I read a story one time about a poor farmer from Australia. He worked the ground every day of his life and he struggled to make ends meet for his family. At his broken down home he had a good sized rock that sat by his door that he would use to prop the door open. One day a geologist came to the farmer wanting to study some of the land formations on the farmer’s land. As he was requesting permission to go about the farmer’s property, the geologist’s eyes fell on the rock propping open the door. His jaw fell open and his eyes widened. He asked the farmer, “Where did you get that?” The farmer replied that he had found the old rock years before outside a small cave on the back part of his property. The geologist asked, “Do you know what it is?” The farmer, looking confused answered, “A door stop?” The geologist informed the farmer that it was a diamond in it’s raw form – and a big one at that! The little cave turned out to have diamonds in it, and the farmer was never in need again.
I don’t know if that story is true or not, but it came to mind when I read Luke 10:13-16. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades. The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”
The people of Jesus’ day eagerly anticipated the coming of the messiah. They longed for the fulfillment of God’s promise. And there in their midst stood Jesus, but they did not recognize him. Much like the farmer with the diamond, they had great treasure and they didn’t even know it.
Jesus is true God and true man, and the people did not recognize him for what he was. The works – the miracles – that he performed should have made it clear to people, but he looked so . . . ordinary. He didn’t fit the preconceived notion of how God would save His people.
In much the same way we go about this world bearing a treasure that is often rejected by people who need it – it goes unrecognized by them. In 2 Corinthians 4, Paul talks about us having the treasure of the gospel in us, but we are like jars of clay – plain, even ugly, as we hold out that treasure. The world says, “How can you be a child of God when your life is such a mess?” But the truth is God displays his grace through our mess. We don’t rejoice because we have overcome the world, or we can do miracles, or we are holier, etc. We rejoice because our names are written in heaven since Jesus has rescued us and made us his own through his death and resurrection.
Sadly, the world sees only the outward form and not the treasure. That is, at least partly, because of the form God has chosen to reveal his Gospel in. He reveals it in the Word and Sacraments at work in our lives. So we can rightly say that whoever rejects us, rejects Jesus, and whoever rejects Jesus rejects the Father. However, perhaps we should take a lesson from the Parable of the Good Samaritan and ask ourselves how clearly we display our treasure through acts of mercy.
Mercy gives us the opportunity to show people Jesus’ love so they can receive him, and the Father who sent him.
Father, help me to be merciful. I have your treasure. Help me show it to others. Help my actions to show people Jesus. Amen.
I don’t know if that story is true or not, but it came to mind when I read Luke 10:13-16. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades. The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”
The people of Jesus’ day eagerly anticipated the coming of the messiah. They longed for the fulfillment of God’s promise. And there in their midst stood Jesus, but they did not recognize him. Much like the farmer with the diamond, they had great treasure and they didn’t even know it.
Jesus is true God and true man, and the people did not recognize him for what he was. The works – the miracles – that he performed should have made it clear to people, but he looked so . . . ordinary. He didn’t fit the preconceived notion of how God would save His people.
In much the same way we go about this world bearing a treasure that is often rejected by people who need it – it goes unrecognized by them. In 2 Corinthians 4, Paul talks about us having the treasure of the gospel in us, but we are like jars of clay – plain, even ugly, as we hold out that treasure. The world says, “How can you be a child of God when your life is such a mess?” But the truth is God displays his grace through our mess. We don’t rejoice because we have overcome the world, or we can do miracles, or we are holier, etc. We rejoice because our names are written in heaven since Jesus has rescued us and made us his own through his death and resurrection.
Sadly, the world sees only the outward form and not the treasure. That is, at least partly, because of the form God has chosen to reveal his Gospel in. He reveals it in the Word and Sacraments at work in our lives. So we can rightly say that whoever rejects us, rejects Jesus, and whoever rejects Jesus rejects the Father. However, perhaps we should take a lesson from the Parable of the Good Samaritan and ask ourselves how clearly we display our treasure through acts of mercy.
Mercy gives us the opportunity to show people Jesus’ love so they can receive him, and the Father who sent him.
Father, help me to be merciful. I have your treasure. Help me show it to others. Help my actions to show people Jesus. Amen.
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