Afraid of the People

Matthew 21:45-6 - When the chief priests and elders heard his parables, they realized he was talking about them. They sought to arrest him, but were afraid of the people, because they held him to be a prophet.

Condemned by their own reaction in verse 41, the chief priests and elders are now angry at Jesus for calling them out on their behavior. Whether there was embarrassment, humiliation, or just plain bruised pride mixed in, they were not going to let this challenge to their authority go unmet.

Or were they?

They were afraid of the people. There were not enough of them to control the crowds, so they didn't want to start a riot. This is where Republican leaders seem to be right now. They're not afraid of the people, their constituents, they're afraid of their donors and Russia. You might think that last claim is extreme, but remember the Russians hacked the RNC emails as well and are still sitting on them. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that might have something to do with their behavior.

What a sad and sorry way to live though. Always being afraid of how others will react to your actions and having to moderate your behavior accordingly. It honestly sounds exhausting to me. They have become puppets. They have given their power to rich, white men in return for campaign donations. They have sold their souls, sold out their constituents, and are selling out our democracy in return for money, with a heaping dose of racism, sexism, ableism, classism, and heteronormativity thrown in.

Jesus came to free us from having to live this way. He came to free our thinking and to call us to integrity and love. Yet, we have Christians twisting his words to justify their theft of the treasury, we have Russian trolls spreading lies and Republican leaders repeating these lies as truth. Some of these people are Christians. I don't want to have anything to do with that kind of Christianity. Their cacophony of lies and the resulting chaos makes it harder for the rest of us to hear Jesus calling. Their policies are going to make it even more difficult for us to fight back because the economy will tank and people will not be able to risk losing their livelihoods by speaking out.

It's always hard to hear Jesus, but with all the distractions available to us and the noise of modern living, it's even more difficult. Jesus is still calling all of us, inviting us to a freedom from the noise and chatter. He invites us to walk with him and learn how to have integrity and love for all people. It's the difficult path, the narrow way, but it's the path with heart. It won't be fear-free, pain-free, or challenge-free. Having our perspective adjusted is change and we don't like change. Jesus does promise a more love-filled life; love of God, of ourselves, and our neighbors. We will learn to be in the world, but not of the world.

The choice is ours. Fear not, for Jesus is with us. Today, I choose integrity over comfort. What about you?