Recently while driving, I found myself swerving to avoid…a shoe! There it was, smack in the middle of the roadway—one solitary sneaker.
This not being the first time I’ve spotted a shoe lying in the street, I found myself wondering, again, what had happened? How could someone lose a shoe while traveling down the road? Did some kid toss it to spite his/ her sibling? Perhaps someone with olfactory sensitivities deemed it to be just too malodorous to have around! Maybe it had trudged through one too many barnyards!
Whatever the cause, there it was, one cast off shoe.
As I pondered that single shoe, my thoughts shifted to the concept of cast off people.
No, these individuals may not be literally lying on the pavement. But often they’re the ones pushed aside. Perhaps they don’t wear the right clothes, or hang out with the cool kids, or have opportunities that many others do. Maybe they have failed at a job or a marriage.
Sometimes these human “solitary sneakers” visit our churches and Bible studies and youth groups. But unless someone who sees beyond the visitor’s sense of being ill-at-ease, and welcomes them with open arms and with the love of Jesus, these who feel (and have been) cast aside will return where they came from, hanging out on the periphery, feeling as if they matter to no one.
I am encouraged when I read the Bible and observe how many times Jesus hung out with those who were the outcasts of society. Zacchaeus the unscrupulous tax collector, for example. Or the woman at the well who had failed at not one, but at least five relationships. Jesus deliberately reached out to beggars, cripples, the blind, the hurting—individuals who had nothing to offer Jesus except for their brokenness.
Jesus not only modeled how to show love to others. He also talked about it in stories (parables) that He told.
“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…Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? ...And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’” Matthew 25:35, 37, 40 (ESV)
<> <> <>
Mercy is something we extend, not just something we intend. —George Grant
Mercy is given to be shared. And what it touches, it ultimately sweetens. We are to pass along what we have received from God – steadfast love, inexplicable kindness, overflowing compassion. We sinned against God and He responded with mercy. We are called to go and do the same. —Dave Harvey
For we are not rescuers giving our lives and families to save orphans and widows in need; instead, we are the rescued whose lives have been transformed at our deepest point of need. So now it just makes sense that men and women who have been captivated by the mystery of God’s mercy might be compelled to give themselves to the ministry of God’s mercy. —David Platt
Giving credit where credit is due:
Note: I love to hear from my readers! You are welcome to email me at gracenotes2you@gmail.com or write me at P.O. Box 666; Humboldt, NE 68376.