Loving Lifeguard

[Jesus said,] “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.”    Luke 19:10 (HCSB)

[Jesus said,] “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn its people. He sent him to save them!”     John 3:17 (CEV)

I recently quoted a passage from a book I read, Chris Surber’s The Sacred Journey. (If you don’t have a an awesome Christian book to read at present – I highly recommend this one.)

Jesus ate with sinners as a way of loving them into the Kingdom of God. He did not make picket signs against their sin. p. 80

Chris and I got on some person’s last nerve. He quickly commented that “But He called it like it was, sin is sin, and did not condone or mollify.”

While I agree that God does not condone sin nor does He try to reassure us that “it’s OK, Jody. It was just a ‘little’ sin”, God isn’t in the condemning business, we are. God will convict us with His Spirit. God will help us to know our sin so that we can turn away, repent, from that sin.

Jesus knew that we would fall into this sin of judging and condemning others. It was part of the Sermon on the Mount. He rapped my knuckles, telling me not to judge because it would bring judgment on me with the same level of condemnation that I level on someone else. Remember His example of the sawdust in my brother’s eye vs. the plank in my own? (Matthew 7:1-5)

I haven’t asked Rev. Surber what he was thinking when he wrote that sentence but when I think of “pickets” I think of those who stand outside abortion clinics with their graphic signs that condemn the women for killing the babies. I believe that the child they carry is alive from the moment of conception. I believe abortion is wrong. But I believe, in God’s eyes, condemning those women is just as wrong. If we call ourselves Jesus’ disciples, we should be about loving and healing before “go and sin no more”. That is what Jesus did. Why not provide more homes to totally support these women in the pregnancies? Give them a place to stay and fellowship through this season of their life. Give them an alternative without harsh words and no help. Give them Jesus’ love.

Jesus wants to save people. Jesus forgave me as He hung on the cross. I have broken every Commandment. Every one of them. And Jesus forgave my sin that put Him – GOD – on a cross! Is there any sin that is too big for Jesus to forgive? No. There is nothing too big for Jesus’ Blood to cover in atonement that puts me right with God. Nothing. He covered everything. Everything. There are no ‘big’ and ‘little’ sins. Jesus covered sin. Period.

Rev. Surber calls Jesus’ love ‘radical’. It is. I’m a nurse and when you do radical surgery, it can be seen as massive and life-changing. That is what happens when I came in contact with the Living God. How about you? I am not the person I was. Jesus’ love totally healed and changed me. That is something I want to share with people who are hurting and desperate. Jesus is what they need.

Let’s give Jesus to those who are struggling and hurting and leave the judgment to the One, the only One, who is qualified.