“When he saw the
crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless,
like sheep without a shepherd.” Matthew 9:36 NIV
It was a lazy afternoon as I came back from the university.
I skipped my afternoon coffee so I was in want of a nap. Traffic frantically
flowed and the city moved at its usual speed. Stopping for groceries, as was my
custom on many days, I rolled the wobbly cart down familiar aisles. Milk.
Butter. Fruit. Bread. The usual suspects.
I could almost copy the grocery list and just repeat it each week.
I was not sad, just introspective; observant of my
surroundings and listening to conversations as people moved around the store
like rats, tracing a maze that always led to the checkout prize.
Mankind looks at those around them and immediately starts
putting people in categories. Lowlifes. Thugs. Slow old ladies. Loud teenagers.
Screaming children. We sort them by color, lifestyle, and whatever else we can
see (or want to see) at the moment. We all do it. No matter how much we wish we
didn’t, the categorization and judgment is ever-present in our minds. Our
prejudices and biases rear their ugly heads when we least expect them. It is a struggle to erase those images and
stereotypes from our minds. Sometimes I feel like a tamer with a whip and a chair
who is constantly trying to keep the roaring lions at bay.
This lazy afternoon was different. As I approached the
counter, everything seemed in slow motion. A tall Black teenager walked by
wrapped around his girlfriend as he laughed. A White older man with a thick
beard grumbled and waited his turn in line. An Asian lady checked the price of
corn and asked for a translation from the friend at her side. Laughing children
begging for candy. Frustrated mothers wanting to get home and relax. Checkout
line workers with sore feet trying to keep a friendly demeanor as they longed
to sit down.
I felt strangely calm with the whole scene and strangely un-judgmental.
I pictured Jesus looking over the crowd of followers or across the party of the
rejected sinners and having compassion on them all. Not judging them, but
loving them. Pure, immeasurable love.
For a moment I felt the same emptiness of forethought, the same purity of love
that the Bible talks about. For a moment I felt like this “love they neighbor”
thing was at once a possibility.
I did not approach them. I did not hug them or bless them or
even change anything about the grocery trip from any other trip. I simply
smiled. I caught a glimpse of Jesus that day. Not the stern Jesus portrayed by
some. Not the Jesus who looks just like them and surely “high-fives” them for
every righteous cause they attack in His name. Not the Jesus that condemns “those
sinners,” cures their every ailment, or brings them luck on their next stock
market transaction.
Simply the Jesus of love. The Jesus that I worship. The
Jesus that looks at me, with all my imperfections and stupidity and selfishness,
and smiles.
It seems an impossible task to love everyone and I know many
think it is too hard to try. But it is possible, even for a few fleeting
moments as you trace a familiar path through the grocery store.
Take a deep breath and lead with love and compassion. It is
the only way we will ever change ourselves or this world.
