The Gospel's Command (part 2)

(part 1)

Before I go too far, I think that Jesus was talking about more than just literally feeding the hungry and watering the thirsty and so on. Should we do these things, physically? Yes. But is Jesus also referring to the spiritually hungry and spiritually thirsty? Yeah, I think so. I believe that we shouldn't just say "ok, you aren't starving, so my job is done." Ok? Ok... now back to the literal interpretation...

How do we know how to love people like this? It would be hard to go wrong to do exactly what the words of Christ say to do: feed the hungry, water the thirsty, etc. But, to be honest, I don't run into too many starving or thirsty people. So, I'll take it to mean "love your neighbor the best that you can, and don't be afraid to think outside the box"...

I want to love my neighbors. Not because I want to convert them to my faith, but because my God tells me to love my neighbors. Plain and simple. Will they ever love me back? Doesn't matter. Will they ever visit my church? Doesn't matter. Will they take advantage of me? Maybe, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't love them just the same. God didn't say "love your neighbor when it's convenient" or "love your neighbor as long as you don't get hurt".

Many of my neighbors don't speak my language. I took 4 years of Spanish in high school, but, sadly, I'm not sure I know much more than "por que no vamos al central y comprar un taco?" (Roughly translated as "how about we go downtown and purchase a taco?") So how do I love my Mexican neighbors if I can't use words? This is a dilemma...

When we got that foot of snow a few weeks ago, I had a great opportunity to love a guy I'd never spoken to before. He lives in an apartment across the street. His car was buried in the snow, and he was trying to get it moving. Folks in apartments don't have snow shovels. I still haven't found mine (lost in the move, apparently), but I went next door, borrowed my neighbor's shovel, and helped uncover a car. Shoveling snow is the same in English as it is in Spanish, you know.

I could tell he was surprised. We worked together for about 15 minutes to dig out his car and clear a parking spot for him on the street. We had language barriers, but I walked away knowing that his name is Oscar, and he lives with his brother and his brother's wife and their kids. He's been in Cincinnati for most of 7 years and works hard. We agreed that once the weather breaks, we're going to bust out the grill and cook some steaks together. Or at least, that's what I think we decided. I hope he doesn't think I said something weird...

Do I think, when the Father is dividing the goats from the sheep, he'll look at me and say "Take your inheritance. For you dug my car out of a snowbank. Whatever you've done for the guy in the apartment across the street, you've done for me"? No, I'm not counting on it. But it felt like something Jesus would have done.

And now I know Oscar. He came to my front porch later that night. He rang my doorbell, I answered. He shook my hand and said "thank you for shovel". And I was just trying to love God.