March 3, 2016

Take Responsibility

When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!” -- Matthew 27:24

Pilate didn’t want to take responsibility for killing Jesus. It was what the crowd demanded, the Jews, the ones Jesus had come to save. It had to happen this way. We know that. Because Jesus would die, rise three days later, and save all of us who believe.

But on that day, Pilate wanted no part of what was happening. He was part of it. We all are. We all played a part in the death of Jesus. We still do. Every time we look the other way, every time we have something better to do, every time we put ourselves first, we kill Jesus all over.

Years ago I had a roommate who informed me one day that she just didn’t feel at home in the apartment we shared. The blame of course was mine. Except it wasn’t. I suggested she stop treating the apartment like a hotel and start cleaning it like a home. After she got over the shock, she did. See it was never going to feel like her home until she started taking responsibility for its upkeep. So long as she simply showed up to watch television with her boyfriend and to sleep, it was never going to feel like home.

We’re like that with church. We show up on Sundays and wonder why we don’t feel close to other church members. We don’t have time for classes or special events or programs. We want the church -- its members -- to be there for us when it’s convenient but we don’t want to be bothered when it’s not. We can’t develop close relationships, whether in church, family, neighborhood or work, without spending time cultivating those relationships. We have to take responsibility for making it happen and not wait for someone else to do it for us.

We’re always full of ideas for things other people should do. We want to fix everyone else but ourselves. We don’t want to take responsibility. It’s just so much easier to point the finger elsewhere, to wash our hands so to speak, of whatever we’re facing. Then we get angry when it doesn’t work out the way we wanted.

Pilate didn’t want to kill Jesus. He knew Jesus was innocent. But the crowd, well, the crowd was determined. Pilate washed his hands and refused to take responsibility but he could never erase his own guilt. Neither can we. Whether you accept responsibility or not, it still belongs to you.