Now is the time…

Christians in America haven’t really had to be all that Christian.

Christianity has taken on many forms in this nation. We’ve done the whole Christendom thing, or some variation of it – certainly not to the extent that the Europeans did in the past. Christendom has always been this weird twisting of Christianity with state power that insisted on people acting certain ways and following supposedly Christian laws, which were really nothing more than trying to dictate a morality that some people imposed, usually because they struggled with those very things themselves.

We’ve tried cultural Christianity, which felt like junk food – tasted good initially but was really empty calories and left people hungering.

We’ve tried a version of Christianity that focused on scaring people, using fear, using force. The Puritans were really good at that – it was supposedly religious freedom, but really it was the freedom to impose their religious beliefs on others. There’s nothing free about any of it.

We’re tried a compartmentalized Christianity – where we think we only need to practice the supposed niceness of Jesus on Sunday mornings in our segregated worship spaces, and then set it aside and practice the ways of the world the other 6 1/2 days. All that did was show people that Christians didn’t actually believe what they claimed to believe.

We’re tried a version of Christianity in which we gave all sorts of authority and power to those in charge because they clearly must have some kind of special knowledge or connection to God, so anything they say or do must be right and holy. Never mind the abuse that took place. We’ll just cover that up and blame the victims.

All these forms of Christianity, if that’s what we want to call them, have shown themselves to be completely lacking and devoid of Jesus. And now we have yet another version of Christianity – one interested in imposing its beliefs on others, willing to use force if necessary (that is if the rest of us don’t comply with what they know is best for us). It too will fail. Because it’s not based on Jesus, his way, or what he represents.

If ever there was a time for Christians to actually practice the way of Jesus – this would be it. Now is the time.

So what does it mean to follow Jesus and his way? Jesus’ way rejects violence and the use of force. It rejects manipulation and threats. His way is invitational and welcoming. Jesus’ way doesn’t see others who are different as threats, but rather as representing a wider swath of the image of God. Jesus’ way doesn’t see someone else as an enemy, even if they see you as the enemy and want to destroy you.

Jesus’ way rejects the idea of the ends justify the means. He rejected this notion over and over again in the Gospels. Satan attempted to offer Jesus the levers of earthly power – power that Jesus could have imposed his Kingdom on everyone. Yet Jesus rejected this. Because his way isn’t about the ends justifying the means. The ends justify the means is far more concerned with being right and winning than with care about people. Jesus’ way is that the ends and the means are equally important. How you go about living matters. Jesus’ way is about seeing the image of God in others, not making sure people get it right.

Jesus’ way rejects the notion that people only have value because of what they produce. Every human has value because they exist.

Jesus’ way is about loving others and seeing their humanity regardless of how the others respond. That’s not an easy thing. It is focused on love though. To serve and love and care about the well-being of the other, even if the other intends to cause suffering, harm, or even death, is what the radical way of Jesus is really about.

The way of Jesus rejects cruelty and works to instill compassion and empathy in cruelty’s place. It embodies the Spirit of God.

Friends, we are on a journey in this life. The main point of the journey isn’t a sole focus on arriving at a particular destination. It is the journey itself that matters. The destination will take care of itself. The signposts along the journey point us in a direction. They help us to see where Christ reveals himself to us.

The other versions of Christianity have all been tried so many times. It’s Christianity without Christ and without Jesus’ way. They all end up failing because they are missing the key ingredient – life in Christ.

Now is the time for Christians to see how they are embraced by Christ. To listen to him speaking in your ear about how he loves you in spite of everything. To feel him grab you by the arm to pull you out of the pits of the world. To look beside you and see him there in the midst of horribleness that seems inevitable so that you know you are not alone. To feel him abide within you in order to release the anger, fear, desire to use force and violence. To release the despair, the hopelessness, and the feeling of loss. To release all of it so that there is room to receive love, mercy, grace, forgiveness. So your eyes are cleansed to be able to see the image of God in others. So that you know that when you suffer for the sake of not embracing a false way that only leads to death and destruction, you are not alone in your suffering and that there is hope for something better promised.

Now is the time to embrace living the faith that we have been taught. Not to set it aside because the world throws violence, force, anger, fear, and more at you and you want to respond in kind. Now is the time to follow a better path. Now is the time to love your enemies. Now is the time to see the image of God in those who refuse to see it in you. Now is the time to be a peacemaker with those whose blood burns with violence, revenge, and force. Now is the time to invite people into this way, especially when it seems like there is no choice in the matter. Now is the time to say “no” when others demand our compliance and allegiance to ways of abuse, cruelty, the ends justify the means, and more. Now is the time to live the faith we have been given.

None of this is easy. We want to fight back. We want to dehumanize our opponents and enemies. We want to sneer at them. We want to separate and divide and judge. We want “them” to suffer for the pain they inflict. We want them to change. But this is not the way of Jesus. These are the ways of Christianity without Jesus.

Now is the time. We don’t follow Jesus only when it’s convenient and easy. We follow him when it matters most. When it most difficult. When we feel most alone. When it seems hopeless. When it seems like all is lost. We toss Jesus and his ways aside when we fool ourselves into believing that someone else has a more realistic way to live, when we think we should put our faith in an ideology, or a flag, or a person, or anything else besides God.

But have faith. The Apostles probably felt something similar, and yet, they persisted with joy and hope. The early church probably did too as it faced the Roman Empire – an empire that billed itself as being eternal. People have been following Jesus’ way for a long time, up against some truly horrible and terrible things. And they persisted. And stayed faithful. And kept hope. You are not alone Christian. There have been many who have come before you, and who are with you now, and that stand with you in body or in spirit.

Now is the time to live the hope we have been given. Now is the time to see the Image of God amongst us and in us. Now is the time to give undeserved mercy and grace. Now is the time to embrace a radical hope that Christ offers. Now is the time.