Every Day

Matthew 25 follows on in theme from Mt 24. The Lord Jesus is coming again, how are we to live every day until he comes?

1-13 - Be Prepared
The contrast between the wise and the foolish is in the preparations they make. Neither know how long the bridegroom will be, the wise bring extra oil, just in case.
We don't know how long the Lord Jesus will be, so we are to live prepared, as though he might be a long time but will come suddenly and we need to be ready when he comes.

14-30 - Love God
The contrast between the two faithful servants and the one wicked servant is in their love for God. The two love God and so serve their Master without delay and making good use of the generous gifts he has given them. The wicked servant turns God's generosity into cause for blame because he doesn't love God.
How will you display your love for God? Will you receive his gifts? Will you use his gifts in his service? This is what we are to do every day until Jesus comes again.

31-46 - Love your neighbour
The sheep are commended for loving others in the same way as Jesus has loved. The goats are condemned because their is no evidence of love for others in their lives. To not love and care for all in need is to disobey the Lord Jesus and reject his love for you.
I think Carson's comments in his Matthew 13 to 28, in The Expositor's Bible Commentary are plain wrong. Which is surprising since Carson notes that the deeds of the sheep are not the cause of salvation, but the evidence of salvation. How then can you limit the deeds of salvation to those shown to Christian brothers? Carson appears too concerned in his comments to prevent any hint of salvation by works that he mistreats the parable and misses the point.
The second command is that we love our neighbour, whoever needs our care, our help, our love. This is what we are to do every day until Jesus comes again, love as he has loved us.

Love your neighbour - all your neighbours

Over at God's Politics Brian McLaren has a good post with a link to a USA Today editorial by Jonathan Merritt.

I very much agree with the conclusion of Merritt's editorial that our Christian duty is to love our neighbour, all our neighbours, perhaps especially those with whom we disagree. Too often debates about human sexuality become offensive name-calling exercises which display nothing of the love of Christ or the grace that should characterise Christian living. This is espeically important for those claiming the title of Evangelical as we should be people who not only preach grace but live graciously.

I generally don't like theological slogans, which are often theological reductions. 'Hate the sin, love the sinner' is one of those slogans I find less than helpful.

'Love your neighbour as your love yourself' is not a slogan of this type, it is a command of the Lord Jesus. I think it would make a real difference to our debates if we committed to this love of neighbour. If we recognised and confessed that too often homosexual people have suffered abuse and found only alienation from the Church and Christians we might understand our duty to be loving towards such sisters and brothers - even if, as I understand the Scriptures, we must seek to show them that we believe God has a better way for them to exercise their sexuality.
It is not loving to allow someone to continue on what you believe is a wrong path. It is also not loving to so speak to someone, or speak about someone, in ways that are rude and offensive.

Love your neighbour as your love yourself.