October 25th, 2020
Donna Joy

Matthew 22:34-46

Years ago while serving as incumbent at a previous parish, there was a needlepoint picture of Jesus hanging in the downstairs parish hall. It was difficult to have a close-up view as it hung on top of the overhang between the kitchen and the hall itself, and the ceilings in that hall were extremely high. At a distance, it looked like a photograph, and the image was of a handsome, white skinned, blue eyed, long haired Jesus, portrayed as young (perhaps mid-20’s), meek, and mild, and endlessly gentle. I remember sharing a parish meal in that parish hall with a young 6 year old boy. As he was eating his meal, he looked up and seemingly for the first time noticed that image, and he asked me if it was a picture of Jesus. Clearly I was too quick to nod ‘yes’ without saying more about it, because when he saw me nod ‘yes’ he responded immediately by saying, “Wow. Lucky thing they got a picture of him before he died.”

So, yes, as a surface level, really, really funny. At a deeper level, though, I think the image many Christians have of Jesus has been largely shaped by such portrayals: meek and mild; identified with a certain ethnic make-up, and in the words of Bob Dylan, ‘forever young’. (The portrayal of Jesus as blue-eyed with skin that is white was largely motivated by slave owners who were interested in shaping Jesus into their own image. But that particular ethnic piece of the puzzle is for a whole other sermon)

I believe that portrayals of Jesus as meek, mild, and always gentle have led Christians (certainly Anglican Christians) to become far too committed to nice. Jesus wasn’t particularly ‘nice.’ (Pleasant; agreeable; satisfactory. If you asked the Scribes or the Pharisees, they would not describe Jesus as pleasant, agreeable, or satisfactory!) Certainly, Jesus embodied love at its finest, but often this love was expressed in ways that moved people out of their comfort level and he paid the ultimate price for his bold, outrageous courage. He was, in fact, despised by many because he was NOT particularly committed to ‘nice.’ (This, in itself, I think, is often a hard message for Anglicans to hear.)

For the past few weeks we’ve been hearing stories of Jesus challenging the status quo; responding to questions from people in positions of power in ways that anger them and shatter any illusions of him as an innocuous nice guy. These powerful people try really hard to trip Jesus up, but he keeps outsmarting those interrogating him- challenging them, and in so doing, making them really angry.

And here’s the thing: none of these previous passages which include Jesus physically trashing display booths of moneychangers and challenging the biblical literacy or the values of powerful people violates the law of love. It is right in the midst of all this tension and conflict where Jesus patiently explains that the most important thing is to love God with your whole being, along with the other most important thing which grows out of this brand of love; that is, to love your neighbour in the same way you love yourself. I’m sure Jesus loved his enemies, so when he challenged them, he spoke this bold truth in love.

The only reasonable conclusion we can draw is that the Jesus depicted in these stories sees no contradiction between his formidable actions and the love he preachers. This may cause us to reconsider what Christian love actually looks like within the context of our daily life. Too often in the church, “love” is used as an excuse to take the path of least resistance instead of the path of true Gospel living. When telling the truth would be uncomfortable, we avoid putting ourselves out there, and call it “love.” How frequently “love” is a code word for turning a blind eye to hurtful, bullying behaviour whether that be actual treatment of one to another, or racist, ageist, sexist jokes or comments.

Our definition of “love” is often suspiciously easy on us and for us. If we interpret ‘love’ to justify NOT speaking or acting out against injustices, then life becomes increasingly easy and non-challenging. And when I refer to injustices, I am talking about personal, individual injustices such as gossip and bullying as well as societal injustices such as laws that feed the rich while minimizing support for those who live on the margins. Injustices such as Residential Schools, the consequences of which we continue to minimize today. But this is not the definition of love that Jesus is working with in Matthew. The Jesus we see in these stories thinks that to love God with the whole self, with “all of your heart, all of your soul, and with all of your mind” is demanding and risky. For Jesus, love leads him to jump into debates and conflicts with the whole of his being. Love leads Jesus into all kinds of situations that are not just uncomfortable, but dangerous. Eventually, love gets him killed.

Of course, we are none of us Jesus. But there is much to learn by seeing the love of Jesus in action. The same love that inspired Jesus to eat with the outcast, reach out to the untouchable, and embrace the powerless, also drove him to confront the demonic, outmaneuver the manipulative, and correct those whose assumptions needed to be challenged. Jesus is a lot more complicated than we sometimes understand, and the love he taught demands that we speak out against anything that is harmful to others.

So as followers of Jesus, called to the same brand of love, We are called to boldly speak out against anything that diminishes or disregards others. (I was pleased to discover this week that our Outreach Ministry Team, – in addition to faithfully responding to the needs of our communities and the wider world, is beginning to look at challenging the structures/systems that create such needs.) “Evil persists in the world when good people say/do nothing.”

Of course, there are the big examples, such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, theologian and Lutheran pastor who was executed during WW2 for his resistance to the Hitler regime. His book ‘The Cost of Discipleship’ emphasizes the point that true discipleship requires courage and a willingness to make sacrifices in order to confront the evils around us. As individuals, when we observe behaviour that is unkind, we are required to speak out against it and challenge those who are behaving in this way. I can guarantee that this will win you some noteworthy enemies, but that is all part of the ‘Cost of Discipleship’. So, the next time we see a portrayal of Jesus as meek and mild, gentle and innocuous, let’s return to the stories that precede this morning’s call to love as Jesus loves. That is: stories that call us to challenge anything that fails to respect the dignity of every human being.