THE THIRD SATURDAY IN ADVENT
Matthew 11:2–6 2When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples 3and said to him, "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?" 4Jesus answered them, "Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. 6And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me."
John asks this strange question of Jesus, “Are you the Messiah? Or should we wait for another?” Jesus answer is, “Go and tell John what you see and hear.” If someone were to ask me, “Are you really a pastor?” My response would be, “Of course I am.” And then list all my qualifications. But Jesus doesn’t do that. Instead, he recounts what he has been doing. Reminds me of a story.
An over zealous evangelist asked a man on the street, “Are you a Christian?” The man answered, “Don’t ask me that question! Ask my banker. Ask my neighbor. Ask my boss. Ask my wife. Ask my children. Talk is cheap.”
“Are you a Christian?” can easily be answered by, “Yes! I am baptized and I go to church.” But the real answer to the question lies in what the people you meet each day see. Can they tell you are a follower of the Lord Jesus by your actions toward them?
I humbly suggest to you that I think most of the people I meet most of the time would answer of me, “Yes.” Not all of the people all of the time, but most of the people most of the time.
SO WHAT about you? What would your banker, neighbor, boss, spouse and children (if you have them) say about you?
Stir up your power, O Lord, and come. Empower me to talk the talk AND walk the walk of your disciple. AMEN
Certainly something to think about =]
ReplyDeleteI think that most of them would say that I am, in general, a pretty good person. As you stated, probably not all of them, all the time, but most.
ReplyDeleteBut I also know that I could be a better person.
The challenge for me, I think, is tending to equate "living as a Christian" w/ "being a good and decent person." If I were REALLY good, I wouldn't NEED to be a Christian because I wouldn't need CHRIST and his forgiveness. Of course, as Christians we strive to be good as a response of gratitude to God for the grace poured out in Christ, so it's a bit of a blur to talk about. But so many in our society bring the two -- being Christian, and being good -- too close together, I think.
ReplyDeleteI would HOPE people see me doing good, sure... and I would HOPE they can see that I do so out of thanks to God and for his glory. But I ALSO hope people would recognize me as a Christian when I DON'T do good and then repent of those actions and cling to God's forgiveness and the fresh start I can only get through Jesus.