18th Sunday After Pentecost
Jeremiah 11:18-20
Psalm 54
James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a
Mark 9:30-37
Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ,
grace and peace to you
from the one who welcomes us as children. Amen
Joy (my 2.5 year old daughter)
is at the point where she knows pretty well what we expect of her,
but because she’s two and human
she will often do what she knows is wrong.
When we call her on it,
saying “Joy are you supposed to be doing that?”
she’ll either say ‘nooooo’ with a big smile
or she’ll stay silent,
because she doesn’t want to lie
but she doesn’t want to admit she’s in the wrong either.
It’s a very human response,
I hope as she grows those silences become fewer
but as we see in our readings for today
we never fully outgrow silence as a response
to what we would rather not admit.
There is a lot of silence on the part of the disciples today in our gospel.
Jesus tells them once again
what is going to happen to him,
he will be handed over, killed and three days later rise again,
and they don’t understand what he’s telling them
and Mark tells us “they’re afraid to ask him.”
But they’re not afraid to talk to one another as they continue on,
and when they reach Capernaum
and Jesus asks them what they were arguing about,
they are silent once again.
This is a guilty silence,
they don’t want to admit
they were arguing about who among them is the greatest.
They don’t understand,
So they do what we all do
when we don’t understand and don’t ask for clarification,
they concentrate on the part they do understand
even if it’s only half the picture
the part they do get
is that Jesus has said once again that he is going to die,
which means they will be left on their own without their leader
so as they walk along
they try to come up with their back up plan,
who is going to be our leader when Jesus is gone?
Well, who is the greatest among us?
Jesus of course knows what they’re talking about
but he asks them anyway
and they’re embarrassed
because it’s pretty awkward
to get caught talking about who is going to take over
after the one asking you the question is dead
Never mind that they know their discussion
flies in the face of what Jesus has taught them
throughout their time as his disciples,
as we heard last week
he’s already told them that if any want to become his followers
they must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow him.
A discussion of greatness does not fit in with that teaching.
To be fair to the disciples,
their silence is not the first,
nor will it be the last.
In confirmation we’re studying the Bible this year
and we just did creation and the story of Adam and Eve,
the authors of the first silence if you will,
the silence that came after Adam and Eve
ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil,
against God’s direct command.
They know they are in the wrong
so when the Lord God comes to walk in the garden
at the time of the evening breeze
they hide from God,
because it’s pretty awkward facing your creator
who you just tried to become like,
and all while knowing that you’re naked.
And this is only the beginning of the awkward silences
on the part of the people of God
who acting out of self-interest,
whether it is self-preservation born of partial understanding
or selfish ambition born out of a desire to be more,
defy the will of God
and argue and create conflict among one another.
A pattern that James is still addressing in his letter
“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.”
This is the earthly way of doing things
James reminds them,
rather we are called to do things the heavenly way,
with “the wisdom from above [which] is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy.”
It seems like a tall order,
given our long track record of acting otherwise,
but James has a recommendation:
“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.”
Draw near to God and he will draw near to you
because God is merciful,
even as we are silent
in the face of our own willful failings
God does not give up on us.
There are consequences yes,
Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden,
but as they go God provides them with clothes
that are much more functional and comfortable
than the fig leaves they’ve covered themselves with,
and God stays in relationship with them,
with humanity,
always seeking to mend the relationship,
to the point of sending the Son of God to become human.
Jesus the Son of God
does not give up on the disciples,
rather he sits down and once again teaches them
If you’re going to talk about who is the greatest he says
you must use the definition of greatest
according to the way of God
“Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.”
and then he gives them a concrete example,
he takes a child in his arms and tells them
“Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”
It seems like an idyllic picture
I’m sure there are some artistic renditions around this building
Where Jesus is surrounded by children
All who look so clean…
But let’s face it,
Kids are messy,
there’s always something oozing out here
or dripping from there
tears when they are tired,
tears when they are hungry or lonely or cranky
basically all their emotions are expressed with some kind of fluid
Now imagine a child who lives
without disposable wet wipes
or a bath every day,
Or even running water
picture how quickly
the layers of dirt and grime would build up
and how sticky and well
unappealing
that child would get very quickly.
Combine that with a society
that out of necessity
is not so sentimentally attached to children
who take up scarce resources
without being productive
and you start to get a picture of children in Jesus’ time,
grimy, unproductive, partial persons.
This is the kind of child
that Jesus places among the disciples
and takes up in his arms
this sticky mess is who they are to draw near to
if they wish to draw near to God.
This is who and how Jesus calls us to serve
But before we do
Jesus takes us up into his arms
Sticky grimy mess that we are
and in this state
Jesus takes us,
places us among disciples,
gives us a bath
And a new name
Child of God
It is only because Jesus receives us first,
us who are so other than him
that we are able to speak when others are silent
and welcome God in the form of the other
even a little child. Amen
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