The Heart of Jesus

“im going to church is fun and u go to learn about god and jesuse.” 

That’s a “sentence” that was posted on my friend’s facebook page last Wednesday night.  My friend is an eleven year old boy who’s growing up in really challenging circumstances.  His mom is trying hard to help him and his siblings break the cycle of family dysfunction.  She has a big job.

My friend (I’ll call him Douglas) was introduced to our church through a tutoring ministry we sponsor in his neighborhood.  He was instantly drawn to the volunteers who were genuinely kind and interested in him.  So naturally, getting tutored led to more.  He and his family requested transportation to our worship services on Sunday morning.  Which naturally led to more.  He and his family requested transportation to our Wednesday night activities which include a good meal and classes for all ages. 

And so last Wednesday night, after he got home, Douglas posted “im going to church is fun and u go to learn about god and jesuse.”

I write about this because I believe what our church is doing for Douglas and his family reflects the very heart of Jesus. 

The Jesus biographers (the writers of the four gospels) tell us that people were bringing children to Jesus so that he could touch them and bless them.  In the ancient world children were not considered to be very valuable, or even noticed by adults, until they were old enough to become productive workers.  (I think sometimes the same thing happens in our world.)  So the disciples were discouraging these people (probably mothers) from bringing their children to Jesus.  Surely the Messiah wouldn’t want to be bothered with the little disease carriers. It would be like the president ditching a Cabinet meeting to baby sit his sister’s kid.

The Bible says that when Jesus saw the disciples turning children away “he was indignant and he said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.  I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.’  And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.”   (Mark 10:13-16)

 

This is the heart of Jesus.

The gospel writer Matthew says that Jesus once looked out over the crowds of people and “he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.  Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’”  (Matthew 10:36-38)

This is the heart of Jesus.

The gospel writer Luke records one of the first speeches Jesus gave.  It would be kind of like a politician publically outlining his agenda for the first time.  Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”  (Luke 4:18-19)

This is the heart of Jesus.

In another important speech Jesus said… “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.  Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.  Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.”  (Luke 6:20-21)

This is the heart of Jesus.

Sometimes some well meaning person will ask me why our church’s vision is to see our city transformed as we become more like Jesus and lead others to him.  Shouldn’t we be focused on “the church family?”  Sometimes someone will “correct” me by telling me that my primary job is to care for “the flock.”  Which begs the question, who does Jesus consider his flock?  Remember, Jesus looked out on the crowd and thought of them as his flock… his responsibility… his disciple’s responsibility.

So I tell people my job is to make sure the heart of the church is like the heart of Jesus.

By the way, Douglas and his brother and sisters will be baptized as followers of Jesus Christ next month.  I think they will be baptized, at least in part, because our church has a heart like Jesus.