Epistle and Gospel texts for Sunday 19 September 2021

                               
                                       Walking in the Dark

James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a         Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.

Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.

Mark 9:30-37        Jesus and his disciples passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.” But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.

Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. 

example of the opposite of practical wisdom - which is cooperative and peace making not argumentative and destructive

He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”         

                      

Reflection       It was the early 1980s when I found myself in an unlikely situation, hiking pueblo ruins with Good Bear, a South Dakota Sioux. Having recently arrived in New Mexico  from New England I was getting to know the staff at a program for Native American youth. Good Bear was a counselor for  the treatment program. I was their new consultant

A bevy of program staff invited me to join them on a hike in Bandeleir National Monument. Replete with cliffs, cave dwellings, all manner of prickly things and snakes, this cautious New England transplant kept her eyes safely glued to her feet. Gradually people moved ahead or fell behind along the trail. Good Bear, whose name could fittingly have been Great Bear to accede his towering height and presence, fell in next to me and for three hours intermittently wove a story that culminated in wise counsel. “Let your feet walk and your eyes be where you are.” My hard-boiled blurt, “Why did you not tell me that three hours ago?” evoked no response. Over the next several years Good Bear taught me to talk to trees, listen to birds, smell the air and walk through forrest at night without flashlight neither stumbling nor having my eyes poked out by aberrant limbs. Good Bear invited me to stretch beyond my left brain apprehension of the world to experiencer something deeper, something that connects me to all that is.  With imperturbable patience he opened for me the experience of my rootedness in creation which I have come to understand as the source of practical wisdom.

Among indigenous people wisdom and right living emerge from an all inclusive integrative relationship with all that is. It is not hierarchical. This stands in stark contrast to the intellectual morality to which 21st c western civilized people subscribe and has plagued the human situation since, well, at least the time Jesus and his disciples were entering Capernaum. 

Jesus asked, “What were you arguing about on the way?” But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. “ I believe this snap-shot of life epitomizes the opposite of practical wisdom because practical wisdom is cooperative and peace making. It understands everyone and everything is interdependent and interconnected. By contrast, cultural wisdom is argumentative and destructive, understanding everyone and everything to  be in competition, fighting to survive. Although the gospel text does not delineate it in such terms clearly Jesus is a proponent of practical wisdom rooted in the understanding of the all inclusive nature of creation.

The writer of Jame’s letter notes, “ The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. “ If only the leaders of our cities, states and countries and religious institutions would put down their argumentative and destructive ways and pick up practical wisdom. And, if every one of us would do likewise we might well be surprised by how handily we can walk in the dark without tripping or being poked in the eye and, as one body, one people we could stop the degradation of every aspect of creation.

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Gospel text for Sunday 23 September 2018

Mark 9:30-37        Jesus and his disciples passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.” But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.

Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”

Reflection       Last Tuesday evening I attended the Yom Kippur service with Rabbi Helen Cohn’s congregation. Yom Kippur, the highest and holiest day of the year, marks the end of the Jewish people’s ten days of penitence in preparation for their New Year. During her rabbinic reflection Rabbi Helen spoke about “sacred uncertainty,”  explicating an attitude of humility we are meant to bring to our relationships with God and one another. She counseled, “Do not to look at other people as incompetent versions of yourselves.” Hidden in the rabbi’s wisdom I heard Paul’s instruction to the Philippians,  “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus…” (Phil 2.5)

What if we took this counsel to heart and began to frame our questions from a humble  non-dualistic perspective? What if rather than regarding ourselves as equal with God, judging people and putting them in pigeonholes, good, bad, right, wrong, what if we adopted an attitude of “sacred uncertainty?”   What if we began to think with the Mind of Christ, as servants of humanity looking for connections rather than distinctions? 

Several months ago I encountered a person in a leadership role whom I was not able to  assign to a particular gender identity. At first I found this disconcerting. As I struggled to put this person in one box or another it occurred to me that I was asking the wrong question. The question is not, “Was this person born a biological male or female?” Nor is it, “In what gender role am I supposed to identify them?” The question is, “How am I connected with this person? What does this person have to say to me?” Which catapulted me out of the tension between this or that, male or female. When I let go of my dualistic way of looking at this person, I was able to experience them in relationship with me. 

“How am I connected with them?” In the deepest desires of our hearts; to be treated with respect,  to have access to decent lives and thereby experience meaning and value. I am connected with this person in our shared humanity and divinity and we both chose to be in this place this day.

Jesus, the Son of Humanity, the Son of God, is praised as King yet arrives in Jerusalem riding on an ass, presides at the Passover banquet then washes his guests feet. Jesus is haled as king of the chosen and executed as a criminal. Jesus is the embodiment of both-and, non-dual consciousness. This is the picture painted for us by Mark’s narrative and it raises some important questions.

What kind of mind set is this gospel inviting us to adopt? What might it look like if individually and as One Body we break out of our pigeon-holing boxes, stop asking questions that demand unproductive dualistic responses?  What if we fervently prayed to embody a both-and life of “sacred uncertainty/“ What if we put on the humble, nonpartisan Mind of Christ?

* Please listen to James Finley’s reflection on Thomas Merton’s teachings about the realization of uncertainty by clicking on image at the upper right of this post.

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Gospel for Sunday 23 September 2012

Mark 9:30-37

Jesus and his disciples went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, "The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again." But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.

 Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, "What were you arguing about on the way?" But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, "Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all." Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, "Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me."

 Reflection

“They did not understand… and were afraid to ask…” I don’t know about you, but I have been there. Keeping up appearances, not wanting to look like a fool. And the irony is, by being silent and not asking for clarity I have been the fool!
 
So what about the next inscrutable sentence, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” Really? How can that possibly work to my advantage? I want to shout, “Jesus, you are forever turning things upside down and I don’t get it.” I can almost see Jesus smile, shake his head and reply, “Yes, that is precisely my point. You don’t “get it” and you won’t “get it” if “get it” means grasp it and claim it for yourself. Are you willing to lower yourself, to give up your advantage, instead of striving to be great? Are you willing to be the servant instead of the served?” I want to answer Jesus, “Sure I am willing but I still don’t understand how being last will make me first.” Oops, there I am again, willing to be last if, and it’s a big if, if it will get me to first.

 Two thousand years ago Mediterranean folks were also concerned with being first. They fret over issues of honor versus shame which for the most part was determined by class structure, who is valuable in society and who is not. At the time children had a rung on the ladder close to lepers and widows. They had no social status, no rights and were utterly vulnerable. And Jesus is teaching, "Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me." Another one of those inscrutable sentences. What’s this fool to make of that?

 Greatness is measured by how we serve others, not by chain of command, corporate ladder, position, power structure, hierarchy. That was as hard bite to swallow two thousand years ago as it is today.

When I was a lot younger I believed that from time to time God would look favorably upon me and send an angel, in the form of another human, to bring good things into my life. Generally the ‘good things’ improved my situation or status and were for me evidence of God’s Presence. Now that I have worn out far too many pairs of shoes I understand God’s favor and Presence differently. Regardless of whether I notice, God is present and active at all times in all persons. The question is, “How do I welcome (recognize) God?” Jesus’ answer; "Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me."  When I serve others I come close to the One who sent Jesus. When I am the servant I am close to the Source, to God.