Crazy Jesus. The doctor asked patient # 1 what he was doing. The patient replied, "Can't you see I'm sawing this piece of wood in half?

Transcription

1 A doctor of psychology was doing his normal morning rounds when he entered a patient's room. He found Patient #1 sitting on the floor, pretending to saw a piece of wood in half. Patient #2 was hanging from the ceiling, by his feet. The doctor asked patient # 1 what he was doing. The patient replied, "Can't you see I'm sawing this piece of wood in half?" The doctor inquired of Patient #1 what Patient #2 was doing. Patient #1 replied, "Oh, he's my friend, but he's a little crazy; he thinks he's a lightbulb." The doctor looks up and notices Patient #2's face is turning red. The doctor asks Patient #1, "If he's your friend, you should get him down from there before he hurts himself." Patient #1 replies, "What? And work in the dark?" A Sermon from Rev. Dr. Jody Seymour, Senior Pastor Crazy Jesus In our scripture for today, Jesus is accused of being out of his mind. When I heard the story for today, I thought of John Legend s song, All of Me : You ve got my head spinning, no kidding, I can t pin you down What s going on in that beautiful mind I m on your magical mystery ride And I m so dizzy, don t know what hit me, but I ll be alright My head s under water But I m breathing fine You re crazy and I m out of my mind. In our story today, the religious leaders first think that Jesus is not in his right mind and may even be possessed by some sort of alien spirit. Add to this that his family is thinking of conducting some kind of intervention because they fear that Jesus has gone out of his mind. Jesus is acting a bit crazy. He responds to the assertion that he might be working for the devil by informing the religious leaders that they just may have committed the unforgivable sin. That is sort of like telling the Pope that he needs to go to confession. It is a bit crazy. Page 1

2 Then after all this somewhat crazy talk, some well-meaning people tell Jesus that his family is really worried about him and has come to take him away. You know, take him away as in that silly song of a few years ago when a funny voice sings: Well, you left me anyhow and the days got worse and worse and now you see I've gone completely out of my mind. And They're coming to take me away Ha Ha They're coming to take me away ho ho he he ha ha to the funny farm where life is beautiful all the time, and I'll be happy to see those nice young men in their clean white coats and they're coming to take me away ha ha So Jesus family comes to take him away and what does he do? He says that they are really not his family, but that all who follow him and his crazy ways are his real family. So Jesus is in a way saying, Yes, I am crazy and if you want to follow me and be part of my real family, you may be accused of being out of your mind. So we have a new membership vow this morning if we want to follow Jesus. We simply say to Jesus, you re crazy and I m out of my mind. It seems that if we are honest, to really follow Jesus and not just be a member of a religious club called church, we might just have to be a little bit crazy. Jesus family and the religious leaders must have been wanting Jesus to color between the lines and stay with traditional views and practices. So what does Jesus do? He hangs out with outsiders and says that some of them would get in the Kingdom of God before some of the church folks. Not smart. Then his imagination goes wild and he starts saying things that seem crazy. Here are some of the crazy requests from Jesus: Turn the other cheek pray for those who persecute you forgive 70 times 7 be willing to be last instead of first.love your enemies.sell what you have and give it to the poor do not worry about money or things.take up your cross and follow me. According to the standards we often set, which are small and careful, Jesus just might be crazy. Could it be that the world needs such craziness? This week, I read a plea by Michael Curry from Duke when he preached at a recent remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Page 2

3 Curry said such things as: What the world calls wretched, Jesus calls blessed. Blessed are the poor and the poor in spirit. Blessed are the merciful, the compassionate. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst that God s righteous justice might prevail. Blessed are those who work for peace. Blessed are you when you are persecuted just for trying to love and do what is good. Jesus was crazy. He said, Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, pray for those who despitefully use you. He was crazy. He prayed while folk were killing him, Father, forgive them; they know not what they do. Now, that s crazy. We need some Christians who are as crazy as the Lord. Crazy enough to love like Jesus, to give like Jesus, to forgive like Jesus, to do justice, love mercy, walk humbly with God -- like Jesus. Crazy enough to dare to change the world from the nightmare it often is into something close to the dream that God dreams for it. And for those who would follow him, those who would be his disciples, those who would live as and be the people of the Way? It might come as a shock, but they are called to craziness. Curry goes on to challenge those who would be crazy enough to follow Jesus to remember the commercial that Steve Jobs put out when he wanted to change the Apple brand. Jobs wanted to challenge all who would be part of the Apple family to think different and take a chance rather than think traditional and play it safe: In the commercial, they showed a collage of photographs and film footage of people who have invented and inspired, created and sacrificed to improve the world, to make a difference. They showed Bob Dylan, Amelia Earhart, Frank Lloyd Wright, Maria Callas, Muhammad Ali, Martin Luther King Jr., Jim Henson, Albert Einstein, Pablo Picasso, Mahatma Gandhi and on and on and on. As the images rolled by, a voice read this poem: Here s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. Page 3

4 The ones who see things differently. They re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do. A Sermon from Rev. Dr. Jody Seymour, Senior Pastor We need some crazy Christians. Sane, sanitized Christianity is killing us. That may have worked once upon a time, but it won t carry the gospel anymore (from faithandleadership.com/ Michael Curry: We Need Some Crazy Christians) hristians). So perhaps using the words of that song by John Legend could it be that after we hear Jesus request to follow him we simply say to Jesus, You re crazy and I m out of my mind, but I will follow you and do some crazy things to help you transform the world. Today, I invite you to the table of a man whom the world still thinks to be a bit crazy. When those who first heard of this man found out what he asked his followers to do, they knew he was out of his mind. He told his followers to eat his flesh and drink his blood. Now that s crazy. But today we again come to the table to remember that risk he took for us and how he asks us to go a little crazy for him. Page 4

5 Love takes chances, but we have tried some of the seemingly sane ways of the world and what has it gotten us. So how about if we follow crazy Jesus and start taking chances on the way the truth and the life? Page 5