Last night Shirley told us the story of Jesus getting his feet washed by the immoral woman. She explained that working with the street people, punk rockers, and druggies in the city, that they didn't really get the story. So she put it in context for them.
She made Jesus one of the street people, and the disciples his friends. She made the sadducees the social workers, and the pharisees the governments case workers. And they were all together talking about homelessness, poverty, the drug problem. And the immoral despised woman, well shirley's retelling made the woman a police officer.
See these street kids got that Jesus would love them, and the immoral woman, but a cop!!! No way. But Jesus' ability to love those that we find unloveable was passed on, it just had to be contextualized. Thats what good missionaries do. They tell the same gospel stories, but do it in a way others can understand it.
What a blessing to have Shirley with us last night.
rev
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8 comments:
She did an awesome job of reframing that story so it would be understood. Making the woman a police officer was a great idea!
Hi, I'm a freind of urban monks and came to see the story that inspired his incredible painting. Sounds like Shirley has a gift for sharing stories about Jesus in a relevant way - very cool.
I read your profile - you're funny. (btw, I agree about wrestling looking gay sometimes but my son is a wrestler and you are right - it's a very tough sport).
John Jensen? I went to high school with you.
Hi
I found you through Mr. Monks link as well. Great analogy.
Good teachers always find the right words to paint a picture.
Cricket better than baseball? Hmmm. That's debatable. :)
Enjoy your day.
Barbara,
welcome
I went to Notre Dame high school in Riverside California class of 84
Awareness,
welcome as well,
rev
She sounds just great Rev..
Rev, of course I was kidding about the HS thing but you were close - I'm in Mission Viejo, not far from Riverside considering how huge CA is.
Oh, And I did read the quote a few posts down. I read a lot of your blog so I did get the right reference point.
:)
did a lot of work in mission viejo back in the construction boom of the late eighties. Thanks for stopping by, hope you are enjoying the California weather, here its a bit colder, much more unpredictable, and more overcast.
And man do I miss Mexican food, even Del Taco is much better than the Mexican food available here. Time to make some homemade carne asada I think.
rev
That was a great recasting of the characters in that account from th Gospel - it reminded me of something a prison chaplain (Rod Moore)said to me once.
I was helping out on a program called Kairos which I had participated in just 6 months previously (I was an inmate at Cessnock Gaol at the time) and we were packing up biscuits that peopoe had home baked to distribute among all the other prisoners - even the ones in protection.
We gave one pack each to all the prisones, however the prisoners in protection...the bone yard (peadophiles, informants etc) were going to get 2 packs. I asked Rod why and he asked me who Jesus had come to be with...the rejecte and te oppressed - he told me that if Jesus was to coem to visit a prison he would go to see te guys in te bone yard first.
It wsas a very powerful statement about how Jesus loves us all.
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