If you read this morning’s title, you are probably wondering what in
the world a Bagzend is and how it can relate to you. Let me explain.
To begin with, Bagzend is pronounced bags-end. When I'm cooking, and I
go the freezer, I frequently find the ends of several bags of vegetables or
other goodies. That night, I'll combine the left over bags of vegetables and
we'll have them with supper. It has become a running joke around here that
when I'm asked what we'll be having for supper, it might include "Bagzend"
brand veggies.
The other night bagzend veggies were peas and a stir-fry mix. There
have been some very eclectic combinations but they always seem to work. I'm
never quite sure what they'll be until I open the freezer. Bagzend can also
apply to things other than veggies, it might be bagzend fries (usually
shoestring and curly mixed), or it might be the meat course (some chicken
wings and some ribs or whatever).
In many ways the church is made up of bagzend people. Throughout the
Old Testament we see God using the wise and powerful, but also the oddballs,
misfits and unqualified. Who else but God would use a prostitute (Rahab) to
save his people? Who else but God would use a frightened man from a small
tribe (Gideon) to win a huge military victory with only 300 soldiers?
Jesus’ disciples were a misfit lot that would never have "qualified"
for church leadership in the first place. The Apostle Paul started out as a
fanatical persecutor of the church until his conversion. Who else but God
would use a Jewish tax collector, hated by Jew and Gentile alike, to write
one of His gospels?
I'm so blessed to know that God can use the leftovers, the bagzend. You
see I’m one of them. I come from a non-Christian home and lived an ungodly
life until I found Christ. If He didn't love bagzend as much as the rest of
the bag, there would be no hope for most of us.
The lost ones He came to find are often the bagzend of the world.
Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around to
hear him. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man
welcomes sinners and eats with them." Then Jesus told them this parable:
"Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not
leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until
he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and
goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says,
`Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you that in the same
way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than
over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. Luke 15:1-7
NIV
After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of
Levi sitting at his tax booth. "Follow me," Jesus said to him, and Levi got
up, left everything and followed him. Then Levi held a great banquet for
Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were
eating with them. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who
belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, "Why do you eat and
drink with tax collectors and `sinners'?" Jesus answered them, "It is not
the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance." Luke 5:27-32 NIV
Until next time, if you're one of the bagzend who has found Jesus,
rejoice. If you're a Christian who looks down on bagzend people, check your
heart, Jesus loved them.
Be blessed.
Hallelu Yah (Praise God)!
Kevin
