Something Worth Hearing

Something Worth Hearing--September 28, 2017

"But we urge you, beloved... to [love] more and more, to aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your own hands, as we directed you, so that you may behave properly toward outsiders and be dependent on no one." [1 Thessalonians 4:10b-12]

Early on in the revolution, the leaders of our movement (called the Church) had to decide how much they were going to stir the pot and deliberately go looking for trouble, versus letting the scandalous message of Jesus do its own work and let the resulting trouble come to them.  They decided, as Paul's words here show us, on the latter.

The first followers of Jesus decided, in other words, not to let the drama in their own lives get so loud that no one would be able to hear the love of Jesus above all the ruckus.

Now, just to be clear, the early Christians were not cowards.  They didn't shy away from being put on trial, mocked, or imprisoned for their faith, and they weren't afraid to look like fools or lay down their lives in love and in service of the Good News of God's recklessly wide grace.  And in fact, they knew from the beginning that sharing the news of Jesus--and the power of his life beyond the grip of death, and thus beyond the power of the worst the empire could do to you--would get them into trouble.  The first followers of Jesus knew the stakes and were not turned off by them.  But they also knew to save their energy for the scandals and troubles that really mattered, and that it wasn't worth going out and picking fights with their neighbors about other, lesser things, just because the Gospel itself might land them in hot water.

In other words, the early church knew it would get itself into trouble--it just wanted to make sure the trouble it got into was the right kind of trouble, or trouble for the right reasons.  It was worth becoming a laughingstock with the neighbors if it meant that someone else heard the news of Jesus that sounds like foolishness.  It was not worth making your neighbors mad at you over something trivial and piddling, like fighting over property, or being known in the community as self-righteous blowhards, or lamenting that "things aren't like they used to be...", or insisting on special treatment in the public square, or squabbling over rituals and rules.  As a smart theologian named Gerhard Ebeling put it, we know that the Christian message will be received as a scandal, we just want to make sure we are bringing people "the true scandal."  We know that people may be offended by grace--we just want to make sure we are not "causing offense in the wrong way." 

We will only get so much of the world's attention--we had better not waste it crying wolf over stupid issues when we could be using our opportunities to announce the news of God's love in Christ... and then let the chips fall where they may. We don't need to shy away from controversy--it's just that we had better know what controversies are worth getting entangled in, and which are just plain silly.

This is the direction Paul is giving here:  the early Christians were called to "live quietly" and "mind your own affairs," while not becoming a financial burden or drain on others, so that they did not cause the wrong scandal.  If Christians became known for stirring up trouble over every little thing, no one would bother listening when it came to the genuinely worthwhile news of Jesus' death, resurrection, and reign.  If Christians were always making a stink when they felt like their rights were being impinged upon, frankly, no one would bother listening to them when it came to sharing the message of God's free gift of grace. If all Christians are known for in the world is complaining that we aren't given special treatment in the world, no one will want to be a part of a community like that. And if Christians were constantly known as a drain on society, they would hardly be a witness of God's abundant provision, and no one would want to be a part of their new way of life.

In our day, the issues may change, but the wisdom isn't.  The news of Jesus brings a scandal all its own, and if gets people riled up for the wrong reasons if we Christians are known in the community for being nasty neighbors, pompous blowhards, angry internet trolls, or petty and litigious in our disagreements, or constantly expecting special treatment, well, then, no one is going to be willing to listen to us when we want to tell them the really world-changing news about what God has done in Jesus.  If we shout so loud at each other, or at the world, when we are upset, no one will be able to hear us when we speak in a softer, but more genuine, voice of love.  

This is important, because there really are Big Deal concerns out there.  My goodness, there are three and a half million people in Puerto Rico without power now because of a hurricane, countless millions more who lost their old lives in hurricanes from Texas to Florida, and earthquake damage in Mexico--and that's just staying right in our own global neighborhood.  If we as followers of Jesus are known for being angry jerks while there is urgent real need right in our own back yards, the world will see where our priorities are. 

It begs the question of whether we can we not waste our energy on the little fights that really only serve ourselves, and instead use our moment to speak to offer the news of Jesus?  If we bicker with each other over trivial things, or refuse to share our abundance when so many go hungry, the watching world will dismiss us with a shrug and say, "Don't you have something more important to say at all?"  If we do--if we are convinced that the story of Jesus and the community of his followers really is worthy sharing--perhaps we will do well to turn down the volume in other parts of our lives and not go looking for trouble over lesser things, but rather just let the news of Jesus be enough trouble for the day.

If we are convinced that the Good News of Jesus really is something worth listening to, maybe we can turn down the drama in our lives and be a little less self-absorbed, so that when people listen to our lives, they will find in that Good News something worth hearing.

Lord Jesus, we know that as long as your are alive and loose in creation, you will always be stirring things up and surprising a tired and curmudgeonly world.  Let us be a part of your scandalously good news, but let us not distract from that news by wasting the chances we have with the world's attention by fighting over nonsense.