Golden Rule - Your Reward

It was Mission Sunday at church yesterday. A powerful message was shared by a full-time missionary couple that serves at a boys private high school in Honduras called Escuela El Sembrador. We were also blessed to hear from the short term mission team from our own church family that recently returned from La Paz, Honduras. The stories that were shared tugged at my heartstrings for these Honduran people in need of God's love and His gospel message. These missionaries are "doing good" or "loving their neighbor" in Christ's Name (and His great love) as Jesus directs us to do in the Golden Rule.

This morning I received a tear jerking message from my sister-in-law about how my mom basically did her own mission work during her life. One of mom's missions was in blessing babies with her hand-crafted blankets, afghans and quilts. Here is a quote from a nurse that worked in the same place, at the same hospital as mom did - just not at the same time.

"Aaron's mom was Loralei, right?  Tons of people have nothing but amazing things to say about her!  She sounds like a wonderful woman!  Two of the nurses that I work with were saying how the "newbies" should have met Loralei.  Many of them had wonderful things to say, especially about the quilts she made...how sweet and talented she was.  Three of the nurses had babies that are now 6,7,8,9...they all still have the blankets that she made for them.  Everyone in the room lit up with joy when they were talking about her and telling stories of her.  Aaron was very lucky to have such a warm, amazing, strong mother.  Explains him a lot.  Wish I had met her.  Sounds like she even handled cancer with amazing grace."

Mom's been with Jesus for about a year and a half... but her legacy of love and giving (without expecting anything in return) lives on! Praise God! "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." Matthew 25:40

Let's bring this lesson, on the Golden Rule, home with the last verse of thanks in this passage of Luke (or unthankful in this case).

"But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil." Luke 6:35 KJV

This verse sums up all that I've been writing about and thinking about for months. The new portion is "your reward shall be great" etc. I don't know about you, but I happen to appreciate rewards. Especially rewards from an all-knowing, ever-present, almighty God who has the power to save me from myself and my sins!

So what is this great reward? What does it mean to be the children of the Highest (who is kind to the unthankful and the evil - aka: our enemies)?

The answer is: Eternal life through faith in Jesus and by God's grace we become co-heirs to His kingdom!

"For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared. He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy statement; and concerning these things I want you to speak confidently, so that those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and profitable for men." Titus 3:3-8

Folks that do mission work understand this love of Christ that spills out from their hearts onto the people they serve... sometimes unthankful and evil people. Here's a quote from one such missionary, Jim Elliot, who gave his life to bring Christ to Indians in the Amazon back in the 1950's:

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

Jim Elliot's faith ran deep. He KNEW his Jesus and trusted his life in His eternal care. Praise God, mom knew her Jesus too. They both lost their lives and went to heaven and they both did good in Jesus Name. Your mission field doesn't have to be in a faraway country. Mom made blankets for babies - "the least of these" (and a lot of big people too) and her loving, selfless gesture touched hearts. Mom knew the richness of God's grace and has now received her rich reward in heaven.

"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich." 2 Corinthians 8:9

Our great reward, our inheritance - eternal life - will one day make us rich. This is the supreme and inescapable incentive of all genuine Christian generosity.

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance (reward), the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'" Matthew 25:34-36

Do we deserve this reward? I don't. No matter how much love I show others, how many good deeds I do, or how much I lend or give without thought of repayment... it just doesn't measure up to God's great grace and love. That's the mystery of our Heavenly Father, our protector and provider - His love is so deep and unconditional that it doesn't make sense to our finite minds. It makes me think of the old hymn - "How Deep the Father's Love for Us."

Why should I gain from His reward?

I cannot give an answer

But this I know with all my heart

His wounds have paid my ransom

Another song that speaks this truth is Tim Hughes' "May The Words of My Mouth" where he says, "It's time to live a life of love that pleases You." Here's the YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvNXs71SjkQ

Where is your mission field? Where does God want you to love and do good and give without repayment? He has a plan for you in this, ya know? The nurse from that sweet quote about mom said that she wished she had met her... well, she will in heaven, provided she is one of the children of the Highest. Your reward will be not only great, but the greatest as an heir according to the hope of eternal life! Praise God! Thank You, Jesus!

"'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.'" Luke 10:27

"And be thankful." Colossians 3:15b