“Jesus wept.” –John 11:35
Dear friends,
“What would Jesus do?” When I was in high school people wore ankle bracelets with “WWJD” on them; others put the question on their car bumpers.
I haven’t seen a WWJD bracelet in a long time, but the question came back to me last night as I watched the news about Ferguson, Missouri—the grand jury decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson for the killing of Michael Brown, the ensuing press conference and peaceful protests and the burning of buildings and police cars. What would Jesus do today, in Ferguson?
It’s an important question to ask, and it’s equally important to seek answers with humility. Even Jesus’ disciples, the people closest to him, were constantly surprised by his next moves. Surely today, in Ferguson, in Framingham, Jesus would surprise us as well. Even so, the witness of the gospels gives us some clues.
The first thing Jesus would do, I believe, is weep. Jesus would weep as he wept for his friend Lazarus, at the tragedy of the death of Michael Brown, at the loss of one of God’s precious children. Jesus would weep over Ferguson, as he wept over Jerusalem, crying out, “if only you knew the things that make for peace.” He would grieve the depth of the distrust between and amongst God’s beloved.
And then, perhaps, he would stand in the middle of the street and shout, “Put away your swords”— your bricks, guns, bottle rockets, teargas. Through his words and his life, Jesus proclaimed that there is a power greater than violence—the power of God’s love. He would call upon all of us, whatever our perspective on yesterday’s events, to trust the power of God’s love to transform our world.
Where would Jesus eat dinner tonight? I wonder if he would sit down with Michael Brown’s family, offering the consolation of companionship, assuring them of the promise of healing and new life. Or maybe he would invite himself over to Darren Wilson’s house, just as he made himself a guest of the maligned tax collector Zacchaeus. Through his presence, he would convey his recognition that Darren Wilson is so much more than the symbol he has become, that he too is a beloved child of God. Perhaps Jesus would be outrageous enough to ask the two families to share a meal together.
A shared meal would not, for Jesus, mean that now everything is okay. Jesus never tried to smooth things over. And so his next step, I imagine, would be to challenge all of us to go deeper, to address root causes. He would urge us to examine our own hearts—to name the assumptions we make about individuals and groups. He would call us to look carefully at our public institutions and our laws. He would keep pushing until we address the impact economic inequality has on racial tension, until we find ways to improve schools and our criminal justice system.
There’s been plenty of bad news lately. Jesus, though, came to proclaim good news. And so I picture him walking right through the throngs of protesters, right through the line of police, proclaiming, “Repent [turn around] and believe the good news: the realm of God is at hand.” In the midst of anger and hate, despair and violence, Jesus would proclaim that God’s love is breaking in right then and there. He would challenge us to look for signs of God’s realm—in the people calling for peace, in unexpected friendships that emerge out of the struggle, in churches and synagogues and community organizations that quietly seek to break down barriers and create opportunity.
“What would Jesus do?” The problem with this question is that it’s hypothetical–“If Jesus were here today, what would he do?” Jesus is here today— a spirit of hope, the risen Christ present in the actions of all who seek to follow him. And so a better question may be: “What is Jesus doing?”
Jesus is weeping. Jesus is calling us to put away our swords. Jesus is gathering neighbors and strangers to share a meal of hope. Jesus is challenging us to move deeper. Jesus is proclaiming the coming of the realm of God’s love. Most of all, Jesus is loving us—every one of us.
Let us dare to follow Jesus.
Peace, Debbie