Sermon Central
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Fleeing Unto Jesus, Not Away From Him
Contributed by Chris Jordan on Dec 5, 2009 (message contributor)
FLEEING UNTO JESUS, NOT AWAY FROM HIM
(JESUS IS ANOINTED BY MARY AT BETHANY)
"I heard (this story) from a friend who works with the down-and-out in Chicago:
"A prostitute came to me in wretched straits, homeless, sick, unable to buy food for her two-year-old daughter. Through sobs and tears, she told me she had been renting out her daughter -- two years old... She made more renting out her daughter for an hour than she could earn on her own in a night. She had to do it, she said, to support her own drug habit.
"I could hardly bear hearing her sordid story... I had no idea what to say to this woman. At last I asked if she had ever thought of going to a church for help. I will never forget the look of pure, naïve shock that crossed her face. 'Church!' she cried, 'Why would I ever go there? I was already feeling terrible about myself. They'd just make me feel worse.'
"What struck me about my friend's story is that women much like the prostitute fled toward Jesus, not away from him. The worse a person felt about herself, the more likely she saw Jesus as a refuge. Has the church lost that gift? Evidently the down-and-out, who flocked to Jesus when he lived on earth, no longer feel welcome among his followers."
(Source: Philip Yancey, What's So Amazing About Grace?).
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