The blind man was never asked if he had been good, he was only healed and told his sins were forgiven. The lepers were never told, don’t touch me. Unclean! Jesus could have turned away, it was the law. He could have shunned them. Instead, He made them whole. Only one came back and thanked him.
The homeless person on the street; the bum in an alcoholic stupor; the prostitute in the mini-Skirt; the drug addict; the murderer. Jesus loves them anyway. Can we? Should we? Yes, that is AGAPE love! HURT: Every scripture and example that has been given for love, can also be applied to hurt. All around us, every day, everywhere, are people who are hurting. The smiling man next to you in church may be crying inside.
People seem to be turning to things other than the church. Could it be that when they were hurting, the church wasn’t there? Maybe someone else helped them, the church turned them away.
A tract by a well known Christian publisher depicts a couple who were led to salvation and we‘re asked to attend church. They did, that very night. They were met at the door by an usher who informed them that they were not welcome in church dressed and looking the way they were. They went away cursing the church and God. An awesome load of guilt will rest on this church at judgement.
Hurting people will turn to someone. You are the church. will you be there when they turn to you, or will you send them to a “facility”.
Passing the buck has never been one of the teachings of Jesus or His disciples. It can not be one of our practices. Let’s invite people. Let’s welcome them. Let’s greet them, with love.
Hurts are healed when love is applied. | HATE: And last, but certainly not least, is hate.
I once delivered a sermon in homiletics class on Love and
Hate; opposites, but yet, products of the same emotion.
Paul said you would not know sin, if not for the law. I contend that that you cannot know hate, if you have not experienced love, nor can you know love, if you have
never been hurt or hated.
Many people have never felt the love and kindness we may take for granted in our lives. From birth, some have only known hate. Hate is the absense of love. Their parents didn’t want them, and they knew it. They grew up wondering why no one cared.
This is not an excuse for bad actions, or crime, or any of the other reactions psychiatrists and psychologists blame on being hated as a child. There is no excuse. There are only reasons.
Being hated does hurt, but it is only love, being shown the love of God, that will heal their hearts and cause them to begin to be healed.
We must see them as God sees them. We must overlook the actions caused by their reaction to hate. We must see the child. We must have compassion. We must love them, in spite of themselves.
God loved us, in spite of ourselves. Someone loved you enough to tell you about God,
God’s love, and God’s salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ.
Pass it on. Tell someone else about His love. Be His love. Love covers a multitude of sins.
Love also heals the hurt.
Love drives away the hate.
Love heals the sick.
Love is Jesus.
Jesus is the only way into heaven.
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