Not Really, No Way, No Thanks

How might I respond if Jesus did everything I asked?

I MIGHT JUST SHOW HIM THE DOOR

A recent reading from the Gospel of Matthew raised questions about how I might respond if Jesus suddenly answered some of my noisiest prayers.

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I might say NOT REALLY.

In the first verses of the passage from Matthew, a crowd gathers around Jesus, wowed by his healings and exorcisms. A couple of sincere sounding guys — one already identified as a committed disciple — ask to accompany Jesus on his mission.

Jesus warns both that following him will play havoc with their familiar comforts and priorities.

If Jesus had asked a follow up question like, So, ready to go?, they might have muttered, Not really.

Lord, how many times I’ve asked you to “fix” some mess in my life so that I could better follow you, only to receive your help and then mutter Not really by recreating the same mess or something like it. Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly. (Proverbs 26:11)

Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

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I might say NO WAY.

The next incident Matthew presents is Jesus calming a storm on a lake.

His disciples are glad that he saved their boat (and them!) from going to the bottom. But while glad for their deliverance, they marvel and wonder, Wow, who is this guy?

Lord, how many times I’ve been a spiritual glutton, oohing and aahing at your wonderful interventions in my life, only to remain unchanged and hungering for another good feeling. How often have I acted like rebellious Israel in the wildernes; They tested God in their heart by demanding the food they craved. (Psalm 78:30)

Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

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I might say NO THANKS.

The third incident that Matthew recounts is Jesus performing an exorcism. But the witnesses, instead of celebrating the spiritual liberation of their neighbors and asking Jesus to bring more deliverance to their community, give in to fear and tell him to go away.

Lord, how many times I’ve “believed” in your power from a distance but resisted your coming close enough to heal and deliver me. How many times have I been like Jerusalem, which drove you to tears and lamentation before sending you to a cross outside its walls, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! (Matthew 23:37)

Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

How about you? Has Jesus come close, only to have you show him the door?

Let us give thanks for his faithful, patient love.