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Saturday, April 09, 2005
This will be the final quote for a while. If you haven't been reading consistently, since we had woship and communion last Sunday and not a "formal" time of teaching, we're putting quotes on the site and letting you comment. Today's quote is from Philip Yancy, in "The Jesus I Never Knew":
"The Gospels show that Jesus quickly established intimacy with the people he met. Whether talking with a woman at a well, a religious leader in a garden, or a fisherman by a lake, he cut instantly to the heart of the matter, and after a few brief lines of conversation these people revealed to Jesus their innermost secrets. People of his day tended to keep rabbis and "holy men" at a respectful distance, but Jesus drew out something else, a hunger so deep that people crowded around him just to touch his clothes...
Jesus was a 'man for others,' in Bonhoeffer's fine phrase. He kept himself free--free for the other person. He would accept almost anybody's invitation to dinner, and as a result no public figure had a more diverse list of friends, ranging from rich people, Roman centurians, and Pharisees to tax collectors, prostitutes, and leprosy victims. People liked being with Jesus; where he was, joy was."
For today, can you think of ways we keep Jesus at a "respectful distance?" In what ways can we keep ourselves "free for others?" Do we, as Christians, celebrate diversity, or do we nod at it very politely as an ideal we truly don't practice? What have you seen to support your answer?
Brent 6:29 AM
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