A couple of stories come to mind as I reflect on this parable.
The first was shared with me by my mother nearly two years ago, when she returned from her first mission trip to Venezuela. She shared many details of the trip, of how she was impacted by the people and the ministry. But one story that remains fresh in my mind was of a trash pile. Not like we would see on a street corner, but like the size of a small village. Mountains of trash, or as the Venezuelans knew it, their lifeblood. From these piles came their homes, their clothes, and their meals.
The group of missionaries went to this trash mountain and prayed. But as they gathered in a circle, as we so often do during group prayer, the group’s leader instructed them to look outward rather than inward. Their backs were toward the middle – their faces were toward the world. We would say this is backwards to what is normal, and that is a sad statement.
The second story is a fictional account of Jesus in America, captured by the great theologian Ben Folds. In his song “Jesusland”, Folds wonders aloud if anyone would even talk to Jesus if He were walking down the street today. As He puts it, Jesus wouldn’t have any stuff, He’d be homeless, and that wouldn’t be ok. Not “wouldn’t be ok” in the way that we would feel a compulsion to fix it, but “wouldn’t be ok” in the way that we don’t like to associate with homeless people. They make us uncomfortable and we’d really rather ignore them.
The most disconcerting part of this parable is that, as Rollins comments, the injustice is being committed by Christ Himself. We as Christians understand that Jesus would never serve only Himself and leave the hungry to starve. But does the world know that? I want to say “yes”, but how could I prove it?
Not even by my own life could I say that Christ puts others first.
I’m quite a fan of saying “we are the body of Christ” in sermons. It sounds good. It is indeed true and Biblical.
But, it’s also frightening. Being the body of Christ does not immediately mean the reflection on us is better. In the case of how we treat the world, it often means the reflection on Christ is tragic.
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