How To Be The Greatest

The gospel lesson brings us a phrase of deep wisdom. Can we take it to heart and follow it?

Mark 9:30-37

³⁰They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; ³¹for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “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.” ³²But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.

³³Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” ³⁴But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. ³⁵He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” ³⁶Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, ³⁷“Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”

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Dear people of God, grace to you and peace from God who cares for all, through Jesus the Christ who was sent to embody that care.  Amen.

Who is the greatest?

Who decides who is the greatest?

How many of you thought this sounds a lot like road trips in your youth, or parenthood, when the kids would be arguing about something in the back seat?

And of course, Jesus very likely overheard them, and only asked them to give them the chance to ‘fess up.  When that didn’t work, he used it as a teachable moment.

And I have a feeling the lesson wasn’t what they were expecting – which seems to be a theme with Jesus.  Just when you think you’ve got the guy figured out, he switches gears.

When he switches gears here, though, it is with some gravitas, because he sits down.  When a rabbi teaches, they sit down.  In so doing, Jesus signals that this is important stuff and everyone needs to listen up.

And the wisdom Jesus then gives them is wisdom for the ages.  Wisdom, the likes of which are revered across the ages in literature, sacred texts, historical accounts.

He says “whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.”

Truly, in this short phrase is contained wisdom of considerable degree.  And I cannot think of a situation in life in which its practice would not make a big difference.

With this teaching, Jesus is also making it clear to his disciples that greatness and power in the reign of God are not things that are attained through oppression or class distinctions, via wealth or fame.  They are instead demonstrated through lowliness and servanthood. 

By meeting people where they’re at, listening to their story, helping them to feel like they have worth.

This is at the core of the practice you may have heard about called “servant leadership.”  It might sound like just the latest business trend, but it’s been shown to be a startlingly effective way for leaders in all fields to operate.

When I think of this, the first picture in my mind is that of our presiding bishop, Elizabeth Eaton, at the 2015 ELCA Worship Jubilee in Atlanta.  At the end of a reception after a huge worship service, the host congregation invited us to take the large floral arrangement in the middle of the room.  Which was lovely, but it would have required a forklift!  Bishop Eaton suggested we disassemble the arrangement and make bouquets for our keynote presenters, and as we seminarians began to do so, she joined us.  Pulling a snapdragon out of the arrangement, she said “you know you can make these talk, right?” and demonstrated for us.  One of my favorite pictures is of her and a fellow seminarian.  We had started to box up the leftover drinks, and in this picture she is holding a case of craft beer and has a snapdragon in her mouth, as if it were a rose in flamenco dancing.  (Don’t worry, she gave us permission to share.)

Bishop Eaton has always been the bishop eager to help wherever she can.  This drives her staff nuts because she doesn’t necessarily have time to do this, but it’s in her nature.  They can’t stop her.

The other picture that comes to mind is that of Aaron Feuerstein, owner of Malden Mills in Lawrence, MA.  Malden is the company that invented Polartec fleece.  In December 1995, a fire destroyed most of the mill, which employed about 3,000 people.

Common business practices, both then and now, would have thought it reasonable that even if Feuerstein rebuilt, that folks were out of a job.

But to Aaron Feuerstein, an Orthodox Jew, this was unthinkable.  Put 3000 people out of work two weeks before Christmas?  Not an option.  He continued to pay his workers throughout the rebuilding process, and covered their healthcare for six months.

Feuerstein was distressed by what happened then.  He said, “I got a lot of publicity. And I don’t think that speaks well for our times.  At the time in America of the greatest prosperity, the god of money has taken over to an extreme.”

For guidance he has always turned to the Torah, the book of Jewish law.  “You are not permitted to oppress the working man, because he’s poor and he’s needy, amongst your brethren and amongst the non-Jew in your community,” said Feuerstein.

His dedication to caring for and serving others eventually cost him the company, as mounting debt and overseas production by competitors undercut his market share.  But he was unrepentant.  He felt he had done the right thing in paying his workers and rebuilding, and is alive and well in Massachusetts at age 96.

Contrast that with the images we’ve seen far too often in the last twenty years, of CEOs bankrupting their companies and making off with millions while their employees lose their jobs, their pensions, and so much more.

Jesus turned to that same book of Jewish law.  You must be the last of all and servant of all; that is how you cultivate a life worth living.

Jesus then continues to a striking object lesson: he places a child in the middle of the disciples and he tells them, “by welcoming a child – you are welcoming me.  Actually, you are welcoming me AND you are welcoming God!”

Children in Jesus’ time had no worth, other than as property.  They were expendable, as were women.  It’s notable that Jesus went out of his way to include both women and children as he taught and traveled, fed and healed.

I wonder if we might say today, “we’re way better than that.  We care about children!”

And that is certainly true here at Shepherd of the Hills, even if the pandemic has curtailed our ability to provide certain programs for young folks.  We DO care about children, and not just those who come to church.  Our 3 Squares program is our commitment to make sure the children of this county don’t go hungry.

But if we look broader – if we look at how the US treats its children – the picture is far bleaker.

The statistic has been about the same since I first heard it over 30 years ago: 1 in 4 children living in the US lives in poverty.

One in four.

The odds are far worse for children of color.

In the pandemic, we are faced with the distressing situation of people demanding that their children not wear masks at school, even though they cannot yet be vaccinated and the Delta variant of COVID is rampant.  While some might call this a political issue, I must disagree.  This is a moral issue, and one to which Jesus speaks directly.

In Jesus’ worldview, children have equal worth to any other human being.  They are to be loved and guided, taught and treasured.

This past week, testimony was given in the US Senate by some very brave young women.  Theirs was a shared experience in which they were not loved and treasured, but rather one in which they were horribly abused.  These young women are US, world, and Olympic gymnastic champions, and they had come to the US Senate to testify in an ongoing investigation as to why, when credible allegations were made concerning serious abuse on the US Women’s Gymnastics team, no action was ever taken until these women found an attorney of their own.

It is shameful beyond words.  As Nelson Mandela said, “there can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.”

Every organization that supposedly helped and supported them – did nothing of the kind.  But these young women refused to take no for an answer, and for the last six years have fought against a system that saw them as expendable fodder to build up the careers of powerful men.  They asked, “what is a little girl worth?”  And they never let up their struggle – while continuing to train, compete, and win on a world scale.

What Jesus us saying is simply this: they shouldn’t have to do that.  We can do so much better than this.

The ways of the world are based on power – oppression – and greed.

The ways of God are not based on, but rather ARE love – and all the ways that love is truly embodied.

From becoming least and servant of all –

To welcoming the most insignificant person you can imagine.

Because practicing these things – leads us to see God in these things.

That is replete with a joy that God through Christ aches for us to experience.

And in that experience – we will know, without a doubt, who really is the greatest.

Amen.

Hand Washing for All the Wrong Reasons

Jesus argues (big surprise) with the religious leaders about hand-washing, but the point he’s making has nothing to do with healthy practices.

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Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

7Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, ²they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. ³(For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; ⁴and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) ⁵So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” ⁶He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,

‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
⁷in vain do they worship me,
teaching human precepts as doctrines.’

⁸You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.”

¹⁴Then he called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: ¹⁵there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.” ²¹For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, ²²adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. ²³All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

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Dear people of God, grace to you and peace from our loving God through Christ, who continues to challenge us.  Amen.

When you heard this gospel story, did you have the same initial reaction I did?

That being, “Lord, are you seriously arguing as to whether it’s a good idea to wash our hands?  In the middle of a pandemic?”

I mean, my mom sure told me a gazillion times to wash my hands before dinner.  And I likewise told my son and other young people in my care.

And we’ve been endlessly reminded over the last 18 months that hand-washing helps stop the spread of disease.

So what is Jesus’ problem here, anyway?

Well, as usual – context is everything.  We might think the Pharisees and scribes are referring to the laws set out in Leviticus or Deuteronomy – the laws given for the community of the time by God – but they’re actually referring to practices instituted much later by humans.

This is the “tradition of the elders” that is mentioned.

The other contextual reality that I considered was that most of Jesus’ disciples were fishermen by trade.  Having fished for several years with a local captain in Loreto, Mexico, I can tell you that “sanitation” on a small boat is something reserved mainly for the catch.  You try to keep that fish as clean and iced down as you can.  Maybe you’ll reach over the side and splash your hands around in the water – but I was always much more likely to do that than our captain.  (He sure knew where to find the fish, though.)

But ultimately the context is that Jesus knows the true nature of their hearts.  They might sound like they are all about law and order and holiness on the outside, but Jesus knows that on the inside, the Pharisees and the scribes are all about power.  About having, and keeping, POWER.

Jesus calls them out because he knows they’re not really concerned about whether his disciples are ritually clean, whether they are still part of the chosen people.  Rather, he knows they see this as yet another opportunity to try to trip him up.  To proclaim to any who might listen that Jesus is leading folks astray.  He’s giving them permission to just forget all those traditions!

But Jesus proclaims that what is in the heart is what defiles.  That one can follow all the rules and still be a toxic human being.

The other trigger word in this gospel story is “tradition” – and the way that Jesus seems to dismiss it out of hand.

I’m reminded of what I first heard from evangelist Tony Campolo: tradition is the living faith of dead people; whereas traditionalism is the dead faith of living people.

I honestly think Jesus was far more concerned with things that had fallen into the realm of traditionalism, but were being elevated to the heights of real tradition – and in the process, the intentions of the heart were in swift decay.

Or, as another church person has observed: the seven last words of a dying church are: “but we’ve always done it that way!”

We can’t do Thing A differently.  We’ve always done it “that” way.

We can’t sing songs from other countries.  We’ve always sung songs “that” way.

We can’t rearrange the furniture.  We’ve always arranged it “that” way.

And so on.  You’ve probably heard the one about the holiday roast, and every year as it was readied for the oven, the family cook would cut the end off.  Every year someone ask, why do you do that?  And the answer would always be, “I don’t know, but my mom did it so I figured it was important.”  And no one ever changed that practice until one year, a great-aunt joined the family for the meal.  As the roast was prepped, someone said “don’t forget to cut the end off!”  The great-aunt was puzzled, and they said “didn’t your sister always do that?”  The great-aunt replied, “only because it wouldn’t fit in her roasting pan otherwise.”

Here’s the thing, though: there is nothing inherently wrong with tradition.  As a wise professor, now colleague, reminded me: strong, good, and faithful traditions are imbued with deep meaning and purpose.

The question to ask is, how does this tradition work to transform me and my heart?  Where is Christ in this tradition?

You’ve perhaps heard of the word adiaphora.  It’s a fun word to say.  It means the things that people may have said were essential for our salvation, but which are anything other than God’s freely given, unmerited grace.

It doesn’t mean they aren’t important.  But it does mean they take a back seat to God’s grace.

And then there are things that fall even below the level of adiaphora, that no one SAYS are essential for salvation but by the way some folks act about them, you’d have to wonder.

Among my colleagues, there is a running joke about what we call The Great Pink Candle Debate.  (Yes, every one of those words is capitalized.)

The colors of the candles on the Advent wreath have, in some places, been hotly argued about – including among clergy.  I’m not certain God is particularly concerned about candle colors, or even if there are candles.  Sure, they’re nice – but they’re not essential.

The tradition of an Advent wreath is one that provides a reference point for prayer and meditation.  The greens and the circle symbolize the eternity of God.  The candles symbolize the light of Christ coming into the world.

But what Jesus is saying here is: you can have the fanciest Advent wreath, with hand-dipped candles and greens custom-designed by the best florist in town.  But if you turn around and refuse to serve your neighbor, then the true intentions of your heart have been revealed.  No outward show can cover it up forever.

The last paragraph here is an interesting one: “there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.”  I would submit that there are some situations that would challenge this.  But Jesus’ general point is that what we consume does not necessarily make us a bad person.  Think of the detectives and investigators that work to uncover details of a homicide or other horrific crime.  They must consume, as a part of their work, very dark and evil information.

But then it is up to them what they will do with it.

Will they use it to further the purpose of their work – to find the perpetrator and bring them to justice?  Or will they allow it to seep into and poison their heart?

Our reality is that we are all confronted by the evil in this world.  It’s impossible to escape.  But how will we deal with that?  Will we allow it to take up valuable space in our hearts, minds, and souls?

Jesus is not saying to hide from the evil, to never call it out.  Rather, he makes the point that if left to fester, it will invade and turn our hearts.

There’s a great old country song called “I Washed My Hands in Muddy Water.”  The lyrics go like this:

          I washed my hands in muddy water

          I washed my hands, but they didn’t come clean

          I tried to do like Daddy told me

          But I must have washed my hands in a muddy stream

In his words to the Pharisees and scribes, Jesus says: you can wash your hands, but have you washed your hearts?

In a twist on that Capital One ad: what’s in YOUR heart?

Thinking of our current situation: if we’re really interested in protecting ourselves, says Jesus, then we’ll pay heed to the destructive potential of moral impurity, which dwells within all of us, waiting to unleash calamity.  Moral impurity sticks around and manifests itself as sin.  Acting on it becomes defiling.

There are numerous forces in the world that hurt other people, whether those others are innocent victims or deliberate co-conspirators.

For the Pharisees, Jesus’ words were words of challenge.

But for us – I think they are words of invitation: invitation to join or continue the journey with Jesus.

Today that journey might be easy. 

But tomorrow, the balance could shift.  We might be more reluctant, feeling more sinner than saint, knowing that evil is there.

The invitation stands, whether we feel like sinner or saint, because of grace.

When we lean into and follow that invitation, we realize that God’s promised redemption has already begun.

What’s in YOUR heart?

Amen.