10.10.2010

outside these walls

"So also Jesus suffered and died outside the city gates to make His people holy by means of his own blood.  So let us go out to Him, outside the camp, and bear the disgrace He bore"
(Hebrews 13:12-13)

Our Savior.
Our King.
Our sacrificial Lamb.
Jesus gave it all, not counting the cost.
He gave His very life...
Both in coming into this dirty and God-starved world
And in dying a sinner's death on the cross.

He got his hands dirty.
His eyes saw the filth we live in daily.
His hands wiped away our tears.
His ears heard our laughter, our joy and our cynicism.
His shoulders bore our burden.

When he died, he seemed a liar.
A failure.
A lunatic.
But when he rose, he overcame everything in this world.
The fear.
The death.
The hopelessness.
And now He reigns.

So for our moment of life in this world,
let's live as He did.
Whether it seems too crazy, too painful, or too radical.
Let's go outside the safe walls of the church.
Let's move beyond the borders of what is comfortable.
And let's get a little dirty.
Cry with those in need.
Laugh with them.
Bear their burdens
Without counting the cost.

Let us risk being labelled
Risk giving up "success" for what really matters
Risk dying to ourselves
To live a life outside these walls.

"'I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to Me!'"
(Matthew 25:40)

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