Today’s Lectionary Readings: Psalm 93; Jonah 2:1-9; Luke 23:5b-24:11; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11; Psalm 66
In reading the Lukan account of the culmination of the Easter story, there was a phrase that jumped out at me right away. It had to do with the way the people articulated the charges against Jesus. The last portion of Luke 23:5 puts forth the charge as follows: “[Jesus] is a dangerous man, [he is] endangering the peace.” What struck me about the words is that too often in our society, Jesus is used to do exactly the opposite of that; Jesus is used to justify the status quo. So how do we reclaim this early notion of Jesus as one who endangers the peace? Simple. Put the principles around which Jesus built his life into action. I’ll give you an example of how that happened to me recently. I was in a group that had already passed a statement affirming its commitment to welcome all people into the full life of the community. The issue was raised about whether or not the group should open its doors to folks who were not “legal immigrants” in our country. Now for most folks, this discussion would have been primarily a political discussion. I didn’t see if that way, however. I saw it in another way – in Jesus’ way. All of the stories of Jesus’ reaching across human categories (i.e. the Samaritan woman at the well; the encounter with the Syro-Phoenician woman, etc) crossed my mind, and I knew what my position was. It was a position that some were uncomfortable with; it was a position that endangered the peace. As I think about the recent events of Holy Week, I realize that so many times we end up putting Jesus right back on the cross through our actions and attitudes. We do this when we follow the example of the Roman and religious authorities and put our attempts to preserve the peace (what they really mean here is “preserve the status quo”) before our desire to live out the faith of Jesus. In these first days following the Resurrection, I invite you to go out and pay Jesus the best tribute possible: endanger the peace a little as you actually put your faith and principles into practice. Til next time…
In reading the Lukan account of the culmination of the Easter story, there was a phrase that jumped out at me right away. It had to do with the way the people articulated the charges against Jesus. The last portion of Luke 23:5 puts forth the charge as follows: “[Jesus] is a dangerous man, [he is] endangering the peace.” What struck me about the words is that too often in our society, Jesus is used to do exactly the opposite of that; Jesus is used to justify the status quo. So how do we reclaim this early notion of Jesus as one who endangers the peace? Simple. Put the principles around which Jesus built his life into action. I’ll give you an example of how that happened to me recently. I was in a group that had already passed a statement affirming its commitment to welcome all people into the full life of the community. The issue was raised about whether or not the group should open its doors to folks who were not “legal immigrants” in our country. Now for most folks, this discussion would have been primarily a political discussion. I didn’t see if that way, however. I saw it in another way – in Jesus’ way. All of the stories of Jesus’ reaching across human categories (i.e. the Samaritan woman at the well; the encounter with the Syro-Phoenician woman, etc) crossed my mind, and I knew what my position was. It was a position that some were uncomfortable with; it was a position that endangered the peace. As I think about the recent events of Holy Week, I realize that so many times we end up putting Jesus right back on the cross through our actions and attitudes. We do this when we follow the example of the Roman and religious authorities and put our attempts to preserve the peace (what they really mean here is “preserve the status quo”) before our desire to live out the faith of Jesus. In these first days following the Resurrection, I invite you to go out and pay Jesus the best tribute possible: endanger the peace a little as you actually put your faith and principles into practice. Til next time…
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