Day 19: Love - It's a Command

One Sunday a male visitor showed up at church, and as I was watching him I noticed that he seemed restless. He kept wandering around instead of sitting down like everyone else. He never took his hat off or stood like everyone else during praise and worship. He did join everyone in taking communion and seemed very interested in Jeff’s message that morning. He appeared to be confused. Then he left. Hmmm who is this guy? Should I have asked him if he would like to sit with us? The reactions of other members after the service were interesting. One woman told me that he did not appear to have a gun, so he must be okay. Another young woman came up to me and asked me if I had seen him and said she was afraid he was going to sit next to her. She said he gave her the creeps. One of the Deacons said he was told that the man was supposed to meet his mother at church and had been asked by a staff member to take him to a Life Group in hopes of finding her there; she was not. Apparently the man left the building alone without his mother. Did you see this man? Were you afraid? What did you do? Like me, did you just observe and let him go quietly away without even a “Good Morning, I’m glad you chose to worship with us today.”

Too often we pass judgment on people and situations we know little about. We know from experience that when we judge in ignorance we can make terrible mistakes, but we also know that we are to be discerning. So how do we balance these two supposedly truths? Scripture tells us in Mark 12:30-31 that the first and most important commandment is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength,” and the second commandment is to “Love your neighbor as yourself.” So what does it mean to love your neighbor as yourself? Does it mean to treat others as you would have them treat you? And then there is Hebrews 13:1-2: “Keep on loving each other as brothers. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.” Did most of us miss an opportunity to minister to this man? I think so, and maybe next time we will come out of our comfort zone and exhibit Christian love to a fellow sinner. I know I will.

Father, forgive us when we fail, give us courage to approach those you place in our paths, and most of all give us a boldness to love our fellow man in order be Your witnesses. We pray in the name of Jesus our Lord and Savior. Amen.

~Elaine Schrader