Who Is Scared Of You?

We all try to be nice people. But what if being nice to everyone isn’t enough. What if more than niceness is needed in our world? What if you should be scary too?

One of the early stories of Jesus in the gospel (according to Mark), Jesus goes into the synagogue on the Sabbath to teach. This is a normal thing that rabbi’s do on the day of rest. It’s always a nice event for the community. But in this story Jesus isn’t just a nice rabbi, he is scary.

the-gospel-of-markJesus is teaching about the kingdom of God, exegeting the Law, Psalms and Prophets, opening up the minds of the people there that they might repent of their sins and return to the Lord their true king. And this teaching scares the devil out of one of the men. “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are – THE HOLY ONE OF GOD!!!!!!”

We always imagine Jesus as nice, maybe a polite introvert, calmly instructing people on how to be nice. But I’ll bet Jesus was deeply moved by the plight and oppression of his people, his heart was broken by the sins that wrecked minds and broke souls.

From this anger, this powerful love, this desire for their healing, he taught. And it stirred up fear in the impure spirits, they got scared. And Jesus didn’t let up on them: “Be quiet” said Jesus sternly. “COME OUT OF HIM!” The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.”

candleWhat’s the darkness that you hate? What’s the sins in our community that anger you? What’s wrong with our world that you want deeply to fix? Jesus is against it even more than we are. In fact, you could say that he’s the one who ignites our desire for justice and mercy.

So with the evil in the world that we are called to resist, will we scare those spirits of torment, will they shriek at our presence, or will we just keep on being nice?

Jesus was teaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, calling his people to repent and believe the good news of God’s impending arrival as their king. Jesus was compelling his people to straighten up, get right with God and each other, clean up their act and their community. Jesus knew that how a community treats the least of these reveals the condition of their soul.

widows-and-orphansWhen you overlook the widows and orphans, when the poverty of the majority is ignored by the powerful minority, that community is sick and under judgment. Jesus came to drive out the spirits that drive us to madness – and that comes from deep love and hope, not from being nice.

We’re nice as a way to be polite, and nice is good when we’re with strangers and we want to extend social graces and foster good will. But nice is the wrong thing to do when you’re called to love someone, when you’re called to sacrifice, when you’re called to look darkness in the face and stare it down.

Be more than nice to those enslaved by sin, and be like Jesus when it comes to confronting the powers of evil.

Does being nice scare evil? Does Jesus? Maybe we should quit trying to be nice as a way to avoid the pain of others. Instead, join a community that works to embody the gospel of Jesus, his hope, his works of healing, his confrontation of darkness with the light of truth.

Come, Follow Me

What do you see when you see people?

What we look like often says something about us. How we dress, how we walk or stand, how we smile or frown, they say that body language is 80% of your personal communication. You can learn a lot about someone from how they look. But not everything, oftentimes we are usually lacking contextual knowledge and we can’t see inside their soul. The upside of this: people can surprise us – there is more to people than meets the eye.

We see this in an early story of the gospel in Mark,the-gospel-of-mark when Jesus first meets Simon Peter and his brother Andrew, and their fellow fisherman down the Sea of Galilee coast, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. Jesus, the intriguing and powerful prophet approaches four gritty fisherman to become his disciples. This is outrageous and unheard of!!! What did Jesus see in them?

Maybe Jesus saw in them betrayal and pettiness, bravado and posturing, pride and prejudice, vengefulness and racism, envy and sloth. He probably saw that in most everybody he met. Probably still does. But maybe Jesus also saw in Peter and Andrew, James and John, you and I, a spirit, mind and body open to God’s renewing work in the world. Maybe Jesus saw the real them and decided it was worth the invitation: “Come, follow me.”

Jesus sees you, and when he sees you, he invites you to “Come, follow me.” Not because you are without sin, not because you are better than other people, nor because you’re special. He calls you because he knows you’re open to the life he has for you – a life of blessing the world in Christ’s name through your flaws and talents.

The messy you is the one he is calling, like those Galilee guys, and if he can put up with their shenanigans, by the power of the Holy Spirit he can bring good out of yours too.

So what’s keeping you from seeing yourself with the eyes of Jesus? What’s keeping you from seeing others with that Christ-vision? What if, instead of looking down or away from others, we looked into them, by the Spirit of Christ, past their appearances, with a prayerful spirit: “Lord, help me to see what you see”

rd_acpp_FishersOfMen_28x20_750When Jesus called the fishermen, he said, “Come, follow me, and I will send you out to fish for people.” The story says that “at once they left their nets and followed him.” Wow! What was it about Jesus that compelled them to go with him? It must have been an amazing moment.

Jesus wants to have that amazing moment with you. And he wants to create those amazing moments in others through you. He wants to use you, in your “fishy” life to send you out to others to really see them, speak hope into them, to help them join in with Jesus. Just as Jesus opened your eyes to him and to others in a new and beautiful way, Jesus wants to take that new vision of yours and help open up the eyes of others to new possibilities, new faith, a new community with God’s people.

FollowMeWhat if we all could see each other with the eyes of Christ? That would be a great start for some amazing changes in our community, wouldn’t it?

“Lord, help us to see others with your eyes. Send us with your vision and your invitation, with your words of love and hope.”

Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People?

Ever asked that question? Most of us have. It’s too common for us, for humanity – our story is full of tragedy and sorrow. How often does it seem like the good die young and the wicked prosper? It makes us wonder whether there is any logic to the universe, is there a good enough reason to justify these injustices, is there anyone in charge up there and do they know what’s going on down here?

In the gospel according to Mark we get an ironic, very human, sad yet poignant start to the ministry of Jesus:

“After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.”

Isn’t it ironic that John’s unjust imprisonment is a starting point for Jesus’ preaching ministry of the gospel of God?

the-gospel-of-mark

It’s interesting that something tragic prompted something good. Maybe John being jailed – which would have shocked, enraged, and broken the hearts of Israel – was the stark wake up call the people needed to open up to God again? This was the last straw – if even John can be jailed, will God ever show up? Maybe people are ready now for what Jesus has to say: “The time has come. The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

When you think of the bad things that have happened to the good people you know, it ought to make you angry, sad, disappointed, frustrated, and grief-stricken. But for those of us who have been through those sorrows, we know in our heads and hearts that the world can be cruel, that no one gets through this life with out suffering, and that too often badness gets rewarded more than goodness. We know it, we protest it, but what can we do about it? We can feel so hopeless.

It’s in this place that we can be most open to the good news of Jesus. King Jesus is the gospel. He himself is the good news (gospel means “good news”).

crucified Jesus

As the rejected king of Israel, Jesus experienced the worst of humanity, absorbed the violence of the world, was broken and crushed by Israel’s iniquities. Jesus endured the worst of the bad things that happen to the best of the good people. If even Jesus must go through this, then are Christians exempt? No. Though we may still persist in asking “Why?” Jesus understands.

For Christians, when we go through these vales of sorrow, we can be reminded of what the suffering Christ also endured. The good news is that Christ is with us, he mourns with those who mourn. But out of that solidarity of pain comes a new kind of openness to the kingdom of God – to the gospel work of King Jesus redeeming the world. With us. Through us. Subverting evil. Rescuing others from evil. Overcoming evil with good.

Why do bad things happen to good people? I don’t know if I have the best answer. But I believe that Jesus makes possible a new kind of understanding, acceptance, and redemption of suffering and evil.In our good world gone mad, Jesus works to restore all things – nothing is wasted. And Jesus suffers with us while he works in us and through us.

As you reflect on the recent or distant tragedies in your life and our world, it’s easy to dwell on darkness and despair. I know, for I have been there. But consider Jesus, who introduces himself to you and the world while he is in pain, while his friends suffer, always working for the restoration of all things. Listen to his words to you. “‘The time has come,'” he said.”