Christ in us

the traffic was good (compared to most days) on sunday morning as we headed to our church in mathare slums. i was anxious to attend that day. as we drove i looked across the vast sea of faces. where were all these people headed? what was their story? who were they? do they have food to eat today? are they finding their futures in God? hmmm, my mind continually ponders over such things. it seems every time i am in mathare my heart finds another burden to carry. another sight to make ones heart cringe…it makes me ache for them. (p.s. i hope anyone who reads this is compelled by the Lord to pray for this particular community.) so as we were driving, traffic on both sides of the street slowed.  just in front of us there seemed to be a sort of “parting of the red sea,” but in car/traffic terms. and in a much smaller scale of course. i looked over the cars, trying to spot whatever it was that kept us from moving. nothing. my eyes scaled a bit lower. what i saw then was crushing. there was a man, i cannot be for sure, but he looked fairly young. maybe in his thirties. he was slowly inching his way across the road. using only his arms and hands. no legs to hold him aloft. his muscles churned with the effort. his legs were worthless. he had to use his arms to thrust his body forward, all the while dragging two dead and useless limbs behind him. i believe it to be one of the saddest sights i have ever witnessed. everyone in our car fell silent. i wonder if this man had any hope at all…we finally made it to the church. the image of this man still very fresh. as i heard kenyan voices lifting loudly in worship, my heart was utterly quiet. my shoulders felt weighted with burden. Jesus knew this crippled man. not one time has God ever forgotten him or put him on the back shelf. He knows about his sorrow and pain. as this man was outwardly crippled, so others are inwardly crippled. their hearts have been captured by defeat. their lives are being put to silence because of their lack of hope. how many of these people do we see yet turn a blind eye to them? sometimes i am so wrapped up in my own problems to realize that there are people who are hurting a thousand times worse than i could ever imagine. i think of all the opportunities that i have missed. all the opportunities that would have shed light to a lost persons life if only i had not been so caught up in the pettiness of this world. i am eager to be counted as third. a very dear friend of mine once told me a story about a man who laid down his life for someone because he lived to be third. the key- Jesus is first. above all other things, He is to be thought of first. then people, they are second. then us. we are thought of last. looking to the needs of others, while pushing away any selfishness.. paul paints a prime example in his letters to the church. philippians 2:3-4

“in the true spirit of humility (lowliness of mind) let each regard the others as better than and superior to himself [thinking more highly of one another than you do of yourselves].Let each of you esteem and look upon and be concerned for not [merely] his own interests, but also each for the interests of others.”

if you and i actually followed this on a daily basis things would change. can you imagine the results? people would see much more Jesus, which is amazingly perfect. they would also see less of us, less of the worldly, selfish, imperfect us…Christ has put that perfect unending hope in us. lets proclaim it to the hopeless!

colossians 1:27

²⁷To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.