Progressive Wednesday

Clergyman Charlie: On minding your business

December 2nd, 2007 by Charles Lamb

Occasionally I get an anonymous letter from someone telling me to “stick to religion” and to “stay out of politics.” Evidently these critics don’t see how the two relate. If I knew who wrote I’d reply by saying, “The church, and the prophets before the founding of the church, always spoke up for justice.”

There is an interesting scripture reading in Mark, 1:23-24 that reads as follows (in the New Revised Standard Version). Just then, there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.”

Whether you take the Scripture literally, as they would have done in the first century, and believed in a literal demon, or whether you want to interpret it in more modern terms, the point is that the man who spoke had an evil spirit, and was controlled by forces and attitudes that were destructive and against the mission of Christ.

He was also in the synagogue, which is a reminder that evil can dwell even in religious circles.

And he believed in Jesus, which reminds us that “belief” is not “faith.” You can believe there is a God but do you open your heart to God and let God’s Spirit enter your life to guide you daily, and do you trust that God with your life? That’s what counts.

But moving on now to my main point, the man with the unclean spirit said in effect to Jesus, “Mind your own business! Have you come to destroy us?”

People say that today. Even in the church some people say it. Keep the church out of politics! Don’t try to say how corporations use their money and power. Don’t fight for a just wage or benefits for workers! Don’t work for a healthy environment; it might hurt profits! Don’t tell me how to run my life; it is my life and I’ll live it as I see fit!”

All of these are remarks of “an unclean spirit.”

Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom of God. He called upon people to follow him, and he stood for righteousness and justice and mercy and love. Read his preaching in Luke 4, or his Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7, or the readings in Matthew 25. There can be no doubt that what Jesus proclaimed would turn the world upside down and overthrow existing attitudes.

He was not crucified for taking little children on his knee and for being “meek and mild,” but because he was perceived by the authorities as a threat to the existing order.

Forces of control, of greed, of abuse, of selfishness, will tell him and his followers to mind their own business. We have to answer that we are followers of the Christ who made it his business to call people to follow him and sent his disciples out to proclaim the good news of God’s Kingdom.

I’m encouraged today when I see groups like NOAH (Niagara Organizing Alliance for Hope) calling for hiring local people in Niagara County, and for providing parks and playgrounds for children in Niagara Falls.

I take hope when I see Residents for Responsible Government (RRG) trying to stop the expansion of Chemical Waste Management (CWM) and protesting against bringing toxic wastes for deposit near our schools and Lake.

I’m happy whenever I see people who do not say “mind your own business” but instead, “How do we follow Christ in proclaiming the new day, the coming of God’s just reign? Count on me in the struggle against unclean spirits in our society.”

This is our business. When one becomes a Christian, this is just the beginning, not the end. Once you say you are a disciple of Christ, then you have enlisted to do his work. Jesus engaged in his Father’s business, and so must we.