Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
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Scripture |
Mark 9:30-37 30 They went on from there and passed through Galilee . He did not want anyone to know it; 31 for 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.” 32 But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him. 33 Then they came to Capernaum ; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” 34 But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. 35 He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” 36 Then 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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Devotional |
Last week Jesus called on his followers to take up their cross and follow him. How do we get from a religion that challenges one to taking up the cross to a religion that attempts to reward one with wealth, earthly power, divine favor, and safe places and lovely surroundings. How do we hear the teachings of Jesus? Jesus chooses a time to withdraw from the crowd, finding a place to teach the disciples. Do we find a time to withdraw from the crowd in order to find our place with Jesus? Finding a place to learn and a place to be taught is necessary for us as disciples today as it was in Jesus’ day. `Along side this quite place, they also returned to their own home turf. A place where we are familiar is also a place to learn. Often, just as the disciples learned, it is on our home turf that we learn about ourselves. Here on this familiar turf, we hear things we do not wish to hear about ourselves. How are we like the disciples? The followers of Jesus seek privilege, honor, and greatness in this life. Rather than denying themselves and up the cross, they are bent on self-preservation. They cannot accept that suffering for the gospel accomplishes God’s will. They wish to be served rather than serve of suffer for others. They have no concern for the least ones while they compete with peers for positions of honor. They do not understand that Jesus’ way is not about changing who is at the top of the pecking order but about ending the pecking orders altogether, with their dominating and subjugating forms of leadership. 1 How has discipleship changed since Jesus was teaching the disciples? Has our response to the gospel changed? Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.” A child in the Jewish and Roman world did not have the privilege of doting parents. The child and slave were at the bottom of the society. Jesus reverses the social order. Welcoming a child is the same as welcoming Jesus and God. Jesus was not changing the pecking order but eliminating the pecking order. Mark’s Gospel consistently challenges our self-interested approach to discipleship. We want to follow Jesus but only on our terms. We want to know what is in it for us. We sit in judgment of others without noticing the sin and brokenness in our own lives. Wesley was deeply troubled by the bigotry that emerged out of self-absorption; it failed to take account of the wideness of God’s mercy and God’s love. Wesley challenged all Christians to live a life of radical discipleship that overcomes the partiality of preferences and the narcissism that is a consequence of original sin. Perhaps it is only as we become as little children that we will recognize the full breadth of God’s mercy and God’s love. After all, young children often are far more open to loving those who are different from them than are those of us who think we have become “mature.” 2 Can we become like little children and love those who are different from us?
1 Mitzi Minor, The Spirituality of Mark: Responding to Go. Louisville : Westminister John Knox Press, 1996. p. 65 |