The fact that my best blog post always comes to me at 2 or 3 AM is still something I haven’t figured out yet. Maybe I’m an insomniac, maybe my brain doesn’t work enough during the day so it has to work extra at night to make up for it. I’m not sure how that works exactly, but it’s currently 2:13 AM as I write this.
So a few years ago, I was privileged to serve on the volunteer staff team at my home church in Keokuk, IA. We would have meetings once a week, and I got to sit in on those meetings, provide input about things happening around the church, and provide updates on our junior high ministry. It was great, and I learned a lot from those around me. In those meetings, one of my pastor’s famous lines was always, “I was listening to a podcast the other day”. We would always laugh when he said that because it usually meant he would go on a rant. Fast forward 3 years later, I’m now the one using the line “I heard in a podcast recently”, which makes me feel somewhat old. Anyway, I was listening to one today by a group of teacher comedians who I LOVE to listen to because they are HILARIOUS and very real with the issues facing the school system in America today. They were talking about how teachers are one of the most underpaid professions in America, and one of them mentioned something along the lines of “It makes no sense to me that we pay some people millions and millions of dollars to entertain us, yet the people who teach our kids and change the future can hardly keep their head above water”. When they said that, something really started stirring in my heart that I haven’t stopped thinking about all day.
It really got me thinking how people don’t always get what they deserve. Did I deserve to be shoved into a trash can in 8th grade because I refused to vape? No. Do victims of School Shootings deserve to have to go through that? Not in a million years. Do teachers get the pay they deserve for the impact they make on society as a whole? Absolutely not. It then got me thinking about how the bigger picture and how that really is the message of the Gospel when it comes down to it.
You see, Jesus was a man who didn’t get what he deserved. He didn’t deserve to be crucified on that cross, yet he did it anyway. He didn’t deserve to be betrayed by Judas or denied by Peter, yet he loved them anyway. He didn’t deserve to take on the burden of MY sin, yet he did it anyway without hesitation. It’s a lot to wrap my mind around if we’re being honest but it got me thinking, how often do I treat people in ways they don’t deserve? I’m very honest about the fact that I’m just a sinner in need of a savior, not better than anyone else and I still screw up from time to time. How often do I look at someone and automatically judge them? They don’t deserve that, yet I do it anyway. How often do I get frustrated with people and the things they do? They don’t deserve it, yet I do it anyway. You see, as followers of Jesus, we’re called to love others even when they don’t deserve it. Does that mean it’s going to be easy? No. Does that mean that any of us are going to be perfect at it? Absolutely not. What matters is that we TRY and when we TRY to love others with our whole hearts, even when they don’t seem to deserve it, THAT’S how we change the world. Let that sink in as you go into your week!