There are times, often at unexpected moments, where God grabs us and speaks to us in undeniable ways that rip right through us. In these moments, He reveals Himself in ways that we are not expecting and, even more, in ways that may take a lifetime to fully understand. He did that to me during worship this morning. He has been speaking to me about His love and judgment a lot in the last few weeks but I am not always to quick to apprehend what He is saying. Today, He said it in an unmistakable way and I want to try and share it with you though I am still processing it.
I was sitting during the last couple of songs during worship and focusing on what the words reveal about Jesus. As I sat, I saw a picture of a man and he was yelling down into a garbage dump at a man that was digging through the trash. He was telling him not to take things out of there because they were dangerous and contaminated. Everything in there was potentially harmful. The man was just looking to survive. He had grown accustomed to finding his food, ointments for his wounds and needed comfort items in the trash. Sure, they were not up to the standards of the man standing above him yelling but they met his need for the moment. It was not a good life but at least he was getting by.
As I pondered this picture, I felt like the Lord spoke to me about our taking offense at the sins of others thinking that we are doing Him a favor. We tend to believe that the sins in a person's life are offensive to God and have caused Him to reject them. We can be harsh when people don't listen to our directives and repent on our terms. As I saw this, I felt broken. I knew it was true. I was carrying offense on God's behalf that He is not carrying Himself. This is not to say that He does not have a right to be offended at men's sins, their blatant disregard for His grace and mercy. He has every right and He will judge sin. The issue is that He is not offended. Sin does not push God away from us but it does push us away from Him. Our sin cannot change His holiness but His holiness would destroy us if we hold on to our sin. He is perfect and complete regardless of how we act. His response to sin is for our protection, not His.
As I saw myself in the man yelling, I saw Jesus too. I was keeping my distance. I was shouting from the top of the dump. I wanted them to change without the risk of entering their world. Jesus climbed down in the dump with them and offered the man something better. Jesus offered Him a sample of the feast that He is preparing for all that will come. He offered kindness and compassion. He did it face to face and not from a safe distance. Jesus came directly to the man. He had compassion in His eyes. He knew that the man was not in the trash dump because He wanted to be. He was acting on a need to survive and many years ago, he had bought the lie that living in the garbage of the world was the only way he could do it. He could find a little food, a little alcohol or discarded drugs to ease His pain. he could find a few things to bring him comfort and so he had settled for much less than Father had created Him to be.
While Jesus offers a sample of a feast, we offer condemnation and criticism for his life choices while merely telling them that there is something better. We want them to follow us as we follow Jesus but we are misrepresenting His heart. Unless we are willing to take a sample of the feast into the dump and risk getting dirty, we cannot really represent Him. We are not protected from falling into the trap of the other man by simply not risking getting his filth on us. We are protected by walking into the dump in obedience, knowing that Holy Spirit has us sealed, that Jesus has written His name on us and our walking in obedience.
There is a huge garbage dump in Guatemala City. It cover a valley the size of 24 football field combined. It has a highly polluted stream flowing through it. Many people "work" there every day. They wait for the trucks to come in and as they are dumping their loads, these workers are scavenging through the trash that is being dumped looking for anything that they can sell for a few cents. They will be there from the time the trucks begin arriving in the morning until the last truck dumps in the late afternoon. They can make $2 or $3 a day. This dump is unsafe and has seen many die in it over the years. Some have been crushed by the trash and others get sick from the unsanitary conditions. Over the years, this dump has caught fire several times and it can burn for many days. Unfortunately, for those that work in this dump. they see no other option to make a living. This place, to me, is a literal picture of hell, a place that it seems God is not, a place that desperate people are left on their own to try and find their way through a seemingly senseless life. This dump is where I saw the yelling man and Jesus. He has not abandoned any there but maybe we have.
The heart of the Father is to run to those that are lost and hurting. It is to lift them from the dump they are burying themselves in. It is to rescue broken and hurting people. He does not just tell them He has a better plan. He sent Jesus to reveal His heart. He came to give them a foretaste of what is in store for them, for us. It was His plan to reveal new life by giving free samples then inviting us to receive the whole package. We, in our desire to be safe and maintain our comfort have lost the power of the Gospel. We want to disseminate it to the Sunday morning crowd where it is safe. The Father is saying to run to the dump. Offer a sample of the feast He has prepared to those that are eating garbage. Help them get to the place they can be cleaned and their wounds dressed so they can be clothed in the proper robes for the feast. It is prepared and we are the ones being sent into the highways and byways to make the invitation.
The question we must answer today is, 'Will we love like Jesus and go down into the dump to bring Jesus to them?' If we can't answer yes to that question, we cannot claim to represent Him to a lost and hurting world because He has already said yes to that question. He had all authority because He fully obeyed the Father wherever He was sent. His authority goes with those that are willing to be led into the places the broken reside and to sit with them and bring the touch of Heaven to their lives. You and I have a choice to make and our answer will determine the course of the Church over the next century. We will get close to the broken like Jesus and see revival or we will keep a safe distance and see our congregations become irrelevant. There are no other options for us.
No comments:
Post a Comment