The Reunion

June 8, 2008 

 

      It must have been a few months ago when I received a notice I was half expecting.  It contained those four words that I wasn’t dreading, but also wasn’t thrilled to see: High School Class Reunion.  Now there was a number before those four words, but let’s not discuss that right now.  Leave it to be that a few presidential administrations have come and gone since I marched down the graduation aisle. 

      Trying to be a socially responsible citizen, I did the proper thing.  I threw the invitation in the recycle bin along with the other mixed paper.  I had no interest in going to this reunion, as I had no interest in going to previous reunions.  Friends who knew of the reunion tried to persuade me to go, only to be told firmly but politely, ‘no’.  If they pressed further, they got the truth.  Why would I want to see a bunch of people at a reunion that I didn’t particularly like in high school in the first place.  My friends’ line of inquiry usually ended at that point.

      I cannot speak for everyone’s high schools, but mine was a series of cliques.  If you were part of the right cliques, you were popular.  If you were not part of those cliques, you were not popular.  In those days, and I assume in these as well, popularity carries enormous weight in the high school social scene.  I was cliqueless, so my time in high school was unremarkable, sometimes frustrating, and at other times depressing.  I did have friends, and if there was any reason to go to the reunion it was that I would want to see them, if I knew they were going.  They made my years in high school bearable.

      Today’s gospel reading put in mind of those days, as Jesus was being talked about because of who he was dining with, talking with, and enjoying a meal with.  How could he be having a social time with tax collectors and sinners!  They were not the popular ones in society…far from it.  They were the ones looked down upon by the popular ones, and they knew it.  So, to have someone of some notoriety sit down in public with them and break bread was a cause for scandal and whispers.

      What if, I asked, Jesus went to his high school reunion?  You know, big hall, lots of people, banner that read, “Welcome class of 18”?  Now as I was envisioning how it would go, I mentioned this concept to a colleague at work.  She gave me a different perspective on it than what mine had been.  She told me that I had to remember that Jesus was from a small town, and that in those small towns, everyone knows everyone else’s business.  So, in high school, everyone would have known that he was an illegitimate child that had been accepted by Joseph.  So while he may not have been the most popular kid in school, others would have understood what made up Jesus, at least to a point.  Still, I reckoned, that meant a polite silence towards him.

      Thinking on that, I saw that it was very similar to the Jesus I envisioned at his reunion.  I can see him walking in, in his everyday robe and sandals, while others were there in their finest clothing trying to impress.  This reunion probably would have been before his calling, so the chatter would not have been about his works in and around the area, but rather chatter about him in high school.

      Not many people would have approached him at the reunion…maybe some courteous nods and smiles.  The popular set would be gathered together.  He would have not been part of that group, I think.  I can’t see him with the athletes either, so that group would not have gone up and greeted him either.  All in all, it may have been a very quiet reunion for Jesus, and he may have wondered why he went at all.  Granted, he was probably a whiz in his Old Testament classes, but that is not a cause for teenage celebrity.

      While standing by the punchbowl, wondering if he should make a quiet exit, I can see Jesus being approached by a man.  This man is rather unremarkable and would probably be looked right past in the room.  He introduces himself to Jesus, and Jesus recalls that he knew this person in high school.  They talked a few times, maybe shared a laugh or two, attended a few of the same classes.  They exchange a few pleasantries, and the man becomes solemn.  His voice becomes a bit softer and simply says thank you to Jesus. Seeing Jesus’ puzzlement, he explains that he, too, was not the most popular in high school, but his talks with Jesus made him realize he could make it through the day, the week, the month.  Jesus treated him with dignity, respect, and friendship…and that is all he ever wanted from a day at school.

      Throughout the evening, others come up to Jesus with similar stories.  The woman who was plain looking, the person who people thought were afflicted with demons, and others who didn’t belong to the bigger social circles.  They each thank Jesus.  They could not put their finger on it, but just talking with him made them feel better, more important, happier about their lives.  Before he had his mission, Jesus was fulfilling his mission, and teaching before he was teaching.

      Of course there was no Jerusalem Consolidated High School, but in light of not having a lot of data on Jesus’ early years, is it too far a stretch to believe that this was the kind of person he was growing up?  I think it is quite reasonable to believe that his mission on earth was not as clear before his walk in the desert, but he knew he did have a mission to befriend the friendless and show others that God loves all, not just the powerful and popular.  We will never know about the lives he touched before his three years that have been chronicled, but I would venture a guess that there were many.

      Whether it was in high school, at a reunion, or at a table with the undesirables of society, Jesus taught us the lesson of accepting everyone, not just those who are the notables in whatever society you are in at the time.  The kingdom of God does not have a bouncer looking for only the rich or famous.  True, people may get bounced before they enter those gates, but that is for an entirely different reason.

      So if you weren’t the most popular in high school, or you are like me and don’t really prefer to dredge up memories by going to your high school reunion, not to worry.  Look in the corner of your life and see that guy standing there by the punchbowl and wearing the dusty robe and sandals.  He’ll be your friend, now and always.  And as the old spiritual goes, “Jesus is the only friend I need.”

      Amen.

Michael Gow