Into Space
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14 CSB
For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.
Luke 19:10 CSB
September first I started a new job. From pastoring a congregation to on campus ministry back in my hometown. I took this photo of the empty lunchroom right before a herd of wild sixth graders took over to begin their lunch break.
An empty space waiting to be full. One of those empty spaces would be filled by a girl who was sitting alone. Empty space all around while the nearby tables crowded with friend groups chattering, teasing, and laughing together. I noticed her particularly vivid hair color and told her I was a fan. “My daughter colored her hair almost that same color! What made you pick that color?”
The downcast eyes almost immediately lit up as she told me about her mom asking her if she wanted to do something fun with it. How they spent time choosing together and then all the process involved in making it happen. She went on long enough I was compelled to sit down for a moment to listen, ask a couple more questions, and then get up as her friend finished in line and came to join her.
That pattern repeated itself over the course of the next hour and a half with student after student. Instead of hair it was the classic Star Wars shirt, one letting me know they had just seen Weezer in concert, or observing a young man on the soccer field afterward accidentally elbowing someone in the face, then stopping to make sure he was ok. Each moment a chance to enter their space, notice them, and speak a little bit of life into their day.
The longer and better I know Jesus, the more I see him as the one who enters empty spaces. Entering spaces without hope, without companionship, without joy ready to fill them. John’s gospel opens with a beautiful poem about the Word taking on flesh so he could “dwell among us”. While the crowd mutters about the company he keeps while he’s heading toward a tax collector’s house, Jesus replies that he came to seek and save the lost.
God has never been content to wait for those in need of him to come looking. Through all sixty-six books of the Bible we encounter a God who enters the spaces where people are, as they are, and invites them deeper into life. Jesus brings that to it’s fullness and then goes one step farther. He announces that if anyone wants to be his disciple they have to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow him.
And the logical question to ask when someone asks you to follow them is, “Where are you going?”
And the answer for Jesus seems to be into the spaces where people are. He sees the empty spaces in the lives of people and steps in. Several have asked why at age forty-eight I’m going back into the world of students, and the best answer I have is that I’m trying to go where Jesus is.
Not everyone is going to be called to step into a middle school cafeteria (Though…you never know until you try). But there are empty spaces all around us. People who need hope. People who need friends. People who need to know that there is a God who more than anything wants them to know he loves them because he made them. If you aren’t noticing, ask God to show you where he is, and then just look around. You won’t be able to miss it.
I won’t share too many stories here about the work I am doing with Youth For Christ in Eugene. But over the next couple weeks I will set up an area on this page designed for my donors and prayer support where lots of great stories will be shared about the impact being made in the lives of students. If you are interested in learning more about what I’m doing, email me: shaun@lcyfc.org