Cry With Those Who Are Crying

Be happy with those who are happy, and cry with those who are crying.  -Romans 12:15


May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ be blessed! He is the compassionate Father and God of all comfort.  He’s the one who comforts us in all our trouble so that we can comfort other people who are in every kind of trouble. We offer the same comfort that we ourselves received from God.  That is because we receive so much comfort through Christ in the same way that we share so many of Christ’s sufferings.
-2 Corinthians 1:3-5

Jesus wept.  -John 11:35 

The Bible teaches people of faith to be "come along side" people.  We are sent into the world, into people's lives.  The Gospel is the good news.  Good news is good news to those who are in a bad place.  Christ is light to the darkness.  We, as believers who carry Christ, are meant to shine in darkness and bring light.  The light of Christ is not just belief and teaching, but presence.

Christian people carry Christ and all the good news contained in Christ.  We have received the greatest comfort and the comforter, the Holy Spirit.  God so loved the world that he sent Jesus.  Jesus so loves the world that he sends you and me, as the Father sent him.  Jesus taught and preached, Jesus healed and cast out demons, Jesus made disciples, and Jesus spent time with the Father in prayer.  But that's not all Jesus did.  Jesus was constantly among the people.

What did Jesus do among the people?  We have a number of stories.  He listened and responded and spoke and was just there.  Jesus whole life was incarnational and Emanuel.  God came and lived a life among us and God was with us.  It is still the same today.  God's people, Christ-In-them (Christians) people, are meant to carry Christ to a battered and dying world.

Jesus didn't invite people to his meeting, Jesus met with people.  We invite people to share in the relationship with God through Christ.  The way we do that is to go into people's lives and bring Christ there.  Sooner or later, we invite the person to share life with other believers in a community of mutual edification and discipleship that is mutually nurturing.  Then that person who has newly received Christ goes and shares this life in Christ (good news) to those in their lives (family, friends, neighbors, co-workers) that do not have it.  This is how Jesus builds his church, his assembly, his gathering, his legislative apostolic body.

Jesus is the incarnation.  The Christmas story is that Jesus came to our lost and dying world to save it, by being born into it.  He did not just "beam down" like in a science fiction sense or appear as angels do.  He could appear like an angel and he did that and does that.  But to save the world, he did not do it that way and He is our model on how God uses us to bring people to salvation.

"As the Father sent me, so I send you into all the world, to make disciples of all nations."

We, as Jesus' people, have to get into, come alone side of people who are hurting.  We need to weep with those who weep and offer comfort as comforters.  We have received comfort and from that comfort, we can be comforters.  This is the christian life, going into all the world, "as the father sent me so I send you".  We are all missionaries.  The mission is love, sacrificial love.

We all are called to enter into other people's hard, painful, mournful, sick, and even demon possessed worlds; in order to bring the love of Christ there.  You are Jesus' hands and feet, arms, face and eyes.  Use these instruments of God's comfort to be with people.  Come along side the crying world and cry with them.