All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples ofall the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. ~ Matthew 28:18-20 (NASB)
READING: Matthew 9:1-13
In Colombia, doctors make house calls. Jesus made house calls. He went to the sick where they were. Although he also spent time ministering in the religious “clinics” of His time – the Temple and the local synagogues – the majority of His ministry was in the marketplace.
His unconventional ministry practices and personal associations with the spiritually afflicted put Jesus at odds with other contemporary professionals. He dared to eat and drink with sinners. He went into places where prostitutes and tax collectors gathered. Jesus made house calls.
In today’s religious society we encounter the same shortsighted mindset. We build bigger and better “clinics” and wait for sick sinners to stagger in off the street. Our emergency rooms are state of the art, our people well-trained to handle all kinds of incoming cases. Yet, it appears that the sick are not coming. They are dying in their homes, in the bars and gambling casinos while our staffwaits in antiseptic halls. Some do venture out, offering on-site evangelistic events at local stadiums or gathering places. There we employ the same “come to us” strategies, presenting a mobile version of our fine facilities.
It is not working. Jesus demonstrated the need to attack spiritual death and decay. He was not worried about possible contamination or damaged reputation. When he said “all,” he meant all; all authority, all nations, all that I commanded, always. He knew that to stop the disease you must go to the source.
Father in heaven, Help us with all of this. Amen.
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