Show the World Jesus
Jesus wept. – John 11:35
It happened again. That which we vowed wouldn’t, did.
Students ran for their lives as a student-gunman aimed to kill those in a place
that should have been safe.
Shootings within our schools simply shouldn’t happen.
But they do. Why? Our hearts cry out in anguish. It is so senseless. Young
lives cut short. A teacher gone too soon. Others suffering in hospitals. Lives
that will relive the trauma forever.
Jesus wept. It’s the shortest verse in the Bible. It’s
very simplicity draws us closer to the One who came to save us all. Jesus had
the power to save Lazarus from death. And though He knew He would raise His
friend from the dead, still Jesus let Lazarus die. He let Mary and Martha
suffer.
But Jesus is not a Savior from a distance. He stands
beside us to comfort and strengthen us when the senseless dramas of this world
threaten to destroy us. He mourns with us.
Why did this happen? How can we stop it from happening
again? I wish I had all the answers but I don’t. No one does. Is this pure evil
or does it stem from the brokenness of people who are hurting so badly that
they want others to hurt badly too?
Our mental health system fails kids every single day.
So do the social service agencies designed to keep them safe. We are so focused
on saving the family that we send children back again and again to places where
they aren’t safe and nurtured and loved. We ignore obvious signs of distress because
we don’t want to get involved and we don’t want to provide the resources to
help children who are hurting. We’d rather look the other way than deal with
the stigma called mental illness.
I don’t know this young man’s story. All the details
haven’t begun to show themselves. Maybe we will never know it all. But I do
know that a young man wearing a trench coat in the Texas heat should raise a
few questions. It’s not normal. It’s not okay.
We’d rather not know. We prefer to isolate ourselves
in our own little worlds rather than extend a helping hand. We prefer to talk
with our friends, to gather with those who are like us, than welcome someone
who is different, someone who is alone. We marginalize people who desperately
need to belong somewhere, to someone.
Maybe the answer isn’t in big programs with lots of
money thrown at them. Maybe the answer lies a little closer to home. Maybe it’s
found in our hearts. Can we be the people who extend kindness to those who seem
the least deserving? Can we reach out to those we don’t particularly like so
that they can come to the altar of Christ?
It all begins with Jesus. It all ends there too. We
have forgotten how to love the lost, the lonely, the poor and the rejected. We
have forgotten that they are our problems, our challenges, our responsibility,
because Jesus said it was so. Jesus told us to love one another. Why do we
think He didn’t mean us?
Once again we have children hurting, parents grieving
and a town shattered by violence. Instead of looking to others for answers,
maybe it’s time we looked inside ourselves. Ask Jesus to meet you there. Open
your eyes and your heart. People everywhere are hurting. Extend a helping hand.
Show them Jesus by your words and your actions. Live your faith, one hurting person
at a time.
No comments:
Post a Comment