Readings for the day: Matthew 4:23-25, 8:14-17, Mark 1:21-39, Luke 4:31-44
“So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them.” (Matthew 4:24)
The news broke today of a dramatic increase in suicide threats being reported in my home state of Colorado. A ninefold increase in the last six years. It’s heartbreaking. And it only confirms what I hear from law enforcement and professional therapists in our area about rates of depression and anxiety skyrocketing, particularly among young people. Adding to this toxic brew are climbing rates of substance abuse. Recent studies show Colorado ranks #1 among all 50 states when it comes to opioid painkillers, alcohol, cocaine and marijuana. Deaths related to overdose increased significantly from 2002-2015 with 904 Coloradans dying from drug use and 847 from alcohol in 2015 alone. According to an article posted on drugrehab.com - (https://www.drugrehab.com/colorado/trends) - Colorado is home to some of the worst rates of drug-related deaths in the country. It’s tragic and terrifying.
I have felt for a few years now that we are seeing the beginnings of a tsunami of pain that is just starting to hit our shores. Our children are suffering and dying all around us. Our culture is filled with an increasing amount of rage and anger. Death threats are now common against those who disagree. (Witness what Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh’s family are both going through at the moment.) It seems like everything is taken to the extreme. It makes for a very hostile and dangerous environment. Of course it must be acknowledged that what seems new to many of us has been the normative experience for so many of our friends of color or members of the LGBTQ community. They have lived with these threats for decades or more. But is this all there is? Are we doomed to live our lives under such threats? Constantly withdrawing or drawing our boundaries ever tighter in order to protect those we love? Or is there a different way?
First century culture in Palestine was little different than our own. Pharisees. Saduccees. Essenes. Herodians. Roman collaborators. It was a divided society where different religious/political factions dotted the landscape. Each vying for power. Each seeking supremacy so they could eradicate their opposition. This was the world into which Jesus was born. This was the world in which Jesus launched his ministry. And what a ministry it was! So different than all the rest! Jesus welcomed the outcast. Ate with sinners. Spent time with the ritually unclean. He lifted up women. He cleansed lepers. He restored the isolated and lonely to community. As his fame grew, many people came from all over to bring him their sick. Their diseased. Their hurting. Their wounded. The demon-possessed were set free. He healed all their afflictions. And this only drew more hurting people to him. God was glorified. The Kingdom drew near. Salvation came to so many. All in the name of Jesus.
Could the church serve a similar role today? What if the church made it her aim to serve her community? To go out each and every week - having been filled and equipped in worship - to share the good news of the gospel? Bring healing in Jesus’ name? Freedom in Jesus’ name? Hope in Jesus’ name? What if the church was known as a refuge? A place of safety and security amidst the turmoil and violence of our world? What if the church was known for love rather than hate, even as she called the community around her to greater faithfulness? Would not the fame of Jesus increase? Would not people be drawn to the care and comfort we provide? What if we laid aside our internal theological fights and squabbles and instead linked arms to serve? What if we stopped stabbing our wounded in the back and instead embraced grace as a way of life? What if we put aside our need for political influence and power and instead sought to prayerfully and thoughtfully engage across the political spectrum? And what stops us? Why not start right now? Even today?
Friends, true followers of Jesus should be known more by what they’re for than what they’re against. Jesus was certainly against many things in his day but he was known for his love and compassion and ministry among the poor. The outcast. The sinner. What is your church known for? And how can you - as a member of that local church - represent Christ more faithfully today?