Love Our Neighbour?
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Whenever I would go to one of these big Christian rallies like I did over Easter, and I watch people get overwhelmed with the love of God, I would pray that God too would use me to be a minister of His love. Whenever I would see missionaries go to Africa to meet the needs of the people there, lifting whole villages out of the poverty trap and restoring hope to them, I would pray that God too would one day give me that chance too.
Last month when I was in Bangkok for work the entire week, I would get to and from work on foot, taking the same stretch of the “sky bridge” outside Siam Paragon each day. And each day I would see the same old lady with her kid at the foot of the stairs to the sky bridge begging for money.
As I passed her the first couple of times, I’d get a nudge in my Spirit. I knew it was the Holy Spirit prompting me, but I initially ignored it. When I finally paused and prayed about it in the evening at the end of my work day, the Holy Spirit simply chided me in the most gentle way He usually does, “you said you wanted to be a minister of my love, so here’s an opportunity for you share God’s love to another person, how are you doing that?”
I immediately hesitated. What if I gave her money and she was operating under the mafia with a kidnapped kid? Surely I didn’t want to be supporting organized crime, right? The next thought that came to my mind was - there are so many beggars in Bangkok! Why should I help this one and not the others?
Anyway, I felt guilty for not doing - which by the way, is a terrible reason to do any ministry at all, and the next day when I encountered that woman, I dropped in 20 baht to appease my guilt. That night when I went back, I again felt the Holy Spirit chide me again - I had the opportunity to show God’s love and all I could do was drop in 20 baht to appease my own guilt?
I thought long and hard. What more could I do for this woman? I had already given her money. So the next day on my way home, I stopped by the food court for dinner and bought some food and water from the nearby supermarket. With my bag in hand, I went to the beggar that evening, passed her the bag and although I really just wanted to walk away, I opened my mouth and a Thai-sounding sentence came out. I’m really not sure what I said at all, I don’t even remember what it sounded like, but the woman obviously did, and she brightened up and dug into the bag with the food.
Super pleased with myself at this point in time, I went back to the hotel all smiles. That night however, as I was praying, I again got chided gently by the Holy Spirit. Why? I had thought I had done well. I had given the money, I had bought the food and drink and I was feeling super pleased with myself. But the Holy Spirit prompted me that I could have done much more than that had I listened carefully to Him - I could have used the opportunity to build a relationship with this woman, to restore her dignity, to sit with her for a while, to simply let her know from the act that she was an equal, and loved equally by God. I had taken the easy route, dumped the money and food and walked away, and in my own pride had felt that I had done well.
I am reminded that everything that we do is really clouded my own pride and sin. If we are to be real ministers of God’s love, we would seek out a need and meet it; we would seek out a hurt and heal it; we would restore dignity to the down-trodden. That’s what real love in action is about.
So this week I’m in Sydney for work and tonight on my way back to the hotel, I saw a homeless person looking for a place to sleep on the street in front of an office building. And here was the perfect opportunity to put into practice the lesson I had been taught in Bangkok. Here was an opportunity to be a mnister of God’s love. How was I going to put love in action?
But I did nothing, and kept walking. Back to my hotel and my comfortable warm room and my TV. But then I decided to take some time to pray as I usually would at the end of the day. And the Holy Spirit reminded me again that truly, obedience is the key to being a true minister of God’s love. Simply, obedience.
I started debating with God like Moses did. “What should I do?” “Go meet that need, lift the down-trodden, show some empathy, be a friend to him.” “What would I say?” “You go, and I’ll tell you what to say.” “I’m afraid.” “Perfect love casts out all fear, I’ll go before you.”
So I got up, got changed and headed downstairs and walked to the next block where the beggar was sleeping. He stirred from his nap as I approached. Shit. I sat down beside him and began a conversation.
The ederly gentleman’s name is John. He was forced to live on the streets because he can’t claim his pension money because he doesn’t have a way to satisfy the government officer of his identity. I spent some time with him, tried to relatate to him like an equal, gave him some money and told him I would keep him in my prayers tonight.
Walking away from that gentleman, I had learnt my lesson in obedience. This time. And I didn’t feel glad I helped the guy out. I felt peace.
And I realized that ministry of God’s love doesn’t happen just in the big planned events and mission trips, it happens everyday at our doorsteps. If we would obey the call to love our neighbour as ourselves.