Scripture
Put on your new nature, and be renewed as youlearn to know your Creatorand become like Him. In Christ there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all.
~Colossians 3:10-11, NLT
Quote
These so called “Little People,” without any of the qualifications humans insist are necessary, are the “only ones” who can actually make this world work.
~Dallas Willard
The LORD always convicts me in my sermon preparation which means I am going to say some things today that I don’t want to say. We humans, and I am probably at the head of the list, are notorious for judging and evaluating others on a standard that we have created. Jesus came into a world that was upside down. The Jews had totally misunderstood God’s revelation of Himself. They had taken all the symbols in the old testament [Temple for example] and made them religious icons while they totally missed the spirit of the law and God’s concern for people. They had taken the law and the prophets and twisted them around so as to authorize oppression and to enable their greed. The world that Jesus walked in was one of social rank with the VIP’s {the rich and powerful} at the top and the “little people” at the bottom. Jesus shocked and upset the Jewish big wigs by talking His message to the little people. This was 2,000 years ago and not much as changed. The world still has the same basic standard: if you have great wealth, you are a success. It doesn’t matter whether you have character, as long as you have money and power. Jesus did not exclude the rich {Zacchaeus} but neither did He placate them. In other words, He did not kiss up to those with money, He treated them just as He treated everyone else. In Christ we are a new creation. From His viewpoint, there are no big or little people; no rich or poor, no Jew or Gentile, no slave or free, no male or female but we are all one in Him. In others words, being in Christ is all that matters. The rich man really has no advantage over you.
This created a monster problem for the religious Jews who were proud and bigoted. They despised everyone who was not like them. There is a reason for Paul naming the Scythian’s on the list; they were worse than barbarians; considered to be incorrigible, irredeemable losers beyond the reach of grace. Yet the fact is–Jesus changed the world by using the unlikely. The disciples, all but one {Judas Iscariot} were despised Galileans. The Jewish religious establishment loathed Galileans. In their mind, they were of no value whatsoever. The disciples were not exactly poor, they were mostly middle class small businessmen, but they were far from rich and they were not viewed as being successful by their world’s standards. The arrogant Jews in Jerusalem were bound to think, “What, pray tell, can He hope to accomplish with that band of losers?” When Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world,” He was not talking to the rich and famous. He was addressing the little people, the meek, the lowly, those who had been put down by societal morays all of their life. Need I remind you that these little people changed the complexion of the entire world. Don’t be guilty of underestimated what God can do with little people.
I know what you are tempted to think, “I’m not a little person. I am not a loser.” I’m not talking about the way you see yourself or the way Christ sees you: I am talking about the way the world sees you. Just be careful that you don’t see yourself big apart from Christ. This would be pride and it would put you in the same boat as the religious Jews. It is not a boat you want to be in. Trust me folks, the MEEK [little people] will someday rule the earth. That’s right, the meek, not the rich and famous.
Well folks, I am about State Tournied out: I took Ryder and Ty to see Lance and the Decatur Heritage boys win the state 1-A title and it was a site for sore eyes. I’m glad we got to share the moment with Lance but I’m through–not going back. Birmingham does not need to be the host. It is chaos and mass confusion. There food prices are outrageous. I think we need to move it to Wallace. Just kidding! But Birmingham doesn’t need it. They don’t care what I think but that is what I think.
Something kind of funny happened to me Wednesday and I was on a tight schedule. I drink while I visit and I ran by the church to use the rest room. In my haste, I left my key in the door when I left. The care was running so there was no problem. I drive over to Joyce Chaney’s [10 miles]. Cut the car off, go in for a good rather long visit. I realized I was going to miss my appointment in Hartselle at 3:15, so I told Joyce bye and jumped in the car which would not hit a lick. I felt for my keys, they were gone. I go back in the house and look: no keys of course. Then I had to go to Joyce’s barn to take care of business once again and it was there that it dawned on me: “You idiot, you left your keys in the front door of the church.” Thank God Mandy was still there and she ran them to me. It was about 2:45 and I had to swap vehicles and get Joe David’s truck which was parked at the house. I was to meet Don Murphy at Cracker Barrel at 3:15. I get to the house by 3:02 or something and June has the truck key. I jump in squeak and head to CB then I look down and the yellow warning light is on. The truck was out of gas. I coasted into the first gas station and got gas. I got to CB at 3:20 but they were late too so it didn’t matter.