Peek of Echoes of the City

Friends, I wanted to share with you a portion of Sheri's and my second book to be published before Christmas, that is if everything goes smoothly.  Below is a portion taken from the introduction. Hope you enjoy...

    Over two thousand years ago in a remote section of the Roman Empire, one man’s revolutionary teachings and way of life sparked a radical movement that collided with society’s traditional beliefs and culture. He unfolded a new and simple plan that would destroy ideologies and models of power imposed on humanity throughout the ages. A simple carpenter from Nazareth lived a life that ignored limitations and boundaries and confronted society’s perspective on Jew or Gentile, clean or unclean, male or female, and even rich or poor. He loved ALL people without prejudice or limit. He changed the world. Yes, this man called Jesus was far beyond ordinary!

     He was one single man yet He chose to live differently from all the rest and to love each person uniquely, unashamed and unafraid to fulfill God’s master plan of redemption. He listened to the sounds of the city and He heard the cries of broken hearts. Men called for a woman's death--an adulteress--yet they were sinners themselves. The accused woman herself was guilty--her own sin crying out for love but she sought for it in all the wrong places. A bleeding woman reached out for physical healing but her soul cried out for restoration. Moneylenders and thieves cried out in the temple and in the streets—cries of greed but their hearts longed for something money couldn’t buy. Blind men cried out for a crust of bread but hoped for new sight. The lame and the beggars in the streets cried out for alms but even more, they needed acceptance. Lepers cried out to family members, separated by distance and disease—they needed a healing that went beyond skin to the soul. Mary and Martha grieved the loss of a brother they loved for he had been their mainstay. What would they do without him? Even the religious leaders cried out in anger and hatred against Jesus Himself but He knew that fear lay behind their anger--afraid that they might be found out for they weren’t as perfect as they pretended. Afraid they would lose their power if they were wrong and Jesus was right. Murderers, thieves, harlots, the poor, the homeless, the broken—story after story--all sinners somehow, but each one cried out in need of grace. Their voices reverberated across the chasms of religion, tradition, and social classes. Though no one else was listening, Jesus heard them. His heart broke for every need and He soothed their cries with mercy. The scoffers and religious leaders of the day couldn’t understand it.

      Even to us, those old stories are distant echoes resounding across the years like “hellos”                                                                                              when sound waves bounce off surface after surface, as if looking for a place to land—a place to call home. Have these stories found a home in your heart?

     Have you ever stood alone in the Grand Canyon and yelled, “HELLO!  IS ANYBODY THERE?!” Then, ”HELLO… Hello… hello.... IS ANYBODY…Anybody… anybody… THERE... There...there…” The words bounce of the canyon walls, echoing back across time and space as if they would go on forever. Sound is amplified and impossible to ignore, but no one answers in return. Your own words boomerang back at you and you suddenly realize your aloneness.

     The echoes of the city went unanswered for too long--each one resounding its own misery.  But finally GRACE answered back and Jesus responded. He was ridiculed, mocked, beaten, wrongfully condemned, and even crucified for His convictions. He gave up His own sinless life to suffer the shame and agony of the vilest criminal’s execution for the sake of their cries. Even on the cross, He remained adamant that there was a better way to live and love, “Father, forgive them for they know not…” His way was and still is GRACE.

     Today, we hear the echoes too--anguish, pain, grief, loneliness, anger, vengeance, hatred, fear, injustice, and brokenness. Prostitutes sell their bodies, desperate for love and affirmation. Addicts seek out drugs and alcohol, trying to fill the void in their lives. Gang members cry out for vengeance all in the name of their own credo—that in itself, a cry for acceptance and belonging. Kids in the street, in dysfunctional families, in orphanages, and in foster homes cry out to be noticed and to be loved. Cancer patients and the mentally ill cry out for healing and happiness. The poor and homeless cry out for money and food--for sustenance. And the lost and broken ache for something they can’t even define. Divorce, murder, abuse, and war--the cries of victims who are beaten, torn, and broken ring out. Today, we see different faces in a different era but the cries are the same as those two thousand years ago. We read the paper and listen to the news. In story after story, even your very own stories, people cry out in need of something they can’t find…Echoes of those ancient, ageless cries reverberate across time and space with those of today. They are impossible to ignore.

      Throughout His earthly life as He walked and talked among us, Jesus would reach out His hand to heal, to comfort, to encourage, to forgive...to bring life. He didn't give out a list of a hundred impossible things to do to earn it. He simply said, "Come to Me and I will give you rest."...And then He stretched out His arms and died. Two thousand years ago, Jesus gave His life so that Jerusalem might have peace...so that we might have peace today. A resurrected, living Christ still hears them. If you are reading this, chances are that He has answered your cries with His gift of mercy. In response and gratitude to His gift, we must live and love as He did—beyond what the world deems reasonable.

       As you enter His story with us, we pray you gain insight from all that He lived and taught so long ago and from the stories of those who have walked ahead of you. What breaks His heart must break yours. He wants you to listen to the echoes of the city. Can you hear them?