Hey Friends…
I mean this in the most positive light. Are you nuts? Crazy? Out of your mind? Oh, you’ve been trying to avoid that outcome, have you? I suppose such a moniker isn’t typically at the top of our desired life achievements. But maybe it should be. At least if we want to be like Jesus. I’ll tell you more in Deeper Thoughts below… But first… Some fun stuff at Mt. Hope: · Join our Mt. Hope History Team for a half-day brainstorming session, TOMORROW, Saturday, January 25, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., lunch included. Click here to email Sherri for details and to RSVP! · Ladies: Join us for our annual “Vision Board” event NEXT Saturday, February 1, 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. Click here for more info! · Teens: Youth Group this Sunday, 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., with lunch, games, and a personal story from Al Villaflor! Contact Jess if your teen will need a ride home. · Help our leaders pray for you! Even if you prefer to not be in our published church directory, it is super helpful to have your name and a photo of you in our church database so our elders and prayer team can visualize you as they get to know you. Click here to send in a picture for us to add… OR let Dave Firestone snap a picture of you this Sunday after church! · And don’t forget our “Daily Six” video series, six-minute videos every weekday to read along with me as I study through the Gospel of Mark. Click here to jump in this week and catch up! And if you’d like to receive daily email reminders, click here to receive a link to The Daily Six each morning! OK…that’s it today for you email skimmers and those who think crazy is all bad. BUT… Some Deeper Thoughts… Genuine mental illness is nothing to laugh about or speak of without compassion and understanding. Let’s set that sober subject aside for today, except to say that anyone who battles an authentic mental, emotional, or personality disorder is worthy of our love, support, care, and bountiful respect. “Crazy” isn’t the appropriate word for that deep struggle whatsoever. But there is a “crazy” that is good. You should seek after it. By any measure, things were going amazingly well in Jesus’ life. He was as healthy a person as has ever been. His accomplishments were stunning. He was at the top of his game, successful, famous, surrounded by thousands of admirers and friends. There was nothing in his life that any one of us wouldn’t want to experience. But his family thought he had gone completely mad. They wanted this to stop. Immediately. There must have been a family meeting. “Jesus has lost his marbles,” someone finally said out loud. Perhaps the boldness of whoever spoke up was a welcome relief to the silent tension that had been building for months. None of his brothers and sisters[i] wanted to say it, and I’m sure they feared deeply hurting their mom. She had undoubtedly told the family over and over again of that supernatural visitation of angels announcing Messiah was in her virgin womb[ii]. Perhaps the repeated stories of their eldest brother’s miraculous origins built a tension of its own among his siblings, maybe even a touch of jealousy. It had to frustrate them that Jesus never got in trouble. Talk about a real “middle child” syndrome when your oldest brother is an actual angel… er… um, a member of the eternal divine Trinity. But everyone was an adult now. Childhood jealousies aside, James and Jude and the sisters were genuinely concerned. Jesus was way out over his skis, and the family was paying a high price for his reckless lifestyle. Perhaps it started the day he embarrassed the family by inflaming the whole congregation at the synagogue[iii]. The rage he sparked that day with his confrontational sermon nearly got him killed. And since it was a small town, Joseph’s whole family must have lost respect among their lifetime neighbors and friends. Even Joseph’s carpentry business likely took a hit. It got worse. Jesus started holding healing services where thousands lined up to get their deliverance. A stately and long-respected gentleman from the synagogue was suddenly screaming out with demonic voices as a hidden evil within him was exposed and cast out[iv]. The crowds were quite excitable as all manner of physical ailments and disabilities were miraculously healed[v]. I don’t know if you’ve ever attended a Pentecostal healing service, but the mood and emotions can get a little uncomfortable for the more stoic among us. The family hit their breaking point when he started picking fights in public with the most respected religious leaders in town[vi]. They grew up learning everything about God from these teachers of the law. The Pharisees were their tribe: their people, their denomination, their comfortable tradition. And now Jesus so infuriated them that they were plotting to kill him[vii]. The Pharisees were certain his power was from the devil[viii]. He had to be stopped. I’m guessing that’s when they had the conversation with Mom. “We have to go get him,” they said to Mary. “He has gone too far. He is embarrassing our family. But worse than that, he’s going to get himself killed. And we know that’s going to break your heart, Mother. We know how much you love him.” Who knows how that conversation went over with Mary. I bet there were a lot of tears. She finally relented. “Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, ‘He is out of his mind’” (Mark 3:20-21). Mary came with his brothers. Perhaps her loving demeanor could melt Jesus just enough to hear their concerns and come home with them. To avoid making a scene, they asked someone else to go inside and quietly tell him his mother was outside. Jesus’ response was heartbreaking. “‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ he asked.” The rejection was like a knife through Mary’s heart. “Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, ‘Here are my mother and brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother’” (Mark 3:33-34). To his family, Jesus was crazy. To Jesus, his crazy followers were his new family. Friends, the real Gospel--the full Gospel—is foolishness to the common person[ix]. It is way too intense. It is way too supernatural. It is way too emotional. It is way too consuming. It is way too non-religious. Until you have tasted this Gospel’s power, it will feel foreign to you, scary, over-the-top. It will be crazy. I say you should want this. Do you? This Sunday let’s slow down and consider the lifestyle of Jesus and his disciples. Let’s give ourselves some room to feel a bit uncomfortable, to be a little skeptical. But let’s give it an honest look. Do we want to be as crazy as Jesus? By the way, his family finally came around. His brothers James and Jude wrote two books that made it into the New Testament. Mary stood by his side at the crucifixion[x]. They were all there at Pentecost[xi] and received a mighty baptism of the Holy Spirit[xii]. You and I should come around too. If you want to do some advance reading before Sunday, dig into all the footnotes I’ve offered below my signature line. Wow… he is crazy. Shall we join him? Much love… See you Sunday!! Chris Eads Mt. Hope Pastor Friend
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