[H]e humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
(Philippians 2:8)
Then he said, “You will undoubtedly quote me this proverb: ‘Physician, heal yourself’—meaning, ‘Do miracles here in your hometown like those you did in Capernaum.’ But I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in his own hometown.
“Certainly there were many needy widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the heavens were closed for three and a half years, and a severe famine devastated the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them. He was sent instead to a foreigner—a widow of Zarephath in the land of Sidon. And many in Israel had leprosy in the time of the prophet Elisha, but the only one healed was Naaman, a Syrian.”
When they heard this, the people in the synagogue were furious. Jumping up, they mobbed him and forced him to the edge of the hill on which the town was built. They intended to push him over the cliff, but he passed right through the crowd and went on his way. (Luke 4:23–30 NLT)
Sharp-eyed readers perusing the September/October 1997 issue of Backwoods Home magazine noticed something intriguing in the middle of the classified ads. “WANTED: Somebody to go back in time with me. This is not a joke. You’ll get paid after we get back. Must bring your own weapons. Safety not guaranteed. I have only done this once.”
The mystery surrounding this ad quickly caught on and spread widely across the growing internet, but it wasn’t until ten years later that John Silviera outed himself as the author. At the time of the ad’s publication, he worked at the magazine and was asked to create some filler for the classified ad pages to account for some empty spaces. This odd-ball ad was the result, and in the ensuing decades since its publication, Silviera’s received thousands of responses in his PO Box from people wondering if this is real, offering their services, asking for his help correcting a mistake from their past, and a whole lot in between.
“Safety not guaranteed.” In the midst of an ad with a sci-fi edge, it was this phrase that helped ground things for many, making it seem real; after all, there are few true guarantees of safety in this life.
When Jesus began his ministry, he knew the outcome. He knew his safety not guaranteed, for the end goal was his death – more correctly, the end goal was his resurrection and the defeat of death, but that could not happen until after he had been killed.
Not only was safety not guaranteed, it was never the point. As we read in today’s passage, even near the beginning of his ministry Jesus wasn’t immune from people being angered at his words to the point of wanting to cause him severe bodily harm, possibly even to the point of death.
If we are to follow in his footsteps – if our lives are to embody the teachings of Jesus and reflect the way Jesus would respond were he in our place – we must not assume we will be safe either.
That doesn’t mean we should speak truth so harshly and directly that we invite the same kind of reaction as Jesus received from the Nazarenes. Our words and actions must always be tempered with love and mercy and grace. Additionally, “safety not guaranteed” does not mean we have an excuse to be reckless as we seek to proclaim the Gospel.
God does not call all of us to be martyrs for him, but he most certainly instructs us to live for him, and that means dying to self. When we follow Christ every day, safety is not guaranteed, but life abundant is.
Consider the places in your life where you might be playing it safe rather than following God where he is inviting you to take up your cross and follow him. What do you need to do differently to die to self?
Michael Benson is the communications director for the North American Baptist Conference.