Go Team Jesus--May 18, 2020

Go Team Jesus--May 18, 2020

"John said to Jesus, 'Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.' But Jesus said, 'Do not stop him; for now one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us. For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward'." [Mark 9:38-40]

Here's a question I have to keep asking myself--like on a daily basis, to be perfectly honest with you: am I in the business of self-advancement and brand-promotion, or am I a part of the bigger work of bringing life... everywhere?

Some days, all I have to do is think the words of that question and it brings me up short, truthfully.  I realize how easily I forget, not only that Jesus' mission is bigger than just me, but that it includes people I don't like, too.  Even more humbling (and sometimes hard for me to deal with) is that Jesus actually includes those people I don't like, or whom I don't agree with on a bunch of things, or whom I really really want be allowed to hate--and he includes them in doing his work.  

I think that's especially hard for me, that idea that Jesus is willing to work through people I don't think are acceptable.  Maybe I can picture Jesus helping those people I don't think of as "part of my group," as if they are charity cases and Jesus heals them out of pity... but when he chooses to include those "others" as part of the team?  As healers along with him?  As helpers?  As workers in the Kingdom?  That doesn't sit well with me--how can Jesus be OK with them?  How can he elevate them to--<gasp> the level of actually doing God's work, if they are... you know, wrong about things?  (Notice how I have not-so-subtly decided that where I don't like people or disagree with them, that I am the one who is right, and they are the ones who have to change, rather than even considering that I might be wrong... or that we could each have part of the truth. Hmmmm….)

Part of what's so difficult for me some days is to see that Jesus just isn't flustered about some of the things I think he should be hot and bothered over.  I want to assume that Jesus doesn't like the same people I don't like... that Jesus holds the exact same views I already hold... and that Jesus will only ever really use people whose cultural, political, and religious preferences align exactly with mine.  You know... the "right" ones.  And maybe, if Jesus were simply running a business with franchises all around the world, he would insist on uniformity and consistency.  After all, you can expect everybody at McDonald's to all offer the same basic menu and wear the same basic uniform.  But--and this is the thing--Jesus isn't running a business, and he isn't interested in promoting a brand.  Not his own brand, or mine.  Jesus is about God's vast, inclusive, relentless mission of bringing the world to life.  In whatever ways we are less than fully alive, Jesus is committed to the work of resurrecting the dead places in us. And to hear Jesus tell it, that means he is willing to work with, and through, people who don't belong all to the same "group."  Even if, on the surface, they look like they are working at cross purposes, they may still be, in the big picture, all part of God's universal project of bringing us to life.

This is hard for me sometimes.  I want there to be some kind of litmus test, some requirement of meeting with my approval.  I want people to have to get my stamp of endorsement before Jesus is allowed to use them.  And Jesus just stubbornly refuses to give over that control to me, just like he didn't let John his disciple have control over who was or was not allowed to heal people in Jesus' name.  Jesus isn't upset that some stranger has started doing good--bringing people to life and freeing people from the powers of evil--in his name.  John, of course, thinks he is being a good little disciple by trying to silence this other exorcist, but Jesus simply lets him be.  And, I have to be honest, that is a struggle for me.

It's a struggle sometimes in our theological traditions.  It's hard to have our theology all figured out, and then to cross paths with folks whose traditions and theologies are different--sometimes very different--and to allow the possibility that God not only loves, but is doing good work through, folks who believe differently about God than I do... and that God doesn't seem to be as hot and bothered about making them change what they think as I want God to be.  And at the same time, I don't want to give up on the reasons I believe what I believe.  But it seems at least part of the pride I have to swallow is seeing that Jesus is indeed using folks from all sorts of different denominations and traditions and sects for his good work of bringing people to life.  After all, Jesus seems to be interested in feeding people--not only feeding people in a Lutheran way, or Methodist way, or Pentecostal way, or Greek Orthodox way.  Jesus sees hungry people, and he feeds them.  No Catechism prerequisite.

It's a struggle, too, with the political and cultural fault lines between us, too.  Sometimes that's a really, really hard thing.  It's hard sometimes to see folks all wholeheartedly saying they want to follow Jesus, that they will listen to the way and teachings of Jesus, and that they will strive, as we say in our liturgy, to work for peace and justice in all the world... and to find that we may come to diametrically opposed conclusions about what that should look like, who should do it, and what that means for our common life.  It's hard to see where the disconnects happen, that we find ourselves living in a time where some are deeply convinced the more they read the Scriptures and follow Jesus that their faith leads them to vote Democratic every time, and there are folks who are sure as anything that Jesus is a card-carrying Republican.  And it's difficult sometimes to consider that, while there are some things we don't agree about in policy and party, God reserves the right to work through all of us for the divine mission of bringing all creation more fully to life.  Surely, there are times when God has to work in spite of my political or cultural commitments, and there are times God has to overcome yours, too.  And much like with our theological differences, I need to be able to own my beliefs and know why I hold them... while at the same time swallowing my pride enough to consider that other people might have a point... or that God regularly chooses to do good through people who voted differently than I did in the last election... and who will vote differently from me in the next one.  (Part of my hope, too, is that when we get to glory, there will be a lot of God clearing our eyes and each of us no longer being afraid to see the places where our thinking, our politics, our theology, and our mindsets were all way off base, and where it will turn out we were close to being in the right ballpark.)

And in the era of social media, it is really really easy to get swept up in saying (in all capitals) that the folks I don't agree with must be downright evil.  It's difficult, it's humbling, and it's even painful, to consider that someone who has a different set of policy commitments from me is also trying their very best from their vantage point to do good.  We may have very, very different pictures of what "the common good" looks like, and at those points, we need to have some honest conversation.  But conversation itself assumes that we can put ourselves at the same table and grant the benefit of the doubt that the other person is trying to do something good in the world, and that God could well be using this person in the big picture mission of bringing us all more fully to life.  We may not leave the table agreeing (let's not be naïve here), but we can probably find that the people we are in the most heated disagreements are also trying very hard to do good in the world.

So what does that mean for how I face this day?  I want to suggest a couple of things.  First off, none of this means we should give up the things we believe at our core--not in our theology, not in our politics, not in our philosophy or culture or musical tastes or favorite movies (although if you pick something other than The Princess Bride, we need to have another talk).  But rather, we each need to do some honest thinking and re-examining of the why to what we believe, think, and teach.  Why do I think the way I do? Where do my commitments come from?  And for me at least, as a follower of Jesus, how do I honestly see the connecting points from what I understand about Jesus to how I think, and act, and see the world, and vote, and make purchases, and everything else?  My hunch is that a lot of us live our lives without really having those conversations with ourselves, much less anybody else, because it is so much easier simply to assume that what I have always thought is what Jesus thinks, and not to scratch any deeper than that.  But it seems like it would be wise for me to take the risk of that kind of self-inventory--and where I find myself running into inconsistencies in myself, then it's worth asking what needs to change in me.

Second, I think this is going to mean we do a lot more extending of grace to others that we really don't want to extend grace to.  This is hard--let's not pretend it isn't.  It's going to mean looking for ways to practice empathy: that is, when I cross paths with someone whose mindset is really different from mine, I can't let myself off the hook to ask, "How does this person see the world, and why might it be that they have the commitments they do?"  I don't have give up my beliefs or convictions to practice empathy--I just have to have enough emotional imagination to put myself in someone else's shoes, and enough moral courage not to be threatened by the idea that someone else thinks differently.  Our older brother in the faith Martin Luther taught that part of keeping the commandment against false witness means trying to find the best possible light in which to see the actions and choices of other people around us, even when it is hard.  And I think there's wisdom in that.

Third, let me suggest we not assume the worst in those we disagree with, unless we have firm, verifiable facts or logic to support that.  In particular, I mean for us to practice what a professor of mine at seminary use to say: "Never attribute to malevolence what could be attributed to stupidity."  In other words, most of the time, the people who do things we don't like are not TRYING to be rotten, wicked, and evil--they are trying to do good things, but either the way they are trying to get them done, or their assumptions about what "good" means are different from ours.  That doesn't make our disagreements go away, but it does change their nature.  Most of the time (note, I say most, not all), the people you cross paths with who think differently from you are not intending to be evil or wicked or rotten. When I make the effort to at least look for what might be leading someone to think as they do--or better yet, when I dare to have the conversation with them, rather than putting words in their mouths--I find it is a lot hard to just make sweeping statements about how evil or crooked they must be.

Now you'll notice that all of this so far suggests I should be having a lot more conversations with people I don't agree with or don't like, and a lot less time spent in echo-chambers that will only reinforce what I already think or put the worst possible spin on those outside my little cliques.  And, just to be clear, things like social media are not great for opening me up to honest conversations, because their whole business model and product are built on algorithms that feed me more things that are like what I already have shown that I agree with.  That means in this day and age it is more important than ever to have check points with people, sources, and thinking that stretches me beyond what I am used to, so that I don't end up assuming everyone who thinks differently from me is the devil.

All of this is hard work, I know.  And I say all of this to myself before anybody else--because this is hard stuff for me on a daily basis.  And most days, at some point, I blow it, and I find myself terribly disappointed, both in other people and in myself.  This stuff ain't easy.  But it seems to me that if we confess Jesus as Lord, we are bound to actually listen to the things he says and does, and in this case, that means allowing the possibility that people who don't fit in "my group" are still a part of Jesus' group... and that people I don't like or agree with can still be a part of God's vast and inclusive work of bringing the world more fully to life out of death.

So let me ask all of us to a great long-term project of holding one another accountable.  Let me ask you to hold my feet to the fire where you see me refusing to give the benefit of the doubt to others, and let me ask you to do that kind of honest self-reflection yourself.  We will still find there are plenty of folks to disagree with in life.  But I suspect we will disagree differently... with less vitriol and bitterness and with more patience and empathy.  And I suspect, too, we will all find ourselves a little more humbled and graced to see just how big a roster Team Jesus has.

Go team Jesus.

Lord Jesus, help us out when we think we know better than you.  Help us to sort through what we believe and think and do in the world, and help us to give grace to others, too.