We pray: May the words of my mouth and the meditations
of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O God, our rock and our
sustainer. Amen.
As we joined in
the walk of the cross along the Valley on Friday, it was obvious that, for some
people, we were simply a nuisance. For
cars trying to go where we were walking, for people out for a quiet stroll in
the gardens, for those who had to be somewhere and we were in the way. Was Jesus simply a nuisance for some
people? An irritating burr that
interfered with well laid plans, busyness, the sense of what should be!
Also on that walk
I did notice some people looking almost bemused - as if aliens had landed. There were some faces that best could be
described as unbelieving, ‘is this for real?’ kind of faces, others who were
awkward around this display of emotion in public. Was Jesus beyond credibility for some people? Was his message so out there that he really
couldn’t be for real – was he unbelievable?
And then there
were the ones on the edges – the ones who looked like they wouldn’t have minded
joining but what would their mates say, what if they got sucked in again or
maybe they were standing there remembering but not quite able to make the move,
too much got in the way. Was Jesus a
temptation for some people, a pull and a push, a desire yet a reluctance? Some
one who obviously had something important to offer but it sounded dangerous or
scary for all kinds of reasons?
And finally the
people who were part of the walk. Old
and young, different ethnicities, romping and plodding along, chatting and
silent, confident and a bit self conscious, all one in this moment of Good
Friday. Was Jesus one who drew people,
all shapes and sizes, into one body – a huge melting pot of those who
responded, each in their own way, to the invitation of the living God to walk
the way of the Christ
All of the above – Jesus was a nuisance, and
an embarrassment , a tempting beacon of hope and, for some, the source of all
life and love. All of the above.
Throughout his
life and at his death, in his teachings and acts of compassion, in his
challenges to established order and commitment to new ways, from the people
shouting hosanna on Palm Sunday to the people calling for his execution - Jesus demanded a response.
On Palm Sunday I
talked about the people on the margins, some of their responses to the coming
of Jesus to Jerusalem that final time.
Today we continue with our responses to the rest of the Easter
narrative.
Certainly Jesus
can be seen as having serious nuisance value.
He gets in the way of all the best laid plans, he disrupts directions
and turns self imposed schedules into chaos.
He was nuisance to the religious and political authorities, to the
crowds who shouted ‘crucify’! He didn’t
fit ideas of what should be, all the carefully laid plans of who the Messiah
was and how they would appear and behave.
He didn’t fit the mould. He was a nuisance.
And Jesus can be a
nuisance in our lives. We too can have
our ideas all laid out, shape Jesus to our expectations and plans, get
irritated when God calls us stop and be still, to listen, to experience a new
way. And it is when we can only see
Jesus as a nuisance that we miss the opportunity to be part of spectacular,
life changing moments of faith. I
wonder if there was a touch, the barest hint of the nuisance in the empty tomb
for the disciples?
Certainly Jesus is
unbelievable – in our sense of the word today.
Unbelievable that he would enter Jerusalem like that, let alone that he
would go almost meekly to the cross.
That he wouldn’t fight for his innocence, that on the cross he spoke not
words of hate or anger or judgement but rather seven words of love.
Unbelievable that there was an empty tomb, that there were encounters with the
living Christ....and the list goes on.
I wonder if we
hold back on our belief sometimes – if there are times when we allow the
disbelief of the world to speak too strongly into our lives. And I am not talking about a need to believe
literally all that is written in the bible – I am talking about the wonder and
profound truth of the Gospel that we each of us know deep in our hearts and the
fact that Jesus Christ is a fundamental and essential part of our lives. It can be that we sometimes allow the
cynicism and egocentric ways of the world to give that belief a battering. And sometimes it almost breaks our belief in
the living Christ. But it doesn’t break
God or God’s love for us. Nor does it diminish
God’s love for those who stand there watching saying ‘get real’! The empty tomb tells us that, if nothing
else.
Jesus Christ is a
temptation for many - people who might have in some way encountered his
teachings, felt the pull of his love, his mercy and compassion - and yet can’t
quite bring themselves to respond, to dive headlong into that body of faith
that seems to walk so confidently and meaningfully the way of Christ. Too much history and hurt, too vulnerable to
open oneself to others, too busy, just too hard to respond to the invitation of
Jesus to follow. So many reasons why
they feel they need to continue on the outer despite the need, the pull to
belong.
If only they knew
– Peter, he who had been named the rock, the beginning of the church, skulking
around the fire denying that he knew Jesus, disciples who had spent three years
with this man and didn’t pick up on the repeated promise of resurrection, we
with our doubts and frailties, our hopes and our regrets and our denials and
failed understandings.
If we ever manage
to give the impression of perfection, God forgive us. If we ever fail to engage with the world we
live in or judge others for their failure to engage with us, God forgive us. If we ever forget to celebrate the joy of
Christ risen and in our lives, God forgive us.
And if we ever exclude anyone who responds to the call to follow, may
God forgive us.
Jesus died not so
that we could hold him exclusively ours but so that the whole world would know
him. Jesus lives again so that we can
continue to invite people to enter into his presence and to follow - the disbelievers, the cynics, those on the
margins and those who are part of faith communities – and we do this best with
the living Christ at our centre, by gathering as a people of faith around the
table where all are welcome, by engaging with love and compassion in the world
, by being a welcoming, non-judgemental, inclusive community of faith.
It is for this
that Jesus died, and it is for this that Jesus lives again. Amen.
Margaret Garland
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