Reach

This world is broken. You are broken. I am broken. Our neighbors are broken, our enemies are broken, our churches are broken, our families are broken, our schools are broken, our political leaders are broken, our church leaders are broken, our friends are broken. Our world is broken.

A very long time ago, a man and his wife lived in a world that was not broken. They had everything they could ever need, but the temptation for more was too much for them. Two bites later, the world became a very broken place. The story that unfolds from that point in time is filled with brokenness. Murder, deception, greed, envy, selfishness, war, adultery, slavery, famine, drought, prostitution. The list goes on.

Then a man shows up on the scene. A man who had seen the world and its beautiful beginning, but had also seen it slowly fall apart. He came to save the world because his father had a relentless, unshakable love for the broken people living on this broken earth. The same God whose heart was grieved because he had created man (Genesis 6:6) couldn't bear to see the crown of his creation live such broken, hopeless lives any longer. The God of the universe sent his one and only son to reach out and heal the brokenness.

Jesus reached out to people over and over again. He searched out the lost, the hopeless, the lonely, the sick, the poor, the underprivileged, the over-privileged, the sinners, the confused, the searching, the ones who didn't know they were searching, the ones who thought they had it all together, the ones who knew they were missing something but didn't know what they were missing. He also reached out to the people who reached out to him.

"A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" Immediately he was cured of his leprosy." Matthew 8:3-4

Jesus was willing. Willing to put his needs aside and meet the needs of the people around him. Willing to spend time with the outcasts of society. Willing to sacrifice time and energy to build relationships with the lonely and rejected. He was willing to challenge leading religious leaders and show them what it really meant to follow God.

You know what is interesting? Jesus wants us to do the same.

"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." Matthew 16:24

"Deny yourself." Those are difficult words. "Take up your cross." Also some difficult words. "Follow." One word, but so much hinges on it and what we decide to do when we hear it.

Peter once heard Jesus say "come" (which is pretty much the same as "follow") and almost ended up drowning. But you know what is really cool about that story? Peter followed, lost faith, reached out, and guess what Jesus did: "Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him." (Matthew 14:31) So when Jesus tells us to follow, we can rest in the promise that he will always be there to reach out and catch us when we lose faith.

So here we are in the midst of a broken world. But we're holding onto something that gives us hope for a brighter one. When we choose to trust in Jesus, we are made new. The old, broken life is gone. By the grace of Jesus we are saved and because of that we have no reason to boast. The only thing we really have the right to do is share the love, amazing grace, and new life we have received, because that is what Jesus did.

We need to reach out to the lonely because Jesus did. We must feed the hungry because Jesus did. We have to serve everyone because Jesus did and we are following his example. We can go to church every Sunday of our lives and claim to have faith, but if we never step outside the walls of our cozy church buildings and feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give water to the thirsty, build relationships with the lonely and meet the needs of the people around us, our faith is DEAD (James 2:26).

Jesus loved God and loved people. He showed his love for God by loving people. He showed his love for people by reaching out and meeting them where they were. He didn't tell them to get their lives on track before healing them. He didn't tell them to go get a job and make some money then decide they were cool enough to be seen with. He went to them. He met them at their level, took their hand and pulled them into a relationship that gave them life and life more abundantly.

So we are left with a choice. Live for ourselves, or live for others. Follow Jesus on a sometimes scary, but exhilarating, sacrificial, incredible journey of loving people and meeting needs and living for others or keep the amazing grace you were given to yourself and live a mediocre, probably less fulfilling life. Sound harsh? I don't think so. The times I have felt the most alive were the times I was serving others and meeting their needs. Following Jesus is the way to go.

Reach out. Take hold. Love.

"So reach out and welcome one another to God's glory. Jesus did it; now you do it!"
Romans 15:7