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Pastor Paul A. Fryman: Living to look like Jesus "But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven." - Matthew 5:44-45 NRSV By Paul A. Fryman, pastor State Street UMC, Bowling Green, KY Reprinted with permission of the author; submitted by Annette Richards Children say the funniest things and more often than not they speak the truth in love. Like the father who was at the beach with his children when his four-year-old son ran up to him, grabbed his hand, and led him to the shore where a seagull lay dead in the sand. "Daddy, what happened to him?" the boy asked. "He died and went to Heaven," the father replied. The boy thought a moment and then said, "Did God throw him back down?" But my all-time favorite is the one about the mother who was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin, 5, and Ryan, 3. The boys began to argue over who would get the very first pancake. Their mother saw an opportunity to teach a spiritual lesson here and so she said, "Boys, if Jesus were sitting here, he would say, "Let my brother have the first pancake. I can wait." The boys sat silent for a moment, reflecting on what their mother just said, then Kevin, the 5 year old, turned to his younger brother and said, "Ryan, you be Jesus first." Jesus encourages us in our text above to look like God, to "be Jesus first." How do we do that? It's simple and plain in the passage above from Matthew 5:43-48. We go the extra mile and do these things:Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Why? Because that is how God treats his enemies - with grace. If we want to resemble our Heavenly Father, we must act like our Heavenly Father. If we want to look like Jesus, we must act like Jesus. That means always being gracious. Many years ago a group of salesmen went to a regional sales convention in Chicago. They had assured their wives that they would be home in plenty of time for Friday night's dinner. In their rush, with tickets and briefcases in hand, one of these salesmen inadvertently kicked over a table which held a display of apples. Apples flew everywhere. Without stopping or looking back, they all managed to reach the plane in time for their flight. All but one! He paused, took a deep breath, got in touch with his feelings, and experienced a twinge of compassion for the girl whose apple stand had been overturned. He told his buddies to go on without him, waved good-bye, told one of them to call his wife and explain that he was taking a later flight. He returned to the terminal where the apples were all over the terminal floor. He was glad he did. The 16-year-old girl was totally blind. She was softly crying. Tears running down her cheeks in frustration, she helplessly groped for her spilled produce. The crowd swirled about her, no one stopping and no one to care for her plight. The salesman knelt on the floor with her, gathered up the apples and put them back on the table as he organized her display. He set the battered and bruised apples to the side in another basket. When he finished, he pulled out his wallet and said to the girl, "Here, please take this $40 for the damage we did. Are you Okay?" She nodded through her tears. He continued on with "I hope we didn't spoil your day too badly." As the salesman started to walk away, the bewildered blind girl called out, "Mister..." He paused and turned to look into that innocent face, "Mister...Are you Jesus?" The man probably didn't realize it, but he had received the greatest compliment anyone can give us. May we in our lives this week look like him too! In Christ, Pastor Paul A. Fryman State Street United Methodist Church1101 State Street Bowling Green, KY. Quote for the Week: "The only bad thing about makin' a mistake is to keep on makin' it." - James Nance This story was posted on 2011-05-08 03:41:33
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