CELEBRITY GUEST

Rich Dixon, Author/Speaker
www.relentlessgrace.com

Imagine that some famous person is coming to your home for dinner.

For us that would entail a rush to clean, a mad scramble to remove any indication that real, normal people actually live in our house. We seem to believe that others only want to visit rooms plucked from the pages of Better Homes And Gardens. For a real celebrity we’d probably even give the dog a bath.

What if Jesus was the much-anticipated guest of honor? How would the preparations change? We’d clean the carpets, plant fresh flowers by the door, or arrange for special religious music, use the best china and prepare an extravagant, expensive meal. Maybe you’d buy fancy new clothing and coach everyone, especially the dog, on proper behavior.

I suspect that Jesus wouldn’t care about such unimportant nonsense. My guess is that He’d want the house to be a little messy, the meal to be simple, and the guests to be at ease. In fact, I think he’d want everything to be in its normal, everyday condition. I don’t think He’d even care much if the dog smelled like a dog.

I think He’d want to laugh and relax and play with the kids in the back yard.

He wouldn’t fill the evening with intellectual, religious pomposity. He’d say a simple, authentic “Thank you” to God for the meal and the opportunity to spend time with friends. He’d want to listen to the everyday celebrations and concerns of the guests, but He’d have little interest in superficial attempts to create an impression. He might be found in a corner with someone who needed comfort in a time of quiet desperation, but he’d avoid, or maybe even quietly rebuke, those who insisted on becoming the center of attention.

I think Jesus would want to be treated more like a familiar member of the family than an honored, one-time celebrity visitor.

Jesus doesn’t want us to fuss with superficial rituals and rules; those are the enemy’s concerns. The enemy would demand the place of honor; Jesus would be happy at the kids’ table. The enemy looks for opportunities to remind us of failure and occasions when we missed the world’s standard of exterior appearance; Jesus wants us to relax and live guilt-free in the light of His forgiveness.

Jesus doesn’t want to see us in Sunday morning finery, with all vestiges of real life carefully concealed. He wants to be invited into our homes and hearts on an everyday Tuesday when the kitchen’s a mess, meat loaf or tuna casserole isn’t quite ready, and the dog just tracked mud on the carpet.

He wants to be the guest of honor every day, every moment, in every aspect of our lives.