Sunday, July 13, 2008
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"But he's not worth saving, Jesus!", Part I
In Sunday School growing up, I had always been told that Jonah was afraid to go to Nineveh to minister to the people there. Not true. Jonah didn't think the Ninevites were worth the saving grace of Yahweh. I never thought I could be like Jonah...
My neighbor across the hall...he complains about everything to everyone, gets into fights with the other neighbors, calls the police on them or the bar far down the road for noise. His apartment sometimes smells like vomit; he hit and dented my new car-door with his; he always yells at his pet birds; he sweeps the dirt and debris from between our doors onto my mat; he smokes pot... If I put a bag of garbage on my door-step until I can get out a few hours later, he'll toss my garbage down the stairs. The man actually cut down a bunch of sapling trees in the woods right outside my window, and he knocked a robin's nest out of a tree this spring (no eggs, at least...he isn't a killer).
I know about Jesus' love for us, and how we should spread that around. I have no problem there, but of all the people to avoid on this front was my neighbor. He was so angry and bitter, and I believed was beyond the reach of anyone. Except Jesus of course, but I didn't want to be the one to "witness". If Jesus wanted my neighbor saved, he could do it on his own.
I know better. Jesus saves, but he often uses us to reach those needing to be saved.
For the last few months when I go to pay my tithe to one church or another, my neighbor's name would ring in my mind, the idea of giving the money to him instead. Of all the people to give money to...him? He's mean! So the thought couldn't have been Jesus! I was arguing with God about it...or trying to discern if it was really him who was dropping this thought into my head.
"God, he's not worth saving!" As soon as I thought that, a heavy conviction and grieving struck my spirit. How dare I, also a person not worth saving though was saved anyway, think such a thing about another human?!
So [Jonah] complained to the Lord about it: “Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people." Jonah 4:2, NLT
Call me Jonah...because I did do what God asked me to, and the result went beyond every expectation I had. I'll share tomorrow what happened, but know my impressions of my neighbor changed completely, and for a moment this afternoon, I saw him as Jesus does.
May that last.
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