ONE

Last night I signed a ballot to join the efforts of the ONE campaign to make poverty history. It is a great thing from what I have read. People from all backgrounds, religions, denominations, and political preference have come together to help make this happen on many different fronts. Many notable celebrities have found a platform within this organization as well. It is great, I am going to support it, but I am still a little confused, saddened, and a few other emotions that I cannot put my finger on.
I feel this way because of the state of the Church, the bride of Christ. So many times we get so busy in fighting what we feel like is social injustice in the areas of abortion and homosexuality, and when I think that those things are wrong and we need to take a stand, I am pretty sure people now know how conservative evangelical Christians feel on these issues. We have come to the point that some groups have become even militant on these issues, making a mockery of the redemption of the Cross.
So why am I rambling, what has struck me? We have these organizations that take care of other types of social injustice, poverty, AIDS (the largest epidemic of our generation), developing the underdeveloped, helping the alien, the fatherless, and the widow. Oh wait, all of this sounds so familiar. Oh yeah I remember now, we, the Church, are supposed to be doing all of this and not just doing it but also leading the way. Where have we gone wrong with our noses stuck in the air, or have we been so concerned about whether or not we are a Calvinist or an Armenian that we have totally passed up the person who is in true need of the love and charity of Jesus Christ.
Now don’t get me wrong I feel that doctrine, theology, and the expansion of our intellect is a very important thing but not if it takes the place of us simply serving. I searched on biblegateway.com three words last night, alien, fatherless, and widow, all at the same time. There are 18 different times in the Old Testament that theses three words are mentioned all together in the same sentence. Time after time we are told to not overlook these people but to look after them and take care of them. So many times we are patronizing with this. We have a food and clothing drive right before Thanksgiving or Christmas, or we hand out frozen Butterball turkeys to those less fortunate but we do it all at a time of the year when everyone else is doing the same thing. Where is our consistency to be involved in these things on a constant basis? To be involved with social injustices is what Jesus has called us to do and now there are many non-Church organizations that we can get involved with but we need to do more as local churches and the Bride of Christ as a whole. We are told that God is the help for the helpless, hope for the hopeless, father to the fatherless, and as Christians we are supposed to transmit these characteristics.
Here is the disclaimer. This is hard. It is sticky and dirty. We have messed it up. It will be most likely seen as political or selfish motivation but we must rise above and bring the hope and redemption of the Cross into all situations. This must not be a place that we constantly dwell, rather one of the things in our balanced walk, it just happens to be something that we have neglected. Seek out the orphan, the widow, and the stranger everyday and share the love and redemption that only Christ can give. We have ONE way, Jesus.
loveandserve
jj

pregnant

Being pregnant equals expecting something, and right now I find myself very pregnant. I am expecting Christmas!!!!! It is right around the corner and I cannot wait. It is my favorite time of the year and the anticipation that leads up to it is where I find most of the fun. The food, the presents, the giving, the family, the redemptive story of Jesus; it all gets me so excited!!! But then I hear that song, "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas", and it makes me sad. To me it wraps things up, it brings an end to the time of year that I so look forward to. Even when I hear that song in November, I get sad. I get sad because my pregnancy will come to an abrupt end in one day. All of it will be over and there will be a whole year of mundane anticipation until we once again come full circle to the few months before.

I started thinking about this in further detail as I was driving to work. I remember my dad once saying at the beginning of a worship service that we needed to be pregnant with anticipation that God was going to show up and do something. So my mind started putting all of this stuff together. The Lord brought some scripture to mind, and to me this makes alot of sense in the season of life that I am in. God is at work all of the time around us. He pursues me, he pursues others, and what we really need to do is be in such tune with the Spirit that we can see where he is working and join him, always being pregnant or expecting him to show up and blow our socks off with the sheer greatness of who he is. But there is also this notion of waiting and anticipating. Just how I am waiting now for the 25th of December. I love how David talks about this in the 27th Psalm,

4 One thing I ask of the LORD,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
and to seek him in his temple.

This Psalm really stirs my affection for Jesus because I can see how much that David anticipated the Lord to do something. In verse four David tells the Lord that he longs to sit in his presence all the days of his life just gaze upon his beauty, even in the midst of turmoil and unrest, David wants to just sit and wait, dwell on the beauty of the Lord, and anticipate the greatness of who he is and how he will deliver him. I truly desire to have this kind of affection for Jesus. The kind that lets me sit and meditate on who he is all the while preparing myself and being pregnant with the expectation that he is going to do something marvelous in my life.

You see the great thing about Jesus is that unlike Christmas he will be back the next day and in the same grandeur and splendor. We do not build up with anticipation for what Jesus is going to do only to be disappointed when it is over because we can count on his faithfulness that he is going to show up in our lives again when we need it. I want to be in a constant state of pregnancy for what Jesus is going to do just like I am in a state of pregnancy for the Christmas season.
Let us run head long into the presence of Jesus, and like David be so mindful to know that he is going to move in our live but in the moment let us be content with sitting at his feet and basking in his glory, knowing that he is going to be faithful to come.

Come Lord Jesus

jj