Is Zeal for Real?
When the crowd had gathered by the thousands, so that they trampled on one another, [Jesus] began to speak first to his disciples. – Luke 12:1 (NRSVUE)
I don’t hold to the “5-second rule.” If I can clear food of dog hair and dust, I’ll almost certainly eat it, no matter how long it’s been on the floor. In general, I’m not all that bothered by germs.
However, since COVID, crowds freak me out. I’ve found myself at large gatherings, having to focus on my breathing—slow its pace, count its repetitions—which isn’t ever as helpful as I hope, because one of the things freaking me out is the reality of breathing others’ air.
Did crowds alarm folks in first-century Palestine? What with leprosy and sundry superstitions that attended human touch, you’d think crowds would. But here are thousands of people, crowding, trampling each other, all to hear Jesus, to be in his presence, to bask in his love. If the New Testament offers any insight as to why, the answer is zeal, a word seldom used among respectable, mainline Protestants.
What people found in Jesus was a person who met needs—spiritual, social, even physical at times—and that inspired incredible zeal. Can we say the same about our churches?
Why do you go to church, if you do? Is it duty or habit or a deeply felt need? If you don’t go to church, why not? Does it feel boring, out of touch, irrelevant to your deeply felt needs?
Prayer
Blessed Redeemer, amidst all the reasons not to crowd, help our churches be modern-day echoes of your teachings, your presence, your love, such that folks are led to zealously gather with a bunch of others to sit and listen and live. Amen.
About the AuthorTony Coleman is Pastor at First Congregational UCC in Memphis, TN.