The family of Jesus Christ is so much bigger than his critics could ever realize. Think about it: Jesus gathered simple, working-class fisherman to be some of his first disciples. No one dreams of being working class. No one dreams of being 325th best. Yet, when following Jesus, these men did the will of God. They were a part of Jesus’ family.
Jesus gathered a tax collector to be one of his disciples. Tax collectors were the telemarketers and bill collectors of their time. They aligned themselves with a fraudulent corporation, otherwise known as Rome, collecting money for an evil empire and skimming a portion of that blood money off of the top in order to pad their own pockets and pad their own homes. Like I indicated, our own telemarketers and bill collectors are not viewed any better than tax collectors or slugs. Yet, when following Jesus, this tax collector did the will of God. He was a part of Jesus’ family.
Jesus gathered a thief and traitor, Judas, to be one of his disciples. Judas kept track of the community purse and would steal from it. He betrayed Jesus in the end of the story for a bag of coins. Judas was selfish and narcissistic. Yet, during the times that he was actually following Jesus, this thief and traitor did the will of God. He was a part of Jesus’ family.
Jesus gathered a woman of the city who wasted costly perfume and scandalously used her hair to wipe Jesus’ feet. She had no right to interrupt the diner conversation of the men. She had no right to approach a holy man in that way. Yet, Jesus says that she was doing the will of God. She was a part of Jesus’ family.
And, Jesus draws near countless, filthy, demon possessed individuals with their bad breath and their foaming mouths, all desiring to be a part of the life of the divine. Most of these people probably deserved their lot in life, after-all bad things happen to bad people, so the very religious thought. Yet, these people came in faith, and in faith Jesus healed them and cast out their demons. When following Jesus, their faith revealed the will of God. They were all invited to be a part of Jesus’ family.
As you can see, Jesus’ family was a messed up crew of people with varying amounts of faith and varying amounts of clean backgrounds. Many would not pass the background check of employers today, and most others would only qualify for entry level employment. Yet they were the family of Jesus Christ because, when following Jesus, they were doing the will of God.
I have to say, these are my people. This collection of blue collar, misguided, everyday dirt of the earth people, with broken pasts, who are whispered about behind their backs, can all be found in God’s family. These are my people. I have tried to dine with the fine, silver dinnerware of the righteous, but I always end up saying something in the conversation to reveal my true, dirt-filled nature.
As most of you know, my roots are found in the theatre. And, if you want to find where the misfits of culture hide out, away from the abuses of the world, just take a wander back stage. You will see every kind of misfit you can imagine in the back of the stage, waiting to perform. Misfit, lost, and broken we all may be behind the scenes, but when we are gathered together, with the one purpose and the one goal of putting on the best show possible, these misfits can pull off great productions.
I think that Jesus would have loved the theatre family. I think that he would have been drawn to the secret desires to be healed and the secret desires to be accepted that can be found in the darkness backstage. In Mark 2:17, Jesus teaches us that "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." So, I have no doubts that he would be there.
In the same way that Jesus hangs out where demons of the past and present dwell, where the imperfect gather for a sense of family; the self-righteous will always gather against him.
Jesus’ relatives will think that he is out of his mind, gathering with the wrong crowd, presenting himself to be more than he is: a peasant carpenter. And, the really religious, the scribes, will mistake, again and again, Jesus’ touching of the lowly as a sign of loving the demonic. After-all, they think that they know the will of God. They think that dwelling in purity, and cleanliness, and pure holiness is the realm of the eternal. Only Satan would hang out with demons. Only Satan would hang out with such misguided mortals.
But, this is where the self-righteous of yesterday and the self-righteous of today are wrong and have always been wrong. Revelation 21:3-4 tells us the truth about God and the truth about mortals.
“See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them;
they will be his peoples
and God himself will be with them;
he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.”
God cares about us mortals. God cares about the wayward. God loves the lowly. And, God makes a family of anyone, no matter their past and no matter their future (think Judas), who follow God’s will. He makes a family with those who follow him to seek out the wayward and love the lowly.
The self-righteous love to condemn and punish. The self-righteous love to throw an adulterer out onto the dirty street and pick up rocks to bring about her death. The self-righteous have no regard for those who are lost out on the streets. The self-righteous have no compassion for those with checkered lives, and because they refuse to hang out in the same places, are not able to see the will or work of God. The self-righteous call evil those who minister to the lowly and lost, including Jesus himself.
But, brothers and sisters in Christ, the scriptures teach that they are the ones who are lost. They have called the Spirit, “evil.” They have called the desire to show mercy on the world, “evil.” They have cast themselves away from God. They have cast themselves away from mercy because they have no idea what it looks like.
Jesus says, “Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”—for they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.”
Those who refuse to see the Spirit of God cannot possible be found in the Spirit. They have cast themselves away.
But, we are the family of God. We know what mercy looks like.
It looks like a contractor giving a felon a chance to work because they too have a checkered past and know what it is like to be lost and needing to be found. They know mercy.
It looks like the child asking the new, dirty looking classmate, over to their home after school to play. And, it looks like the Mom who gives the child a hug and a snack. They know what it is like to be lost and needing to be found. They know mercy.
It looks a lot like Jesus, tying up the strong man of this world, Satan. Jesus plunders the strong man’s house, looking for the lost and lowly; looking for the dirty and imperfect. After-all, ministering to them is the will of God. And, if you understand that, then Jesus looks directly at you and says, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever is doing the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
We are the family of God. We heal the hurt. We welcome the stranger. We welcome the misfit. And we will be accused of loving the wrong people. And, our accusers will be wrong. Jesus has clearly shown us the will of God. It looks a lot like mercy. I looks a lot like a cross.
No comments:
Post a Comment