Tag Archives: jesus

How Jesus would run a blog

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Jesus would take into account that everything he wrote would be read by a wide range of audiences.

Jesus would tell stories that had clear meanings, meanings that were intentionally divisive, meanings that were hope to some readers and a dagger to others.

Jesus would leave some comments unanswered.

Jesus wouldn’t try to persuade.

Jesus would make the core of the blog be as accessible as possible.

Jesus would make the core of the blog be all that he talked about.

Jesus would spend time praying about every post, every word, every question.

Jesus would completely ignore statistics of clicks and readership.

Jesus would write in a way that made people think that he knew exactly what was going on in their hearts.

Jesus would figure out how to livestream from time to time, so that people could see as well as just read what he was saying.

Jesus would have many people who were sure they understood him and that he was on their side.

Jesus would not be on anyone’s side.

Jesus would have huge spikes in the number of readers after a really touching post, and then have almost everyone unsubscribe when he suggested that clicking “follow” wasn’t the same as actually following.

Jesus would make people think and want to comment.

Jesus would have many readers who would be afraid to let anyone know they were reading.

Jesus would get emails in the middle of the night, and would answer them honestly and pointedly, but always leaving a sense that he loved.

Jesus would write for the long-run, for the deep change.

Jesus would be downplayed by people who were thought to be smart people, though they would keep reading what he said, “Just to stay informed about the enemy.”

Jesus would ask almost too much.

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How old stories can make new sense.

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We all have stories. We have some stories in common. Sometimes, we don’t know what they really mean until someone shows us the thread running through our individual stories and our cultural stories.

On the day Jesus came back to life, he started walking down the road with a couple of his former followers. It’s not that they quit, it’s that they figured he had quit. That he was gone. That he was dead.

They were walking, talking about the previous week. Entry into Jerusalem, teaching in the temple, last supper, crucifixtion, rumors of resurrection. If you’ve ever lost a close friend, you know the conversation. If you’ve ever heard unbelievable news, you know the confusion.

Jesus started walking with them. They were preoccupied, and he was somehow disguised so they didn’t recognize him.

I’m interested that Jesus didn’t start with, “ta da!” That would have impressed them. But it wouldn’t have taught them. And teaching them the big story seemed to matter to him. So instead of a big reveal, Jesus started a walking seminar.

He started with Moses. He talked through the Prophets. That’s Exodus and Deuteronomy. That’s Isaiah and Amos and Jeremiah. He took the stories these two people knew intimately, had learned and talked about since childhood, and used a bright yellow highlighter to draw arrows pointing to the messiah. He took a red marker to underline the sentences that were about messiah suffering. He used purple and circled the ones about majesty.

They sensed that this was a remarkable teacher, that this was a once-in-a-lifetime explanation. All of the pieces were starting to make sense.

They arrived at home They asked him in, “Because it’s evening.” He stopped. He gave the thanks for the food.

Immediately, they knew who it was. Immediately, he was gone.

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From Luke 24

Advent 22: Friends

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“What do we do? How can we help?”

When we have friends who are in the middle of pain and suffering, when we have friends who have no way to get to Jesus for healing because of the crowds, what do we do? I mean, we can’t heal anyone ourselves. We can’t take away the pain and the doubt and the uncertainty and the paralysis.

The man on the mat couldn’t move either. Even if he wanted to get to Jesus, he couldn’t. He couldn’t move on his own, and the room where Jesus was teaching was full of people, including the teachers of the law and the Pharisees. In other words, the people who desperately needed healing were being kept away by the inertia of the people who were trying to find out whether Jesus was being accurate.

Finally, the friends of the man ripped up the roof and lowered him through the hole.

When you really want to get your friends to see Jesus, to be right in front of him, nothing material matters.

And He knows. And cares. And sees the faith of friends.

(From Luke 5:17-26)

Advent 19: Spectators

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A shore can make a great amphitheater.  Not the kind of shore that is sand for a thousand feet, not a beach, but a shore. Kind of rocky, a hill creating a bowl, that kind of shore. And so, with that kind of shore in mind, it is possible to imagine a crowd listening to Jesus as he was standing on the shore, speaking.

But just like with real people, Bible people struggled to hear. They moved in close. People pushed from behind. People slipped in front. And now, Jesus is standing with his heels touching the water.

He could have stepped backwards ON the water, you know. He would do that later. And he could have done it now, except for the truth that for that kind of action you want close friends, people who will understand that it is a rare event, intended to make a point.  With this group, it would be entertainment; they would be mere spectators. They would want the next big event.

Instead, Jesus pulled in an eavesdropper. Peter was working on the shore, perhaps torn between wanting to hear Jesus and being really annoyed at these people tripping over his nets. Jesus climbed into his boat and then called Peter over to take him out on the water.

Sometimes Jesus pulls the most unlikely people into relationship.  Rather than the people seemingly devoted to listening, he calls to people who are otherwise occupied and says, “I just want to have you do what you already know how to do, just to help me out, just for a little while.” As Peter would discover, this “little while” would change his whole future, would lead to his death, would make him be the unlikely leader of the early church.

But for starters, Peter just rowed his boat.

And that was enough to start.

(From Luke 5:1-5)

Advent 18: Away

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It’s okay to hide.

Sometimes, anyway.

We looked at some people searching for Jesus yesterday. He had spent the night healing people, whatever illness they brought to him. When day came, he left for a secluded place. He needed some rest. And then the people came looking for him, wanting him to stay and keep healing them.

This means that when he stopped and went to find a place away, there were people who hadn’t been healed yet. There were people who still had problems. There were people who didn’t have their lives together. And Jesus walked away.

We think that as God, he could have kept going. But he was also fully man, which meant that he needed to sleep, to rest, to be away. Which means that it is okay to be human. It is acceptable after a heavy day of work to go away, to head home, to leave work undone.

When you are working hard doing what God calls you to do, you have permission, by example, to not do everything, to not heal everyone, to go away.

And that is something to anticipate.

(From Luke 4:40-44)

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Here’s part of my reading list for this year: 2011 Books