Rambling about Riots and an Extreme Jesus

Just thinking out loud...

I do that

Often

Too often.

Like wondering what it would take to get some men to get pedicures before they wear sandals out in public... then, realizing that I’m thinking out loud and the man across from me (in sandals) is not amused.    Wondering if it’s possible for you to be more stupid... and then realizing that up until that point (when I started thinking out loud) I was offering you pastoral care

So, now I’m typing it.

Hoping that it will be quieter

  And that I’ll the chance to edit; re-edit; redact or simply erase  (none of which I’ll actually do...)

The rioting in England.

The rioting that many think could happen here.

The seemingly senseless destruction of property, or theft of things not truly needed.

If the looters were stealing food, I might have some sympathy... but not when they are stealing Hotspurs’ jerseys (although if you are going to steal... Tottenham is a fine team).

As a young man, I can remember being involved in vandalism.  Nothing very dramatic, some rocks through windows or a name spray painted in the part (NS <3 a variety of changing letters)., toilet-paper a car... or tree... or house...  But nothing more. 

So what’s different between most of my friends and me in our teens and the young people in London and environs?

I think that we were afraid to get caught.  Not afraid that we would be punished or go to jail.. but afraid that if we were caught, we risked out futures.  I can remember being invited to do something a little bigger; a little more risky than I’d ever done before and thinking , “But if I get caught... I won’t be able to be a lawyer..” (that was before I discovered that being a lawyer meant a bunch of years in school, lots of Latin and a thankless back-breaking internship... unlike Ministery...  wait a minute!).

I do clearly recall thinking that if I did this stupid thing, I would be risking my future... and my future was not something that I wanted to lose.

I suspect that many of these young rioters and looters, don’t have that feeling... in fact, they probably feel as is they have nothing to lose.

There is no place for them in the system.

They don’t matter.

They will never affect change.

They have little or nothing to which to look forward  (notice the snazzy grammar).

So, why not break a window and grab some runners and a Man U scarf?

There was a time that the church had something for these folks.

A time before we promised punishment for such sins.

A time before we promised “Pie in the sky when you  die” for those who had nothing in this life.

I’m thinking back to before Jesus became our Highschool Principal who would guide you and protect you from the bullies as long as you followed the rules.

I’m talking about the Jesus who put no investment in the system.

The Jesus who was counter-culture.

The one who said, “You’re right, you can’t trust the system; you can’t let the government decide for you... don’t let them tell you who’s good and who’s bad; and how you should treat the enemy..  resist them: Love your Enemy!  The “man” will tell you that if you work hard you will be blessed with money and success... God will tell you that the poor are blessed!”

These young people breaking windows and setting fires, have lost faith in the system and realize that if there is only the system, then they have no hope.  But Jesus lived a life of hope that was not in the system, but beyond it.  Jesus offered a faith, not in government or established authority, but in the power of people to affect and change each other (he called it “love”).

I wonder if we might be ready to risk - to starting preaching and sharing a counter-culture Jesus... not a Jesus who breaks windows and sets fires; but a Jesus who also rejects the status quo and the traditional authorities; who recognizes them as being bankrupt – but who does not give up hope, because hope is in God; hope is in this world as we dare to transform it with love.

I think that might be able to get Jesus out of that suit and suspenders and let him be Extreme, the way that he is in the Gospel.  I know we like our Jesus meek and mild, but he was more often extreme: Challenging people to throw the first stone (if they really believed that they had it all figured out and were above reproach); inviting people to live on the edge, willing to die so that they might truly live... and showing them, the all of this is meant to change the world...and in doing that, they would themselves be changed.  (kind of backward, I know... but that’s Jesus).

I know that I’m rambling... but I am longing for a faith that invites, empowers and assures me that I can change the world; that gives me hope for the future as it divests itself from the false promises of our televisions, retailers and governments.  I’m not saying I don’t like those things (hello, True Blood; good wine and a few politicians) – but I’m not investing my future and my hope in them.   I, like those looters and vandals, am ready for something more...  I just wish that we could find a way to share.