November 5, 2001
Orozco: Reach out as presence of Christ
___By Russ Dilday
___For Texas Baptist Communications
___DALLAS--"Be the presence of Christ," Ellis Orozco urged the Baptist General Convention of Texas.
___To be the presence of Christ, Christians must go where people live and where people hurt, and they must embody Christ'sSpirit of freedom and truth, said Orozco, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in McAllen.
ELLIS OROZCO urges Texas Baptists to reach out in love to be the presence of Christ in Texas.
___Orozco retold the story of Jesus' encounter with a woman from Samaria who had been married five times and was living with another man. The woman was shocked that Jesus spoke to her in spite of ethnic, cultural and religious traditions that normally would have kept Jews and Samaritans apart, Orozco said.
___Christians must follow that example, being the presence of Christ where people live, he insisted. "My friends, until you are ready to do that, you cannot--you will not--be the presence of Christ in the world.
___"Ninety-nine percent of the people who need Jesus Christ in their lives will never walk through the doors of your church building. So, if you spend 99 percent of your spiritual life cloistered in your church building, then you will never be the presence of Christ in the world."
___Continuing the story, Orozco pointed out that when Jesus questioned the woman about her marital status, she admitted she had not been married once, but five times, an admission that was the woman's "worst nightmare."
___"Those of you who have experienced a divorce understand the pain, the feeling of having your heart ripped out," he said. "Well, this woman had experienced it five times over. In her culture, wives were disposable."
___Jesus' questions weren't idle talk or mean-spirited prying, Orozco added. Rather, Jesus was helping her confront both her pain and spiritual need.
___"What was Jesus trying to do?" he asked. "You see, Jesus was going to where it hurt. If we are going to be the presence of Christ in our world, we must be the presence of Christ where people hurt."
___In order to be the presenceof Christ where people hurt today, Christians must "experience life" with people who need Christ, he stressed.
THE BAYLOR UNIVERSITY GLEE CLUB performed for the BGCT messengers.
___"We must crawl into the pit with them and vicariously experience their pain," he said. "Jesus said, 'Pick up your cross and follow me.' What do you think he meant? Jesus was traveling to her pain."
___People's pain must be confronted in truth and freedom, Orozco said.
___"The truth (about pain and sin) might set you free, but it sure is an ugly thing and freedom is messy. ... I don't like messy. I like a box for everything and everything in its box. Let's not talk about the truth. The truth hurts too much. And freedom is difficult."
___Consequently, like many people, the woman threw up "barriers" to dealing with truth and freedom, he said. Those barriers--cultural perspectives, religious beliefs and practices, personal expectations--shape the way people see themselves and the world.
___"The truth will set you free," Orozco said, noting that many may counter: "'But I can't imagine my life without the barriers. The barriers become my truth. ... my safe haven.'
___"Jesus won't allow it," he replied. "Jesus says, 'I am the truth.'"
___And that truth needs to be shared with a hurting world, he said. "Be the presence of Christ."
___At the conclusion of his sermon, Orozco stirred the crowd by illustrating how the presence of Christ is made real in the world through the character and attributes of God. For almost five minutes, he described God by reciting the multitude of names of God, his closing words virtually drowned out by cheers, applause and shouts of "Amen!"
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