Pentecost 3 B: Crazy Love

Posted by DJL on Jun 7, 2018 in Dear Partner | 5 comments

Mark 3:20-35

Dear Partner in Preaching,

How do you define “crazy”? Not what makes you crazy, mind you :), but what you think of as absolutely crazy.

I ask because I think it’s really interesting that, just a few chapters into Mark’s story about Jesus, those around him are saying he’s crazy.

Saying people are “Crazy” or, in this case the parallel, “out of his mind” is strong language. It’s a way of discrediting people, of dismissing their views and actions, of trying to limit, if not destroy, their credibility and influence. It’s the kind of thing that you either say in jest to a good friend (“Don’t be crazy, we could never do that!”) or to – and, honestly, more frequently about – someone you really don’t like (“Don’t listen to him – the guy is just plain crazy”).

This is precisely what people are saying about Jesus. And they’re not just saying it here and there, once in a while, or under their breaths. No, they’re saying it outloud, in public, and even to his own family. Not only that, but his family seems to buy it. They are moved to action because “people were saying,” as Mark notes, “‘He has gone out of his mind’” (v.21).

So I’ll ask again: what does it take for you to decide someone is crazy? Is it that they hold very different beliefs from you? That they are at the other end of the political spectrum than you are? That they act and behave in ways that are threatening or, at the very least, hard to understand? That they have a passion which isn’t just theirs but that they want, even insist, should be everyone’s? What?

In Jesus’ case, it seems to be that he is healing anyone and everyone in need and casting out demons and doing all this even on the Sabbath. He is, in other words, breaking the rules to make sure everyone can experience God’s grace.

All of which sounds pretty good. So why are folks saying he’s lost his mind?

Well, think about it: In Jesus’ act of wild abandon and extreme inclusion, to the point of defying religious norms, he is shaking up the people around him, particularly but not exclusively the religious authorities, on two fronts.

First, he’s defying norms about who’s in and who’s out. Folks possessed by a demon, those maimed or born with some physical limitation or defect – these kinds of people were often assumed to be cursed, to be not natural, or to have sinned (or to be suffering from the sins of their parents – see John 9:1-2). Yet Jesus forgives and heals all who are in need. Everyone. No exceptions. And, just in case folks weren’t sure about this before, Jesus will soon push his point unbelievably and quite literally home when he says any and all who do the will of God are his true brothers and sisters and mother, radically redefining what constitutes a family in an age when family was everything.

Second, and moreover, he’s putting the need of the people he encounters above the religious traditions that regulate the lives of the people. Make no mistake: these religious traditions are important, useful, and valuable, but – and as we saw last week – they are a means to an experience of God and greater abundance in life, not an end in themselves. And when we put following the rules ahead of meeting need, we’ve actually, even if accidentally, misused the very rules God gave us to help us flourish.

This is why Jesus is called crazy.

And this is why those who follow him today are sometimes called crazy as well. Because, quite frankly, it sounds kind of crazy these days to invite everyone into our community without background checks, metal detectors, or security. And it may sound crazy to put the integrity of families, even immigrant families, above “border security.” And it’s definitely crazy to declare forgiveness for all our sins each week. It’s probably even more crazy to say that God loves everyone the same. This just isn’t how the quid pro quo world works. And yet it’s what Jesus does and calls those who follow him to do as well.

Perhaps the craziest – and most disturbing thing – about Jesus’ actions, of course, is that they rob of the folks back then – as well as us today! – of the ability to judge and fence in (or out) and define those around us by how they conform to our expectations. In fact, what we discover over and over again is that anytime we draw a line between who’s in and who’s out, we discover Jesus on the other side, identifying with them, caring for them, and loving them…just as he loves us.

He will pay a price for this. Those upset by his radical embrace and outlandish love will conspire, threaten, and eventually entrap and crucify him. And none of that will deter him. He will die unjustly in order to demonstrate God’s crazy love. And on the third day, God will raise him from the dead. Which may just mean that the cross has next to nothing to do with paying some price, or being punished in our stead, or satisfying God’s justice, but rather is the example of just how far we will go to get rid of those who witness to God’s expansive and all-encompassing love, and the resurrection is ultimately the testimony that that kind of love can simply not be stopped, not even by extreme violence, and so will eventually conquer all.

It’s a crazy and crucified messiah we follow, Dear Partner, and sometimes it takes more than a little nerve to proclaim his message. Thanks for having the courage and grace to do so…even and especially when it feels a little crazy.

Yours in Christ,
David

PS: My friend Michael Curry, Bishop of the Episcopal Church USA and of recent Meghan and Harry’ wedding fame, wrote a book a few years ago very much along these lines entitled Crazy Christians. It’s a good read.