The Bungee Cord. 10-23-23

Does Jesus need you?

I did a quick search of the Gospels in the English translation of the New Testament, and I discovered the only thing that Jesus ever said he needed was the ass (donkey, that is) on which he rode triumphantly into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. As you might recall, Jesus told the disciples to go into the town and they would find an ass (donkey, that is), and they should bring it to him, and if anyone asks what they were doing with the ass (donkey, that is), the disciples should say, “The Lord has need of it.” The only thing the Bible tells us that Jesus needed was an ass (donkey, that is).

Does Jesus need you? Although it feels good to be needed, I have to say that based on Scripture, Jesus does not need you. Unfortunately, I believe that when many people consider Christianity, what they hear is, “Jesus needs you.” I have been in countless church leadership meetings where people have looked at red colored balance sheets, empty pews, Sunday school children, leaky roofs, and vacant leadership positions and they have said, “We need to get more people to join our church.” As a matter of fact, a study was taken some years ago of people who did not go to church, and the most common response to why people didn’t go to church was, “All the church wants me for is my money.” I have to say that I don’t blame them for absenting themselves from Christian worship, or from Christ himself, if the truth is that Jesus needs me for my money.

However, the truth is that Jesus doesn’t need you for anything.

But maybe you need Jesus? Steve Green, in his song says you do, “People need the Lord.” The problem with that is that relationships based on “need” tend to be less than fulfilling. They tend to be what the professionals call, “Codependent”; relationships where people don’t build each other up, but dry each other up. When I was young, I thought that I would be happy if I could find a woman to marry me, but until I realized that I didn’t need to be married in order to be happy, then I was ready to be married. The relationship that I have with my wife, although like all marriages is not perfect, it is one where we each bring something of great value to it and that is what has made our marriage a blessing for forty-two years. It is a blessing to be in a relationship where my place in it is not because I am needed……but because I am loved.

That is what grace is all about. Grace isn’t about need. It is about love. Jesus did not enter humanity, die, and rise from the dead because he needs us. Jesus did all that he did, from the before creation began, because he loves us. And it is that love that Jesus has for us that transforms our lives from a black and white TV to, as NBC used to say with its peacock, a life of living color. And although it is certainly true that Jesus, and only Jesus, can forgive our sins and break the shackles of death, those things are not the foundation of our relationship with Jesus. The foundation of our relationship with Jesus is the thump in our heart when we encounter the King of kings, and the Lord of lords, the Alpha and the Omega, the one who says to us, “You are the apple of my eye.” As corny as it may seem, it’s love at first sight. Jesus loves us when he looks into our eyes, and we love God when we look into the eyes of Jesus, the Son of God.

Jesus may not need you, but Jesus certainly loves you, loves you so much that day after day he stretches out his arms to embrace you, arms that he stretched out on the cross. So, if you happen to pass by a church from which your ears have picked up a voice saying, “We need you.”, let me invite you to walk into that church with your hands covering your ears, and take a look at the cross that is in the front of the church, uncover your ears, and hear what Jesus is saying to you, “I love you.” And when you hear that Sunday after Sunday, watch your life explode with vibrant and living color.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

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