Has Jesus come to your door?

“Jesus came over the other day…”

One day, I was working in my office when there was a knock at the door. It was quite a firm knock. I approached the door wondering why this person had not noticed the door bell. It was most likely to have been someone who had never been here before. I opened the door and there he was: it was Jesus! He looked different. He was older than I expected. He had a balding head and had grayish stubble around his chin. He was medium to fat build and about 6 feet tall. He wore an old singlet exposing his heavily tattooed arms and black tattered jeans. He spoke, and my noticing he had rotting teeth distracted me from what it is he was saying. “I haven’t eaten for days,” he said. “Do you have any food?” he asked. “I’ve been out of jail for two weeks now and I have nothing.” I hesitated to respond and then said to Jesus, “just wait there, I‘ll go and see if there’s anything in the pantry.” I took a plastic bag and filled it with food that would last him about a week. I made sure to include a bottle of water so that I wouldn’t have to invite him in. This welcome (or unwelcome) was a huge contrast to what I had imagined. I believed I would fall at Jesus’ feet and praise him. Truth is, I couldn’t wait to get him out of my way so I could return to my sermon preparation. Jesus thanked me and went on his way. He only made it as far as my “welcome” mat outside the front door. I thought about it once Jesus left that day. I wished he would come back so I could welcome him better. (Matt. 25:35)

Has Jesus come to your door? He or she probably has. However, we walk past him when he is begging for money. We draw the curtains when he comes knocking. We act poor when she asks for money. You see, what we must remember is that “not everyone who calls me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but those who do what my Father wants them to do.” It’s not in our saying, it’s in our doing. (Matt. 7:21)

Unless we see Jesus Christ in others, bypassing all discrimination that may distract us, we will never love – we will never “do” what the Father wills: to love one another in our actions.

Blessings,

Rev. Gary Mauga