Broken? Alone? An Outcast? Here’s Hope – You are Not Forgotten

Do you remember when you first heard the idea of “castes”?

This notion that specific people are born into certain titles, positions, roles, according to their families, job titles, birth positions…

And how no matter how they worked, or proved themselves, when they were at the bottom caste, or worse yet, an untouchable…

Their destiny would have been decided for them, even before you could walk?

And I have thought about the leper, those forced out of town in Jesus time. The woman with the blood disorder; rejected, despised, thought unholy, or somehow cursed…

And how the impure were never allowed into the temple…

How beggars, blind, those with physical infirmities were always kept at a distance from the supposedly, “holy” people…

And yet, Jesus spent much of His time going to the least of these, ministering to the unthinkables, offering hope and healing to those most needing it…

Not to those who siting idly, considered themselves perfect.

In first world countries now days, we might not have people crippled in the streets, and we get that the church was made for the broken as well as those healing…

And yet, so many can walk around, fine on the outside, but with internal infirmities.

They go to church, smile like they are perfect, and yet fail to reveal, to man…or even to God…That they are needy, hurting, desperate for His touch like those we find in scripture.

The heat around here lately has been burning. The grass is dried, the lake we own has been slowly decreasing in water.

And while politics keep us spinning, terrorist attacks spring up like landmines, stepped on after finely hidden…

The world seems to spin in chaos, a world looking great on the outside, can seem desperately disabled internally…

And I admit, the weight of circumstances can make us what to check out, escape reality.

Yet in storms, there is a place, in the eye of all the spinning, where stillness lies. It’s a resting place where those in Christ, find tranquility and peace.

And if we close our eyes we can feel the rumbling, almost see the chariots racing towards a victory that is ours.

We may have no control over the situations shaking everything, but we can step on His firm foundation, the Rock.

• For it’s The Rock that stands firm when storms keep coming.
• It’s The Rock that is solid, unchanging, and can’t be moved when the sky darkens and the sea rages.
• It’s The Rock that is sacred, holy, fixated, still, immovable and impenetrable, when everything else changes…

Yes, we can cling to His purposes, a God who came not just to dwell far off, in the temple with the perfect, but who came to live in us, dying The Great Physician for those most needy…

Binding the wounds of the brokenhearted, bringing redemption to the lost and downhearted.

Like Daniel in a culture that increasingly despises Yahweh worship, I get on my knees this morning, facing the window, realizing…

It’s not just acts of service, but the intimate relationship with Jesus that will inevitably change us…Change me.

And I meet Him with my sorrows and heart-aches, finding His grace capturing me as I pray for the untouchables who I know are all around me.

And it is there He speaks clearly, “Sorrow in a godly manner is what produces diligence in you, what cleanses of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication.” (2 Cor 7:11)

And I realize the way to Jesus is not higher, but lower, only through the road of humility; grace paving the journey leading to God.

I read further about the church in Macedonia:

“In Great trial of affliction was the abundance of their joy. In their deep poverty, they were abounding in riches.” (2 Cor 8:2)

And yet, we live in a world that teaches, the higher the caste, the better in life, wealth, and appearance.

We might not say it, but we can think…

If you were born wealthy, or good looking, to a good family, or with a great personality or opportunity, we are favored by God and man…

And yet, we can forget, Jesus came to elevate those others deemed unworthy of esteeming.

• He took the persecutor of Christians and made him into one of the world’s greatest evangelists.
• He took the loud and unharnessed one, and made him Peter, the Rock of His church.
• He took the lowly, the tax collector, and made his name remembered as one of his disciples.

And I am reminded over and over again, that God doesn’t look how we look at people, He doesn’t see as we see.

He takes the least of these and rises them to places people couldn’t think or imagine…

I sit and look out at my browning grass, grieve over the loss of those we loved and now whose bed lies empty…

And yet, the very same day sorrow dances near me, I find three tiny kittens born in the bottom of the running stroller.

I bring them in and watch a fourth being born. The mother cuts the cord, licks, and nurtures it to life, instinctively tucking it close to her chest to nurse…

And I am in awe at how God has even given this small cat the instincts to parent.

And yet, so many can struggle apart from Him, barely maintaining even their own survival.

And how much more are we called to do, with not just a spirit, but a soul that mirrors Him, a breath given to us by God himself?

I sit in the warmth of the summer, early in the morning. Quietly the rain pours down to soak the dry earth, begging for something to drink…

And yet, how much more, those thirsty, who call up to the heavens, will know the outpouring of a Father who sent His Son to die for us?

How much more will us, regardless of caste, taste and feel the loving caress of a God who promises us His Spirit, like a well that never goes empty?

Yes, sin runs rampant, evil spins wildly, but the God we serve will never be consumed, always remaining victorious over all darkness.

Which means we can walk in fearlessness, live by faith, walk confident in the hope found in a God who gave us everything.

Won’t we look to Him? Won’t we get low, and recognize our God doesn’t only desire those most important to come to His Banqueting Table.

He satisfies every heart that’s hungry.

And it was the poor and the disabled, the blind and the lame that inevitably ate with Him. (Luke 14:21-24)

The busy, those who made excuses, those self-consumed, sadly missed the glorious feast waiting for them. (Luke 14:16-21)

And if you are hungry and thirsty, if you are broken and needy, if you recognize your weakness, and seek a God who can heal you…

You will find the miracle of His all consuming love…

You will know His presence that satisfies, a peace that reigns regardless of what’s goes on around you…

You will see new life born in the most difficult places, not because you are good…

But, because of His grace.

He will never leave us. He will never ignore the bottom caste. He never calls us untouchables.

Instead He whispers gently to the deepest, most intimate part of us, “You are Loved, Chosen, Blessed, Redeemed, a Precious Child of the Risen King.”

How will we respond?