A few weeks ago, I asked Darryl how someone he knew was doing. He said he was hoping to visit with them Sabbath afternoon but that he really should be more than just a Sabbath Friend. That thought has been the subject of much chewing on my part. Am I just a Sabbath Friend? Sometimes I don’t even talk to the people I care about even that much. It might be two weeks or even a month before I speak to them again to see how they are doing. In the book Living God’s Love by Douglass Cooper (36, 37), Cooper quotes a poem by George Small:
I read
In a book
Where a man called
Christ
Went about doing good.
It is very disconcerting
To me
That I am so easily
Satisfied
With just
Going about.
When I read that poem what Darryl said flared up in my mind again. Most of the time I’m just “going about” and am at most just a “friend” once a week. I make excuses, I work, I have lots of things to take care of around our house, I’m going to physical therapy, my only free time is too late at night to be of use to benefit others, etc. All of these are excuses. How do I know this? Because a couple of Mondays ago I was sitting having some devotional time in the morning, I knew an elderly friend had surgery the Friday before. I had asked her Friday evening how she was and she seemed to be doing ok. However, that morning I kept feeling like I should again ask how she was doing. I tried to put it off. I need to get ready for work. I’m sure she is just fine. She has lots of friends who I’m sure are checking on her. But the feeling wouldn’t leave. So I said well I’ll just shoot her a quick message. Long story short, I drove her later that morning to Charlottesville because she was having a small complication. Before I messaged her, she had been planning to drive herself. One great blessing of my job is the flexibility. It allowed me to take my friend to get the help she needed. Was I then late to work, yes; did I do all the things that morning I thought were so necessary, no. And it was all ok.
“Jesus Christ did good for no other reason than that He was good, to this kind of love, to this kind of doing good, He calls us. All too often, any good that you and I are prompted to do is based on some ulterior motive… Writing in the Review and Herald magazine, Dr. Sakae Kubo states: He [Jesus] did not make friends to get people to come to church. He did not heal or do good to get them to join His movement… He was goodness for goodness’ own sake, with no ulterior motive (Review and Herald, 20 July 1967, 3)” (Cooper, 37). When I read this passage last week I again not only questioned whether or not I was just a Sabbath Friend but did I have an ulterior motive? Previously, I had always felt a bit guilty if I had visited with someone and we hadn’t really talked about anything religious or perhaps we just had a simple prayer and that was it. I thought for some reason that every time I’m with someone I need to share some kind of Bible truth with them. But after reading this when I search my memory for evidence that Jesus compelled people to follow Him after He healed them I couldn’t think of any. He certainly told some of them to go to the temple to be declared clean but He never said, then come back and follow me. The truths He spoke about God He spoke to those who wanted to hear it. They chose to follow Him out to the mountain or beside the sea or wherever He was to hear His words. Even when He was in the temple, He never forced His presence on anyone and eventually stopped going to the temple because of the murderous attitude of the religious leaders. Love does not force itself on others. It was as if a great burden had been lifted from me.
A desire for the good of others which stems from the love of God should be our motive as it was for Jesus (Acts 10:38). “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). If we are living a Christ centered life, people will notice that there is something different about us. As we mingle with people, they will notice what we say and what we do and whether or not we act differently than most people. When Peter called for the Holy Spirit to heal the lame man and was later brought before the Sanhedrin, even though he was uneducated he spoke with boldness and the people took note that he “had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13). And so it may be with us when we do see an opportunity to speak Bible truths. We don’t need to beat people over the head with what we know. As people get to know us and as the Holy Spirit guides our conversation (whether that happens super-fast in just meeting someone for 5 minutes or slow taking years to materialize), religious topics may come up and we can share our beliefs and our faith without forcing it on someone else. As we become more than just Sabbath Friends, as our care for others displays itself as selfless acts of genuine love, the Holy Spirit will move hearts and minds to be ready to receive the blessings His truth has to offer.