Fearless Faith

Sometimes the Jesus we expect is nothing like the one that shows up. It’s not a matter of blame as much as it is acknowledgement that what we think we know is not always congruent with contemporary events in our lives.

It was without guile at the start. All we had to do was to listen and trust others to guide us. Right was always right and wrong was always wrong. Simple and easy. That worked especially well for very matter-of-fact young minds. Unfortunately many of us grew up and hardened our beliefs into unyielding dogma, preferring the safety that always being correct affords. Others of us discovered it was okay to challenge and ask questions and to thoughtfully consider each new threshold before us. There was even a possibility that Gregory Orr’s “The Beloved” would be discovered walking alongside us, present many times before though unseen.

Coming face to face with God’s amazing grace can be startling, a moment of revelation and release as we re-discover what we have always pondered and questioned. The inquiry, “Why didn’t I learn of this decades ago?” should be received as a compliment, a sign of moving forward in faith. Sadly it is not, and questions continue to remain unanswered, blithely set aside in hopes of returning to them later, or perhaps not at all.

What happens when the imperatives of the church are shaken in ways that can’t be ignored? Instead of turning a blind eye, it is compelled to face its own institutional mortality. Just as the church of past years has evolved into the church of today, so will today’s ordered gatherings come to represent the future in ways yet unclear. Will we become the church without walls that so many speak of, or will our zealotry and stubbornness derail the best of Christian response?

Economics, racial tensions and pandemic health concerns have created a trifecta of unrest, but also opened a door of opportunity for extraordinary and exemplary steps forward, steps that invite participation rather than deny, steps based on relational principles of equality and personhood. Are the challenges we face inevitable reiterations of problems past, or true confirmation of a nobler desire to banish willful ignorance and misinformation? Will we have the courage to rise above ourselves in order to ably examine issues residing in the dark recess of public consciousness?

Jesus wasn’t about picking and choosing his circumstances or defining a crowd with whom he preferred to deal. He addressed who was before him in the moment, frequently with unsettling aplomb and wisdom. In answer to many questions, he often utilized rhetorical tools such as parables and similes, something that made it easier for his followers to place themselves into a broader context.

Now is a time for parable and simile, for stark and honest reexaminations of who we are and who we claim to be. Are we called or just along for the ride? Common humanity longs for a yes/no response, but Jesus doesn’t make it easy for us. He shows up instead at the most inconvenient of times, refusing to allow contagions of fear and anger to overshadow his ministry of compassion.

“Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger in the dirt. They kept at him, badgering him. He straightened up and said, ‘The sinless one among you, go first: Throw the stone.’ Bending down again, he wrote some more in the dirt. Hearing that, they walked away, one after another, beginning with the oldest.” (John 8:6-9, MSG)