Lowell Grisham: A Jesus world

What if more people responded like Him?

How different might our culture be if we engaged our world as Jesus engaged his? Jesus challenged conventional thinking.

In his day, people commonly believed that illness and poverty were the just consequences of moral failures. They said wealth and health were signs of God's blessing. Jesus disagreed. Jesus started from a perspective of compassion. He extended special compassion toward the sick and the poor.

Jesus' primary activity was healing. He let nothing limit his compassion. In violation of religious laws, he healed on the Sabbath. In violation of purity laws, he healed foreigners and the unclean; he healed sinners and touched the untouchable. He also healed the servants of the rich and powerful.

It seems to me that if we were to adopt Jesus' values, we could solve some of the dilemmas that tend to divide us. A Jesus ethic would insist that access to healing and medical care must be universal. Who would Jesus not heal? In a Jesus world, there would be no uninsured. Foreigners or citizens, wealthy or impoverished. All would have full and equal access to healing.

And when Jesus finished healing, he ate with everyone. In a culture where to eat with someone was to proclaim a public alliance with them, Jesus ate with foreigners and sinners as generously as he did with his own people. All four gospels tell of Jesus' eating with sinners and feeding multitudes. He extended the same generous feeding to foreigners as he offered to his own people. In a Jesus-world, foreigners would be treated with the same respect and care as natives. People of different religions would be given full respect and friendship, full rights to food and health care.

If we lived by the example of Jesus, we would give special attention to the poor, and we would expect the wealthy to accept responsibility for their impoverished neighbors. Jesus taught that the rich man is directly related to poor Lazarus suffering outside his walls. Jesus spoke many warnings to the wealthy and challenged their right to their riches.

His teaching directly contradicted the common belief that wealth was a sign of God's blessing and that poverty was a sign of God's judgment. "Blessed are the poor," said Jesus, and "woe to you who are rich." His compassion inspired Zacchaeus, the rich tax collector, to give away half his wealth and to restore four-fold his illegal gains. The wealthy Joseph of Arimathea risked his position and power on behalf of Jesus, a condemned capital criminal, and gave the executed man his own fine tomb for a dignified burial. A Jesus-inspired economy would connect the wealthy and the poor in a compassionate relationship of generosity.

Jesus understood the concerns of the poor. At the center of Jesus' prayer is a petition for a living wage, "Give us today our daily bread." In a famous parable he told of workers who went to the vineyard. Some worked all day, others arrived at different hours, even until one hour before quitting time. Each worker received the usual daily wage, a denarius, enough to feed a family for the next day. In a Jesus-economy there would be work for all, including the latecomer, and everyone would receive a living wage adequate to support their family.

In his parable about the judgment of the nations he offered a simple standard of judgment: Did the nations feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, cloth the naked, care for the sick, visit the imprisoned?

In a patriarchal world, Jesus gave a special place to women. He let Mary of Bethany sit at his feet and learn just like a male disciple. When an unclean woman touched him, he called her "daughter" and blessed her healing. Jesus befriended a Samaritan woman when it was scandalous for him even to talk to her. Mary Magdalene was the first witness to his resurrection.

Jesus shows us an agenda for a just world. How different might our culture be if we engaged our world as Jesus engaged his? How different might our politics and economics be?

He spoke of small things -- a mustard seed, a pinch of yeast, a lost coin, the one lost sheep in the flock of one hundred. He taught deep wisdom. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Accept your forgiveness and forgive others. Do not judge. Be not afraid. Love one another. Love your neighbor as yourself.

What if these values were our values?

Commentary on 05/23/2017

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