Loving Potentially Dangerous People - Part 3

"But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God." - Leviticus 19:34 KJV

For the Hebrew living in Israel before Christ was born compassion was legislated. Foreigners were to be treated with kindness. If a person wanted to live in Israel for a time to work or visit it was allowed. Israel didn't have closed borders. They also didn't have ghettos or prisons.

"Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that giveth any of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones." - Leviticus 20:2 KJV

Justice was carried out swiftly and a stranger didn't have to worship God but they also couldn't practice abominable things within the borders of Israel.

"And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 'This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner shall eat of it... If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it.' " - Exodus 12:43, 48 ESV

This part gets very interesting. The males needed to be circumcised in order to partake so it was a real commitment.

No foreigner was to eat of the Passover but a sojourner was a guest in Israel and they lived on a particular tribes land because all the land in Israel was owned by one of the 11 tribes (the Levites had no land).

"It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones." - Exodus 12:46 ESV

Also the Passover was done in homes not restaurants, shops or inns so if you ate the Passover then you needed to do it in a person's house... sorry no leftovers could be brought home from it either.

The Passover was the recognition of the national salvation of Israel. They phrase 'keep the Passover' is often used but a better translation would be 'make the Passover'. There were no spectators at the dinner table. There were only participants.

Ghettos did form in Israel because Israel was disobedient to God's structure and it caused problems in Israel. Samaria was one of the ones we see in Christ's time.

"The Samaritan woman said to him, 'How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?' (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)" - John 4:9 ESV

Jesus was the one speaking to this woman.

"Jesus answered her, 'If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.' " - John 4:10 ESV

"Jesus said to her, 'Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.' " - John 4:13-14 ESV

Jesus was offering her a better gift than anything that could have been legislated under the law.

"The woman said to him, 'Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.' Jesus said to her, 'Go, call your husband, and come here.' " - John 4:15-16 ESV

This harkens back to the male circumcision necessary to partake of Hebrew hospitality legislated in the law but of course Jesus knew she had no husband. She was a sojourner and practicing that which was abominable on Hebrew soil. Adultery was punishable by death but Jesus didn't come for that purpose. He came to give life.

As I was doing this study I've been pondering McCarthyism and the error of it. The fear of Soviet infiltration lead to a search for anyone who practiced 'abominable' politics and it singled people out and blacklisted them. A dark chapter of American history. It was loveless and brutal.

How do we love people? We invite them to dinner and share the culture of faith.

"The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread." - 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 ESV

A circumcision of the heart is needed to take communion. It isn't a ceremony it is an invitation into the family of God. A stranger can't celebrate the salvation Christ gives as a gift. They can do it outwardly by there are no spectators in this celebration... only participants.

I think we can learn a great deal from the way God instructed Israel to handle strangers. There is great honor and decency there.

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Present Tense Love

We had communion yesterday at Church.

"And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, 'This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.' " Luke 22:19-20 ESV

The wine was sweet and the bread was nourishing. The fruit of the vine. The cup of salvation and the unleavened bread of Passover.

The cross was going to be bitter, brutal and awful. Jesus wanted there to be a sweet taste in the mouths of the disciples, and ours, in regards to the new covenant.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16 KJV

God 'loved', in the past tense, and He 'loves' in the present tense.

The communion we have in Church is a tiny wafer and a tiny little cup of grape juice. The disciples had a whole Passover meal that carried them through the night and into the next day. Israel had this meal first. The blood of it sprinkled on the doorpost of their houses. It carried them over the Red Sea and into freedom. For the disciples there would also be a first born that dies and a night of intrigue that resulted in freedom.

The little wafer and tiny cup of grape juice is not enough to feed us. The taste however is the same sweet taste.

I think of it now as I write this. It is the taste of love... of salvation. Love in the present tense.

"When you come together, it is not the Lord's supper that you eat. For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not... Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged." 1 Corinthians 11:20-22, 27-31 ESV

A sobering passage. We can 'examine ourselves' by availing ourselves to the Holy Spirit's scrutiny and take the cup of salvation while living in the present tense of God's love. Otherwise we will live in the past tense of God's love and have familiarity enter our frame of reference.

I want the memory of Christ' bitter night and what it accomplished to be vivid in my mind. Today I want the tone of my heart to match the memory of the sweet taste in my mouth.

Oh God! Help us today! Help us remember you. Stir up our minds. We avail ourselves now just like we would before communion and present our bodies a living sacrifice today. You are our sweetness... You are our strength... Your Love for us is a right now love. Help us to let go and let You love us. We want to let You love us today.