Once upon a time there was a great teacher, a guru, who had many followers. People came from far and wide to listen, learn, and be enlightened by this man. There were one-on-one classes and apprenticeships for those who came to learn. When the students had finished with their lessons, the guru sent them into the world to share their knowledge with others as masters in their own right. Just before each student left, the guru would give each a special gift -- the teacher taught each student the mantra of life and death. Phrase by phrase the guru taught them until they had memorized it by heart. Then he gave them a warning that as long as they said this mantra faithfully, they would be blessed. Its power would give them insight, clarity of thought, and allow them to discern the truth when surrounded by lies. Its power, as well, would keep them from despair and give them hope in the midst of misery and hopelessness. Their faith would be strengthened and one day their souls would find everlasting life. The disciples were grateful and humbled by this great gift. They were warned, however, that they were never to teach the mantra to anyone; it was for them alone, the enlightened of the world.

For many years students finished their studies with the guru, were given the mantra, and then went into the world to share their wisdom and to pray the mantra in secret. One day a young man, who had been taught the mantra and was humbled by the gift, came to the master guru ready to enter the world. However, when the teacher warned him not to share the mantra with anyone, he asked why. The master responded, "If you share this mantra with others, then what it was to do for you will be handed over to them, and you will live in darkness, even when the light is all around you. You will know only despair and misery of body and soul for the rest of your life. You will stumble over the truth and be endlessly confused. But worst of all, you will lose your faith and your soul. You will be damned forever."

The disciple turned white and was visibly shaken by the master's words. Nevertheless, he decided that he must do what he must do. He went to the nearest city and gathered multitudes around him. He taught them all many things and the people were enthralled with his stories and wisdom. Then he taught them the mantra line by line, just as the master had taught him. The people left muttering the mantra to themselves.

A number of the master's disciples were in the crowd and they were horrified at the man's actions. He had disobeyed the master and betrayed his community by giving away the wisdom of the mantra to unenlightened people. These people immediately went back to the master and told him what had happened. They asked the guru, "Are you going to punish the student for what he has done?" The master looked at them sadly and said, "I do not have to for he will be punished terribly. He knew what his fate would be if he shared the mantra of life with those who were unenlightened. For him it has become the mantra of death. He will live in darkness and despair, without hope or knowledge of the truth. He will live isolated and alone, without comfort of faith and will even lose his soul. How could I punish him further?" And with these words the old master gathered his few belongings, looked at his students sadly and said, "I am going to that man who gave away my gift of the mantra of life and death." "Why?" they said in unison. "Because," he said, "out of all my students, he alone learned wisdom and compassion. Now that man is my master." And he left them to follow the man who walked now in darkness and despair, the one who had chosen compassion over wisdom and knowledge.1

The student had the strength of his convictions and chose to enlighten others, to provide them with what they needed. In essence, the student was unconventional in that he did what no one expected; he rejected the norm and convention of his enlightened status in order to demonstrate compassion to others. Similarly, Jesus in today's Gospel Reading ignores the convention of his day and with compassion does what is necessary to promote a new message of peace and love. We are called to do the same.

Jesus announced to the Jews that he was the long-awaited Messiah, yet how could this be since he did not seem to have qualifications nor do what was expected of the Christ. As we all recall from our reading of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Jews expected the Messiah to be a great king, a warrior, who would roust Israel's enemies from the land and restore the greatness of the Davidic kingdom, when Israel was revered as a great nation by all in the geographic region. This was the expectation, the convention one might say, of the general population. Yet, we also recall that the prophets, especially Isaiah, spoke of another image of the Messiah. The suffering servant would break not only the convention of the warrior king Messiah, but even more fundamentally the convention of human reaction to adversity. Where most humans run from pain, suffering, and adversity, the suffering servant willingly endured such treatment at the hand of others. While most people do everything possible to preserve their lives and seek self-autonomy, the suffering servant unhesitatingly gives his life to others, seeking not his will but only the will of the one who sent him to the world. Thus, while he was not recognized as such, the Messiah was to be unconventional.

Jesus took the less conventional role as his model for ministry to the Jews. Today's Gospel Reading provides some good examples of this truth. Mark reports that Jesus called Levi, a tax collector, to be a member of his inner circle. Tax collectors served the Roman occupation force in Israel and were thus hated by the Jews. Yet, Jesus not only calls him to join his band of followers but then immediately goes to Levi's home, freely associating with him and other "sinners." Next, we are told that Jesus raised many eyebrows by the failure of his disciples to fast. In accordance with the law and Jewish custom both John the Baptist's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting, but Jesus and his disciples broke convention and did not fast.

These incidents are only two of many examples of how Jesus broke every convention of the time and rule in the book. Jewish law held many proscriptions associated with the sabbath, but Jesus often broke the law. On one sabbath, Jesus and his disciples walked through the standing grain and ate the grain heads in violation of the law (Matthew 12:1-8). On another occasion (Luke 6:6-11), Jesus cured a man with a withered hand on the sabbath. He asked those watching, "Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or destroy it?" To those who questioned his motives and actions, Jesus responded by providing an important nuance to the law: "The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath" (Mark 2:27b-28).

Besides violations of sabbath practice Jesus broke with the tradition by associating with the ritually impure, suggesting that compassion was more important than law and convention. When Jesus encountered lepers he cured them despite the stigma associated with this dreaded skin disease. When the woman with the hemorrhage touched Jesus' clothes she was instantly made well. In the famous parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 15:11-32), one reason given by scholars for the failure of the priest and the Levite to stop and aid the injured traveler is that such action would render them ritually unclean and, thus, necessitate a purification process. The Samaritan, however, ignored such conventions and reached out with compassion. Tradition took a back seat to meeting the immediate need.

Jesus most especially broke with convention by the claims he made about himself and the kingdom he came to inaugurate. On several occasions Jesus indicated he was the Messiah and, not only that, the Son of God as well. His claim to be the Messiah, as we said, was at best inconsistent and at worst completely contradictory with what people, especially the Jewish religious elite, thought the Messiah was to be. More importantly, however, Jesus at times claimed to be the Son of God. How was this possible if God was one? Jesus' words were considered blasphemy. Yet, Peter's great moment of glory in the gospels was his proclamation of faith. When Jesus asked, "Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:15b-16). Jesus' words and Peter's confession raised much division, but Jesus specifically told his disciples: "Do you think I that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law" (Luke 12:51-53).

The contradictions that Jesus expresses in word and deed are explained in today's Gospel Reading by two responses to his enemies and an illustrative metaphor. When Jesus was challenged as to the people with whom he associated he responded, "Those who are well have no need for a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners" (Mark 2:17). The Lord clearly declares by his words that artificial conventions that keep certain people on the fringes, for whatever reason, must be ended. He has come to those who need assistance, those who need to hear the word, those who are "sick" spiritually. We often hear people claim, "Don't preach to the choir!" Jesus preached to all, but he clearly held a preferential option for those in need. Today Christians speak of a preferential option for the poor -- materially, socially, psychologically, and spiritually. It would have been much easier for Christ to associate with the rich and powerful, those who mattered in Israel, but he chose in a special way to be brother to those society had abandoned. Similarly, it is very easy for us today to mingle with people society has deemed acceptable. The beautiful, powerful, and popular in the world become our community. Jesus' break with convention suggests that we must do likewise and seek in some overt, even preferential manner to meet the needs and address the concerns of those who live on the margins of society.

Jesus' second response comes when he and his disciples fail to follow the fasting laws. He says, "The wedding guests cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, can they?" He continues, "The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day" (Mark 2:19, 20). Again Jesus is announcing that there are limits to convention; there is a time for all things. Possibly Jesus was thinking of what is written in the book of Ecclesiastes (3:1, 6): "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven ... a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away...." Jesus realized that one day he would leave this world; that would be the appropriate time for his disciples to fast. Christ saw the tradition and established conventions as serving humans, not the reverse.

The Lord's third response to his critics was a metaphor: "No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak; otherwise the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine will be lost, and so are the skins; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins" (Mark 2:21-22). Jesus' words perfectly describe how his message and mission have broken the conventions of his day. The new wine is the innovative teaching he brings, but this fresh way of thinking was poured upon a staid set of conventions, laws, and traditions that were unable to hold Jesus' words. Christ called society to expand its mind and way of thinking, but this was too much too fast and thus the skins, that is the structure, burst. There was a disruption as Christianity rose leading those in the new way to seek other shores with the Gentiles. The Jews were not open to the Lord's understanding of life, his mission, and message and thus he was rejected, eventually being executed because he did not fit in to the "approved" society of the day.

A good question for people today might be -- would Jesus be recognized if he was in our midst? The priest author, Joseph Girzone, in his wonderful series of books that describe a messianic protagonist, Joshua, basically asks this very question. Joshua is a drifter who simply appears in various small towns doing wonderful things for many people. Yet, his highly unconventional life, while inviting to many, is troublesome to those in charge, especially local religious leaders. Joshua practices an interreligious spirit, associating freely with all peoples of faith, Christian and non-Christian alike. He does not live in a home, but accepts the hospitality of others or lives in the countryside. He continually questions the traditions and unbending laws and conventions that keep people from being one. He professes what Jesus taught, "That all may be one. As you father are in me, and I am in you, may they also be one in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me" (John 17:21). The common people flock to Joshua, recognizing in him the message of Jesus. But traditional church officials, the priests, ministers, and bishops, are wary of him. Joshua rocks the boat too much; he makes people nervous. Joshua's unconventional manner leads to his rejection by the very people he has come to assist.

Thus, the question bears repeating -- would we recognize Jesus among us, or is he already here and because of our rootedness in convention and tradition we are blind to his presence? Blindness to Jesus, in the many forms he appears in our world, is unfortunately rampant. We are blind to the needs of others many times. What some people need seems so unconventional to us we reject the request outright, with hardly a thought about how our actions affect others. Many are blind to new and innovative ideas and ways of thinking. We are sometimes caught in a straightjacket; we cannot think outside the box, our immediate purview or way of understanding. Anything that is remotely challenging to our level of comfortableness is rejected out of hand. Our narrow vision casts aside other points of view and the people who propose them. Many times, as well, people are blind to the reality about us. We see what we want to see, not what is present. Convention will only allow us to perceive things in one way; other vistas are not acceptable. In all these cases, when we reject the unconventional or non-traditional we miss opportunities, events, and people that could provide much assistance along the way to Christ and salvation. The rejection of Jesus continues today as assuredly as he was rejected by the people of first-century Israel.

Jesus broke all the contemporary expectations and conventions, and because of this he was rejected. We cannot allow such a course of action to continue. We are not all cut from the same mold; there is no cookie cutter human being or way of thinking. That is why the guru became the disciple of the one student who broke convention by being compassionate to others.

One simple story demonstrates the need for diversity, our need to see beyond the norm. A young pastor was asked to entertain some very energetic youngsters. He decided to play a game called "Giants, Wizards, and Dwarfs." He told the children, "You must decide now if you will be a giant, wizard, or dwarf." One little girl came up, pulled the pastor's pants leg and said, "Where do the mermaids stand?" "There are no mermaids," the pastor countered. "Oh, yes, there are," she responded, "I am one of them." This little girl was not to be denied her identity. She knew who she was and was proud of it. So, my friends, where do the mermaids in our lives stand -- those who do not fit neatly into our boxes and pigeonholes, those who break with convention? God challenges us; our response is awaited.