Reflections on a Bus Ride

About Jesus being with all kinds of people, especially people different than He was

Note:

Focus better, at the beginning, on why we don’t want to take the bus.

Slow
The people on the bus
No control over the schedule
Uncomfortable
Bad weather at numerous stops
Goes places I don’t need to go

Many people who ride on buses have no other choice. They can’t afford a car, or a plane ride or renting a car. Riding the bus is usually down on the list.

We prefer our cars to the bus. I like my car because I decide who rides with me. I determine who gets in and who sits next to me. But on a bus, you don’t know who is going to get on. And they may come and sit next to you. And you have no choice!

Even some folks in the Bible didn’t want to get on the bus.

Jonah

Jeremiah

John Mark

Random thoughts:

· What would Jesus ride – American Airlines or Greyhound?

Jesus rarely traveled first class. He was willing to take the road less traveled. It is called the Incarnation. Imagine the reaction of the angels – “You are going to do what; where?” “There’s easier ways to do this!”

· Jesus spent a lot of time hanging around the kind of people who ride buses. John the Baptist spent most of his time in the desert and just came into town to preach and baptize, and he got criticized. Jesus spent lots of time with all kinds of people, and he got criticized, too. Jesus spent time with the kind of people that you get criticized for spending time with. (See Matthew 11:16-19)

Matthew 11:16-19 – "To what can I compare this generation? It is like children playing a game in the public square. They complain to their friends, 'We played wedding songs, and you didn't dance, so we played funeral songs, and you didn't mourn.' For John didn't spend his time eating and drinking, and you say, 'He's possessed by a demon.' The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, 'He's a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!' But wisdom is shown to be right by its results."

· For most of the trip, I was looking for people who looked like me. People I was comfortable with. People I could relate to. Safe people.

· What do I see when I look at my fellow travelers? What would Jesus see? What does He see when He looks at you and me? What Jesus sees when He looks at me is not the same as what I think He sees when He looks at me.

· Jesus wouldn’t be nearly as bothered by a disrupted schedule as I was. He was always focused on people. People were always more important than schedule.

Matthew 19:13 One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so He could lay His hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering (Jesus).

· Two men were kicked off the bus. Inside, I was cheering because the bus driver had meted out justice! What would Jesus’ attitude have been toward these men?

· In Tulsa, we had about a 3-hour delay. At any time, I could have called a cab, gone to the airport and taken the next Southwest flight to Dallas or Harlingen or Nashville. When Jesus was on earth, he could have called the whole thing off and gone home. He didn’t. He stayed. All the way to the end of the line.

· All of us are sinners. All of us are bus riders. We are all the same on the inside. We all need Jesus.

Matthew 25:37-40 – "Then these righteous ones will reply, 'Lord, when did we ever see You hungry and feed You? Or thirsty and give You something to drink? Or a stranger and show You hospitality? Or naked and give You clothing? When did we ever see You sick or in prison and visit You?' When did we see you a bus and ride with you for a while?” "And the King will say, 'I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these My brothers and sisters, you were doing it to Me!'

God wants you to get on the bus. For every Christian, there is a bus. It is the place you feel uncomfortable. The place you tend to look down on. What is your bus? You might ride a real bus every day but wouldn’t set foot inside a nursing home or a jail or a Loaves and Fishes ministry. Every one of us has a bus we don’t want to ride. Africa.

Your bus may be Peru. Not so for Cheyenne and Priscila.

There may have been recent days, in frozen Minneapolis, when Pastor Rodriguez has asked himself, “This bus is too cold!”

Riding the bus isn’t always safe. (Relate story of murder and cannibalism on a bus)

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe:

“If there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than me or else just silly.”

“Then he isn’t safe?” asked Lucy?

“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver. “Don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King.”

Getting on the bus isn’t always safe. But God is always good.

Matthew 23:37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God's messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn't let Me.

I think when Jesus looks at people on buses, that is what He thinks.

Jesus wants us to get on the bus, sit back, relax, and see the others on the bus through His eyes. He wants us to relate to them like He does. To say to them what He would say. To love them like He would love them.

When we get on the bus, we will find that Jesus is sitting next to us. He isn’t asking you to ride the bus by yourself, He bought you a companion fare. He is always going to be there.