Ready for a Jughandle?

When was your last birthday? Did you get any presents? How did you prepare for your birthday? How did others prepare for it?

These questions are kind of crucial because in just a few weeks we will be celebrating someone's birthday. How we prepare ourselves for this day is important.

Let me tell you about a guy named Jo. Now Jo was a little unusual. He dressed funny lived high on ultra-organic foods, dressed fairly casual, and spent a lot of time out by a river. He had a way with people that really got their attention. Jo was the kind of guy that did not pull any punches. He just said what was on his mind, and at the time he was a pretty focused individual, not likely to lose his head, if you know what I mean.

But Jo's message required people to pay close attention for a couple of reasons. First he was not necessarily trying to convert people to his way of life, but he did recognize that a lot of people, many of them "faithful religious folk" often said one thing but lived a totally different way. Sure they went to church, sat holding their heads up, dropping money in the plate and feeling good about themselves. These are the kind of people who tend to believe the message of a pastor or religious leader is always about anyone but them. In other words, just ordinary people like you and me.

See a lot of them spent more time either completely ignoring some of the directions for living that had been passed down for generations, or they spent so much time making sure that every thing was followed exactly at the expense of their relationships and community. They were on one of the great adventures in missing the point.

So Jo started talking to the growing crowds at the river about the need to turn around their lives. He recognized that there was something about to happen that would turn the world on its ear. Jo understood that things would not be the same once this happened and that all he could do was point in what he sensed was the right direction. He also understood the need for symbols that could connect people for the very thing he was preparing them.

Jo decided that the best way to help people experience this change in their behavior was to wash it away. He asked people if they were willing to turn around and if they said "Yes" he took them to the river and poured water over them...well, some he dunked clean under! The water was a symbol to help wash away the dirt and gunk of the physical world that was causing people to ignore God altogether. In some ways, Jo was trying to help people startover with a clean slate.

But Jo also understood something else. The kingdom of God was not some far away fantasy land. He was not quite sure what it was, how it might look, or even where it was, but he knew that something was up in the world. Some people can really feel those kind of spirit movements in the world better than others, you see, and Jo was one of those intuitive types.

Jo may not have known just exactly what was up, but he did know one thing, someone was coming to help clarify and lead the people he was preparing. Jo knew he was just one voice crying out in the wilderness, but he also knew that the kingdom of God was very near and he was not afraid to announce that to people.

This is one of the primary messages By The Way reminds folks of as well, sort of anyway. For the person Jo was waiting for was Jesus. Jesus came to help us realize that the kingdom of God is HERE! In all of our conversations at By the Way, this realization underlines what we do. It is not that any of us know just exactly what that kingdom looks like here in Nashua specifically. But, when we come together, listen to one another and share in community we glimpse a piece of the sacredness of our community that we might have missed.

So while here in Nashua, U-turns are not common, perhaps it is best to consider how we might just enter the next jughandle and take a turn to revisit how we experience sacred and holy things in our daily living and where we have felt the presence of God in the most unlikely of places. You might be surprised the next time you sit down for a cup of coffee, or a beer, how sacred that moment really is...but to do so, you may have to take a little mental jughandle to reorient your thoughts and begin to start with a clean slate.