1. Making Jesus offensive again

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

3. Today’s text
The gospels – go read them

4. Jesus (or at least the gospel writers) wanted (at least at times) to be offensive
E.g. John  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;

5. 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…)

6. 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

7. 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)

8. 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…)

9. 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)

10. 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)