Where’s the Real Scandal?

For something to be a scandal it has to come from a position of power and responsibility. We expect people in authority to act responsibly, either by law or simply by assumed expectation. Missteps that are quickly acknowledged are quickly forgiven and deemed less “scandalous”. The weight of scandal (what makes it juicy, perhaps)comes when the offender lies and covers and denies their wrongdoing. The eventual pile of muck and destruction leads to an exciting downfall as a false empire of security gets pulled down around the ears of the offender.

So with this baggage surrounding us as a church body, why are we starting a sermon series called “The Scandals of Jesus”? Was Jesus scandalous? Was he a lawbreaker? a drunkard? an illegitimate child? Was he a friend of the prostitutes, tax collectors and low-level laborers? The answer is yes…and no.

Jesus’s actions in his day offended the religious leadership who had cultivated respect and power and levied enormous expectations on all “faithful” Jews, a long, long list of dos and don’ts. Sound familiar? I think the real scandal has been on behalf of the modern church that has cultivated the Good News to reach an upper echelon of citizens while dismissing the lower classes; we have glossed over the messy or difficult things Jesus has said to make him palatable and modern, ignoring the fact that Jesus ruffled feathers constantly! He got right up in people’s faces about their false-hearted leadership and criticisms. But he didn’t do it out of spite; he did it out of love for both those being persecuted and the persecutor.  We as a church have, in essence, told our neighbors, “Get yourself cleaned up; look right, dress right, talk right…and then you can come be part of our group.” This is Scandalous to the Gospel, which has forgiven each and every one of our mistakes on a daily basis.

Join us as we seek a truer understanding of our faith, ourselves and, most importantly, our savior.