Thursday, September 4, 2008

Won't you be my neighbor?

So, the most common prayer of a Jewish person is a little thing called the Shema. It goes a little something like this. "Hear O' Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. Trust in the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself" Does this sound familiar to you at all? In the New Testament a Lawyer stands up to to test Jesus. He asks him what he should do to inherit eternal life. Jesus said a very popular Jewish prayer. The man then goes on to ask about who is neighbor is and Jesus slams him with the story of the Good Samaritan. I won't go into how brilliant that was, but you should go and read it. I was thinking about this concept. Jesus tells this man that the most important commands are to Love God with everything we are, and love our neighbor. That's it. All the law and the prophets hinge on that. So is Jesus in essence saying that all humans were created for 2 purposes, to Love God with all our hearts, minds, and souls, and then to love our neighbors? I think I can safely say that loving our neighbor in our day in age can also be synonymous with being the hands and feet of Jesus to our world. This has some power to it. Think about it. If this is what every human being is created for, then is it only the job of the 'hyper religious' guy like oh I don't know, the pastor, to reach the world? No, if the Shema is true then it means that you were created to be the hands and feet wherever you are. It doesn't matter if you preach from a pulpit, work with pipes and wires, or you sit behind a desk, you were created for those 2 purposes. All else is secondary. Your job? Yes, what you do is only secondary to your purpose in life. In an essence, your job IS your ministry. Use it. When you are on the job site, be the hands and feet of Jesus. When you are checking people out of the grocer store, are you loving God with all that you are? For too long Christians have left "ministry" up to the pastors and forgotten that THEY are the pastors to their coworkers and friends. They are the message of Jesus to the world. So my brothers and sisters wherever you are, whatever you do, Love the Lord your God will all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself...May the peace of Christ be with you.

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