The Lord delights in those who fear Him, who put their hope in His unfailing love. Psalm 147:11.

We have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. 1 John 4:16 NKJV.

Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.” Luke 10:37.

Yesterday we heard a powerful sermon on the Good Samaritan found in Luke 10:25-37. It begins with the attitude we all claim when Jesus teaches deep truth…of trying to justify ourselves and asking who is our neighbor and whom can we exclude by our own ingrained ideas of unworthiness. What was so poignant was that he showed on every level that Jesus, the Son, is the Good Samaritan and we are the humanity left robbed, beaten, half dead, in need of personal healing physically and spiritually. And our chapter, Titus 1, picks right up with Paul’s letter to Titus, a Gentile, serving the people of Crete, of whom Paul says were rebellious, empty talkers, deceivers, and of whom their own prophet said were “always liars, evil beasts, and lazy gluttons”. We would surely exclude them. Not Creator God – Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Why? Because we are all of us them. And we all of us need the Love that only God can bring into our lives that brings healing change. God’s Love is different from our love in every way that matters for eternity. The Gospel of the kingdom of God.

Paul, a bond servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago, but at the proper time manifested, even His word, in the proclamation with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior, To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. v. 1-4. What a beautiful paragraph of written words the purpose of which is to go deep within us to bring us out of justifying ourselves and into trusting Creator God who gave Himself so we, all of us, could understand the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness in the hope of eternal life with God with us. For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you, namely, if any man is above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion. For the overseer must be above reproach as God’s steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict. For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain. One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” Their testimony is true. For this reason reprove them severely so that they may be sound in the faith, not paying attention to Jewish myths and commandments of men who turn away from the truth. To the pure, all things are pure…but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure…but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. They profess to know God but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.

That may sound harsh but can we see today that truth? To the pure all things are pure…even people, especially people who need the love God brings. We are the humanity that would rob, strip and beat others and we are those robbed, stripped and beaten. Who is the neighbor? The one who shows mercy. And Jesus’ response? Go and do the same. How? Let God’s love be in you and trust Him who tells you to follow Him. He came to humanity doing what humanity does to one another without truly knowing God and His love for His children. And He was beaten, scourged, hung on a cross, dying. And the One who was there with Him? The Father and the Holy Spirit. Humanity did its ultimate worst. Creator God did what only Creator God can do. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. John 3:17. Through His great Love we are saved to follow Him who laid down His life for us to raise it again and be with the Father. We have so much to learn and understand and the Holy Spirit is ready to show us a better way with Creator God and His love for us. And in His love we finally learn how to love one another to the glory of the love of Creator God.