Pentecost 17, September 20, 2015 (full size gallery)
Last week was a big week for St. Peter’s – 52 at the baptism, 37 at Gospel on the River, 100+ at the Flamenco concert and 86 at the Village Harvest. Back to reality today – 36 but a wonderful service. Dave and Gibby brought more tomatoes – they said it was the last of the crop.
We had 3 young people, 7 adults for "Weaving God’s Promise", second week of the new class – today on "Cain and Abel". It is amazing how fast the youth thinks. Fresh muffins made by Catherine made the class even better.
We welcomed newcomers who moved into Marilyn’s home in Portabago day. They already knew some of the parishioners from that area.
Today was Catherine’s birthday on the actual day and celebrated in grand style -birthday card, a round of Happy Birthday, presents and, of course the birthday prayer.
Today’s readings call us to humility, compassion and service. The author of Wisdom gives voice to the ungodly, who experience the goodness of the righteous as an unwelcome reminder of their selfishness. James reminds us that humility and peaceableness show the wisdom of God. Today’s gospel reading from Mark contrasts the disciples’ battle over privilege with Jesus’ proclamation of his radical approach to the Kingdom of God and discipleship—placing ourselves at the disposal of the lowliest of the kingdom.
The sermon dealt with how we received God and particularly forces in our world that cut off that receptivity.
1. "Francis J. Moloney, in his commentary on Mark, points out that when Jesus takes up a child in his arms in welcome, he is making the point to his followers that if they are to grow as his disciples, then they must have the receptivity of children. Maloney says that “there is an intimate link” between ‘receiving,’ that is welcoming the child, welcoming Jesus, and welcoming the one who sent Jesus."
2. "If we want to receive Jesus and to be his disciples, then we have to be receptive to the things that God is busy doing in our lives, and to be receptive to those in our midst who still have much to learn. Jesus expects us, as his disciples, to have the expansive openness of a child and the willingness to receive from God the constantly deepening understanding of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus."
3. "Just as the disciples were not receptive to what Jesus said to them about being killed and then rising again, we also have trouble welcoming the idea of the cross into our lives. In the Wisdom of Solomon, the writer describes those who have lost their receptivity and have become so cynical and hopeless about life that they want to destroy those who are righteous and welcoming.
"Cynicism is easy to engage in, but it stands in the way of being receptive to God. We have to give up our cynicism about the state of the world and our tacit belief that God cannot or will not bring forth change."
4. "Cynicism can be seen as a product of fear. "Fear can shut down our receptivity and make us less than welcoming to people who aren’t like us. Fear can close our minds to ideas that aren’t our own. Fear can worry us to death and fill our hearts with hate."
"In order to welcome Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we have to make our best effort to turn those fears over to God, and to stop carrying fear around with us, because fear pulls in the welcome mat and slams the doors of our hearts shut, not just to God, but to one another as well.
5. "Another thing that destroys our sense of receptivity and welcome is the desire that we all have for power and control, just like the disciples who argued among themselves about who was the greatest. The desire to be someone important in this world can negatively impact our relationships with God and with one another."
6. "James, in his New Testament letter, lays out in clear detail some more things that keep us from being receptive to God and welcoming to one another.Bitter envy and ambition in our hearts. Disorder, wickedness of every kind. Conflicts and disputes. Cravings."
7. "God’s wisdom is pure, peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy."
8. "Imagine being a child again. Imagine being welcomed by Jesus himself and being taken up in his arms, letting go of your cynicism, your fear and your need for power and control. Imagine being truly open and receptive to God, so that God can truly give you the gifts that we prayed for in the baptismal prayer we prayed last week–the forgiveness of our sins, being sustained by the Holy Spirit, being given an inquiring and discerning heart, and the courage to will and to persevere, a spirit to know God and to love God, and the gift of joy and wonder in all God’s works."
Commentary by Canon Lance Ousley, Diocese of Olympia
True character is shown under strife and/or when no one is looking. Similarly faithful stewardship is tested when it is culturally easy to be selfish and exploit resources or even to boast with words or thoughts about ambition for one’s own reward.
Good stewardship is a matter of transformation from the socially and culturally accepted selfish ways of the world based on scarcity to a heart that is full of the abundance of God’s love for divine justice, mercy and humility. Here in Mark, Jesus once again tells his disciples, "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." Jesus was trying to convey not only that God’s kingdom was breaking forth, but also what it meant to be righteous in a world that places the self over others. Jesus’ message was counter to what his disciples knew about power and position for their worldly point of view.
Even power can be stewarded and shared with others. Too often in our world we witness the abuse of power, which essentially is the abuse of a person or persons. Abuse of power and selfish ambition are founded in insecurity and scarcity. But Jesus invites a little child, one with no social power, into his embrace sharing his power, love, and grace with one culturally considered to be "property." As Jesus re-humanizes the little child, he re-humanizes us all. Being a faithful steward of his power, Jesus shows us that all people are children of God. Likewise he charges us to do the same, "Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all."
Our reading options for this week all set up this theological perspective of power and position, in spite of the overwhelming worldly view. Through them and the context of the disciples’ debate about greatness we are shown that even our words and thoughts have implications on the faithfulness of our lives. As we heard last week in James, the tongue is sharp. Our words and thoughts have power to influence ourselves and those around us.
What do ambitious words about power and position communicate about our faith or about our perspective of provident abundance to us and those around us? How are we inviting ones who need their humanity restored into our midst? This is the power that has been entrusted to us through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. How will you steward it and make a statement about God’s abundance?