The Villager Voice
Poor Jesus has been taking some lumps in the past week. A candidate for governor in North Carolina has told his followers that they need to be more like Jesus (especially the men) who warned the disciples to make sure they packed a sword (I do seem to recall his telling them to pack a tunic and not much more, and chided Peter for drawing a sword in Gethsemane, but maybe I missed the footnotes). And a nearby church jumped into an online fray – actually, you might say they created it – by reminding us that Jesus called us to judge one another. (Apparently Matthew 7.1 has been updated when I wasn’t looking, “Judge one another lest you be judged yourself.”)
You and I are smack in the middle of Epiphany, when we are considering the ways Jesus is manifest to the world, but I’m not certain this is what the church intends, that we just trot him out, put words in his mouth and sic him on those we disagree with. When he told us to turn the other cheek, go the extra mile and give our coat to whoever needs it, he didn’t include that we should be provoking one another – unless it is in the spirit of the Letter to the Hebrews where we read “Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds.” In fact, I like that idea very much. In an era when folks are quick to focus on their differences with one another, maybe we can be provocative for love and good deeds. It may not make the headlines, but it will make a difference.
Here are the links to this Sunday’s bulletin and service: