Jesus must be with us...
Illustration
Object:
Jesus must be with us right now wherever we are here on earth, but we don't recognize him. He does not come dressed as we expect. He certainly didn't come dressed as the scribes and Pharisees expected. Even his followers asked, "Show us the Father." They didn't recognize him. No one expected a humble carpenter's son to be the king of kings.
When I was walking down the street in Sacramento years ago, a fellow in worn-out cloths and holes in his shoes came past me. I could smell him as he passed, but it suddenly dawned on me that God loved him as much as he loved me. After that, I treated all the "bums" that came to my parish with respect. I did not give them money to buy booze. I had tickets printed for a restaurant near my church, good for one meal. I could usually tell by the way they received it whether it was what they hoped they would get.
God can be disappointed with some who may be part of the notorious 1% who think that the other 99% should take care of themselves and not bother them.
I am not a sports fan, but on a flight back east once there was a man sitting next to me who seemed disappointed that I didn't recognize him, so he had to say that he was a football star in Colorado and was going back east to check out an invitation to join a team there.
On another flight I sat next to cute little teenager who jabbered away during the whole trip, but when I was leaving someone asked me, "Did you know you were sitting next to Patty Duke?"
If we sometimes even miss the rich and famous, it is not surprising that we miss seeing our Lord in the much humbler ones we come in contact with.
It is easier to throw a few dollars in the offering plate so we don't have to separate "our Lord" from the bums and misfits.
When traveling to some countries, the poor and needy crowd around you on the streets with their hands out. There are so many that we just push them out of the way knowing we can't possibly help them all.
This happened to us as missionaries to Nepal, but when we began to recognize some of the people, it touched our heart. There was one man in Nepal who we called "stinky peter." We couldn't get too close to him, but we often came out of a restaurant with a carryout bag of leftovers. I handed him my bag of leftovers one day and he overflowed with gratitude! Then he came to our church and played a guitar for our service. Though we never sat too close to him, he was always welcome after that.
Let's hope we recognize the Lord in those who ask for help -- unless you want to be a goat.
When I was walking down the street in Sacramento years ago, a fellow in worn-out cloths and holes in his shoes came past me. I could smell him as he passed, but it suddenly dawned on me that God loved him as much as he loved me. After that, I treated all the "bums" that came to my parish with respect. I did not give them money to buy booze. I had tickets printed for a restaurant near my church, good for one meal. I could usually tell by the way they received it whether it was what they hoped they would get.
God can be disappointed with some who may be part of the notorious 1% who think that the other 99% should take care of themselves and not bother them.
I am not a sports fan, but on a flight back east once there was a man sitting next to me who seemed disappointed that I didn't recognize him, so he had to say that he was a football star in Colorado and was going back east to check out an invitation to join a team there.
On another flight I sat next to cute little teenager who jabbered away during the whole trip, but when I was leaving someone asked me, "Did you know you were sitting next to Patty Duke?"
If we sometimes even miss the rich and famous, it is not surprising that we miss seeing our Lord in the much humbler ones we come in contact with.
It is easier to throw a few dollars in the offering plate so we don't have to separate "our Lord" from the bums and misfits.
When traveling to some countries, the poor and needy crowd around you on the streets with their hands out. There are so many that we just push them out of the way knowing we can't possibly help them all.
This happened to us as missionaries to Nepal, but when we began to recognize some of the people, it touched our heart. There was one man in Nepal who we called "stinky peter." We couldn't get too close to him, but we often came out of a restaurant with a carryout bag of leftovers. I handed him my bag of leftovers one day and he overflowed with gratitude! Then he came to our church and played a guitar for our service. Though we never sat too close to him, he was always welcome after that.
Let's hope we recognize the Lord in those who ask for help -- unless you want to be a goat.
