Today's Scripture Reading (December 17, 2023): Matthew 12
Several years ago, I heard author and evangelist Tim Green
speak at a Singles Convention. (I was there as part of the Worship Team for the
conference.) Green is a great storyteller, which is something that I
appreciate. And at the convention, he told the story of "The Bus Reject."
Tim said he was walking down a hill toward a place where
kids were gathering to wait for the bus. Just before he reached the group of
kids, Tim noticed another child coming down the hill from the other side. This
child was a girl, and she was unquestionably the product of an overprotective
parent because she wore a slimy green raincoat, even though it was hot and
there wasn't even a chance of rain that day.
She came to the group of kids, and immediately, the kids
started to taunt her. Back of the line, Bus Reject. Why did you bother to come,
Bus Reject? You don't belong here, Bus Reject.
Tim got closer, looked at this little girl, and wondered if
maybe this little girl was deaf or developmentally disabled because she just
had a smile that the other kids could not wipe off of her face. As the other
kids regaled this Bus Reject with their taunts, she just continued to smile. Tim
says he passed the group of kids and wanted to do something but didn't know
what was appropriate. More than anything, he wanted to know the source of the
smile and the glint in the eye of the Bus Reject.
It didn't take him long to find the source of the smile
because as he reached the top of the hill, he was confronted by Big Mama. Tim
said that he knew it was Big Mama because she was standing there, wearing a
slimy green raincoat, on this day when there wasn't even a glimmer of hope for
rain. She was standing there at the top of the hill, blowing kisses back down
the hill to the little girl on the receiving end of the taunts at the bus stop.
The little girl at the bottom of the hill endured the
taunts; she smiled as they told her she was a Bus Reject because this little
girl knew who she really was. She was Big Mama's little girl. That is the way
family is supposed to be. We can endure what this world might want to throw at
us because we know who we are. We know who our father is. He is the one who is
blowing kisses to us from the top of the hill.
We also know who our brothers and sisters are. Now, I don't
want to suggest that we have to start blowing kisses to each other, but it
couldn't hurt on some days. In this family, we find strength. And as we gather
as Christians, we aren't just gathering with friends, we are gathering with the
family; these are our brothers and sisters in this family of God. My
grandfather was a song evangelist in the Christian Church, and I remember it
seemed that everywhere he went during his era, he was addressed as "Brother
Mullen." It might seem a bit archaic today, but it was a great reminder of
who we are in the family of God. These people with whom we gather are our
brothers and sisters; as such, we should not just know who our father is but
also recognize all of the family members. And from that, we should gather strength
so that, when someone rejects us, we know beyond a doubt who it is that loves
us and accepts us. As Christians, we are a proud part of the family of God.
Tomorrow's Scripture
Reading: Mark 3
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