Green bean soup is cooked together with rice and green beans. If you want it sweeter, you can always add a little sugar. It is not only cool to quench one’s thirst, but it also has a soothing and detoxifying effect. When I was in junior middle school, I went home only on weekends, as did my classmates. Every weekend my mother cooked delicious green bean soup because I liked it so much. What’s more important, mom also cooked it for the students who passed by our house.

In front of my house was a long steep hill, and students would all walk down the hill to the school where we would spend the week in the dormitories, and then on Friday afternoons, we would all walk back up the hill to our homes. Because most of the students lived farther up the hill than we did, students would always pass by our house on their way home for the weekend.

Many weekends before and after the summer break were quite hot and dry, and so my mother always shouted loudly to the students who were walking up the hill, “Hey, boys and girls, come and have a bowl of green bean soup, then you will feel more energetic.” At first, only a few students came and had the green bean soup. But later, more and more students came and enjoyed themselves with the cool, delicious soup. After that, they continued on their journey up the hill to their homes. They all thanked my mom a lot.

One day, I came home from school and went into my bedroom, only to find a strange girl sleeping on my bed. I asked, “Mom, who is that girl on my bed?” My mom said, “She is a student who was walking up the hill in the heat, and I asked her to come and have some green bean soup.” I asked, “So why is she still here on my bed?” My mom replied, “Oh, she felt a little weak and I asked her to have a rest here before she continued walking toward her home.” I was speechless and a bit angry because my mother let her rest on my bed.

Later, I said to my mother, “Mom, I cannot understand why you always offer free green bean soup to the students we don’t know. You shouldn’t do that all the time.” My mother replied, “My little girl, they are quite tired after walking a long way up the hill in the sunshine, and I ought to offer some help to them when they are so tired. I hope that one day in the future when you feel exhausted on your own road, someone would offer some help to you just like I do for the students.” Needless to say, my heart was moved because I finally understood what mom was doing. From that time on, both of us began to welcome students walking up the hill with a bowl of green bean soup that we had prepared together. 

Yes, I hope that one day in the future when I encounter a setback I can’t overcome, someone will do me a favor and offer me something as good as green bean soup so that I could continue pursuing my dream. I believe that most people will understand the significance of a bowl of green bean soup at just the right time. I will always try my best to help those who need our help, because one day they may help us in return.

Additional Comments – What a wonderful example provided by a caring and thoughtful mother to her daughter. It reminds me of a passage in the New Testament that is often misunderstood. It’s found in the 3^rd chapter of Revelation as Jesus spends time addressing each of the “Seven Churches,” commending all of them for certain positive aspects of their ministry, and admonishing most of them to repent of certain areas of “church life” where they fell far short of God’s expectations for them. All of the churches were in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey), and the one I’d like to focus on today is the Church in Laodicea.

To the Church in Laodicea, Jesus said, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I will spit you out of my mouth” (Rev. 3:15-16). Most commentators suggest that Jesus’ was talking about one’s attitude, that is, one can be either “cold” for Jesus or “hot” for Him. Or, we might say, we are either “frozen for Jesus” or “on fire for Jesus.” They suggest that it is about our emotions and attitudes regarding our relationship with and commitment to Jesus.

But that is not what Jesus said to them. Look at the verse again – Jesus commented on their “deeds,” not their “attitudes” or “emotions.” So, we need to be looking at “hot deeds” and “cold deeds,” and furthermore, notice that Jesus wants the church to be doing one or the other, and possibly even both at the same time. Jesus is saying that both “hot” and “cold” are good. So, what’s going on here?

Several years ago, Peggy and I had the opportunity to travel with a wonderful group of church leaders to Turkey, and we visited the town of Laodicea. But the key to interpreting this passage lies “upstream” from the town itself. The Lycus River flows through Laodicea, and “upstream” from Laodicea were two communities on either side of the river — On one side was Colossae and on the other side was Hierapolis. Remember, Paul wrote a letter to the church in Colossae (it’s in our New Testament), and at the end of that letter, he mentions both the church at Hierapolis as well as the church at Laodicea (Col. 4:13).

The Lycus River gathers clean, cold, fresh water flowing toward Laodicea from the annual snowmelt from Mt. Cadmus. The town of Hierapolis was established because of mineral hot springs on the opposite side of the river from Colossae. Thousands of travelers each year would come to Hierapolis to bathe in the hot springs. Well, as you might expect, the overflow from the hot springs drained right into the Lycus River, mixing with the fresh, very drinkable water flowing past Colossae from Mt. Cadmus. And so, by the time the water flowed through Laodicea, it was so laden with minerals that it was undrinkable. Crusted pipes from the ancient town reflect the mineral deposits that made the water in Laodicea undrinkable, and as Jesus said, “lukewarm.” Yuk!

With this geographical information, Jesus’ message is clear — We are to do something meaningful with our lives (as churches, and as individuals). We need to be like a drink of cool, refreshing water to anyone who is thirsty for something more in life, and/or be like a soothing hot mineral bath for anyone who is tired and weary loaded down with the heavy burdens. In the end, it’s not about attitudes, but actions. The admonition from Jesus is not just for the church in Laodicea, but for all of us. We need to be vigilant and on the lookout for tired and thirsty souls who need a word of encouragement and/or a helping hand. In the end, let’s do something meaningful with our lives, something that will richly bless others, just like the mother in our story who offered a bowl of green bean soup to some tired and thirsty students on their way home from school!

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY in advance to all of you Moms.