Reclaiming the Truth
“As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it….” Luke 19.41
Redeeming the Time
Jesus cries over Jerusalem at least three times. Jesus is speaking here from a place of deep grief. In some ways, He is weeping over the tragedy of lost opportunity. Rick Flanders notes, “The Israelites that assembled in Jerusalem for the Passover missed the opportunity to be saved from both earthly and eternal destruction. They were visited by their Savior, but they did not know it. Instead of receiving Him, they killed Him.”
The opportunity before the Church in this day is immense. Pastor Tim Keller of Redeemer Church in New York City recently discussed the events in his church following the tragic events of 9/11. Keller talked about how in the days and weeks after 9/11, there was a “coming together.” He said, “everyone was frightened, so everyone came together.” In the days after 9/11, the people of New York City flocked to the churches. Keller’s church grew by 5 times in a matter of weeks.
We are in a vastly different place. We live in a different kind of fear and yet are not allowed to come together. After 9/11, people came to the Church for comfort and refuge. Today our Churches are closed.
After 9/11, the people came to the Church. Now it’s time for the Church to go to the people.
There is an opportunity before us. It’s an opportunity that may never be offered to us again. We have the opportunity to personally connect with our neighbors and neighborhood. We, the Body of Christ, are literally the manifest presence of Christ in the world. The world doesn’t need a church building to attend to seek refuge. The world can find refuge in you.
Reflection
- Describe a time when you sensed you missed an opportunity for the Gospel?
- Where do you see an opportunity for Gospel seeds to be sown in your neighborhood?
- How is your heart and home being refined to be a refuge for others?
Resting in His Redemption
Rest and receive in the prayer attributed to St. Francis of Assisi. (1182-1226)
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.
