My grandchildren’s favorite word is again. Wherever we are, if we’re having fun together, they’re yelling, “Again!” And when one starts, the rest join in, with much anticipation and celebration.
We like wonder. We need awe!
The early disciples must have been in awe and wonder every time Jesus said or did something that was so beautiful and so contrary to what they thought they knew.
His first miracle, turning the water into wine to keep the weeklong party going, must have dazzled many and aggravated others. Didn’t he know better?
How could he touch the lepers when they were unclean? This was unheard of!
Why would he invite the children to come to him when he was so busy?
Why would he call someone, like a traitor of a tax collector, to follow him? Didn’t he understand social rules?
How could he allow a woman to learn at his feet when she should have been doing something more “womanly”?
Why didn’t he hate the Samaritans like he should?
How on earth did Jesus, when confronted with a woman who had devoted her life to living in sin, not throw stones when he had every right to? Why did he choose to be her safe place instead?
How could he heal someone on a holy day? Why couldn’t he just respect the religion?
Sometimes we forget that Jesus was everywhere he shouldn’t have been and loving all the people he should have never loved.
Can you feel the wonder, the goosebumps, the grace every single time he broke the status quo and upset the religious institution?
When Jesus left this earth he told his disciples to take heart because he would send someone who would comfort and strengthen them in this mission. And his Spirit resides with each disciple today.
So maybe Jesus is asking us to do it again.
Love the unlovable. See the unseen. Listen to the unheard. Free the oppressed. Serve the marginalized. Protect the abused. Forgive our enemies. Refuse to wield Scripture as a weapon. Work for justice. Give up our bigotry. Put to rest our unloving traditions. Silence our fears. Make the lives of our neighbors a little easier in this broken mess of a world.
Do it again, Church.
You turned the world upside down once and you did it without a million dollar building, committees, pulpits, brands, the right political candidates, and everything else you think you need today. Our ancestors did it one person at a time. They got out of their comfort zones and they trusted their God.
The Spirit is still here. Still mighty. Still willing.
Let’s do it again.