Inward and Outward

Jim:
As idividuals we are called to love and to praise God, but it does not end there. We must also look beyond ourselves and love and serve those around us.

Daniel 4:19-27
In the latter part of verse 27, Daniel tells the king to “atone for your sins with righteousness, and your iniquities with mercy to the oppressed, so that your prosperity may be prolonged.” The concern is not only for one’s self (“atone for your sins”), but also for others (“mercy to the oppressed”). In other words, it is not enough to consider your own relationship to God alone, but you must also be aware of how you relate to others and how your actions affect them. Not many of us will ever have the authority of a monarch, but we do not live in a vacuum either. What we do constantly touches others.

1 John 3:19-4:6
The same theme is present in 1 John. In 3:23 the author of the letter writes, “And this is (God’s) commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another just as he has commanded us.” It is not enough to love God or to believe in Jesus Christ. We have got to let that belief lead us out into the community where we are also called to love one another.

Luke 4:14-30
In identifying himself as God’s anointed one (verses 18-19) Jesus used a passage from Isaiah that reads, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Jesus knew that his anointing had everything to do with his relationship with the community, with those around him, with the oppressed, the blind, the poor, the captives. It wasn’t enough to claim a right relationship with God, but that relationship had to have an impact on others as well.