Lent Devotional #2: Crossing Boundaries

Crossing Boundaries...

How often do we in the church go out of our way or cross over societal boundaries to minister to "others"? I have been learning recently that Jesus did it all the time!

One of the experiences I won't forget was showering during my stay at the shelter. Being a community shower with about 7 open shower stalls, and no hooks to put your clothes on when showering, I had to put all my clean clothes on the floor atop my just worn shirt in order to keep the clean ones from getting dirty. But in this process my clean, plain white t-shirt dropped on the ground, getting a wet dirt stain from the dirty floor. But being my only clean shirt left, that is what I had to put on after the shower; an experience not dissimilar to camping, but in this context, definitely a new boundary I had crossed.

Lent Devotional #1.5: Death and Resurrection

As I was thinking about my first Lenten Devotional, I sensed a need to take the verse from 2 Corinthians 8:9 one step further, completing this amazing story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Whereas the last devotional focused more on Jesus’ life, here I will try and draw upon His death and resurrection.

The last day of my homeless experience was a Sunday morning, and though like the other mornings I was kicked out at 6:30am, this particular morning I did not leave alone. I had invited one of the guests, a 53 year old African man from Nigeria to come out with me to my apartment in the suburbs and have a place to catch up on some sleep, take a shower, do his laundry, and eat a home cooked meal (though nothing like what my mom can make).

Lent Devotional #1: The Great Reversal

"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich."
- 2 Corinthians 8:9

Prior to laying on the cot the first night, I never understood the full significance of God sending His son Jesus into this world in the form of a man, dwelling among us as a lower-class citizen. You see, God, in all his glory left his throne room in Heaven to come live with us! He had it all - even the richest man in the world cannot come close to having a fraction of the riches God possesses in Heaven - and yet he became poor. He took up residence in a tiny town called Nazareth to experience the mess man had gotten himself into.

Laying in my bed, surrounded by 25 to 75 year old men, men who did not have a home and had to stay in temporary shelters to get out of the cold, I realized why Jesus did what He did.