Risk

11.26.2010

Matthew 25:35-36 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me. ESV

If the Gospel of Jesus Christ is counterintuitive then the Kingdom of God is a place of great risk. Imagine, in this day of mistrust and suspicion, inviting a stranger into your home with your wife and children and giving him a place to stay. Imagine in this day of poor economy and recession taking out of your own and giving food to the local hungry and thirsty. Imagine in this day of morbid fear over germs and flu approaching a dirty, filthy naked person, offering them a bath and some of your clothes clothes to wear. Imagine going into a room with someone in the last stages of AIDS, and sharing the remaining few hours of their life as their body tries to void itself of the disease through their bowels. Imagine going to a jail or a prison and visiting someone who is guilty and convicted and remaining friends with them. The Kingdom of God is a place of great risk to reputation, health, safety, and resources.

The late John Lennon (truly a beetle, not a Beatle) sang selfishly of imagining a world of no religion – he couldn’t risk religion and its demands on his time, talents, and treasures. Imagine ministering to the homeless, sick, imprisoned, and impoverished and never once receiving a thank you; but eagerly, joyfully awaiting a day of hearing these words: ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’ (Mt 25:34 ESV)

I must risk in order to hear these words; words that will mean more to me than any prize earth could ever offer. I must risk...

Jesus,
Lord, You have called me to risk it all for Your sake and the Kingdom. Help me to see my life the way You do and to live as Your Gospel demands and Your love commands – Amen.