9-13 It seems to me that God has put us who bear his Message on stage in a theater in which no one wants to buy a ticket. We’re something everyone stands around and stares at, like an accident in the street. We’re the Messiah’s misfits. You might be sure of yourselves, but we live in the midst of frailties and uncertainties. You might be well-thought-of by others, but we’re mostly kicked around. Much of the time we don’t have enough to eat, we wear patched and threadbare clothes, we get doors slammed in our faces, and we pick up odd jobs anywhere we can to eke out a living. When they call us names, we say, “God bless you.” When they spread rumors about us, we put in a good word for them. We’re treated like garbage, the leftovers that nobody wants. And it’s not getting any better.
(1 Corinthians 4:9-13, The Message)
Paul has painted an interesting rational for unity in the church. We all build on the same foundation. We are all part of the same temple. And we all have direct access to the God of the universe and sit with him. He protects his temple. How could life get much better than that?
But now Paul adds the voice of reality. First century Christianity was not like life of the Christians in the United States today where statistically Christians are somewhat in the majority in a country somehow built on Christian standards with freedom of religion. Life just was not like that at Paul’s time. He calls the believers “Messiah’s Misfits.” The Kingdom of Heaven does not work like the kingdom of this world. Forgiveness is not what we find in courts but a plead for justice and often revenge for the evil done. We would like to think we have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in the United States but we know there is racism, inequality and poverty for many. We do not love our neighbors like ourselves, just the people we like. Crimes of hate are more likely to be in the news than good deeds done to improve our world. Like Paul we feel the tension of our faith with the values of the media we live in…perhaps.
I like that term “misfit.” It implies to me the deception of thinking something will fit to solve a problem but then discovering it just does not quite work. It is kind of like trying to work a puzzle and get the pieces to fit. Paul’s words can be comforting because as we choose God’s ways, we do not fit with the world’s ways. I like to call it being “stage appropriate.” I remind myself that at my age no one is in the Olympics. When I cut myself, I want my body to tell me it is in pain so that I can tend to it.
Being a misfit does snot mean that we are the “wrong” fit but that we are being challenged to deal with the problem we find ourselves in. As you face today, are there places where you feel like a “misfit.” Let us pray for how you can be the solution and live your faith out in reality. Blessings as you face the challenge.
On the Way to Wonder 