Index: our Jesus

In Matthew Chapter 25:

34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

Jesus is often seen in our culture as this very distant figure, and even if He’s close, it’s in the most shining white, bright amazingly spiritual experience. That’s not really the Jesus who’s at Adullam. Back in June of ’08 I had a chance to have dinner with someone in the sex trade, he told me his name was Josh. (Ironically Joshua is the English for Yeshua, which is the Hebrew for Jesus… funny that.) We had dinner, and then went back to my house and watched TV until he fell asleep in my dad’s new recliner.

A few Sundays earlier I’d preached a Homily you can find in the thoughts section called “Who is Our Jesus.” in it I stated:

Our Jesus is broken, hurt, and alone. He doesn’t know if anyone loves Him, and She’s pretty sure they shouldn’t. She doesn’t know why she’s in the situation She’s in, and He’s pretty sure nobody is interested in helping Him. He might be on the corner drunk out of his mind, or she might be sitting in her room in Tuxedo wondering why money feels so cold against her skin. Our Jesus may not even know if you should call Them a He or a She. Our Jesus still suffers. Our Jesus is in this room with you right now, and you can see Him on each other’s faces.

I very much so believe that. Our Jesus isn’t some high and mighty white shining light, detached and inaccessible. Our Jesus walks through the darkest places, as His followers, it’s our path to follow.