Have you ever had someone exclaim to you, “You’re crazy!”? It might be because of something you said, something you did, or something you’re thinking. Sometimes the exclamation is justified (at least, I’ll own that for myself!) And other times, the exclamation is a result of another person not quite understanding why you are choosing to say, do, or think that you’re saying, doing, or thinking.
In that same vein, this weekend in our Gospel lesson, Jesus is labeled as being “crazy” – or more literally, “out of his mind.” What Jesus has been saying and doing hasn’t alligned with what people expect of him, and the religious leaders of the day couldn’t understand where he was getting all his power. So, the logical conclusion they make is that Jesus must be possessed by a demon. We know that’s not the case; Jesus is possessed by God’s Holy Spirit. But it is that Spirit at work in him that is leading him to say and do the things that those around him are labeling as crazy.
Two-thousand years ago, the people around Jesus had every logical reason to call Jesus crazy because what Jesus was proclaiming and enacting as a part of the Kingdom of God was different than what people were used to, and different than what people expected. And yet, what Jesus was pointing to was the truth of God’s Kingdom on earth.
So today, as we claim the name of Jesus for ourselves, it very well may be that we too may be called crazy. Following the values of God’s Kingdom, we might be called crazy for building bridges, and we might be labeled idealists. We might be called crazy for striving for inclusion, diversity, and equity for all people. And we might be called crazy for giving ourselves, fully, to God and God’s will.
Point being: to follow after Jesus is kind of crazy. But in union with Christ, it is there that we will be caught up in the work of restoring the world according to God’s vision, and we will be caught up in the crazy, crazy love of our God for us.
So this week, lean into the crazy love of Jesus for you. And consider how Jesus is calling you to live into his crazy love in what you say, what you do, and in who you are.