It's All a Matter of LIfe and Death (Pent 9B)

The not so obvious take away from the Gospel reading this morning is:

Its all a matter of life and death.

Liberation theologian, Cláudio Carvalhaes, writes: Our task is both to be attentive to all that is crying for our attention and demanding our care. Stricken, poor human beings from all places. The earth everywhere. As people of God, we are called to discern the spirit of our times and see where the Spirit of God lives and what the Spirit is asking us to do -- the work of God.

In the same way, Jesus is telling us that we have to pause and pay attention to our hearts, to our movements and to how we are living our lives. Without a strong spiritual life, oriented by daily spiritual practices of prayer and meditation, of pause and loneliness, we cannot do all the work we need to do and we cannot be all that we are called to be. A heart without action is ineffective, and an action without a heart is empty. Jesus is calling us to have a compassionate heart and to do strong actions of justice. Both things! Together!

I appreciate his phrase: A heart without action is ineffective, and an action without a heart is empty. He is talking about a dead life. How many of us, are there? Going through the motions, holding on, mindlessly moving from one event or item in our schedule to the next, or simply biding time? Technically living life, but, without purpose, joy, contentment, passion, or meaning?

The Gospel speaks to living life that is life and not as, like sheep without a shepherd, dead.

The passage begins with the apostles gathering around Jesus, to tell him all that they had done and taught. Mark tells us earlier in the chapter, that Jesus, shortly after calling the twelve, began to send them out two by two, with the authority over unclean spirits. And it happened; they were excited to tell Jesus and each other what they had been about. They had not simply been sitting at Jesus’ feet, listening to him teach, watching him perform miracles; they were out doing.  With a heart full of the promises of God, with authority over unclean spirits, and words of Jesus ringing in their ears, they went out alive to share this Good News with others. They returned even more full of life.

And because their hearts were so full, there was need for pause; a need to pay attention to their heart; for Jesus knew that such fullness can lead to death if not grounded in prayerful reflection, holy conversation, and rest.

We understand. We have had a phone calls lasting less than a minute that drain us of our focus for the next hour; or a 15 min focused task that has us feel like taking a nap; we have helped another, with it zapping our energy for the rest of the day.  It is those times when serving our neighbour turns from being an action lived from the heart, and turns to a task of drudgery, of obligation, ‘because we have to.’

The apostles went away in the boat to a deserted place. People saw them going and coming, so they ran around to meet them. The passage has a lot of coming and a lot of going, by the apostles, and by the people.

Jesus and the apostles were not alone when on land, because when they reached the deserted place it was no longer deserted.

The not so obvious take away, is that the matter of giving life to the spirit, and resting the heart, didn’t happen in the deserted place.  Life was given – rest, prayerful reflection, holy conversation – while on their way TO the deserted place.  In other words, while on the boat; stuck together, unable to be about other business, unable to leave, unable to be out of each other’s space; captive.

The scenario reminds me of Army personnel who speak of training themselves with the ability to drop into sleep almost instantly, getting it while they can; to wake on command and be ready to do whatever taskis asked of them.

The time in the boat is the break – it is not stepping away from life, the crowds “yes,” but, not life.  It is not retreat, but, rather, time found amidst the pressures of life.  It is a moment of: “Now for something completely different,” as a repose; change the activity, change the brain, change one’s attitude--- and not alone, but, with a community of others who are living the same experience.

The other not so obvious take away, referring to life and death matters, relates to the fringe of Jesus’ garment. Mark says; that they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged Jesus that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; all who touched it were healed.  There is more going on here than people touching the edge, or the hem, of Jesus’ clothing. This phrase is for those who are hearing the story.  The phrase is pointing a finger at the people of God and asking them: are you living life, or death? Let me explain.

 The fringe of Jesus’ garment refers to knotted cords that Jewish men wore (and still wear) on the corners of their underclothing, and on the edges of their prayer shawls. This was an ancient custom, ascribed to the people in the Law of Moses, recorded in the Book of Deuteronomy. Jesus would have worn fringes, as would the twelve apostles, as would all Jewish men of the time.

A Jewish scholar describes the fringe, the tsitsit, as society’s equalizer.  Because all men (king, scholar, farmer) were to wear them; all Israel is elevated, enjoined to become holy - a nation of priests.  This uniform is the epitome of the democratic thrust within Judaism.  The purpose of the tzitzit is the exultation of God and God’s commandments, not the exultation of oneself and one’s observance.  Upon death, a fringe is cut off a Jewish man’s tallit -prayer shawl, which symbolizes, in earthly death, the end of his obligation to follow the commandments.

Tradition, says that each fringe has 39 windings, which corresponds to the numerical value of the Hebrew phrase (heard first in Deuteronomy), The Lord is One. The fringe serves as a reminder to Jewish people to keep the Torah and to follow all of God’s commandments.  Following the Torah – loving God and loving one’s neighbour- is a heart matter, a life and death matter. One lives life with purpose, meaning, joy, contentment, and passion, because they are living the covenant God so graciously keeps and lives with each of them. The covenant is the heart of living life.

However, as with all things, there were those who loved to be seen by others, and purposefully lengthened their fringes, so as to be seen as important!– an example is some of the Pharisees of Jesus’ time.  Jesus, in a different Gospel passage, took them to task for showing off their status, spiritual and otherwise. Jesus is saying that one can have kosher fringes without having a kosher heart. The Gospel of Mark, is expressing the power that comes through one who lives the Law – loving God and loving neighbour- Jesus does! and God’s power is at work through him; through the very symbol that speaks to living from the heart of the covenant.

For a thousand years, Lutheran churches in Scandinavian countries- especially those in port cities, have hung ships in their sanctuaries.  The ship is a symbol of church. We are in the ship – Jesus and the apostles in the boat- the waves and the sea are the chaos in the world around us. The ship may be whipped by wind, swept by waves, or floating on a calm sea. The ship remains together: seeking God and seeking other shores with whom to share the Good News. St. Gregory the Great wrote that the Church is a ship in which God takes us safely through life from one shore, birth, to the other, death.

Imagine this place -church- as our boat, our ship.  This is the place where we come to gather with Jesus and the other apostles. While in the boat, we are stuck together, unable to be about other business, unable to leave, and unable to be out of each other’s space; captive.

When we come in, we leave the crowds, … we excitedly share with each other what we have been up to; what we have taught.   It is a place of prayerful reflection, holy conversation, and rest. When we leave, we great the crowds with Jesus-esque compassion, with hearts that love God and love neighbour.  We don’t hide behind our faith practice, believing it is enough for the week.  We don’t go out being good out of obligation. We are sent out with filled hearts, so that we live life, being neighbour because that is who we are, called and given authority over unclean spirits.

Our task is both to be attentive to all that is crying for our attention and demanding our care. Stricken, poor human beings from all places. The earth everywhere. As people of God, we are called to discern the spirit of our times and see where the Spirit of God lives and what the Spirit is asking us to do -- the work of God.

In the same way, Jesus is telling us that we have to pause and pay attention to our hearts, to our movements and to how we are living our lives. Without a strong spiritual life, oriented by daily spiritual practices of prayer and meditation, of pause and loneliness, we cannot do all the work we need to do and we cannot be all that we are called to be. A heart without action is ineffective, and an action without a heart is empty. Jesus is calling us to have a compassionate heart and to do strong actions of justice. Both things! Together!

Everything we do is a matter of life and death.  Go live life, that is truly life.

Thus Says the Lord, interrupted by a Garbage Truck

Gathered into one, in an alcove of a shady backyard, a group of people worship. The sun shimmers through the trees, lighting on faces, as the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed. Birds add their cheeps to the voices singing hymns. A gentle breeze cools, as a prayer is offered.  The reading from Ezekiel is read as listeners relax in lawn chairs, ending, thus says the Lord. As the Bible is passed and 2 Corinthians is heard, there arose such a racket… the reading comes to a stop with a raise of the hand and a loud voice, “Wait. Stop.  We can’t hear you!” The group patiently waits as a rumbling garbage truck moves through the neigbouring property.

Thus says the Lord. Interrupted by a garbage truck.

This occurred on Thursday in the backyard of the parsonage. Lutheran clergy met for worship, mutual support, learning, and fellowship. After the hearing, or lack of hearing, the Word, the group entered into holy conversation based on the readings. The interruption of the garbage truck was a hot topic.

Was the interruption simply that, an interruption?  Was the interruption a forced pause so we could hear God in the noise, or in the silence that followed? Was the interruption to draw our attention beyond our boundaries?  Was the interruption a thus says the Lord or an inconvenient annoyance?

Thus says the Lord. Jesus finds himself in his hometown on the sabbath.  As was the custom he went to the synagogue. As Jesus was teaching, a garbage truck rumbled through, in the queries of his neighbours:

Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us? And they took offense at him.

Interrupted.  A prophetic Word, the chance for a miracle and profound healings, all rendered impossible as the peoples’ garbage outweighed and pushed away a power that is beyond human capability. Jesus blatantly points out, that his neighbours are missing it: Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house. And he could do no deed of power there. I wonder what the power of God was about to do in that place and time, what might have emerged, until it was interrupted with human garbage?

Thus says the Lord. Interrupting the market place was Paul speaking of a grand vision of paradise, a third heaven, an experience he can not share with his listeners. The crowd comes to a standstill, to listen and dissect this peculiar speech; unlike the arrogance seen in other missionaries.  Paul has just built a case of opposition with the cynics of his time and set the stage for a boasting contest.  

Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.

Paul, loudly, rumbles through the crowd in a garbage truck.  They come to a full stop!

What was this?  Whenever I am weak, then I am strong. Paul boasts in his coming undone which is an unfathomable idea.  The Greek word for weakness, includes a root word that means “cohesion, a holding together.” It means to be strong and self-contained even as the outside world is falling apart.

Paul turns conventional reason completely upside down, as the Word of the Lord is wont to do.

Paul boasts in coming undone: a thorn was given me in the flesh. And he continues by emphasizing that God’s grace is sufficient, for power is made perfect in weakness. Because of this Paul says, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

And herein is the second part of the reversal: Paul is coming undone, and in this undoing, the world around him can be put back together.  This cohesion in the world comes about through the power of Christ being freed in the world, and it comes at a loss of self-containment, sacrificing of the single-personhood, risking to open oneself to what may or may not be; relinquishing control of self.

The commentary that presented some of this argument, continued by pondering that this reversal is most visible in human actions and feelings involved in the realms of relationship.

Weakness – the places we come undone—might be witnessed: in the spoiling of a child, falling head-over-heals in love, a desire for a return to a lost intimacy, using biting words with those closest to us; weakness might be grudges remaining hard in our hearts, the slowness of forgiveness, showing compassion, suffering with another/for another; worrying over the health and welfare of others, getting caught up in another’s emotional drama.  Perhaps there is weakness in the fear of losing a relationship or tears as loved ones die.  ‘Weakness” is the place where our hearts melt, dissolving into the world beyond our self-contained unit.

Living in relationship, being human, is full of interruptions --- a rumbling garbage truck. Being human includes weakness and brokenness. The hope is that grace is sufficient; there is strength in falling apart…

It is in a human’s falling apart wherein power emerges, made perfect in loving.

One can grow up in a family and feel loved; supported by a church community, connected to God in prayer, encouraged by neighbours, and have amazing friendships.  One can fall in love, get married, and grow in intimacy through the years.  ---convinced that all this is the fullness of love. This was me. This was my understanding of love.

That is until children came into our home. All of a sudden what I thought was love – notice I said thought—changed to a deeper heart experience.  And it was during the troubled times, the times I felt like I was drowning, the moments of high emotion, the being-beside-myself…that I didn’t just understand love, I experienced (eventually) a visceral understanding of unconditional love.  There was strength to be found in falling apart, in my weakness, power (not my own) emerged.  Power made perfect in loving.

Perhaps you have had a similar experience of strength and power, emerging from working at being in relationship?

Thus says the Lord. Interrupted by a rumbling garbage truck.

The theme for this year’s Synod Assembly, and the focus theme for the next biennium, is: Liberated by God’s grace, to be neighbour. At times throughout the event, meeting time was ‘interrupted’ with sessions exploring being neighbour.  The sessions were relational and had participants examine their relationship with neighbour. We confronted bias, prejudice, reconciliation-reconciliaction, and privilege.

In doing so there was an exploration of human weakness and the brokenness of human relations.

Assembly delegates were invited into an interfaith dialogue, acknowledged ancestral territory, prayed and sang in various tongues, experienced an exercise in discovering privilege, heard from Chinese, Indian, and Guyanese colleagues -their struggles, their growing communities. We were witness to stories of congregations working on relationships – on being neighbour; relationship often starting because regular operating procedure was interrupted by a garbage truck.  Thus says the Lord.

You may have heard of ‘The Law of the Garbage Truck.'

This law says that people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, anger, and disappointment. As their garbage piles up, people need a place to dump it! ---bias, prejudice, unneighbourliness Sometimes they'll dump it on others.

The law describes what actions to take when encountering ‘the garbage truck:’ don’t take it personally.

Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets. Do not let garbage trucks take over the world.

This brings us back to the reading from Ezekiel. Ezekiel is warned that interrupting the lives of the people, being outward focused, will not make him any friends, in fact it could bring all sorts of calamities.  The people are stubborn, self-absorbed, living as self-contained units.  Ezekiel, as Paul, throws this up in the air, as God’s Word is wont to do.  The people are referred to not as individuals but as “a people.”

The hope is that grace is sufficient; there is strength in falling apart…

It is in a human’s falling apart wherein power emerges, made perfect in loving.

Thus says the Lord: O mortal, stand up on your feet, and I will speak with you. --- have people stand

Mortal, I am sending you in your weakness to the people, to a nation of rebels who have rebelled against me, into a world of broken relationships; they and their ancestors have transgressed against me to this very day. The descendants are impudent and stubborn. I am sending you to them, to throw out the garbage,to be neighbour, to love,  and you shall say to them, "Thus says the Lord God." Whether they hear or refuse to hear this is not your concern, mend the broken, heal relationship, and they shall know that there has been a prophet among them.

Thanks be to God.

Amen.