Think about what Jesus did in His ministry. He was always out there. He didn’t spend all His time just with the faithful, the ones who already knew who God was and worshipped Him. He was out there with those who didn’t know Him. Those who were worldly. Those who were focused on themselves. Those who needed him the most. He was all about being out there, with sinners, even eating with them. The Pharisees rightly accused Him of doing this, because that is exactly what He was doing. Jesus went to the sinners, not waiting for them to come to Him! Why do you think that was?

Nahum 1:2–6 The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord takes vengeance and is filled with wrath. The Lord takes vengeance on his foes and maintains his wrath against his enemies. The Lord is slow to anger and great in power; the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished. His way is in the whirlwind and the storm, and clouds are the dust of his feet. He rebukes the sea and dries it up; he makes all the rivers run dry. Bashan and Carmel wither and the blossoms of Lebanon fade. The mountains quake before him and the hills melt away. The earth trembles at his presence, the world and all who live in it. Who can withstand his indignation? Who can endure his fierce anger? His wrath is poured out like fire; the rocks are shattered before him.

This is awful stuff – God’s anger over sin is serious. Scripture tells us the wages of sin is death and God demands payment. That is why Jesus was so focused on being out there among sinners. He was warning them and telling them about what He would do to save them. And that is why it is still so important for us to be out there – where people need to hear how to avoid this just and deserved wrath and anger. The solution is to be with Jesus.

Because you have faith in Jesus, because you have been with Jesus, He is with you. He goes with you so that He can be with others through you. We have come to know that He is the Son of God who came into this world to save sinners – us! After living a perfect life, He offered that as the payment for all sins. He rose to guarantee His victory. And He said He would be with us always. He is with you still today through His Word and Sacraments. It is something you take with you wherever you go.

What does the world see when they look at you? Can they tell you’ve been with Jesus? The opinion of most folks outside the church of Christians is not very good. They often speak of us like this:

• “holier than thou”
• “they think they’re better than us”
• “they don’t do anything but look down their noses at us.”

The truth is that has often been the case among believers. That has got to change. We need to get out there amongst them, sharing His love and forgiveness with a world that has nothing but condemnation waiting for them without Jesus.

Being with Jesus doesn’t always result in us doing the right thing. We will make mistakes, including some big ones. Peter had been with Jesus, had promised eternal loyalty, promised to die with Jesus if need be. Yet, when Jesus was betrayed by Judas and placed on trial, Peter had a betrayal of his own going on in the courtyard “I don’t know the man” (Matt 26:69). The rest of the story is that Peter repented, Jesus forgave him, and he went out and continued living as someone who was with Jesus.

A popular song has the line “I can only imagine…” talking about being in presence of Jesus and seeing Him face to face. It is good to think about being with Jesus later, in that new existence. But don’t neglect the fact that you are with Him now. He is with you. And He wants you to be out there, in the world, with Him.