The Deep Questioning of the Lord

Represented in this photo are three young adults whose mother died of AIDS last year. The boy in the middle, Adoni, struggles with depression and feels lost. He sells bread in the streets of the Capital, hoping to someday study to become someone. I took this photo November 15 in Monte Plata.

When Christ who is our Life appears,
then we also will appear with Him in Glory. Col. 3:4

Dear Brothers and Sisters.

My heart is heavy with the indifferent response of seated Christians to global disaster. Our times here are short. As the Lord's appearing approaches, we will see more and more natural disasters rock what we believed to be solid ground. We will find ourselves at a spiritual loss for lack of preparation. When disaster strikes our city, will we be found in the streets, caring for the dead and dying, or will we hoard what little food we have left, protecting it with violence against our neighbor?

"What you have done for the Least of These my brothers, you have done for me." (Mat 25:40b)
The words of Jesus are chilling in these violent times. The Earth is groaning with the Labor Pains of the Last days (Rom 8:22). Even popular media projects and predicts the pending tribulations that are devastating our tiny globe swarming with upwards of 6 billion inhabitants. The Times demand a Response. The Least of These are not a theoretical people dreamed up by a fanciful Jesus. There is nothing romantic about caring for the Least of These. They are an ugly, war-torn people. They are bleeding. They have AIDS and Hepatitis. They are armed and dangerous. They are fugitives. They are scared. They bear their teeth and gnash them at intruders. The Least of These are buried under rubble of broken lives, dehydrated and wet with their own excrement. The Least of These are covered with the flies of the decay of Sodom and Gomorra. And the Least of These are crying out, "Lord, if you are willing, you can touch me and make me clean...."

"I am willing. Be clean."(Luke 5:13)

In the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-19, Jesus says, "All authority has been given to me by the Father. Go Therefore, and make disciples as I have made you disciples, welcoming these new ones into a new life, a new community, and teaching them to do everything that I have done among you, the things that I taught you to do with my example, my Life." (Paraphrase)

The Example of the Lord is radical. It is uncomfortable. And it demands a drastic life-change of the one who would follow Jesus into His barrio. When the Least of These is a contagious tuberculosis patient in a dirty rural clinic, it is hard to be the Hands of Jesus. When the Least of These is a woman dying of AIDS for a sexually promiscuous life-style, it is in our human nature to be a Simon and say to Jesus, "If you only knew what kind of woman this is..." instead of reaching out our hands to touch her, that she would be clean.

When the Least of These is a leader of Voodoo practices, when the Least of These has killed people for greed, when the Least of These is missing arms and legs and is covered in contaminated blood, It demands all we are to reach out and touch, it demands all we are to WANT his or her healing. And yet, in the very act of obedience, in the very touching, THIS IS WHEN THE LORD HEALS US.

This is when He heals us of our pride, our selfishness, our spotlessly clean and separated lives. This is When Jesus looks us in the eyes and questions our innermost being. "Allison, do you love me?"
"Yes, Lord."
"Then Feed my sheep. Allison, do you love me?"
"Yes, Lord!"
Then Feed my lambs. Allison, do you love me?"
"Yes, Lord! You know all things, and you KNOW that I love you!"
Then Feed my sheep." (Jn 21:15-17)

This deep, inner questioning of the Lord is painful. It is disturbing. And it is cleansing.

I would invite you to be questioned by the Lord. Allow Him to work in the innermost part of your heart, revealing the obstacles that keep you from extending your hand to the Least of These. God's preferential option is not for the clean, well-dressed, and nice; but for the sick, the violent, and those farthest away from His Glory. These are whom He wants to touch, These are whom I must seek out.

When Christ who is our Life appears, we will also appear with Him in glory. Not only does this speak of the Near Coming of the Risen Christ, but of the appearing of the Lord among us NOW, in our barrios, in our forgotten city streets. This verse speaks strongly of OUR presence with Christ in a community. Jesus said, "Where I am, there my servant will also be." (Jn 12:26) Where the Lord is, there His glory is. There His Kingdom is. The Kingdom of God is not only a spiritual reality, but a physical reality that manifests itself in power among us. "I tell you the truth, greater things than these you will also do" (Jn 14:12). Healings, Multiplications, Restoration of Life, the Changing, transformation of History: These are normal for the Kingdom of God. These things should be more than normal for its agents who live and die among the Least of These.

Do you dare to be questioned by the Lord?