Outraged or Engaged?..

My day today has been like almost every other day.  I woke up on my couch ( OK, not like every day. Trying not to infect my wife with my cold).  I took a shower, got dressed and came to work.  I made a coffee, talked with my co-workers and sat down in front of my computer to check my e-mail.  I went home for lunch and said hello to my kids who were enjoying a snow day off from school.  Tonight I will return home and enjoy a meal with my family, sit down in the living room, watch my favorite shows and then head off to bed.  All in all, a pretty good life.  But what did I miss today?

How many children were disappointed today that there was no school because school is the one place where they feel safe, are fed and kept warm?  While my children fight over who gets the laptop next, how many families are unsure as to where they will sleep next week?  While I drink my coffee in my warmly decorated office, how many parents have just walked from their childs bedside down the hospital corridor to pour  coffee from the pot at the nurses station?

 Last night, I rushed downtown to get toilet paper, left my car running, and headed into the store where I grabbed what I needed, paid quickly and rushed home.  But who did I miss? I cannot tell you who was in that store.  I didn't make eye contact if possible and nodded my hellos to those who looked familiar.  I may have been in that store, but I was not present.  Did I miss an opportunity to offer a smile, a word of encouragement to someone who desperately needed it?  Did someone see the pastor and look for an opportunity to speak with me only to be greeted by my back as I rushed out into the darkness?  I look at people all the time without ever truly seeing them.

In Jesus' day, they had a litany of rules regarding the washing of your hands and avoiding defilement.  Known sinners, menstruating women, the physically deformed or impaired; all were forbidden to enter the temple.  The Levitical system prescribed a day of purification after simply touching a sick person.  The law decreed that a person suffering from leprosy live outside of town and keep a 6 ft distance from everyone.  They were forced to wear the rag clothes of a mourner who was going to a funeral.  Women were rarely allowed to speak to men outside of their family and a woman was to touch no man but her husband.  Into this scene stepped Jesus...Who turned the religious world upside down....In one instance, as all were watching, a leper approached Jesus.." and He touched him..." Matt. 8:3.  In that short passage, the radical message of Christ can be seen. Can you imagine the shock on the faces of those in the crowd as Jesus did not flinch or move away  from the "unclean" man but instead reached toward the leper?! 

Matt. 20:29 tells the story of two blind men crying out to Christ.  Jesus heard them over the protests of the crowd and was "moved with compassion".  The word used is the same word used to describe what a mother feels for her child in the womb.  Time and time again, we see Jesus, moved with compassion,  witnessing to those people who crossed His path.  Whether He was tired, or busy, or hungry..He never failed to see those people who were hurting. ......And those He saw, He touched.

I see the people as I pass them, many of them dirty and unkempt.  I hear the stories of the families tore apart by the foolish decisions of a parent. And I am angered by their sin and selfishness.  I watch as coaches and teachers act out in a manner that hurts children and I speak of it indignantly within the confines of my car.  I am outraged by their actions.

But is it enough to be outraged?  Should I not be engaged?... In the lives of those hurting individuals whose lives intersect mine?  It is easy for me to point out how wrong they are, but do I want to make a point  or make a difference?  Jesus provided the example...To open my eyes, to slow down and look around, to prayerfully consider what my role is in a community that is hurting and needs healing.  To touch the lives of people.

I have been blessed.  My life is comfortable.  But I pray that my comfort does not lead to complacency, and my complacency to arrogance. Instead, give me eyes for the hurting. give me a heart for the wounded.  Give me lips that speak words of life and affirmation....Amen