Jesus, the unexpected

There he is.  In the temple again

Causing trouble

Speaking very differently from other preachers

Speaking with authority about sorrow, anxiety, sickness and death

Penetrating the dark corners of human existence

Shattering illusions

Make no mistake about it

This is a dangerous man

                     Martin Bell, The Way of the Wolf

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There he is in the manger

Surrounded by animals

Surrounded by outcasts and losers

Surrounded by Magi, heretics from afar

There he is already

On day one

Jesus the revolutionary

Hanging about on the fringes of society

God, slumming it

So it began

And it never changed

Interesting isn’t it, how no one of note showed up

When this king was born

No priests

No Sadducees

No Pharisees

No one with power

No one with wealth

Just those outside the circle of blessing

So it began

And it never changed

He called his disciples from the working poor

He hung out with aliens and outcasts

With Romans, and tax collectors

Widows and lepers

The cripples and the mentally ill

He said he came to set the prisoner free

He said he came to heal the sick

And he said he came to find and save lost

But who were the lost?

The manger gives us the answer

Those who did not find their way to the manger were the lost

Those who did not leave all behind and follow the carpenter were the lost

Herod was lost

The Sadducees and Pharisees were lost

The rich were lost

The arrogant were lost

Not the poor,

Not the sinners

Not those who knew they needed saving

Jesus was a minister to the poor

Jesus was a prophet who challenged the very

Structures and ideologies that kept them poor

He redefined lost

He redefined blessed

And nothing has changed

I suspect Jesus is not to be found in the great cathedrals

In the auditoriums of the megachurches

With their smoke and lights

And audio visuals

And pretentious preachers

I suspect Jesus is not to be found in the halls of power

In Congress

Or the White House

Or the SCOTUS

Or in the Board Rooms of big corporations

Or in the corner offices of the obscenely wealthy

Not because Jesus doesn’t want to be there

But because when one is full of power

And focused on wealth

There is little room for “the way”

When one has it all

The last thing one wants, is one who

Calls one to “give it all up”

(Just as the rich young ruler)

The last thing one really wants is “the way” revealed in the manger

The way revealed by Jesus

That way that demands sacrifice

That way which asks us to give all we have and follow

Which asks us to take care of the poor, whether we think they deserve it, or not

And welcome the stranger, whether we are comfortable with them, or not

Which asks us to give to receive

Be to servants rather than rulers

Which asks us to die in order to live

So there he is

In the manger

He looks harmless now

But already the signs are there

This is a dangerous man