"Go and do likewise..."

“This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.” (Deut. 30:19)

I used to have this practice where I would go through my day and examine my activities in the presence of God. I would acknowledge the things that seemed to energize me and also acknowledge those things that seemed to drain my energy. The thought was to focus on doing more things that energized me (brought me life) and less things that seemed to drain me (spent my life).

As I performed this daily exercise, I learned more about myself. I understood better what were my gifts, strengths, and likes as well as those things I struggled with and caused me excess stress. I found that praying and connecting with God really gave me strength and energy while being too busy or rushed, drained my energy. I could see more clearly my sin and see regular patterns in places.

During this time, I also learned to pay closer attention to my body rather than ignore it. If something was creating stress in my life and making me sick, perhaps it was another way of communicating it was not God's will for my life.

To be honest, I kind of thought to myself at this point that I had things “figured out.” I would make decisions based upon what seemed to bring me life in the form of making me feel more alive and avoid those things that seemed to drain me like being overburdened.

However, what about those things that God calls for in the Bible that also can drain us? Jesus was regularly pressed on every side so that Him and the disciples didn't even have time to eat. Yet even in this, He still had compassion on the people around Him. At times He snuck away or disappeared but it was a short reprieve and the people found Him again.

God never even talked about the Good Samaritan in the context of what brought him energy and made him feel alive. He just clearly pointed out that the one who showed mercy was the neighbor. He commanded “go and do likewise.”

Jesus told a story of a time of judgment where the “sheep” are separated from the goats.” In Matthew 25:24 he says, “Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation 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; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.'…”

I remember this time of getting something to eat for a homeless man who was hungry. He was mentally ill, off any medicine and not doing well. I had a conversation with him and got him food. Afterwards, he began to make several sexual remarks to me. I cut the conversation short and left at that point knowing he was going to be okay. At the time, the experience felt life draining rather than life giving.

I remember a friend telling me about a time her boyfriend (now husband - John) cared for a homeless man. John agreed to allow him (the homeless man) to live with him on campus. This homeless man did not have anyone else who cared about him and because of this new found relationship was beginning to understand about God's love and make changes in his life.

It was a beautiful thing that John did for this man. However, it was not always easy. His friend lied to him, stole from him and brought drugs into the home. He made huge messes and ate all the food. Eventually, the previously homeless friend of John acknowledged he needed further help and was loved into treatment. However, the treatment didn't stick and he was kicked out back on the streets where he went back to a life of homelessness and drugs rather than make changes.

In another situation, I was speaking to a friend today about his almost six year old son who had some significant behavioral difficulties. He was telling me how his boy still pooped his pants and liked to sit in it. He didn't respond to positive reinforcement and when he was encouraged to go to the bathroom in the toilet, he would meltdown (I assume he would kick, scream and poop would be everywhere).

The situations he was going through with his son did not sound like they were giving him energy. In fact he told me that they were very draining and him and his wife were frequently exhausted and beside themselves for what to do for this little boy they loved so much. He told me it was much easier to give advice to others because in his own situation, they often felt like melting down themselves during the difficult moments.

In another situation, a friend of mine adopted a few kids from another country. The children had been living in an orphanage. They had this picture of adopting these kids, loving them to life and having a wonderful family together. As it turned out, the kids they adopted had significant behavioral and mental health challenges. Two of the three kids had significant FASD issues and were out of control. As they became older and continued with more out of control behaviors, the two of them had to be institutionalized. The parents felt drained and disillusioned.

One more situation - a young man talked to me once about how disillusioned he felt about serving the poor. He had inherited a good amount of money and generously used these funds for creating rental property for the poor. What happened is that as people moved in and out, they frequently failed to pay the rent and they damaged the property. Eventually he ended up expended and totally frustrated. What he thought he had as also an investment he could eventually use for his own retirement, was completely lost.

In all these experiences, people stepped out to follow God and follow His commands. They reached out to love someone to life and ended up feeling drained, weary, spent, and exhausted. So were they really following God? Was God in this or were they outside His will? Perhaps there is someone else out there who was more suited for these situations... they would have been energized rather than drained by the significant challenges and have different outcomes? Perhaps they were doing too much?

Isaiah 58:10 says, “and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.”

In all these cases, people were spending themselves to care for others who had needs. What is similar in all these cases were that there were expectations for the outcome. The people involved in stepping out, serving and loving expected/hoped for it to be easier because they were doing it for God. They also hoped for positive outcomes for the hungry, naked, thirsty, stranger and prisoner.

Maybe where the life can be found is in serving, loving and giving unconditionally - letting go of expectations and outcomes. Some moments can feel like they are energizing and full of life like when the little boy who struggles with going to the bathroom hugs his dad and tells him he loves him. And other moments can be hard like when the boy hits him for suggesting he stop and go to the bathroom and then sits in it for awhile. It is the serving and loving itself that is full of life and worship.

It was probably not easy for the Good Samaritan to care for the man on the side of the road. He probably got blood all over himself and his stuff and he bandaged him and carried him. And we never hear about what happened to the man who was cared for afterwards. Perhaps he was grateful and found God through the experience. Or perhaps he drank himself into a stupor and racked up a really huge bill for the Good Samaritan to pay at the hotel. It seems where God focused His attention was on the Good Samaritan's choice to express mercy – not the difficulty of the moment or outcome for the man in need other than he was cared for.

Sometimes people were so grateful to Jesus for helping them or healing them – but not always.  In John 5:14 Jesus warned the man he healed to stop sinning so nothing worse happened to him and then the man turned around and reported Jesus to the Jews for healing him.  Judas is another example of someone ungrateful that betrayed Jesus.

What was consistent was that Jesus was always full of compassion. Jean Vanier notes that it is what the poor does to us. He writes, “The people we are healing are in fact healing us, even if they do not realize it. They call us to love and awaken with us what is most precious: compassion.”

Perhaps the question to ask ourselves is not how difficult it is, how it makes us feel or what is the outcome but what does it awaken inside of us.   If it is not awakening greater compassion in us, perhaps we are doing it wrong.

Jean Vanier writes, “To become a good shepherd is to come out of the shell of selfishness in order to be attentive to those for whom we are responsible so as to reveal to them their fundamental beauty and value and help them to grow and become fully alive.”

Lord, I feel like I am doing it wrong.  Forgive me and fill me where I lack. We long to be more compassionate like you, even in the midst of the most difficult circumstances. Fill us with mercy for our brothers around us.  Make us more like You.