Reflectors or Deflectors?

"And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples saying, 'Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?' 31 Jesus answered and said to them, 'Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.'"
Luke 5:30-32


There are those in our world, who are reflectors, and there are those who are deflectors. A reflector is one who takes what is being faced, and sends a like-image out around him. It means "to bend back." It is to exhibit as an image. True believers are reflectors. We take the image of our Savior, and exhibit it to the world around us. At least, that is the idea. We are lights set on a hill, not hid under a basket. We are to take the light of His love to the world around us, to the "least of these." I was thinking the other day about the homeless people we have here in the town where we serve. And I began to think about if Jesus were to come to this earth today, He would probably hang out with the prostitutes and the homeless street people about whom in our hearts we so often feel disdain. Jesus was a lover of the underdog, the downcast, the lame and the cripple, the AIDS patients and the homeless street people. It isn't the church people He came to save. It is our pride that tells us that. Jesus came to save sinners. And we are to be reflectors of that love.

But then there are other people in our world who are deflectors. Nothing seems to stick to them. The have it all together, and have been doing it longer and better than anyone around them. Oh, they may not say it quite like that, and certainly not out loud, but you can see it in their actions and in their attitude of heart. Sin? Why in the world would I think that they have sinned? It was the religious leaders who were put out with Jesus eating with the prostitutes, tax collectors, and sinners. But those are exactly whom Jesus came to save - sinners. Not the church goers. Not the religious leaders. Not the conservative right wing. He came for sinners, of which I am one. But deflectors don't consider themselves sinners. After all, they are the "good guys." The guys in the white hats. But all of that is outward show, Jesus tells them. They are just whitewashed tombs. Deflectors deflect their need for a savior, and instead reflect legalism and religion. Both will weigh you down so heavily that you will buckle under the guilt and the pressure to conform.

So my beloved, focus on Jesus, and live like He is coming soon. Because He is! And love those around us who are the "least of these," because in so doing, we are doing it unto our beloved Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ the Son of God. Amen.