Black Sheep.

This past weekend I got to speak on reaching out to the one.  Fun message…used a chair to illustrate that the greatest tool we’ve got when it comes to sharing our faith is a simple chair…that place where we stop long enough to simply notice someone.  That’s really what the whole story of the Samaritan woman (John 4) is all about, it’s the story of a life transformed not so much by anything Jesus said or did but by what he didn’t do…He didn’t look past her, he didn’t look around her…he chose to notice her.  And isn’t true that some of the loudest messages we’ll ever speak happen without ever uttering a word.  See without saying anything He said everything.  He spoke into this womans life value…by simply noticing her he was saying you’re more important than my time, my comfort, my convenience…your tomorrow is worth more than my today!  See we notice what we value, and because of that we value what we notice!  Of course just as amazing as it that God would take the time to notice…it’s just as significant in terms of who He noticed.  This is a woman who had a lot of stuff going on in life…to get involved would be complex, messy, and problem ridden.   See she was the black sheep of the town.  Could it be when it comes to going after the lost sheep (Luke 15) we’re all about it until we discover that the sheep we’re called to go after is the black sheep of the bunch.  The one we’re called to notice is often the one we don’t want to notice, the one we’re called to go after is often the one we most want to get away from.  Truth is, it’s not that we don’t notice…it’s that often we don’t want to notice.  Yet if we want the world to notice Jesus we’ve got to be about noticing those the world fails to notice.  Let me ask…who is the black sheep God is calling you to notice and invest in today?