a God of mystery…
Have you searched for Jesus in the eyes of real people this Christmas? In the eyes of the poor, the oppressed, the orphan, the homeless, the AIDS victim – the abandoned and the forgotten? Below is an excerpt from an incredible book I am reading called Red Letters written by Tom Davis. This book is so eye-opening to what we as christians should be living. I can’t wait to read more….I’m only on page 21. I thought this message might be a great reminder for us all in the coming days as we find ourselves bustling through the hours of why we are celebrating this day and remember those who cannot celebrate.
But that’s not how God did things. Jesus was born in a dirty, smelly, disgusting barn. He was laid not on a clean sheet but in a manger – a feeding trough filled with animal snot and drool and their leftover half-eaten food. He wasn’t welcome to the world by great leaders, by rulers and officials and other members of the Lexus-drivers club. He was met by a bunch of lowly shepherds. Yes, three kings or wise men arrived from the east months later. But nobody even knew who they were.
Are you getting the picture? Jesus didn’t come to earth and identify with the rich, the successful, and the most influential. He entered the world as a pauper. He entered the world not in the comfort of his parents’ home, nor in the company of smiling relatives or even the safety of a hospital. He arrived in the humblest of places, in the lowliest of circumstances. God hid the mystery of the kingdom in the lives of the most needy.
Is it any wonder, then, that Jesus associated himself with the “least of these”? That when we help them, we’re helping Jesus? God has tremendous love for those who are rejected, abandoned, and laughed at. This truth came clear to me when I started reading about the life of Mother Teresa. Read what she said:
The dying, the crippled, the mentally ill, the unwanted,
the unloved – they are Jesus in disguise….[Through the]
poor people I have an opportunity to be 24 hours a day
with Jesus. Every AIDS victim is Jesus in a pitiful disguise;
Jesus is in everyone….[AIDS sufferers are] children of
God [who] have been created for greater things.
…In some crazy way, Jesus is the poor. When we find the “least of these”, we find him. If this doesn’t turn your theology upside down, I don’t know what will.
“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.” Matthew 25:40
