A Thought for a blessedly RAINY 23 October 2015

“You have heard it said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy’.  But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”  Matthew 5:43-45 NKJV

This passage crossed my mind this morning as I am overwhelmingly grateful for this much-needed rain!  But thinking of the rain which comes from The Lord’s Hand and by which the “just” as well as the “unjust” will benefit, what underlying principle could Jesus have been conveying?

There are two ways to look at it.  One, we may consider that the lack of rain as a curse is unfair toward those who are truly “just” even if the “unjust” were somehow being punished.  Or two, we may consider that the genuine blessing from Above is just that: a blessing for its own sake whether one is worthy or not.

I think we should move toward #2, and for this reason: Jesus was sent to a world enveloped by and in love with darkness.  He did not come to save the righteous; He came to heal the sick and save the lost.  Even as He was largely dismissed, Jesus persevered toward the greater end – that of redeeming all of humanity according to the Father’s will.  The “just” and the “unjust”, the “evil” and the “good” benefited from Christ’s willingness to give His all.  There are none more favored than others.  Jesus does not love “you” more than He loves “me”, and He does not love Christians more than He loves atheists.

So when we speak of sanctification (i.e., “going on to perfection”, Hebrews 6:1), we speak of and learn to convey ourselves an Eternal Love that reaches out to those who are, by our own standards, undeserving of such love.  Given that biblical Truth, then, can we offer any less?

Enjoy the rain, and give thanks from whence it comes!  And let us always be mindful that what is offered to us without price is offered to all, and it is the privilege of the Church to offer it.  Let the people of The Lord then declare: AMEN!

Blessings,

Michael