The kingdom of God does not exist because of your effort or mine. It exists because God reigns. Our part is to enter this kingdom and bring our life under his sovereign will.
~T. Z. Koo
But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.
~ from 2 Corinthians 2
Oh beloved, it is true. There are days; days when we can actually see what we believe, through what others see in us. They are a rare gift, for even in the work of the Kingdom it is normal (and even blessed) to be reviled for being the salt and light we are.
Last weekend, this fool of a writer was given the opportunity to be with some of the poorest of the poor (read most precious in His sight) friends in a medical outreach and game day to the “illegal” trash mountain community at Nagrak-Cilincing in North Jakarta. Everything from toxic chemicals, to medical waste and McDonalds styrofoam end up here. The foul waste has fouled the earth – and the water beneath it – while foul smoke rises from fires on the mountain of refuse where people work to make money recycling.
We were visiting folks at the base of the mountain. Among the little village of shanty houses, with a very dirty well, a tiny kindergarten, and some goats, is a river so black and slimy that it exudes evil. Yet, even in horrendously broken places like this, there are those who will work to assert control, and perhaps gain influence.
The man in the picture above is a representative from the “Badan Pembinaan Potensi Keluarga Besar” (roughly: Body for the Development of the Potential of the Larger Family). This group is highly political and radically Muslim. They assert control over this area and assure that Islam is the only religion being preached on this mountain. His presence felt a tiny bit menacing at first. And while he was not brandishing a weapon, the bag at his side was probably carrying more than pamphlets.
(All that follows happened in the local language)… Towards the end of our visit, this neighbor (the BPPKB guy) and I walked by each other. The fear began to edge up in my flesh, and then suddenly dropped away as His Spirit took hold of my hand and reached it out to shake the man’s hand. I already Loved him, so why not? Our eyes met and I smiled, shook his hand and gently put my left hand over the embrace of our right hands. He smiled at me and said to me, “Terima kasih pak.” (Thank you mister). Something welled up in me, and I said back to him in my broken Indonesian, “No, sir, thank you for allowing us to visit.”
And then it happened. He looked at me and said, “You follow Lord Jesus.”
Get this: He had no clue other than the fact that he sensed the Presence and fragrance of the One at work within me. I answered, “Yes indeed.” And he simply nodded his head respectfully and walked away. And later, as we were leaving the site, I said a blessing on this man, and he said, “amen” and blessed me back in the name of Allah.
It was amazing. One could actually feel the eternal shift in the moment. This man had had his world rocked. Decades of indoctrination and disdain towards “christians” were destroyed by moment of Loving contact with a follower of Jesus. Something changed in him, and might I ask you to pray for him?
How did I do it? How did I make such an instant impact on a guy like that? I didn’t. And that is the coolest part. It is G_d’s Kingdom, and He is building it through fools like us who will simply have the audacity to believe that Love works and wins.
Do you believe?
