freedom and responsibility

The Corinthian Church was one of the most infamous churches in history. It was located in Corinth, which seemed to be the centre for all wickedness in the world. Corinth was located on a little land bridge that connects the Peloponnese peninsula and the Greek mainland. It controlled all the land trade north and south. It was also the main connection between the Adriatic Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean. Since this town controlled so much trade, it seemed to collect all the riff-raff from the rest of the world. It was also the administrative centre for the Roman province of Achaia. As a result it became the fashionable place for the elites to live. The culture within Corinth contained a wide range of religious cults. Part of the practices of these cults was to serve the meat which had been sacrificed to the idols in dining rooms directly below the inner sanctuary of the temple. This was the Corinthian equivalent to our going to a restaurant. It was common for the people to join together and celebrate a feast after a major sacrifice, and it was considered an honour to be invited to one of them. Many of the Corinthian converts were used to participating in these feasts. Some of this meat was also sold in the marketplace as common meat.

Do everything to the good of your neighbour.

These feasts did not happen everyday, yet sacrifices were performed everyday. This meat was sold in the marketplace as common meat. It was hard to distinguish between what was sacrificed to idols, and what was not. In the first bit of ch 10, Paul addresses the issue of the idol feasts. He tells the people that they are not to participate in them because then they are participating in idolatry. This left the question of the meat sold in the marketplace. Could they eat it or not?

Not only were these people eating meat sacrificed to idols in their own homes, but they attended gatherings at others homes, and ate the meat there. All the important people of the city went to these gatherings. Corinth was a rather young city. The old city was destroyed by the Romans in 146 BC. The new city was founded as a Roman colony in 44 BC.

Since there was no aristocracy, money was power.

It was these rich and powerful people who many times hosted these events. The Corinthians felt like big shots when they were invited to these gatherings. More often than not, the people who hosted the event were not Christian. They did not care if the meat they served was dedicated to idols. They were simply content to show off their wealth and finery to the guests. They would be sitting at a long table at one end of the room decked out in their finest apparel. Sometimes some of the Christians who did not think it was right to eat that meat where at the party. They would approach the other Christians and say, “Did you know this meat was dedicated to an idol? You guys are sinning by eating that meat. You should stop.” Those who thought they were free said, “I do not care what you think. I am free to do it, and if you were stronger in the faith, you would do it to.”

“I don’t care what you think, I am going to do it anyway.”

Some people I knew in college were like that. They used to go out to a party and have a little something to drink. They would usually not get drunk, but just enjoy some beers with friends. This was not bad, in and of itself, but there were some at the college who did not think that it was right to drink any kind of alcohol. There was this end of the year bash put on by a person who did not know the tensions between the groups. Well, the people who thought it was OK to drink took a keg along to the party. Those who thought it was wrong had arrived early and were hanging out, enjoying each other’s company. They all turned to look at the door as it swung open and a couple guys walked in with the keg. They stood there shocked. They went up to the Christians who thought it was all right to drink and said, “You should not drink, its not right. Please take the keg away.” But the others did not care, one of them took a long swig from his beer and went, “Ahh, now that’s tasty.” Those who thought drinking was wrong were deeply offended, and they ended up leaving the party.

Both groups were Christians, but they did not act in a Christian manner. Those who thought it was alright to drink had the wrong attitude. This is not the attitude which God tells us to have. God, through Paul, says, “Do everything to the good of your neighbour.”

There is nothing wrong with having a beer every now and then, but if there is someone who says to you, “It is wrong to do that.” or if it is something you cannot control, then you need to abstain from it. You are supposed to stop yourself from doing it for their sake, and for the sake of their conscience. If you do it, and you urge the other person to do it, then you are causing them to sin. If they think it is wrong, and they do it, then they sin.

If you cause them to do something they think is wrong, then you are causing them to sin.

When you do this, you place a stumbling block in front of them. It would be like taking one of those concrete dividers from the highway and placing it directly across their path. You make it that much more difficult for them to continue in their walk of faith. You hurt them, and cause them to stumble and perhaps even fall.

This passage deals with more than meat sacrificed to idols, or having a beer every now and then. It addresses more serious issues of separation in the church. It addresses people who do not take the concerns of others into proper consideration. If you have hurt your brother or sister in the faith, for whatever reason. If you have made it difficult for them to come here and worship with you. If you have caused them to stumble.

You are in the wrong.

There may not be a justified reason for them to be hurt, or to have difficultly worshipping with you, but if they do, then it is on your head. If you cause them to hate you because you refuse to address whatever issue is at hand, then you are the one responsible.

Jesus puts it this way.

” “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew 5:21-24, ESV)

We all have a duty to the other person’s conscience. We do not necessarily have to alter our conception of what is right and wrong. My friends did not have to begin to think that drinking was wrong, but they did have to change their behaviour. They should not have drunk in front of those who thought it was wrong. We are supposed to make sure that we do not do things which are against the conscience of those around us. We are to do everything for the good of our neighbour.

In this passage Paul seems to anticipate an objection when he says, “For why should my freedom be judged by another’s conscience? If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for?” Paul tells them, “Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” The Corinthians were not glorifying God by causing divisions in the church. They were not glorifying God by causing their brother to sin. They were not glorifying God, because they are being a bad example to those outside the church.

By eating the meat sacrificed to idols in front of their brother or sister, they are not exhibiting a Christian attitude and they are being a stumbling block to their brother or sister, but they are also being a stumbling block to others who might wish to come to Christ. The Corinthians were not to be a stumbling block to either Jew or Greek, those outside the church, nor to the church. They were to follow Paul in this.

Now, when people began to add things to the gospel message, Paul stood up and took his stance. He would not circumcise Titus, because some people were saying he had to be circumcised to be saved (Gal 2:3). But at another time, Paul had Timothy circumcised before his second missionary journey, just to avoid dissension with the Jews he would be visiting (Ac 16:1-3). Paul stressed over and over and over again that the Gentiles should not be required to follow Jewish customs. But he never once said that it was wrong for Jews to practice their old customs, so long as they did not begin to trust in them and their customs did not cause division and dissension in the church.

Paul told the Corinthians that they were allowed to eat of the meat in the marketplace, without asking any questions because “the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.” They were allowed to eat food which was dedicated to idols, because the idols were nothing and Satan could not hurt them through the food. As long as they ate the food with thanksgiving in their hearts to the gift God had given them, then they had nothing to worry about. If they were doing it to the glory of God, then it was allowed. The problem was, causing your brother or sister to stumble was not to the glory of God.

Giving your brother or sister a boost in faith, is to the glory of God. Saving someone for Christ is to the glory of God. Paul wants the church to be a good witness of God’s love and of Christ’s sacrifice. He wants us to be a stepping stone, not a stumbling block. Instead of placing a big concrete barrier in the path of a fellow believer or someone seeking Christ, he wants us to place a stone over the creek of difficulty that person may be facing. If they have come to a rough spot in their walk of faith. If they had come to a wide and deep stream which they were scared to cross, Paul is telling us to help them across the stream, not make them fall in.

If my friends from college had not brought a keg along to the party, or if they had brought some non-alcoholic beverage along, then they would have been imitating this type of service. They would have respected the other person’s conscience and their actions would have been to the glory of God. They could have shown God’s love and encouraged their brothers and sisters in Christ and any non-Christians at the party.

They could have been a blessing to the others there.

God gives us the ability to be shining lights to others, be they Christian or not. As Paul says, “All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.” (2 Cor 4:15). When we lead people to Christ, we add to the glory of God. When we live in harmony with each other, we add to the glory of God. When we love each other, and bear one another’s burdens, we add to the glory of God. When we serve one another, we add to the glory of God.

When we live our lives, making sure that we are not causing others to stumble and fall, then we live lives which bring honour and glory to God’s name.

live inside out

“While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table. The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner. And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also? But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you. “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it.” One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying these things you insult us also.” And he said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed. So you are witnesses and you consent to the deeds of your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their tombs. Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ so that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation. Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.” As he went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard and to provoke him to speak about many things, lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say.” (Luke 11:37-54, ESV)

Jesus is on his way up to Jerusalem. Here he has been teaching and rebuking the crowd that has been following him. Just before the passage we read we see Jesus calling those who follow him evil because they seek for a sign, they seek for something supernatural, they seek for something that will shock, awe, and amaze them.

But Jesus says that no such sign is coming, but that the people will be held to account for not responding to the one who is in their midst.

“When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. ” (Luke 11:29-32, ESV)

While he is speaking a Pharisee invites him to dine with him. As they walk into his home, Jesus passes right by the stone jars waiting at the entrance to the home and does not wash. These jars held water which was ceremonially clean, and was meant to be used to ceremonially wash your hands before and during the meal. The person would go up to the jar, hold his hands out with his palms up, and a servant would pour water over them with it coming down at least to the person’s wrists. Then you would take your other fist and rub your palm to cleanse it. Then turing your hands over and down the servant would again pour water over them, flushing the water from your wrists down over your fingertips. This made your hands ceremonially clean. For some reason Jesus refuses to participate in this ritual. Luke does not tell us why Jesus refuses, but it caused the Pharisee to be amazed.

Notice it is Jesus’s refusal to participate in the rituals that amazed the Pharisee, not the other things Jesus did.

Jesus gets frustrated and he unloads on this poor Pharisee.

“And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also? But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you.” (Luke 11:39-41, ESV)

The rigorous following of external rituals does not bring you closer to God. When the rituals themselves become the goal then you have missed something important. Jesus gets mad at the Pharisee here because the Pharisee is focussed on the wrong thing, he is focussed on behaviour when he should be focussing on his character.

What is inside is more important than what is outside, because if our hearts are changed they our behaviour will be as well.

We need to live inside out.

Doing the right thing is not enough.

““But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.” (Luke 11:42-43, ESV)

Sometimes when we read this passage we think that Jesus is cursing the Pharisees and teachers of the law. In his statements he is enacting some kind of judgement on them. This is not really the case. This is more of a recognition of something that already exists.

This is an announcement, not really a pronouncement.

Jesus is basically saying, “How horrible it is for you, Pharisees, because you trust in your own religiosity and not in God.”

“Woe to you! [How horrible it is for you!] For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it.”” (Luke 11:44, ESV)

You think you are clean, you give the outward appearance of life, but really you are like an unmarked grave. The thriving green grass on the surface hides the death and rottenness within.

“One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying these things you insult us also.” And he said, “Woe to you lawyers also! [How horrible it is for you lawyers also!] For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.” (Luke 11:45-46, ESV)

And you guys, you heap up all these traditions on people which makes it virtually impossible to see God through the rules but you find ways to get around them yourselves.

“Woe to you! [How horrible it is for you!] For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed. So you are witnesses and you consent to the deeds of your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their tombs.” (Luke 11:47-48, ESV)

You pretend to honour the prophets and those sent by God by building momuments and memorials, but really you are building their tombs. You lock them away so that their message does not get out.

“Woe to you lawyers! [How horrible it is for you lawyers!] For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.”” (Luke 11:52, ESV)

In condemning the Pharisees and teachers of the law, Jesus joins the prophets who often rail against a false sense of security which develops because of a ritualistic religiosity.

God doesn’t want the ritual alone, the ritual was supposed to point them to something else.

“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?” (Isaiah 58:6-8, ESV)

Following God is not about the ritual, its about living in the presence and power of God. It is not primarily about coming to church twice on Sunday. It is not primarily about refraining from work on Sunday. It is not primarily about giving money to the church or other charity. Following God is about developing a closer relationship with him. It is about having the Holy Spirit come and live within our hearts to make us into new people. It is about coming to love the things God loves.

Following God is about learning to let go of our own efforts and allowing God to move us. It is about receiving the new life that God offers us in Jesus.

When we let God work through us. When his desires become our desires, when his loves become our loves, when we begin to break away from the attempt at our own holiness and allow God to change us then God’s glory shines through us.

“Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.” (Isaiah 58:8-10, ESV)

When we realise that the kingdom of God is not for those who think they have earned it, but realise that it is a gift for those who know there is no reason for them to be blessed.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3, ESV)

In Luke 14 Jesus told a parable about the kingdom as a man who made a great feast.

“A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’” (Luke 14:16-24, ESV)

Jesus is angry with the Pharisees and teachers of the law because they are obscuring who God is with their rules and rituals. If the favour of God rests on those who have made the right kind of confession, who do all the right things. If God blesses those who work hard and keep their noses clean, then God gives us what we earn.

But this is not the God revealed to us in the scriptures. The gospel announcement is that God is love and that he loves us so much that he sent his son to die for us. The gospel is that the people that God takes into his feast, are those who are not worthy, those who understand that there is no reason for them to be present.

The people God calls to this table are those who understand

Before this table it does not matter how much money we have in our bank accounts. Before this table it does not matter how many children we have had or not had. It does not matter how good we think we have things together, or how bad things are starting to fall apart.

Here we all express our need for someone else.

Here we kneel before God’s grace.

Here we accept God’s love.

This table is the preview of the feast that awaits us in the Kingdom of God. A kingdom which Jesus says is for the poor in spirit.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3, ESV)

How horrible it is for those who think they have everything in order, because they are really missing out.

How good it is for those who understand they have nothing without God, because then God gives them what they need.

who belongs?

“An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest. But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.” John answered, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.” But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him, for the one who is not against you is for you.” ” (Luke 9:46-50, ESV)

So the disciples are following Jesus around as he is teaching and they are begging to feel like something is going to happen. Jesus has gotten a bit more serious with them when he has been teaching them. Sometimes he draws them aside from the crowd and says, “Now, listen very carefully to what I am about to tell you.”

Not that they really understand exactly what Jesus is saying.

He keeps talking about the kingdom in these strange parables about seeds and things, but he has been doing some really cool things. I mean how many of you can feed over 5000 people with a boys lunch?

So, they were following Jesus around and got to thinking about what this kingdom was going to be like. It has got to be some incredible thing. When David and Solomon were around all of the major powers around sat up and took notice. They were sending tribute and recognising just how great Israel was, I mean how great God was. Its the same thing, really. When Israel is great, then God is great. When Israel is not, well, let’s just say it makes it harder to believe that God is great.

This kingdom that Jesus is bringing is going to be huge. Look at the kingdom of Rome. It stretches all over the place. Goes all the way from Judea to Iran in one direction, to Spain and England in the other direction. Surely the kingdom of God would have to be better than that, no?

The disciples start to think about just what this kingdom is going to be like, and they start to look around and compare themselves to one another. They start to wonder, “Surely I am better than him, and him. Maybe not him.” They start to wonder who was going to get the finance portfolio? Who would get international affairs? Who would be sent off to Britain as Ambassador to those savages?

They started to argue about who was going to be greatest in the kingdom.

Surely it was obvious to everyone that Peter, James and John would at least have the top three seats, he did after all take them into places the rest don’t go. He just took them up the mountain of transfiguration. They were the only ones who he took into the room of Jairus’s daughter who had died.

James and John, were not content with being among the top three, however, they wanted to cut out Peter. So they get their Mum to go to Jesus. This is recorded in Matthew 20:20

“Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.”” (Matthew 20:20-21, ESV)

You get this picture that even though it was their Mum who went to ask, John and James put her up to it, because when Jesus responds, he talks to them and they respond that they are able to do what he is called to do.

The disciples are walking the road behind Jesus, following this incredible man who was God incarnate, and all they can think about is how great they are; where they stack up in the list of the top ten most influential people in the kingdom.

Have you ever walked into a room which was full of all kinds of different groups, and immediately tried to size up where you belonged? Tried to figure out where you might fit in the social hierarchy.

I still remember walking into a pub in London after one of my classes. I was going to meet some of my classmates there, but it turned out I was the first one there. The curse of timeliness, I guess. I immediately began to rank the various groups that were there in the pub. There were the nose to the grindstone economics students in the corner. The ones who take a little too much interest in the movements of the funding from the World Bank. Over in the other corner were the arts students who had maybe spent a bit too much time with oil paints in a poorly circulated room. This ranking immediately ran through muy brain as I tried to figure out which group I could approach. See if I overshot they would not really accept me. If I undershot my friends who were coming later would think that I belonged to “that” group.

This is perhaps one of the least gender specific things that we do. I may rank people according to different criteria from a woman, but we both rank.

Jonalyn Grace Fincher puts it this way in her book Ruby Slippers

“Have you ever noticed how you feel when a lovely woman walks into the room? One Sunday, I invited my friend Jane to church. Jane is one of the most sensual and lovely women I know. As we stood to sing during worship, she kept looking at our worship leader, who is also quite beautiful. I noticed these two striking women looking at each other several times, checking out each other’s clothes and bodies. I’m just guessing, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they were comparing, for I was looking at them for the same reasons. The more aware I become of beauty, fashion, and hair, the more aware I become of comparing mine with others. … When I compare myself to other women, I’m embracing the Creed of Materialism:

Only what I can see is real.

Only what I can touch is real.

Only what I can smell and hear and taste is real.

The visible world is what really matters.”

The disciples begin to compare themselves to one another, trying to figure out their social ranking. Trying to figure out who was the best, but Jesus says, “This is not the way it is in the kingdom. I have a very different way of looking at greatness.”

“[Jesus] said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.” ” (Luke 9:48, ESV)

Jesus takes a child and says, “If you welcome her, you welcome me.”

Now a child in this society was little better than a slave. Paul talks about this in Galatians 4

“I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father.” (Galatians 4:1-2, ESV)

A child, even the oldest male child who is the heir of everything, is no different than a servant in the household. If you entered into a Jewish home, a gentile servant would be there to wash your feet. If the home did not have a gentile servant, one of the children would do it.

This child has no status in society. She has no importance. Even the disciples tried to turn the children away from Jesus figuring he had no interest in them. But here Jesus takes this child, has her stand beside him and says, “If you welcome her, you welcome me. If your heart has been changed enough that you can see the intrinsic value in every single person you meet, then you will be living in the kingdom.”

John wants to see how far this will go.

“John answered, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.” But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him, for the one who is not against you is for you.” ” (Luke 9:49-50, ESV)

“Jesus, there was this guy we met the other day who is not one of us, and he was doing things you have given us the authority to do. Remember you sent us out a while back and said that we would be able to cast out demons? Well, this guy must have seen us doing this, and decided it worked rather well. He started to do the same thing, so we stopped him. After all, who does he think he is talking about you and bringing healing in your name. He is not one of us. We don’t know what he believes about you. We don’t know what he has been telling other people. We don’t know him, and he might be doing this incorrectly. He has to come in line with us, or else he has to stop what he is doing.”

He can’t profess to follow Jesus and then not do the same things we are doing, believe the same things we are believing.

John is really saying, “Fine, we have to be least among one another, I alright with that, as long as we still get to be privileged. I am okay with being the least of these guys, as long as that gets me plenty of honour and recognition among everyone else.”

“John answered, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.”” (Luke 9:49, ESV)

He is not one of us.

We like to pick and choose who we should serve, or who we should associate with. ‘Those’ people do not really deserve our help because ‘those’ people will not appreciate it. ‘Those’ people do not believe the same things we do. ‘Those’ people do not act like we do. ‘Those’ people do not come from the same place we do. You can’t really help ‘those’ people, anyway.

In comparing themselves to each other and to those outside their community they were building walls, drawing lines, to isolate, to exclude when the kingdom of God is all about breaking down barriers, about erasing boundaries, about welcoming and including ‘those’ people. It is often in truly encountering those we look down on that we truly encounter Jesus.

Matthew Gallatin, on his podcast “Pilgrims from Paradise” tells us about ‘Dave’, a man he met in Calgary, Alberta in 1971.

At the time he is a relatively successful Christian folk singer. He had been invited to a festival in Calgary. One of the things that they did as a part of the festival was street evangelism in the down town core. The singers would go around playing and singing while a group of students, paired with the singers, would talk to the crowd that gathered to listen to the musicians.

Matthew picked a nice spot and started playing. He drew a sizeable crowd and got excited that they were going to see people coming to Christ. After a little while, a man came up and sat down a little too close to him. A man named David. The man smelled of sweat, dried urine, and alcohol. His face and the backs of his hands were scarred and it was obvious that he had spent a long time on the streets.

In one of the breaks, David complimented Matthew about his playing and began to talk to him. Matthew, not wanting to really get into a conversation with the guy, just started playing the next song. About half way through Dave stood up, tottering on his feet, and began to yell at the passers by. “Hey, what are you doing? Come here, you gotta hear this guy.” His actions had the other effect, as now everyone gave him and Matthew and the witnessing team a wide berth.

Eventually, he quieted down and walked away. As he left, he continually stopped people, begging for money. Matthew saw him go into a couple shops, only to be thrown out, once actually falling on his face on the pavement, his reactions slowed from what he had been drinking.

After he was gone people started to collect around the team again, when an hour or so later as Matthew was talking to a pretty red haired, green eyed, Scottish lass, David returned. He went and sat down on the other side of this cute girl and she immediately grabbed her stuff and walked away. At this point Matthew was rather angry with Dave. Why couldn’t he just leave them alone. He was getting in the way of their work for God.

Before Matthew could express any of this, Dave slid over to him, reached into his grimy coat pocket and pulled out a can of Fanta Orange Soda.

“This is for you, Son,” he said. “I knew you had to be gettin’ thirsty. I’m just really, really, sorry it took me so long to get this back to you.”

Matthew said, “I have never felt more ashamed than I did at that moment. Taking a can of orange pop from the uncontrollably shaking hand of a kind, old drunk.”

What was David asking those people for when he left the group about an hour earlier? What had he been thrown out of the shops for? When David had fallen on his face on the pavement, David had not been thinking about his next fifth of Jack Daniels. He had been thinking about the drink that Matthew needed.

“[Jesus] said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.” ” (Luke 9:48, ESV)

Jesus takes this child, has her stand beside him and says, “If you welcome her, you welcome me. If your heart has been changed enough that you can see the intrinsic value in every single person you meet, then you will be living in the kingdom.”

This is not an easy thing to do. When we truly begin to open up our hearts and our lives to those who we see as unworthy, unwelcome, different, things may get messy.

But for all the self proclaimed importance of what Matthew and the team were doing there in down town Calgary in 1971, David, and the person that gave him the money for that pop, exhibited the true heart of the kingdom.