We do not have time to rush

There is a difference between being rushed and being urgent. but we sometimes think they are the same thing.

The word, “rush” comes from a Old French word ruser

meaning “to dodge”. When we are in a rush we bounce all over the place. We move from 

breakfast to class to home in order to grab that thing you left behind to work to meetings to volunteering to practice to dropping off the kids to the gas station to make that phone call to picking up the kids to medical exams to back to dinner to bed to sleep. And in all our bouncing we are dodging all the places where Christ calls us to be.

The thing about the act of dodging is that to dodge means you are reacting. Like in the game dodgeball. You do not dodge until someone has thrown the ball. Dodgeball is a game of dodging and reacting.

How many of us live our lives dodging and reacting?

The word urgency comes from Latin and it means to press or push forward. Notice that to press forward means you are not jumping all over the place. To move forward means you are moving in a specific direction with the intent to press on in that direction. To move forward means that you can handle things that come up but they do not deter you from your mission. When Jesus stopped to heal the bleeding woman (Mark 5), the little girl died, but Jesus continued to press forward and healed the little girl.

You can tell when you read the gospel Jesus is moving with urgency. Jesus is clear that he is going to Jerusalem. Jesus is clear that he will be killed, which is why he is able to predict his death three different times. Jesus knows the direction he is moving and he moves with a sense of urgency.

Jesus does not dodge a question. He does not dodge authorities. He does not dodge an opportunity to help those in need. He does not dodge Pilate. He does not dodge the mob sent to get him. He does not dodge his betrayer. He does not dodge the cross. He does not dodge death. No!

This is a very large reason I am a follower of Jesus Christ. Christ brings clear direction in a world that is bouncing all around. Jesus teaches a way of life that is filled with purpose. Christ allows us to say no to certain things without guilt because together we are moving in a specific direction. Jesus empowers us to no longer dodge the difficulties of life but to confront them. Being a follower of Christ is to live so urgently that there is no time to rush.

Jesus in stained glass

If you have ever seared for Jesus in stained glass, you will find a number of picture of Jesus.Jesus on a cross. Jesus carrying a cross. Jesus with lambs. Jesus with kids. Jesus ascending. Jesus looking like he will karate chop you. Jesus looking like he will own you in a staring contest.

Loads of Jesuses (Jesi?).

We pick out images of Jesus that speak to us and then use those images to make stained glass. And have you noticed that so many of the images are of a peaceful Jesus?

I asked a group of people today that if they had one shot to commission a stained glass image of Jesus what would they choose?

The image you choose is more than what image you like. The image you choose reflects the image of God you have. The image of God you have directs the way you think about God. The way you think about God has a direct impact on how you live and function in the world.

Picking out an image of Jesus for a stained glass is a spiritual exercise. I would pick an image of Jesus turning over the tables or a picture of Jesus out of Mark 5.


You may recall a provocative set of pictures created around Jesus by LaChapelle. What is the artist saying with these images? What are you saying with yours? 

Be like Jesus and break the rules

It has been noted that the Dali Lama said, "“Learn and obey the rules very well, so you will know how to break them properly.” 

It has been noted that Jesus did not begin his public ministry until he was 30 years old, which means that he had a long time to learn the rules of the times. The thing is that when he breaks the rules of his religion, say healing on the Sabbath, we look at that and say, "well yes, that obvious! It should not matter when a person is healed but we should rejoice that the healing happened." 


But this is the beauty of breaking the rules properly. When the rules are properly broken then to later generations it looks obvious as to why no others would break the same rules. Eat with sinners, throw out money changers, speak out to those who's personal holiness keeps them from social holiness, equal rights to people - breaking these rules seems so obvious today. 


Ethical hindsight is something that generally makes us feel superior in a number of ways to the people of the past. "I would never own slaves" or "I would have fought with those for women's rights" or "I would have grabbed a whip with Jesus and drove out the money changers also". Ethical hindsight also makes it difficult to see what the next rules are that need to be broken. 


It seems like many of us go down a list and check them off:
Slavery abolished - check
Women's rights - check 
Child labor laws - check 
Health care for all people - check 


Ethical hindsight gives us a false sense of "we have arrived" and that all the really big justice issues are resolved. But we know that is not the case. 


So if you are reading the Bible and saying to yourself, "Yea, I would have done the things that Jesus did in his day to advance social justice." I would ask you what are you doing today to advance the cause of justice?