Pastoral Pings (Plus) ~ A Likewise to Go and Do

          Throughout my lifetime, God has often heard me complain that there have been no elders willing to mentor me. I see the way Paul had a father/son relationship with Timothy,[1] and have asked God to give this to me as well. His response has felt very much to me like Paul’s testimony of, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”[2] I just might be at the place where I can now agree with Paul’s response to this, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

          With that as context, this morning this phrase popped into my head, “go and do likewise”. As soon as it entered my conscious thoughts, I knew that it was some kind of missing ingredient in ministry, and was an elaboration of the declaration that God’s grace is always sufficient for whatever his sovereign will chooses for us.

          This reference to going and doing likewise is Jesus’ conclusion to the parable known as “the Good Samaritan”.[3] After asking the lawyer which of the three people proved to be a neighbor to the man in need, and the lawyer acknowledging that it was the one who showed him mercy (even though it was a Samaritan who did the good deed), Jesus simply stated that the conclusion of the parable was, “You go, and do likewise” (vs 37).

          What this communicates to me is that, the pattern of “doing” comes from something that we could do “likewise”, or the same as what someone else did, said, taught, or exemplified. We are to take the thing that someone has actively done for us, and we are to go and do it the same way, even when all the person has done is given us an illustration of how to do God’s will.

          One of the interesting components to this focuses on Jesus as the teacher. When Jesus teaches us something through his word, we now have all that we need to go and do the same thing. When Jesus teaches the parable of the Good Samaritan, something this man only knew as a story that reasoned with his heart, soul, and mind, it was enough for the man to go and do likewise. With this one simple illustration, Jesus could instruct the man that he could now go and live the rest of his life showing the same kind of mercy to his neighbors in need. He could do this with Jew as well as Samaritan. He could do this with Hebrew as well as with Greek, Roman, Ethiopian, or whatever other nationality of person this man met in life. His neighbor was someone in need, and he could do likewise to the actions of the Good Samaritan because Jesus had given him enough to do so.

          This is very encouraging to me. Through the sacred Scriptures, Jesus speaks to me in parables, in history lessons, in songs, in didactic instructions, in metaphors and similes, in examples, in reminders, in every kind of teaching we can imagine, and every one of these lessons has in it some expectation of “You go, and do likewise”.[4]

          Part of the application for me is that I can stop complaining that I have not been mentored in walking with God in the up-close-and-personal way I have desired, because God has given me all I need in the word to live my whole life going and doing likewise. As I do this in fellowship with other believers who are doing the same, we can experience Jesus as head of the body leading us as members of his body in both the unity and the harmony of many parts operating as one.

          When we adopt the mindset of, “You go, and do likewise”, we can take any situation we are facing, look at how the Scriptures reveal people facing the same things, or how Scripture teaches about handling such situations, and we can go and do the same in our circumstances as they did in theirs.

          At the same time, as we foster the habit of spending daily time with God in his word and prayer, and we receive whatever he speaks about on a daily basis, we will have an everyday experience of receiving something from the word that we can end with, “You go, and do likewise”.

          So, today’s message is simple: “You go, and do likewise.” That means to be a neighbor to people in need just like the Good Samaritan. But, it also means, whenever Jesus teaches anything, “You go, and do likewise.” Be like the wise man who built his house on the rock, and that house withstood everything it faced, because that wise man is the one who hears whatever words Jesus speaks, and goes and puts them into practice. (Matthew 7:24-27)  

          In fact, perhaps this will be today’s conclusion, that Jesus shared the “you go, and do likewise” lesson with me, and sharing it with you is one way I can go and do likewise. Perhaps there is someone who comes to mind who needs you to go and do likewise as well.

          From my heart,

          Monte

 

© 2014 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)

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[1] “But you know Timothy's proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel.” (Philippians 2:22)

[2] II Corinthians 12:9

[3] Luke 10:25-37

[4] I am not referring to the time when Scripture refers to a bad example because, in those cases, it is not teaching us something to do, but warning us about things to avoid. In that sense, we can accept that Scripture is teaching us to avoid such behavior, and go and do what Scripture is teaching about the negative example.