John 12:20-36
"Here we go again," grumbled the apostles. "He's doing that thing again. Saying he'll be killed, and glorified in the same breath. Man this guy is weird."
Yet they say this after seeing him do the most amazing things. He healed disabled and ill people. He changed the weather. He walked on the sea. He gave them magical Fish Fillet sandwiches! He killed a fig tree! WITH HIS MIND! He told a dead man to get up. And. He. Did. He called them by name.
These are our stories, but were their lives. Our radical transformation experiences are usually...more tame. More personal and intimate. We didn't meet Jesus on the road to Emmaus or Damascus. We met him driving in the car and hearing his call on the radio. As a 6 year old in five-day-club. Wondering what made that woman so kind and different. Seeing that passionate speaker at that one event. We were raised into it by faithful parents. We were raised into it by controlling and ruthless parents. Somewhere, sometime we met Jesus and were caught up in the river of where he is taking us.
We have, or will have a time when Jesus stands at the door of our heart and knocks. Remember, this image was not him knocking at unbelievers' doors, he was at a church. When he does this, he says something...Radical. Extreme. Life-changing and life-giving and life sacrificing. By all practical definitions, he says something wild and crazy. "Feed my sheep." "Step out of the boat." "Don't follow Kosher food laws." (he said a lot of crazy things to Peter)
He says these things to us, calls us to radical new ways of living in his truth. He does this through a quiet whisper in your heart, through the words of our pastor's sermon, through a song, through our own conscience, through our prayer.
Can we hear him, and love him, and follow him? We default to "here we go again" instead of "Your will be done." But his message has not changed. We only heard part of it at first, when we met him. Its not like radical transformation is coming out of the blue though. We just didn't see it, didn't listen. Can we listen now? Passionately devoted, following believers are radical, not crazy. Can we listen to Jesus, and follow him? Can we do this together? We're in this river, we chose it. Don't fight the current or curse the water for being wet. Float, follow the river where it takes you, revel in the breeze and sunlight (this is a metaphor, after all) and experience Jesus.
Rob Pierce