This morning I am continuing reading from Luke 11, picking up where I left off yesterday. I was reading the next few verses and struck by sad reality of how judgmental and short-sighted we can be, so focused on our opinion or expectations that we miss the work of God in our very midst. Here are the verses - Luke 11:14-16 NIV:
[14] "Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon left, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed. [15] But some of them said, “By Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons.” [16] Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven."
As I read through this, my first thought was, what happened to the man who was mute? This has to be one of the most under-stated healings Jesus did, for while the crowd was amazed the experts immediately started arguing, and we hear nothing more of the man who went home speaking. Jesus is demonstrating His authority, compassion and mercy and all the "experts" can talk about is how he wasn't doing it correctly, or wasn't doing enough!
This reminds me, in some ways, of the Church today, at least in America. I don't have a wide view, but I know that there are multiple streams of thought about what God is doing, what He should do, how He should work, what any "true" Christian should believe or do, what is the "true" church, etc. We have allowed ourselves to be distracted by all the noise, the religious spirits, the judgmental spirits, the flinging of opinions, and we have forgotten what the Lord is actually doing and wanting to do!
Our one command from Jesus is to love one another, in the same way He loved us (John 13: 34). We aren't called to control one another, judge one another, or critique one another. Love, as demonstrated by Jesus, involves action, and mercy, compassion, love, healing, listening, and acceptance. He met thousands of sinners (in reality everyone he met was a sinner), and rather than reject them, He spoke to them, healed them and had compassion on them. He demonstrated the Father's love for them, and did so in ways that stirred up the religious experts, not purposely, but because they couldn't past their own judgments and opinions. They couldn't recognize God in their midst, because He didn't act the way they thought He should act!
The crowds, in general, got it! They saw the signs and wonders, the healings and they knew God was moving amongst them. Interesting that the sinners figured out who Jesus was, and who He represented, and is was the religious establishment that had the issue, the experts on how God was supposed to act, and how things had always been done.
I feel like the Lord is wanting to make sure our eyes are open, that we are seeing what He is doing, because it might not be the way we think He will move! He described Himself to Moses as, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, [7] 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin." (Exodus 34:6-7 NIV). When we encounter God, it is my belief that these are the characteristics we first experience. When we look at Jesus, we see Him demonstrating exactly these characteristics. When we look at the church, this is what we should see and encounter first, for we are His Body.
Oh that we would be experts in compassion, grace, abounding love, faithfulness, and forgiveness!
Amen!
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