Coloring Outside the Lines

The Rev. Joseph Winston

February 1, 2009

Sermon

Grace and peace are gifts for you from God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.1
It sometimes seems to me that we have two completely different types of chil-
dren in this world: those who carefully color within the lines on a page and those
who scribble wildly all over the piece of paper. It might even be true that you
would also place children in the same two groups of neat or not because you too
have seen the same sort of behavior.
In my estimation, the easiest way to determine which category that a specific
child belongs to is to give that child a sheet of paper from a coloring book along
with a good assortment of crayons. Providing the child with these two items is
extremely important in finding out if the child can color within the lines. As we
all realize, if the paper is completely blank, we cannot tell if the child colors in the
1
Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:2, Galatians 1:3, Ephesians 1:2, Philippians
1:2, 2 Thessalonians 1:2, Philemon 1:3

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correct areas. Additionally, the paper must be from an age appropriate coloring
book. We would not want to bias the test by giving the child something they have
never seen before nor would we want to set before them an illustration that was
too difficult for them to color. The selection of crayons is just as important. Too
few colors might disappoint the child and cause them to scribble everywhere out
of frustration. The size and type of crayons must also be considered. Younger
children generally need larger colors while older one might want either markers
or colored pencils.
Assuming that you tried your best in giving the child suitable paper and crayons,
all that is left to do is to give the command to color and then to see what happens
next.
A child that is genetically predisposed to color within the lines will take their
time in selecting just the right color. They will carefully look at all the choices
before them, find the one that fits the scene exactly, and with deliberate strokes,
fill in one portion of the illustration. Over and over, the child repeats the process
of color selection and drawing until a very neat picture is produced.
You do not see the same sort of behavior from a child that colors outside of the
line. They use a radically different approach for determining the correct color to
use. The child could find a hue that they really like and use it everywhere. When
this occurs, the monochrome world that they give us shocks us. They might be in
their red stage and produce an illustration that contains a red sky, red house, and
red people. At other times, they might be in love with blue and paint a picture with
blue plants and blue animals. Another popular way of color selection is texture.

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They might like the way that a pencil looks and tint the entire illustration in shades
of gray. In their minds, lines just get in the way and because of this, they are
completely ignored by the artist. Bold strokes of color move through the lines and
others never make it inside of the lines. After working for a while, the child will
confidently tell us they are finished even though we cannot tell it.
While parents and grandparents hang with pride both types of artwork on their
refrigerators, the world that we live in has already made a choice on which way of
drawing is right and which one is completely wrong. As a people, we only want
those individuals who carefully color and we do not want to have anything to do
with the others that cannot follow the rules and color outside of the lines.
Looking at what we value can easily prove this fact. We want order and struc-
ture in this world. Imagine for a moment a small problem like ignoring all the
rules and regulations that are associated with driving. People would be free to
ignore stop signs, speed limits, and could drive anywhere that they please. Inter-
sections would become dangerous and accidents would increase. That is not good.
Ignoring speed limits would make travel faster but it also would allow people to
speed through residential neighborhoods and school zones. The latter two items
are exceptionally dangerous.
Evidentially, we desire uniformity in the way that we drive. The government
sets the rules for everyone and the police enforce the rules.
Think of what would occur with a much larger issue. What would happen to
us if the chemical plants that are all around us were designed and managed by
a group of people that colored outside of the lines? Of course, it is completely

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possible that you might produce something new and exciting. Realistically, this
is not going to take place. More likely, just throwing things together would be a
complete waste of time and money. Nothing would work at all. There also is the
real chance of massive death and destruction. Do you remember what happened
in 1947 due to mismanagement? Down the road at Texas City, a ship containing
2,300 tons of fertilizer exploded. Five hundred and eighty one people were killed,
the area around the port was destroyed by the blast, and windows forty miles away
in Houston broke.
Obviously, we want to be safe. Therefore, the chemical industry needs to be ac-
cident free. This noble goal is only accomplished when the entire industry follows
the rules. The engineers are required to go school and they all must be certified
that they know what they are doing. The same holds for all the different trades
that are used in a chemical plant. They are required to understand their field and
all work must be done according to code.
The idea that we want people to color within the lines is nothing new. Society
requires uniform behavior. Otherwise, it will not exist. Not only do we realize this
from the earlier examples but we also see this in just about everything that we do.
If you do not believe me, here are just a few more illustrations. People must go to
school so that we all share a common background. Individuals must be immunized
against diseases because we want to be well. In order to protect everyone, we all
must follow the law. The list of how we all act as one could go on and on. It
is readily apparent that we do not want people to behave in unexpected ways.
Everyone must color within the lines.

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 But that is not what we just heard in today’s Gospel lesson from Mark. Jesus
ignores every line in the entire world. He tosses aside all preconceived notions of
what needs to be done and He just cures the man.
There are many reasons why we should be upset with Jesus.
Start with the selection of that one specific individual. Surely, in the prosperous
town of Capernaum, there had to be someone else that deserved to be healed more
than this one man.2 There must have been another one more worthy of being
made whole. Just imagine. Without a doubt, this village had women that died
during childbirth. Who would take care of their family and console them? Why
did Jesus ignore all the women that died during labor? It could have been a young
boy whose father died while fishing. Without a question, that lad needed help from
God. Why did not Jesus seek him out instead of finding this unnamed adult in the
synagogue? Men and women had to be dying in Capernaum of infectious disease,
accidents, and old age. God could prevent any of these from happening. But Jesus
did not.
Then there is the whole issue regarding faith. The account does not tell us
anywhere that this man trusts in Jesus. Listen again, to what we were told. Jesus
heals this one man that does not know Him. Only the unclean spirit could identity
Jesus. If we are honest with ourselves, we all must admit that we know good
Christians that desperately want to be cured of what ails them. But no matter
how hard they pray it does not occur. They still are sick. Family, friends, and
2
Capernaum was known as a prosperous place that supported fishing along with agriculture.
John R. Donahue, S.J. and Daniel J. Harrington, S.J.; S.J. Daniel J. Harrington, editor, The Gospel
of Mark, Volume 2, Sacra Pagina Series, (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 2002), p. 78.

5
churchgoers all join together in asking Jesus for healing. Nothing good happens.
Why is this so? Why does not Jesus heal them? What happens next? In many
cases, they die of the disease. Why does Jesus take pity and make this one man
well while ignoring all the others? Why does not Jesus just stop all sickness from
occurring?
In a world that obviously requires uniformity to operate, in a society that only
exists due to the sameness that is required of every one, in a community that
functions since we all understand our roles, it is far too easy to say that these same
rules apply to God.3 We all have grown so used to this game that we created we
do not mind if we win or loose. It does not matter to us if we live or die. All that
we really care about is fairness. We want what is coming to us.
In our way of life, every one of God’s actions must be completely predictable.
If Jesus heals anyone, He then must follow certain rules that we have set down.
He must select the one person that most deserves His help or He can only assist
those who know Him. When either one of these actions does not happen in a way
that we approve, we become very upset with Jesus.
When we carefully look at it, the horrible outcome becomes crystal clear. We
will not let Jesus color outside of the lines. Instead, we draw our personalized
picture of own god and it plainly says that we are in charge. This means that the
true God comes in a distant second to the regulations that we have constructed.
If this is really what we believe, then we are placing our trust in our own
3
Donald H. Juel and Patrick R. Keifert, ‘A Markan Epiphany: Lessons from Mark 1’, Word &
World, 8 (1988):1, p. 84.

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artwork. What get from it is simply death.
This is not what we heard in today’s Gospel lesson. Instead, Jesus gave healing
not death. He brought a new picture to this man’s life. He sees things that the rest
of us miss.4
The tradition at the time was that only the clean could enter the synagogue.
This means that all the other men assumed that the possessive man was ritually
pure. No other man knew the sickness that was deep inside that one man’s heart.
Only Jesus knew. Only Jesus felt his pain. Only Jesus sensed the struggle. Jesus
gave that one man more relief than he could dream possible. He can do the same
for you.
The Gospel has more Good News for you. Jesus is not limited by what we
know. Jesus can do anything with the canvas that has been set before Him.
Now maybe, the man with the unclean spirit did not realize that he was sick.
It is definitely conceivable that he thought that all men felt this way. After all,
men are not known for sharing their innermost thoughts and feelings with others.
How would he know any differently? We are not women. We do not talk about
these things. We take the load that has been placed upon us by this world without
question or complaint. We soldier on and do not say a word. Jesus has come for
you also. He can heal you even if you do not know that you are ill.
Jesus does all these things and even more for you because He is the One who
colors outside of the lines so that you can live.
Children are blissfully unaware of the way that we have divided the world
4
Juel and Keifert, ‘A Markan Epiphany’, p. 83.

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into two separate groups: those that take great care when they draw and those
who sketch with wild abandon. We can gain valuable wisdom from both types
of children. Those boys and girls that carefully draw within the lines give us an
appreciation for the order found in creation. We see that in the stars of the heaven,
the cycle of the seasons, and the life we have so graciously been given. We also
can learn from the children that draw outside of the lines. They are the ones who
teach us about spontaneity. They give us an appreciation for the unexpected good
day at work, the unplanned time that our family spends with us, and for the smile
of the stranger.
Christ has given each of us the task of living in the world made up of neat
drawings and abstract art. The Church has the same duty. In the Church, we have
highly organized structures drawn from the tradition and Scriptures. The Church
improvises too. Our prayers for the whole people of God and for those in need
show us this art form. Our many impromptu conversations that we have with oth-
ers show us this exact same picture.
Go into the world and enjoy all the art that Jesus has given us.
“The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and
minds through Christ Jesus.”5

References

Donahue, S.J., John R. and Harrington, S.J., Daniel J.; Daniel J. Harrington, S.J.,
5
Philippians 4:7.

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 editor, The Gospel of Mark, Volume 2, Sacra Pagina Series, (Collegeville,
MN: The Liturgical Press, 2002).

Juel, Donald H. and Keifert, Patrick R., ‘A Markan Epiphany: Lessons from Mark
1’, Word & World, 8 (1988):1, pp. 80 – 85.