We live in an age of spin, and quick fixes. Across the globe political leaders tell us they can solve everything. All our problems, personal, national and international can be resolved easily, with no compromise, no pain, no sacrifice.
In our hearts we know this can’t be true, yet we desperately want to believe it, so we allow ourselves to be beguiled by those promises. In that climate the honesty and directness of Jesus in the gospel offers a refreshing and challenging alternative. That is one of the blessings of gospel living.
He tells the story of the vineyard owner whose tenants beat his servants and kill his son. His words are a reminder that to follow Christ is to choose a hard path. It’s not a choice that will make us popular or lead us to the centres of power. Instead, he offers the exact opposite:
“It was the stone rejected by the builders that became the keystone.”
The call of the gospel is a call to the margins. We can accept that in principle. It becomes harder when we have to look at what this means in practice. We are called to stand on the edge, to be with the marginalised and rejected.
It means we encounter Christ in those people who disagree with us. We discover Christ’s presence in those whose behaviour and lifestyles make us uncomfortable. It is by standing with those marginalised people that we discover the blessing gospel living can offer us.
Where is Christ calling you to stand with those on the margins this Lent?