The Body of Christ

Since coming to Scotland, I have had the opportunity to hear Rusty preach several times, which has been exciting. He often preaches using the Lectionary and several of his messages have addressed love of God and neighbor and what it means to be the Body of Christ. This past Sunday, we had the opportunity to hear a guest speaker, who preached about The Good Samaritan and addressed several of the same issues:
What does it mean to be Christian?
What does love of God and love of neighbor look like?
What does it mean to be Christ's hands and feet here on Earth?
One of my favorite passages Rusty has used is 1 Thessalonians 2:6-8. Paul writes, "...As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you, but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us."
I have often been disturbed by Christians who seem to think the role of the Church is merely to pass judgement and to set a new moral standard for the world. I am saddened to reflect that many Christians "share Jesus" in ways that are hateful, condemning, and anything but attractive to the world. On the contrary, this image is one of LOVE...the tender love of a mother...love that is so consuming it results in the sharing of our very lives.
Rusty and I have been priveleged to truly see this love in action nearly every day since coming to Scotland. It has been incredibly humbling to be on the receiving end of the way that the Church here have shared their very lives with us. The church has worked to help us secure our very basic needs, such as shelter, food, and employment, and they have also displayed a love and a concern for us that is almost puzzling, until I remember that this is the very thing we are called to do as the Body. They have made our burdens their own. These people don't care that we're "outsiders". They simply see us as their brothers and sisters in Christ, and that is enough. What a lesson for a people that is often very egocentric, equating Christianity with a personal piety and ignoring a hurting and broken world.
If I were to leave Scotland now, even after only 5 weeks, I would take with me this life-changing lesson of what it means to be Christ's church and a true picture of Jesus' words in Matthew 22:34-40: "Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 'Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?' Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
If the world does not see our love, they will not see our Jesus...