Meeting People Where They Are

 You can almost see Him in your minds eye, walking with his disciples following close behind on the long, dusty road that led from Jerusalem north, into Samaria. (John chapter 4) It was not a well-traveled road…most Jews of His day chose the other, longer route, the one that led around this city when they needed to get to parts north, to such territories as Galilee. They preferred the way that went over the Jordan River into Decapolis. After all, what “proper” Jew would dare travel through Samaria?

 The region and the people of Samaria had a troubled history, and the culture, religious practices and the purity of their ancestry came into question in the opinion of most Jews of Jesus’ day…so much so that there was a great division between the people of Judea and the people of Samaria, so it did not surprise the Lord when the woman at the well said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman? For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans...” (John 4:9) But on this particular day, scripture tells us Jesus “needed” to go through Samaria.

Beginning in Matthew 5, Jesus went up on a mountainside and began to teach a multitude of people. Some of His most beautiful and eloquent sermons were taught on that occasion, and He had been there teaching a long time. Then chapter 8 tells us that He came down from the mountain and…well, let’s just let Matthew tell the story… “When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him.  And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean. Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.” (verses 1-3)

And then, still another time, Jesus was crossing over to the land of Gadara when He encountered a frightening man; a man who lived in the tombs no less. Here is Mark’s account of that episode: “And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones.” (Mark 5:2-5)

Have you ever noticed that Jesus always found Himself in some of the strangest places rubbing elbows with some of the most unlikely people? Think about it! Why did He need to go to Samaria when everybody else avoided the place? And a Jewish man talking to a Samaritan woman…that was unheard of! And according to the law of Jesus’ day, a person with leprosy was supposed to avoid even coming in the general vicinity of another person, much less to allow someone to touch them. And that man in the tombs…I am almost sure that word had gotten around that he was there and that he was gruesome and horrible, and I am certain that people for miles around avoided that particular area for fear of coming in contact with a man so frightening. Then there were the beggars and the harlots. Not the most attractive and refined people He could find.

But when you think about it…He didn’t exactly choose the most “high class” people imaginable to be His best friends either. Fishermen can get really smelly and sometimes their language and personalities can be pretty crude. And then, there was the tax collector; well everybody knew how dishonest and sinful they were. It seemed like everywhere He went, Jesus attracted the “low-lifes” so to speak, and they followed Him, and they were devoted to Him, and they loved Him.

But, another thing I noticed is, He didn’t spend a whole lot of time with the Pharisees and the Scribes…you know, the “religious crowd”. Why do you think that is? While Jesus’ habit was to go to the Temple on the Sabbath, He also understood that He didn’t come to the earth to reach the self-righteous, but He came to reach a lost and dying world, and to introduce them to the One Who sent Him. He came to the earth to act as the “Repairer of the Breach”, to tear down the wall that divided us one from another and that separated us from His Father. He came to show the love of the Father to ALL the world…not just the religious crowd.

But in order to do that, He had to go to wherever they were; He had to accept them however they were; He had to show them love and compassion…even if it was scary, even if it was uncomfortable, even if they were “smelly and unclean”.  Jesus came to reach the world, so He went where others would not; He loved people that others did not. And He turned the world upside down in the process. There has never been a man in all of history who has had anywhere near the impact on humanity that Jesus had.

And here’s the standard that He set for you and me…“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask^] anything in My name, I will do it. (John 14:12-14) Do we believe that scripture? Did He tell us the truth? Then let me ask you…why are we not doing the things that He did? I believe there is only one answer to that question…we are not willing to go where He went and love the people that He loved and touch the lives that He touched. If we were…our world would be a much different place.

Even before Jesus walked on the earth, Isaiah understood the heart of God in this matter. In the 58^th chapter of Isaiah, he said:

“Is this not the fast that I have chosen:

To loose the bonds of wickedness,

To undo the heavy burdens,

To let the oppressed go free,

And that you break every yoke?

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,

And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out;

When you see the naked, that you cover him,

And not hide yourself from your own flesh?

Then your light shall break forth like the morning,

Your healing shall spring forth speedily,

And your righteousness shall go before you;

The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.

Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;

You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’” (verses 6-9)

So, what’s it going to take for us to do that? First of all, we must believe that Jesus is the Savior of the World. That means that He loves those who are “down and out” as much as He loves you and me. Second, we must believe it enough that it moves us into action. We must leave the comfort and convenience of our cushy pews and determine in our hearts that WE WILL LIVE LIKE JESUS LIVED. No, I don’t think we need to give up our houses and sleep wherever we can find a place to lay our heads. But I do believe that we must become willing to live bolder in our daily lives…intentionally going to and looking for people who need the Savior, people we can reach out to. They won’t come to us; we must meet them where they are just like Jesus did. We need to realize that some of the people who need Jesus may be smelly and crude and undesirable; but that’s okay…we need to learn to deal with that. They may not be hanging out in our Sunday School classes…we will probably have to go to some pretty uncomfortable places to find them, like jail or prison, or nursing homes or homeless missions. We will probably need to get down there where they are in order to help them find the peace that Jesus wants them to experience. Yes, it’s hard, and its not comfortable…but that is the cause that Jesus gave His very life for. And He said that if we believe in Him, we too can do the same and greater works than He did. He has given us His Word, He has given us His example, and He has given us His Power. What else could He do to insure our success? Now it’s up to us to put it into practice!