I closed my eyes and my heart was shaken by a vision of a "walking mess of a broken man" - covered by the stains of his own uncontrolled body releases; and at the same time I was overwhelmed with an almost oppressing tension. In the room a facade of wellness and nearness had been carried in by the unappointed actors that had gathered together as the "We are the OK Ones!".
Through closed, moistened eyes, the flood of broken sights continued - I saw endless check out lines of brokenness and sorrow....I cried out to You "lift me up to see the victory." You shook my soul with your still small answer, "Not yet?"
Your broken image was still pouring sorrow like waves...causing me to think of broken families, troubled and abused children, garbage cans full of aborted babies, shunned people, cold and resistant gatherings, closed doors and windows, abandoned buildings ,abandoned dreams, limited vision, walls, walls, walls...I sunk deeper and deeper into the bitterness of a dark thought, "that service to the King" was being defined in a convenient comfortable box that may be a risk???? What ???
Then I heard "the end of days!" I tried to shake the overwhelming thoughts of brokenness only to hear Matthew 25: 40 ... "Inasmuch (upon) as you have done it unto the least of these My brethren, you have done it unto Me". {This Biblical snap shot of our efforts is seen in the following capacity: Authoring the "do it", and doing whatever it takes to see the "doing of it" through to a result. Upon the orchestrated seemingly random moments of "doing" something (or not) for an insignificant individual, is doing "it" unto Jesus.}
I looked around at the gathering of souls trying...reaching...groping for meaning to their momentary existence and it hit me: What risk is there in staying within these walls? No real leper is welcomed here, no life threatening contagion of an outcast is desired here.
"Go" outside the walls ...WE ARE HIS BROKEN ONES reaching out to the lost broken ones ...fallen sparrows...lost sheep...lost coins...treasures plowed under...lame athletes...maimed warriors...halt messengers...blind watchmen...misplaced dowry...abandoned houses...fading flowers...withered grass...widowed...orphaned...miscarried...aborted...wounded...hopeless addicts...nameless beggars...lepers... the hungry ... the thirsty ... the lonely ... the naked ... the prisoner... and the masses of the reprobate became a blurr. (I am sorry but this is what I saw when my eyes closed as my brother tried to cause adoration of the beauty of your creation).
Zechariah 4:10 - "For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and they shall see the plummet ( the purification of the alloy) in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven, they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth". Then "I saw a golden candlestick" (or stand to support the light of a lamp) from Zechariah 4 and my mind did a Bible flash forward to the 7 candlesticks or stands of Reveation. Revelation 2:5 - "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent".
In this moment, I suddenly, but reluctantly realized: "The First Love" that was abandoned by the Revelation -Church of Ephesis is the connective source of real Godly influence in this world. To love Jesus Openly, means that we love people openly (even our enemies). The effectual connection in loving the insignificant ones, that are "least of these", is powerless without a daily effectual love relationship with Jesus Christ.
The Candlestand of Zechariah was a shadow of the Candlestand in Revelation which may be congruent to our First Love for Jesus. The Candlestand was a mere representation of God's provision of Eternal Influence via His Spirit through our love for Him. This stand, this First Love gives credence to the Light of the World in and shown by us. What we do unto the "least of these" is the natural/supernatural outpouring of our focus on loving Jesus secretly and openly in the midst of a lost and dying world.
His REWIND had graciously taken me to see the Jesus that I needed to connect to for an opportunity of lasting influence that can cause the "least of these" to love Him too. It is far more comfortable to connect with the perceived beauties of a fallen creation, than to love and serve the most dispicable and insignificant characters of humanity. BUT - Loving creation and hating people is hating Jesus.
Thank You Jesus for the rewind, play it again ... daily, so I break in Your love for all whom You have died.
HLFA,
Jeff