Dr. I David Byrd, November 1, 2019
“For you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light.” Ephesians 5:8 NRSV
Jesus provides the church the behavior necessary for being public about our faith. It starts with simply valuing people. If I value you, I will take time to get to know you. I will be concerned with the things that concern you. When we demonstrate the attributes of love, it causes us to take time to get into the other persons story. John Lederach expressed, “Jesus’ ministry has roots in grace expressed primarily through the quality of presence: the way he chose to be present, in relationship and in the company of others.”
Throughout the Bible Jesus first built relationships by compassionately accompanying people, helping them clarify their faith or find faith through their circumstances. Secondly, Jesus viewed people in ways that valuedthemand could not see their situations without being moved, feeling compassion, and acting. Third, Jesus honored diverse culturesto ensure the gospel would reach everyone. Jesus understood that it is hard to be in relationship with people we may view as different when we don’t see, understand or acknowledge their value.
The Syrophoenician woman, in Mark 7:24 -31, came to make a request of Jesus. She was culturally a Gentile, geographically a Canaanite and was assumed to be at the margin of the Jewish faith community. She was someone with whom Jesus and the disciples would not normally associate. The disciples allowed their worldviews to cloud their perception and calling. They labeled her as unfit, a foreigner, and an alien with no right to speak to Jesus. In Matthew 15:23, “They requested Jesus send her away.”Jesus used the opportunity to teach the lesson to the disciples that everyone would be included in the plan of salvation. We can be guilty of sometimes initially missing or ignoring those outside our comfort zone who may need our support. As children of light, we are called to ask the clarifying questions that can help us better understand the challenges others face in their life for the sake of their faith.
Just as God’s incarnate presence in Jesus Christ is a model for us, we are called to exhibit a coherent Christian perspective and response that is relational in nature. Twentieth century Catholic theologian Karl Reiner believed “the neighbor is given us precisely as the principal way in which God intends us to find our greatest fulfillment … whereby we are led by the Spirit to encounter God most intimately in the communion with one another that the Spirit of Jesus’ presence in another has made possible.”
Father in Heaven,
Help us to see people as you see them. To love them as you love them. Forgive us for sometimes thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought. Change our hearts so that we have the love that will fuel our bold yet humble witness to your grace found in Jesus.
In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
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