As you might suspect, there are so many good points from this chapter that I just must write about all of them! I promise they won't be long, and we'll get to our SOAPing pretty quickly. ;)
1. "But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you." ~Luke 6:27-28
Wow. Right now I'm so deep in thought that I don't have anything else to say! Definitely a challenge to meditate and pray on quite a bit. I don't know about you, but for me anyway this verse seems to go against everything I'd want to do. But since Jesus said it, I know that with his power and help that I can do it.
2. "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." ~Luke 6:36
Jesus uses this verse to sum up his discussion on loving our enemies. As I said, Wow. Enemies aside, it's hard enough for me to be merciful to the people I love! I don't know about you, but this is definitely an area where I could use some improvement.
3. "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven." ~Luke 6:37
Ahhhh! Does Jesus always have to hit upon such hard subjects?? I don't know about you, but for me at least I've realized that it is sooooo easy to judge other people! But then later I wish I hadn't judged. This lesson really hit home for me last summer when I was attending Cohutta. It was about one of my cabinmates, who I'm gonna call Mark. To me (a person who hates being late, always wants to be on time or a little early), Mark just drove me crazy because he would go so slow, and I thought he was lallygagging. He seemed to always it to line call thirty seconds before everyone had to be there, not the two-five minutes like I liked to be there. I didn't say anything out loud, but I had definitely judged Mark in my mind. I really didn't like him almost making us late so many times.
My whole outlook started to take a completely opposite view of Mark as the week ended. Towards Friday, Sabbath, and as we left on Sunday, Mark started to share about his home life. I felt terrible--I had no clue what a terrible, torn-apart life he was living. I felt really bad about the way I had judged Mark in my mind earlier.
4. "The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks." ~Luke 6:45
OK, OK, last point here before we SOAP! But this point was so good I just couldn't leave it out.
I think a story from Project Apollo illustrates this story well. Since I don't want to judge or condemn any of the astronauts (see previous point!!) I'm not going to release any names here. But I do want to share how what Jesus said in Luke 6:45 is so true.
Pretty much all the astronauts used language that I don't approve of. They would freely use this language with each other and with the people at NASA. However, the astronauts knew that the general public hated this language. So when they were in space and when they knew people could hear them, the astronauts would refrain from using certain words and would have clean conversations.
However, one time on one of the flights, two of the astronauts forgot that they had the mike set so everyone could hear what they were saying! That wasn't so bad until their spacecraft tumbled out of control, and they were truly in a life-or-death situation. In an emergency, I doubt that people think about what they are saying. Neither did the astronauts. One of the astronauts used some language, and everyone heard it and hated it. Later, when he was back on Earth, many people complained about what this astronaut said.
How does this story illustrate the verse? Let's see the verse again:
"The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks."
OK! Onto our SOAP! Sorry--I didn't realize how much I had to say!!
Scripture:
"Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?" ~Luke 6:46
Observation:
Do you know what "Lord" means? Sometimes I think we just attach it to the name "Jesus Christ" without thinking another thought, or really knowing what it means. I seem to remember somewhere in John it talking about how the Gentiles lorded over other people. Basically, told them what to do!
Application:
So with that background in place, we now understand the very pointed question that Jesus asks:
"Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?"
Good question, Jesus! If we call ourselves Christians, but don't do what Christ says, what's the point of calling ourselves Christians? We're just spreading disdain on Christ, as other worldly people see us doing everything they do, but we call ourselves Christians. They won't see the change, the difference that is made when Christians truly follow Christ.
So I have a question for you: do you claim to follow Christ, but don't do what He says?
Prayer:
Dear Jesus, once again I'm totally surrendering myself to you. I know I've claimed to be a Christian, but that's really been in name only. Please, come into my life and make me a real Christian, doing what you want me to do. I love you. Amen.
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