Lover's Are Winners Series

Dr. Richard Selzer, the famous surgeon and author, in his book, Taking The World In For Repairs,

tells about Interplast, which stands for International Plastic Surgeon, Incorporated. Since its

founding in 1969, this organization has performed over ten thousand free operations on poor people

in undeveloped countries. Dr. Salzer was part of a team of 20 surgeons and nurses who went to

Peru for 2 weeks to patch up people who could never dream of affording a plastic surgeon.

This is indeed, a loving organization that meets the need that no one else is meeting in our world.

But as loving as it is, it does not yet reach the level of agape love, which is unconditional giving.

These surgeons give plenty, but their motive is still to get plenty in return. Dr. Selzer writes very

honestly about the motives.

"The surgical residents have come for the experience of operating on great numbers of these

deformities. Within two weeks they will have performed more of these operations than most

surgeons will do in a lifetime. For some, it is the opportunity for virtue that we are seeking. Such

opportunities are not without the element of self-aggrandizement. For still others it is the

exhilaration of the exotic that beckons, or the lovely sense of camaraderie that is to be found in

working together for a purpose we think high. Last, there is a need for human beings to challenge

themselves. In surgery it is best done by tackling the most difficult of clinical situations and

prevailing."

I am sure the people who have their bodies restored do not care what the motive is. They

consider it an act of love. The world can be grateful for love on any level, and Christians too should

be grateful that even millions of non-Christians have an humanitarian heart that does loving things

for others. Maybe their motives are mixed, and maybe they do good for selfish reasons, but it is still

better than doing evil. Most all that any person does, is done with mixed motives.

Jesus alone illustrates pure agape love. He heals with nothing to gain for Himself. In fact, in the

healing miracle of this man with the shriveled hand, Jesus really had to reverse the usual

doctor-patient arrangement. He had to pay to heal the man. It cost Jesus His peace of mind, for He

became very angry at the stubborn hearts of the Jews who resented His healing on the Sabbath. He

had to argue for His right to do good, and the end result was the Pharisees and the Herodians went

out of the synagogue that day plotting how to kill Jesus.

LOVER'S ARE WINNERS

Jesus was as stubbornly insistent that he be healed on the spot as the Pharisees were as stubbornly

insistent that he not be healed on the Sabbath. This healing incident reveals the moral issue in the

world of healing, and it makes clear there is a right and wrong side. This miracle thrusts us into the

morality of healing, and establishes two basic principles: It is wrong to resist healing, and it is right

to restore to health.

The Jewish leaders said, it is right to resist this man's healing. They said it is right because it is

wrong to work on the Sabbath. They said the law was more important then this mans health, and

that it should be respected and held sacred even if it means the man has to wait to be healed. Jesus

took the others side and said it is right to restore this man now, for love takes precedent over the

law. The Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath. The law is to prevent evil, not good.

It is a perversion of the law to use it to prevent good from happening. It is always right to do good

on the Sabbath, or any other time, and to resist the doing of good, such as healing, is wrong.

Thus, the lines are drawn, and all the world is separated into two categories on this issue: The

legalists and the lovers. The man with the withered hand is not the issue. Jesus could have put a

robe on a cold child, or given a cup of cold water to a thirsty stranger, or anyone of a hundred acts of

love, and the result would have been the same, for the issue is, which is to be the supreme loyalty of

our lives, the law or love? Which you chose determines if you are a winner or a loser in the eyes of

Christ. The legalist is a loser, and the lover is a winner. The successful Christian life is achieved by

avoiding one, and being the other. Let's look at these two choices so we can learn to clearly identify