by Pastor Dan Baumgartner

You know me well enough after eleven years to understand that I occasionally cry, even during a sermon or worship time. I never used to shed many tears until Anne and I had children, and then something happened- my heart softened up.

So there I was last week, parked in front of a rented movie, "The Blindside " I had so many people tell me I HAD to watch it that I resisted for a long time, but finally caved in. Fun movie. Great story, and even better because it’s true. It’s the story of a young man, a very, very large young man (think Offensive Tackle in football) from “the projects” who is essentially homeless. Somehow he gets admitted to a private Christian high school that is eons above his educational background.

One cold , rainy night a rather pushy mom (Sandra Bullock) who has kids in that same school is in the car with her family. When they see “Big Mike” walking on the road towards the school with just a short-sleeved shirt on, they pull over.

The mom says “Big Mike, where are you going?”

He says quietly “To the gym.”

She challenges him. “The gym is closed, why are you going to the gym?”

He sheepishly tells the truth. “Because it’s warm.”

The mom probes again. “Do you have anyplace to stay tonight?”

When the boy silently nods, she says “Don’t you dare lie to me.”

He hesitates, then shakes his head.

She says simply, “C’mon, get in the car.”

And just like that, she and her husband take Big Mike into their home and family.

I admit it, I wept. Why? Such a small thing, really. But such a beautifully decent, compassionate act that left me crying “God, why can’t we be more like this? All the crummy news, abuse, crime, drugs, tragedies have our attention 24/7. Why can’t we do things just because they are right and decent and loving?”

In the opening chapter of N.T. Wright’s book Simply Christian (2006), he posits that there are four longings that every human being experiences. Longings for justice, relationship, beauty and something bigger than ourselves (God). These are godly things, and I believe that our yearning for them is due to the fact that we were made in God’s image. Our hearts resonate when we taste or glimpse them. They soften us.

By the same token, when we go too long without them we are like arid soil in the midst of a drought. We dry up, get dusty, our hearts harden and we become less likely to notice God showing up. Maybe it’s a form of self-preservation, trying not to succumb to the cynical self-focus of so many lives around us.

But justice , relationship, beauty and transcendence are powerful things. By themselves they are temporary respites. But Wright calls them signposts that point beyond themselves. As reflections of a loving God they are weighty and lasting. It’s partly why things as simple as beautiful music, majestic mountains or the rich laughter of a friend can so powerfully impact us. It’s why we can cry over a movie with a simple act of compassion in it. These things have God’s fingerprints all over them.

Jesus Christ embodied all of the longings Wright mentions- only fitting for the Son of God, right? He reached out to people on the margins, set all sorts of things right (“just-ification”). Invested in a small number of intimate friendships. Wept as the sun set on the old city of Jerusalem. Offered himself for the sake of others. Turned regularly to his Father in prayer. When we turn to Jesus regularly, our hearts remain soft. And being regularly in the presence of beauty and justice will point us to Jesus.

As I watched the rest of The Blind Side, I kept going back to that one highly compassionate and slightly compulsive moment: “C’mon, get in the car.”

Justice. Friendship. Bigger than me. Beautiful.

“Go and do likewise.”