Responding to the Surprises of God
Dr. James Mayfield
Palm Sunday April 4, 2004 Text: Mark 12:28-34 When we say we like surprises, we are usually talking about happy surprises: a birthday party, the unexpected bonus. The other day when I went home, I discovered my son had mowed my yard -- what a delightful surprise. But then there are those other surprises, like the letter from the IRS, or when the boss calls you in and the conversation begins: "As you know sales are way down ….." Then there are surprise changes to our traditional way of doing things, changes in established perceptions and comfortable assumptions. Not all the surprises in life please us, and this is true for young and old alike. The surprises of God are both the surprise of amazingly wonderful gifts and other surprises, that are critical of what is familiar and comfortable and demand we make changes. Jesus was certainly a surprise. He was not the kind of Messiah who was expected by either the religious establishment or the zealot revolutionaries. Both groups rejected him. Because the story of Jesus is so familiar to us, many of us simply cannot understand why anyone would want Jesus dead. But we can begin to understand when we see the ways Christ causes us to be uncomfortable. Christians have been known to angrily reject the claims of the Gospel on their living. For example, in the 1800's not all good church goers were happy about the end to slavery. And within the lifetime of many of us the coming of integration was not happily embraced by all Christians. And even today, we resist the implications of love your neighbor that will cost us money or time or change comfortable social patterns. Not all who calls themselves Christians have celebrated women as pastors. More than a few who attend worship in the United States have been upset by preaching that calls into account our nation's disproportionate use of the planet's resources or our nation's very selective policy in helping those who are in need. Few church goers would be happy if their preacher talked about money as often as Jesus did; it would be at least 17 sermons a year. And few of us want to hear the message Jesus preached to the people in his day who were as well off as we are. Like the religious leaders of Jesus' day, we want the Messiah to come take care of us, to solve our personal problems, enable us to be successful in the world and give us happiness. But Jesus came with a surprising message that not only contained good news of salvation but also the less welcomed news that we need to repent, that is, we need to make significant changes in the way we view life and live life. Little wonder religious people argued with Jesus. His religion was not the kind of religion they wanted. The passage we read today comes from an incident Mark reports as happening during Holy Week. A lawyer who was what we would call today a good church member, heard the debate with Jesus that had turned into an argument. Impressed with the way Jesus handled himself, he asked Jesus the kind of question you would expect a lawyer to ask: "Of all the laws and commandments, which is most important?" We all know Jesus' answer. He quoted a couple of passages from the Hebrew scriptures, telling us to love God with all we are and to love our neighbor as ourselves. The lawyer agreed, this is what is most important -- even more important than fancy worship services. We agree also. To that lawyer and to us, Jesus then when on to say: "You are not far from the kingdom of God." We are not far from God ruling in our lives, Jesus was telling us. We are not far because we know how we ought to live. We know what God expects of us. We know what is most important -- even as we tenaciously cling to priorities we know are not right and we continue doing what we know we ought not do, and we continue to postpone doing what we know we should. We know what God wants of us even as we continue doing what we know is not pleasing to God. "You are not far from the kingdom of God," Jesus said. "You know what God expects of you." And we do know. We really do know. In fact we know so well, we even pray: "God, forgive us for our failure to live as you want us to live." But God wants more than confession of our sin. God wants repentance. As much as God appreciates our apologies, what God really wants is for us to change our behavior. What God really wants is for us to accept the new life Christ offers. But to accept the new life, we must let go of the old one. "The first shall be last and the last shall be first," Jesus said more than once. "Pick up your cross and follow me.," is not an isolated statement in his teaching. "Love your enemies; pray for those who mistreat you," Jesus said. He told us: "You cannot center your life around both money and God." This is not what the religious people in Jesus' day wanted to hear. They were convinced they had it right and that Jesus had it wrong. They wanted him out of their lives and they wanted to keep him out. So, they had him killed. Today, none of us would say Jesus had it wrong. We just edit what he said so that it pleases us. We convince ourselves that the Gospel is the good news that is always pleasant, making us feel good. We simply rule out the possibility of God's grace calling us to any kind of sacrifice or uncomfortable change. So, we tell ourselves in a variety of ways: "Jesus is not really asking me to pick up that cross and follow him." Because we modify the message of Christ, to suit our tastes, we have no need to get rid of him. We simply reject the surprises he brings that we do not want. Because we do this, we whom Jesus said are not far from the kingdom of God are also not far from those who had him crucified. This is where the reality of Holy Week begins to invade our living in ways we would rather not think about. It feels good to imagine Jesus saying to us: "You are not far from the Kingdom of God." But it does not feel very good to realize that although Jesus did not say it, the reality of the story makes it clear that we are also not far from being like the people who wanted Jesus dead. This is true of me. I want all the pleasant benefits of the Gospel, without any of the costs of commitment. I want all the ways Christ can make life enjoyable, but I resist and even resent being told about the claims Christ makes on my living. There are some of God's surprises that are a joy to embrace. Jesus said to that lawyer and to us: "You are not far from the kingdom of God because you know what God expect of you." Then there are those other surprises we would rather not have and the surprises resist and reject -- such as, the realization that we are all too often, not far from those who wanted Jesus dead. God, help us do more than apologize; enable us to make the changes in our attitude and behavior that you want us to make. Amen. Pastoral
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