One of the few subversive texts in history is the Bible. God’s favor rested on the bottom people: the rejected son, the barren woman, the sinner, the leper, or the outsider. In every case, we are presented with some form of powerlessness—and from that situation, God creates a new kind of power.
This is the constant pattern: “The last will be first, and the first will be last." A pattern of redemptive suffering and trial that finds its final revelation on the cross where Jesus is wretchedly powerless and in this very state redeems the world!
God’s bias toward the little ones, the powerless, and those on the bottom has been rediscovered by those who learn to see deeply and with compassion. Well-known examples were Francis of Assisi, Thérèse of Lisieux, Mother Teresa, and a Pope who took the name of a non-establishment saint, “Francis.”
Matthew 20:16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last. For many are called, but few chosen.”
Comments