Mission Yearbook ‘Can we make room for a full-bodied Jesus?’

Wrapping up the Currie Lectures as part of the recent 2025 MidWinter Lectures at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, author, speaker, and pastor John Pavlovitz once again read Mark’s account of Jesus stilling the storm at the request of his frightened disciples.

The disciples “knew Jesus well. They understood his power and they knew his character. They thought at most it would be a three-hour tour, a three-hour tour,” Pavlovitz said. 

“I imagine they looked at one another and said, ‘How did we end up here?’” Pavlovitz said, picking up on a theme he’d touched on in a previous lecture.

Our ministry “takes us into people’s paths,” and so “we need to embody the compassionate activist heart of Jesus. Can we make room for a full-bodied Jesus?” Pavlovitz asked. A relative recently texted him to say, “I just want you to know you’re coming across as really angry lately.” “Good,” Pavlovitz texted back. “I was afraid I wasn’t communicating clearly.” The relative told him, “I feel sorry for you.” He replied: “Don’t feel sorry. I know I’m angry and I think they’re worth it.”

Or, as Augustine of Hippo put it: “Hope has two beautiful daughters. Their names are anger and courage: anger at the way things are, and courage to see that they do not remain as they are.”

No less an authority than Aristotle pointed this out: “Anybody can become angry — that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose and in the right way — that is not within everybody’s power and it’s not easy.”

A Pavlovitz addendum is that “the object, level, timing, purpose, and manner of my anger all matter.”

“Anger propels us into movement, but it’s almost always toxic. It seeps into our bloodstreams,” he said. “Little by little we become used to a posture of irritability and defiance. We can begin to live angry, but there is nothing of Jesus in that,” although “there is anger in the works of Jesus.”

Rather than using a term like “righteous anger,” Pavlovitz prefers “redemptive anger” instead. The tests include “Does the work bring wholeness?” and “Is compassion the product that comes out of that anger?”

John Pavlovitz

He also suggested replacing “anger” with “ferocity,” as in “the way a family dog fiercely defends a small child from a coyote.”

It was ferocity, after all, that helped birth the civil rights movement, the women’s movement and the LGBTQ+ rights movement, he said.

It’s also a main contributor to Jesus being executed, he said — Jesus’ “ticked-offness.”

“When you feel that holy ferocity, nurture it and transform it into a tangible, redemptive act,” Pavlovitz suggested. “Don’t let anger exist for anger’s sake.”

Pavlovitz had at least five ideas on “living the compassionate active heart of Jesus, especially with people you disagree with.” He called it “Empatheology”:

 Look for the fears and the false stories. “No one is at their best when they’re terrified,” Pavlovitz said. 

Be mindful of the grief we all carry. Anger and grief “look similar on the outside,” he said, telling those present in person and online, “I imagine you’re here because you’re grieving something.” 

Confront the epidemic of loneliness. Pavlovitz recently read one author’s critique: “Churches often think they have community when they only have proximity.” 

Be a student of other people. The nation’s divide is more about how we see people, the world and our resources, Pavlovitz said. Our first step ought to be to admit we don’t know a person as well as we could, “then learn more,” he said. 

Consider your lenses. Pavlovitz told a story on himself of complaining about a new ride at a theme park, then realizing he’d failed to put on the 3D glasses given to him. He asked his family if they could get back in line so he could have the experience he’d paid for. “It was so clear, so life-like,” he said of the second time through. “Friends, the lenses through which we view the world matter.”

Mike Ferguson, Editor, Presbyterian News Service, Interim Unified Agency (Click here to read original PNS story)

Let us join in prayer for:

• Sara Hayden, Associate, Apprenticeships & Residencies, 1001 New Worshiping Communities, Interim Unified Agency 
• Janet Hayes, Mission Specialist, Christian Formation, Interim Unified Agency 

Let us pray:

Dear God, help us to dream big and not limit ourselves when reaching out to others. Remind us that nothing is impossible in you. Guide our hearts and minds to be more open to those in need of mercy, compassion, and love. Amen.