19th Sunday
after Pentecost, Yr. B, October 7, 2012
Genesis 2:18-24; Psalm 8;
Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12; Mark 10:2-16
Sermon preached at St.
Stephen’s Episcopal Church
You might think that our
reading from Mark is about marriage and divorce, but it’s really about
relationships and covenant. It’s
really about how we are meant to live together. The creation story we read from Genesis helps us to see
that. In this account of our human
beginnings God creates “man”, which is more accurately translated as “human
being”. There is no gender implied
in the original language. God
realizes that his human creation is not meant to live in isolation, so God sets
about making the human a partner.
God is infinitely creative.
God creates every animal of the field, all the birds, even domestic
animals like cattle. God goes to
great length to create some kind of living thing that will be a suitable
partner for the human, but nothing God creates is adequate.
So God causes a deep sleep
to come upon this first human being.
From it, God takes a rib and fashions another human and they become one
flesh. As one flesh, they are made
from the same substance. They are
alike, and yet unique. They are
the beginning of our human community.
The first human is no longer alone. The two are partners. We are inherently interdependent; we
are not created to live alone. We
are meant to live in need of one another.
We are not whole outside of relationship with others. This human story is an experiment in
community.
In the last two hundred
years or so, but especially since the nuclear family became the primary family
unit here, we have become more and more concerned with individual rights and
individual freedoms. We are less
and less community focused. We ask
questions like, “What has President Obama done for me?” and “How might Governor Romney make my life better?”
If a law or a change doesn’t benefit us as individuals we don’t like
it. It’s not about us anymore. The “me at the center” notion leads me to
think that everyone else is just like me … thinking like me … sharing my values … living in a house like mine … shopping in a store like the one in my neighborhood … operating out of my perspective.
What priority do we place on community … really? What are the people who live in our
community like? Do we really know?
We are challenged as
Christians to think about our interdependence, an interdependence born at the
start of our existence. Part of
our difference from the rest of the world is our belief that we are indeed
created for one another. Not because a woman is meant to be
subordinate to men, but so that we might be covenant partners in life giving
ways. Not so that humans can
exploit animals for our own benefit, but so that we can help preserve the
balance of life that has existed since the beginning of creation, a balance
that our survival depends on. The
truth for us as Christians is that we are here for everyone and
everything else in this created world, and
the good news is that we can experience God right here with us. That’s the reality those early Christ
followers experienced in Jesus.
They experienced in him an embodiment of God. Roxburgh and Boren describe the incarnation as God venturing
out into the neighborhood. God strolling around in the towns and
villages in the ancient near east, so that humanity might know God better. We are meant to live with God in our
local context..
Jesus is talking about
much the same thing in Mark’s gospel.
The Pharisees are trying to test him. They really want to trip him up with their questions, to
shame him in public. Jesus answers
their question with a challenge, with a question of his own. What did Moses command you? They’re
Pharisees! They’re the people who
follow the law to the letter!
Don’t they know what Moses commanded? Don’t you know?
Then he insults them further by saying that it was their own hardness of
heart that made Moses write that commandment.
Jesus is speaking about
more then a marriage relationship.
Jesus is talking about God creating us for relationship with one
another. Jesus is talking about
the covenant of community. As so
often happens in Mark, the disciples don’t quite get it either. They ask Jesus about marriage again
when they get with him by themselves.
Jesus says again, we are meant for relationship. And then Jesus brings children into the
picture. It feels strange, doesn’t
it? Almost like a part of another
story being thrown in the mix. But
in a strange way I think children are part of Jesus’ answer. Children were the lowest of the
lows. Children were property, not
worth much more than animals … maybe even less. Animals at least, could work for their masters. They contributed something of
value. Little children did
not. Little children were
powerless and voiceless. It was
easy to dismiss them. But Jesus is
indignant. Let the little
children come to me, do not stop them, he
says. If you want to enter the
kingdom of heaven, you must be like a little child.
Children cannot survive on
their own. They need parents, a
community in many cultures, to raise them. They cannot be independent. They survive only because of others. Jesus says that is how we are to enter
the kingdom of heaven … as children … as human beings that recognize their
dependency on God and one another.
If we insist on a life lived only for our own benefit, if we try to live
in isolation from others, thinking that we can accomplish everything on our own
… we will miss out on the life in community that we were created to enjoy. The entrance to the kingdom of God will
elude us. Not because we are not
worthy, but because we aren’t reaching for the doors that will lead us into the
kingdom. Christianity really isn’t
about your salvation or my salvation.
It’s about our
salvation. We’re all in this
together.
I think that’s what makes
the book, (Introducing the Missional Church) that many of us are reading so
intriguing. It reminds me that the
church exists in and for community.
The only way we can really be
church is to see ourselves as an embodiment of Christ in this neighborhood, and
take the time to stroll in it … like Jesus did in his own “neighborhood”. We are created from one flesh, and
bound together in covenantal relationships of interdependence that can lead us
into the light of God’s kingdom.
God is in the neighborhood, and we will see God’s hands at work if we
keep our eyes open as we walk. I
think we’re well on the way.
Think about how our
building is used. The community is
in here quite a bit already. But
how are we in here with them? That
seems to be a door worth opening.
Just giving groups space is a start, but does that make us
partners? AA has been here a long
time. I know they feel that St.
Stephen’s is their home. They pick
up trash on the lawn. They mop the
parish hall floor each week. They
bring in the trash bins each Friday for us. They often offer to help carry or move things when they see
us struggling. They consider
themselves part of our family.
New Hope Evangelical
Church has asked us to find a way to pray together with them. They want to help with our
ministries. They have taken part
in the CROPWalk and collected food for Thanksgiving baskets. They want to be partners. How can we be a partner with them?
When I’m working at the
Saints Garden, I often chat with people in that neighborhood, people walking
through the garden on their way somewhere else. Some will ask if we ever need help. Others ask if they can grow their own
food in one of the beds. These are
invitations to partnership. Is God
stirring something up in them?
When Foodlink comes on
Wednesdays to deliver the produce and baked goods that are given away for free,
volunteers help on the food line.
At first it was only SWEM board members and staff here at St. Stephen’s
who helped, but now a couple of people from the neighborhood help too. Sometimes they have different ideas
about how things should be done.
Sometimes there are disagreements.
Sometimes we hurt one another.
Not on purpose, I think, but because we misunderstand one another, or
make assumptions. We don’t know
each other well, yet.
It’s work to maintain this
new community. Communities are by nature diverse. Communities can expect to encounter differences of opinion. Communities can expect to face
conflict. We don’t come from the
same background. We don’t live in
the same households. We don’t face
the same challenges. But isn’t
that what Jesus is calling us to … life together. We’re meant to be partners. What might it mean for us, if we saw people in the
neighborhood as partners in God’s mission for the kingdom? What might it mean for us if we all
decided to listen more intentionally to our neighbors? We need to take a stroll and
listen. I would not be surprised
if that is where we are heading already … but if that is so, we are at a
crossroads. We have some decisions
to make. Maybe we’ll discern more
in our conversations over these next few weeks. It’s an exciting journey. I’m glad we’re doing it together.
Amen.
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