Jesus' Vision for Your One Wild and Precious Life (Mike Graves) - Review

JESUS’ VISION FOR YOUR ONE WILD AND PRECIOUS LIFE: (On Things Like Poverty, Hunger, Polarization, Inclusion, and More). By Mike Graves. Knoxville, TN: Market Square Publishing Co., 2023. 179 pages.

You may have heard of the Seven Last Words of Christ. These are the supposed last words Jesus uttered from the cross as recorded in the four Gospels. They are a staple for Good Friday Services, lasting from an hour to three hours or more. Many books have been written reflecting on these words, often by major figures such as Walter Brueggemann and N.T. Wright. I even contributed a set of meditations on the Seven Last Words in a book titled A Cry from the Cross. If we’ve been to one of these services or read one of the books, we know the last words, but could there be seven first words of Jesus? If so, what might they be? Obviously, they wouldn't serve as the foundation for a Good Friday service, but maybe they could serve as the foundation for a Bible study series or sermon series. A further question, as we contemplate the possibility of seven first words, concerns what these words might be.

Mike Graves, the Scholar in Residence at Country Club Christian Church in Kansas City, and a former homiletics professor at several seminaries, has some suggestions for us to consider. He shares these suggestions in a wonderfully titled book: Jesus’ Vision for Your One Wild and Precious Life. While many books, including ones that reflect on the seven last words, speak of life after death, in this book Graves invites us to consider “What Jesus can teach us about life before death.”  

While this book serves as an invitation to live a full and flourishing life, it’s not a prosperity gospel message. That is, Mike Gaves shouldn't be mistaken for Joel Osteen. Nevertheless, he offers us a message about living "one wild and precious life." Yes, we have life to live, and it can be “wild and precious.” In other words, our lives need not be humdrum! With this in mind, Graves offers us what he believes are seven essential sayings on the part of Jesus that speak to Jesus' vision of the good life. He admits that limiting this to seven sayings is arbitrary, but these are seven he feels are especially worth sharing. So, what we have here is an invitation to dive deeply into the Gospels to explore concepts that speak to our present moment.

We begin with the first word or saying and it’s an important one. That word is "Follow Me." What Graves offers is Jesus’ invitation to study with him, to become his disciples and learn from him, so we can live a full and meaningful life. After reminding us that we live in a different world from Jesus, he notes that Jesus invites us to come as we are. While that is true, we shouldn't expect to stay that way. Following Jesus should involve a change in one's life. What follows is an expression of what it means to follow Jesus. Just so everyone knows, Graves doesn't believe that Jesus came to die for us, but rather he came to live for us. This is important because many Christians limit Jesus' life to one moment in time when he died on a cross to atone for human sin. Whatever we might believe about that, this is not the central point of this book and its seven words.

Graves wants us to know that Jesus' words of guidance are important. That includes the second word found in Chapter 2, where we’re reminded that Jesus preached "Good News to the Poor." In other words, following Jesus involves embracing the call to justice, especially for those who are most vulnerable. As he points out: "In Luke's Gospel, a life worth living happens before we die, starting with caring for the poor and marginalized. These are the kinds of things you are signing up for if you dare to follow Jesus, to live the way he lived his one wild and precious life" (p. 52). It is something, after all, that Jesus embraced in outlining his call during his first sermon in his home synagogue.

If Chapter 2 draws from Jesus' description of his calling found in the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 3 takes us to the Beatitudes of Matthew 5. Here we consider "what the good life really looks like," at least as Jesus understood the good life. Graves suggests that the concept of “blessing” found in the Beatitudes speaks of esteem and honor. With that in mind, note that the focus of the Beatitudes is on the Kingdom of Heaven (that is, the realm or empire of God). These beatitudes have two stanzas, hope for the hurting and living the Good Life. He points out that the first part of these blessings is in the present tense, while the second part is in the future tense. As an example, he points out that the hungry and thirsty are esteemed in the present, but the satisfaction is still in the future. This has eschatological dimensions, what scholars call an inaugurated eschatology. This means, Graves writes of this inaugurated eschatology, that “it’s a fancy way of saying that God’s just and fair ending for this earth and all who live on it has begun, but it’s not yet realized. We live between the times” (p. 69).

The next saying speaks of feeding the Hungry. It is the word Jesus gives right before the feeding of the 5000: "You give them something to eat." Interestingly, the stories of the feeding of the multitude occur in all four gospels, with some gospels having two feedings. We might ponder the relationship of these feedings with communion and the relationship to feeding ministries of the church. The fifth word has to do with healing: "Your Faith Has Made You Well." Mike reminds us that Jesus was known for his healing ministry, but what does that involve? How might people be made whole? Of course, healing/wholeness involves more than cures.

The sixth word reminds us that God is in charge. This message is seen throughout the Gospels as Jesus proclaims the coming of God’s realm or reign. The question is, what does this mean? When it comes to answering this question, we might want to turn to Jesus' parables, which often speak of God's realm or empire. While not all the parables critique Rome they often do critique societal values. When they do, they often contrast God's realm with that of Rome. If these words have meaning today, then we should ask how the reign of God as revealed in Jesus impacts the way we view the systems of our contemporary world. What are the political implications of this message? The answer to the question may make us uncomfortable, but it does raise the possibility of living more fully this “one wild and precious life.”

The seventh word might be the most important, though Graves suggests that he had considered adding sabbath to the list. This most important word is love, which is revealed in the two great commandments, the commandments to love God and love one’s neighbor as oneself. The love of God and neighbor are inseparable, and ultimately all we need to truly live a flourishing life. When it comes to understanding what it means to love one’s neighbor, Graves points us to Jesus’ parable about the Samaritan in Luke’s Gospel. What he points out in the chapter is that loving one’s neighbor is hard work, but worth the effort. He shares a story from Fred Craddock about meeting Albert Schweitzer, who was a noted biblical scholar, musician, and physician, who spent much of his life in Africa serving as a physician. Craddock had gone to hear him speak so he could ask the famous speaker hard questions about Schweitzer’s liberal reading of scripture. But when Schweitzer appeared he told the crowd he could not stay long as the people in Africa were suffering, and he needed to get back to them. However, before he left he turned to the audience and said something that stuck with Craddock. According to the story, Schweitzer told the audience: “If anyone has the love of God in their hearts, will you come with me?” (p. 149). What does it mean to love God? It means loving one’s neighbor, especially the ones near and far who suffer.

These are the seven first words. There could be others added, but seven is a good number, even a sacred one. These are all good words that speak to truly living for and with Jesus a life that is wild and precious. Having introduced us to the seven words/phrases, Graves offers a concluding chapter of Jesus’ Vision for Your One Wild and Precious Life where he asks us to consider “What’s Next? As we ponder this question it is good to remember that Jesus came to bring us life and that abundantly. Or as Mike Graves suggested, Jesus didn’t come to die for us, he came to live for us. It was the way he lived that led to his death on the cross. The second idea that Graves wants us to learn from our journey through Jesus’ life is that “the life he lived can be a model for us on how to live before we die” (p. 159). Granted, Dietrich Bonhoeffer did say that to follow Jesus means to die with him, but the Christian life, the life of discipleship involves suffering and death. So, as we ponder to live out this calling that Mike Graves has laid before us, the Hebrew phrase "Tikkun Olam" may sum up what Jesus was all about. That Hebrew phrase speaks of repairing and healing the world. That, Graves believes, is what is next. This is our calling—to participate with Jesus in healing the world.

I've known Mike Graves for more than a quarter of a century. I met him years ago when he spoke at the church we attended in Manhattan, Kansas. We connected then and became friends.  I've known Mike to be a wonderful preacher and storyteller. These skills, which he exhibited in his preaching and teaching, are evident here. If you believe that Jesus came to bring life (not prosperity), that is, the truly good life, a life of flourishing, then this is a life we are to share with others. That is the message that Mike brings to us in Jesus’ Vision for Your One Wild and Precious Life. I do believe that whoever takes up this book, and explores these seven words with Mike, will find a good word to take hold of, and as you do this, you can join Mike in a bit of “wild and precious dreaming.” Since Mike has included discussion questions at the end of each chapter, this should prove to be a very useful book for group studies. As you study the book together perhaps you will encounter a Jesus that you didn’t know existed. So, take and read, and embark with Jesus on Your One Wild andPrecious Life.