September 17, 2006

Jesus as ‘Mr. Fixit’

In the Gospel story today Jesus had noticed that the people seem confused about who he is. Some of them loved him, followed him around and some seemed to want to kill him. So he asked Peter, “Who do they think I am?”

Peter told him that some thought he was the resurrected Elijah who would announce the Messiah. Some people thought he was John the Baptist or an Old Testament Prophet resurrected. Well, Jesus answered, who do you say that I am? Peter said, “I think you are the new King David, come to restore the good old days of Israel.” Jesus said, “Peter you are on the side of man, not God, If anyone would be on God’s side they have to deny themselves the riches of the earth like in the good ol’ days.”

Today that would be like asking Jesus if he had returned to restore The American Century. Have you heard of the “The American Century?” In the year 2000 journalists tried to name the twentieth century The American Century. It means the century in which America became the pre-eminent country in the world. And we did. The century began with World War I, which ended global dominance by one of the European countries. America settled that World War to end all wars. Woodrow Wilson started the League of Nations, which had never been tried before. Then we flat won WWII, defeating Germany and Japan when England could not. Then came the glorious Eisenhower years and John Kennedy’s Camelot; and in 1969 we landed on the moon. Viet Nam and Nixon were not so great, but we survived them . . . on our feet, and finally we saw the end of the Soviet Union, America’s great adversary. Boy, who would not want to return to that glory? There really was a car in every garage and chicken in every pot.

Now suppose Jesus asks you the question he asked Peter. Peter said he would like to go back to the century in Israel’s history when Israel was a pre-eminent world power like America was in the 20th century. So you repeat Peter’s prediction. “Jesus, you are the man we have been looking for to straighten out the country and make it great again.” Jesus of course would reply, “The Country? You are on the side of man not the side of God.” Jesus might even ask, “And which great country do you want me to restore? Greece, Rome, Spain, England?”

Of course, like Peter, we would be confused. If Jesus is coming back to fix things, would he not have to fix America first? After all we do have a great track record for being the shining city on the hill, a model for all the new democracies in the world. OK, we did have slaves for a while, and we didn’t treat the Indians too well and maybe we better not mention Mexico at all.

Maybe we should ask Jesus what he means when he says we ought to be on the side of God, not man. How does one be on the side of God? Surely God wants to fix this earth and the people in it, make them all free to pursue happiness…human rights for everyone. What would Jesus fix if he were to come again?

Well for openers, if he behaved like he did last time, he wouldn’t fix anything, nothing at all. You might say he would give us a “Good talking to.” No, I don’t think he would fuss at us. He would show us his love and his acceptance regardless of our great ideas for the world and even all the nations in it. I don’t think he would object too much if we told him we really needed to get rid of some of the evil people in this world. There are some real baddies out there; for example whoever is doing all those bad things in The Sudan. Jesus would agree that we need to support our country. Whatever belongs to Caesar give to Caesar. We are not called to withdraw from problems. We are distinctly called to involve ourselves in the problems of the world. In a word, we are called to be involved in humanity, because we are a part of humanity and the Earth. Each of us human beings is a part of humanity, and it is clear that we are called to serve God by serving humanity.

Alas, what we are not called to do is fix humanity. Someone asked me one time if psychiatrists could cure mental illness. I replied that I did not think people could be cured . . . like hams and tobacco and bacon. “I can help nearly anyone who comes in asking for help. I can help them do whatever they are doing, but I cannot do something for people who are not asking that something be done for them. I was never able to both find broken people and fix them. I’m not even sure when people are broken and need fixing. I know I don’t want to be fixed cause somebody thinks I’m broken. I’m very reluctant to visit a surgeon unless I know what’s broken. I don’t like carrying my teeth to a dentist who loves to find teeth that can be fixed. I don’t even like teachers who want to fix me. Jesus did not fix people because they were broken. He helped people who asked him for help. And he suggested that we help people who ask us for help: the poor, the orphans, the captives, the slaves, and to acknowledge that we are humans . . . and God is God. Nowhere has God asked us to fix his broken creation.

Work on the world. Take care of it. Pray about it. Acknowledge the evil in the world. Even stop evil-doers if you can. But do not fix the world by changing it, not the course of a river, the growth of a tree, or the rising of the tide. If there is a hurricane, respond to it, but make no plan to stop it.

We are a part of this world. We are a part of humanity. Our call is to claim our responsibility for the world and creation and to act on that responsibility when we can. “And God give us the wisdom to recognize our strength and our weakness so we will know when to act and when to pray. Help us to be on the side of God.” Amen