Just A Closer Walk With Thee
This is a blog post from Holy Week 2011. I am going through my things. What struck me about this is that when I was reading it, I thought of Pope Francis. Today he is angry about a life size statue of himself and demands it be taken down. I am sure for a person of his humility he is affronted that people who are trying to make him a rock star think this is a compliment when just the other day he chastised us all for our indifference.
UMM! Hello! There is a mission here!! I cannot imagine how frustrating it is for Pope Francis to see the world with the heart of the Christ and love it, only to have it be so bloody confounding.
It all sounds so familiar.
“They came to Jerusalem, and on entering the temple area he began to drive out those selling and buying there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves. He did not permit anyone to carry anything through the temple area. Then he taught them saying, “Is it not written: ‘My house shall be called a prayer for all peoples’? But you have made it a den of thieves” The chief priests and the scribes came to hear of it and were seeking a way to put him to death, yet they feared him because the whole crowd was astonished by his teaching.” Mark 11: 15-18 This passage speaks to me every Holy Week because it is a side of Jesus we don’t often see. He is angry, impatient and it feels like he is completely DONE with the foolishness of people. He is a bit rude and insulting. To call the people thieves when this was the established marketplace, was well, calling more than just that into question. He is not making friends, but if you notice at the end of the quote, people are still listening. They may not like it, but they are still listening. Gone is the fluffy, wandering, full of energy Jesus. He is tired, maybe hungry and people are not getting IT! Good grief, what does he have to do? Die? So I imagine being there: I am a huge fan of this Jesus. I have been following him a while now. He is a person I can relate to. Though, I am not sure what that was all about and it makes me a little afraid. Who was this Jesus anyway? He used to be so calm, he used play with the kids, laugh over wine as he reclined with his friends, he seems changed. There is something that feels urgent. It actually makes me want to draw closer to him and to ask him, “what is wrong?” This is the Jesus that I feel a friendship with, I want to say, “I get it, Jesus” but then I can see him laugh and say, “No, you really don’t…” I know that the conversation is a bit futile. As much as I want to understand, what do I know about his mission? What do I know about what he knows? So instead I just walk with him, he is so far removed from us right now, I can feel his distance, his distractedness. Someone suggests we leave the city, thank God, it is getting really tense. So we leave, and we walk, but I keep pace with my Lord, I keep him in my sight.
