INVITING PEOPLE TO JESUS’ FAVORITE PLACE
Scripture is full of “types and shadows”[1] meant to point us to the fullness of the Godhead dwelling bodily in Jesus. Paul directs our attention to Israel’s Exodus and forty years spent wandering in the wilderness before entering the Promised Land: “Now these things happened to them by way of example,”[2] with example here in Greek being typos. These types were given to us through the early chapters of redemptive history to prepare the Body of Jesus, the Bride of Jesus, to grow into full maturity by the final chapters of redemptive history. Even a casual read through the Exodus wandering makes it clear that many were judged—and some died—in those forty years for disobedience, disbelief, and disunity.[3]
I would like to propose we entertain the possibility that we ourselves are entertaining any or all of these three sins in our hearts.[4]
Hear me out.
We read in the Gospels, from the very lips of Jesus, that is entirely possible to go through all the motions of status-quo religious expressions, behave in ways that are good and right, or even walk with spiritual power and authority, and yet find out on Judgment Day that He “never knew you.”[5]
I know we would all like to avoid this experience.
Ultimately, obedience is a synonym for love. If we love Him, we obey Him. We obey Him because we love Him. And just as the wandering Israelites had to cling to the pillar of fire that led them in the desert night, and the cloud that escorted them through the day, obedience requires discerning the path and presence of God so that we can follow Him wherever He goes. While obedience is summed up by the “greatest commandment”—to love the LORD our God with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strength—we also have to stack our behavior, actions, and attitudes up against the explicit commands (in the Sermon on the Mount, Farewell Discourse, and elsewhere) because we have been commissioned to make disciples who likewise obey Jesus.[6] As our Iranian brother recently put it: utilizing a highly reproducible model that can stand on its own two feet to produce disciples who are highly obedient to King Jesus.
History is barreling towards the Day of the LORD, and until we meet Him in the sky, no one is entering the Promised Land just yet. Abraham himself is still waiting. We are still journeying between Eden and the New Jerusalem, and I humbly suggest 2020 has indicated to us the pillar of fire is moving. God is leading us toward something, and we need to follow Him.
The Bible is clear that God is patient, merciful, and gracious; He could end this present evil age now, but He would that all would repent and call upon Him.[7] So He’s using time to His eternal advantage. But, with Paul, I ask: how can anyone repent if they don’t hear the Good News of the Kingdom? And how will anyone hear if no one is around to tell them?[8]
But much like obedience’s synonymity with love, things are yet quite simple.
“Where are You staying?”[9]
“Come and see.”[10]
Jesus has always been fond of and familiar with the table, the common thing we sit at when we eat. The thing we gather around for a drink. It is the common furniture He dignified with the holy sacrament of communion.[11] And as we just saw in John’s Gospel, it is where He invited people to encounter Him. I believe He still does.
Holger Reinhardt lives in Germany’s Black Forest with his wife and children. He is a nurse and entrepreneur, leveraging businesses as a means of serving and sowing into the Gospel frontier. He has served with FAI Relief in Syria and Kurdistan, among other places with other organizations. He and his family informally spearheaded Das Experiment in Germany, gathering their non-churchgoing friends around the table once a week to explore the person of Jesus.
[1] See Hebrews 10:1
[2] 1 Corinthians 10:11
[3] Hebrews 3:12-19
[4] 1 Peter 4:17
[5] Matthew 7:23
[6] Matthew 28:18-20
[7] Galatians 1:4; 2 Peter 3:9
[8] Romans 10:14-17
[9] John 1:38
[10] John 1:39
[11] Matthew 26:26-29
[12] See Revelation 2-3
[13] Psalm 139:23-24, my paraphrase
[14] Acts 2:47
