Luke
21:15 ESV
For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries
will be able to withstand or contradict.
Recently I have had the opportunities to point out
injustices on a personal level as well as a community level. In regards to
these, one must ask themselves, “What has happened to customer service”? Many
times when dealing with issues that people have, we have two ways of responding
to their pleas for assistance.
1.
The
Hero Response: I (we) have heard your plea and we understand that your
problem is causing you problems. Let us come up with some resolution together
that can make us both better barriers of the situation, and of the service.
 |
| Hero |
2.
The
Corporate Line Response: Thank you, we really understand, but that’s the
way it is, thank you for calling, you are on your own.
 |
| Corporate Response: |
Matthew Henry’s
Concise Commentary tells us that the Gospel of Luke 21:15 states:
Though spiritual judgments are the most common in gospel times, yet God makes use of temporal
judgments also. Christ tells them what hard things they should suffer for his
name's sake, and encourages them to bear up under their trials, and to go on in
their work, notwithstanding the opposition they would meet with. God will stand
by you, and own you, and assist you. This was remarkably fulfilled after the
pouring out of the Spirit, by whom Christ gave his disciples wisdom and
utterance. (Henry n.d.)
Yes, scripture tells us to bare up under adversity and that
God is with us in times of adversity. This also means that we that call
ourselves followers of the cross have the ability and the calling to be God’s
representatives in regards to the Hero Response. We as the
modern day disciples have a responsibility to come to the assistance of our
brothers and sisters that walk on this earth with us.
Luke 10:25-37 tells us:
The Parable of the Good
Samaritan
25 On
one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked,
“what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 “What
is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do
you read it?”
27 He
answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul
and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as
yourself.”
28 “You
have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do
this and you will live.”
29 But
he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 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[c] 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.”
Brothers and Sisters, when we respond to the cries of God’s
people we can either be the Good Samaritan that utilizes the Hero Response and
stops and helps, or we can be the Priest or the Levite and walk by giving the Corporate Line Response.
Which will you choose to be today, the hero or the corporate line?
The choice is mine, the choice is yours, and how will God look upon our
responses?
This is the day that the Lord has made.
Pastor Tim.
Footnotes:
Works Cited
Henry, Matthew. n.d. Bible Hub. Accessed May
16, 2017. http://biblehub.com/commentaries/luke/21-15.htm.
