From the Margins to the Center....

Last night our Bible Study was POWERFUL!  We were in Luke 18:31-43 which included the story of Jesus traveling toward Jerusalem and on the way encountering a blind beggar.  The blind beggar was a marginalized person in that time.  Luke doesn't even give us his name.  But when he heard the commotion, he asked what was going on and as soon as he heard that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by, he started shouting at the top of his lungs.  The words he shouted tell us a lot... he shouted, "Jesus, Son of David, Have Mercy on Me!"   That indicates he knew who Jesus was!

Some in the crowd told this man to "shut up!"  And his response to that was to yell LOUDER!  JESUS, SON OF DAVID, HAVE MERCY ON ME!!"    They are traveling from one town to another... and all of a sudden when Jesus hears this unnamed beggar's cry, he STOPS, and Tells them to bring the man to him.   Powerful!   Then he asks the man "what do you want me to do for you?"  This question humanizes the beggar who in his town was marginalized.  And then Jesus heals him.  So in essence this man goes from the fringe to the center in a BIG way!

That very thing can happen for us too!  Jesus came that we might move from the fringes to the CENTER!   This was not about the crowd, it was about the lone man who stopped Jesus in his tracks because he mattered to Jesus!   You matter to Jesus!

Powerful things happen when we move from the fringe to the center of God's love.  Powerful things happen when we gather in circles around God's word and with each other!   All are welcome in our circles... usually our circle includes a couple of homeless brothers, a wheelchair bound person, a couple of tatted up folk, young, old, male, female, single, married... and everyone is welcome to the circle because God welcomes all of us, especially folks on the fringes to come to the center!