Let People Check You Out!

Let People Check You Out! Romans 15:4-13 Joy, peace, hope — these are the themes of the Christmas season. At Christmas, we celebrate the gift of Jesus. His birth marks a new chapter in God's plan to end our suffering and save us from our sin. So if you're discouraged during the holidays, remind yourself that the baby Jesus came to heal your heart, and this world. Because of Him, one day there will be no more suffering. That is one joy we can hope for. God sees all the problems in the world, including ours, and He has promised ultimately to fix them. To do this, He sent Jesus to carry out a plan to end all suffering. The Bible tells us that one day there will be no more tears. Revelation 21:3–5 reads, “I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘… There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’” So one day, there will be no more disease, no more tragedy, no more suffering - no more death. That’s a reason for hope and celebration! At Christmas, Jesus came to deal with the source of our suffering and our sin. We may have worries that we do not deserve to be forgiven by God, that our sin is too “bad.” I’ve known numerous people throughout the years who would not partake in Holy Communion because they felt unworthy. It is a holy event and they felt unholy. But that is the very reason to embrace Communion, because we are unholy, sinful creatures; and because Jesus has made us right with God. His holiness and sinlessness and sacrifice, being accepted by God, covers us and makes us one with Christ and each other. No matter what you’ve done, you can be forgiven! His love goes beyond anything you’ve ever experienced. He loves you without conditions; and if we enter into a relationship with Him, we are accepted, not because of anything you’ve done or ever will do, but because of what Christ did for you. As the Bible says, “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy” (Titus 3:5). “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9). So, that’s one side of the story, that’s what the Lord has done. The other side of the story is what are we going to do? Imagine going to a library seeking information; but instead of checking out a book, you check out 2 a person! Hear that again… Well, that's the idea behind a project called the Human Library, a place where real people are on loan to the library users. Those real people, because of the facts and experiences of their lives, represent categories such as Muslim, bipolar, single young mother, unemployed, HIV victim, autistic, sexually abused, convert, brain-damaged, molested, deaf and blind, soldier with PTSD, homeless, alcoholic, ADHD and so forth. They are typically available at a scheduled event that might run for several hours over one or more days. Borrowers go to the event and select a category they'd like to know more about. The human "book" then sits down for 30 minutes or so with the borrower and shares his or her story, and the borrower gets to ask questions. Want to know what it's like to be a refugee? There's likely a refugee in that human library ready to explain that experience to you, and the same is available with several other topics. The first occurrence of the Human Library was in Denmark in the spring of 2000. It ran for four days straight at a Copenhagen location and offered some 75 "titles," chosen to inform and to challenge stereotypes. More than 1,000 "readers," people interested in other walks of life, showed up, leaving organizers stunned at the impact of the project. The idea has since jumped the Danish borders, and Human Library events have now happened on every continent but Antarctica. At a Human Library happening in Rochester, New York, for example, borrowers got to hear from a Vietnam veteran, a martial artist, a British butler, and a person paralyzed in a car accident, among many others. So what if people "borrowed" us? What if ours was the life someone wanted to read? Would they find in us joy, peace, and hope? Would they see Christmas alive and well in our story? This is a neat idea, and it gives us an opportunity as followers of Jesus Christ to think about what people outside of our experience — nonbelievers, people of other faiths, the curious, etc. — (what people outside of our experience) would learn if they were to "borrow" us to "read" for a while. What would they read? What would they learn? There’s a song I heard on my first Emmaus Walk back in 1987 entitled, You’re the Only Jesus. Hear the words… If not in you, I wonder where, will they ever see the One who really cares. If not from you how will they find there's One who heals the broken heart and gives sight to the blind? ‘Cause you're the only Jesus some will ever see and you're the only words of life some will ever read. So let them see in you the One in whom is all they'll ever need, 'Cause you're the only Jesus some will ever see. 3 And if not you I wonder who, will show them love and love alone can make things new. If not from you how will they learn, there's One who trades their hopelessness for joy in return? 'Cause you're the only Jesus some will ever see and you're the only words of life some will ever read. So let them see in you the One in whom is all they'll ever need. 'Cause you're the only Jesus some will ever see. So let Him shine, let Him show, let them see Him in you, you've got to let them know. 'Cause you're the only Jesus some will ever see and you're the only words of life some will ever read So let them see in you the One in whom is all they'll ever need 'Cause you're the only Jesus, you're the only Jesus some will ever see. Actually, though, this song, this idea goes back much further. In the New Testament, Paul wrote to the Corinthian Christians, saying, "You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all; and you show that you are a letter of Christ, prepared by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts" (2 Corinthians 3:2-3). You and I are a letter, to be read, by all with whom we live and move and have our being. So, what if we are a letter to be read? We might also ask, what Christian's print or life isn't a little blurred? Which one of us so perfectly represents Christ that we are the "inerrant Bible" to the world? So what, if someone were to check us out from a Human Library to learn what being a Christian is all about — and we told the whole truth — they'd likely discover that there are some gaps in our pages, that some chapters are still in process and that our table of contents contains some entries that don't seem to build toward a cohesive whole. Nonetheless, if we're serious about following Jesus, our reader would likely hear from us some things that convey that we are living differently and comporting ourselves, behaving and trying our best to be consistent in our faith journey and that we have a hope that serves as a beacon for our life. Indeed, Paul referred to such a hope in our text, "... that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope" (v. 4). Giving ourselves a little allowance, we don't need to have a polished presentation; we only need to convey the impact of what following Jesus means to us. For many of us, approaching someone to talk about our 4 faith is extremely difficult. The best sharing of faith, though, comes naturally, and it's usually among the people we associate with on a daily basis. The main key to all of this is desire. The apostle Peter advised his readers, "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you, the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect" (1 Peter 3:15). But wanting to do that is the prerequisite. If that hope is strong, so will be your willingness to share it. Remember, the fact is, whether we're looking for such opportunities or not, we are already being checked out by people who know we profess the Christian faith. The old African-American spiritual, "There Is a Balm in Gilead," sings of the healing balm that comes from God, and then, in one verse, it says, If you cannot preach like Peter, if you cannot pray like Paul, just tell the love of Jesus and sayHe died for all. There's also an alternative version that sings, If you cannot preach like Peter, if you cannot pray like Paul, go home and tell your neighbors, Jesus died to save us all. It may seem a small thing to us to let a neighbor, a friend, a family member or even a stranger check us out as a disciple of Jesus, but it can be life-changing information; it can be a life-changing experience for them. As the bulletin cover asks: “When people read us – what do they learn?” May they learn the true meaning of Christmas that brings joy, peace and hope.