Redeeming Man, When He Has Left Home

Searching out and rescuing someone from the isolation of sin is one of the most intense and costly acts of love, and it echoes the act of bravery seen in a redemption effort. It’s not just about assisting with behavior correction or moral persuasion; it’s about restoring communion with several individuals: The Creator, oneself and with others. You will have to put in more than effort—it takes an agreement of sorts.

The difficulty of looking past our own faces and through the bubble we call our world is a must—if we want to see, to reach, and to restore.

The hurting is all around. Rescuing someone from isolation isn’t about nearness; it’s about being there. Make it about reweaving the threads of trust and belonging that may have frayed over time.

Isolation often hides the face, both literally and figuratively. You can be the one who gently uncovers it, offering eye contact, attention, and a multiplicity of acknowledgement.

Several posts ago, I mentioned, “My wife and I serve the broken, isolated, aging and wounded in a nursing home.” We affectionately call them, “The Not Forgotten.”

Occasionally, we share with them, “You are not forgotten. We know it gets lonely in here.”

Let’s say that your brother or sister has done something that caused a rather deep chasm between them and someone in your family or circle. Maybe the issue is with you. Let’s begin the steps for reinstatement.

Encourage small, manageable steps back into community—like reconnecting with one trusted friend.

If you are not certain what to say, go all-in and say, “You’re not crazy for feeling that.” “I was wrong”, or “let’s talk”.

You model emotional safety by honoring their feelings and remembering that the isolation of loneliness is a sure destroyer.

If you are a faithful follower of Yeshua, you already carry the tools of the Spirit of GOD. The Fruit of the Spirit are instruments that can be used for any problem and in every situation. Ask the Moreh (Teacher/Guide) how to best employ them. Being available and willing to help others will certainly form a connection where there was once silence.

The usual culprit(s) for not reaching out is…not understanding, no sympathy or not sharing the knowledge of the empathy you have via a similar experience.

Sin often carries shame. Shame will hide people from you. It will almost always hide from the Truth of GOD.  You’ll need to create a space where confession feels safe, not punished. This may take a great deal of time and an enormous amount of effort.

Truth is always Truth. Resist your judgment, even when the sin is destructive. Your attitude must be liberating all by itself. …long enough to allow them the freedom to trust and open up and draw near to you.

That’s a difficult task and ask.

It takes emotional maturity and spiritual anchoring to open the door for someone to be restored back to the “Father’s house”.

Celebrating repentance and helping him or her to find community is a gift of time and love. Share them.  If you recall, you’ve likely been in your feelings a time or two. You may be the one who needed/wanted to be redeemed back to the fold, after the separation; even though isolation can become a comfort zone.

Be gentle but challenge the comfort of isolation with love and intentional support.

If you’ve not thought about it, this is the kind of work that echoes the Hebrew concept of chesed (he-sed), which is defined as “steadfast love”, “loyal kindness” and “covenantal mercy”. It’s love that doesn’t flinch when things get messy, and it’s the kind of love you’ve been called to model and guide.

Not one person is gifted or empowered to drag someone out of sin. What is needed is for you and I to walk beside them, even when progress is slow. …and it can most definitely be like watching paint dry or the sand drain in the timer.

Redemption, then, is a return to the womb of life. That would resemble a rebirth that branches from mercy, not merit.

The effort to help a man (brother) achieve redemption from the outside to the inside would eventually feel like an invitation to possibly explore the many, many levels of kindness’ transformation.

“Create in me a clean heart, O GOD, and renew a right spirit within me” —Psalm 51:10

All this effort, love and sweat will help anyone (even our own selves) to journey from shame to Shalom. We are not Jesus, but His willingness led Him to touch lepers. He ate with outcasts and spoke to the Samaritan woman—redeeming the socially “outside” to restore the spiritually “inside.”

If you have never considered this act of humanity, leave each and every person with their dignity when working with them. We sometimes work diligently to help them to recall their struggle that drew them away. Let’s NOT!

Do you not recall when Yeshua restored dignity to the woman caught in adultery? He did not deny her sin, but He shielded her from public shame and invited her back to the Father’s house, by walking on the path that led her to transformation and subsequently, redemption.

Being redeemed isn’t a rewind—it’s a reconstructing and reintroduction of what was torn down back home, where he/she once was. It’s the process of making something whole.

Jesus, the Christ, redeems man not just to open the door to save him from sin, but to restore him to the Father’s table—where trust, dignity, and being in the appropriate place are renewed.