Monthly Minute with Pastor Andrew

Hello to all the Monthly Minute readers of West Hempfield Presbyterian Church!

In the July article we talked about Naaman — a villain, an enemy, who did not follow God, who held at least one Israelite as a slave.

Naaman had leprosy. Our expectations might lead us to say something like: “Rightly so! That’s what happens to sinners who reject God. They are punished. Blessings are for those who follow God.”

Against all our expectations, however, God had compassion for Naaman and healed him of his leprosy. 

Now, you might say, “Sure, sure, that’s God. God can do whatever God wants. But we have to be obedient. We have to stand up for what is right and true. We can love our enemies and still punish evil, not reward it. Tough love, right?”

God showed compassion to Naaman, but Elisha didn’t go out to meet him.

When others are wrong, is it our responsibility to correct them? To ignore them? To punish them?

Doesn’t Jesus say “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault” (Matthew 18:15)?

But, of course, Jesus also famously said “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone.”

Let’s look at another couple of Old Testament stories and see if we can find an example of how we, as God’s people, are to treat others. 

Genesis 18:16-33   &   Jonah 4

God tells Abraham, basically, “In the next chapter I am going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.”

There’s a lot going on in these cities, but Scripture tells us “Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.” (Ezekiel 16:49)

Yes, they deserved punishment. Abraham knew this. So what did he do?

In our other story, when Jonah thinks God is going to destroy Ninevah, he gets himself a seat with a view and makes some popcorn. (Jonah 4:5)

Abraham, however, begged God to spare them!

And God reprimands Jonah for his behavior.

A little humility in any disagreement will remind us that there is always the possibility that we are the one who is wrong and maybe we can learn something from the other person. But even when we are confident in our own position, like Abraham, we can pray for mercy and salvation for others. We may find that it is harder to hate and easier to love, even our enemies, when we are praying for their well being. 

Blessings,   Rev. Andrew Wirt