“Why are the people who go to our church weird,” I asked my dad when I was about fourteen years old. My father gave me a perspective that was sticky, an answer that was like a light, turning the words of Jesus into flesh, for my young and impressionable mind. In that moment he explained that Jesus came for people who knew they needed help (possibly weird, dorky, strange ect), He explained to me how these are the people are the ones who easily understand their need for God’s healing love and life giving spirit. Twenty-eight years latter I hear the words of Jesus below:

“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” Jesus

I know I’m imperfect, and that I unknowingly twist reality incorrectly, even in all my best intentions. I affirm that I always will need to be showered by the mercy of God and with Jesus, need to dispense this mercy I receive as a sinner. Wait for one second, let us take out the word sinner here, and replace it with imperfect. I did not come to call the “perfect”, but “imperfect.” We must first stop demanding a sacrifice for our penance or failings, we must first receive the free grace that God pours upon all of us his children. When we accept this mercy, we then give it out and this is what brings us in tune with the spirit of God.

Teaching of Jesus number 10

Teaching: give out mercy and don’t scapegoat

Practice: to receive mercy and let it flow to those around you

“He thinks that singing on Sunday’s going to save his soul.”Jack Johnson

Jesus teaches that it’s more important to be reconciled with others, than to go to a community to worship God. In fact I believe he is saying that reconciliation with each other is worshiping God. The religious right of the first century AD believed that going through organized and systematic rituals at a temple was the best way to worship their creator. Jesus says, if you do go to these religious events, be sure to first really do yourself and God a favor, be reconciled to each other. Once we begin “othering” our advisory, we make them less than honorable or worth reconciling with. This burns up our soul in a toxic way because, it the first step to de humanizing our fellow human. Once we remove their basic God given dignity, by name-calling we don’t have to reconcile, in fact we start to justify preemptively striking them, hedging them out, oppressing them, or even killing them. Our souls are in danger of creating hell here and now on earth when we insist on calling our brother an asshole, kook, fucking idiot, bastered, terrorist, communist, imperialist, and on and on the list goes. Jesus invites us to see the good in our brother, to call it out, to seek peace, to find reconciliation with all things and people. It becomes very obvious that Jesus is not apart of our political agendas in the twenty first century, nor was he apart of the agenda of the religious or political systems of his day either. Jesus says that following Gods way starts with our neighbor, what we call our advisory, and ask us not to waste our time singing on Sundays if we have not made peace with all our friends and foes. So, as followers of Jesus, lets follow this teaching. If you do go to a house of worship tomorrow, this Easter or whenever, consider its worth reconcile with those in your life wherever possible. If you’re not ready to practice this teaching, you’re not ready to go to a community of worship.

Jesus Teaching #9

The teaching: Stop negative name-calling and labeling! Be reconciled with others before you go to a house of worship.

The practice: Search you soul and heart with God and invite our creator into your intimate thoughts and sub conscious stirrings. Invite God into your hurt and ask him whom you need to make peace with. Once the answer comes, use every recourse you have acquired or can obtain and seek out wisely how to make peace.

“But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire. “Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar (worship God), and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift.” Jesus

The command: Judge Not

The Practice: Replace judgment with grace and acceptance this week

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” Jesus teaching #8

A few years back I tried to give up judging as much as humanly possible for the lent period. I quickly realized how much I judge and how subtle and full of nuance judgment is. I soon realized I am addicted to judgment, and that some judgment is of a healthy nature and a subtle twist can be utterly toxic. Try to see if you can set your intention to give up judgment for just one day or one week, if you really want to challenge yourself. Lets learn what Jesus meant in this teaching, practice it and learn about how addicted we are to this behavior. Jesus invites us into a new internal freedom; it’s ours for the taking. Don’t see this as a command as much as an invitation to deeper, healthier relationships and a world of compassion. It seems to me that grace and acceptance just may be the opposite of judgment and if judgment is measured back, so is grace.

Allowing Jesus’s teachings to inform our politics and worldview, Jesus’s teaching #7.

The Teaching:

Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you.

The Practice:

1. Loving yourself intentionally, otherwise you wont know how to love others well.

2. Reflect on your politics, worldview and ask if this teaching is impacting your vibe and ethos, do your best to let this teaching transform your temperature of living.

If civil war broke out in your town and country and you had to flee the violence, what kind of reception would you hope for from the people who lived in relative peace? Working as a volunteer in Greece with the Syrian Refugee crisis really helped give the teachings of Jesus a fresh perspective. Feels weird reading the economist about the Greek and Syrian issues, and I’m there in the mix watching it unfold before my own eyes. The politics had faces; hands, flesh and blood there and nationalistic agendas and budgets seemed irrelevant. I would hope for a chance to start my broken life over and given the chance to provide safety, community and dignity for my self and my family. I could see the desperation on their faces, and yet the dignity that they faced the crisis with is heroic. The Greeks and Syrians modeled to me how to practice the teachings of Jesus in these moments of assisting over crowed boats of Refugee’s to shore. What an honor it is to get to participate and practice loving others practically.