"Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God." -Luke 6:20b
"But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong." -1 Cor. 1:27
"If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness." -Isaiah 58:10
One thing all these verses have in common is that they don't make much sense. In the eyes of the world they are confusing and backwards. The poor get the Kingdom, the foolish shame the wise and pouring yourself out for hungry people turns darkness to light. Have you ever seen a really small woman driving a really big truck? It's almost like that, almost.
"Then Jesus told His disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." -Matthew 16:24-25. I guess one way of looking at it is that only suicidal people get into heaven. You actually have to kill yourself, what else does it mean to take up your cross? "Whoever does not go and sit in the electric chair, like I will, is not worthy of me" -Jesus (Matthew 10:38). Now obviously Jesus is not talking literally about us killing our own bodies (except He did literally allow himself to be executed...). I do want to exclaim however, that Jesus in His mercy offers us no other way of following Him except to die to ourselves. There is no other way, period. We cannot say that we love God and dodge around this. This is an absolutely necessary reality in order to live. I must die, EVERY SINGLE DAY!
What does this look like? "But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weakness, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." -2 Cor. 12:9-10. Ok. So I must gladly boast of my weakness, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. My non-Christian co-workers are terrified of being seen as a sissy or a wimp. But, I must embrace weakness. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
I desire to walk in great power, all day, every day. Not power as the world sees it, but the life-transforming power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The power that sees drug addicts set free from drugs or the power that allows those living in misery and bitterness to forgive those who've hurt them so that they can receive God's forgiveness. The last thing Jesus told His disciples was that they will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on them, and they will be His witnesses across the globe. (Acts 1:8). In the next chapter 3000 people get saved in a single day. I confess that I am stupid enough to believe that this can and does still happen today. I am even dumb enough to hope for the City of Winnipeg to go through a transformation and become a city that loves Jesus. It happened to Nineveh.... (I don't actually think I'm dumb, but my non-Christian co-workers might...).
So how about it? Who's with me? Let's become a people of God who are thankful for being weak. Let's fast because it makes us weak. Let's pray more because praying shouldn't work but it does. Let's give our money away so that we can't use it. Let's be voluntarily weak so that God's strength is perfected in us and then we can be witnesses. It doesn't make any sense, so it just might work.
.modgniK nwoD edispU
