September 20, 2009
The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Year B)
Proverbs 31:10-31; Psalm 1; James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a;
Mark 9:30-37
As many of you know, Bruce and I will be celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary in two weeks time, two weeks from yesterday to be precise – and our marriage, regardless of anything else, has flourished on “precision!” or maybe the “clock,” being “on time” might better define it! Now, as we always hasten to assure people, the readings for the day are pre-selected by some great minds of the church, and it was just my “luck” to be preaching today – we never look ahead to the Sunday readings and decide who should be in the pulpit! So, imagine my surprise upon reading the selection from Proverbs. Call it coincidence, irony, whatever, but I had to laugh, first, “A capable wife who can find?” But the clincher was, “[her husband] praises her, ’Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all!’”
Well, enough! This spectacular reading from Proverbs extolling the virtues of the woman, the wife, focusing on her extraordinary abilities and continual attention to details, is really the conclusion to a book whose first nine chapters celebrate the attributes of “Woman Wisdom,” the personification of the teachings of sages whose understanding of God was rooted in the “fear of the Lord,” obedience to and a proper relationship with God. “Woman Wisdom” is the prophet, the teacher, who lives the righteous life in the fear of the Lord. Oh, that everyone should be like her!
The theme of wisdom is carried on through the psalm and on into the epistle, the letter of James. James writes, “Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom.” Wisdom for James meant, not sophisticated theology or intellectual pursuits, but rather attention to ethics, morality, good behaviour, as we have heard from him over the last three weeks: be generous in giving; be doers of the word, not merely hearers; do not show partiality; show your faith by your works; watch what you say; and, this week, be not envious or boastful or selfishly ambitious. He describes this wisdom as coming “from above, pure, peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy.” James did recognize, however, that in contrast there was/is a second kind of wisdom, an “earthly, unspiritual, devilish” one, the one responsible for envy, selfishness, disorder, and wickedness of all kinds, responsible for evil.
James goes on to ask, “Where do the conflicts and disputes among you come from?” Some think that he is referencing the individual, but others look at a broader interpretation. Yes, indeed, we know how the individual can be and is torn apart by situations ranging from how to get the kids to all their events to where the next month’s rent is coming from to why doesn’t he love me any more to who do those neighbors think they are anyway to the inner turmoils that have to be treated by serious therapy and/or hospitalization. At the other end of the spectrum we have nations in conflict with one another over land or religion or natural resources. We have nations in conflict with themselves; what comes to mind immediately in our land is slavery, followed a hundred years later by the civil rights movement, equal opportunity for all, and fast forward another forty years, the question of whether we should be fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, not to mention issues like abortion, the death penalty, and sexual orientation.
Narrowing it down even further we have conflicts within families, within churches, where relationships are torn apart or destroyed because of misunderstandings, lack of communication, things said or done in anger, or without thinking, sometimes even things not said or not done, hurt feelings that fester and become poison, abuse, physical and/or verbal. When I was quite young, I discovered my grandmother and her sister had not spoken to each other for ten years because of a business venture that had gone awry.
James’ answer to all this is to suggest that we are going about life the wrong way, wanting what we cannot have, asking in the wrong fashion, and that what we should be doing is submitting ourselves to God and resisting the devil. This morning’s passage concludes with “draw near to God and he will draw near to you.” What greater promise can we ask for? It truly is not possible to be in a good, solid relationship with God if we are not in the same with each other. But – we might say, it’s all very well for James to talk!
And this segues into the gospel for today. Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem and is teaching his disciples about his forthcoming betrayal, death, and resurrection, something they really need to know about in order to be prepared for the future – as much as that may be possible. At least he’s trying to teach them. One wonders, were they even listening – what other explanation is there for the fact that they could not understand and in particular were afraid to ask? They sound like sixth graders whose minds are on lunch, after school activities, the Friday night dance, anything but what the teacher is saying and then when they’re called on, they can’t answer, they haven’t the foggiest notion about the lesson! So just as the school kids have to go back after school to see the teacher so does Jesus get the disciples together later to find out what was going on – some would say, “As if he didn’t already know!” It turns out they were being terribly human, arguing about who among them was the greatest.
Now James would probably have scolded them saying, “There you go talking about things that don’t matter, asking for things of this world, things not of God.” But Jesus uses a different approach. And I am reminded of a recent comic strip where a young boy finally admits to his father that he has done a terrible thing, and his father reacts not with anger and curfews and loss of privileges but rather by saying, “What you have done has hurt the whole family; I’m very disappointed in you.” The little boy later says to his little brother, “I wish he’d spanked me and then it would be all over with!” His father’s new and different response caused Curtis to stop and to think, to really consider the ramifications of his actions and maybe, maybe, even realize how much his father loves him.
Similarly when they reach Capernaum, Jesus does something irregular, something unexpected. He doesn’t address the issue of who is the greatest per se. Instead he says, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” You can almost see the disciples smugly nodding their heads and whispering, “Uh-uh, okay, now who’s he going to pick?” Are they in for a surprise; because now he takes a child, a person of insignificance, unimportant by that society’s norms, a child, someone definitely not “great,” and holding him, maybe her, and that would be even more shocking, in his arms, he says, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.” A child had no power, no influence, no money, would be by definition “last of all” and very likely a servant. By his unorthodox action I think Jesus is saying, do not be influenced by what or who someone is or seems to be and don’t concern yourselves with trying to be someone you’re not; rather accept everyone for who he is, warts and all, as we say, and leave the judgment to God!
The wisdom of Jesus! Think about it – Does he ever act without thinking? Does he allow himself to get caught up in the arguments of others? I think of him drawing in the sand and when he looks up all the accusers have departed. I think of him responding time and time again to the questions of the Pharisees and the scribes. Every time like today’s gospel he turns the tables on them either by presenting another issue, suggesting another scenario, or just by asking a question of them. One thing he never does is get caught up in the middle of a “he said, she said” discussion, what we call triangulation, where there are no winners. No, Jesus sees into our hearts, into our minds and addresses the real issues, the worry, the pain, the prejudice, the envy, the insecurity, the fear, the anger. And he does that by making us address these issues, by helping, sometimes forcing us, to confront and to cut away the camouflage or the layers of frosting or the stratagems that we have used consciously or unconsciously to present ourselves to the world .
Jesus is the counselor, the therapist par excellence; he is the wise one, the master of wisdom who cuts through our pride, our egos, our self-righteousness to the awareness of our faults, our sins, our shortcomings, and who teaches us the way to repentance and forgiveness and to reconciliation with each other and with God, who prays with us “to hold fast to those [things] that shall endure.” Take with you this morning his words, “Whoever welcomes me, welcomes the one who sent me.” And in the words of our Covenant, let us each remember to pray, “God, help me to be Jesus' love in what I say and do. Amen”
Sonia F. G. Stevenson, M. Div.
Church of the Good Shepherd