JULY 2020
TURMOIL As A TIME OF BLESSING
“For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Galatians 5:13-14).
2020 seems to be slipping into deeper and deeper turmoil, and we as Christians are right in the middle of it, whether we like it or not. Here’s the thing, this time of turmoil is really a time of blessing for we who belong to Christ. Right about now, there are some reading what I just said, who are ready to toss me out on my ear. But wasn’t it Jesus who told us to love our neighbors as ourselves in the verse above? Isn’t it Jesus, the Creator of the entire universe, who said, “Whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:27-28).
It seems to me that loving our neighbor looks a lot like serving our neighbor. Jesus said it like this:
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’“ (Matthew 25: 34-40).
We, who are Christ’s hands and feet on this Earth, need to be moving toward the turmoil and chaos of our day. We are called to actively love. We have been set free from curse of sin, which looks inward to our fears, but we are called to now turn outward in love. Love always looks outward to God and our neighbor, and here’s the great part about it, as we love we actually help heal the world around us. 1 John 4: 16-19 says, “So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgement, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us.”
There you have it! We drive out fear by acting in love. Our loving action actually replaces fear. That is a pretty good thing. I am going to go out on a limb again and say it is even a blessing.
Gary Sager
Ambassador of Care
