When you realize you’re invited to Jesus' table, it no longer matters who doesn’t invite you to theirs.
In 14 years of membership, I have lived in 15 different wards/branches. I have had the most beautiful & the most disturbing interactions with people within them. But the MOST FULFILLING relationship I have ever had never fluctuates.
And thats the one with Jesus.
And with Him, I find profound passion and purpose.
And life blossoms. And with Him does my soul DANCE within me!
What else can I ask for?
Who is anyone to tell you God is not your Father & you are not His?!
Who is anyone to tell you Christ didn’t die for you?!
In our times of mistakes and betrayal, Jesus all-knowing, comes and sits close still. Passes the bread also to Judas, He offers and passes His body to you, too. Still offering to serve and to cleanse you, too—to be unified and one with you.
It doesn’t matter if you were caught in the act, immobilized poolside, buried under the crowd in the dirt, kissed with betrayal, cast out by communities & family.
Jesus goes to the hated outcasts, the forgotten, the different, the excommunicated, the sinners, and spends time with them, blesses them, befriends them, sees great worth & great purpose & great need of them, andcalls them to great things!
Jesus does things differently and Jesus sees things differently, always has. And luckily so.
There is not one who Jesus does not see great worth and great purpose and great need of. There is not one misfit, not one outcast, not one sinner, who Jesus is not showing them His unwavering love, & saying to them, “Follow me,”and offering them something more.
Everyone is invited to Jesus’s table. Always deserving because you are His. “Lord if thou wilt,” if you are willing, “thou canst make me clean.” Not, CAN He heal me . . .but WILL He? “I will.” Laying His hands upon his head, “moving with compassion,” touching the untouchable, “Be thou clean.” And immediately the leprosy departed from him. Sores were closed, deformities removed, missing limbs restored, smell of rotting flesh disappeared, and skin made smooth. He touched the untouchable, and He cured the incurable. Our impossibilities are not a struggle for Jesus. He will not “meet His match” with our suffering.
And you know, I don’t doubt that Jesus’s compassion is what really healed this broken man. How long had he been stripped of someone’s time? Attention? How long had this man been deprived of touch? Of compassion? Of love? I don’t doubt how Jesus treated him is what really made him feel whole in this experience of healing. If Jesus can wash & serve even the feet of Judas, we can better sit & sup & serve those around us. And when we sit at the table with other Judases, we’ll better understand the love of Jesus. With Him & His love that knows no bounds, we can better share the same table, the same space, with others. Knowing how much grace we have been in need of for our own times of turning away, we can better see & offer grace & compassion to others. xoxAL