8-25-17 - Don't Tell...

I do not like secrets. I don’t mind knowing them… that’s a rush, to know something everyone else does not. But for me that feeling is short-lived, quickly replaced by the desire that everyone be on the same page, everyone committed to the same level of transparency. In families and in communities, secrets are toxic.

And if it’s good news, I especially hate having to keep it in! Only the awareness that everyone should get to tell their own stories holds me back and keeps me mum. Unless it’s my own good news, and then I can “spill” with abandon.

So I wonder how Jesus’ disciples felt when, after Peter identified Jesus as the Messiah, Jesus followed up with this: "Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.” Was he concerned that the coming clash with religious authorities would develop too quickly if everyone began using that kind of language about him? Did he want people to work it out for themselves? Were there other reasons at which I cannot guess?

I wonder if they were able to keep quiet. How could they? If your whole community is yearning and waiting for the Anointed One of God who will deliver them from evil, not to mention poverty, degradation and a hated occupying empire, and you’ve discovered that person, you pretty much want everyone to know. It’s not only Good News, it’s news!

Most of us, on the other hand, have known this too well and for far too long to think of it as news, let alone particularly good. Few of us are oppressed by others; maybe by feelings or addictions, but we do not live in occupied lands. What is it that keeps us quiet, if we are? Do we keep our faith a secret from people around us? Or do we feel too unsure about our faith to go around discussing it openly?

I don’t think Jesus wants us to keep quiet about who he is. I believe he wants us to rediscover his love and feel the amazement that God would love us so much as to send his Son into the world to show us what that love looks like. This leads us back to familiar territory – relationship with God in Christ. If there is nothing all that new or all that good about our religious life, remember that we are invited into a relationship that delivers new gifts, new promises, new hopes every morning. That’s pretty amazing.

When we truly engage that relationship with Jesus in prayer, we find ourselves talking about it, as we talk about other relationships in our lives, as we say, “You know what my friend Susie is doing this summer? You know what my co-worker Joel was saying the other day?” How about, “You know what I sensed Jesus say to me this morning?”

If you’re connected, talk about it. If you feel disconnected, tell Jesus you’re open to a deeper connection with him. If you feel funny talking to him, go talk to someone whom you think knows him and hang out with that person. Sooner or later, the Good News will dawn for us – and then we can't keep it to ourselves.