Luke 7 - Rescue
This morning, there were two dogs that showed up in my twitter feed with just one post separating them. The first being this heartbreaking picture of a dog that had been abandoned and was found by a young boy. The second was a dog that looked so similar to what the first dog might have looked like before it was sick (and possibly what he might look like again). I just was struck by the similarities between the two and also the vast difference.
In Luke 7 we see Jesus with a wide variety of people. He heals the servant of a Roman (!!) centurion, he heals the son of a desperate widow, he has a meal at a Pharisee’s home, and he blesses a woman that the writer describes as “sinful.” Quite a diverse group of people. But each in their own way seen by others as broken, sick, outcast, “other.” For many, it is easier to stay away from people “like that.” Yet Jesus was there for each of them - for the Roman solider who was considered an “enemy of the people”...for the widow who may have been losing the only source of support and income with her son dying...for the Pharisee who was inviting someone in Jesus who had not spoken warmly of the Pharisees...for the “sinful woman” who that same Pharisee was incredulous that Jesus was allowing her to even come near him...Jesus was there with and for all of them.
I love that the story of the first puppy, it was a little boy who took the puppy in and who will get the puppy when he is nursed back to health. I am grateful that the boy didn’t just ignore that hurting little one. Yes it is easier to gravitate toward the one who seems perfect but I am grateful for the One who gravitates towards us all with our brokenness, wounds, and shortcomings and that Jesus sees something deeper in each of us beyond all that “stuff.” And I pray that I can have the same type of compassion and care for others as Jesus did.
I look forward to when Rambo (the first dog) looks as healthy and well as Journee...I give Rambo a 14/10 for sure...
