Where is Jesus?

Reading about Paul's conversion.
There are 3 descriptions of it in Acts (chapters 9, 22, and 26)
And in Galations, Paul writes "The Gospel which I preach....came through the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1:11-12)
Paul NEVER DOUBTS this revelation.
The Christ he met was not the Christ in the flesh (Jesus); it was the Risen Christ, the Christ who is available to us now as Spirit.
YES!
I love this.  I've always felt most drawn to Paul because he's entering the story where we are - after the death and resurrection of Jesus.  Yes!  He meets Jesus like we do - in Spirit.
Here Paul was, a devoted Jew who was assigned and authorized to capture anyone who was following Jesus' way.  He saw the world in black and white.  He was a "good guy" and Jesus followers were clearly the "bad guys".
Then he encounters the risen Christ.
And, the voice asks "Why are you persecuting ME?"
So Paul has to realize - these people he is persecuting ARE Jesus.
Think about how weird that must have been for him to consider and believe!  How can it be?
He's persecuting PEOPLE, but Christ says he is persecuting THE CHRIST.  How?  In theory? In reality?
Then Paul never wavers.
And with the same loyal, driven, committed, passionate energy that he was pursuing to put to death this movement, he switches to a lifetime of work to protect, defend and spread the message of Christ.  The gospel. The good news.  The way.  The truth.  The life.
Why?
What was so good about this message? Why did it spread?  What's the good news?
Paul spent every single bit of energy from every cell of his being for the rest of his life sharing this message.
Why????
He never met the human Jesus!!!
He met the risen Christ who showed him that PEOPLE make up CHRIST - that people are the power of good.  People under the lordship of Christ have the power of the Lord of the universe.  People submitted to his power can bring peace on earth. 
This is the plan for saving the world!!
PEOPLE.
People submitted to Christ.
And Paul knew it wasn't about "Us and them" - but "All"!  All are invited.  All are welcomed, called, loved, accepted, invited, embraced, forgiven, empowered, set free.  He expressed this with every breath he took.  He never grew weary of sharing this good news.
How do we humans take such good news and make it ugly?
Wow.
Jesus was so clear about how He was not exclusively for any one group of people.  He said things like "Whatever you do to the least of my brothers and sisters, you do to ME" (Matthew 25:40)
The least?
Do we consider some people to be greater and some lesser?
Heck yes we do.
We do it all the time!  And the "least of these" doesn't simply mean people "with less". 
Nope.  It's the person I'm thinking of right now who I'm convinced has no good in them.  Or I'm OK hating them or wishing them harm.  It's enemies.  It's "those people". 
It doesn't take me long to identify who comes to mind as "those people" who I wish would get what's coming to them - or I wish they would figure out how horrible they are, etc.
I think about politicians, or people in power who are greedy, cruel, not compassionate, rude and self promoting, like our President. 
I think about people who have gotten guns and killed masses of people.
I think of all the people who refuse to acknowledge that the majority of Americans want to make an effort to reduce these mass shootings by trying to establish some laws around how people come to possess a firearm.  And they refuse to acknowledge this because they FEAR losing financial support from an organization that has money and power but does not represent the majority of Americans.
And I think about those who fall into the minority - who actually do fear that if we put some guidelines in place that help us attempt to help those with mental illness by identifying problems rather than issuing a gun, then we somehow are on a "slippery slope" of the government taking all guns away. 
I think about religious people who proclaim faith in Jesus but are filled with fear, hate, and judgement.  I think about some of these religious people who have a voice in our media and express things that horrify me - but they do it in the name of our sweet Jesus. And it turns people away from Jesus.
Oh, I could go on and on and on.
I think about people who are involved in trafficking girls for sex, people who believe that poor people just need to work harder to stop being poor, people who look down at immigrants as "less than" when we all immigrated to this country. 
UGH!
I'll stop.
Breathe.
So, if these are the people who come to my mind when I think of "the least" - Jesus tells me that whatever I do to them, I do to Him.
So, HE is in each of THEM.
He's not just in those who I like to think of as the "good guys".
He's in those I like to classify as the "bad guys".
He's in each person.  But, instead of spreading THAT good news and praying for people to find the joy of being in submission to Jesus as Lord - we just keep dividing ourselves into us/them, good/bad, right/wrong, worthy/unworthy, in/out, etc.
Jesus said to Paul, when you persecute PEOPLE, you persecute ME.
Jesus in his humanity said - what you do to PEOPLE you do to ME.
Why can't we get this?  All people.  Not just the "good guys".
Christ in me and in others.  He wants me to SEE him in others.
It's a mystery.
It's weird.
It's supernatural.
That's why Paul is always saying weird stuff like "You have been raised with Christ, you died, your life is hidden with Christ in God."
What?  What is that supposed to mean exactly?  Was he just talking crazy?
I don't think so.
He encountered the risen Christ!
Christ showed him that He is alive in people and people can choose to submit to him and have power that is good.
Christ isn't wandering around "out there" somewhere - waiting to be invited into a place or person.
He always has been and always will be.
Colossians 1:15-20 is all about this! And its AWESOME!
It's overwhelming to think - "what should I do about this?"
I know I can continue to ask for Christ to show me things through His eyes.  And I can love 'the least of these" in a supernatural way that I'm not capable of in my own spirit.
But, after listening to a message last weekend about being a "difference maker", I really need to keep asking what that means.
What does that look like?
In the message, he listed the steps :
1 - Feel a burden
2 - Have a broken heart
3 - Turn burdens into action (pray and plan)
Sometimes I get stuck on having a broken heart.  It's too painful and I hate the pain. 
So I feel a burden, I get sad, then that turns to anger or apathy and I'm done.
My typical thought is "what can I really do about it?"
Allowing it to break my heart makes it personal.
Shedding tears over it makes me uncomfortable.
Feeling it makes it real.
I'm not good at that part.
So, maybe that's my answer?
Let some of these things hurt me.  Shed tears.  Feel it. 
Then maybe I would be invested in taking action.