If Jesus sought out miserable souls to offer relationship and speak salvation, then so should we. No one is too far gone. Every person is an image bearer and needs to be treated as such. We behave as neighbors when we notice another’s pain, when we stop to tend to it as best we can.
Tag: hope
We affirm our identity as farmers and shepherds, as stewards and nurturers, not mercenaries or brawlers. We are here: saved and being sanctified for the Kingdom purpose of growing something good. And that good begins in us. We start in the four small chambers in our own chest and then we branch out from there. We are asked to approach this fallen firmament with an agrarian mindset: we are planters not combatants.
By the time we’ve hit middle age, though, we have somehow become wildly opposed to change. We’ve created routines and we cling to them like life rafts. They are soothing and safe. Most of us won’t change jobs or move across the street (let alone across the country). We don’t even want to alter our coffee order if we can help it. Is this really God’s best intention for us?
“Young man, I say to you, get up!” He is somehow authoritative and loving at the same time; wielding the tone and affection your father would use to steer you away from danger. Suddenly the weigh shifts in the bier upon your shoulders and you nearly topple from the unexpected nature of it. Dead boys don’t speak but it seems the widow’s deceased son is sitting up and having a conversation with this strange teacher. Good glory, what just happened?
One of things I admire most about Jesus is the fact that His mindset doesn’t falter in deteriorating circumstances. He maintains His principles even in deep distress. He is able to hold to the values of heaven even amidst the ugliest throes of humanity.
The church as a whole is distracted, distant and distraught. A global pandemic plus isolation plus rapid inflation has sent many folks into personal tailspins and the body of Christ is limping along severely dismembered.
When we remember what comes next, when we take the time to consider the depth of joy and wonder that weighs enough to tip the scale on cancer and school shootings, dialysis and depression, on corrupt politicians, fraudulent court proceedings, record inflation and all the other ugly things fallen man has made prominent — well, it lightens the load for today by some measure.
The truth is, we can worry our way through the night or we can worship our way through the night. One way is exhausting, the other is restorative. When it’s your turn to stand as a watchman, how will you wait?
I think again about Eden and how Adam and Eve walked in unbroken fellowship with God. Isn’t that the highest aim of Spirit empowerment? We hope to hear God’s heart and leading and possess the strength to follow Him unflinchingly. As Spirit-filled believers we experience Eden again by some small measure. Additionally, we carry a bit of Eden into every interaction, conversation, meeting and meal.
As we age, our tents start to show signs of depreciation. But old age and even death is not the end of our story: one day soon, we’ll trade in these canvas coverings for eternal dwellings: homes of brick and mortar.