Living close
The man sitting in front of me at the folk dancing program smelled as if he had just come in from wasting a cigarette - I could barely breathe at first! I didn't know how I would last the program in that seat, but there was no moving elsewhere. I prayed for grace to endure and to breathe.
The clothes thrown in bags in the back of the van for the church give away reeked of smoke. They were tightly sealed in big black trash bags when they reach the church so that the church doesn't pick up the odor. I was disgusted and full of self-righteous indignation. Didn't they know how badly they smelled and how quickly others could pick up the same odor by being in contact with them or standing next to them? Didn't they care that their habit was so inconvenient to the 'purity' of those around them?
I got to thinking. I was so disgusted by the smell of someone's sin and so full of pride and self-righteous indignation at it. I wanted to stay as far away as I could from the contaminate odor - to handle those bags at arms' length and get them tied up as quickly as possible to as to remove the stench from my breathing space. But what did Jesus smell like? Did he have the scent of a prostitute's perfumes or the the odor of death from contact with a leper clinging to His clothes? Did the stench of sin linger around Him, leave a whiff in the nostrils of those Pharisees He passed? Could they tell where He had been? Did that cause Him any anxiety? Did their opinion of Him, the 'pure' of His time, matter to Him? Where people mired in the muck of ill-gotten gain and disease kept at arms' length or, was He seen as a 'friend of tax collectors and sinners'? Did he welcome the time spent with them or did He shrink back for fear of what they would do to His reputation were His whereabouts known? He wasn't ashamed to spend hours, days of His life with those who reeked of sin and the stench of lives wasted. He went to their homes, lingered long at their tables, intentionally went to areas that were permeated with the odors of body fluid and waste - in order to heal, to love, to restore. Why am I ashamed to do the same? Why do I shrink back from those who demand and demand and 'waste' my time and inconvenience me with their petitions? How can I love as my Lord did?
The clothes thrown in bags in the back of the van for the church give away reeked of smoke. They were tightly sealed in big black trash bags when they reach the church so that the church doesn't pick up the odor. I was disgusted and full of self-righteous indignation. Didn't they know how badly they smelled and how quickly others could pick up the same odor by being in contact with them or standing next to them? Didn't they care that their habit was so inconvenient to the 'purity' of those around them?
I got to thinking. I was so disgusted by the smell of someone's sin and so full of pride and self-righteous indignation at it. I wanted to stay as far away as I could from the contaminate odor - to handle those bags at arms' length and get them tied up as quickly as possible to as to remove the stench from my breathing space. But what did Jesus smell like? Did he have the scent of a prostitute's perfumes or the the odor of death from contact with a leper clinging to His clothes? Did the stench of sin linger around Him, leave a whiff in the nostrils of those Pharisees He passed? Could they tell where He had been? Did that cause Him any anxiety? Did their opinion of Him, the 'pure' of His time, matter to Him? Where people mired in the muck of ill-gotten gain and disease kept at arms' length or, was He seen as a 'friend of tax collectors and sinners'? Did he welcome the time spent with them or did He shrink back for fear of what they would do to His reputation were His whereabouts known? He wasn't ashamed to spend hours, days of His life with those who reeked of sin and the stench of lives wasted. He went to their homes, lingered long at their tables, intentionally went to areas that were permeated with the odors of body fluid and waste - in order to heal, to love, to restore. Why am I ashamed to do the same? Why do I shrink back from those who demand and demand and 'waste' my time and inconvenience me with their petitions? How can I love as my Lord did?
Comments
Post a Comment