I love Jesus. He befriended outcasts and lived in the margins of society while staying in relationship with people that needed Him the most. He was never about Himself, but always about others. He wasn’t afraid to show His anger and His tender love. He was a passionate man. A man filled with emotions. He also maintained relationships with the powerful in the government and in the religion of Jerusalem, Judaism. He lived in a patriarchal society, but never let women stepped on, including prostitutes. He was completely innocent of the trumped-up charges that ended up putting Him on the Cross. He took criticism and ridicule and threats and never let these things pull Him from His primary focus. He allowed himself to be murdered by state violence to expose the injustice of that violence. He asked us to love our enemies, and to bless those who curse us (Luke 6:27–28). He warned that those who lived by the sword would die by it (Matthew 26:52).
Jesus never seemed to hate people the way we do, nor did He want us to be rich or admired. Our faith, frail as it is sometimes, needs to be flexible so that we can self-correct as we have more and more profound encounters with people who are different from us. We are exposed to new experiences and ideas and challenges every day it seems. And yet Jesus was so humble, and I feel He wants us to be humble too, so that we can continuously root out our own biases, and the sometimes subconscious weeds of white supremacy that are deeply seeded in the soil of our culture, our religion, and our country.
Staying in a place that is holy still seems deeply uncomfortable, largely because certainty in the life of faith doesn’t serve us well. At some point, the idea or theology or image of God we have adopted may fall short for us because we’ve constructed our own personal God who takes care of us the way we wish Him to do. And when our God doesn’t seem to answer us and help us as we wish we may feel like abandoning God or faith altogether, and leave ourselves entirely unmoored.
What we need the most, it seems, is a deep faith where we trust that God alone steers this mysterious universe, where there is clearly much hidden from us and much still before us — and where “eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and the human heart has not conceived, what God has prepared for those who love God” 1 Corinthians 2:9. More and more we need to ask ourselves how we can leave the future in God’s hands and agree to hold on to the present in a humbly way so that we can be OK with what we only tentatively knows for sure. We must learn to have a faith that gives up our struggles with having to control our future and learn to trust God in every single detail.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.
From the Bible:
“And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith” Matthew 21:22.
“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” Hebrews 11:6.
“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” Romans 10:17.
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen”
Hebrews 11:1.
“And Jesus answered them, ‘Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours’”
Mark 11:22-24.
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” Joshua 1:9.
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