The Urgency of Love

The Urgency of Love--March 4, 2019

“Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him.” [Mark 3:1-2]

Except for the fact that he’s the Son of God, you might say Jesus was deliberately trying to stir up trouble.  He knows that the religious professionals are watching, and that they will make a big stink about doing any work on the sabbath. We heard just yesterday about how they flipped out over his disciples plucking a few heads of grain in their hands as they walked through a field.  And if that counted as “labor,” then surely a feat as wonderful as healing a man whose hand was withered would be forbidden by the religious rule-keepers.

Jesus knew it.  And he knew perfectly well that he could have avoided any confrontation with these piety police by just waiting a day—or coming a day earlier!—to meet up with this man to heal him.  Come on now, let’s be honest, Jesus has got to know already about the man’s situation—the town isn’t that big, and he knew where he would find the sick and hurting.  Jesus knew what he was walking into that day, and rather than keep the peace with the religious professionals and just whisper to the man, “Come back in the morning, and I will heal you,” Jesus steers things toward a confrontation right then and there with the spiritual enforcers.

Of course, those religious so-and-sos have been plotting this moment, too, of course.  They are watching to see whether this rabbi Jesus will take the bait and commit such a public and undeniable violation of the commandment about not working on the sabbath day.  Perhaps the grain-picking was a bit excessive, but surely to heal a man was labor, and they would have him on the record if they caught him here.

Let’s be clear, then: both Jesus and the religious leaders know what they are headed for in that synagogue, and Jesus is not about to flinch.  There is courage that undergirds his compassion.  He is willing to get into trouble for the sake of preserving and giving life.  He is willing to get labeled as a rule-breaker and transgressor of commandments in order to heal.  He could have just compromised.  After all, it would only have been a day longer that the man with the misshapen hand would have to wait.

But Jesus will not wait.  In this moment, saying “not now, but try again tomorrow,” would be the same as putting the religious rules above the God who gave them, and whose deepest concern is always to give life.  Jesus will not compromise on this matter, and he is willing to deliberately provoke the spiritual experts in the room by refusing to flinch on this.

I wonder, do we spend our courage in the same ways Jesus does?  We only have so much strength in a day, you know, and so often we spend our courage for the day sticking up for ourselves, rather than standing up for others.  So often, we silence our courage altogether to look after our own interests.  So often, we find ourselves in positions to do good, to preserve life, to love the loveless and unlovely, and we decide to wait for another day.  So often, we are afraid to stand up for the people around us who are waiting there at the margins, or we say, “Not today… maybe later… your time will come soon enough… it would just make too many waves today…” We are afraid to see the face of the homeless around us, afraid to accept those who have been told they are unacceptable, afraid to open up our lives or risk our comfort for the sake of people in need around us, because we are afraid of making waves.

But not Jesus.  He won’t put off until tomorrow the holy troublemaking he can accomplish today.  And he is unafraid of the consequences.  How might you and I find ourselves speaking up, offering welcome, opening our arms, and opening our tables, to people without advocates today?  How could we say “Yes” to the urgency of Jesus’ love? Whose path will you cross today, and how will you respond when the temptation is strong to say, “Tomorrow, perhaps, but today is just so inconvenient….”?  Let us not miss out on the moments Jesus gives us to be holy troublemakers like him, and let us not put them off until later.

Christ our Lord, send us with your compassion and courage, for we need both to find our voices and to bring your love to all we will meet today.