What If Jesus CAme Back Like That

I was doing some research for my sermon this week when I ran across an interesting song by Collin Raye called “What if Jesus Came Back Like That.” You may not be familiar with Collin Raye. To be honest, I wasn’t either until I saw some of his songs. He is a country singer with several hit songs. As I read through the lyrics to “What if Jesus Came Back Like That” I could not help but think of Jesus entering into Jerusalem on his final week. The song begins talking about a hobo moving into town and living under a bridge, but the town’s people pass an ordinance that forces him to move. The song then asks,

What if Jesus comes back like that,On an old freight train,In a hobo hat?Will we, let him in or turn our back?What if Jesus comes back like that?

The next verse describes a baby born addicted to crack and nobody wants her. Then again, the song asks,

What if Jesus comes back like that?Two months early,Hooked on crack.Will we, let him in or turn our back?What if Jesus comes back like that?

The last part of the song goes,

What if Jesus comes back like that,Where will he find our hearts are at?Will he, let us in or turn his back?What if Jesus comes back like that?Will he cry when he see's where our hearts are at?

The reason this son reminded me of Jesus riding into Jerusalem is because when he arrives on the scene, the people are cheering him on, waving palm branches, and that laid their clocks on the road in front of him. However, when Jesus gets inside Jerusalem, the Gospel of Mark says that he went to the temple by himself to see what was going on. The next day he comes back and begins turning over the tables and then tells them that they have turned the house of prayer into a den of thieves. I suspect that Jesus did not find their hearts the way he had hoped and he was filled with disappointment and anger.
This song and the passage in Mark make me wonder where God finds our hearts in the church today. How many people do we turn away from God in the name of Jesus? How often do we deny the name of Jesus because we are afraid it offends? Why can’t we lift up the name of Jesus and proclaim him as the hope of the world and offering that hope to everyone? I hope that we as the body of Christ can begin to make our Lord pleased by our action