“Come, follow me . . .” Matthew 4:19 Jesus didn’t invite people to join religious institutions, he invited us to follow him! To go where he is going—into the heart of God’s kingdom—and to learn from him how to be our truest selves while helping other’s experience the goodness of God’s heart. Some Christians believe secular culture is hostile to Christianity. Gregory Boyle, author of Barking to the Choir, disagrees. Boyle says, “Our culture is hostile only to the inauthentic living of the gospel. It sniffs out hypocrisy everywhere and knows when Christians aren’t taking seriously, what Jesus took seriously.”
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“When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” Luke 19: 5-7 Jesus invited himself to Zack’s house for a dinner party. He asked the Samaritan woman for a drink of water. He borrowed Peter’s boat as a platform for teaching. The women, who followed Jesus, invested financially in his mission and an unnamed person lent Jesus his colt for the Palm Sunday parade. Jesus believes in us and invites us to share our gifts and talents to help him express the kingdom of heaven on earth. Asking people to share their gifts and their resources acknowledges they have something of worth to bring to the party of life. Simply asking will affirm their dignity; if they share their gifts it will make for a better party!
“What do you want me to do for you?” Mark 10:51 Jesus invites people to share their stories—as well as their deepest aspirations and wildest dreams—by asking questions. He asks the paralytic, “Do you want to get well?” He asks a blind man named Bartimaeus, “What do you want me to do for you?” He asks the men on the road to Emmaus, “What are you talking about as you travel along?” He asks the woman at the well, “Where is your husband?” And the woman caught in adultery, he asks, “Where are your accusers?” The right question, asked in the right way, will create a protected space for people to explore their hopes and dreams.
“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” Matthew 19:14 In this familiar Red Letter story, Jesus takes children who are being shunned by his disciples and places them on his lap; instantly he moves them from the margin to center stage. Jesus blesses the children and lifts them up as an example of kingdom values, saying for all to hear, “The kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” Jesus always has his eye focused on people who are invisible. He sees those who live in the shadows of injustice and shines his light of compassion and grace on them. He uses his hands to lift them out of obscurity and he uses his voice to acknowledge their dignity.
“Your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.” Matthew 18:14 Jesus never said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, affirm the dignity of others,” but I’m pretty sure that’s what he meant when he said, “Do to others what you would have them do to you.” The parable of the good shepherd is a Red Letter story that magnifies the value of every individual. The hero in the story leaves the ninety-nine and seeks the one who has wandered away. In God’s family of compassion, no one is to be left out! No one is to be left behind! Everyone has equal and inherent value... including you!
“The next time you put on a dinner, don’t just invite your friends and family and rich neighbors, the kind of people who will return the favor. Invite some people who never get invited out, the misfits from the wrong side of the tracks.” – Luke 14:12 Jesus includes a diverse mix of people in his circle of friends; people whose names seldom make the “in crowd’s” invitation list. He affirms their dignity by sharing life and meals and stories with them. He learns their names, listens to their concerns, and touches them. His affirmation of their dignity has a deep healing effect on their lives. Sin is forgiven. Guilt and shame melt away. Demonic strongholds are broken and mental health is restored. There is something profound about the way Jesus affirms the dignity of people; it releases hope and health into the atmosphere. If this is the type of community Red Letter Christians dream about, we will do well to follow the way of Jesus and create families of compassion that include the excluded.
I set out in January of this year to write a weekly reflection on the Red Letters of Jesus, hoping it would inspire others and myself to “Think Red!” Namely, to find the courage and the imagination to create whimsical expressions of community that look like Jesus.
It is my dream for the Church—a dream that has carried me along for a long time. It is a vision for the future that finds it's roots in the heart of Jesus, who said, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them and we will come to them and make our home with them.” I dream of a new world, flavored with micro communities of people who are so crazy in love with Jesus that they overflow with the Spirit of Christ and honor him by doing the things he taught us to do: to love the unlovable, to pardon the unpardonable, to believe the unbelievable, to work relentlessly for justice, and to be a voice of hope when everything seems hopeless. As this year comes to a close and I write my final blog for 2021, I want to make a Red Letter Toast to my friends and to my brothers and sisters who have their heart set on following the way Jesus. Looking back at 2021, may we celebrate our successes and learn from our failures! Looking forward, may we follow Jesus together, thinking red every step of the way! In 2022 may we live by faith, be known for our Christ–like love, and be the voice of hope What goes on the top of your Christmas tree? An angel? A bow? A star? When our children were young they created an angel out of a disposable Styrofoam cup. The angel had a Styrofoam ball head, cotton hair, big blue sequin eyes, silver wings made from a repurposed Christmas bow, and a halo of plastic flowers poked into the angel’s head. The kids named her Gloria. In my opinion, Gloria was the prettiest ornament on the tree. I’m sad to say, since the children have grown and moved out of the house, Gloria no longer has a place on the family Christmas tree. I bring her out every year, along with the other decorations, and suggest she be returned to her favored position on top of the tree—every year Kathie overrules the suggestion. At which point, I return Gloria to the crumpled pasteboard box that bears her name.
The angel appears to be nothing more than an old disposable cup that should have been tossed in the trash years ago; but to me, it is a cup filled with Christmas treasures—sacred memories that I will value for eternity.
The Styrofoam angel in the bottom of our Christmas decorations reminds me of God’s upside down kingdom. Jesus said, those who are last will be first; the meek will inherit the earth, and those who are humble will be exalted. People, places, and things, that are devalued and overlooked in this world are lifted up and deeply appreciated in the Father’s heart.
If this Christmas season you feel worn-out and under-appreciated; if you believe the lie that joy was meant for everyone else but you; if you are holding your breath, waiting for the holidays to pass because they only serve to remind you that you are alone and unhappy, may I share some good news with you . . . there is a good Father in heaven who deeply treasures who you are. I read a prayer this morning that inspired me to sing with the Christmas Angels—proclaiming joy to world and peace on earth—in spite of the violence, trauma, and grief that is so prevalent in our world. It was a prayer written by the Dominican Sisters of Peace.
Jesus said: In this world you will have trouble but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world. His words are true and his promise is secure! These are not cheap words that tell us to fake it until we make it. Jesus does not expect us to sing songs of triumphalism as a sign of faith when faced with the agony of defeat. Instead, Jesus invites us to be honest when the storms of this world wreck our lives and to find comfort and peace for our troubled souls in the powerful love of God. One way to resist all that is wrong in the world is to stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters whose faith and hope have been shattered. We can lament and mourn with them, and in so doing, help bare their burden. When our brother’s faith grows weak, we can have faith on his behalf. When our sister’s hope withers into despair, we can proclaim hope on her behalf. Therefore, let us join the angel’s chorus and sing on behalf of our brothers and sisters who are simply trying to survive this Christmas season: I bring you good news of great joy; for today a savior has been born for you—whose goodness is stronger than evil; whose love is stronger than hate; whose light is stronger than darkness; whose hope is stronger than despair—Christ the Lord!
I remember the anticipation I felt as a child snooping around my grandmothers Christmas tree, inspecting the packages, waiting for the adults in the house to say it’s time to open the presents. I would search for the biggest package under the tree and look to see whose name was written on the tag. I have to admit, if the tag had my cousin’s name on it, or my brother’s, I felt a tinge of disappointment. As a kid I believed the best gift would be the biggest gift. I was a child with childish values but some of us never outgrow the bigger is better myth.
In my book Think Red, I take a look at the values of the typical North American church and compare them to the values of Jesus. More often than not, an honest comparison will reveal a disparity between the two. One of the values I reflect on is the value we place on BIG verses small. Our world values big things, like big TVs, big trucks, big houses, big stores, and mega churches with big TVs. Jesus, on the other hand, seems to value small things. Things like cups of cold water given to little children and small coins given to God by poor widows. When he told the disciples about his vision to usher in God’s kingdom on earth and his plan to build a church at the gates of hell, I don’t think he thumped his chest and said to Peter, “Go big or go home!” Instead, he said, God’s kingdom is like a tiny mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds, which would eventually grow and provide shelter for all types of characters. He also compared his vision of the kingdom to a small pinch of yeast that a woman worked into a lump of meal; in secret this invisible kingdom would change the entire culture around it. Eventually the meal would have the same properties as the yeast. If you have set your heart on following Jesus and want to be a part of his scheme to make earth look more like heaven, it will help to remember his strategy of small beginnings. You don’t have to be . . . or give . . . or own . . . the biggest and the best to make an eternal impact in your neighborhood; you simple have to follow the advice of Mother Teresa who said, We can all do small things with great love. What small thing can you do today to express God's love to someone in your neighborhood who might be feeling unloved? |
AuthorLarry Stoess is an author, public speaker, and urban church planter. He loves telling stories about how dreaming with God will empower people to make old and broken things new again. Larry and a band of friends founded the Church of the Promise in Louisville's Portland neighborhood; The Table, a pay-what-you-can community café; and Promise Housing Plus, a non-profit construction company. He has written about their experience of dreaming with God in his new book: Think Red. Archives
August 2023
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