I Think I Ignored Jesus Today

                                                                            
                                                           

                                                      I Think I Ignored Jesus Today

A couple of weeks ago I was installing a door at a small storefront church in the downtown area.  A suburban youth group came from out of town to learn about the inner city, homelessness and how God was working among this population.  As a pastor, I have led many similar trips myself, so it was fascinating to sort of be a fly on the wall as the group had Bible studies, participated in worship and invited the homeless in for meals.  I could hear the pastor and other leaders teaching the kids how to have conversations with these people;  articulating that their values were different than theirs and that they might be shocked or surprised at their reactions or behaviors.

So, nothing unusual really, until I got home that night.  Wait a minute...during that whole time who talked to me?  I wasn’t looking for attention, but I was hard to ignore.  People had to step over me to get to the utility closet.  The one bathroom was ten feet from my workspace.  The large group gatherings were in the same room.  I thought it was curious that with all the training in how to talk to people different from them, that I was overlooked.  Because I apparently had a job, did I not qualify as a target of their ministry?  They did not know I was a pastor, nor did they know if I was working for pay or as a volunteer.  When the meal was served, I was not offered anything. 

This got me to thinking about the church’s whole approach to ministry and missions.  We often have a one dimensional view.  It’s like a switch we turn on and off.  Every summer we go do our “missions trip” and we pacify our guilt over those poor people who don’t have what we do.  Simply put....I WAS NOT THEIR PROJECT THAT DAY!    Their goal was to reach homeless people not construction workers.  Isn’t that a good excuse?  But what if we, like Brother Lawrence, practiced the presence of Christ in any and every situation?  Could we not turn this one dimensional view of ministry into a three dimensional one?

Oh, but the story isn’t over.  The next day was not a good one for me.  I was having some personal struggles as I went down to the church to continue on the door.  I was happy just to do my work and not talk to anyone.  Not even the homeless guy on the other side of the fence of the alley in which I was working.  He was smelly, loud and stared at me every time I went out to my Jeep to get a tool.  I wished he wasn’t there.  UH OH!  It really didn’t hit me until I got home and it occurred to me that I may have ignored Jesus today.  And it all came together....“Get the log out of your own eye before you go to remove the speck of dust in your brother’s.” 

I knew I was guilty of being one dimensional.  It’s so easy to compartmentalize our lives.  We work, we play, we worship, we minister....and yet I’m being convicted that if we will allow God to open our eyes, all these areas can meld into one.  We can be ready to do God’s will at the drop of a hat.  We don’t need to pray for opportunities, they will simply present themselves as we grow more sensitive to “finding out what God is doing and joining Him in it.”

The passage from Matthew 25 came to mind as Jesus is separating the sheep and the goats.  “Whatever you did for the least of these you did for me and whatever you did not do for the least of this you did not do for me.”  i.e. We are to look at every human being as if he or she were Jesus and seek to serve them.  So, I went back the next day prepared.  I brought some extra food along somewhat fearful that he wouldn’t be there.  He was.  I walked up to him as he was waking up and I gave him a plum.

That’s it!  That’s all I did.  But I believe that as I grow more sensitive to the needs of people in my path that small deeds can communicate the great love of Christ.  I pray that today, you and I will see Jesus as He intercepts or interrupts  us on our journey. 

‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’  “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.‘                                       
                                                                                                                                 Matthew 25:37-40

“Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.”                                                                                        Hebrews 13:2