June 18 - Boy Meets Janitor
June 18
Boy Meets Janitor
Bible Reading: James 2:1-9
1My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. 2For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, 3and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” 4have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? 5Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? 6But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? 7Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called? 8If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well; 9but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
AN EPISODE OF the ABC television series Boy Meets World once depicted the horror of Shawn (one of the main characters, played by Rider Strong) when his father got a new job--as the school janitor! Shawn was horrified that his father would be mopping up spills and cleaning toilets in front of Shawn's friends and classmates! He became upset with his father for taking the job. He was angry at the principal, Mr. Feeney, for hiring his father. The whole thing seemed to be an adult conspiracy meant to embarrass Shawn and shame him in front of the whole school.
How would you feel if your father was your school's janitor? (Maybe he is.) How would you feel if your mom cleaned for a living? (Maybe she does.) What if your family were poor compared to everyone else on the block? (Maybe they are.)
You know what the Bible's answer would be to those questions?
Big deal.
That's right, big deal. So what if your dad's a janitor or your mom's a cleaning lady? So what if your family is the poorest in your neighborhood? Big deal. "My dear brothers and sisters," the Bible says, "how can you claim that you have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people more than others?" (James 2:1).
The Bible makes it clear that everyone--rich or poor, janitor or principal, cleaning lady or movie star, native or foreigner--deserves to be treated with respect. It doesn't matter what color a person is. It doesn't matter what job a person has. It doesn't matter whether a person is a man or a woman, a boy or a girl. It doesn't matter how much money a person has or what kind of house he or she may live in. It doesn't matter how much a person may weigh or how far he or she can hit a baseball. According to God, we should respect all people because all people were created in God's image. God values all his children, rich and poor, male and female, black and white, short and tall, young and old and in between. And you know what else? We should too.
REFLECT: Why does God command us to respect everyone, not just certain people? Have you ever favored some people more than others? Have you treated certain people (rich, "important," and so on) with respect while ignoring others? How can you do better at treating everyone with respect?
ACT: Make a special effort today to show respect to everyone--including school janitors, bus drivers, butchers, bakers, and candlestick makers!
PRAY: "Lord, I'm really sorry about the time when I wasn't very respectful to __________________. Help me to show your love and kindness to all of your children.”