I Write to Rouse the Rabble

Crowds will gather everywhere this week.

To worship – To spectate – To dine – To consume – To partake of entertainment

It’s America, after all.

 

There will be crowds at churches, in football stadiums, restaurants and family dinner tables, malls, and movie theaters.

The crowds will gather and they’ll judge.

Was it the right choice of worship music, did the preacher inspire or sedate, were the musicians appropriately attired and on key?

Did the coach make the right call, was the quarterback up to snuff, did the defense pull their weight?

Was the entree cooked to specifications, was the vegetable spiced properly, was the waiter attendant to our needs?

Are the sales sufficient, the merchandise relevant, and the cashier pleasant?

Did the flick live up to its trailer, did the hero deliver, were the graphics worth tweeting?

It’s America after all and the crowd is the robed in black and seated at the bench – all rise, court is now in session.

 

Jesus never ignored the crowd. The crowd was why He came.

I am in the crowd, watching Him, and deciding. Is He for real?

Because I don’t need another preacher/teacher/reacher/star. I don’t need a show.

I don’t need a sham. I need God – full of power, mercy, love, and grace

Capable of saving me from evil and from myself.

If He is God, I’ll follow Him even for a stroll on the high seas.

So, Jesus never ignored the crowd. He was aware the crowd was deciding.

Even so, the crowd never dictated His agenda. He didn’t need their vote to be God

Didn’t fret when He knew He was the subject of debate.  The debate was important.

 

As they muttered among themselves, He waited. He knows us. Is completely aware that

Crowds mutter – and grumble – and divide. And some choose to follow, while others scoff and some choose quickly – while others need longer.

 

The Bible says He had compassion on the crowd

And I am standing in that crowd

And He hears me muttering

But He has compassion on me

Even when I grumble my skepticism

Or doubt.

 

And so, on the main stage of the Passion play we see Jesus,

The Pharisees, Mary, and the other Mary, The twelve, and the rulers of the day.

But we stand with the crowd

And Jesus even when He was betrayed, even when He was arrested, mocked, beaten, and marched through the streets, even when He was nailed to a tree, He never lost sight of the crowd.

 

I am in the crowd

and so are you.

He died for the crowd, the huddled, unwashed masses who stand back and quietly decide. He died knowing some would choose Him and others would walk away. He’s never surprised by the crowd and the actions of the crowd don’t dictate His.

He is King and God and human and broken and risen and alive.

 

So, I write for the crowd.

Because they are still with us

Deciding.

And I write from the crowd because that’s where I stand.

And I love the crowd because they are my people.

 

There are still players on the stage – politicians and preachers and celebrity believers and skeptics who write books and devise cons

but my writing isn’t for them because they have their own part to play for the crowd.

 

Sure, some in the crowd will be swayed by them and ignore Jesus but some will hear my voice – Or yours – And they will decide to follow

 

Then their voices will join ours and we will be a crowd within the crowd. Sheep of His pen. Sheep with pens.

 

 

If you spend time reading the gospel

You, too, will notice the crowd.

And if you switch your perspective,

You’ll see that the players on the stage

Aren’t really what the show’s about

 

Because even Jesus joined the crowd, turning the tables on Satan who covets the spotlight.

And so, He gave it to the old boy all the while He was stealing the hearts of the crowd right out from under Lucifer’s arrogant nose.

 

And it cost Him everything, but that is what He came to give because God so loved the crowd and I am in the crowd and so are you.

What will you decide?

 

I rouse the rabble because I am the rabble. Who else should rouse them to recognize God when He joins us where we stand?

“At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. Still, many in the crowd believed in him. They said, “When the Messiah comes, will he perform more signs than this man?” The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him.” John 7:30-32