Are We Crazy or Accusers of Crazy?

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?”… All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’ But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. (Acts 2)

Often when Christians read this story we tend to put ourselves in the shoes of the disciples who were filled with the Holy Spirit. Sometimes, when we feel really zealous, we might even think that we are Peter making bold declarations for Jesus Christ. We preach that we are to go into the world and proclaim this Good News, decry injustice and wage peace and when we do so people will accuse you of being crazy, mad, or even drunk.

Are we upset that eggs are being broke or are we upset at those who are upset that eggs are being broke?

However, if the Bible teaches us anything it is that it gives voice to those who are marginalized and not in power. In the case of Pentecost, it might not be that we are the disciples but are the ones in the crowd making accusations of public drunkenness.

The past several Pentecost Sundays I am reminded of one of the great lines from St. Antony the Great: “A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him, saying, 'You are mad; you are not like us.”

If we look around and think things like, “All these people are going crazy. They are so mad and upset. They disturb the peace and are saying things in ways that I do not respect or understand.” Maybe it is not they who are the crazy ones. Maybe we have in fact become the ones who hear the Spirit filled people of God and think, “they must be drunk for behaving the way they are behaving.”

Are we crazy like we so often want to believe or are we the accusers of crazy and sneering at those who “must” be filled with new wine?

I Don't See Demons

I am now 38 years old, on my way to obtaining a doctorate, father of two, co-pastor of a wonderful church, and one who is categorized as progressive to post-liberal and I confess that I believe in real demons. I have for years now.

The bad news is that the demons don’t reveal themselves to me.

The worse news is that they don’t have to.

Years ago one Christian, Abraham, asked his teacher, Poemen, about how the demons fight. It is assumed that Abraham desired to know how the demons fought in order to defeat the demons himself. Sort of a “know thy enemy” approach.

When Poemen heard the question, he was shocked. Poemen was shocked to hear that the demons actually fight Abraham. One might be tempted to think that Poemen was a liberal “enlightened” Christian who did not believe in demons and was trying to teach the student that in fact there are no such things as demons. Rather, Poemen was shocked to hear that Abraham thought he was worthy enough for the demons’ time.

Poemen knew there are only a limited number of demons and so they have to be judicious in how they spend their energy. They have to pick fights with people who are real threats to the kingdom of division and injustice. Poemen knew Abraham well enough to know that Abraham was not a real threat to the demons so they would not spend resources to fight him. According to one translation Poemen’s response was:

Is it the demons who attack you? It is not the demons who attack me. When we follow our self-will then our will seem like demons and it is they who urge us to obey them. If you want to know the kind of people with whom the demons fight, it is Moses and those like him.’

I am like Abraham, I think that I am struggling against demons of fear, anger, lust, hatred and division. If only this were true! The reasons I don’t see demons is that I am not worth their time. I am distracted enough fighting with my own will that I don’t need any help from demons to pull me from the love, mercy and forgiveness of God. I am doing a fine job on my own.

I believe in demons and they are alive and well in this world. They torment my fellow sisters and brothers who are very real threats to the kingdom of division and injustice. I pray for those who threaten the work of the kingdom of division and injustice because they are very much under attack. Those who are helping to usher in the Kingdom of Mercy and Justice - those are who the demons spend their time tormenting. These are the ones who are helping to usher in the Kingdom of God:

Patrisse Khan-Cullors, Alicia Garza, Opal Tometi, William Barber, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, Liz Theoharis, Ibram X. Kendi… or as Poemen described them those like Moses.

As for me, I am so bound to following my own will that my first action is to repent so to learn the will of God. That means I need to listen less to my own mind and more to those like Moses.

One day I hope to see a demon because then I will know that I am a real threat to the kingdom of division and injustice.

Lord have mercy.

An Unknown God Call Mercy

Acts 17:30-31 came up in my readings this week. The NRSV translation puts it this way:

While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.’

Here Paul is making the case that the Greeks have an altar to an unknown god. Paul proclaims that the God they do not know is in fact known in Jesus Christ. This is among the great sermons in the Bible since is pulls the logic of the audience to a place where they are more inclined to hear the message. In fact verse 32 says, “When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some scoffed; but others said, ‘We will hear you again about this.’

What stood out was not the cleverness of Paul’s sermon, but the Good News he shares: the one who will judge the world is the one raised from the dead - Jesus.

If you were to choose what sort of judge you might desire would you desire the one who is harsh and demanding or the one who has been on the relieving end of mercy herself? Paul is saying, that the judge of all people at the end of everything is one who had been raised by God. Meaning, the judge of all life is one who would have remained dead had it not been for the work of God.

Can you imagine how delighted Jesus Christ the judge must be? How thankful? How much he would want to “pay it forward” to the rest of humanity? Can you imagine the mercy that must come from this judge?

While the Greeks knew of gods who judged out of wrath and condemnation; gods who were willing to throw bolts of lightning and tidal waves around because they did not like the offering given by mortals. Paul says that perhaps the reason they do not know of the “unknowing god” is because mercy was unknown to them in the realm of the gods. It may not just be that there is an “unknown god” but that mercy is a god they do not know.

Paul says that mercy is what God uses to judge.

No wonder some scoffed and others desired to hear more. Chances are if you are reading the idea that mercy is the standard Christ uses to judge might make you feel one of those two things as well.