Sermon for June 10, 2018

3^rd Sunday after Pentecost- June 10

Mark 3:20-35

            “Then [Jesus] went home; & the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, ‘He has gone out of his mind.’”

            The King James Version of the Bible translates the concern of Jesus’ family for him in these words: “He is beside himself.” The old J.B. Phillips New Testament translates it, “People were saying, ‘He must be mad!’” But one of my favorites is from the 1995 Contemporary English Version, which says, “When Jesus’ family heard what he was doing, they thought he was crazy & went to get him under control.”

            Now, forgive me for saying it this way: but Jesus was, & is, crazy! And those who would follow him, those who would be his disciples, those who would live as, & be, the people of the Way, are called to be just as crazy as Jesus. And today, more than ever before, we need some
“crazy Christians.”

            I don’t want to be too quick to judge Jesus’ mother & family. They had good reason to be concerned. Jesus has been saying some really crazy things. “Do not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse; but, on the contrary, repay with a blessing.” Or how about this one: “The greatest among you will be your servant.” That’s crazy.

            What the world calls wretched, Jesus calls blessed--the poor, the merciful, the hungry, the persecuted, the compassionate. “Love your enemies,” he said, “bless those who curse you, pray for those who despitefully use you.” He was crazy.

            But today we need some Christians who are as crazy as the Lord. Crazy enough to love like Jesus, to give like Jesus, to forgive like Jesus, to do justice, love mercy, walk humbly with God--like Jesus. Crazy enough to dare to change the world from the nightmare it often is into something close to the dream that God dreams for it. And for those who would follow him, those who would be his disciples, those who would live as and be the people of the Way? It might come as a shock, but they are called to craziness.

            Let me suggest one example of such a call from the New Testament: Mary Magdalene.

Think back to the crucifixion of Jesus. Crucifixion was execution by the empire for crimes against the state. It was public torture. It was an intentionally brutal means of capital punishment, an execution designed to send a message that revolution & revolutionaries would not be tolerated. If you were a supporter or follower of the person being crucified, it was dangerous to stand too close by during the execution. The rational & sensible thing to do was to go into hiding or exile.

            Having said that, let’s call the roll of those Jesus called to follow him. At the cross… Simon Peter? Absent. James? Absent. Andrew? Absent. Bartholomew? Absent. Thomas? Absent. Judas? Definitely absent. Mary Magdalene? Present & accounted for! Now that’s a disciple! When the old slaves sang, “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” there was a woman named Mary who could answer, “I was there!” Now, that’s crazy!

            When Steve Jobs, one of the founders of Apple, died a few years ago, an old Apple commercial from the 90s went viral on YouTube. The tag line for the commercial & the company was “Think different,” a phrase that is grammatically incorrect--which is part of the point.

            The commercial showed a collage of photographs & film footage of people who have invented & inspired, created & sacrificed to improve the world, to make a difference. It showed Bob Dylan, Amelia Earhart, Frank Lloyd Wright, Maria Callas, Muhammad Ali, Martin Luther King Jr., Jim Henson, Albert Einstein, Pablo Picasso, Mahatma Gandhi & on & on & on. As the images rolled by, a voice read this poem:

            “Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels./The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes./The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules./And they have no respect for the status quo./You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them./ About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them./Because they change things./They push the human race forward./While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius./Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

            We need some crazy Christians. Sane, sanitized Christianity is killing us.That may have worked once upon a time, but it won’t carry the gospel anymore. We need some crazy Christians like Mary Magdalene & Martin Luther King, Jr. Christians crazy enough to believe that God is real & that Jesus lives. Crazy enough to follow the radical way of the gospel. Crazy enough to believe that the love of God is greater than all the powers of evil & death. Crazy enough to believe, as Dr. King often said, that though “the moral arc of the universe is long, …it always bends toward justice.”

            We need some Christians crazy enough to believe that children don’t have to go to bed hungry; that the world doesn’t have to be the way it often seems to be; that there is a way to lay down our swords & shields, down by the riverside; that, as the slaves used to sing, “there’s plenty good room in my Father’s kingdom,” because every human being has been created in the image of God, & we are all equally children of God & meant to be treated as such.

            Are you willing to be listed among those who are crazy for God? It’s a good crowd to be among; & Jesus is leading the parade! Amen.