The Messy Message of Jesus by Vicki Adamsvicki adams - 14 Feb 2007

I’ve lost count of the number of talks I’ve heard, commenting on Jesus’ rather unusual selection of disciples.  Many times I’ve found comfort that he did not choose based on ability, past experience, ‘holiness’ or leadership skills.  I’ve also spent moments wondering how this hapless band (with some notable additions) managed to spread the gospel across the nation, let alone the world.

Peter is one of the better examples of Jesus's unusual taste in friends and followers.  We can see examples in scripture of his misunderstanding, his doubt, and his failure.  Where is the sense in naming this man as the ‘rock’ on which the church will be built? (Matthew 16:18)

Thinking about this over the last few weeks, I’ve realised there are many times in my life where God has shown a similar seeming lack of logic.  Working with the Salvation Army, I often watch amazed as God moves in places I have mentally written off or during events where I had long ago switched off.

It seems that God does not choose to move in broken people and situations simply because there is no one else.  It is not some unfortunate ‘plan B’ he has selected because all the better options have been exhausted.  He is intentional and decided, looking past our rough and blurry edges to see the divine potential nestling within us all.

Moving within our organisations, we wait in anticipation for the sorted and sensible solution to become clear.  Things happen we do not expect and we write these off as ‘attacks from the enemy’ or we spend days and hours strategising; trying to come up with a way to solve our problems neatly and quickly.

How then, should we respond when suddenly we find ourselves without a key member of our leadership team?  When the practicalities of our setting seem to be squeezing out the vision God has given us?  When we have fasted and prayed and sought counsel, and still things seem as foggy as ever?

Unfortunately, there is no neat section of scripture providing us with a strategy for these moments.  Jesus simply teaches us about perseverance, forgiveness, humility, and other uncomfortable responses to these stretching situations.   In his life and story there is no tidy, pain-free method of getting through these things.

Rightly, we spend much time focusing on the triumph and victory of the resurrection. Sometimes it is easy to forget that Jesus had to suffer the pain and humiliation of the cross first. In our own lives we look forward to those moments of celebration; forgetting that we too have to struggle with difficulty and pain.  We don’t like to think or talk about these moments, subscribing to the idea that these are somehow blips on our record, black marks that restrict God’s will in our lives.  We write ourselves off in these moments and sometimes, maybe even subconsciously, we avoid those around us who are currently in these periods.

It is unfortunate, for our sanitised preferences, that the gospel accounts include such graphic accounts of Jesus’ death.  We seldom stop to contemplate his painful embrace of all that is messy, uncertain, and outwardly a show of defeat.  Peter summarises our common reaction neatly in Matthew chapter 16, when he responds as Jesus spells out the pain and suffering he must endure for God’s will to be done. – "Never, Lord!" he said.  "This shall never happen to you!" (16:22).

Peter couldn’t understand that good could come out of these events.  And often we can’t comprehend that the bits of our prayer rooms, communities or personal lives that seem messiest are often the areas where God will bring about new life, creativity and miracles.  Many times, we respond with a “Never, Lord”.  Many times we sit down to try and work out the best way forward.  Maybe, just maybe, we should try admitting that we haven’t got all the answers. Maybe we should recognise that life is sometimes simply illogical.  We have to put things back into God’s hands because they are too heavy for us to carry. Maybe then, our attempts at living lives of prayer and community will resound with honesty, in spite of and  through our mess and uncertainty.