We all have the freedom to make choices for good or for evil — for justice or injustice.  To that end, we are each motivated by our personal feelings, or we — those of us who believe in God — are motivated to do what God’s Spirit determines we should do. When the choice is ours, we can be guided by our emotions, what we think is right and just, or we can be guided by a spirit  — God’s Spirit — of doing good.  It would have been easy for the king of Israel to have beaten people who were already defeated, lost, and broken.  And yet guided by the spirit of God which says, “love your enemies”, Elisha was directed to feed them and give them drink.

         When our enemies or strangers are among us, we have the choice to treat them with kindness or severity — with love or intolerance.  We have the opportunity to show them the love of God or to visit upon them our own personal defiance of their presence among us.  God tells us what we should do.  But in every situation the choice is really ours — to be obedient to God’s word or to become our own ‘god’ and do as we wish.  It takes less effort to show kindness and hospitality than it does to show revenge.  It takes less energy to do good than it does to plot evil against someone.  Showing someone God’s love, grace, and mercy has the power to change any outcome, taking evil and turning it for good.

• What would it mean for you to show someone compassion when the opportunity to hurt them was also available?
• How could showing someone unexpected mercy change their attitude about you?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Merciful God, strengthen me by Your Spirit to be compassionate and show hospitality to my enemies, offering Your grace and justice instead of my anger and retribution.

         We sometimes say we don’t care what other people think of us.  And while that may mean that our decisions are not necessarily guided by how other people see us, we should always be aware that we spend our lives in three courts of justice.  There is the court of personal justice where we justify ourselves whether we are right are wrong.  There is the court of God’s justice where we are held accountable for all of our decisions whether we are right are wrong, hoping for God’s grace when we make a mistake, and hoping for God’s blessings when we do something right.  But there is also the court of public opinion.  It highlights how we look in the eyes of other people.

         When we make a decision or take some action that impacts us personally as well as the world around us, we don’t often consider those three courts.  And yet in the eyes of God, as representatives of God and Christ’s justice and mercy (2 Corinthians 5:20), our position should be one in which we allow people to see God present in us rather than exalting ourselves above God to be God (justifying ourselves).  If we act faithfully to do what is right in the eyes of the Lord, then those who stand in the court of public opinion may judge us, but it will be Christ who will justify us.  When we stand in the court of our God justified by Christ, then we can be satisfied that we have done what is right, whether humanity has understood it that way or not.

• How often do you justify your actions as being right for you, yet giving no thought about how other people might see it?
• What would it mean for you to examine your decisions to act or react in view of what is right in the eyes of God?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Loving Christ, lead me in the paths of righteousness that my decisions — such as they are — will enable people to see that I am guided by what is right in Your eyes and not mine.

         Our biblical mandate to ”treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself,… “ is no different than the Levitical Law, “‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself.  I am the LORD. (Leviticus 19:18).  It’s no different than the “Golden Rule” — “do to others as you would have them do unto you.” (Luke 6:31).  Nor is it any different than the first and second commandment, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.’ (Deuteronomy 6:5).  And it’s reemphasized when Jesus said: “A new command I give you: Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35).

         Yet our difficulty in living this our comes because there are some people who are willing to throw out the biblical mandate to love when they find that the people living around them don’t look like them, speak like them, or are strangers from other cultural communities.  God’s commandment to honor the stranger or to love one another isn’t negotiable.  We don’t have the liberty to choose those to whom we will extend Christ’s hospitality.  It’s not our hospitality we offer.  It is Christ’s.  We can’t be self‑selective about to whom we will offer the love of Christ and who is deserving of it.  It’s not our love to offer, but the love of God that was offered to us freely that we offer in Jesus’ name.

         Those who are immigrants and migrants among us are often seeking a better opportunity, fleeing political persecution, or seeking asylum from cruel dictators.  They are spiritually and socially due what God decrees.  And those of us who define ourselves as Christians should obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29).

         Whether we are obedient to God’s word or simply apply the ideals noted in The United Methodist Church’s social principles, we will have honored God by our actions and not chosen our will purely on the merits of our emotions and prejudices.

• What makes our United Methodist Church’s Social Principles so important to know in our culture and world today?
• How can we be more active in promoting these social principle as we invite all people as our neighbors to join us as committed followers of Jesus Christ?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Loving God, grant me the courage to stand against the inhumane treatment of those who are sojourners with me in this land. Help me to help them experience human dignity as You demand.