You Are Welcome

You are welcome amongst us. You are welcome here.

I have always liked this video. It depicts a search for belonging . The young bumblebee girl offers what she has and who she is to a world unsure of what to make of her. Her search for acceptance leaves her sad and isolated. To her surprise, she finds people like her dancing in a field and having a good time. This is good news for the brokenhearted.

Shannon Hood of Blind Melon described the loneliness of being different this way:

And all I can do is just pour some tea for two

And speak my point of view but it's not sane

It's not sane

I just want someone to say to me, oh

I'll always be there when you wake, yeah

You know I'd like to keep my cheeks dry today

So stay with me and I'll have it made

Do you have a different point of view? Do you feel like your offering is unwanted by those you meet? Shannon did not sing about wanting everyone, or even someone, to agree with him. He just wants someone to be there when he wakes. To stay with him. Never leave him. The Good News came to people like this. Jesus opened the gate to all who are hungry and thirsty. Jesus says to such as these, “we are made for each other.” Or, as St Augustine writes in Confessions, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”

So, what is the Good New? Things are different now. Your insane thoughts of wanting love and acceptance are not so crazy after all. The News that a new King is in charge and that people like this are welcomed is news worth sharing. The Good News was not necessarily good for the religious or those in power. Read the Gospel of Luke; those who demanded capitulation to religious traditions for acceptance were not happy about Jesus. But for all those they rejected and left out- Good News! It is the news that all the other bumblebees out there need to here. There is field of meeting for people like you.

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,

there is a field. I'll meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass,

the world is too full to talk about.

Ideas, language, even the phrase each other

doesn't make any sense

-Rumi

I find it helpful to get an overview of a biblical book in order to understand its theme. Otherwise, people get lost in the particulars and miss the point. The Bible Project is an amazing resource and its crowd funded. Their summary of Luke explains the Good News to the poor in the subsection of Luke 3-9. The Greek word aphesis refers to the freedom, the release of Jubilee mentioned in Leviticus 25. All slaves are freed and their debt cancelled. The poor in Hebrew is the word ‘ani. It is not just the economically unfortunate, but also people of low social status like women, children, elderly, and the disabled. It also includes social outsiders such as other ethnic groups or “people whose poor life choices put them outside of the acceptable religious circles.” It if for people like the bumblebee girl, wandering this world in search of acceptance. Luke 4-8 then illustrates how this Good News Kingdom looks. Jesus heals a bed ridden sick woman, a man with skin disease, and a paralyzed man. He welcomed Levi the tax-collector and forgives a prostitute. Jesus expanded the circle of people invited in to discover the healing power of God’s Kingdom.

Shannon Hood struggled with drug addiction and died at age 28. The words in his music reflect the longing of all who just want a place of rest and acceptance. The Kingdom of Jesus is insane to those at home in the power structures of this world. Jesus tells about His upside-down Kingdom in this section. God’s love will reverse our value systems. In His Kingdom, people respond with radical generosity. They serve the poor, lead by serving, and live as peacemakers ready with forgiveness. They are deeply pious, but reject religious hypocrisy (see video on “Luke” at thebibeproject.com). Many of the religious leaders thought Jesus’ ideas were insane. His ideas did not look like their traditions and seemed to upset the social order. But to the poor, the hurting, the wandering soul looking to have their “cheeks dry today”, Jesus is Good News.