When you and I say that we really believe in Jesus, then we must live our lives the way Jesus lived his life…..
Jesus was a border crosser. He dined with tax collectors and sinners, breaching Pharisaic restrictions. He told stories of Samaritans, drawing people across borders indelibly etched in their minds, people who could not imagine a Good Samaritan.
Jesus spoke with a foreign woman at a well, overstepping the boundaries of propriety. He crossed borders, literally and figuratively, to reach the poor at the margins, Zacchaeus in the tree, and Nicodemus in the night. All the priests and the political forces condemned Jesus for shattering Jewish law and curing people on the Sabbath.
Border crossing should be as natural as breathing for Christians, you would think, because Jesus so instinctively knew that following God meant crossing borders. We are disciples because we have said Yes to Jesus, to following him, even across borders.
If we believe in Jesus, we know the boundaries are erased inside and out. God intended a good life for us all on earth. There was a missionary who was sent to preach the gospel in India near the end of World War II. After many months, the time came for a furlough and for him to come back home to the States.
His church wired him the money to book passage on a steamer but when he got to the port city he discovered a boat load of Jews had just been allowed to land temporarily. These were the days when European Jews were sailing all over the world literally looking for a place to live, and these particular Jews were staying in attics and warehouses and basements all over that port city. There were no borders for the Jews after World War II.
It happened to be Christmas, and on Christmas morning, this missionary went to one of the attics where scores of Jews were staying. He walked in and said, “Merry Christmas.” The people looked at him like he was crazy and responded, “We’re Jews.”
“I know that,” said the missionary, “What would you like for Christmas?”
In utter amazement the Jews responded, “Why we’d like pastries, good pastries like the ones we used to have in Germany.” So the missionary went out and used the money for his ticket home to buy pastries for all the Jews he could find staying in the port. Of course, then he had to wire home asking for more money to book his passage back to the States.
As you might expect, his superiors wired back asking what happened to the money they had already sent. He wired that he had used it to buy Christmas pastries for some Jews. His superiors wired back, “Why did you do that? They don’t even believe in Jesus.” He wired back: “Yes, but I do.”
Thanks to David Reynolds
How does YOUR belief in Jesus remove the borders and the boundaries that others always want to set up in life?
IN MANY WAYS, AGING WELL IS ABOUT LEARNING TO LET GO OF EARTHLY THINGS AND CLINGING TO GOD ALONE!
