A Wounded Community - The One Year At His Feet Devotional
A Wounded Community
Read: Matthew 15:29-32
“I have compassion for these people.”
Matthew 15:32
“The best exercise for strengthening the heart is reaching down and lifting people up.”
—Ernest Blevins
IN WORD Many of us became Christians, expecting to find holy people in God’s kingdom. We may have envisioned the church as a collection of folks who have gotten it right, who know what life is about and live it well. We may have thought our relationship troubles were over, if we related only to the redeemed.
But if we’ve been there long enough, we realize that while the people are holy in Christ, they (and we) are still deeply flawed in themselves. When we go to church we are surrounded by addicts; dysfunctional families; physical and emotional cripples; and people with broken relationships, distorted perspectives, and every kind of problem known to mankind. The crowds that came to Jesus represented in their physical infirmities the whole range of handicaps that plague our sinful natures. In our churches, the physical handicaps are unmistakable, but the emotional, psychological, and spiritual ones are usually hidden well. Eventually they show themselves. How will we react?
Jesus looked out upon the lame, the blind, the crippled, and the mute (v. 30), and had compassion. He healed them and He fed them. What do we see when we look out upon the crowds that are coming to Jesus? Do we expect to find cleaner, healthier people? We will not. We will see similar crowds with similar problems—a world of infirmities laying all before His feet.
IN DEED Perhaps we were disappointed when we found out how deeply flawed Christians can be. We are holy in Him, of course; all sins are washed away in His sacrifice. But the sinful nature often rears its ugly head. How do we respond when we see the nature of the world within the walls of the church?
Jesus’ followers are the walking wounded, those who have risen from death and are still removing their grave clothes. We bring our flaws to Him, and He is compassionate. We must be also.
