When I was a kid one of the shows that we liked to watch was ABC’s Wide World of Sports.  Early Saturday evenings we would tune in to Jim McKay who would tell us what was going on in various sports.  Despite numerous attempts, for a long time they refused to air the adventures of Robert Craig (Evel) Knievel.  However, in 1975, Evel Knievel was set to jump over 13 buses lined up inside of Wembley Stadium in London.  He jumped, he crashed (as he often did), and he broke his pelvis.  Wide World of Sports aired the attempt and afterwards, in front of announcer Frank Gifford and the world, he stated that he would never jump again.  Famous last words that did not last long.    

Evel Knievel was a motorcycle stuntman.  He was best known for jumping over long rows of cars and buses.  However, that was not all – he attempted to jump over a variety of objects.  One of his more famous stunts was jumping over the fountains at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.  He crashed and sustained several injuries.  Another famous stunt was his rocket cycle jump across the Snake River in Idaho.  Unfortunately, much like Geraldo Rivera’s hyping up of Al Capone’s vault opening, the rocket cycle jump was also a “nothing burger.”  It was a failure from the start.  Never the less, Evel Knievel was a national treasure whose appearances were quite the spectacle.

As a kid, I had to wait for a television airing of Evel Knievel or some other kind of spectacle.  In my youth, we did not have cable or the internet.  However, today that is not the case.  Social media platforms like YouTube and TikTok contain ample content and a smartphone makes it easily accessible.  You want to see a spectacle - you can find postings of people doing silly and dangerous stuff all the time.  For a minority of folks, their content actually becomes profitable through what is known as monetizing.  For the majority, it is not.

The second temptation that Satan put in front of Jesus was to do something spectacular.  Jump from the pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem and let everyone see how God’s angels would rush from heaven to make sure he did not even scrape a toenail on the ground.  However, Jesus was not going to test God in this manner because he did not come to be famous or spectacular.  His ministry was not about notoriety even though he would go on to do many miraculous things.  His ministry was predicated on pointing to God’s power over sin and death and how God’s love was active in the world bringing wholeness and healing. 

The task of the follower of Christ is to represent Jesus’ ministry with our actions.  Our general rules encourages each disciple to “seek to do good.”  Building on Jesus’ call to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give shelter to the homeless, water to the thirsty, to visit the prisoner and care for the sick, when we serve such, we serve Jesus.  It is our highest calling as followers of Jesus – to serve him by serving “the least of these,” his “brothers and sisters.”  

I invite you to take time and read each of the scriptures above followed by reflection on the questions below.  Consider the invitation to do good by serving the “least of these,” Jesus’ “brothers and sisters.”  Lastly, I pray that God bless the reading of God’s Word and the meditations of your heart.