Making Jesus offensive again

When jesus gave offense ca. 200 C.E. Caption on graffiti: Alexamenos worships God

Today’s text The gospels – go read them

Jesus (or at least the gospel writers) wanted (at least at times) to be offensive E.g. John 6 - 52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day;

The temptation: we don’t want to be weird for being jesus-followers (and we’re tired of being associated with people who are admittedly nutbars) So, it’s easy to keep the message to, for example: Jesus is wise and loving (and maybe non-violent depending who you’re talking to) Jesus loves the children of the world (though he may be just waiting to toss most of them into hell if they reach the age of 13 or so) Lots of jesus-followers have done wonderful things (but there have been others…)

1. Offending the “conservatives” Jesus loved hanging out with “sinners” and troublemakers (and didn’t spend a lot of time on the typical reasons that people thought they were sinners and troublemakers) He didn’t spend much time trying to sign up followers (or getting them to “ask him into their hearts”) Jesus held tradition very loosely - always ready to re-interpret Jesus even questioned loyalty to family Jesus was not very nice to religious leaders (or others in power) – he loved to criticize them and make people question them Jesus taught non-violent love of enemies as an important theme and thought the poor were most worth paying attention to

2. Offending the “progressives” Though forgiving, jesus made very challenging invitations – he expected changed lives for those “with ears to hear” These invitations often involved radical trust – beyond logic, “scientific thinking,” and reasonable expectations Jesus liked to talk about demonic powers and set people free from them Jesus was blunt about the harsh consequences that could result from people’s actions and choices Jesus emphasized the central importance of his experienced relationship with his “Abba” – to the point that he implied a divine status (prayer was as important as, and guided, action)

3. Offending those who expect perfection Jesus didn’t know everything (and got some things wrong) Jesus was occasionally short with people – and frustrated with them (He even got angry with a fig tree for not bearing fruit out of season…) He really struggled with the whole gethsemane thing (fair enough but still…)

4. Offending society in general Why I disagree with c. s. lewis and “liar, lunatic or Lord” Jesus’ moral teachings don’t “work” without conversion (a continual conversion that most of society is not ready for) i.e. a life of radical trust in loving community For example, his way often led to martyrdom and persecution (or even just forsaking of privilege and control)

Yes, jesus is very cool and an exciting challenge to this crazy world But it’s also really hard to follow him And I need tons of support from others trying to do the same thing And I need to unlearn so much stuff (all the time) (over and over again) And it’s impossible to get it all sorted out once and for all and so I need to stay dependent on the (i.e. his) Spirit through prayer and other spiritual practices But it’s also incredibly life-giving and full of forgiveness, grace and hope (so much so that it’s worth dying or being persecuted or giving up privilege and control)