“Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes
are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you”. - Matthew 21:31B
I have been back from Indonesia for a little over a week. It
has been a struggle to put all that I have seen and experienced in a neat
little package. There are so many faces and stories that run through my mind.
We walked in places where the darkness is seeking to kill and destroy. Our feet
treaded among the dead as we walked through a cemetery where prostitutes turn
tricks for pocket change. We spent time among those withering and dying as they
are locked away and forgotten. We spent time among people who lost what little
they had as flood waters washed it all away.
The faces of these
places of human suffering impacted my heart, yet my take away was not the power
of darkness; it was rather the wonder of the kingdom of God. These are people
who have been called the least, forgotten, unworthy, and shameful – yet,
walking among the darkness of the cemetery, I saw His light breaking through;
it is breaking though in the beautiful faces of these women that the world
wants to forget! In these women I saw authentic hunger for the touch of their
savior. In them I saw a love for the community around them. In them I saw his joy
and peace. As I prayed with them, held them, and looked in their eyes - I saw His
eyes looking back at me. These women are not forgotten, for He has remembered
them! Though in the kingdom of man they may be consider last, it is not so in
His kingdom. I truly felt honored to be among them and it is I who is not
worthy of them!
As I reflect on my time among these people that my heart now
loves - I think about the words of Jesus in the verse above. It was to people
like those we met that Jesus showed unyielding grace, love and mercy. However,
it was those who already had it all figured out, who took it on themselves to
decide what was clean and unclean, and took pride and confidence in their
religion - it was these who missed the kingdom of God even as it walk among
them in the flesh.
My take away from this trip is simply a willingness to
not have it all figured out, to not find confidence in my good deeds, my church
attendance, or in my good ‘spiritual disciplines’, rather I am just in awe of
the love of my savior and the power of His goodness to shine through any
darkness. I am in awe of His gentle love that holds the broken close, His
tender voice that speaks life amongst the dead and His wiliness to call a
prostitute His own daughter as He walks among her as her loving Daddy! If God
does not look down in Judgment on these hurting souls, then I will not be among
those who throw the first stone! God’s love truly has the power to transform
and I have seen this beautiful exchange in the flesh and my life will never be
the same...
