The Cross and The System

 

Reflection Sunday 21^st March 2021 – Fifth Sunday of Lent

 

³¹ Now is the judgement of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. John 12:31 NRSV

³¹ Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. John 12: 31 NIV

As we get closer and closer to Holy Week, in the passage from John we’re thinking about today, we see the cross casting its shadow. But for John, certainly on this occasion, Jesus’ death on the cross is not about individuals’ salvation from sin. Nor is John concerned with what theologians call “substitutionary atonement”; through which Jesus takes on the divine punishment that humans beings deserve, to relieve us of our condemnation and guilt. Rather, in John 12: 20 – 33, Jesus’ crucifixion is about judging “the world” and driving out “the ruler of the world”.

“The world” Jesus is referring to is not God’s creation. Rather it is what Charles Campbell in Feasting on the Word calls “the fallen realm that exists in estrangement from God and is organised in opposition to God’s purposes.” For John, the phrase “the world” sums up all that goes against God’s purposes. And in fact, the Greek word John uses, which is translated as “the world” is possibly better thought of as “the System”. The System is driven by a spirit or force (“the ruler of the world”) whose ways are domination, violence, and death. John uses the phrase “ruler of this world” or “prince of this world” several times in his Gospel and he clearly means the Devil or Satan.

It is Jesus’ intention that his death (“when I am lifted up”) will bring about reconciliation for the world with God. And through the reconciliation, the Systems of the world will be overthrown, as the ruler of the world is overthrown. It is almost as if John interprets the crucifixion as an exorcism, in which the System is judged and its driving force, “the ruler of this world”, is cast out by means of the cross. Consequently, because of Jesus’ death (and resurrection) all people from the earth will be drawn to Jesus.

Throughout Holy Week Jesus will demonstrate how he challenges the System. Specifically how he challenges the System of violence. Jesus challenges the idea that the way to defeat violence is through violence.  The writer Walter Wink called it “the myth of redemptive violence.” According to this myth, the way to bring order out of chaos is through violently defeating “the other”. Violence is all too often the way of “the world”, the way of the System. On a personal level and on a global level violence is often seen as a means to resolve conflict.

During Holy Week Jesus refuses to use violence against the violence that will be shown to him. He does not stir up an armed mob during his entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. He does not call down a host of angels to defend him. And in fact, in John 18: 10 – 11 in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus chides Peter when Peter drew a sword to defend Jesus.

Jesus will provide an explanation to Pilate in John 18:36 NIV

³⁶ Jesus said, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.’

Or think of it this way

³⁶ Jesus said, ‘My kingdom is not of this System. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.’

Jesus’ rejection of violence, is precisely what distinguished his way, from the way of the System and from the way of Satan.

Yet despite this, despite Jesus’ death on the cross, and his conquering the sin of death (which is the ultimate defeat of Satan) we know that the Systems of this world still run contrary to Jesus. We know there is violence for example in Yemen. The System allows that violence to continue. The System allows that violence to be carried out by a powerful country (Saudi Arabia) against a weak one. And the System provides (British and American made) weapons to do so whilst at the same time cutting financial aid to people in Yemen who are starving due to the war / violence perpetuated against them.

Such things pose huge theological questions. Questions such as “If Jesus’ crucifixion drove out the ruler of the world, why is there still evil in the System?” Questions that have been debated for hundreds of years by people far more learned than me. People have written whole books on the subject rather than having space for a Reflection.

But for Jesus’ death to bring about reconciliation to God, one must make the decision to believe in Jesus and all Jesus means. That is, Jesus’ death offers reconciliation to all people, but one must decide to accept the offer.

²⁴ Very truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. ²⁵ Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. John 12: 20 – 36

I am currently reading a book about Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor and theologian murdered by the Nazis three weeks before the end of the war. We all know that Nazism was perhaps the most evil regime human history has ever known. “The System” at its worst. Yet Bonhoeffer was not broken by it. The Nazi System did not break his faith. He confronted evil and paid the price. He once said this:

“When a madman is tearing through the streets in a car, I can, as a pastor who happens to be on the scene, do more than merely console, or bury those who have been run over. I must jump in front of the car and stop it”

As followers of Christ, with Christ in our hearts and souls, it is incumbent upon us to confront the Systems, to challenge evil and injustice, to speak out against the ruler of this world. We cannot be bystanders, to use Bonhoeffer’s analogy, watching the car crash occurring. We should be trying our utmost to prevent it.

If you find Bonhoeffer a bit daunting, John Wesley wrote to his "people called Methodist" the following Rule of Conduct:

Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.

Wesley's Rule of Conduct is a way of challenging "The System". The crucifixion of Jesus is God's Rule of Conduct; it is the rule for our lives as long as we shall live. This is the meaning of the Passion. This is the way of the Cross. 

 

Only a face a mother can love

 

Reflection Sunday 14^th March 2021 Mothering Sunday

 

I always find preparing a service for Mothering Sunday a bit of a challenge. The reason being,  knowing how to pitch it, because it is a complicated subject and can stir up all kinds of emotions for different people.

Some of you reading this will have, or will have had, a loving, caring relationship with your mother. But immediately, I’m conscious that those words “will have had” are significant. Maybe you are mourning the loss of your mother. Maybe Mothering Sunday becomes painful for that reason. Then there will be those who didn’t know their mothers. Or didn’t get on with their mothers. Those who didn’t know their birth mothers and were adopted or fostered in some way. Maybe the foster parent become your “mother” or maybe this was hurtful experience.

I have no idea of knowing what is going through your minds currently. For some people I know well I will have some idea. But for most of you, how you are feeling today is beyond me.

Do you begin to see what I mean when I say I find preparing for Mothering Sunday a challenge?

(And I should say, that although we are thinking of “mothers” today. Much of what follows, if not all of what follows, applied to parents in general, those who act as parents or carers.)

In the back of our Methodist Worship Book you can find a list of suggested Bible readings for each Sunday of the year. And these run over a three-year cycle. (We are currently in Year B.) There is no obligation on a preacher to use the suggested readings, but I mostly do. If you were to look at the readings suggested for today you will see there are eight possibilities. You’ll see in the Order of Service I have mentioned them all. I feel the eight readings are helpful as they give a suggestion of how human relationships are mixed and how child and “mother” relationships can differ.

I think it was the now thankfully defunct “News of the World” that used as a slogan for a while “All human life is here”. I’d suggest that the eight Bible passages give a flavour of all human life, or certainly in respect of parent and child relationships.

Starting with the two Old Testament passages (Exodus 2: 1 – 10 and 1 Samuel 1: 20 – 28)

In Exodus we have the start of the story of Moses. His mother was aware that Pharaoh had decreed that all Jewish boys were to be murdered. So, she arranged for Moses to be hidden and Moses’ mother placed one of Moses sisters to keep an eye on him. Pharaoh’s daughter appears and finds the baby. “She feels sorry for him”. Moses’ sister then arranges for Moses’ own birth mother to look after the baby for a while before Pharaoh’s daughter takes him “when the child grew older”.

Does this mean perhaps that Pharaoh’s daughter cannot have children herself so (forcibly) adopts Moses as her own after Moses own mother has nursed him? And then, what of the role of Moses’ older sister? Maybe, as can happen perhaps in a large family, she was used to acting as a surrogate mother to younger siblings?

Then we have the passage in 1 Samuel. We have Hannah who has been childless for many years and she eventually become pregnant after speaking to the priest Eli who had told her “May the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him” 1 Sam 1:17. But after she had given birth to her longed-for son, she handed the boy over to Eli

²⁷ I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. ²⁸ So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he shall be given over to the Lord.’ 1 Sam 1: 27 – 28

A story of childlessness that turns to joy through a longed for and unexpected pregnancy. But (perhaps to our eyes) the strangeness of the longed-for child being given away, as it were, to train to become a servant of God. And what of those who have prayed fervently for a child, but they don’t have one?

The two suggested Psalms (Ps 34: 11 – 20 and Ps 127: 1 – 4) are at odds with one another. Psalm 127 talks about children being “a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him”. What of those who don’t have / can’t have children? How does this make them feel? But then Psalm 34 tells us:

¹⁸ The Lord is close to the broken-hearted
    and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

¹⁹ The righteous person may have many troubles,
    but the Lord delivers him from them all;

 

The two suggested Gospel readings (Luke 2: 33 – 35 and John 19: 25 – 27) are interesting. The Luke passage foretells the pain Mary will experience in years to come when she sees her son executed on a cross and his side pierced with a spear (see John 19:34). On the face of it the John passage seems an odd inclusion for this day. But for me Peter’s denial of Jesus conjurers up the pain a mother / parent / carer feels when they see their child do something that is hurtful.

The two epistles say something of how mothers provide love and comfort to their children but how mothers draw their own comfort and love from the love Jesus Christ shows them. (2 Cor: 3 – 7, Col 3: 12 – 17) The Colossians passage also serves as a reminder to mothers (and each of us) of the many other qualities mothers show – compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience and forgiveness. “Forgive as the Lord forgave you” Col 3:13

I’ve rattled through 8 passages of scripture and given you some things to reflect upon in relation to each of them. The pairs of passages have connections (albeit some are “compare and contrast”.) But what links them collectively? For that I’d like to go back to the Colossians passage:

¹⁴ And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Col 3:14

What runs through all the passages is love and love in its various forms.

My dear grandma Phyllis had many wonderful turns of phrase. She had a great love for children (she saw several of her own children die as infants before raising two daughters; she was a Sunday School teacher for over 50 years) and took delight in cooing over babies. But occasionally at home she’d say about a baby she’d seen “God love him, he has a face only a mother could love” (She’d probably say that of me now!)

But in that funny little saying, there is a great truth. For how often can only a mother love a child? How often can only a mother love a child who has done wrong? How often can a mother forgive a child even though others would reject him or her? Mother’s love is like no other.

Let me give you one further Bible passage to think about. Luke 15: 11 – 32 – the Parable of the Prodigal Son. It is of course the father that welcomes the wayward son’s return. But in many ways that is irrelevant. The love demonstrated by the father (God in other words) is the love we are  really thinking of today. The unconditional love, the non-judgmental love, the sacrificial love. The love only a mother can give. The love given by God our heavenly Father and Mother.

Spring cleaning the faith community

 

Reflection Sunday 7^th March 2021 – Third Sunday of Lent

 

We are thinking this morning about the passage in John 2: 13 – 22. A passage we all think we know well, where Jesus takes up his whip and drives the money changers out of the temple. It is a story found in all four Gospels, although unlike in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) John includes his version at the start of Jesus’ ministry, whereas the others include it during Holy Week.

It is a story those of us with a heart for social justice and Christian action relish. Here is Jesus rolling his sleeves up and getting stuck in. Showing us how we should deal with injustice. And Jesus’ actions place him squarely in the great tradition of the Old Testament prophets, whose words and visions thrill and empower us when the weak are exploited by the powerful. It’s no coincidence that during the protests that took place in the City of London in October 2011, with protestors camped outside St Paul’s cathedral, this passage of scripture was often cited as a way of dealing with greedy bankers.

When we think of the story in this way it is a real temptation to go searching in the cupboards for our whips, join a protest march and to storm the barricades!

These actions can all have a place and I do believe that it is right at times for Christians to be prepared to stand up and be counted. But today I want us to look at the story from a different angle.

In the story Jesus drives out the money lenders and those selling sheep, cattle, and doves. These traders hadn’t set up business within the Temple courts on their own initiative, they had been permitted to do this, in fact positively encouraged to do this, by the Temple authorities. As you probably know, worship in the Temple required various kinds of sacrifices to be made and for certain payments to be made. What better thing to do than offer animals available for sacrifice and provide a way of exchanging everyday money for the special coinage used inside the Temple.

Jesus is a complete outsider to the power structure of the Temple. He is not a priest. Yet he issues a challenge to the authority of the Temple that quite literally shakes its foundations. Jesus throws the mechanics of temple worship into chaos, disrupting the Temple system during one of the most significant feasts of the year (Passover). By driving out the money changers and the animal sellers neither sacrifices nor tithes could be offered that day. No wonder Jesus was asked

‘What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?’ John 2:18

Of course, Jesus has the authority to challenge the Temple authorities because he has God’s power. Jesus is God’s presence on earth. And Jesus is making the point that as such Jesus should be the focus of people’s attention not the Temple.

Jesus’ anger was not directed at the traders – though they may well have exploited their position. Jesus’ anger was at the authorities who had allowed this to happen and who should have known better. It was not something that happened overnight. It had been allowed to develop over time by those who made a career of studying the word of God and no doubt these things were allowed initially with the best of intentions. After all the Jewish scriptures spoke of sacrifice as part of worship. But Jesus identified that the authorities had allowed things to get out of hand and move from the good intentions as set out in Jewish scripture.

It’s worth remembering that Jesus is not being “anti-Jewish”. Jesus is challenging the authorities because they have developed customs and practices and rules that are no longer open to a fresh revelation from God. A temptation that exists for contemporary Christianity as well as for the Judaism of Jesus’ day.

This is what has spoken to me in preparing this Reflection. What would Jesus’ reaction be to the way the Church universal, or the Methodist Church or indeed our own church, does things now? Has the Church, the Methodist Church, our church become complacent, cosy and comfortable rather than really proclaiming the Gospel, making new disciples, developing existing disciples and watching for signs of God at work and following Him?

Christian faith communities must be willing to ask where and when the status quo of religious practices and institutions have become absolute; that is free from a willingness to be changed or challenged. Closed to the possibility of reformation, change and renewal. In other words, where the “we’ve always done it this way” mindset rules.

At the time of writing this Reflection (23^rd February) we’ve just received Boris Johnson’s “roadmap” for bringing us out of lockdown. So far there has been nothing specific about opening churches. I anticipate in the next couple of weeks I will receive some guidance about this and will share it. It will be good to be able to worship together once again of course.

But I believe that Covid has provided a wakeup call to Churches, church leaders and church members. God has been speaking through Covid and challenging us. God has been asking us all to look at what we’ve been doing before Covid and to consider whether what we were doing before will work after.

These are big issues to consider. And I wouldn’t claim to know the answers. But I do feel that as a church leader God is prompting me to voice these thoughts. And God is telling me to say to all of you to pray and think about this yourselves.

When Jesus entered the temple that day, he found a faith that was stale and downright dirty. People were taking advantage of others and ritual had become more important than the condition of the heart. What Jesus did, I believe, was challenge a smug, hypocritical religious system that desperately needed to change. Therefore, a little demolition was necessary, not to mention an all-out assault to clean things up.

The faith community at that time was so wrapped up in rules and ritual the fresh revelation of God could not get through. It was impossible for them to "see" because they were blinded by obstacles that hindered their ability.

In this story we get an image of Jesus as a one-man wrecking crew, swinging a sledgehammer. There is no way to make improvements in an old house without making a mess. There is plaster dust, dirt, nails, and smelly carpet. It is hard work.  It is impossible to paint without getting paint on yourself. I am sure that Jesus absorbed a few skinned knuckles that day, not to mention getting his garment dirty.

The faith community needed a good spring clean and Jesus took it upon himself to do just that with zeal and determination.

Is that what the faith community of 21^st century needs? A good spring clean? Do we see it or are we blinded by obstacles that hindered our ability?

Lord of Lent, come to your Church and ask us your hard questions. Are we faithfully proclaiming your gospel? Are we demonstrating in our life together the justice of your Kingdom? Have we welcomed the weak and given prominence to the poor? Come to your Church to spring clean our ways of life, our structures, our priorities. Point out to us the cobwebs, the dirt, the extravagance, and the waste. Create in us a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within us. John Pritchard Intercessions Handbook © SPCK 1997

 

Reflection – Sunday 28^th February 2021 Second Sunday of Lent

 

Hanging in the window of my study I have three pieces of stained glass. One depicts a Celtic knot, symbolising the Trinity. The other two are crosses. A large, blue coloured Celtic cross bought on Iona. The other is a circular one. Red with a plain glass cross in the middle (the Methodist orb – though I’ve heard it called the hot cross bun!)  Last summer, when Anne was working in the front garden, a lady stopped and said that she thought these three things were very pretty and that she looked at them every time she walked by our home.

I’ve no idea what the lady thinks of when she looks at these three symbols. But does she think of what the cross really means I wonder? For that matter, do I? Do any of us?

In his book The Victory of the Cross, Erskine White relates the following story:

“In the rolling hills of northern New Jersey stands a small church with a large, stone cross, cut into an inside wall. Now, it happened that one of the church’s wealthier members didn’t like the cross there and said it was an eyesore. He offered to give a huge donation to the church to take the cross out of the wall and replace it with a stained-glass window.

But when he presented his idea to the church’s leaders, they said to him, ‘We cannot do what you ask. The architect designed the church to have this cross; it gives strength to the wall. If you take away the cross, you will destroy the church.’”

This story is a perfect illustration for our faith. If we remove the cross – and it’s real meaning – from our faith, then everything collapses. God the architect of our salvation designed the Church to have the cross. The cross gives strength to the Church. Take away the cross and you do not have a Church.

We are thinking about the Bible passage in Mark today Mark 8: 31 – 38. But we need to go back a few verses to set the scene. In Mark 8: 27 – 30, Jesus asks the disciples who people said he was. And Peter says, “You are the Messiah” (v29)

Peter was correct. Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ. (Christ being the Greek word for Messiah.) But Peter, the disciples and most if not all of Jesus’ followers, had a different understanding of what this meant. For Peter & co the Messiah meant a revolutionary leader who would overthrow Israel’s enemies. Someone like King David of old perhaps. Therefore, when Jesus in Mark 8: 31 – 38 explains what it will mean for him to be Messiah, Peter is horrified. And Jesus famously says to Peter “Get behind me Satan” v33.

Jesus knows even then, months, years, before the events of Good Friday that he will die and rise again. Jesus knows that this must happen for the sin of humankind to be atoned for. This is all part of God’s plan for saving humankind from sin and death. If Jesus’ hadn’t died on the cross, death would be final for us.

It has been said that Methodists sing our theology. In other words, the hymns we sing reflect our understanding of our faith. And certainly, none other than Charles Wesley, recognised that Jesus’ death and resurrection were the methods by which we are saved:

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Saviour’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;
Alive in Him, my living head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

The stained-glass crosses hanging in my window are symptomatic of how it is easy to overlook the true meaning and significance of the cross. They are symptomatic of how we don’t like to dwell on what truly happened on Good Friday and all it means. To prettify the cross, to remove the cross, or to obscure the cross, is to remove the very foundation work of God in His Church, as well as removing the primary source of salvation and healing to people in need.

Mark wanted the Roman Christians (the first readers of his Gospel) to know that. Therefore, he related to them the story we are thinking about today. It is the story of how Peter tried to remove the cross from the Church – even before the event happened. But it is also the story of how Jesus said, “No. Nothing must remove the cross. In fact, the cross is the way of life for Me and My disciples.”

There are many things I could go on to say. Keeping to two sides of papers means I can’t do so. But it’s worth thinking about those words of Jesus:

‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” Mark 8:34

This is not a call to persecution, suffering or martyrdom (though for some it may be.) But it is a reminder to all who seek to follow Jesus Christ for us to practice self-sacrifice. To deny self. We do not have to invent some form of persecution complex. There are many ways in which the gospel calls us to deny self to be more like Christ.  You may remember the film Chariots of Fire telling the story of Eric Liddell. Liddell refused to run in 100m at the 1924 Paris Olympics as the race was being run on a Sunday. Liddell probably would have won the race, but his faith meant he refused to take part. An act of self-sacrifice. An act of carrying the cross. Liddell said:

“As Christians I challenge you. Have a great aim, have a high standard, make Jesus our ideal. Not merely an ideal to be admired but also to be followed.”

An American businessman travelled to Europe to see the famous Oberammergau Passion Play. Following the performance, the businessman had the opportunity to meet and talk with Anton Lang who portrayed Christ in the play that year. Seeing the cross that was used in the play, the businessman wanted his wife to take his picture holding it. He attempted to lift the cross to his shoulder. To his surprise he could hardly budge it from the floor.

He said to Mr. Lang, "I don't understand. I figured the cross would be hollow. Why do you carry such a heavy cross?" Mr. Lang replied, "If I did not feel the weight of His cross, I could not play the part."

And neither can we.

"Where your feet take you, that is who you are”

 

Reflection 21^st February 2021

 

Today is the first Sunday of Lent. And traditionally our minds may turn to the story of Jesus in the wilderness, residing there for 40 days and nights and being tempted. That is how the story is laid out in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. But with Mark it is a bit different. Mark seems to do everything quickly in his Gospel and in his relating of Jesus’ story, Mark has no time for the detail of the debates between Jesus and the Devil.

¹² At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, ¹³ and he was in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted^[a] by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him. Mark 1: 12 – 13 NIV

Similarly, the account in Mark of Jesus’ baptism, carried out by his cousin John the Baptist, is very brief. And there is no reference to John being in the wilderness himself. There is no reference to John being the one:

“spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:

‘A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
“Prepare the way for the Lord,
    make straight paths for him.”’^[a]  Matthew 3:2 NIV

 

We all understand what a wilderness is. Even if it’s the bit at the bottom of the garden we never quite manage to tame. Chambers dictionary defines a wilderness as “a region, uncultivated and uninhabited; a pathless, unfrequented or unexplored region”

Reading that definition when preparing this Reflection, I was struck by the second part of it “a pathless, unfrequented or unexplored region”

For Jesus, the time in the wilderness was a time of physically being in a pathless, unfrequented, or unexplored region. But I’d suggest it was spiritually a wilderness too. The Gospel writers are silent on whether Jesus had any idea of how he would be tempted in those 40 days. Perhaps his time in the wilderness would be unexplored territory for his own faith? Perhaps he had no idea where he would be led?

One of the other readings suggested for today is Psalm 25. The language of the Psalm recalls the time that the Hebrews spent in the wilderness after their escape from slavery in Egypt. The Psalmist begs God for leadership in the paths of righteousness (see verses 4 and 9), which recalls the stories of Yahweh leading the people by pillars of cloud and fire. But it also recalls how during the 40-year period, the Hebrews were formed as a people, including how they were taught the paths of righteousness, before they were admitted to the promised land.

The Psalm is a useful reminder of how, during our own faith journeys, it is possible that we will enter times of wilderness ourselves. Times when we may feel alone. Times when feel distant from God. And of course times when we feel tempted in all manner of ways and by all manner of things.

We may well be in the wilderness. But the Psalmist reminds us that that the time in the wilderness can be important for us

⁴ Show me your ways, Lord,
    teach me your paths.
⁵ Guide me in your truth and teach me, Psalm 25: 4 – 5 NIV

In the wilderness we will learn, or learn again, the paths of the Lord. In the wilderness times we can refocus on God. In the wilderness times we choose to follow Christ. But it is our choice. If we look, we will find the paths and God will lead us down the right paths. But it is for each of to make that choice. The season of Lent makes it clear that no one else can make the decision of faith for us.

Verses 4 and 5 of the Psalm are a reminder to chose God’s way despite the many easier paths available. For those easier paths may not be the right path. In Matthew 7 Jesus said:

¹³ “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ¹⁴ But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Matthew 7: 13 – 14 NIV

With God’s help we can discern the right paths to take us from the wilderness. But it is for us to decide once we have been shown.

Frederick Buechner in his 1970 book The Alphabet of Grace wrote:

“If you want to know who you are, watch your feet. Because where your feet take you, that is who you are”

Lent is a time to choose who we will be and whose we will be. Our identity is not defined by what we claim to believe, but by the road we take. We might prefer to bypass the cross and Calvary in our journey of faith and arrive at Easter. But Easter will not make any sense unless we are able to stay the course and go via Golgotha.

The call for patient trust, for keeping to the true path reminds us that our journey of faith does not promise quick fixes and results. Faith is more than mountaintop moments; faith also encompasses times of solitude and struggle. The right road will not always look like the right road.

“God’s goodness will be shown to the sinners and humble, and it will be shown with a road – a way through - a path that leads to love and faithfulness, for those who are willing to walk it.” Brian Erickson

Compassion and indignation

 

Reflection 14th February 2021

Mark 1: 40 - 45

We’ve been watching the drama series on Channel 4 called “It’s a sin”. It tells the story of a group of gay men over a 10-year period from the early 1980s to the early 1990s as AIDS takes its toll. It is not an easy watch, but it is an excellent drama. And for Anne it has stirred up some sad memories.

My wife started her nursing career on 8^th December 1980 as a student nurse at the Middlesex Hospital in Central London. (Just off Oxford Street, close to the BT Tower.) Sadly, the Middlesex is no longer there. But during my wife’s time it became one of the places specialising in the treatment of AIDS, as more and more was learned about the disease. However, my wife’s recollection was of young men coming into hospital with a mystery illness and, them being put into side wards and watching them slowly die.

Looking back, what my wife found most difficult was the way many of these young men were ostracised. Not by hospital staff, but in many cases by their families. Or even if the families were there, then partners (and friends) were excluded and not treated as next of kin. These are themes that are picked up in the drama series.

What “It’s a sin” conveys most strongly is the sense that those who were gay, and especially those who were gay with HIV / AIDS, were outcasts.

Maybe things are better now. (I hope so.) Certainly, the disease can be managed if not cured. And those with AIDS are not as stigmatised as they once were.

The passage from Mark finds Jesus being confronted by a leper. As you probably know, in the ancient world lepers were ostracised and made to live in colonies outside the town. (Though in parts of the world where leprosy is still a common disease, lepers are still ostracised and discriminated against.)

⁴⁰ A leper^[o] came to him begging him, and kneeling^[p] he said to him, ‘If you choose, you can make me clean.’ ⁴¹ Moved with pity,^[q] Jesus^[r] stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘I do choose. Be made clean!’ Mark 1: 40 – 41 NRSV

You will notice how the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible says that Jesus acted out of pity for the plight of the leper. Whereas it is possible for Mark’s Greek to be translated as

⁴¹ Jesus was indignant. Mark 1:41 NIV

We perhaps understand why Jesus was “moved with pity” Whereas Jesus being “indignant” does not sit well. But Jesus was not indignant for being called upon by the leper. Jesus wasn’t angry with the leper. Rather Jesus was indignant, angry, about the way the leper was treated. It is perfectly possible to see why Jesus experienced both pity / compassion and indignation / anger. Jesus’ compassion heals the man while at the same time he feels indignant that this man, and others like him, were pushed to the margins of society by disease.

Jesus is demonstrating to us how we should feel and act. For example, it seems to me we should be moved by compassion for those needing foodbanks but equally we should feel indignant that in one of the richest countries in the world, people are made to rely on foodbanks to get by.

To go back to the TV series “It’s a sin” for a moment. A central character in the drama is a young woman called Jill. She becomes good friends with several of the gay men and her compassion is shown by the way she cares for several of them as they die from AIDS. But her compassion turns into indignation and anger at the way the men are stigmatised, and she is arrested on a demonstration trying to get drug companies to make treatments for AIDS available on the NHS.

Jesus’ indignation is shown by what he tells the leper to do after he has been healed

⁴³ Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: ⁴⁴ ‘See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.’ Mark 1 43 – 44 NIV

Jesus is telling the man to confront the priest, to demonstrate to the priest what the priest should have done. Ched Myers in “Binding the strong man:  a political reading of Mark’s gospel” says

“Jesus’ instruction to the leper only makes sense if the man had already been to the priest who had rejected him…. The cleansed leper’s task is not to publicise a miracle. He is to make an offering for the purpose of witnessing against the priests”

It is doubtful that the priests could have healed the man, but they could have cared for him and had pity for him. They could have looked beyond the disease to the person before them.

Jesus always met men and women on the level of their need, regardless of who they were or what they had done. He met everyone as human beings, never as stereotypes.  Stereotypes were as powerful then as they are now. Once a label is placed on a person the human being vanishes. Many labels were given to people in the New Testament. Labels as tax collector, Samaritan, Roman soldier, prostitute, rich young man, Pharisee, sinner, publican, and of course leper. They all appear in the gospel story, and every time Jesus completely ignores the label and deals with the person.

David H.C. Read points out that "Jesus knew the ugly side of society: the brutality of the occupation, the corruption of the tax system, the racial prejudices, the economic injustice, the religious hypocrisy, and the sexual degradation. But never once did these factors blind him to the reality of the human being, the unique son or daughter of God he saw before him."

Lonely places and deserted places

 

Reflection 7^th February 2021

 

The passage in Mark we’re thinking about today (Mark 1: 29 – 39) seems to be presented as “A typical day in the life of Jesus”. And in fact, if we were to see the complete day we should also read Mark 1: 21 – 28 which sets the scene for this passage. Jesus and his disciples are in Capernaum and they’ve been in the synagogue there. Now they leave the synagogue and go to “the house of Simon and Andrew” (Mark 1:30).

There they find that Simon’s mother-in-law is gravely ill. Jesus heals her and in response she immediately “began to serve them”. Mark 1:31 (By the way please don’t think “shouldn’t the poor soul be resting after being so ill?” She clearly is miraculously restored to health. And the Greek word translated into English as ‘serving’ is diakoneo. This is a word frequently used in the New Testament for those who have specific ministry of serving others. Peter’s mother-in-law is given the privilege of serving Jesus and the others as an honour, not a duty.)

Having eaten, that evening “they” (the disciples? Other people in Capernaum?) ³² …. brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. ³³ And the whole city was gathered around the door” And he cured many. Mark 1: 32 - 33

Then Mark tells us

³⁵ In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.

Unlike in Luke, in his Gospel Mark does not make a big theme of Jesus praying. Nevertheless, it is clearly an important feature and maybe, (as we are in “A typical day in the life of Jesus”) perhaps Mark is suggesting that Jesus started every day with prayer? Mark clearly wants to demonstrate to his readers the importance of starting the day with prayer.

But “Simon and his companions” had other ideas. In verse 36 we are told, depending on what translation you read they “went to look for him” NIV or “hunted for him” NRSV. (“hunted” seems more appropriate as a more literal translation of the Greek katadioko is apparently “pursued”) Whatever word is used, clearly Simon and the others think they know what Jesus should be doing. It shouldn’t be sitting in solitude and prayer. There are crowds that require Jesus’ immediate attention.

It is almost as if Simon and the others think that Jesus has got lost and set out to find him and point him back to what his “job” should be. Being a rabbi in Capernaum and curing the sick there. (How often do we tell Jesus what to do when we are praying?) But Jesus reminds them that he is not lost, and he knows what his task is. It is to preach the Good News. And consequently, Jesus will not be restricted to one town and to share the Good News with the disciples solely.

³⁸ Jesus replied, ‘Let us go somewhere else – to the nearby villages – so that I can preach there also. That is why I have come.’ ³⁹ So he travelled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons. Mark 1: 38 – 39

Let’s return to verse 35 for a moment:

³⁵ In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.

The Revised Standard Version of the Bible calls it “a lonely place” as opposed to a deserted place. And when we think of it this way it takes on a quite different meaning.

The Dutch Christian writer Henri Nouwen stated:

"... the secret of Jesus’ ministry is hidden in that lonely place where he went to pray ...In the lonely place Jesus finds the courage to follow God’s will and not his own; to speak God’s words and not his own; to do God’s work and not his own." Out of Solitude: Three Meditations on the Christian Life

It is a lonely place as when Jesus goes off to pray, he might be physically alone, on his own. But all too often he feels alone, abandoned by his friends. And on one occasion, in the Garden of Gethsemane, even though the disciples are nearby as he prays, Jesus feels alone, abandoned by his friends.

The reason he is alone is that the disciples, those closest to him, have no understanding of what he is going through or what his mission is. And this for me shows us the humanity of Jesus that he is pained by the loneliness.  

It seems to me that loneliness has two aspects. There is the lack of other people around us – and we know as human beings most of us need that interaction with others. But there is also the sense of feeling abandoned or others not understanding what we are going through. To this extent it is possible to feel lonely even when surrounded by other people.

As far as we know from the Gospels, Jesus coped with his loneliness through prayer, through being able to talk things over with God his heavenly father. And I feel sure that prayer can play its part during our times in a lonely place. But equally, being able to talk to someone on the phone, or via Zoom, or even socially distanced, is good too.

That is where as a church family we must all play our part. To think about those who are alone and reach out to them. To phone, to write. We mustn’t assume we know what they are experiencing. But being prepared to listen and interact can mean so much. It can bring love to someone who is feeling unloved.  It can bring hope to someone who feels hopeless. It can bring much needed company to someone alone.

Henri Nouwen, who I mentioned earlier, also wrote these words:

“When we think about the people who have given us hope and have increased the strength of our souls, we might discover that they were not the wardens or moralists. They are the few who were able to articulate in words and actions the human condition in which we participate and who encouraged us to face the realities of life. Those who do not run from our pains but touch them with compassion bring healing and new strength. The paradox is that the beginning of healing is in the solidarity with the pain. In our solution-oriented society, it is more important than ever to realize that wanting to alleviate pain without sharing it is like wanting to save a child from a burning house without the risk of being hurt.”

As a wise lecturer at college once explained it to me. “Sometimes David, as Christians we need to climb down into the pit with our sisters and brothers in Christ and stand alongside them.”

Sometimes we all need our deserted place to take time to be with God and take time for ourselves. But sometimes when the deserted place becomes the lonely place that’s when we need Jesus and those he sends to be with us.

Picture: https://www.deviantart.com/tristancampbell/art/Time-is-a-lonely-place-142967500