U-turn

If we popped into our local cafe to share with others the good news of today, what might we offer? Would it be that Jesus loves them, or wow that pie and chips looks good!

There is the perceived religious response and the one from possibly ourselves: which one might resonate with the person in the cafe?

This Mark’s Gospel is all about the good news. That good news was political dynamite, as the Romans declared the Good News. So if we have a Son of God (normally only reserved for the Emperor) and now the Good News: believers then would be intentionally provoking the local powers that be. How does that make us feel about the first question, the one in the cafe?

Around the corner?

Jesus declares that the Kingdom is near? What just around the corner? Well, he has previously shared with folk that blessed are the poor, those that mourn, the meek: yet, we are still trampling over the poor, dismissing those that mourn for that they value, and overpowering the meek. Perhaps ‘is near’ is quite appropriate. We have yet to fully accept that idea. Should we do a u-turn?

Simon and Andrew, quickly followed by James and John, turn away from their occupations and follow this wondering Jesus. They don’t totally forgo their trade as we shall see them back in the boats later on, and they use their skills on the water to get Jesus across the sea/lakes. But it must have been quite a struggle to give up any income from this work. I wonder how their parents may have felt…

Be the change

But there was a willingness to change, to adapt. I recall a church in Lincolnshire who were meeting one Christmas for a bible study. The weather was appalling, and the snow was drifting at their front door. There was a knock and they opened up the door to glimpse someone wrapped up tightly asking if they could use the facilities please. “Of course” came the response. But upon further questions, they discovered that there was a handful of folk, all from eastern Europe, camping nearby, amidst the snow. They were invited inside for the night. Well, this welcome was extended to a few days and then longer, as their plight became evident. The church bought some washing machines and improved the cooking facilities – not the facilities they initially imagined. They helped these folk with passports and getting jobs. They had changed their attitudes from being exclusive to being totally inclusive, a dramatic change, not without its emotional ups and downs. 

When Jesus spoke of us becoming fisher of people, fisher of men, this wasn’t a call to become evangelists : ‘fisher of men’ is a descriptive noun – Jesus is changing who we are. It isn’t about saving the souls, it’s an invitation to overturn the existing order of power and privilege. It’s not about materialism but the people – what do we really care for?

But that’ll take amazing faith:

“Faith is taking the first step even when you can’t see the whole staircase”

MLK Junior

It doesn’t mean perfection. Wesley understood this as a journey getting closer to what God wants of us. We will get it wrong but God’s love doesn’t change.

Recall Peter who followed Jesus immediately, then proclaims that Jesus is the Messiah but then rejects that idea a few verses later (Ch 8) , and is noticeably absent at the Jesus’ death and resurrection. 

So, why would the teachings of the church speak of a u-turn as positive? 

What’s our good news for today? How might we listen and connect to people in a meaningful way? Perhaps that’s our step-by-step u-turn for this week. When we see someone this week, at the bus stop, at work, at a café, first might we see God in them, connect with them, and start to share what makes us all tick?