Joe Spivy said that at church the other night. He talked about Jesus in the flesh and it was a lesson that I think everyone needs to hear, so I'm going to share his main points with you, as well as some of my own thoughts.
Thinking about Jesus in the flesh isn't something we do often. Jesus was a real baby who pooped, a teenage boy with acne, a young adult man who got angry. That's right. He got angry. Some people refuse to believe that he did because that would mean he sinned and Jesus didn't sin so there's no way he was ever angry. It couldn't be that we're the ones who are wrong and being angry just isn't a sin.
Jesus got angry and what made him angry was when people were so worried about religion and being right and all the other crap, that they didn't care about anyone else. Their minds are focused on the wrong things. They're completely missing the point.
Mark 3:1 Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. 2 Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. 3 Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.”
4 Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent.
5 He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.
I was really glad that this was the lesson that night. At the same time, I thought how can this group of people be hearing this message but be the congregation that they are today? Writing that and then reading it makes me feel judgmental and I don't want to come off that way. I just don't understand how we can hear a message like that and then continue to miss the point and remain under our church building bushels.
Then it hit me. How often to we hear a lesson or a sermon and analyze how it applies to us? How often are we turning the message around and looking at ourselves through those glasses?
It seems to me like, if we do anything with the lessons we're hearing, we put the glasses on and look at everyone else instead. We see everyone else so much clearer once we understand Jesus better and we stick our fingers up to point and correct. Then I remembered that phrase that I was told a time or two when I was younger, that I thought was so stupid... When you point the finger at someone else, four fingers are pointing back at you.
We need to listen to a lesson, adjust our prescription, put the glasses on and look in the mirror to see ourselves clearer. A better understanding of Jesus, will help us better understand ourselves first. We need to work on ourselves and let God do the work in the lives of others. If we continue to let Jesus perfect us, then maybe our lives will better change the lives of those around us who we are pointing our finger at.
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