Reflection: "How Do You Spot a Christian?"If you ask the average Aussie how they would identify a person as a Christian, the chances are that you’d get one mention of something they do - and also a list of things that they don’t do.
The one identifying thing they say we do will probably be: “Well, I guess they go to church.” The list of don’ts will probably vary a bit, depending on who they’ve bumped into recently. Perhaps their response might include: “They don’t drink, or swear, or have sex until they’re married.” Being against these things is a million miles away from what Jesus wanted his followers to be known for. A recent survey in the US by the Barna Group found that, over the 20 lifestyle elements studied, there was remarkably little difference in attitudes between those who profess to be Christians and those who don’t. I think Jesus would be heartbroken over this result, don’t you? As we find in today’s gospel reading, Jesus tells his followers to: “Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Presumably then, the answer that Jesus would wish for his followers to have inspired from the average Aussie Joe in the street, is: “They just love everybody, those Christians. They’ve got no idea! They treat the deadbeats like royalty. They think everyone should be welcome here. They want a second chance for every lowlife loser. They’re over the top. I mean, I’m all for love your neighbour and love your family and all that, because charity is supposed to start at home, but these Jesus followers, well, they’re just fanatical about it. They don’t seem to know when to stop.” Tragically, I don’t think I’ve ever heard that answer given, but it did, however, seem to be what was said about Jesus himself, in his time with us and I guess that’s the point. In John’s gospel, the words of Jesus about his “new” commandment, follow immediately on from him saying: “I am only going to be with you for a little while longer.” They’re part of his conversation with the disciples at the last supper and are some of his parting words tp them - his last will and testament, if you like. So, in the short term, he’s thinking about a situation in which people will remember what he was like when he was walking the streets, and so the point is that people will recognise his disciples by their similarity to him. They’ll say: “These people treat everyone the way Jesus treated everyone. They must be followers of his, because no-one else would behave like that.” For that to be the case - for people to automatically make that connection - there has to be this “over-the-top”, “above-and-beyond” aspect to the love that’s shown. It’s quite common for the average Aussie to say, “Yeah, I reckon I’m a Christian; I follow the golden rule, you know, love your neighbour and all that.” But Jesus is saying that what people WILL notice is something that’s clearly abnormal, something beyond the norm. In another context, that was the point that Jesus offers by telling the parable of the good Samaritan - in answer to the question, “who is my neighbour?” Loving your neighbour is not re ally radical, so long as you can give your own safe definition of who your neighbour is. But to paraphrase what Jesus said in the sermon on the mount: “Why should you expect any special reward for loving those who love you? Even the gangsters and people smugglers do that.” Right the way through the gospel accounts, the things that are constantly getting Jesus into trouble with the religious leaders - and sometimes with the people in his hometown - are things where his words and actions make loving someone a priority over just obeying rules, observing social niceties, and maintaining the conventional boundaries of “who is my neighbour and who is not”. Jesus could be thinking: “This bloke needs healing and, yes, I could do it, but it’s the Sabbath and I’m not supposed to do that sort of thing on the Sabbath. But I love him. Why make him wait any longer. I’ll do it now.” That kind of thinking would get you into trouble with the religious authorities. Or, “this woman has been caught committing adultery, and the crowd have gathered to execute her by stoning, as the law requires. Do I endorse the law and let them do it. No! Love doesn’t stand by and let this woman die. I’ll stick my neck out and point out that she’s no worse than anyone else here and challenge them to claim otherwise. That will save her.” Now we’re talking about being in BIG trouble! Again, “these people are sitting here in the synagogue applauding me for saying that God has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, but they’re so racist. They hate the Palestinians, Sidonians and the Syrians. I’ll tell them that God loves these people just as much as he loves them and he wants them to do likewise.” Now we’re in BIG, BIG TROUBLE! Jesus is going to get himself thrown off a cliff. This last example is the same issue we see played out in the reading from the Acts of the Apostles and it goes to show that the first generation of the followers of Jesus were still struggling with the implications of this boundary-breaking love after his resurrection and ascension. They were still caught up in an assumption that, to be a follower of Jesus, meant being Jewish first and still following the religious laws, like what they could and couldn’t eat. But God had sent Peter to speak to the household of Cornelius - who was not only a gentile, but an officer in the hated Roman occupation forces. And when God obviously pours out the Holy Spirit on Cornelius and his family, Peter and the church leaders have to decide what to make of this outrageous disregard of the boundaries. Are they supposed to love these people? Accept them? Sit and eat at the same table with them? Unthinkable! It goes against everything they’ve been brought up to believe! But, in the end, they rightly conclude that if the Lord himself is breaking the boundaries and pouring out his love on these people, then they either have to follow suit, or get themselves out of step with what God is doing. So they’d better love as Jesus loves, no matter what trouble it might cause. Perhaps then, instead of just saying, “If you love like me then everyone will know that you are my followers,” Jesus could have said, “If you love so generously and extravagantly and outrageously that you stir up scandal and controversy and get denounced as fanatics and lunatics and sympathisers and bleeding hearts, then everyone will know that you must be one of my mob.” The call of Jesus to love as he loved, affects pretty much every question and issue we face in life, both as a church and as individuals in the other circles we move in. It goes to the core of our discipleship, not just because Jesus issued it with the force of a commandment, but because it was the most distinctive feature of his own life and ministry, of his own way of being. When we gather around the communion table to offer ourselves to Christ and to his people, love is what it’s all about - loving God, loving one another gathered here and loving others, wherever they are. Every time we celebrate Holy Communion, we’re challenged again to come to terms with just how radically and extravagantly and dangerously Jesus loves us, and with that challenge comes the call to offer ourselves to him, to be remade in his image, as people who love as he loved, for his glory and for the liberation of the world. Are we ready to go on new and risky paths? Will people look at, and to, us when they’re searching for that “Christian” difference to change their life? I pray that you and I will be able to rise above the masses and stand out as someone that Christ would be proud of. Allow the Spirit to fill you with a fiery passion to be a follower of the way of Jesus. Let us be open to God speaking through all God’s people and be delighted to see Jesus in the face of each other. Filled with the Spirit, go out in peace to love with openness and serve with justice in God’s world. Pastor Rick
1 Comment
Lena Beryl Blok
14/5/2022 09:03:54 am
Thank you Rick for another moving message.
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