Why Do We Care? Or Do We...

Proverbs 26:17 "He that passeth by, and vexeth himself with strife belonging not to him, Is like one that taketh a dog by the ears."

Today we might say it as, Not my monkey, not my circus. It's a humorous way of saying 'It's none of my business.'

Luke 10:29 ' But he, desiring to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor? 30)  Jesus made answer and said, A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho; and he fell among robbers, who both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31)  And by chance a certain priest was going down that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32)  And in like manner a Levite also, when he came to the place, and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33)  But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he was moved with compassion, 34)  and came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on them oil and wine; and he set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35)  And on the morrow he took out two shillings, and gave them to the host, and said, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, I, when I come back again, will repay thee. 36)  Which of these three, thinkest thou, proved neighbor unto him that fell among the robbers? 37)  And he said, He that showed mercy on him. And Jesus said unto him, Go, and do thou likewise."

This is where the phrase 'Good Samaritan' comes from. In Jesus' time, Samaritans were looked down upon. They had been some of the people from other nations that had been brought in to the land of Judah at the time of the Babylonian captivity. Nebuchadnezzer was the Babylonian king that conquered the land of Judah. His reign occurred from approximately 605-562 B.C. His practice was to take the captured people and spread them around throughout his kingdom, never leaving enough of a group of people together in one place to prevent an uprising against his rule. 

Thus strangers were brought in from different nations to occupy the land. These people intermingled with the remnant of Jews who had been left in the land, marrying their sons and daughters. This was strictly forbidden under the law of Moses, but such things never stopped the Jews. This created a spirit of animosity between the strict keepers of the law and the Samaritans. 

Suffice it to say that Jesus took an opportunity to teach that there is a time and a place to make something our business. The priest and the Levite, both supposedly holy men in God's service, had already passed by as far away as they could away from the Jewish man. The Samaritan stopped and helped. 

I'm not advocating stopping and helping people alongside the road. Years ago we did often stop, and sometimes we still do, but with the advent of the cell phone, most people do have help on the way. What I'm looking at is in today's society we often hear the phrase, "don't judge me. The scriptures tell us not to judge", and so forth. 

What we have here are people who only know one or two verses of scripture, and those are the ones on 'don't judge'. The scriptures don't tell us not to judge at all, but not to judge with hypocrisy. That doesn't mean we have to wait until we are perfect to be able to tell someone that something they are doing is right or wrong. 

When I was in middle school a song called Harper Valley PTA became popular. It was about—if I remember right, a young widow being told by certain members of her community (Harper Valley PTA) that certain things she was doing weren't right. And in the end, she, the widowed woman, Mrs. Johnson, tells the local PTA  their sins and they are just a bunch of hypocrites.

There were a number of wrongs in this song and in this scenario. None of these people on either hand were competent or compassionate judges. One wrong was the sins of those pointing the first finger, but that finger does not excuse the honorable 'Mrs. Johnson' in her sin. Part of the problem is that we all are part and parcel of society. 

We ought to have a say in the standards of that society. In order to form a more moral society, we need better standards. That doesn't mean we should judge harshly or be hypocritical. It does mean we should be able to use good standards for all people.  

If we decide we don't want people walking around with their breeches down around their knees and their underwear hanging out then no one would be exempt. Not men or women. There was at one time a 'foul language ban'. There used to be community standards, some were enforced some were not. At one point some were enforced then became obsolete and are still on the books. 

I don't wish anyone ill, but the phrase, 'what I do in my bedroom is no one else's business', doesn't cut it anymore. We have come to realize who we are in private influences who we are in public. Second place, when people start bringing what they do out of not just their closet but out of their bedroom and parading it down the street it becomes societies' business. 

In the above-mentioned song what the 'hypocrites' did in private (they weren't parading around publicly) influenced Mrs. Johnson to flaunt her sin publicly. We have currently the closet society that has 'come out' publicly. Now we have child love arguments for that twisted behavior. These are both wrong, just as adultery and fornication are wrong. And we need to be able to say so. 

There are a number of things that on the surface don't look to be any of my business but they are because as the poem says 'no man is an island'.

Genesis 4:9  "And Jehovah said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: am I my brother's keeper?"

Hallelujah! What a Savior! 

On the Wrong Bus?

A few years ago I heard of a passenger who ended up on the wrong airplane. There was quite a kerfuffle, and I don't remember when or how it got sorted out. I can't for the life of me understand how such a thing happened. However, most of us have had times we've been lost, or in the wrong place.

A few weeks ago several of us at church were chatting when the subject of going the wrong way on a one-way street came up. It was a small group, but most had that experience. What was surprising is that no one had been injured or caused an accident.

I was in my early thirties and on my way to a doctor's appointment when I turned one light too early and found myself on the one-way street. What to do? My initial response was that I should make a U-turn so I'd be driving in the right direction. Since there wasn't any traffic, it would have worked, but I didn't do that because I thought maybe I would get rear-ended by a car behind me...

Okay, that wasn't my sharpest moment. Point number one there was no traffic coming toward me—that was good news. Number two, I was going the wrong way, and God forbid anyone should be following me.

Luke 15:11  "And he said, A certain man had two sons: 12)  and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of thy substance that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. 13)  And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together and took his journey into a far country; and there he wasted his substance with riotous living. 14)  And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that country; and he began to be in want."

Most of us know the parable of the 'Lost Boy,' or better known a 'the Prodigal Son'. The son that thought he knew better than his father. The young man took all his inheritance and got away from home and family. He was FREE! Of course, it's the old story of fair-weather friends that helped him spend all of his money on wine, women, and riotous living. When the money was gone so were they. He scrambled to find anything to feed himself, and so he was hired to feed the hogs. When he hit bottom, he thought about home and family and decided to go home and become a servant in his father's house. But what about those he left behind? 

Luke 15:20  "And he arose, and came to his father. But while he was yet afar off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him."

It has been suggested that the father was watching for him; longing for him to come home. Having had children leave the nest, I know that does happen for a time. Yet after a time,  be it weeks, months, or years, a parent has to come to grips that your bus travels on, and for the moment that child isn't on your bus. 

Never-the-less, the father saw him coming and ran to greet him. Welcomed him home, and reclothed him, put new shoes on his feet, rings on his fingers and whatnot, as if he'd not left. Took his son back as a son, not as a servant. 

There are two major decisions in life we each must make. The first is whether to become a Christian. As long as you're on that bus, you're heading in the right direction. I know people who choose to follow their own way tooling down the road of life. They see nothing special about the Christian bus, but as we studied in Vacation Bible School this year Jesus said:

John 14:6  "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one cometh unto the Father, but by me."

The second major decision is if and who you choose to marry. When you're on the Christian bus you want someone who will help you on your journey, and ultimately someone who will spend eternity with you and Jesus. It is said that as a Christian you will not go to heaven alone. The sad thing is that as a non-believer you won't go to hell alone either.

If you're on the wrong bus get off now. Nothing really matters as to how what when or why you are on that bus. What matters is that you get off that bus and get on the right one. Remember the Father wants you to come home.

Hallelujah! What a Savior!