Misfits
/This year Christmas has snuck up on me. If I am being honest I am not really feeling all that festive. I can’t pinpoint the reason behind it, but all in all I am surprised to find Christmas coming in less than one week.
It is surprising to me however, because I drive by a billboard multiple times a day which informs me of just how many days there are until Christmas. I hate that billboard.
It is so easy this time of year to feel the need to spend, to buy, to go overboard. To me it feels like pressure to keep up, pressure to please. It is so easy to check out on spiritual things because we are so busy! This is ironic, seeing as how the whole reason for this busyness is the celebration of Jesus.
Over the past couple days a verse has been going over and over in my head. I wasn’t sure where it was found, so I used the most exhaustive Bible resource I have and I googled it.
Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”
He came to seek and save the lost, he came looking for me. It is easy to forget that I was once lost. I feel like I have been found for a long time. However, it is in the feeling of security in being found I can easily forget the feeling of being lost. This verse comes at the end of a portion of scripture where Jesus does the opposite of what some people might do.
He seeks out a man who is lost by the name of Zacchaeus. He seeks him and invites him to lunch. This portion of scriptures tells us that the religious people were displeased and they grumbled against the Lord.
Isn’t it just like a religious person to be displeased at the mess of the lost, to grumble behind Jesus’ back. That religious spirit hasn’t changed a whole lot these days.
It is easy to want to please religious people, after all they talk the loudest. I find myself wanting to please them, but I want to please everyone. I want everyone to be happy with me, with the way that we do ministry and have church. I of course want everyone to want to be a part of it because I feel like it is the best thing ever.
However, I can’t please everyone, because not everyone wants to seek after the lost. The lost act lost. They say inappropriate things, they party, they lead lost lives. These are the misfits, the wanderers, looking for something but not knowing what that thing is. These people are who I am called to seek. The thing I love most about the lost is they don’t realize they are supposed to act a certain way, they don’t put up a front like they have it all together.
I have learned that sin is easier to deal with in the light. When we keep sin hidden away in the darkness the light of Christ can never get to it, it can’t ever heal it or forgive it. Jesus, this baby whom we are celebrating came here to this earth to SEEK and SAVE the lost. We, (followers of Jesus) must be people who are willing to do the same. In all the mess in all the disappointment, when it doesn’t look pretty enough or classy enough, that is where salvation takes place.
There is no greater joy in my life than having front row seat to watching God restore people. It can be a slow process, but I am in this thing for life. It can be a process that moves forward and then reverts back time and time agian. As someone who professes to be a Christ follower, as someone who is called to reach the lost, to love people and to extend mercy to those in need I don’t have the right to pass judgment. I definitely don’t have the right to ever give up on anyone.
I am overwhelmed with the people God has sent to us, a band of misfits if I have ever seen one. The team He is building, the people who believe in the vision God sent us here with. There will always be those who don’t understand, there will always be those to stand from a far with displeasure on there faces. Those are not my people. My people get in the ditch with those in need, they extend a hand, they love the unlovable and I am more proud than ever to be a part of a church where everyone, always, belongs. A church family where you can belong before you believe.
I don’t know all that God has instore for us but I know this is only the beginning, the best is yet to come. So my friends, keep seeking. Let’s let Jesus be our example this Christmas season. The REASON he came was to SEEK and SAVE the lost.
If you are reading this and you feel lost and alone, please join us. Please come and let Jesus find you.
9:00 & 10:45 // 12/24/17 // 333 S. 13th St.
