A Reflection on Our Trip to Poland
Pastor Gerry and Pastor Serhiy
As many of you are aware, Sharon and I recently spent a week in Poland. The purpose was to connect with one of our ministry partners, through whom we are able to send money directly into Ukraine. We were welcomed by Pastor Adam of WDJ church in Wroclaw. He and his wife were our wonderful hosts. While there I was asked to preach on both Friday night and Sunday morning while Sharon did a seminar focused on trauma on Saturday and spent the rest of the week counselling people from the community. I spent the week seeing what the local church is doing to meet the needs of the Ukrainian refugee crisis. I was grateful to be able to connect with Pastor Sergei of the Ukrainian Assemblies of God as he crossed the border on a trip to visit his children who have been moved out of the country. Pastor Serhiy sends his greetings and love to the Soul community.
During our Bad Friday gathering I mentioned that on our trip we experienced the worst of humankind and the best. From visiting Asuchwitz-Berkenau, then hearing the reports of why many Ukrainians fled, to listening to the stories of Polish people opening their homes to strangers and welcoming in. It is very hard to put into words the feelings that still run through my mind. I believe that I am still coming to grasp the idea of what it means to “Love your neighbour as yourself.”
Loving your neighbour as yourself is found eight times in the Scriptures. Loving your neighbour as yourself is so important to GOD that He not only repeats Himself, He makes it a command. And not just one in a list of many commands. Jesus coupled the command to love your neighbour as yourself with loving GOD with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. James calls it the royal law. It sounds beautiful, and it is when we obey it. But loving your neighbour as yourself isn’t always easy. That’s why GOD made it a command. He knew we’d struggle. Making it a commandment is actually to our benefit. How is that? We have to do it on purpose, be intentional about it.
“Loving your neighbour as yourself is showing up and being there with your heart open, allowing them to be what they are and support them.”
As you well know, our culture is polarized on so many issues. Criticism is running rampant. Everyone does dumb things; no one is always right or knows everything. We’re all a work in progress. We’re imperfect beings that do dumb things often and yet we are commanded to love our neighbour. When Jesus was asked, “Who is my neighbour?” He responded with a story: the Good Samaritan. Who did Jesus say was being a neighbour? The one who had compassion. Compassion is not simply a warm fuzzy feeling in our hearts. Compassion DOES something. A heart that’s moved by compassion cannot sit idly by while someone suffers in need. Loving your neighbour as yourself is being moved to help to the full extent of your ability. We heard stories of how Polish people drove to the border of Ukraine to pick up strangers and bring them into their home, and that was Jesus’ command in action. I have listened to people here in Canada who felt the need to do something and so they made financial donations. Or the story of 2 sisters in southern Manitoba, 8 and 10 years old who felt the need to do something and made yellow and blue bracelets out of rubber bands and sold them to raise $1000 for our ministry partners in Ukraine. Also, we read in 1 Corinthians 13 that “Love Protects” and in Philippians 2, Paul writes “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Loving your neighbour as yourself is to look out for other people’s wellbeing. Loving your neighbour as yourself is showing up and being there with your heart open, allowing them to be what they are and support them. How are you loving your neighbour today?
Gerry Michalski (MDiv, DMin, Providence Seminary) is the Lead Pastor at Soul Sanctuary in Winnipeg, a church he founded in 2004. He is an ordained minister in the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada.