Have you ever struggled with the
question of what God wants you to do with your life? Isn’t it odd that any of us would even
struggle with that question when the Bible is literally covered with scriptures
that tell us the answer. Two of my
favorite readings telling us what we are to do are in the Book of Micah and the Gospel
of Mark. In Micah, chapter 6, verse
8 it is written: “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act
justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (NIV) In the Gospel of Mark, chapter 12, verses
29-31, we hear Jesus say: “The most important one, is this: ‘Hear, O
Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your mind and with all your strength.’
The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
(NIV)
It does not take a degree in rocket
science to know that we live in a broken world.
There is brokenness all around us . . . we see and experience it every
day. It is all around us . . . pain,
conflict and tension. Because we are the
followers of Jesus we cannot escape this painful reality that comes in many
forms like racism, economic inequality, sex trafficking, and the refugee
crisis. As we stand in this brokenness .
. . this broken world . . . we know that we are not made for this painful
reality, and we long for the perfect world that is to come, where every tear
will be wiped away and death is defeated once and for all. In this brokenness God invites us to seek
justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God on this earth and to participate
in God’s plan of bringing glimpses of the Kingdom here on earth.
God does that . . . God does that
through Jesus . . . and, it is hard.
Really hard. Uncomfortably
difficult. And, at some moments, it is
even offensive. Yet, this is what Jesus
tells us God wants us to do with our lives.
Our scripture reading this morning is a
continuation of last week’s reading in which Jesus tells everyone that they are
to “do this” . . . to live their lives in love . . . a love that includes
everyone. This is not a simple walk in
the park that Jesus is inviting his followers to embark on. No, it is a difficult and challenging task he
has asked them to do. The disciples
recognize this as they confront Jesus with their uncertainty: “This
is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” The followers stood there and
grumbled.
I imagine it would be safe to say that
the followers were grumbling for various reasons, but central to their
grumbling was the fact that Jesus was asking them to do something that was not
only difficult, but it was also something they were not sure they were ready to
do . . . to reach out in love to not only their loved ones, but also to those
who were not like them, including their enemies. Such a charge offended them, and Jesus
recognized this. Jesus said to them, “Does
this offend you?” Then, one more
time, he reiterated to them that there was no other way.
This was not what any of them wanted to
hear. This was too hard . . . too
demanding . . . too personal . . . too radical in demanding to set aside one’s
self for the sake of God and others. The
writer of the Gospel of Mark tells us that “from this time many of his disciples turned
back and no longer followed him.”
Being offended they chose to leave.
As they were leaving Jesus turned to the chosen twelve and asked: “You
do not want to leave too, do you?”
God nor Jesus ever promised a life of
comfort or ease. I do not think that
there is any of us here this morning who wouldn’t agree that life can be
difficult. Life is difficult . . . and
we need to acknowledge and accept that life is difficult, after all, we do live
in a broken world. Until we can admit
that, it won’t get any easier. God did
promise that we would have trouble in this world, and Jesus assured us that he
has overcome the world. Thus, it is that
he commands us to speak up for the oppressed, love the poor, and to treat those
on the outside looking in as if they were one of the family. This is something that shatters our idea of a
perfect little world and is an offense to our false sense of control.
As one writer put it: “This attitude
directly contradicts the American pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps
mentality. Claiming to follow Christ, while responding to others in need with a
judgmental attitude spits in the face of the gospel. Christ came not because we
got ourselves together, but because we cannot.”
Does this offend you?
What are we to do when Jesus offends
us? Are we to walk away as did those
followers who did not like what Jesus was asking them to do . . . just walk
away. I guess, in many ways, maybe we do
. . . when we make excuses . . . when we turn the other way . . . when we join
in the mentality of the mob . . . when we become judgmental . . . when we do
not want to admit the truth of the reality before us . . . when we lock
ourselves in our small world never willing to acknowledge God’s great big
creation. Do we get huffy and stomp off
into the sunset? What are we to do when
Jesus offends us?
Or, do we accept the fact that we live
in a broken world and respond to it. Do
we step in line with Jesus and follow him?
After all, that is what he has asked us to do. We live in a needy world. You and I are in need. All of God’s children are in need. Jesus calls us to respond to those around us,
to engage with the things that make us uncomfortable . . . that offend us. That is what Jesus wants us to do, just as he
has done. There really is no question as
to what God wants any of us to do with our lives. God showed us the way through
Jesus . . . he is the “way”.
At the end of our reading the chosen
twelve come to this conclusion . . . there is no other way. Jesus asks them: “You do not want to leave too, do
you?”
Peter answered for the twelve: “Lord,
to whom shall we go? You have the words
of eternal life. We believe and know
that you are the Holy One of God.”
When Jesus offends us . . . we respond
in searching our hearts to understand what it is that makes us feel offended by
his command to love as he has loved. We
respond by acknowledging and loving those who are around us. We respond by engaging in that which makes us
uncomfortable. We respond with an
openness to the brokenness of the world we live in. We respond in love. We care.
If we respond with such action . . . to
care and to love . . . nothing can limit the possibilities of grace and
love. The only thing that could limit us
or stop us is the capacity of our hearts.
Micah chose “to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with God.” Jesus tells us to completely love God
and one another. The choice is ours.
Way before what happens in our scripture
reading, in the Old Testament, Joshua deals with a similar situation as he
addresses the children of God. He
addresses the people: “But if serving the Lord seems undesirable
to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the
gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites,
in whose land you are living. But as for
me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15, NIV)
The choice is always ours as to how we
respond. How will you respond the next
time Jesus offends you? Amen.
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