The Stampede
January 2, 2009
“They all went home, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.” John 7:53-8:1
Jesus doesn’t have a problem breaking with the crowd when that is what is needed to keep in step with the Father. Eugene Peterson uses the metaphor of stampede to describe modern culture. Quoting Bishop Barron Von Hugel he says, “Nothing can be accomplished in the stampede.” I tend to agree. I feel like too many of us get caught up in the stampede. Adrenaline is surging through our veins as we run feverishly from meeting to meeting, from one Sunday to the next, fixing problems, making decisions, trying harder, accomplishing more.
Today Jesus offers another way. The crowd is going home to where it is safe, familiar and comfortable. Yes, I am suggesting that busy-ness, chaos, and living life at breakneck speed has become “safe, familiar and comfortable” in modern culture; the stampede. However, Jesus is not going home, instead we find him climbing up the Mount of Olives to be alone in the quiet with His Father.
What happens next in the story is what I find especially compelling. Early the next morning Jesus is presented with a tough question. A trap has been set. The religious elite want to know how Jesus will interpret the Scriptures. Jesus response is inspired and brilliant. I want us to notice the connection between the way he relates to this difficult situation and his diverging from the stampede in order to be with the Father the night before. I feel like the grace and wisdom to handle this tough situation flows out of Jesus time with YHWH on the mountain.
Many of us are facing tough questions today. We are being asked to rethink what we have been taught as we reread Scripture through different lenses. To do this in the stampede is folly and will result in damage being done to ourselves and others.
We must summon the courage to slow down, to be still, to turn aside, to listen, to watch and to wait.
Where is your Mount of Olives? When will you next intentionally break away from the stampede to spend 6-8 hours alone with God?
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Since Christmas I have been to the emergency room 3 times (1x for my wife, 2xs for me) and to the urgent care prior to the ER. I have been forced due to asthma and pnuemonia to slow down the pace and rethink. The leadership and all the major responsibilities for Common Heart Missional Community / Common Cupboard rest 90% on me and my dad. This while I work a 45 an hour week job an hour away from home. Somehow I pray that this forced respite will allow me the time to not only recoup physically, but to find anew my pace away from the stampede, and how to develop leaders and release responsibilities.
This is my first post. I have been following this blog for about 6 weeks. Thanks.
Keith, Wow. I’m sorry to hear about all your trips to the ER and hope you and your wife are able to find the rest you need. I’ve also prayed that you are able to find others who can share in the responsibilities you are currently shouldering with your leadership in Common Heart Missional Community/Common Cupboard.
May you find rest this day in God’s love for you!
Jamie, thanks for the reminder of Peterson’s use of the stampede metaphor, I had heard this once before but had forgotten how well it speaks of our culture.
Keith, I too pray that you will find rest and others will come along side you to shoulder the work.
Keith,
I pray that rest for your soul will come from the Doctor of the Soul, Christ Himself. I also pray that the pace you are lead into will be one you can sustain in the long run. We have all had to learn to pace ourselves. For me this has meant that I discover what my true calling is all about: to be whole. Then to serve from a life of nurturing that wholeness. It is only from this wholeness that we are able to last in serving God and others.
I trust the whole missional order community is praying with you.