Love and Mercy Towards All

This morning I started my Bible reading with Paul's letter to Philemon, a short little letter, mostly personal in nature. There were two lines that caught my attention - Philemon 1:17-18 NIV: "So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. [18] If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me."

I was thinking about how unusual an attitude this is today, taking on someone else's debt, voluntarily. :-) As I was thinking about this verse, I was reminded of a couple other verses as well; Jesus' parable about the good Samaritan, and His other teaching about "doing unto others".

Luke 10:30-37 NIV
"In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. [31] A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. [32] So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. [33] But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. [34] He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. [35] The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ [36] “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” [37] The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

-and-

Luke 6:27-31, 35-36 NIV
“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, [28] bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. [29] If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. [30] Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. [31] Do to others as you would have them do to you.

[35] But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. [36] Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful."

Talk about three challenging verses for this morning. Each of them encourages us to go far beyond normal in our care, love, and treatment of others, even those we don't know, don't care for, or are even our enemies. The end of Luke 6:35 and verse 36 are the most challenging - ..."He (God) is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." That goes so much against our natural tendency. I don't want to be kind to those that are ungrateful, or wicked. I don't want to do good to those that have set themselves against me, or hurt me, or wounded me. I want to punish them some way, not treat them with love and mercy.

We, however, are called to lay down our lives for others (Jn 15:13), to treat others as we would have them treat us (Lk 6:31) to love all (Jn 15:17), to take on others burdens (Gal 6:2), and to be a light (Matt 5:16)! Lord, help me to walk in love and mercy towards all I meet and know.