A Ministry of Love ~ TRUE LOVE

Morning Star Ministry ~ A Ministry of Love
Loving the Unlovely Matthew 8:1-15

I had walked up on two women in conversation. One of them I knew and the other was a total stranger. I had placed my hand on the upper back of the stranger listening in on the conversation and started caressing her upper back shoulder blades. After a few seconds the woman turned to me and jumped back. She had this evil stare at me and said, "What are you doing?" I looked at her off guard and had to think for a moment. Then I told her that I was giving her "True Love." She looked at me with contempt and said, "I am STRAIGHT!" I did everything I could to not laugh and decided to walk off before my friend introduced me to the stranger. She felt that a caress had a sexual intent.

I was talking to some other people and turned to see the woman that I placed my hand on her back earlier standing next to me. I smiled and she said, "Your friend told me who you were and I want to apologize for my actions. I didn't know who you were." I smiled at her and said, "It's alright, I forget that I touch everyone all the time and never give it a second thought." She said what made her jump was that she could feel this warmth on her upper back like someone placed something very warm on her and that she was not use to something like that. I told her that it was God's love and that it brings warmth to those who receive it and feel it. I then asked her for a hug and she allowed it. I did give her a long caressing hug and the smile on her face afterwards made it all worth it. She had received God's TRUE LOVE! When I touch, I send a blast of the Holy Spirit into them. Many people don't understand the feeling that they get. A weak mind will go in the wrong direction. A strong Spiritual heart embraces.

I gave a man and a woman a hug and they both caressed my entire back with the long hug. I did the same and we smiled at each other and went with God in our hearts. Caressing is Love for one another. True Love and not some ill intent that so many put on that word. I had one gentleman caress my stomach and I asked why he was doing that? He said because it needed to be. I said okay.
Another woman put her hand on my chest, between my breast and placed her hand there and closed her eyes. I could actually feel her love through her hand. She opened her eyes and I gave her a long hug and love from my heart. That is TRUE LOVE!

 Here is some other types and examples of TRUE LOVE; Jesus had just come down from the mountain where He had set forth the great truths about what it meant to be His disciples. Among them, He said that it was easy to love people who love you. More difficult, Jesus said, was to love those who do not love up. Matthew's gospel tells us that no sooner had He come down from the mountain than He had to put into practice some of the very things He had been preaching. Almost immediately, it seems He had three encounters with three very different types of people. From them we can learn a great deal about what it means to be His follower and to be a citizen of his kingdom of TRUE LOVE.

First, we can see that He Touched the Untouchable. Matthew tells us that this untouchable was a literal untouchable, a leper. Luke's description of the same encounter says the man was "full of leprosy." Apparently, this man did not have just one lesion or a few snowy white spots on the skin. To paraphrase, it might be said that this man was eaten up with leprosy. In The Miracles of Christ, David Redding describes leprosy in this way:
"No other disease can touch its hideous talent for mixing agony with horror. It strikes a small spot on the skin silently, like a viper, and no one notices until the dreaded numbness sets in and the deathly snow-white color gives it away. Then the victim is subjected to a savage siege of terror as the killer advances slowly, relentlessly, spreading like a venomous stain, finger by finger, often erasing the face first, leaving behind a messy trail of ugly scabs and sores like open sewers. The hands are frozen into claws long before they drop off. The feet boil up into bandaged stumps before they are left behind. The leper's voice breaks into a cracked record of its former self and his features draw tight into the infamous leonine look until they too leave. The flesh rots off, bones give up, inch by creeping inch. Where it stops nobody knows. In odor and appearance, leprosy has no competitor."

Of all the diseases described in the Bible, no disease was more horrible than leprosy. Horror and pain bombarded the leper daily. Jewish law forced these victims outside the mainstream. Lepers were considered cursed by God and suspected of terrible sins. After all, why else would God punish someone so terribly unless they had done something awful. At least this is what they believed.

Of all of the miracles performed by Jesus, few were as spectacular as those where He healed lepers. We don't know why this man came to Jesus in such an advanced state. Surely, he must have thought his leprosy was so terrible that even Jesus could not heal him. He perhaps heard that Jesus told of a God of love, and lived a different lifestyle. Jesus was moved with compassion. "He touched him." Jesus didn't have to touch him. He healed others without a touch. Why did He do it? I believe He did so to show compassion, to affirm and to reassure. It had been so long since this man had known human touch but Jesus sensed that he needed it. He loved someone very different from Him.

In Matthew we hear those immortal five words from Jesus as He tells his disciples, "I was hungry, and you fed Me; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; I was naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me." We, too, must touch the untouchable -- we have been touched, we must touch. Some people need the touch of reassurance while others need the touch of compassion. Still others need the touch of faith and others the touch of Christian witness. Whom do you need to touch and caress in TRUE LOVE? I touch many and many run. I touch some and they remain. They feel God's love through my hand and my heart and soul.
Not only did Jesus touch the untouchable but also He Received the Unacceptable. The next person he encountered was a Roman centurion. Typically, the centurion was a captain of 100 -- probably in this case he commanded the garrison of Capernaum. Matthew was from Capernaum and probably knew the man personally. The centurion was a Roman citizen and soldier. From the Jewish standpoint, not only was he a Gentile, but he was also a leader of the Roman oppressors. He would have been despised by the Jews. To make matters even worse he was not asking for himself but for his slave who Luke says was dear to him. This slave was in tremendous pain. Literally translated, the word used here for pain means "examined by torture." The centurion comes asking for Jesus to heal his slave. He knows Jesus has power and authority. he knows that Jesus had compassion and love.

Jesus is being called upon to practice what He has just preached. He is asked for help by the enemy. What He had just said was "Love your enemies." Now He is required to put that into action. And He does. Something remarkable happens here. The faith demonstrated by this normally unacceptable centurion was far greater than that of even the religious elite. Despite the fact that Jesus risked the anger of those who would have disapproved of His aiding the Gentile oppressor, He acts.

Years ago a great preacher, John Henry Jowett, said, "Ministry that costs nothing accomplishes nothing." Jesus was willing to minister here to an outsider even at the risk of the anger of others. He was willing to love an enemy.

Who are the unacceptable? Those who are our enemies, who have wronged us. The unacceptable are those who are different, who have racial, cultural and even religious differences from us. The unacceptable are those who make us angry and those who stand for things very different from us. Just because we accept them does not mean we have to accept the things they do. It does mean we are called to forgive them and accept them, especially when they demonstrate faith. This should be done even when the faith may seem to be incomplete.

Not only did Jesus receive the unacceptable and touch the untouchable but also in the final encounter in this passage we see that Jesus Valued the Unprofitable. The third healing which takes place in this passage is that of Peter's mother-in-law. Quite frankly, this woman was of no practical value to Jesus or, for that matter, to Peter either. She was most likely an illiterate second-class citizen, probably an elderly woman living in the house of her son-in-law. Not only this, but the woman was also a person who could do little for His ministry. She had little wealth or influence, unlike the centurion. This disease carries no drama in the healing like that of the leper. The "fever" which she had may have been a disease that was contagious -- some have suggested typhoid, cholera or malaria. Yet once again He heals. The scripture says He "touched her." An amazing thing happened. The woman was no longer a burden but became a blessing.

How can we value the unprofitable? We need to realize that all people, regardless of their age, class, race, socioeconomic background or educational levels have value and worth. We need to consider that all people are important. If we are to be faithful to Christ in all things then we will love people who have nothing to offer us in return. And we'll love them because even they have the image of God in them.

Years ago, an African-American congregation began preparations for a revival meeting with great expectations due to the fact that an outstanding black evangelist was coming to speak. The weeks beforehand were filled with preparations for the first day of the meetings. Finally, the day came. The pastor of the congregation gave a flowery introduction of their guest. The choirs sang with great enthusiasm and prayers said with great fervency. With great anticipation the congregation awaited the sermon as the evangelist rose to speak. But instead of beginning his message, the minister quietly went to the piano and sat down.

In the next moments he began simply and softly to play a quiet melody. The congregation fell silent. As they listened, they heard him beginning to sing quietly. Every person leaned forward to hear his words. Finally, they could hear what he was singing as he slowly grew louder. Over and over he was singing the words, "I will, I will." Catching the spirit of his singing, the congregation began to join in and the evangelist sang and played more loudly. Before long the entire building was virtually shaking with the hearty singing of the enthusiastic congregation as they sang "I will, I will." Then abruptly the evangelist stopped playing and singing. As the congregation once again fell silent, the minister closed his eyes and raised his hand toward the sky. Loudly he prayed, "Lord, you've heard our answer. Now ask us your question."

What question is God asking you? Who is He asking you to touch? Who is He asking you to accept? Who is He asking you to value? Who is He asking you to love?

This New Ministry foundation and cornerstone shall be, "LOVE." I give that love to you, Jesus gives that love to you. Touch, touch my hand and feel its warmth. Touch my chest and feel God's Love in me. Caress me as I caress you and feel TRUE LOVE enter your heart.

I know some of you will be like that woman who I placed my hand on her back and caressed her. But, she felt the warmth of True Love and the Love of God. It will take effort on your part since you have been conditioned that a "caress" means that you are straight and other intentions creep in. Understand True Love. Hold my hand and let us walk together into the kingdom of Heaven. It is time for your change in life. Come with me. Come to me. Let us begin that change today. For I know that today you cannot touch me or caress me Spiritually, Emotionally and Physically. If you cannot do it with me now, then surely you cannot to a stranger. Let us work on it for tomorrow. ~ God Bless.
 

Rev. Dr. Gale Candice Revilla D.D.
http://www.galerevilla.com/morningstarministry

Parts written by, Michael E. Williams