Clothesline 235 "Where do you start?"

When God gives you a task to perform, what do you do?  How do you handle His instructions?  Where do you start? 

In last Sunday’s Gospel passage, Jesus performed his first task:  a miracle at the wedding feast at Cana.  I’ve so often chuckled that the first amazing thing Jesus does is turn water into wine!  Not a healing of a terrible disease or a conversion of thousands.  No, it was a gesture that simply showed His love for his children.  The celebration had run out of wine, and he didn’t want the bride and groom to be embarrassed on their special day.  Nothing dead was brought back to life…no feeding of thousands of people…just an act of pure love.  Now that’s a God I can worship and believe in! 

I’ve visualized this scene often...lots of people, probably not all known by Jesus, and certainly unknown to the apostles. So, this act of love was offered to many unknown people.  My thought:  when you find yourself in a place with people you don’t know, how do you act?  Do you check out their clothes, ask them questions about where they live and work?  Do you make judgments because they have an accent or seem to appear uncomfortable?  Or do you simply offer a handshake of welcome and love them as Jesus did?  Oh, if that were only true!  In today’s world, everything I mentioned influences how we deal with people. 

Now, Jesus probably didn’t know half of the people at that wedding feast.  Maybe he knew the bride and groom; we don’t know.  But whatever he might have thought about the people he didn’t know, the condition they might have been in after drinking whatever wine had already been provided, he loved them enough to spare the bride and groom embarrassment.  It sounds silly, doesn’t it, to think that the Lord of all creation would care enough to spare the feelings of a few folks and perform a miracle like no other.  So, I guess that means:  how can we do anything less? 

It's not easy to emulate Jesus in this world, but as Christians, that’s our calling.  Caring about other people, living a life like Jesus, is our only option.  He never said it would be easy, but don’t you always feel good after you’ve made someone comfortable?   And if a particular person is different, doesn’t it make you feel warm inside when you can make them smile and feel welcome?

That’s our task.  To do exactly what Jesus would do.  Welcome, comfort, love, share a kind word or touch, and know that you’ve shared Jesus with another person.  It’s not always easy, but the reward is great!