“Lending a helping hand”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Friday, June 14, 2024
Galatians 5:25 – 6:10 (Forward, p. 47) CEV p. 1220
Today’s passage is rather clear and straightforward in describing how we should help each other whenever we can, and how we should tire or quit in so doing. Interestingly, Paul is somewhat short in details, except in two instances:
-sharing your material resources with those who teach God’s word
(in other words, teachers and pastors should be paid!)
-gently re-establishing, leading back to the right path, someone who
is trapped in sin.
This latter task is rather tricky to say the least, and so here the apostle Paul becomes rather specific:
-we should not be conceited or claim to be better than we are or
compare ourselves to others.
-we are to look to ourselves, make sure that we do our own work
well and carry our own burdens.
-we should be careful least we ourselves be tempted.
-and we need to be careful and ever vigilant in terms of our own
inner desires and prompting, lest they not be of God. So, what this
says to me is that it is far too easy to let our inner agendas and
prejudices colour how we look at others and how we ‘assess’ their
behaviour. It is far too easy to be critical and judgmental when
neither comes from God, but, rather from our own inner selves
and how we look at life.
And so, our correcting of others needs to be done with great compassion and understanding—only then, as dictated by God and empowered and directed by His great love—as was shown in Christ Jesus. Otherwise, it is not helpful to the person, not helpful at all.
Forward notes: “So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time if we do not give up” (verse 9).
“Binh’s family and three other refugee families jammed into their tiny apartment, and Binh’s nail salon emerged from a boarded-up storefront. It was welcomed with bricks thrown through windows and graffiti. Yet he persisted, repeatedly restoring windows and painting over graffiti.
“Binh appeared in our church parish hall, where hundreds of working poor, unhoused, and prostitutes ate weekly. He set up tables with signs, ‘Free Nails.’ One evening, the neighborhood matriarch held out her filthy hands, ‘Free, huh?’ and sat down. No words were exchanged, only gestures. Others watched as she admired her freshly polished nails: ‘Look y’all.’
“Before long, Binh manicured scores of his neighbors’ nails, all for free. Window breakage and graffiti gradually ceased. Over the next two years, the area was revitalized as more stores appeared and, with them, new relationships. I admired Binh for his persistence, for loving those who shunned him, and for doing what was right.”
Moving Forward: “When you feel unwelcome, what is right?”