Gospel In Reverse

Mark 9:30-37

They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; 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.” But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.

Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” 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.”

Today we’re throwing this Gospel lesson into reverse and backing into this sermon.  Backing in, you first get Jesus telling the disciples that when they welcome “one such child” they welcome both Jesus and the One who sent him.  In Jesus’ day, children had no status.  They were property at best.  They could be bought, sold and traded… and were.  But here, in this lesson, Jesus wasn’t pointing only to people below the age of adulthood… Jesus was pointing to anyone who was thought of, or treated by those in power as, less than legal, less than important, less than human. 

 

Backing into this lesson challenges us to ask, who in our day, is considered to be, or is treated as, less than legal, as if their life didn’t matter, as if they were less than human?  Who are the weak, vulnerable, and desperate today who are being demonized, terrorized and brutalized by those in power?  We know who they are.  They’re the ones who don’t make a living wage.  The ones used as political footballs. The ones displaced by the consequences of climate change.  The ones desperate to escape our perpetual wars but are told they aren’t wanted here.  Jesus says,“Whoever welcomes one of THESE in my name, welcomes me.”  In them, Jesus tells us, we welcome Jesus himself.

Now, if you keep backing into this lesson, you’ll back right into Jesus asking the disciples, “WHAT were you arguing about on the way?”  Jesus asked like he didn’t know. Jesus knew.  My mom always asked, “whose shoes are these in the middle of the floor?”  They were size 13!  Mom knew!  Jesus knew too.  Jesus KNEW they were arguing about who was first and who was last… who was a winner and who was a looser.  Jesus KNEW.  And THAT’S why he lifted up that child to make his point.  It’s about welcoming the least, the lost and the last… not the full, the found and the first, that is welcoming Christ.  

But WHY were they were arguing about that?  To figure that out you’ve got to keep backing up and eventually you back right into the heart of it… They were arguing because they were afraid.  When people puff themselves up and argue about who is greater and who is not, you can bet THAT is a person living deeply in fear.  Jesus told the disciples what was going to happen but they didn’t understand… they couldn’t understand… they were AFRAID!

Afraid they were loosing control.  Afraid they'd been wrong about Jesus.  Afraid he wouldn’t raise an army, kick out the Romans and become their king.  Afraid that with every step toward Jerusalem they were becoming more like that child… not in control, not on top, and not someone who mattered.  They were afraid that everything Jesus was saying was true!  That the Jesus way of living WASN’T living on the top of the world looking down, but from the very bottom.

What Jesus was saying then WAS true… and it’s still true now… the path to a fulfilling, purpose-filled life begins at the bottom.  It begins by nailing our preferences, privileges and priorities to the cross and letting them die.  The truth is that the tighter we hold on to the things the world says are important, the less able we are to open our hands enough to receive the gift of abundant life God is giving us.  The one prerequisite for resurrection is death.  Easter only happens after Good Friday.  Really living means loosening our grip, our need to control, our need to hold on to what is known and what’s safe… It means letting go of everything the world tells us is important… allowing all that we have, all that we know, all that we are, to fall through our fingers so that all that we are can finally fall into the hands of God to be remolded, reshaped and reformed into the new creation God is calling us to be. 

But HOW?  How do we do that?  The answer is that we do it like a child.  Children don’t study and philosophize about walking… they just take a step, fall down, get up and try again until one day... they’re walking!  They start with nothing other than a parent’s outstretched arms and are transformed into walkers along the way.  Jesus is telling us that’s how it goes with life as well.  We take just one small step toward our Divine Parent’s outstretched arms… letting one bit of the world's way of being fall through our fingers and into God's care and then another.  These aren't just mental steps, but physical steps too and yes, every step we take is certain to be just as uncoordinated and uncertain as a child’s first steps.  But like a child they need to be steps away from a crawling life... away from fear, selfishness and greed and toward toward a walking life of compassion, love, and generosity.

  

We all really are CHILDREN of God, as shaky and unsure as any child learning to walk.  But we are also children of GOD. Children of a Divinely loving Parent whose outstretched arms are ALWAYS reaching out to us with the biggest possible smile, encouraging us each day to take one more step toward becoming the abundantly living creation our Divinely loving Parent KNOWS we are each meant to be.   Amen.