What Appears to Be Insane

Acts 26:24-25

While he was making this defense, Festus exclaimed, “You are out of your mind, Paul! Too much learning is driving you insane!” But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking the sober truth.

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Welcome to my breakdown.
I hope I didn't scare you.
That's just the way we are when we come down.

"Welcome to My Nightmare" by Alice Cooper

One of the most difficult things about being a Christian is that to the world we're all kind of crazy. We believe in love. We believe in redemption. We believe no one is beyond the reach of God's redemptive work. Where this gets crazy is that if we believe no one is beyond redemption we had better believe that no one is beyond redemption. The moment we put limits on God's redeeming work, we put limits on God.

Sharing this truth has put Christians in a pickle since the beginning of Christ's ministry. Men left the family business. Men left their homes and families. Followers suffered scorn, ridicule, pain and even death. What's crazy is that they continued their mission!

We can always depend on the Holy Spirit to give us the words we need to share the Good News, but we can't guarantee people will be ready to hear it, or at least to accept it. Festus heard the word, but he was not ready to hear it. He declared Paul out of his mind. "Too much learning is driving you insane!" Festus was scared, frightened by the words Paul spoke and he could not fathom them. Instead he declared the Apostle coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs.

Friends, share the good news with your neighbors and you will risk the same rejection. Jesus tells us that we will be rejected by some, but he will never reject us. When people call us crazy we need to welcome them to our breakdown. It's just the way people often hear the word of God when it first comes down to them.

That's fine too, we aren't alone. Many have been called that sort of crazy before the Apostle. Many have been called that sort of crazy for speaking the sober truth. In Christ there is no nightmare, there is no breakdown--it'll just look that way to some people.

The Weight and The Burden

Matthew 11:28-30

“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

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I pulled into Nazareth, I was feelin' about half past dead;
I just need some place where I can lay my head.
"Hey, mister, can you tell me where a man might find a bed?"
He just grinned and shook my hand, and "No!", was all he said.

Take a load off Fanny, take a load for free;
Take a load off Fanny, and you put the load right on me.

"The Weight" written by Robbie Robertson and performed by The Band with Mavis Staples and the Staples Singers from "The Last Waltz"

Just to get this out of the way, this song wasn't written as a biblical allegory. It was written about a guy pulling into Nazareth, Pennsylvania. Each verse has the singer encountering people from town. It's as easy as that.

Then again, if you can't draw a parallel to the birth narrative of Jesus you aren't trying very hard. While this devotional takes the easy biblical reference, it's the rest of the song, the encounters with other townsfolk, that makes it interesting.

Through the rest of the song, after the Inn Keeper the singer meets Carmen and the Devil, Miss Moses and Luke and Anna Lee, Chester and Jack the Dog. It's just a slice of life in Bethlehem. Maybe it does seem a little more like scripture every moment through the day.

The Gospels are filled with random people whose lives intersect Jesus and his disciples. Sometimes the fellow travelers are annoyed, but Jesus is always gracious. He runs into people carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders everyday, and everyday Jesus makes the way lighter.

In Christ there is rest for the burdened, weary soul. Jesus never promised a Club Med for the soul. We aren't promised everyday will be a picnic, what we are promised is that Jesus is there and his way is better than anyway we can discern on our own.

By the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are saved. Our loads add nothing to the journey and more often than not they detract from the path. It's up to us to pull off the road, and while we're walking the streets of Nazareth, be sure to say hello to Jesus and take his load. Gentle and humble are better than busy and laden any day of the week.

Fighting Against

Acts 14:1-3

The same thing occurred in Iconium, where Paul and Barnabas went into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks became believers. But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.

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No kiddin',
I'm ready to fight

"Boom Boom, Out Go the Lights" written by Little Walter recorded by the Pat Travers Band

Here's the bad news. It's much easier to stand against something than it is to stand for something. All anyone needs to stand against something is to have something to stand against and a forum to let it out.

This is actually why some people prefer the Gospel of John. John's gospel stands against the Jewish leaders of the temple, but since it just says "the Jews" it's easy and lazy to lump everyone together and cry out "when I get her in my sights, boom boom, out go the lights."

The difference is that Paul and Barnabas spoke for something, they spoke for someone, the Lord Jesus Christ. They spoke of his sovereignty. They spoke of his works. They spoke of his grace and peace. They spoke of the wonders and the glory of God.

The temple leaders just said "We've never done it that way before!" and stirred others against the men who bring the Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ.

It's easy to be against something, it's tougher to be for something. Jesus gives us something to be for, glory be to God.