March 26 - Welcoming Hearts

(submitted by Julie Richards)

Who did Jesus come for?

I’ve been intrigued lately that there can be a few ways to answer a question. There is our initial answer that we are quick to come up with. It may be the right answer, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. There’s more to it if we’re willing to reflect for awhile and see what God’s Spirit stirs up in us.

Who did Jesus come for? Where did He spend His time? In Luke 5:30, the Pharisees complained bitterly to Jesus’ disciples and said, “Why do you eat and drink with such scum?” Jesus answered them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor – sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent.” (Luke 5:31-32) How telling!

The quick answer is that He came to save the lost, the hurting and broken. Luke describes them as sick, which aptly fits a doctor’s perspective. I wonder if in our neat and tidy boxes, where we fit all our church answers, we think of the need that person has over there. That’s the one Jesus was referring to. Once saved, always saved, and I professed my faith long ago….surely not me. Perhaps the prodigal son in his honest need has countless elder brothers and sisters who can’t imagine how they too could be fallen or lost. We safely guard that we aren’t the hurting or broken. We do all we can to show our together worlds. On the surface, we’d never say we had it all together. Underneath it, though, upon deeper reflection, we realize how much we want it to be so.

Jesus’ rebuke didn’t come to the one who admitted they had need. His rebuke was for the one who didn’t see how He could possibly be talking about them.

1 Timothy 1:15 says, “This is a true saying, and everyone should believe it: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-- and I was the worst of them all.” A fuller picture of the original meaning of save is to rescue, deliver, make whole, heal. Our salvation is secure when we ask for forgiveness and personally accept the work of Christ on the cross, but there is an ongoing work He does in our life to heal us and make us whole.

How powerful God’s grace and love pour into the life of the one who admits his or her need for Him! Imagine letting the walls fall down, where we can give up the pretense and say to Him, “Apart from You, God, I can do NOTHING. If You don’t heal me, I won’t be whole. If this is up to me, I’m as good as dead. In Your mercy, Lord, come do what only You can that I can’t do alone.”

Can we let Him see our need? Can we admit with Him that we have need? It’s not self-pity, it’s not self-focused. It is healing – letting God work wholeness in our deepest parts. An incredible ministry takes place when we let God enter in to our humanity like that. God reaches us, heals us, and sends us back out to reach more who are willing to let God tear down walls, reveal their need, and let Him touch them.

“How precious is Your unfailing love, O God! All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of Your wings…Pour out Your unfailing love on those who love You, Your saving justice to those with honest hearts.” Psalm 36:7,10 (NLT and NJB). The Message says, “Do Your work in welcoming hearts.”

Jesus welcomes us to come as we are. Leave the pretense behind. Let Him uncover layers and walls we’ve set up to guard or defend ourselves. Feel our need – and see that our Savior has come for you and for me. There is a work of healing and wholeness that He longs to do in the depths of our soul.

There is an epidemic of hurting people who are desperate to know they are not alone. The last words Jesus shared after His resurrection in Mark 16:15-18 were to send the disciples, His people, out into a hurting world to bring healing. “And the Lord worked through them…” (NIV, v.20) Maybe one of the ways that He does that is through our own testimony of healing. The Message writes, “Validating the Message with indisputable evidence.” What an incredible testimony, indisputable evidence, when we share that our lives have been touched and healed. Yours can too.