Reckless, Generous Love

Beloved in Christ,

Our gospel lesson for this coming Sunday (Mark 8:27-38) reminds us that Jesus was not what anyone expected. He asks his closest followers: “Who do you say that I am?” Peter’s hand quickly shoots up with the right answer: “You are the Messiah.” When Jesus proceeds to unpack how he will inhabit the role, by suffering and dying, the star student offers a stern rebuke to the teacher. That’s not how you are supposed to do it, Jesus. 

The Messiah was supposed to overthrow the oppressive Roman Empire and restore the people of God to their former security and glory. Yet here is Jesus, claiming to be that Messiah, and instead of kicking out the oppressor, he aims to allow that very power to torture and execute him like a common criminal. That’s how the Messiah will achieve the promised liberation of God’s people. By refusing to stand as one more violent actor on a violent stage. It sounded crazy then, and it should sound crazy now.

In a world locked into a nightmarish binary of winners and losers. In a world where we assume abundance and security are always a zero sum game, where your gain must always equal my loss, Jesus storms upstream to offer us a better way: the way of love, the way of willing the good of another. You have to lose it to save it, Jesus shows us.

The question we are always called to ask ourselves, as individuals, as congregations, as a whole church, is are we, by our life together, showing this better way? When people see us, do they see us anxiously trying to cling to what we have, trying to win and be right, or do they see Jesus’ crazy way of love? Are we swimming upstream with Jesus, joining him in turning our whole crazy world sane with perfect, endless, recklessly generous love? 

Grace and Peace, 

The Right Reverend Craig Loya