Monday 1 October 2018

Trinity 18 : Liberation


Mark 9.38-50, James 5.13-20 & Numbers 11.4-6, 10-16, 24-29

The God we know will never be known better by any attempt to confine, restrict or keep to him or her to ourselves. Jesus reinforces this view through Mark’s account today. In essence his message is that our behaviour should do nothing that restricts our own faith, the faith of others or those who may give faith to others.

Each of today’s readings, in their own way, remind us that God is a liberating God who doesn’t want his people trapped in suffering, either physically or in our minds.

Though in our gospel reading today we hear Jesus speak of hell originally he would have used the word Gehenna which would have held horror for those hearing him. It was the valley outside Jerusalem where the Romans burnt bodies and where Jerusalem’s rubbish was also burnt, smouldering as a symbol of death, suffering and filth. Some will choose to understand Jesus words as a literal indication of what lays ahead for many but the context speaks more loudly of Jesus saying ‘don’t lead lives that are empty, trashy, sinful, fit only for the waste disposal, more akin to us saying ‘don’t live life in the gutter’.

The teachers and political campaigners among you, not to mention anxious parents, will know that there is a time for knowledge to be imparted in a calm routine manner and there is a time when dramatic effect is needed to urgently make a point that sticks in the mind. Jesus’ reference to Gehenna and cutting off body parts clearly falls in the latter category.

Who hearing his words could want a rubbish life for them or their friends and family, fit only for the sad stenching place they went out of their way to avoid?

Similarly Jesus did not want to encourage people to self harm, it’s important to contrast chopping off body parts with Jesus entire mission to bring healing and wholeness in every way. He is using the horrific image of self-mutilation to stress how very important it is not to ignore our failings that might lead us into sin and also obscure Christ from others. Personally I’d rather he hadn’t used this example but maybe the fact that we are forced to wrestle with it is the point.

It’s essential we are clear that even though we can sometimes feel full of self-loathing the answer is not to inflict further pain on ourselves, but to seek healing. James letter goes on to point out that this can be achieved by wise counsel, loving support and prayer. Jesus’ stark message was that the habits, customs and weaknesses which are at the root of a problem keeping us from wholeness with God need to be identified, faced up to and then urgently dealt with, cut them out of our lives. A clean break with sinful ways is what Jesus wanted as a result not a clean break with our body parts.

It seems likely that at least part of Jesus address to the disciples is an angry response to John’s whingeing that people outside our group ‘have been casting out demons in your name.’ Jesus confronts the insularity of this view disappointed at this lack of understanding, he wants the disciples to know that this is not some exclusive club with special rights to play with God’s power but that God’s love and power for good are there for all. The message for people to understand was that this is not something to be dabbled in like witchcraft it is a holistic way of life with God involved in every aspect. There is no part time Christianity, nor is it a faith where we can pick and choose the parts we like and ignore the aspects we find more challenging.

The disciple’s behaviour reveals our human weakness to fear those who are different from us and, for this reason, to insist on a level of conformity which can manifest itself in such limited thinking, such tiny expectations. This in turn limits our expectations of God and our ability to recognise him at work in others.

I admit that I had to look twice, read the livery on the side of a mini bus which identified it as belonging to the local church, and then at the driver, a distinguished looking Sikh man with full turban and beard. Does Jesus look at this and think ‘at last they seem to be getting it’? I expect he’s grateful for someone willing to drive through the appalling south London traffic and happy that the people can get where they need to go. And, unless the driver had nicked the bus, with all the relaxed looking passengers in it, it seems that the people running the church were chilled about this as well. This is good isn’t it? A tiny example of collaboration that makes the kingdom of God, as each of us understand it, a little more real to others.

In Numbers we heard again of attempts to control God and keep him for only a pre-approved group, in this case the elders Moses gathered in the tent. An unnamed young man and Moses assistant Joshua were complaining that Eldad and Medad were prophesying in the camp. Moses responds by teaching them that he doesn’t control what God chooses to do but wouldn’t it be wonderful if his spirit fell upon all his people. The more evidence of the Spirit at work the better as far as he is concerned.

It seems pretty clear that people have always whinged, whined and complained. Aussie friends of mine used to say that we Brits are famous for it when visiting their country, making a fuss about little things like a snake in the garden, unbearable humidity or a red back spider under the toilet seat. They claimed that they could always tell when a plane load of Brits had arrived because the whining noise didn’t stop when the engines were switched off!

Perhaps the next time we feel like complaining about a situation we should consider the impact on the person who is doing their best to run something, provide for or facilitate others. Maybe their generous efforts are a result of the Spirit at work only for our complaining to come along and smother it.

I’ve certainly seen many volunteers running scouts, football clubs or clubs for the elderly at great personal sacrifice only to be the recipient of whingeing and complaining that they are not doing things right or how others expect them to be done. Of course the natural reaction might be an impolite reply and who could blame them? ‘If you think you can do better you are welcome to have a go’ seems a fair response. Certainly I’ve seen a volunteer football referee taking abuse from parents on the touchline walk up to them and offer his shirt and whistle, needless to say the loud mouth people shrunk back from taking responsibility.

So it seems reasonable that Moses has had enough. Perhaps, in the way that people ask ‘What have the Romans ever done for us’ the rhetorical question the Israelites have here is ‘what has God, through Moses, ever done for us? Well one or two things come to mind, surely the people haven’t forgotten that he led them out of slavery, that God protected them and they have seen the waters of the sea part just for them, water has sprung forth from rock and food has been provided in the desert. So rather lot of incredible things it seems, yet all they remember is the delicious food that had been available to them in Egypt, glossing over the fact that they were enslaved. Selective nostalgia remembers all the lovely food as being available for free conveniently forgetting that the true cost of this was slavery and hard labour.

I suppose that as soon as our immediate needs are met we often simply think of the next thing that will make our life more pleasant without stopping to be truly grateful for what we have. Mind you it made me hungry hearing of cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic, I guess the ingredients would have made their daily meals a lot tastier. But the point of the passage is not about the culinary options available, it’s about recognising our blessings and about discovering liberation in God’s love. The people who sit back and expect to be provided for without any contribution to their community might no longer be physically enslaved but neither have they found true freedom. That’s why the 70 elders are given a share of responsibility from then onwards, freedom to criticise also means freedom to take responsibility, it’s time for the Israelites to understand the need to be active participants in the relationship with God.

This is highlighted further by James as he encourages shared times of joy as well as support for each other when our faith is tested and prayer for each other that recognises the real potential for God to work through any one of us. In doing this we move closer to the freedom that God wants for us and share in Christ’s healing mission.

I finish where I started. Our readings remind us that we need to be Christians called to an active faith reliant on God’s grace, followers of Jesus who allow God to be free in our minds, open to meeting with her in unexpected ways, places and people. Where we can we must open doors, clear obstacles and make God’s love available to others, encouraging each other through life’s challenging times but also recognising and celebrating the gifts we are blessed with. If we can do these things we are taking steps towards the liberation and healing available to us in Christ.

Kevin Bright                                                                                     
30 September 2018

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