A Graceful Exit--July 11, 2024

A Graceful Exit--July 11, 2024

"[Jesus] left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, 'Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! Is not this the builder, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?' And they took offense at him. Then Jesus said, 'Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.' And he could do not need of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. And he was amazed at their unbelief." [Mark 6:1-6a]

Jesus doesn't slam the door behind him or burn the bridges as he leaves.  He leaves open the possibility of connection, even when he's been met with rejection, offense, and disappointment.  In other words, even when Jesus has been shown disrespect and disdain, he still knows how to make a graceful exit.

Both halves of that are important. Jesus does leave his hometown when his old neighbors and friends "take offense" at him, rather than insisting that they all become his disciples or accept his teaching. They have shrugged at his invitation, and Jesus is not selling anything or recruiting members for a club. But he leaves without bitterness--and ultimately, it's the people's "unbelief" that prevents him from healing and helping them, not Jesus' unwillingness or grudge-holding.  We don't know much about whether any of those former neighbors from Nazareth ever changed their minds about Jesus and became disciples, or eventually joined the Christian community, but it does seem clear that Jesus left the door open as he went on his way.

You might well recall that there's a story in the gospels of another occasion when Jesus meets with rejection in a town of foreigners (Jesus happens to have taken his disciples through Samaria on his way to Jerusalem). In response, some of his disciples ask Jesus if he wants them to call down fire from heaven to destroy their town--something of a "That'll teach 'em!" sort of a kiss-off dripped in spite. And Jesus immediately scolds, not the townspeople who rejected him, but the disciples who proposed this violent retaliation.  Jesus just goes on his way, without a curse on his lips or a threatening gesture from his hands.  He makes the graceful exit, even when the folks who have rejected him are even less connected to him than his hometown audience here in Mark 6.

And while we're on the subject, we should probably recall the gigantic plot twist in the life of Saul of Tarsus, who was one of the first and most ferocious persecutors of the early Christian movement (back when we were just called "The Way").  Saul was on the way to Damascus, clutching arrest warrants and official permission to round up Christians and bring them, bound, back to Jerusalem for likely torture, beating, or stoning (Paul had been the same one who happily held everyone's coats when the lynch mob killed Stephen the first martyr in Acts 7).  And even though Saul had not only actively rejected Jesus but also was in the act of hunting Jesus' followers, Jesus did not give up on Saul.  The risen Christ appeared to Saul on the road, knocked him off his high horse, and called to him.  And of course, the zealous persecutor ends up becoming the most fervent apostle and evangelist for Jesus the early church knew--going by the name of Paul, and eventually writing about half of the New Testament. Even Jesus' clear enemies are not zapped with spite by Jesus; rather, his vulnerability gives him the ability to get through to those enemies and turn them into friends.

Jesus might have made a convincing case that any or all of these were people he had a "right" to hate and to exclude forever.  But he doesn't give up on any of them--not his old neighbors in Nazareth, not the strangers in Samaria, and not even his declared enemy on the way to Damascus.  And that seems to be, not because he is too timid to be spiteful, not because he isn't clever enough to get in some I-told-you-sos against the people who have wronged him, but because Jesus knows that leaving the door open just might be the thing that lets people change their minds and take up the offer of grace that they had once rejected.

That's important for us to be clear about, because sadly, I see and hear all too many loud voices, brandishing the name of "Christian," who want to turn Jesus into their mascot for pettiness and vindictiveness and claim his blessing on it.  Recently, I heard a nationally-known celebri-pastor give a speech (I can't call it a sermon) where he chided his audience, "We cannot afford to be beautiful losers... I want to win. I want to reward my friends and crush my enemies." And it just hit me how that whole way of thinking fits completely with what the world calls "conventional wisdom," and yet how it runs completely opposite of the actual way of Jesus, who models for us a graceful alternative. Jesus doesn't crush his enemies.  He doesn't give perks just to his "friends." Even when they're running him out of town, he leaves the door open for them.

Sometimes, by refusing to be spiteful, even when folks are rejecting you, you give enough breathing room for an enemy to turn into a friend.  You never know...

Lord Jesus, enable us to leave doors open with others where you have first shown the way.