Stephen
Terry, Director
Share
Him
Commentary
for the June 20, 2026, Sabbath School Lesson
"They said to the woman, 'We no longer
believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we
know that this man really is the Savior of the world.'" John 4:42
When we share, what is the
process? Surely, we must think about what we are about to share and its
appropriateness. Jesus himself pointed this out. He said,
"Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake
instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?" (Luke 11:11-12) A
son so treated would seriously question the love his father had for him. Yet,
how often do we consider the needs of others when we seek to share with them? Or
do we instead tell the story of our own needs because it is the one most
familiar to us? Instead of listening carefully so that we might understand the
heart of another, do we instead wait anxiously to tell our own story that
equals or even surpasses what the other person has gone through? When we get our
turn to speak and finish relating our similar experience, will the other person
feel they have been heard or only tolerated until we can tell our story?
In our previous commentary we
dealt with setbacks and suffering. While these can be lessons for growth to Christian
maturity, they can also so occupy our thoughts that the things we suffer can
make it difficult to draw others to our side because our horizon is limited by
the circle of our emotional, mental, or physical pain. Instead of carrying
light to others, we sit and wait as though we were Job waiting for the relief
from his friends that never came. But though Job started out with self-pity and
challenged the justice of God because of his pain and suffering, he transitioned
to a deeper faith where he could say, "Though he slay me, yet will I hope in
him." (Job 13:15) Once we can set aside our own suffering and find peace with
God despite that pain, we can begin to acquire the understanding to share the
One who has saved us and replaced our own despair with hope.
But how can we reveal that change
to others that they might find a way to friendship with Jesus just as we have?
The most important skill that reveals that we have passed beyond our obsession
with our own struggles is the ability to demonstrate to others that we have
been listening. A small act of caring or sharing that says we care and hear the
other person and will do what we can to make their life more pleasant and less
lonely. Some may want to do grandiose acts of charity as proof of their love
for others, but it is in the simple, small kindnesses of everyday life that love
is most powerfully manifest.
We might wonder, "What about me?
My need still exists. Does no one feel or care about my pain? Do I not have a
right to be heard and cared for also?" These are legitimate questions, and the
answers may be difficult to understand at first, but the surest way to have our
own needs met is to begin to meet the needs of others. In Ecclesiastes 11:1, we
read, "Do good wherever you go. After a while, the good you do will come back
to you." (ERV) This is not just a proclamation of God. It is a law of nature.
This year I planted green beans in the garden. I have watered them and with
that water, fertile soil, and the magical warmth the sun imparts, they have sprouted.
However, I will not get back bean for bean. Instead, I will get back a
multitude of beans for each bean that sprouted from the ground. We cannot easily
explain how this happens though biologists can map it out for us, but we know
this is true if we have ever planted seeds and seen them sprout and grow. Maybe
this is why Adam was created to be a gardener, so he could understand this very
fundamental characteristic of nature--that whatever we put into something will
return to us manyfold. Through this process, all nature testifies that when
Jesus was planted in the ground and came forth with new life, the harvest of
new lives has grown to become greater than anyone could have expected two thousand
years ago.
Jesus was not a rotten or
malformed seed. He was the love of God packed in the kernel of a human form.
The harvest has grown immensely since then and love has blossomed all over the
world as those plants are producing what will become a bountiful reaping. But
the same principle applies when the seeds sown are not seeds of love and light
but are seeds of darkness and despair. Those seeds produce different fruits,
and that fruit will also multiply abundantly so long as they are nourished. So,
what are we to do about that? Nothing more than we are already doing. Those
seeds will have the same advantages as the good seed for God wills it. "He
causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous
and the unrighteous." (Matthew 5:45) Instead, our work continues to sow love in
the world. Should we stop to chase after every evil
weed to root it out, we would soon lose all our efforts to that work leaving very little time to produce what the world needs most--an abundant
harvest of love.
When we are wronged, we must not
let ire dictate our response. Whether it is as simple as someone cutting us off
in traffic or as serious as someone physically harming us. Jesus made this
clear. "But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those
who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If
someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes
your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you,
and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as
you would have them do to you." (Luke 6:27-31) If we think as those who walked
away from God think, we would count these things as loss and lament them. But
if we consider the power of sowing good in the world and the magical
multiplication of blessings it brings, we can understand the principles of love
the Creator endowed our world with. If we start chasing every cur that barks at
us to silence them, we will soon have time for aught else. Everyone who
succumbs to this distraction becomes another recruit for darkness and not light,
for they not only cease sowing light, but by their actions testify that all
should do as they have done.
With social media lighting the
way, hosts of trolls incite us to abandon love and wage war against their
inciteful posts. Then we can be pointed out as examples of how love is not the
answer. We are directed to look to bloviating politicians, pontificating
clerics, or threatening militarists, anywhere other than the words of Jesus. It
does not matter whom we follow or believe if the path has us continuing to walk
away from the character of God and the words of Jesus. They would encourage us
to introduce our friends to podcasts, videos, news feeds produced by those who
expertly play to the biases of their audiences and recruit a following that
will promote tit-for-tat debates and split friends, families, and coworkers
from one another. They know that as long as we follow Jesus, he is not divided
and the love he instills in us will unite rather than divide for we focus on
the communal spirit of God within rather than on the differences created by our
cultures, ethnicities, education, or any other factor used by those pledged to
division. This is why sharing Jesus is the most powerful thing we can do.
When people meet Jesus they
change. Prior to that, they may not have realized they had been walking away
from him. But the drawing power of his love not only attracts them, but it
reveals the true course they have followed previously. Such an encounter demands
a choice. Do they continue to walk away, or do they change direction and walk
into his embrace, a process the Bible calls repentance? The very act of decision
immediately produces a change. The Holy Spirit's gentle whisper begins to speak
to the heart of the one returning home to God. (1
Kings 19:12) And the heart, once hardened and proudly independent begins to
soften and begins to love again. (Ezekiel
36:26) This is God's work, God's seed. That seed of love will germinate,
grow, and bear fruit beyond measure. "Beyond all question, the mystery from
which true godliness springs is great." (1 Timothy 3:16) "For the message of
the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being
saved it is the power of God." (1 Corinthians 1:18)