COME IN. SIT DOWN. MAKE YOURSELF UNCOMFORTABLE.

Matthew 26:48 - Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man; arrest him.”

“The one I will kiss is the man.” The people with Judas didn’t know what Jesus looked like. As a 21^st century woman, that is a foreign feeling to me. We are awash in pictures and videos of our friends and loved ones as well as famous people. I’ll state the obvious here; they had no cameras or social media back in Jesus’ day. The disciples certainly weren’t going around distributing Xerox copies of their thoughts – the Gospels were all written at least 30 years after Jesus died. So. They didn’t know what Jesus looked like and had to rely on a betrayal to find him.

Of course, we still don’t know what he looked like. This is a good thing. Not having a picture frees us to imagine Jesus as more than just the ubiquitous white Jesus. 

Black Jesus: (Poster for the 2006 movie, Son of Man.

 

 Asian Jesus (via churchpop.com):

 

 Native American Jesus (Lakota Victory Christ by Fr. John Giuliani. via indigenousjesus.blogspot.com)

 

The homeless person you see on your lunchtime walk (Homeless Christ Icon, by Kelly Latimore, via globalworship.tumbler.com.)

It is possible to find depictions of LGBTQ Jesus, non-binary Jesus, Jesus as mother, daughter, sister, Jesus as disabled, Jesus the least of these. All images of Jesus. These different images of Jesus can make us uncomfortable. So, we stick with Jesus as just like us.

Not just in looks! Also in temperament, desires, thoughts, ideas about how the world should be. The disciples did. They thought Jesus would fulfill the desires of their hearts; that he would overthrow Rome and restore Israel. They made him into the image of their desires. No matter how many times he tried to tell them otherwise. It’s so easy to equate what we think of as right to what God thinks of as right. It’s so easy to fool ourselves into thinking that we have the correct interpretation of scripture. And just like the disciples, we’ll find out how wrong we are – hopefully as we grow in faith, but certainly in heaven.

We don’t have to wait until we’re in heaven to reimagine Jesus. Mostly, we don’t want to, because that would mean reimagining our faith. Again, this makes us uncomfortable. So, my challenge today is to sit down and make yourself uncomfortable. Reimagine Jesus as someone unlike yourself in one or more ways. Sit with that new image for a few days, a week. In what way are you uncomfortable? Does anything about your faith change? Does it open up new avenues of thought or desire? Explore those! Faith is meant to be dynamic, not static.   

Go ahead. Sit down. Make yourself uncomfortable.

B

 

 

PRAYING AND PAYING ATTENTION

Matthew 26:47 - While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived; with him was a large crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people.

So much happening all at once! We’ve had enough peace and quiet that Jesus was able to pray and the disciples were able to sleep. Now, we have a large crowd, armed!, and terror. That’s how fast life can change for all of us. One minute, everything seems peaceful, and we think we have everything under control. The next minute, all hell breaks loose. It certainly felt like that during the previous presidency.

I wonder what the disciples were thinking at this moment? Jesus has been telling them to pray because of this very thing and now it’s here and they are woefully unprepared. This is a good example of the need to be politically aware. It’s possible that Jesus knew what was going on because he’s divine, but that explanation isn’t necessary. What the Jewish authorities did here is and was standard procedure for those who would stir up trouble. Get rid of them. They’ve been trying to trap him for his entire ministry. Of course, they’re going to resort to false charges.

The thing is, Jesus was praying and paying attention. Sure, he was praying that it not come to this (like any of us would!). But he had also put himself entirely into God’s will – Thy will be done. As such, he was prepared for this moment and those that will follow. He knows God is with him and will not leave him. He knows where all this will end because he has been reading the signs of the times.

In the same way, many of us can see exactly where the false charges of election fraud are going. It will instill doubt in those who are not paying attention, then it will be easier to either steal the next election or outright take over. That is where all this is headed. The Republicans have no policy positions, so their only option for winning voters is to cheat. If that doesn’t work, they will keep trying to take it. They are doing it now. Look how many of them cannot call what happened on January 6 ‘insurrection.’

Are we prepared to be as equally wise as Jesus? Are we prepared to face what will happen in the coming months? Or will we stay in denial until, like the disciples, we no longer have time to prepare?

In my mind, Love challenges us in this present moment to do whatever we are capable of to stop the spread of lies and to work to protect our democracy from being taken over by delusional idiots. If not for ourselves, then for those who are already suffering because of these lies and egregious actions. It’s not too late, but time is running out. For us, for the earth.

Let’s not wait to follow Love’s guidance, wherever she leads us.

B

DISORIENTATION

Matthew 26:44-45 - So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words. Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.”

The other day, I was listening to a sermon by the Rev William Barber. He discussed Walter Brueggemann’s idea of disorientation. Brueggemann is an Old Testament scholar who came up with the theory of Orientation, Disorientation, and Reorientation as a way to read the psalms. Well, some of them. Briefly, Orientation is when everything is going great, Disorientation is when things are confusing and we’re not sure what’s coming next, and Reorientation is when we come out of Disorientation with a new understanding of ourselves and of God. Barber clarified that we are in a period of Disorientation.

Do you feel it? Do you feel the confusion and uncertainty? How are you coping? Have you been weepy like me the past few days or have you been stoic about the chaos going on around us? what about your connections to God and others. Is it difficult to maintain them? Are you feeling like everything is a chore? Even things that should be fun?

Well, you’re not alone. I have been going through periods during the last five years of such disorientation and confusion. Many others have too. This is especially true for those of us who live in “red” states and where COVID is making a comeback due to the inaction of our elected officials. It is maddening and sad, scary and terrorizing. If you feel this way, please believe there is nothing wrong with you. The pandemic, the ongoing insurrection, the civil war between Republican governors and Biden, the extreme laws being passed by Republicans, and Republican ignoring of the climate change threat each by themselves are enough to challenge our peace and certainty. That they are all happening at once and one party is creating them multiplies the uncertainty, fear, and sadness.

You may be wondering how disorientation ties in to the text. I think the disciples are also experiencing disorientation, but they are in denial. They have not yet allowed themselves to feel in their bodies what Jesus has been trying to tell them. They are stuck on their own ideas of what the Messiah would be and act like, they cannot see the Messiah in front of them. They will shortly have to face their disorientation.

That’s good, because really, the only way out is through; through the feelings, through the protesting, through the survival mode, through the muck and the grime. One day at a time. The good news is God is here with us.

I’m going to hang on to that thought. I hope you will too.

B

WAKE UP!

Matthew 26:43 - Again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.

You know, I’m jealous of the disciples. I wish I could just check out and sleep all the time. The consequences of the former guy’s f@ckery just keep coming: COVID, Afghanistan, the economic upheaval, Insurrection, lies. It is a lot! I’m sure I’m not alone when I say I’m just so tired of all the bulls#!t.

The situation the disciples were in was similar. They were oppressed, they knew Jesus was in danger, but they didn’t know – perhaps didn’t want to know – that the danger was becoming real that very night. In some ways, many Americans don’t want to know that the danger from climate change, from COVID, from the continuing insurrection, the Republican lies is becoming reality before our eyes. It’s tempting to just check out and sleepwalk our way through life.

And yet. Jesus gave them tools to reclaim their dignity from the oppressive Romans. According to Howard Thurman, “he announced the good news that fear, hypocrisy, and hatred, the three hounds of hell that track the trail of the disinherited, need have no dominion over them.” When Jesus calls the disciples and us to “wake up,” he is reminding us that we don’t have to give in to the fear and hatred that Republican leaders and other oppressors wish to foist on us. I make no apologies for equating those three hounds of hell with the current Republican party. Their actions are designed to create fear, hypocrisy, and hatred in others in order to better control those others.

Jesus’ good news was not for the Romans or rich collaborators. No. it was for those who were on the bottom of the social hierarchy. It still is. For those of us who are not at the bottom, how are we hearing the good news? How are we giving life to the good news? How are we working against those fearmongers, hypocrites, and hate-filled people? Are we making the good news real in our lives and in our communities? How are we loving our neighbors in the midst of the chaos Republicans would like to feed us?

Thurman speaks to this as well. “If … all life is one, arising from a common center – God, all expressions of love are acts of God. Hate, then becomes a form of annihilation of self and others; in short – suicide.” Every act of love, including loving ourselves. Self-care is essential for learning how to care for others. When we choose not to love ourselves, we choose not to love others. When we neglect ourselves in favor of anything else, resentment builds; and resentment often turns to fear, hypocrisy, and even hate.

Will we choose love or hate? Let’s choose love.

B

 

GOD'S SILENCE

Matthew 26:42 - Again he went away for the second time and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”

When something big is weighing on our minds, it’s often not enough to pray once, is it? We often pray the same prayer again and again, hoping for relief of the burden or at least a temporary reprieve from the emotional and mental turmoil. Jesus is so human here. He knows how to still his mind and heart and goes back to prayer, even as he is disappointed that his disciples are not able to keep awake.

This going back to prayer reminds me of Psalm 88. Many of the psalms asking for God’s reprieve from circumstances end with a proclamation of faith in God or praise that God has taken care of the problem. All of them in fact, except for Psalm 88. It ends as it began, with prayers for relief from stress. There is no indication that the psalmist will stop praying and no indication that God has even heard. God is silent, and that silence is both disturbing and hopeful.

To be fair, some psalms continue in the next psalm, so it’s important to ask whether that is the case here. It is not. The psalm just ends with the psalmist still praying, still listening for a response. There is no indication that they will stop or have given up, and that is why I think this is a psalm of hope. In the moment of prayer, before change has come, anything is possible. There is still hope that things will get better, the problem will be resolved, or that the person can come to acceptance.

It is a perfect psalm and mirror for our situations with COVID, climate emergencies, and continued Republican lying and couping. It seems that our prayers aren’t being answered, that God is not listening when God is silent. It seems that there is no hope when others actively work to make these situations worse. These are terrible situations that by themselves are huge problems. It’s understandable that we might not see hope here. We can’t know the outcome of any of them. This psalm is the psalm for those of us whose faith might not be 100% in the midst of these messes, and for those of us whose doubts and fears loom larger than our faith. It might be good to remember that, in the moment of prayer, we are still okay, still hoping for change, still in connection with God, even if God is silent. That small bit of time is hope.

My hope is that we not lose our sense of hope, that we not lose our desire to pray or our connection with God. My hope is that these times might lead to strengthening of our faith rather than losing it.

 B