Repairing The Breach

Isaiah 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD. “We cannot suffer with the poor when we are unwilling to confront those persons and systems that cause poverty.We cannot set the captives free when we do not want to confront those who carry the keys.We cannot profess our solidarity with those who are oppressed when we are unwilling to confront the oppressor. Compassion without confrontation fades quickly into fruitless sentimental commiseration.” 1 Henri Nouwen The Gospel for this week brings us face to face with a fiery, activist Jesus who has no time for good manners. The powers of darkness – political, religious and social – are closing around him. His work of releasing the captives is making him both friends and enemies. Rumours of glory are mixing with rumours of threat. Kingdoms are clashing. There is no safe place. ‘The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head’ (Luke 9.58). This context may seem more like a Netflix series than any representation of the parishes in which many of us live and worship. Our church is – perhaps sadly – not known as a hotbed of social and political (or even religious) activism on behalf of the downtrodden, the captives. Most of us are good-hearted but few of us are lion-hearted. When we ask ourselves the question, “What would Jesus do?” (WWJD), I wonder how many of us answer, “Jesus would confront both political and religious authority so powerfully and loudly and lovingly and insistently – on behalf of those held captive - that those authorities would like to kill him”? And yet, we ask ourselves that WWJD question when we’re trying to work out what we should do. Don’t we? Perhaps we need another cup of tea? Perhaps we need another Jesus? One more like us. On To The Next Adventure - Carol Aust 55