Sibling Assignment #48: Jesus the Wild Man

Silver Valley Girl assigned us Silver Valley Sibs the following task for our next sibling assignment:

One of my favorite Christmas carols is “I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day”, based on a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Read or sing the words and write some reflections on the words of this poem/carol.

(Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), 1867)

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head:
"There is no peace on earth," I said,
"For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men."

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men."

Till, ringing singing, on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,
Of peace on earth, good will to men!

You can find Silver Valley Girl's post is here and InlandEmpireGirl's is here.

The words that catapult from this well-known song are "And wild and sweet the words repeat/Of peace on earth, good will to men."

I love the idea that peace on earth and good will to men are wild words.

Or, that it's a wild idea.

One of my deepest frustrations with the Christmas season and the general portrayal of Jesus Christ is that it's all so domesticated and tame.

Jesus was a wild man.

Sure, he had sweet moments, but at one juncture after another, he was offensive, pugnacious, confrontational, obstinate, free-wheeling, improvisational, pointed, and fierce.

His embodiment of peace was not what we call today "peaceful". Often flying by the seat of his pants (or whatever he wore), Jesus was unswervingly in the moment, responding to what the moment called for, making snap decisions and inventing stories and parables to illustrate what he stood for and what he wanted his listeners to understand about the wild and non-conformist nature of the Kingdom of God.

I once was visiting with the former Episcopalian Bishop of Idaho, John Thornton, and he growled his disgruntlement with the question: "What would Jesus do?"

He barked, "Jesus didn't even know what Jesus would do!"

I agree.

It's what made Jesus a wild man, unpredictable to his disciples and to the officials of the Roman Empire and the Jewish establishment.

We should sing of peace on earth and good will to men with wildness in our throats. When our words become flesh we are at our best when we wildly, without fear of consequences, are energized by the non-conformist power of the Holy Spirit to stand boldly and fiercely against all that compromises peace and all that engenders bad will toward others.

We can't do this if Jesus makes us dreamy or if we swoon like lovers at the thought of Jesus or if we look to Jesus as a friend who only comforts us and makes us feel good.

We can do this if Jesus makes us wild for justice, the only earthly way to achieve peace and extend good will to men.