In the Company of Outcasts

Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him and it is he who is speaking to you.” He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. (John 9:35-38)

Jesus was comfortable in the company of outcasts.

For so long I skipped right over the heart-stopping, radical action of this passage. I barely paused to notice. Okay, so Jesus went after an outcast. He was Jesus, after all, and that’s what He did. It was part of his Messiah job description.

Then I began to live and work among the outcast in a culture much like the one of Jesus’ day. A society where outcasts lose everything. To be cast out, or shamed, meant loss of family, position, provision, home, reputation, security, love, even one’s name.

Everything.

People don’t go and find the outcast in such cultures. There is a separate place for them, a place outside the city walls, a designated space away so the insiders, the honorable ones in society, do not have to see them, shop with them, or mingle with them.

Among the outcasts are children with facial deformities and their families. Trafficked women forced into prostitution. Young girls forced into slavery and then discarded to fend for themselves. 

In many of these cultures, followers of Jesus are outcasts too.

We think long and hard about what to give up in order to exercise our faith on a deeper level during Lent. They have no such privilege of thoughtful, selective choice. Yet they stand courageous and humble, boldly declaring their belief in the Son of Man, no matter what they have given up.

Let’s not forget them today.

Our brothers and sisters around the world who are outcasts because of their faith give up mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, friends. They lose homes and communities. Some lose their children. Others lose respect and the right to be paid for work. Some know they may eventually lose their lives. Some live in your town. Did you know that?

I do not see them groveling in self-pity. I see them worshiping.

Hajar lost her home, profession, and all of her possessions to terrorists who targeted followers of Jesus in her city. But she stands in the rubble of her former home and when asked what she needs, replies with a beaming face,

“Nothing. I have Jesus. He is everything.”

Ahmed lost his parents, his siblings, and his childhood when he was kidnapped from his village at age nine and forced to become a soldier. He has now exchanged his rifle for a well-worn Bible and traverses the scrubby hills teaching about Jesus. When asked what he needs, he answers,

“Pray for more to know the great love of the Messiah.”

He has forgotten himself, his needs.

Maryam was forced to watch as her father, uncles, and brothers were shot for being infidels. She and her female relatives were then loaded into trucks and place in slavery. Today, she is free from her captors. With a miraculous smile, she arrives each week to study the Word of God and learn more about her Savior. When asked what she needs, she says,

“Jesus has given me all I need.”

How? How can this be possible?

How could the blind man, an outcast since birth, further shamed and ostracized by his community because of his testimony about Jesus, worship?

How can Hajar, Ahmed, and Maryam smile and forget themselves, hearts brimming with praise after all they have lost?

Jesus goes after the outcast. When He finds them, He gives them the greatest gift of #Lent: Himself. #persecutedchurch #insteadofshamehonor Click To Tweet

Their hearts well up with belief. Worship overflows.

Do you believe in the Son of Man? He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him and it is he who is speaking to you.” He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. 

The outcast knows a secret: Jesus is enough. 

Jesus offers the gift of Himself to each of us, no matter our Lent story. 

He asks you and me the most crucial question we will ever answer: Do you believe? 

If we believe, we will find that He is enough no matter what we must give up.

Lord, I believe. And You are enough.

Lord Jesus, draw near and speak tenderly to my brothers and sisters around the world who have given up everything for you this Lenten season. Amen.

@audreycfrank