Cheerful in the Midst of Drama
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Matthew 13:51-58
51. "Have you understood all this?" They said to him, "Yes." 52. And he said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old." 53. And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there, 54. and coming to his own country he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, "Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? 55. Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56. And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all this?" 57. And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house." 58. And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.
Matthew brings to a close a long list of parables which Jesus has shared with the disciples and with many others. Maybe Matthew was trying to arrange the parables in this way for convenience, or maybe Jesus had really “been on a roll!” I’ve never really understood what verse 52 meant until I read The Message version of this passage. It points to the example of an old country store – where the owner always keeps on hand your “regular” items, but also has available anything else you can think of at the time. The Message says that any person well-trained in the kingdom of God has at their disposal what is needed to bring others to the faith.
But then we go on to read about the reception Jesus got when he returned home and continued his ministry among his family and the friends and neighbors with whom he grew up. On the one hand they are amazed at Jesus’ wisdom and breadth and depth of knowledge. They certainly felt the power of the Holy Spirit emanating from his being—though they didn’t understand what it was – just an odd “vibe.” They wonder how “one of them” could have become seemingly so well educated—he’s just a carpenter, a common tradesman—like me, like all of us!
On the other hand they’re quite upset that one of their own would attempt to “show off” his knowledge and try to tell them how to live and how to act, and especially since what he is telling them is counter to everything they believe and accept as the truth! “How dare he!?” Have you ever felt that way? At work, especially, it can be challenging to exert your Christian beliefs and exhort your faith when your co-workers view you as “one of them.” They’re not on the same wavelength. They don’t see what religion or a faith life has to do with work (usually!)
Like Jesus, if we are faithful and vocal about our faith we may be shunned, or at least snubbed. I’ve actually been told I was too cheerful at work and it was making some of my coworkers uncomfortable because they had so much stress and so many problems they were dealing with that they couldn’t stand to be around someone who wasn’t responding in the same way they were! Of course that’s absurd. But it’s true. And my first reaction was anger. Then it was sadness. Then I began to pray, not only for the person who approached me, and for the staff under that person’s supervision, but also for myself. I prayed that I would not change my personality, nor would I deny the hard work I had done spiritually to get the point where I could “act joyful” in the midst of a crisis.
Yes, I have a tremendous amount of stress in my job. I have functional responsibility for aspects of staff performance throughout 5 offices in the State. And some days I do a lousy job of being “cheerful” because I don’t feel very joyful. But every day I find I must go to God to get me through—even on those good days! So the challenge, I guess, is to find the balance between practicing our faith, not offending others—if at all possible; and if that’s not possible, then being willing to deal with the consequences.
In the big scheme of things, compared to giving up divinity for 33 years to take the form of a human being, suffering a horrific death, and rising on the 3rd day for you and me—a little snub at work doesn’t really rate as persecution, does it?
I hope today you find ways to testify to God’s goodness and mercy by the way you respond to the stressful situations throughout your day. And that others wonder how in the world you can be cheerful in the midst of the drama.
Mary
