunday's sermon hit me pretty hard; I know of several people that I like to bad-mouth when they are not around.  One of the points made in the sermon was that God will give us the same measure of grace that we give to others.  Forgiveness doesn't necessarily help the one who offends us, but it certainly helps us.  (Plus, there's the added bonus of "heaping coals of fire on their heads" as described in Romans 12:20, but that is conditional--it only follows if we find our enemy hungry and we feed them, and if we find our enemy thirsty and we give them a drink.)  How many times do we gloss over the verse that says, "But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions." (Matthew 6:15).   Again, let's drive home the point--God gives us the measure of grace that we give others.

Bless all people, especially those who hurt you.  Pray for everyone, but especially for those who have done you wrong.  Then you will be able to see the heart of God.