Persist

"I will send my Spirit upon him, and he will announce my judgement to the nations.

He will not argue or shout, or make loud speeches in the streets.

He will not break off a bent reed, or put out a flickering lamp.

He will persist until he causes justice to triumph,

and in him all peoples will put their hope."

Matthew 12:18b-21 - (a quote from Isaiah regarding the Messiah)

 

 

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Jesus did not seem overwhelmed by the constant needs. He did not allow constant demands on His time to change His purpose. While He gave Himself unconditionally to those around Him, He never seemed to be in a hurry. He did not seek attention - in fact, He often asked those He had ministered to not to tell anyone. They usually ignored that request, however, and the crowds continued to grow. We know He had to have worked tirelessly - someone that can sleep in the bottom of a boat during a storm has to be exhausted. He sought balance. As the crowds grew increasingly larger, He continued to step away, go out into the wilderness and seek solitary time with His Father. He consistently pulled away from the crowds to spend time with the smaller, and yet smaller still, group of friends and followers.

Given how we see Him move and respond within His years of ministry, the verses above really struck me as I read them this time. He did not argue or shout, he did not give loud, attention-seeking speeches. I had to look up the phrase, "He will not break off a bent reed," -- it means he would not hurt or take advantage of the weak or powerless. As His popularity grew, He never took advantage of others in that process. He constantly sought out the marginalized, the outcast, the weak, the broken. He sought them out - not to take advantage of them, but to love them - to heal, to share a meal, to celebrate, to have long, deep conversations, to forgive, to offer hope.

And that last section gets me - "He will persist until He causes justice to triumph."

He will persist.

What are some of the temptations today as we seek to follow Christ, to walk faithfully as He walked? It can easily and quickly feel overwhelming. When we look around at the needs, they are endless. Systems need to be dismantled and rebuilt to truly see lasting change in the way the marginalized are treated in our culture. Those hurdles can feel insurmountable. The needs feel like too much, too hard. Our participation can feel like a drop of water in the ocean and the temptation waivers between giving up entirely and throwing ourselves in to the point of burning ourselves out. Neither of these options are healthy or helpful. We can see in Jesus a balance that is necessary. Jesus did not heal every sick person he passed. At the time of His death, the world was still full of pain and brokenness. There was still work to be done. There were many He never had a conversation with. He did not rescue everyone. He did what He was called to do while He was here. He worked hard. He rested. He found times for refreshment. He built relationships. And HIs greatest work on earth (His death) appeared, even to those closest to Him, to be utter failure. Yet, this "failure" brought about the victory that will ultimately lead to the triumph of justice that is described in the verse above.

He persisted.

With some of us, "success" in ministry can bring attention and crowds and the temptation is huge to think that gathering masses is the answer. It's easy to believe that being bigger, or louder or more clever will reach more people - and obviously more is better, right? I believe there is something to learn in the fact that while Jesus spent a good deal of time with crowds and was not put off by them, He never sought them and often pulled away to smaller and smaller groups.  

A temptation that can easily grow out of the bigger is better mentality of mega churches and social media culture is leaving behind those that don't help you get to those bigger and better numbers, or don't make you "look good" to the masses, or to manipulate what others see to make it look more pleasing. It is easy to forget the marginalized in the desire for "more". Building relationship in the margins is not glamorous and it rarely builds a crowd. Yet, this is where Jesus focused His time and energy. I believe strongly that these people were His friends - people know when they are projects and they don't hang around long. These people wanted to be around Him - they were His friends. He was accused of gluttony, of being a drunkard, of serving Satan. These accusations came primarily from the powerful in His community and because of the company He kept. The very people they were happy to leave behind, the "bent reeds" they easily broke and forgot about -- those were the people Jesus came for. He was not the least bit shaken by their criticisms. He continued with the relationships and friendships He had built, unphased by the detractors. 
 

We don't have to be pastoring a mega church or managing a huge Instagram market to fall prey to this temptation. When we view others as an interruption to our "greater plan", as numbers rather than friends, as statistics rather than beloved of God, we may very well be walking right past both the plan God has for us and beautiful relationships that will be built in the process. When we feel like investing all our life in what may seem like very few is a waste of time when we could do something else and reach many people, we've perhaps lost our focus. When we're tempted to quit because it's stupid hard, or it feels like failure, or it's not warm and fuzzy? We're likely right in the same places Jesus would choose to be.

So what should we do in that space? Again, I think we can draw from Jesus. Listen to what's going on inside of us. Perhaps the answer isn't to quit all together, or to "go big or go home". Perhaps the answer lies in determining to live faithfully, whatever that means, whatever it looks like, no matter what others think or say, or how many lives seem to be impacted. Taking care to pull back at times and rest -- alone with your God, surrounded by the two or three that speak the most honestly into your life. Then step back in, remembering that "success" is not the point. There may be times that one season ends and another begins and that is a legitimate thing to consider, but often we're the most weary and ready to give up because we're not balancing giving and receiving. We're letting the world define success. We're seeing people as projects. We're not resting. We're not being filled and fed. 

It gives me hope that Jesus experienced all those same feelings and that we can watch how he dealt with it.

The end of this passage also gives me much hope. He persisted until triumph came. He persisted because the healing, salvation and freedom from oppression of all people was His greatest desire. 

My crusty, cynical heart needs these reminders often. It is worth it.

Persist.

"Do not grow weary in doing good..." Gal. 6:9