January 21, 2024 – The Third Sunday After Epiphany
The Rev. Mary Davis
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. Amen.
One of the greatest corporate turnarounds in business history took place in the late 1990s with the computer company, Apple. (http://www.forbes.com/sites/onmarketing/2011/12/14/the-real-story-behind-apples-think-different-campaign/) Back then, Apple was hemorrhaging money, and it looked like the company Steve Jobs built was going to fold. That is, until the “Think Different” ad campaign, which challenged people’s perceptions about Apple computers that they only served a niche market. The first commercial to launch this “Think Different” campaign was called, “The Crazy Ones.” Maybe you remember it. It compared Steve Jobs and the Apple brand to great risk-takers, revolutionaries, and visionaries, like Picasso, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Amelia Earhart, Einstein, and Mohammad Ali. And, low and behold, within 12 months of starting this campaign, Apple’s stock price tripled . . . they introduced their revolutionary, multi-colored iMacs . . . and they effectively changed the trajectory of our lives with their personal computers.
But when Steve Jobs first met with the advertising team’s creative directors to discuss this campaign, do you know what he said about it??? He told them, in no uncertain terms – in a characteristic Steve Jobs’ rant – that their ad campaign stunk. He said it was crap – except he used a different word for that. That’s right, this campaign ad for Apple, which arguably changed the world, began with cynicism, doubt, and rejection – it was crazy to even consider it, and yet, change is exactly what happened as a result.
“Crazy” forever changed our landscape of personal computers, cell phones, tablets . . . even the way we listen to music. And, as we heard in today’s Gospel, “Crazy” was also changing the landscape in Nazareth. I mean, just two weeks ago, we heard about Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River by John, and today, like a whirlwind it seems, Jesus begins approaching fishermen at the Sea of Galilee, saying, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” Jesus is inviting these men, Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John, without so much as a stirring sermon or flashy miracle, to join his campaign for change – to change the power structures of the day, to pursue God’s justice and mercy, to overturn the systems of oppression. How nuts is that?
Even more crazy to me is that these fishermen, with families and lives of their own, would drop everything to follow Jesus, seemingly without checking references, asking a single question, getting their affairs in order, or saying “goodbye.” Jesus calls. They follow.
Now, when I was little, growing up with two brothers, my dad used to call out to us to get our shoes on and get in the car. Which we did. But once we were there, we’d frantically ask him, “Where are we going, dad, where are we going?” That’s when he’d play this little game with us, to keep us guessing – I mean, our little adventures would usually take us to the library or the grocery store or something – but my dad’s answer was always, “Crazy. We’re going crazy.”
In today’s Gospel, Jesus is calling out to us, his disciples two thousand years later, to put our shoes on and get in the car. Because we’re going crazy. Which seems just perfect today, after this week’s epic snowstorm trapped us inside for a week! – – We should all be in touch with our inner-craziness this morning! But think about what we’re doing here. We’ve gathered this morning for worship, with single digit temperatures outside. We drove on frozen roads, to a parking lot that’s covered with snow and ice, where we pray for our leaders . . . for counter-cultural justice and peace . . . we pray for people the world shuns . . . we pray for those who have died, holding confidence that even death isn’t to be feared. To proclaim forgiveness, reconciliation, and the power of Love. To worship a God who dared to become human, who is calling US to be prophets in the Kingdom of God.
The Christian faith draws us into a crazy upside-down, inside out world, where dreams and visions are lived out, where compassion trumps judgement, where we can find God’s grace and presence even in the midst of uncertainty and distress. So, yeah, we are a little bit crazy. But as the text of the Apple commercial reminded us, “Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. And the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who actually do.” Jesus says, “Come. Follow me. We’re going crazy.” Amen.