Loving Like Jesus in a Fractured World – Part 1

I wanna start with a story today. Picture this, There I was, a freshman in high school, bowl cut, covered in acne. So picture that kid sitting at a lunch table, with some of my buddies, when out of the corner of my eye I notice this girl I had a crush on walking over. As she got closer the anticipation was building inside of me.

“Oh my gosh, this is it” I thought, “She’s coming over to see talk to me!” closer and closer and then she walks RIGHT past me to one of my buddies, and proceeds to talk to them and not even acknowledge my existence. Crazy right? I was kinda the whole package.

Do you know this feeling though? Feeling like you’re invisible? That “Hey, I’m here too” feeling when someone, anyone just doesn’t even acknowledge your presence? 

There’s a word for how you felt, it’s called being marginalized. I wrote down the definition of being marginalized: It means to be pushed to the fringe where you can be ignored, you’re out there on the edges, you’re not at the center of the activity.

We’re starting a new series called “Loving Like Jesus in a Fractured World” and next week you’re gonna hear from Pastor Mark about how we can love like Jesus. A real dream team If I do say so myself. But today I want us to talk about the marginalized people in life. You’ve probably been a part of this group at different points in your life, because in our culture, which is often very unfair, and very cruel, a lot of people can get marginalized.

You can get marginalized because of your age, you’re too young, or you’re too old. You can get marginalized because of your gender. You can get marginalized because of your race, or your background, or your language. You can get marginalized because of your appearance, or a thousand other things, chronically ill, maybe you have a disability, maybe you struggle with a mental illness, maybe you’ve lived in poverty a lot of your life. A lot of these things can push you to the very edge of our society.

When reading the Gospels, we can see that Jesus went after the marginalized people. It also says that as believers, we are commanded to love everybody. We don’t get to marginalize anyone, everybody matters, everybody’s important, and today, I’m teaching a message on how to be a better lover. 

That’s right, you’ll get to tell your friends and family that you learned to be a better lover at church. What I mean by that is you will learn how to love everybody. What did you guys think I meant? God sees your sinful thoughts!

No but seriously, all of us have people in our lives who desperately need our love. We work with them, we go to school with them, we don’t even see them. We might not even know their names, they live next door, or you work with them in an office, and you look past them, because they’re not your kind of people.

You have to love everybody if you claim to follow Christ. Let’s look what it says in James 2:12

“Whenever you speak, or whatever you do, remember that you will be judged by the law of love, the law that set you free.”

No matter what you say, no matter what you do, the Bible says God is going to judge you by the law of love one day. What is the law of love? It’s the great commandment, “Love God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself.” He says, “You’re going to be judged on that.”

Look at the very next verse, he says this about the law of love: “You must show mercy to others, or God will not show mercy to you when he judges you, the person who shows mercy will stand without fear at the judgment!” “Mercy triumphs over judgment!” 

God’s mercy is so powerful, that it wipes out four things. It wipes out God’s judgment of you, which is legitimate for all the sins that you’ve done. 

It wipes out Satan’s judgment, and accusation of you, which is false, but he wants to accuse you, he wants to put shame in your life. 

It wipes out what other people say about you, how they judged you.

And it wipes out your self-condemnation, the way you judge yourself all the time.

This was how Jesus operated guys. People would walk up to him and say “Have mercy on me, Lord.” Bam, boom, mercy. It was the hallmark of his ministry. So how then, do we show this same merciful love to others?

In Matthew chapter 20, there’s an incredible story of Jesus healing two blind guys as he’s walking through a town, and it gives us all of the principles you need to love the people in your life who need your love, but that you might overlook.

Check this out, Matthew 20:30-34:“Two blind men were sitting by the roadside. When they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted out, ‘Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!’ The crowd scolded them, and tried to get them to be quiet, but they just shouted louder, ‘Lord, have mercy on us!’ When Jesus heard them, he stopped and looked their way. Then he asked, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ ‘Lord, we want to see!’ they said. Jesus felt compassion on them so he touched their eyes, and instantly they could see! Then they all started following Jesus”

Did you catch the 5 things Jesus did? Look at the verbs describing his actions. He heard, He stopped, He looked, He asked, and He touched. This is the template He gives us!

  1. Listen

Love always starts with listening. Listen for clues that people are in pain. People are in pain all around you. They’re everywhere. Everyday people are in pain around you and you just don’t notice it, I reckon there are people in this room who are in pain. I’m in pain! I don’t talk about it often but those close to me know that I have lived my life in near constant physical pain from a medical condition that has no cure. But people don’t notice me wince or show it.

You’re just not tuned into the fact that people all around you are in pain every day, and the reason why you don’t notice it, is they’re not in the center of your attention, they are peripheral, they are relegated to the edges, they are marginalized, because, let’s be honest, you can’t keep everybody in the center of your life, but these people are pushed to the sidelines.

Picture this, Jesus is walking through this town, or city, wherever he goes, he’s got this huge crowd, he’s the center of attention, everybody is following him. These guys are not in the center of activity, they’re sitting over on the side of the road. They’re marginalized because they’re blind.

Do you see how the crowd actually tries to stop them? If I had more time, I’d get into that a little deeper but think about that. This doesn’t stop the blind guys though, they keep shouting. They’re shouting because they’re in pain.

People today are doing exactly what those two guys did, they’re shouting, they’re shouting in protest marches, they’re shouting at the ballot box, they’re shouting on Facebook, twitter, Instagram, they’re shouting in posts, and blogs, because they’re in pain, and often we don’t even hear them.

If you are actually going to become a good lover, you’ve got to start with your ear, because loving starts with listening. Are you listening to the pain of the people around you, or, when you hear that pain, do you just turn the channel to a channel where people tell you what you want to hear? If all you do is listen to people who talk, and think, and act like you, you’re not hearing the pain of everybody else. I think God wants to challenge some people here today. Sometimes you’ve gotta listen to people you totally disagree with in order to learn how to be a lover, in order to learn how to really listen.

The Bible says this, Proverbs 21:13, “If you shut your ears to the cries of the poor, your own cries will be ignored in your own time of need.”

  1. Stop

In Matthew 20:32 it says: “When Jesus heard their cries, he stopped.”

Jesus was going somewhere, and he was interrupted by these shouts. He stopped. If I want to be used by God, I must get used to being interrupted, because God comes to you many, many, many, many times in the interruptions, and the opportunity to show love comes not in the scheduled things in life, but in the interruptions. 

I often say that the big moves of God show up at those moments when you’re saying to yourself, “Oh God please not now” or “Please not that.” This is because being too busy is our biggest excuse. Have you ever felt like you needed to pray for someone or talk to someone and then you were like “But God, I’m just too busy! Oh well better luck next time.” Anyone? I know I have, seriously.

Listening isn’t enough on its own. Listening doesn’t show much love if you’re too busy to do anything about what’s being said. Look at Philippians 2:4“Let each of you not look to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

  1. Look

Everywhere Jesus went he would hear, he would stop, he would look, same order, I could give you example after example, this is how Jesus lived his life. I’m going through life, I hear something, somebody in need, I stop, and I look. He did this over, and over, and over.

He turns his attention to where he hears these guys yelling. The greatest gift you can give someone is your time. Your attention is infinitely valuable, Jesus knew that, and He’s giving his full attention to these two blind men on the side of the road.

When Jesus looks at you, He sees your pain, your brokenness, He’s looking with eyes of love. Is that the way you look at people? Are you looking at people and criticizing them? What’s wrong with them? Do you look at people unconcerned? I’m not even seeing you? Do you look at them with an angry eye, or a prejudiced eye, or a bigoted eye, or any other kind of way?  

None of those things are going to transform people. It’s when you look people in the eye, and you love them unconditionally. It says that when Jesus looked at the crowds, he was moved with compassion. When you see a crowd, are you moved with irritation? You roll up to your bethel concert and can’t find a parking spot. This is actually me every single time I go to Chic-Fil-A and the line wraps around the building twice. WHY IS IT ALWAYS LIKE THAT! You’re moved with irritation, or you may be moved with frustration. It is not very often that you look at a crowd, and you’re moved with compassion, but that’s what it means to follow Jesus.

  1. Ask

This one is pretty straightforward. You ask people what they need, you don’t assume you know. It says in Matthew 20:32, “Jesus stopped, and looked their way, then he asked “What do you want me to do for you?” He’s basically letting that person in pain set the agenda. He’s not coming in, and saying, “I know what you need.” He’s not coming in, and saying, “I’m the paternalistic person who knows how to figure out how to take care of all your needs in this area, or this group of people, whatever.” He’s walking in and saying, “What do you need? How can I help? How can I serve you?” He asks what they need.

I’m gonna give my attention, I’m gonna ask questions. Now, when you learn to ask questions, you’re learning to be a better lover, because you’re not assuming things. Questions draw it out of people. Proverbs 20:5 says, “Counsel in the heart of man is like a deep well, but a man of understanding will draw it out.”

  1. Touch

So you’ve listened, and you’ve stopped, and you’ve looked, and then you’ve asked. You ask that person at work, “How can I help you? You look like you’re having a tough day today.” You ask that person in the grocery store, “You look like you’re having a tough time, can I help you? What do you want me to do? Is there anything I can do for you?” Then you do whatever you can to help. This is the final thing.

Look what happened when Jesus asked this question. They said, “Lord, we just want to be able to see, we’re in the dark.” Do you see the parallel? How many people in our society are in the dark? How many have no idea where they’re going? No idea where they came from, who they are, what their identity is, what their purpose is, why their life matters, they don’t know their significance, they don’t know Christ died for them, they’re in the dark. 

Jesus felt compassion, and the Bible says in Matthew 20:34, “Jesus felt compassion for them, so he touched their eyes, and instantly they could see! Then they started to follow Jesus.”

I want you to notice this. When Jesus is showing love to people, and this is the way you show love to people, he used his ears, he used his eyes, he used his mouth with words, and he used his hands, he touched. The only thing he didn’t use was smell, though I’m certain there are ways for you to smell when someone needs help with something. He’s totally involved in helping people move to where they want to be, and this is what we do too.

I’ll say it again. I want this to challenge you. It challenges me! Look at the edges of your life. See the people in the margins. When you see a beggar on the side of the road, roll down your window and ask to pray for them, ask them their name. When you’re on social media and you see someone is in pain, even if you think they’re wrong, listen to them, you just might learn something. 

In closing, I really think God is challenging us to step up, to be better and to open our earthly little minds. See past the things that separate us, see past politics, race, class, age. We are the body of Christ!!!! We are who are supposed to be carrying out the mission, yes, we are the ones who need to be loving people in this cruel, fallen world. If not us than who? Do you feel that tug? God didn’t bring you all here today to be comfortable. He wants to break you out of your comfort zone and bring you closer to Him, and He does this by bringing us closer to others too. Loving people doesn’t have to hard, it doesn’t have to be complicated, we just have to follow the example Jesus set for us. 

Lets pray we can follow it!

Loving Like Jesus in a Fractured World – Part 2

This is the second part of a two part series started last week called Loving Like Jesus in a Fractured World with the emphasis on loving the marginalized in society.

Today our focus is learning how to love like Jesus in a fractured world. We will be reading in 2 Corinthians 5 how fractured the church was in Corinth, with some followers challenging the Apostle Paul with scathing criticism from other leaders attacking his leadership, teaching and integrity. Fractures were many: “For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. 12 We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. 13 If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin[b] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

In this present time we noticed over the last 2 years maybe more of how the fractures in society have not been improving and actually seem to be becoming more severe.

People are yelling with more volume and enthusiasm with more cruel and bitter criticism. The sole focus seems to be divide and conquer. I pray   things will improve in our country and in other countries. But as for our focus, I am believing that in our church and our community we will work for unity through understanding one another. 2 Corinthians 2:11: “…in order that satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes…”

Ephesians 6:12: For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalitiesagainstpowersagainst the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

Paul is writing the church at Corinth, which itself is divided and in the midst of difficulty, in a culture that’s divided and in the midst of difficulty. He is writing to the church at Corinth an admonition or a rebuke, and had become focused on the wrong things, arguing, and more. Actually had to defend himself to some of the things they had done. He writes to rebuke them at least twice. Then what happens is, in this second rebuke here, this letter, Paul encourages them to really represent Jesus and His kingdom… He uses himself as an example.

Many times he refers to “we”. He’s talking in kind of an authoritative sense of himself and the people with him, but some of those also relate to us. They were far from fulfilling what God had called them to do to represent Jesus and his kingdom well. We see in this passage, we know they lived, and we live in a broken and fractured world. From this passage the beginning place for the answer, is that we acknowledge that we respond well by loving in the midst of that brokenness, and we love like Jesus loved when we represent Jesus and His kingdom well in the world in which we live. You want to love in a fractured world? Represent Jesus and his kingdom well.

There are four things we need to look at from this passage that we will need to break down to better understand what means to learn to live like Jesus.

1. We get a new perspective 

Paul put it this way in Corinthians 5:16-17. He says, “So from now on, Paul is explaining, “we regard no one from a worldly point of view.” In other words, we don’t see people like maybe we saw them before we were Christians.

If you’re not a follower of Jesus, you might see other people who come from other backgrounds or other nations or other languages or other cultures or other races, and you might say, “those people are not like me and thus, I don’t maybe have to care for them.” Well now it says, “From now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view.” We see people the way God calls us to see people, which is a beautiful beginning point for us to see them differently. We get a new perspective, but then to represent Jesus and his kingdom well to them.

The verses go on to say “Though we once regarded Christ this way, we do, so no longer.” Maybe we misunderstood who Jesus was, but now as  Christians we understand who he is. We see him and who he is through different lenses. “Therefore, If anyone is in Christ,” they are a new  creation.” If anyone’s in Christ “the new creation has come: The old is gone, the new is here! “

So the idea here is quite simply, and quite importantly, that we get a new look, we see people differently, we get a new look in light of the fact that we have received a new life. These are tied together.

“Therefore, if anyone’s in Christ, they are a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

We’ve received this new life, if anyone’s in Christ, there is new creation. That is why Jesus calls it being born again, because without Christ, we’re dead in our trespasses and sins, spiritually dead and deadened, but then through Christ we receive new life. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ the new creation has come. 

Some people will hear this message of new creation and think it is about turning over a new leaf. It’s about receiving new life. This is really essential because the gospel is not ”you do” try harder, work harder, be more religious, be a good person. The gospel is not “you do”. The gospel is “Jesus did”. What Jesus has done by dying on the cross for our sins and in our place, what he has done, he has given new life, but this passage reminds us that that gives us a new look, some lenses through which we see the world.

It is a reminder to us that really, God is recreating by causing people to move from spiritual death and deadness to spiritual life. He’s creating a new world. The Kingdom of God has come and is coming. So this re-creation is kind of a hint of the new creation of heaven, a new heaven and new earth that we see in the book of Revelation, but the kingdom of God is now broken into the world in Christ, and we are born again into that life and community but the world, please listen, 1 Corinthians 7:31 says, “For the present form of this world is passing away.”

The world is passing away, so we should not be shocked that the fractures grow, that the outrage and anger is evident, that division is among us and around us. We should not be shocked by that reality. We don’t want to miss this, “But God in Christ is creating new life,” therefore, if anyone’s in Christ they’re a new creation. He’s given us a new life so we could have a new look. That’s not the only reason, but for the sake of this passage, that’s what we’re going to focus on: new lenses through which to see the world. 

But then you go to work and people are irritating. Then you go around your family, and sometimes they don’t pay attention, or maybe you’re trying to help somebody and they keep falling back to their old ways, or maybe you’re in a conflict with your neighbor, or maybe the politics are driving you crazy, or maybe the moment that we’re in is just too stressful for you, or maybe you’ve got to post on social media and vent. Don’t post on social media and vent. Jesus doesn’t want to vent on social media.

“I’ve got a right to say whatever I want!” Yes, in this country you do, but in the kingdom, some things are a little bit different. You don’t have a right to just be mad and mean at everybody. There seems to be a lot of mad and mean Christians. You don’t have a right to be mad and mean. You’ve got a new set of lenses that causes you not to see people as your enemy. Even people who hate you because you’re a Christian, they are not your enemy. They’re prisoners of war! The lenses change that. From now on, we no longer regard anyone from a purely, worldly point of view.

As Christians we are called to be a different people and to see people differently. It is because of new life from Christ we have a new perspective.

  1. Sent on a mission of reconciliation  

We are sent on a mission of reconciliation. It starts in this passage and says this. 

2 Corinthians 5:18-19 – “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.”

Four times in two verses, we see a clear understanding that we have been reconciled and given the ministry of reconciliation. You want to love in a fractured world? Represent Jesus and his Kingdom well. Because he has reconciled you to God, he causes then you to be an agent of reconciliation in the world.

Now, what this passage is primarily referring to here, a reconciliation that would come by people trusting and following Jesus. Also, tied into Paul’s unique situation where he was seeking to build bridges again with the church, but I don’t want you to miss this. Parallel statements in verse 18,

 “God reconciled us to himself through Christ. God gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” Verse 19, “Reconciling the world to himself and committed the message to us of the message of reconciliation.”

  1. Representing Jesus and his Kingdom

It says in 2 Corinthians 5:20, “We are, therefore, Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us”. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.” 

Keep in mind when Paul says, “We” he is talking about his group and all of us.

It’s not always easy being an ambassador. Paul actually uses this word twice translated in our English Bible, once here in 2 Corinthians, but the other place is in Ephesians, chapter six, where he’s chained to a wall at a prison. It says this. “Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given to me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.”

You want to love in a fractured world? Represent Jesus and his kingdom well. This is kind of the heart of the passage. ”We are, therefore, Christ’s ambassadors,“ so we are representatives of the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Jesus says in John 20:21, “As the Father has sent me, even so I send you”. So, we’ve been reconciled, to be agents of reconciliation. We’ve been sent by Jesus into the world. He was sent by his Father, he sends us. As those who are sent by Jesus into the breach, into the brokenness, into the fracture, we go as citizens of the Kingdom.

As a matter of fact, Jesus actually tells us to prioritize that kingdom above everything else. Look at Matthew 6:33. It says “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” You really want to step into the breach, into the fracture, into the brokenness? Represent Jesus and his kingdom well, because the kingdom arrived when Jesus, the King, arrived. Then, we’ve been transferred into  the kingdom. Now, the kingdom fully comes, it’s already here, but not yet here. The kingdom fully comes when Jesus comes back. But the reality is, now we are citizens of the kingdom and ambassadors of the King.

The question we should ask ourselves is, does our interaction with our neighbors, family, coworkers, reflect that we’re an ambassador of the King? Does our interaction online reflect that we are an ambassador of the King? 

If not, you have not sought first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, but some other loyalty, some other agenda, some other concern in your heart, or your life. Your thought process, has overridden what Jesus says, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be given you.”

  1. Because of the cross

2 Corinthians 5:21: “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.  When we fully understand that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and in our place, when we understand that, it changes how you address the brokenness and the factures. For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that that one died for all and therefore all died. And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”

You want to love in a fractured world? Represent Jesus and His kingdom well.

Put on the new life and the new look and the new lenses and see people differently. People are struggling, people are hurting, people are angry. See them differently because you see them through the lenses of Christ. Work towards reconciliation with God and with others, for people all around you. Seek to represent Jesus because of what Jesus has done on the cross for you.

If you are a follower of Jesus, would you spend a moment in prayer listening for the Holy Spirit to direct you on how you can better represent Jesus because of what he’s done on the cross? While others around you are praying, if you are not a follower of Jesus, if you have not made a commitment to receive him as Lord of your life, you haven’t accepted that he died on the cross for your sins. 

This is your time to be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. If that is what you want then raise your hand and let me know where you are.

Pray this prayer with me and church let’s all pray together. 

Lord Jesus, forgive me of my sins. Come into my heart, Jesus. I want you to be my Savior. I want you to be my Lord.

Highway Angel

I was driving home from a work when my car started to choke and sputter and died.

I barely managed to coast, cruising, into a gas station, glad only that I would not be blocking traffic on the highway and would have a somewhat warm spot to wait for the tow truck. It wouldn’t even turn over. Before I could make the call, I saw a woman walking out of the “quickie mart” building, and it looked like she slipped on some ice and fell into a gas pump! So I got out to see if she was okay. When I got there, it looked more like she had been overcome by sobs than that she had fallen. She was a young woman who looked really haggard with dark circles under her eyes. She dropped something as I helped her up, and I picked it up to give it to her. It was a nickel.

At that moment, everything came into focus for me: the crying woman, the ancient Suburban crammed full of stuff with 3 kids in the back (1 in a car seat), and the gas pump reading $4.95. I asked her if she was okay and if she needed help, and she just kept saying “I don’t want my kids to see me crying,” so we stood on the other side of the pump from her car. She said she was driving to California and that things were very hard for her right now.

So, I asked, “And you were praying?” That made her back away from me a little, but I assured her I was not a crazy person and said, “He heard you, and He sent me.”

I took out my card and swiped it through the card reader on the pump so she could fill up her car completely, and while it was fueling, walked to the next door McDonald’s and bought 2 big bags of food, some gift certificates for more, and a big cup of coffee. She gave the food to the kids in the car who attacked it like wolves, and we stood by the pump eating fries and talking a little.

She told me her name and that she lived nearby. Her boyfriend left 2 months ago, and she had not been able to make ends meet. She knew she wouldn’t have money to pay the rent January 1st, and finally, in desperation, had called her parents, with whom she had not spoken in about 5 years. They lived in California and said she could come live with them and try to get on her feet there.

So she packed up everything she owned in the car. She told the kids they were going to California for Christmas but not that they were going to live there.

I gave her my gloves and a little hug and said a quick prayer with her for safety on the road. As I was walking over to my car, she said, “So, are you like an angel or something?”

This definitely made me cry. I said, “Sweetie, at this time of year, angels are really busy, so sometimes God uses regular people.”

It was so incredible to be a part of someone else’s miracle. And of course, when I got in my car, it started right away and got me home with no problem. I’ll put it in the shop tomorrow for a check, but I suspect the mechanic won’t find anything wrong.