Two confessions:

1. I’m not very good at prayer.
2. I’m not a people person.

Don’t get me wrong, I believe in the power of prayer. I believe that there is great benefit and power in prayer. I’m just not very good at it.

I bristle with the rote, legalistic attitude with which we often approach prayer. (I.E. you have to pray before every meal, you have to ask forgiveness in each prayer, you have to have the proper opening and closing, etc.) But, that’s another blog post.

The more important part of my confession, for this story, is the fact that I am NOT a people person.

I love people. I even like a whole lot of them. But I’m not the most outgoing, gregarious fellow you will encounter.

I don’t like large groups. I don’t feed off of big get-togethers or things like that. I hate the phone and will beg Tracy to make even the most basic calls.
I’m content to be home with my family or at my desk studying. I don’t have the gift of hospitality.
I’m not much on visitation. I was raised to never go somewhere uninvited, and that has stuck with me.

I am introverted, much more likely to escape into my thoughts than I am to strike up a conversation.

I do well one-on-one. I’m fairly adept at counseling people with marital problems and other issues. I even, typically, enjoy that.

But, my ministerial strengths are preaching and teaching. That is where I am gifted.

As a result, one of the criticisms of me through the years has been on the pastoral side of my job. (Note: one thing that the Church of Christ has to get over is it’s nit-picking attitude toward the use of the word “pastor.” Name me one “minister” in our churches who is not expected to pastor.)

I’ve been called, repeatedly, unapproachable. In Michigan, the elders continually encouraged me to engage more. It was obviously a source of frustration for them that I did not fit squarely into their ideas of what a preacher should be.

When I accepted the call to move to Waco I realized that I needed to try harder to correct that. So, tying those two “weaknesses” together I decided that I would pray about it.

I began to pray that God would place within me the capacity to love people more.

I began to pray that I would be more caring and compassionate.

Over and over, I repeated the simple line, “Help me to love people more.”

I began that prayer under the hopes that it would improve my inter-congregational skills.

What I did not know, at the beginning, was that God would have something else in mind.

The prayer worked, but not in the way I expected.  All of those seemingly random events that I have been describing in this series began to make a whole lot more sense.
I did begin to love people more. All people.

I began to care about the poor. I began to be concerned about the plight of people across the world who are suffering.

Words like Rwanda and Darfur appeared on my radar screen. AIDS ceased being a bullet I dodged when I got married, but a crisis of biblical proportions.

Homosexuals stopped being “fags” and “dykes” and started to become precious souls in need of love. A proposition I would have voted for became one I voted against.

Muslims ceased being the source of all my scorn and hatred and became men, women, and children to me.

A lifetime of racial jokes against people of different colors and backgrounds became a source of tremendous shame.

War became a travesty. The killing of innocent lives was impossible to justify, even for the sake of “freedom.”

The way we treat the earth became a concern. The disadvantaged and the downtrodden bear the brunt of our environmental excesses.

God gave me the capacity to love, but it became a love without borders, without doctrine, without skin color, without denominational loyalty.

It became the love of Christ.

I began to love the convict and the criminal. The poor and the forgotten. I began to love the homosexual and the Baptist. I began to love Democrats and Libertarians. I began to love the HIV-infected and the USA-affected.
I began to tremble with the weight of compassion that such a prayer had. My preaching changed.

My politics changed.

My worldview changed.

My sense of right and wrong changed. No longer did I look first at how things affected this country but I looked at how they affected the Kingdom.

Poverty became my problem. Racism became my problem.

The environment became my problem. Embracing the immigrant became my problem.

Oh, God answered that prayer.  I love my congregation more.  But I also love the rest of God’s creation so much more.

I’m still an introvert and I probably always will be.  I’m learning that many of us out there are the same way.  It does not mean that we don’t love.  It does not mean that we don’t care.

It just means that God uses us in a different way.  And I’m ok with that.

Pray that same prayer and God will change you.  I’m not doing praying it:

“Help me to love people more.”

And you will love.  Ultimately what got me to where I am today was through the power of God to take this reserved, often cynical, individual and place within him the capacity to love.

To care.  To weep for those we tend to discard.

Pray this with me.  May we each stive to be guilty of loving too much rather than judging too much.

Tomorrow: The beginning of my story and the end of this series.

That phrase is this: I would rather be guilty of loving too much than judging too much.

I try to approach all of my dealings with people from that perspective. And it has made all the difference.
If I am to err in my dealings with people, let them accuse me of loving them more than being critical. More than being dismissive. More than judging.
You see, I’ve done too much judging in my life. I have typecast, stereotyped and dismissed.
I have lived my life with such an either/or mentality that I have failed to embody love.
Either they are strong and devout Christians that agree with me on all of the necessary issues or they are pagans and heathens bound for hell who need to know Jesus and His love.
Of course, there was no way that haughty attitude I possessed was going to bring them anywhere into the vicinity of the love of Christ.
I have driven past the beggar because it was “just a scam” or “they could get a job but they don’t want one.”
I have resisted going into “certain areas” because “a guy can get killed there.”
I have marginalized and dismissed people who fail to look like me, act like me, believe like me, or talk like me.
And too many of us Christians are guilty of this. We judge far more than we love.
I removed a post about me seeing “Brokeback Mountain” because of several comments left that were just hateful and would never shed the love of Christ upon a seeking or hurting soul.

(Side Note: I don’t wear my wedding ring because it slides off my finger. When I lost all my weight it no longer fit. However, when I went to see that movie I put it on, because I didn’t want anyone to think I was “one of them.” I too, still, have a long way to go.)

Of course, such a phrase does not remain impervious to criticism that it is somewhat shallow theology. The reason that it opens itself up to such criticism is that we have co-opted the gospel to be something different than what it truly is.

I hear people all the time say that “we have to stand up for the truth.” That the Christian voice has to be heard among the din of evil voices that are seeking to topple the freedom of religious expression that we enjoy in this country. That if we don’t speak out against sin then we will hasten our destruction. That we must not “water down” the truth by blindly loving.

Excuse me, but that is shallow theology.

When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment of all was, He did not say it was to speak against the evils of Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, or Baptists.
He did not say to rail against homosexuals.
He did not say to boycott and picket forms of entertainment that run counter to our belief system.

He said to love. Love God. Love our neighbors.
The Christian life distilled down to two simple, yet profound, principles: Loving Him and loving others.
None of this is to say that we take a soft view on sin. However, it does mean that we take a softer view on people. Seek to love first, before we cast judgment.
Seek to understand before we condemn.
Seek to embrace before we exclude.

“But we have to speak the TRUTH in love” people will say. That’s what Paul told us to do in Ephesians 4. We have to show these people where they are wrong, right?
How about we show them Jesus, instead?
How about we allow the love of Christ to penetrate their souls and change them?
If we are to speak Truth then we must know that Jesus is the Truth.
Same with love.
So our speech must be that of how Christ would speak to
us. That changes how I proclaim the sinful state of fallen people.
We
use that passage to justify falling on either extreme: bludgeoning
people with “truth” or coddling them with “love” rather than engaging
them with Jesus.

You see, Jesus was very explicit in His answer to what the greatest command truly is: to love.

Because of His insistence of the importance of this, I would rather be guilty of loving too much than judging too much.

And if I truly love people then they will see Jesus in me. If I come along side them in their daily struggles embodying the love and mercy of Jesus to them, then they will want to know more about Him, right?

And when you come to know Jesus you are changed. And when you come to know Jesus you are no longer afraid to face the Judge.

Let each of us seek to be guilty of loving too much. For when we love as Jesus loved then the world will be changed. Debts will be forgiven, sins will be cleansed, lives will be changed.
Jesus will be proclaimed and a profound theology will be espoused.

Lord, forgive me for the people who have heard me preach or teach and experienced only condemnation and not your love. Lord, forgive me for the hurting souls that I have dismissed because I judged them before I loved them. Lord forgive me for judging too much and loving too little.

Growing up, however, I was called by a lot of different names that were not my choosing. I had bad acne, was overweight and had bad teeth. I was a convenient target for a lot of name-calling.
It hurt. Some days, when I am truly honest and reflective, it still does.
I longed for the day that I would grow up and the name calling would cease.

Because adults, especially Christian adults, would never stoop to name-calling, right?
Right?
Refined, educated, godly people would never resort to slurs or epithets, would they?

What I have found, instead, is an all too pervasive proclivity to brandish people with derogatory aspersions. And I know that it grieves God.
I am amazed by how Christians will condescend to name-calling with those that we disagree with:
Homosexuals are a ‘bunch of queers,’ ‘sicko’s,’ ‘fruits,’ ‘perverts’ or ‘fags.’ Despite the fact that they are children of God.
Muslims are ‘towel heads,’ ‘stans’ and they are all ‘zealous fanatics hell-bent on destroying the world.’ Despite the fact that they are children of God.
Environmentalists are ‘tree huggers’ and ‘environmentalist wackos.’ Despite the fact that they are children of God.
Those who are pro-choice are ‘baby-killers.’ Despite the fact that they are children of God.
Democrats are ‘commies,’ ‘pinko scum’ and ‘America haters.’ Despite the fact that they are children of God.
African Americans are, well you get the point.

To me, the saddest part of all of this is that these are phrases that I hear coming out of the mouth of Christians. In the defense of what we believe to be true and right we have marginalized and stereotyped the very people that our Savior died for.
I preached yesterday on the prophecy of Jesus as the Shepherd in Ezekiel 34. The NT parallel to that is found in John 10 where Jesus proclaims that He is the Good Shepherd. He also proclaims that His sheep know His voice (v. 3)
How sad and appalling, nay damnable, it is that so many precious souls of God never get to hear the voice of the Shepherd because all they hear from His sheep is hatred and slurs.
And undestand this, it is hatred. Everytime we utter the slur or insult, hatred has seized our heart.
We will never win the souls of homosexuals, Muslims, etc if we stand on the periphery of their lives and hurl our insults their way.
We can disagree with their lifestyle choices or political views all day long but there is NEVER any defense for invective.
Yes, we need to “speak the truth in love.” However, aspersions are neither true, nor are they love. If Jesus is the Truth, and I believe Him to be, then we must approach those He loves as we would approach Him.
Christians, when we resort to name-calling then we negate an opportunity to be Christ to others. Jesus is our example, not Ann Coulter (I pray that she will experience God’s love).

Growing up when I was called ‘fatty’ or ‘bucky’ or ‘zit-face’ it tore me up. When I turn my ire upon someone else today through the same weapon of name-calling I grieve the Lord.
Let’s end the name calling and instead be the voice of the Good Shepherd in a lost and dying world, shall we?

And I do understand why so many Christians are upset.
But this Christmas season there is so much more for me to be bothered by. Each Sunday I assemble with my brothers and sisters to commemorate the death, burial and resurrection of my Lord and Savior and so many in this world fail to even notice.
No, many people ignore Jesus each and every day. Why should one more day make that much of a difference?
And besides, that is their right, the benefit of being a free moral agent. They have the right to choose to follow Jesus or whomever they deem worthy of their devotion.
How would it be this Christmas (or holiday) season if, rather than boycotting Target or Wal-Mart, we as Christians embodied the reason for this season?
What if we were the incarnation of the Christ child in the hearts and lives of people?
What if we gave more and expected less?
What if we adopted families that were without this Christmas and infused them with the hope of salvation and the joy of Christmas fellowship?
What if we stopped criticizing the poor for failing to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and offered them a hand?
What if we spent less time spewing rhetoric and more time whispering grace?
What if we wept over EVERY life lost in war, not just the ones who wear our uniforms?
What if reached out in love to the hungry, the poor, the homosexual, those different from us and offered them hope, peace and reconciliation?
What if WE were Jesus in America?
What if we, as Christians, lived our lives in such a way that it would be impossible for anyone to deny the importance of Christmas?
What if we gave them infinite reasons to appreciate Jesus by the way we live our lives?
What if we were known as loving, grace-filled, tolerant souls who truly care about others, willing to meet them where they are and develop relationships with them that embody the person of Jesus?

You see, Jesus came to be God with us. He came into a sin-filled world to be hope and light, salt and solace. He did not come clutching a protest sign.
He did not come to organize a boycott.
He was not incarnate in efforts to incite.
He was not born as a talk-show host but as a child, innocent, meek and mild.
He did not come to instigate.
No, He came to change lives.
And He calls us to do the same.
Not through coercion. Not through crying “persecution” anytime someone disagrees with us or fails to look at things through evangelical eyes.
He calls us to go. Love our enemies, pray for those who “persecute” us.
Let’s make the reason for the season undeniable.

Understand this, it is not the world’s responsibility to come to our point of view on matters such as this.
It is our responsibility to take to the world the hope that is bound in Christmas.
You want Christmas acknowledge and embraced?
Be as Christ.

1. This holds the, although never said, notion that God failed in His first attempt at nation building and needs to try again.
2. It establishes an imperialistic eschatology that links the success of America to the advancement of the Kingdom of God.
3. It diminishes the faith-life of devoted believers across the globe overlooking the spread of the gospel to all peoples.

As a result of this we have developed a rationale for our actions that elevate all that we do as being synonymous with the explicit will of God.
Because we are the new Israel:

• Our Destiny is Manifest
• Our Wars our Just
• Our dissenters are enemies
• Our sins are few

The danger of all this is to overemphasize the importance of nation over and above kingdom. It is to erroneously attach your location of birth with your spiritual heritage.
It is important to remember some key truths as American Christians:

1. America needs God not vice versa
2. We are Christians first, Americans second.
3. America is not God’s chosen people. The church is God’s chosen people.
4. We are blessed to live in this free country but blessings extend to all people.
5. We are to be subject to the governing authorities but that does not mean we must never question misguided policies and actions.
6. God is not a republican.
7. Nor is He a democrat.
8. We might be Americans by nature of our birth, but this world, this nation, is not our home.
9. America is not the Promised Land, Heaven is.

Let us thank God for the benefits of living in a great nation such as this. But let us not mistake those blessings for more than what they are. Let us give unto Caesar what is his and nothing more.
Our allegiance must reside solely and primarily with God Almighty.

In Matthew 26 Jesus is anointed while having dinner at Simon the lepers by an unnamed woman with an expensive perfume-so expensive it amounted to a year’s wages.

The disciples are beside themselves. How dare she?
The response of Jesus is startling (10-13)

The lesson:

1. This is not a condemnation of the poor but a commission for the faithful.
When Jesus says the poor will always be with you, I believe that what He is saying is that, as my disciples, this is where you will go.
You will go to the poor, the hungry, the thirsty, the imprisoned and minister to them.

You will not ensconce yourselves in ivory towers untouched by human hands.
You will not isolate yourselves from the cacophony of crying hearts.
You will not entrench yourselves in the walls of academia and doctrinal debates.

Instead you will be in the ditch where the people are.
You will exhaust yourselves on the wheels of mercy.
You will expend yourselves in the sating of hunger and the slaking of thirst.

You will be known by the mercy you extend and the grace you offer.

You will be actively involved in the hearts and lives of the downtrodden and forgotten.

You will be the first resort for the wayward.

The source of hope for the hopeless.

The bedrock of compassion for the crumbling heart.

You will not be found cloistered in an upper room but found invested and involved in the domiciles of the disaffected.

Where should Jesus’ followers be found? Where the people are.

What happens if we walk outside of these doors and into our neighborhood?

What if we lay aside our rhetoric about our safety and trust God that He is with us?

That we be found, not just here on Sunday and Wednesday, but out there through the week?

2. Would you rather dine with lepers or conspire with hypocrites?
While Jesus is having dinner with this social outcast, this leper, the chief priests are meeting to determine what to do with Jesus.
Their ultimate answer? Crucify Him.

The point is this: Jesus was actively involved with ministry to the poor.
He was among the people, living out His faith in practical works.
He was making a difference.

At the same time there were those who were so focused on the letter of the law that they had no time to invest themselves in ministry.
They were too concerned with their notion of legalistic righteousness to notice the precious souls that were searching for meaning.

I believe that we risk the ultimate folly of proclaiming the love of Christ yet not exhibiting that love by the way we treat people.

Do people know that we love them unconditionally? That we are tuned in to their needs and care about them. Not false sympathy but true concern?

3. Jesus is taking another form.
I think that it is no coincidence that this incident takes place so soon after Jesus’ Kingdom parables in Matthew 25.
The significance that His current physical body is being anointed and prepared for burial is another indicator of the spiritual form that He now manifests in today’s world: the orphan, the beggar, the needy, the poor, the imprisoned, the stranger.

The physical incarnation of Jesus was leaving-they would no longer have that embodiment with them.

From now on Jesus would be seen in those in need.

How do we recognize Jesus today? In the mendicants on off-ramps, the poor, homeless and dispossessed.

He is here. He is among us. And He is hungry.
Have we anointed Him?

4. This is one prophecy we should dedicate our lives to changing.

The poor we will always have with us.
That is what is said.
That is an indictment on our sinful nature.
Our lives should be dedicated to alleviate the needs that people have.

Can we change it? Yes we can.
It is not fated that it always be so. That is not what Jesus meant.
It is meant to show that wherever there is need that is where we will be.
Like Tom Joad we are to be in search of those who are without.
We can make a difference.

While women weep, as they do now, I’ll fight; while little children go hungry, I’ll fight; while men go to prison, in and out, in and out, as they do now, I’ll fight; while there is a drunkard left, while there is a poor lost girl upon the streets, where there remains one dark soul without the light of God, I’ll fight! I’ll fight to the very end!
Citation: William Booth

They will go away if we go get them.

Objections
to having the poor with us:

1. “It’s Pointless. Jesus said
they will always be around” Our main text for today.

This is all too often a response to this
passage. I believe that stems from a
fundamental misunderstanding of Jesus’ intent.

This is not an opportunity to throw up our hands in
exasperation and say that there is nothing more to do.

Instead it is a stunning statement as to the
enormity of our mission.

Look at the original verse:

Deuteronomy 15:7-11 (edited, please look it up)

The existence of poor is not due to the whims of a
capricious and malevolent God but too often it is because of our own materialism and
self-centeredness.
The disciple’s
concern here is not the poor but his own greed.

As long as we are sinful, materialistic people there
will always be poor people.

2. “They will just take advantage of us.” The
one I hear the most and the one I have been most apt to use.
This makes much sense on a human, secular
level.