Readings for today: Matthew 4:23-25, 8:14-17, Mark 1:21-39, Luke 4:31-44
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. More and more families are breaking down. Our children are suffering from increasing rates of anxiety, depression, self-harm, and suicidal ideation. Our culture is filled with an increasing amount of rage and anger. Death threats are now common against those with whom we disagree. 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 in a never ending cycle of self-destruction? Constantly drawing and re-drawing our boundaries ever tighter in order to protect those we love? Isolating ourselves more and more from the complexities of the world in order to stay safe? Or is there a different way? A more excellent 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. It was a world full of violence and pain. A world full of life-threatening poverty and deprivation. A world where death was a daily companion. 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. These were the signs and wonders of a new kind of Kingdom being born. A new kind of King had come into the world. And these were just the “edges of His ways.” (Job 26:14)
Jesus said those who followed Him would do even greater works than He…is that even possible? Can you fathom a world where the church builds on the work Jesus began? What if the church made it her aim to serve her community? Going 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? Authenticity and honesty rather than hypocrisy? 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?
Readings for tomorrow: John 3-5