Rain. When you are a kid, it is something to have fun in. You play in it, you dance around, and you get completely covered in mud. Even though you’re covered in mud, it’s all good. As we get older, rain becomes something else to us. It becomes an inconvenience. In fact, we can come to resent it. It ruins days. It gets our clothes wet or muddy. It is just yucky.
Jesus said, Matthew 5:44-45 44 But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
It is interesting to me how different people hear the two examples Jesus gives. To you, which of those things is the bad thing? Which of those things is the good thing? I think the vast majority of us interpret sunshine as a good thing. However, if you’re a farmer and the sun has been hot and the land has been dry for a month or more; the sun is not a good thing. For the farmer in that situation, rain is the good thing. Likewise, if you are stranded somewhere where you are parched and hot; the sun is not a good thing. A little rain or a little mist would be very welcome.
Instead of understanding Jesus to be saying that there are both good and bad things that happen to both the just and the unjust, perhaps it would be better for us to understand that God gives life to both the just and the unjust. Sometimes we like the circumstances of our life. That happens to both good people and bad people. Sometimes we don’t like the circumstances of our life. That also happens to both good people and bad people. However, both good and bad people are given the gift of life.
The question is: do we understand this glorious truth about God? Do we see him as a loving Heavenly Father who creates life that unfolds for both good people and bad people? Do we ever marvel that God doesn’t pick favorites when it comes to giving life? Jesus’ point is that God gives life to both those who love Him and those who hate Him. This is the goodness of God. He gives the gift of life to people regardless of their future choices.
Did you catch what Jesus wants us to do with this knowledge of God’s goodness? He wants us to apply it to how we pray for and treat others. “Love, bless, and pray for your enemies,” Jesus says. (see Matthew 5:44 and Luke 6:28) What should motivate us? God’s way of blessing the whole world with life is supposed to be our example and motivation. Love is not to be a special way we treat others. Love is to be our every day mode of acting toward the world around us. Is it?
Something to think about,
Pastor John
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