How do you do at showing love to people you don’t like very much?  It is easy (most of the time) to love our friends and family.  How we show love to strangers and to the “other” is a truer test of whether or not we are living out the kind of love that Jesus calls us to.  Let’s look at what Jesus says about this when he is being tested by some religious leaders.  The story is found in Luke 10.

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”27 He answered, “‘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, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” 28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” 37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

This parable of the Good Samaritan is probably a familiar one to many of us.  The trick is how are we doing at living it out.  Samaritans and Jews were enemies, religious enemies and they did not associate with each other at all.  He went above and beyond to show love to the Jewish man who had been robbed.  This is the kind of extravagant love that Jesus shows to us.  Sometimes we will ”love” others by doing the bare minimum but this man interrupted his life and poured his resources into helping someone he did not know who was his enemy.  I pray that God would give all of us a heart to love others this way.  After all love is why we are here.

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave