BEST Mess

The one thing we all have in common is we have all made a mess.  Some of us have messed up so bad that we feel that it can never be whole again. Maybe in our finances, marriage, relationships, career, school we have made a mess. We might look good on the outside and still functional, but on the inside we are a hot mess. We say to ourselves “I don’t know where to begin. I’m not sure I can do this.” We have all ignored our own conscious, our own advice and the advice of others. At some time in our life, we have ignored our friends and families members when they warned us. We blew through every stop sign of caution there was and we are left with one big hot mess. There are messes we inherit or just happen upon us but there are also hot mess that is 100% our own fault. Hot messes are what can bring us together with others is the same mess that brings God near.  We have all heard the scripture John 3:16 about God so loving the world that he sent his son Jesus. But many of us stop there. Verse 17 is the most important part. It says that God did not come to condemn the world but to save it. Jesus did not come to get into our face and say look what you have done. He didn’t come to say look at the hot mess you made of your marriage, your finances, your relationships, your children, your parents, your family, your career, your friendships, your reputation. God came into our mess to rescue us from our mess. Therefore, if we are behind or responsible for our own mess, then God came to rescue us from ourselves. The gospels are full of stories of this playing out in the most intimate of ways. Remember the day Jesus was in the temple. They brought to him a woman who was committing adultery. Her life was a hot mess. Her adultery had been publicly brought out. Everyone in town if they didn’t know before, they knew now. Jesus stands up to this woman who had made a total mess of her life and said, “Look at me. I don’t condemn you. I am not going to sentence you to what you deserve.” There was also a time a tax collector was hiding in a tree. What the story usually leaves out was this little tax collector would have had body guards with him. His first mistake was working as a tax collector, over charging people; he had become rich off the hard work of others. Jesus walks along, looks up at this mess of a man and says, “Come down to me. I am coming to your house.” In private, Jesus tells this messy man to leave this life of sin and follow me. But Jesus told him you just can’t walk away. You must first go make things right. Payback what you took with interest times two. The guy paid back the interest and even added more than the law allowed.

Here is what Jesus offers these messy people that he offers to us as well. It doesn’t matter how big your mess is and no matter how big of a hole you dug yourself in. Jesus offers himself. Jesus offers himself as a solution. The clearest picture we have of God is Jesus Christ. If we want to know what God thinks, read what Jesus said. If we want to know how God responds, then look who Jesus responded. Jesus said the father and I are one. Want to know what God is like; watch me. Every person Jesus invited to follow him was messy. Jesus said “I am the way and the light. I will show you the way forward and the way out of your mess.”  Any one of us, who has made a mess in our life, if totally honest, will admit they are in a dark place and need a light. They will admit they are in a mess and need a way out. Jesus did not pull away from messy people he invited them closer. He invited them to follow. In reality you cannot pray your way out of a mess that you behaved your way into.  There is no silver bullet, magic words, or perfect prayer. It is not that God is silent. God provides the light and if we follow that light we would avoid the mess. Our mess was avoidable but we stepped into it not by following Jesus but by following something else that was not God. God invites you to follow his son Jesus out of your mess. God will meet you in your mess. God is not offended by your mess. God will not condemn you for your mess. God views your mess as an opportunity to invite him into your life as He will draw you closer.

Be nice to one another:

Tommy