Jesus, My Troublemaker

I think I might be in deep "doo doo." A few weeks ago I unexpectedly had lunch with a colleague. We talked about Christology - a subject our Presbyterian Church (USA) must recover if we are to heed a call to mission in this new century (IMHO - in my humble opinion).

He asked me to try something... try focusing on "Jesus". Not "God", not "Christ", not even (the, The) "Holy Spirit." I was good with the God part for about five minutes and then I slipped into the majestic title, "Christ". "No, no," he smiled, "Christ is a title, think Jesus - the guy with the name." (that's a Bob paraphrase). My experiment was off to a shaky start, to be sure. It is now three weeks later and I'm doing much better. But I may be in "trouble." My world is changing.

The first recognition that something was shifting, was a perception of Jesus. Jesus was not present. My imagination went into overdrive as I considered the possibilities before me. I walked to WalMart today and encountered someone for whom I had an unbidden judgement. Then I suddenly "saw" Jesus beside that person, embracing him, loving him, pointing him to a new way. I know, I know, you've heard that before. You used it in sermons. What I encountered was not the metaphorical Jesus. He was a dead man walking.

Jesus is showing up and I keep bumping into him. Jesus is a person. Resurrected or not, "Historical" or not, thinking about Jesus is dynamic. Jesus is a person with a name, like mine. There is a personal and relational energy using this vantage point of reflection. This is not totally unfamiliar. I was raised with the concept of Christ as my "personal" Savior. But this is different. this is not "personal" as in "mine, belonging to me." The personal I am discovering is global in nature. Part of relational web that snares all humanity its divine design. Jesus is showing up in love through the many friends I have in my social network. They love me no matter what. They remind who I really am. They want the best for me and bring out the best in me. Like Jesus. I didn't see that possibility before. In my experience, Jesus was a seldom mentioned theological construct (seldom mentioned that is in comparison to "God" (most mentioned) and "Christ" (second) or "Holy Spirit" (actually Holy Spirit may come in fourth after Jesus. Not sure.

Jesus is active, alive.. maybe this is what the Resurrection is all about. I have N.T. Wright's, Surprised by Hope as the next book on my reading pile. Maybe I'll get some insight there. My dilemma is sort of the first century dilemma. If Jesus is resurrected then what does that mean? Does it mean religion (as in "organized, institutional") or does it a spiritual event (as in creating meaning for my humanity). I am thinking that one thing I keep bumping into with Jesus is that there are possibilities, miracles even, love being the chief among them.

Another experiment discovery is that I am reading the Gospels differently. Maybe they are reading me differently? My theologian friends, please allow me a moment of wonderment. The Gospels are soooo different than the Epistles. Jesus is so different in the Gospels than the Epistles. Come to think of it, Jesus kind of fades from view. I wonder what that is about?

My doo doo pile is messing up my shoes and I don't know whether to scrape it off or leave so I can see what it becomes (that metaphor is a little smelly, isn't it?). It's earthy though. If Jesus is around and is messin' with my life, then what is church all about? Is our Presbyterian Church (USA) what Jesus came to do? And if Jesus is messin' with the PCUSA, then what do I do?

I know what to do and not to do now. But is Jesus is around today, then I don't know what to do.

For now, I'm going to keep my experiment going. The only thing I can think of "to do" is to follow Jesus around and see what he's up to. I'll let you know. And to my esteemed and respected colleague who made this off the cuff challenge... thanks a lot.

Scraping,

Bob