“Jesus entered a house, and the crowd gathered again so that they were not even able to eat. When his family heard this, they set out to restrain him, because they said, ‘He’s out of his mind.’” (CSB – Read the chapter)
Doing something new and different can be tough. It’s hard to find support. No one is really sure if it will succeed, and they don’t want to throw much of an investment of time, talent, or treasure behind a bet that just isn’t very sure. When we go to enter this kind of territory, it is good to know that we at least have a home base of support somewhere. This can often come by way of loving parents. I’ve always had this. Perhaps you have too. You know who didn’t? Jesus.
So, even as I sit down to write this, I know that it’s going to seem like fishing. Rest assured, it’s not. I usually try not to bring any more attention to this than I can help it. But this is a day for reflecting so here goes nothing. Today I grow another year older. Rather than our usual meditation on Mark’s Gospel, I thought I’d do something just a bit different and reflect with you on a few lessons I’ve learned over the years. Lord willing I’ve still got many yet to go, but here are a few things I’ve learned so far.
“He appointed the Twelve: To Simon, he gave the name Peter; and to James the son of Zebedee, and to his brother John, he gave the name ‘Boanerges’ (that is, ‘Sons of Thunder’); Andrew; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
Who is the church for? Everybody, right? That’s the “right” answer. But is it really? I mean, look at most of our churches. While there are a very few that are truly a blend of races and ethnicities, most are largely, if not entirely homogenous. And for folks who spend much time in a contest in which everyone is pretty much just like you, it becomes easy to start to think that the church is really only for people who look like you. What we see here, though, points us back to that right answer and helps us understand why it is so right.
“Jesus departed with his disciples to the sea, and a large crowd followed from Galilee, and a large crowd followed from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and around Tyre and Sidon. The large crowd came to him because they heard about everything he was doing.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
It’s amazing how much power a crowd of people has. When we see a crowd of people there is something in us that wants to do whatever the crowd wants to do. Think about a concert. Things are drawing to a close and someone shouts, “One more song!” Suddenly, the whole room is stomping their feet and clapping their hands chanting for more. Every kid tries at least once to justify something he wants with the reasoning that “everyone is doing it.” A large enough mob can overcome just about any force. Crowds are powerful. And Jesus could draw them like nobody could. What does that mean for us?
What do we do when we are facing leaders we don’t want to follow issuing orders we don’t want to keep? The response by most people throughout history has been either passive acceptance or else violent rebellion. As followers of Jesus, though, there is another option. As we continue our series, Being Good Kingdom Citizens, this week, thinking together about how we need to respond to the current political climate as followers of Jesus, we are going to join the apostle Paul as he lays out what this third way is. Thanks for being a part of the conversation.
Getting in Line
Have you ever been faced with a rule you didn’t want to follow? I suspect so. I remember when I was a sophomore in high school, and we took the standardized science tests for the state at the end of the year. I remember thinking the whole test was a joke in terms of covering ideas and topics we hadn’t touched on at all in the previous nine months, but the question that took the cake for me was this: Draw a picture of the universe and mark the approximate location of the earth. By this time, I was beyond frustrated with the content. We had never even come close to talking about the shape of the universe. I was a science geek and didn’t know the shape of the universe. Modern astrophysicists only have guesses about it (incredibly educated guess, yes, but guesses all the same). The rule was, though, that you had to answer all the questions. So, I sat there and for five continuous minutes put dots all over the page with my pencil, added a random X, and then moved on to the next question. I’ll confess that it was not one of my finer moments in academia.
The Nexus 