wedding surpise

Yesterday was Becca's wedding. Her story is one of redemption, of healing, of the reality of the gospel. As her uncle, I rejoiced with her in the joy of her story.

I must admit that I was not particularly excited about the thought of sitting through the monotonous recital of platitudes that are a staple of a conservative Mennonite wedding. I scanned the program quickly to see if I could get a sense of the length of the service. It was the usual. One preacher gave opening remarks. One had a devotional; another had a meditation.

As the service started, I was relieved when the first two speakers were relatively painless. However, the biggie is the meditation. I had heard of Abner although I never heard him speak. The only thing I knew about him was that many years ago he started a very conservative, strict church.

Abner started speaking and almost immediately I was captured by his words. They were truth that resonated deep in my spirit. He quickly drew me into the scriptures and his story. Truly Christ has been formed in this man. Half an hour passed quickly.

At the reception I sat across the table from my Dad. I mentioned Abner's words and the fact that his preaching was worth  the price of admission. I also mentioned that I was a bit surprised. I know what kind of people attend the church he started. My dad laughed a bit and then said, "Abner is no longer in that church...they kicked him out for being too radical!"

Kicked him out for being too radical - those words have been bouncing around in my mind ever since. It was not "they kicked him out for heresy" or "they kicked him out for some sin". No...they kicked him out for being too radical.

And so it is with those whose heart has been transformed by the formation of Christ. They frequently are too radical for the confines of what we call church. Jesus was too radical for the religious establishment of his day. Stuffy religious folk with a vested interest in seeing the preservation of their religious systems still kick Jesus out of their midst. He is too dangerous to tolerate.