Unexpected and Untamed Messiah

Proper 9B; Mark 6:1-13; St. Paul's, Smithfield, NC 7/8/2018           

Jim Melnyk: “An Unexpected and Untamed Messiah”

It's early morning on the first day of the week.  The sun has broken above the horizon, burning brightly through a slight haze.  Already, clouds of dust are raised by townsfolk bringing their produce and their wares to market.  There is, on the dry breeze, the promise of another long, hot day in Nazareth.

Some of the town elders are sitting in the shade of a canopy as they await the new day's bustling activity.  After their polite “good mornings” their talk turns to their usual gossip.  Only today's gossip is a little more sensational than that of the past few days.  Yesterday's Sabbath observances quickly become the focus.

“Imagine that one showing up here, in his own home town, telling us how to be faithful!” says old Jacob.  “Why, I've been a faithful son of Abraham for many more decades than he's been alive.”  “It's not like he's been to Jerusalem to study with the great rabbis,” complains Benjamin.  “He hasn't been gone all that long – certainly not long enough to show up on our doorsteps acting like some great prophet or something.”  Jacob shows his indignation. “Did you hear what he had the audacity to say?  'A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, among his own kin, and his own house.'  Mary was right to go after him last month.  He is crazy.  Too bad he wouldn't listen to her.”

A stranger joins the group dominated by Jacob's and Benjamin's dialog.  “Here, now!” he says.  “Are you talking about that Jesus fellow?  I've heard tales about him – and if even half of them are true....  Some say he's a miracle worker, and really a prophet like our father Moses.  Others say he might even be the Messiah.  Why, they say he even raised a young girl from the dead.  It was over by the sea, somewhere.  What if...?

“Prophet,” sneers Jacob, as he spits in the dust.  “He ain't no prophet!  He’s just a carpenter gone crazy who thinks he talks to God.   Well I say, God help him!”

By now a small cluster of people have joined the group.  “Look at him over there with his followers – like some great teacher or something.  Didn’t he and his brothers and sisters hang around with your kids growing up, Jacob?  Didn’t he get into all kinds of mischief just like the other youngsters?  And what about that time he ran off in Jerusalem? ‘Bout scared his parents half to death!” 

Talk turns to how so many of the villagers had rocked the crying Jesus in their arms, watched him toddle about needing a change of nappies, picking him up and dusting him off when he fell.  A few of the younger townsfolk in the growing crowd recall playing games with Jesus, and how they had all learned their lessons from the town rabbi together. 

If they were to take a few minutes and reflect they would probably all acknowledge that the Jesus they know has always loved God with all his heart…but a prophet… or the Messiah?  Well, that’s just too much of a stretch. 

“Look,” says another in the crowd, “there’s a lot of talk about how he practices his faith – people saying he doesn’t take Torah seriously enough.  How can someone like that be a prophet?”  Jacob is nodding his head in agreement.  “Exactly my point!  Look at who he breaks bread with all the time – tax collectors and ne’er-do-wells – people I’d never have in my house, that’s for sure.  And he hangs out with people who are ritually unclean – what about that man with the withered hand we heard about?  Why, he’s even been seen hob-knobbing with lepers!” 

“And he’s always in an argument with one religious leader or another about proper Sabbath keeping,” says another.  “Now I enjoy a good theological debate as much as the next guy, and he seems to be keeping the spirit of the day, but….”  “And don’t forget,” Benjamin adds, “he claims the prerogative to forgive sins.  That’s no different than claiming to speak for God! It’s almost like claiming to be God!”  That final statement is met with a collective gasp, just as Benjamin intended.

Many of them are torn between wanting to believe Jesus is something new and holding on to what they’ve always known.  Jesus comes among the people of Nazareth as the Christ, as the Messiah, and he is anything but a tame Messiah.  He is the Christ who comes to do the will of God, not to fulfill the expectations of his neighbors, or to fulfill the world's expectations either.  And in the end he comes as a friend – One who loves his own to the bitter end – One who lives and loves all the way to the cross and beyond – a Messiah who defies all logic – One who shatters the boxes and breaks the chains of peoples' expectations.  He is not a Messiah easily recognized by jealous neighbors or unwilling hearts.  Yet he is the Christ who comes for all, and perhaps most especially, for those who most need the love of God in their lives.

Meanwhile, across the square, Thomas is muttering under his breath.  “Look at them over there, Jesus, they’d just as soon stone you as hug you.  You’re the favorite son returning with a story that both inspires them and scares them half to death.  And we’re supposed to go out into a world like that?  Without you?”  Jesus, who in a very short time has come to love each of his twelve chosen followers, smiles at them.  “Thomas, I’m not asking you to do anything I’m not doing myself.  Do not fear those who can harm your body – because very truly I tell you, they will never be able to harm your soul.”

And so, in the midst of all the speculation and scandal – in the midst of wagging heads and the tugging of beards – Jesus sends his disciples out into some kind of theological twilight zone – between the known and the unknown – between the hope of God’s kingdom and the reality of this world – between the promise of God and the everyday struggle and pain of life.  Jesus sends his followers out into world with little more than their wits and their faith to sustain them – sends them into a world that will struggle to recognize them for who they are – messengers of God’s redeeming love. 

Like the people of Nazareth we seem to struggle with a Jesus who wants to live his life outside of the boxes and free from the chains we use to constrain him and his message.  And all he wants us to do – all he wants us to do is step into the whirlwind with him!  Jesus calls us to go beyond ourselves – to go beyond our own desires and needs; proclaiming the in breaking of God’s kingdom, and sometimes – perhaps most times – we feel sent out into the world with little more than our wits and our faith to make a difference in people's lives.  Jesus finds himself a prophet without honor in his home town, and perhaps we fear the same response if we follow his lead in our home towns.

We find ourselves sent with the challenge to offer prayer, healing, and hope to those whose lives are broken; and to challenge to repentance those whose lives are built on the backs of the broken-hearted.  We find ourselves sent with a challenge that opens the eyes of one's faith enough to know that those whom the world pushes to the edge are each fully and gracefully well within the circle of God's love – perhaps even at the very center of that circle.

It’s challenging to seek and serve a Risen Christ who will not be tamed by our expectations – a Risen Christ who will not be constrained by neat, well-practiced liturgies or by our society’s encouragement to look the other way when confronted with human suffering.  It seems to be too hard of a challenge for far too many people to seek and serve the Risen Christ in the eyes of children at the border, or children and teachers hiding behind desks in a classroom. 

To say we are not troubled when we meet the Jesus of the Gospels would be surprising to me.  We live in a society where the idea of offering charity out of our abundance is one thing, but changing whole systems of society so that others don’t need our charity – ways that honor the dignity of every human being?  Well, that’s a horse of a different color – just like Jesus coming to his home town and going from preachin’ to meddlin’ in a way that disquiets the whole town – in a way that challenges a whole nation – in a way that challenges us two thousand years later – that’s a Jesus who shakes our lives like thunder!

Which Jesus do we expect to meet as we come to the Holy Table each Sunday?  Do we expect to meet the carpenter’s son – the comfortable Jesus – the Jesus constrained by culture and religious dogma, or are we willing to risk being disquieted and troubled in our search for Jesus?  Are we willing to meet the Jesus who offers his body broken for us, and his blood poured out?  Because that’s the Jesus we find in the gospels – and that’s the Jesus who can transform our hearts and renew our lives.