Gospel text Sunday 28 October 2012

Mark 10:46-52      Jesus and his disciples came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" Jesus stood still and said, "Call him here." And they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take heart; get up, he is calling you." So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. Then Jesus said to him, "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man said to him, "My teacher, let me see again." Jesus said to him, "Go; your faith has made you well." Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.

Reflection                                                                                              Have you ever felt restless or apprehensive, that things were just not right? A bit off center, uneasy, unclear making it hard to stand up and move on? I certainly have and I experience it as a kind of spiritual blindness. Although I have eyes to see the world around me, somehow I do not understand what is going on. I am spiritualy blind. In my blindness the best I can do is sit at the side of the road not sure which way to go. In the absence of self understanding where can I possibly go? When I do try to move I falter and stumble because, though I have eyes, I do not see. What is this unsettling mystery that is so difficult for me and the disciples in Mark’s gospel to see?

I believe this may have something to do with why the writer of Mark’s gospel tells the stories of  the blind man in Bethsaida and blind Bartimaeus and places them like bookends before the first and following the third time Jesus predicts his suffering, death and resurrection. The thing is, who can understand the mystery of Jesus, fully human and fully divine? Who can understand the mystery of a messiah whose glory is born in his consent to drink the cup of suffering and death? Who can understand the message that the last shall be first and the least shall be greatest? How can I follow Jesus if I am blind and do not understand? 

The best I can muster is joining blind Bartimaeus shouting, “Lord have mercy on me! I don’t understand and I don’t know which way to go. I am sitting on the curb watching life pass by because if I stand in my own power I will stumble and fall. Teacher, have mercy on me. Please call me and show me which way to go.”

Maybe it is all in that one word, teacher. When I call out asking for  the teacher’s mercy I am admitting that I do not know. I am making myself least in the relationship. From the position of open, empty receptivity I am ready and waiting for the teacher to pass by and call me. I am not so full of my self or my plans that I cannot see or hear the teacher call. That’s where I am today. Sitting on the curb with blind Bartimaeus. Though I am still uneasy I sit in faith with hope that the teacher will call, restore my sight and  show me the way.

Mark 10:35-45

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to Jesus and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you." And he said to them, "What is it you want me to do for you?" And they said to him, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory." But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" They replied, "We are able." Then Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared."

When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. So Jesus called them and said to them, "You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many."

Reflection       During this season of lobbying and campaigning, the presidential 'race' to win the November election, it is easy to imagine life two thousand years ago, not much different from today, as James and John strive for power and prestige by attempting to ally  themselves with the man they experience in charge. No doubt they saw Jesus as the proverbial ‘man of the hour,’ and conspired to leap to the top of the pack of twelve disciples and sit in places of honor, right next to Jesus. Jesus sees right through their ploy. James and John are interested in securing their advantage. Though they call Jesus “teacher” they are not getting Jesus’ message of the upside down kingdom of God. They are reacting in the same old status quo way, the race to the top.

So Jesus reminds them, “Whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.” This is not conventional wisdom, it is not the way the world proceeds then or now. Jesus’ wisdom breeches the status quo. Poor James and John are still striving for power over others, they desire to become great. Their tactics are not lost on the other ten disciples. Their peers are angry because they too see the situation through the common lens of personal gain. Can’t you just hear them muttering, “Who do James and John think they are trying to get ahead of us?”

Essentially Jesus says, drink the cup and pick up the cross of suffering. Life as a real human being is not a race to the top where you get to exert your power over others. Life as a real human being is about serving others, giving your life for the benefit of others. And yes, that means you will be swimming against the tide. People will misunderstand you, even persecute you. That’s what the cup and the cross are about.

It reminds me of a fifth grade civics lesson. Our teacher told us about servant leadership, about people who set aside their desire for money and power in order to run for public office. (As I recall my young friends and I were shocked to learn that the president of the United States didn’t earn anywhere near the money they would in the private sector). Our teacher put teachers and mayors, senators and presidents in the category of servant leaders. She told us that rather than using their positions for personal gain servant leaders make decisions to build community. They lead for the greatest common good, for the stewardship of resources to benefit all.  She told us that personal sacrifice is what sets true leaders apart. “Whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant.”

Hoping to identify the characteristics that distinguish servant leaders I went to wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servant_leadership Their list begins with listening, then follows healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of others and building community. Perhaps these are the qualities we ought to consider when choosing our next servant leader to serve the people of these United States. 

**The image above is of Ghandi leading the Salt March to the sea in 1930.

Gospel Text for Sunday 7 October, 2012

Mark 10:2-16        Some Pharisees came, and to test Jesus they asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" He answered them, "What did Moses command you?" They said, "Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her." But Jesus said to them, "Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. But from the beginning of creation, 'God made them male and female.' 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate."

 Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. He said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery."

 People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, "Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it." And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.

Reflection

It is interesting to me that when I read the Gospel of Mark, generally  I relate to the stories and parables allegorically, as texts pointing beyond themselves. So I surprise myself when I read this text and find myself responding in a most literal (O.K. be honest – defensive) manner. I suppose it has something to do with the fact that I was divorced and I have had too many birthdays to call myself a child.

Still, I do not believe that the writer of Mark’s gospel intends for us readers to sink into discussions of acceptable versus unacceptable grounds for divorce or property or custody agreements. At every turn the gospel invites us to look beyond superficial details and discover Divine Intention.  So what are the jewels hidden in this text? What does it have to say to me, a single person who once upon a time was married? What does it say to me who once upon a time was a child? When I look at marriage and childhood as pointing to spiritual truths that lie beyond themselves I begin to glean some meaning and relevance for my life.

A fundamental truth that Jesus articulates regarding marriage is “the two shall become one flesh.” In other words, what once was separated is now united. According to the writer of John’s gospel Jesus says, “I and the Father are one, “ (John 10.30) and later expands his message of union and unity when he says, “In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.” (John 14.20) In God’s economy, in the realm of the Spirit, God intends that we all are one. Paul explains this in his letter to the Romans, “…  so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” (Rom 12:5). Our journey of faith is an inclusive adventure during which we discover that our deepest meaning and value, the revelation of each of our individual truest selves, is revealed in the network of connections between us and all of God’s creatures. We are one in the interconnected web of being. We are fundamentally joined; to behave otherwise (to divorce ourselves one from another) is to turn away from God.

 And that I believe is something children know instinctively. Children know they are connected. They know they are vulnerable and dependent upon others. And we adults are to receive one another “as a little child,” acknowledging our interdependence, full of hope and wonder, and we will be blessed.

Gospel text for Sunday 30 September 2012

Mark 9:38-50      John said to Jesus, "Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us." But Jesus said, "Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us. For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.

 "If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell., And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.

 "For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another."

 

Reflection

I spent twenty three years living in Northern New Mexico, some of that time in horse and cattle country. As a transplanted city girl there was something I never quite figured out. Why did some of the landowners surround their acreas with electric fences while others did not? Was the land and the livestock inside the electric fences more precious? Were the people inside the electric fences more vulnerable? Were they keeping things in or were they keeping things out?

 When John and the disciples saw a stranger casting our demons in Jesus’ name apparently they wanted to stretch an electric fence around themselves and Jesus. Can you imagine a sign flapping on their buzzing barbed wire? “Warning, keep out, you are treading on holy ground. If you are not one of us you have no right to call upon Jesus’ name and cast out demons.” And if we read the text hidden in John and the other disciples’ hearts it might be, “Hay, who’s the guy stealing our thunder? Who does he think he is? Jesus gave us the power to heal and cast out demons and he is not one of us. We are the authorized exorcists. We have to stop him.”

 But Jesus would have none of that. Can you imagine Jesus shrugging and saying, “Tear down your electric fences. This stranger is casting out demons and freeing God’s people. He is doing God’s work of tearing down fences and removing stumbling blocks. Truly, he is no threat, he is not against us.”

 Somehow John and the disciples have lost track. They are possessed with preserving and protecting their special relationship with Jesus and their unique access to power. (Can you hear echoes of them bickering over who is greatest? Who will be on Jesus’ right and left side?) Their concern about themselves has blinded them to the good the stranger is doing. Their concern about their priority has become a stumbling block, which Jesus says is problematic and must be removed.

“If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off.” Jesus is serious. There is no equivocation. “If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off.” John and the disciples must tear down their electric fences, let go of their claims to special power and privilege or the consequences will be dire. If they continue to see strangers as adversaries, competitors, or threats they will not only be separating themselves from their neighbors they will also be separating themselves from God. And the suffering they will bring upon themselves will be endless.  

So where is the good news in all of that? From the beginning and for all time the land and all that is therein (people, trees, horses) is valuable. There is no need to build fences and stake claim, no need to hide or to keep others out. All we need to do is claim our inheritance and be our true self.

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.

Gospel text for Sunday 16 September 2012

 

 

Mark 8:27-38

Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" And they answered him, "John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets." He asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are the Messiah." And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.

Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."

He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels

 

Reflection

“Who do people say that I (Jesus) am?” Subversive? Liberal? Progressive? Regressive? Orthodox? Heretical? Blasphemer? Possessed – by a demon? By the Spirit of God? It depends on who answers the question. Jesus’ family think he is out of his mind. The religious officials declare he is a heretic. Possessed by Beelzebul  is what the Scribes decide. Herod figures Jesus is John the Baptist returned from the dead to get him back for cutting off his head. The masses are not quite sure what to make of this Jesus;  teacher, healer, exorcist, magician, a prophet like Moses or Elijah. It’s hard to tuck Jesus into neat little categories and groups.

Jesus asks Peter, ““Who do you say that I am?” Peter answers, “You are the messiah.”” OK then, that clears it up  - as long as we know what “messiah” means.  Peter thought he did. Messiah is the person for whom the people of God have been waiting for a very long time. Messiah is the one who bursts onto the scene and ends suffering and injustice. But Jesus doesn’t understand “messiah” that way.

 

Jesus launches into a terribly problematic teaching. Messiah is “… the Son of Man (and) must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes and be killed and after three days rise again.” First problem. Jesus calls himself the Son of Man. That must mean that somehow messiah is associated with or finds identity in humankind. Messiah is not some supernatural force that is going to break in and create a happily ever after life. Second problem.  Messiah is supposed to end suffering, not be subjected to it, and certainly not be rejected and killed. What good is a dead messiah? Third problem. “After three days rise again.” What does that mean? And even if he is killed and comes back to life he will just be a dead man walking. How is that going to out my enemies and secure my life?

 

I’m afraid I am right there with Peter. I don’t want to hear what Jesus is saying. I want my messiah to make my life better, and that would be according to my definition of better. But Jesus makes himself painfully clear. All the things of the world that I seek (end of suffering, security, justice) are about enhancing my situation or status. And I will lose them. End of story. Or is it?

 

Following Jesus means dying to the self-focused way I (and the culture around me) see things. Because when I decide to ally myself with Jesus and act to spread God’s all inclusive love rather than to secure my share and keep everyone else a safe distance away, I will infuriate the people around me. My family, my friends, the religious and government officials will not like it one bit. And I will be persecuted, even killed. That’s what Jesus tells the crowds, disciples and us. But - and this is a big but - when I make my choices in alliance with God's purpose and in solidarity with God's people, I find my identity in God.  The little me with my meager wants to have it my way dies, and I rise again in the Christ.

 

Find the story that accompanies the image

  “ Muslims in Pakistan, show compassion and justice” at http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/26/opinion/rauf-christian-girl-pakistan/index.html

Gospel text for Sunday 9 September 2012

Mark 7:24-37

Jesus set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, "Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." But she answered him, "Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." Then he said to her, "For saying that, you may go-- the demon has left your daughter." So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

 

Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened." And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. They were astounded beyond measure, saying, "He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."

 

Reflection
When I hear Jesus’ words to the Syrophoenician mother who is begging Jesus to heal her daughter, “Let the children be fed first. It is not fair to take the children’s food and feed it to the dogs,” my first impulse is to attack him, hands on hips shouting, “What do you mean calling us dogs? Just because we aren’t Jews doesn’t mean we’re not people! I thought you were a man of God. Well, if your God is only a God for Jews than I don’t want anything to do with you or your God. Harrumph!!” And we all know where that would have gotten me and my daughter – nowhere!

 

But the Syrophoenician mother has something lacking in my defensive attitude. Humility. Rather than taking offense at Jesus’ dismissive attitude toward non-Jews, she willingly accepts a lesser place under the table with the dogs. From this position of submission the mother implores Jesus once more to allow her daughter to taste even the left-overs, the crumbs that the Jews would not eat from the floor.   When the Syrophoenician mother came to Jesus “and bowed down at his feet,” she did so not only with her body but also with her heart. This is true humility.

 

But it is more complicated than this. In order for this mother to come to Jesus she had much to overcome.  As a woman and a Gentile she was doubly unclean. And having a demon possessed daughter only made matters worse. In addition to humility, this mother who bowed down at Jesus’ feet must have had amazing courage. Courage and humility, two sides of one coin.

 

t takes much courage to know our smallness and nonetheless dare to present ourselves to God. And it is in the very knowing and embracing of our smallness that we humbly present ourselves to God, willing to eat the crumbs from beneath the table, as it were. I believe the blend of courage and humility is irresistible to God. It reveals an interior strength and purposefulness that is in the very image and likeness of God. And as we lay claim to our likeness to God, so are we healed. No wonder the Syrophoenician woman’s daughter was healed without Jesus even lifting a finger!

 Reflecting on his life, I believe Neil Armstrong embodied the qualities of courage and humility, and that his words speak of the place of humankind in God’s creation. “I put up my thumb and blotted out the planet Earth.”