The Children Keep Us Honest

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
September 24th 2006
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“The Children Keep Us Honest”
Mark 9:30-37

It is quite easy for us to stand back and criticize the disciples of Jesus. The writer of the Gospel of Mark makes that rather easy. Our passage this morning is a prime example. Despite Jesus repeated attempts to teach the disciples about the way of the cross and the life of a servant, they begin arguing about who the greatest is among them. It is clear that the disciples have, once again, missed the point.
I have always been curious about what measuring stick the disciples used to determine greatness. The passage gives no indication. Maybe they were arguing about who was the best healer, or who said the best prayers. Maybe it had something to do with who would take over when Jesus was gone. Whatever the disciples used as the gauge for greatness, Jesus was not pleased with their focus on self-interest and personal power.
Jesus does not respond with a reprimand or a long lecture. Instead, he teaches them about greatness when he says: “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” Then, Jesus emphasizes this teaching by saying: “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me…” The idea of serving and welcoming children may seem rather sweet to us but in the ancient world it conveyed a different meaning. In order to understand this we need to look at the well defined social hierarchy of the ancient world.
When it came to the issue of who was served and who did the serving things were fairly simple. The main concern was how one welcomed and served the rich and powerful. It is not an oversimplification to say that those at the top of the social structure were served and welcomed while those at the bottom did the serving and did welcoming. Given this reality, it is understandable that the disciples might long to be on top. After all, most of them had come from the absolute bottom of the social order.
Jesus undermines this whole establishment through the inclusion of a child. Children, in this ancient social order, were not considered the model of innocence and purity. In fact, children were considered non-people. It went beyond the old adage that, children are to be seen and not heard. Until children reached early adulthood, they were not even considered part of the family. They were only slightly higher than dogs. So, when Jesus says: “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me…” he is turning the whole social order on its head. The last will be first and the first will be last. Those who are great are the servants of all.
Serving, welcoming and hospitality are all at the heart of this passage. Jesus makes sure that his followers understand that this is not something reserved for only those at the top of the social order. It is safe to say that followers of Jesus are judged based how they welcome children. So, we must ask ourselves: “How are we doing at welcoming children?” However, before I address that question I want to share two lessons that I have learned about hospitality.
The first lesson came from my parents. Whenever we would invite people into our home, it always meant change. We were required to clean up which meant; the house, inside and out, and ourselves. I remember how they would play music and even light the candles we were never allowed to touch. Every visitor meant a change in our routine. In order to extend hospitality we had to do things differently. And from my perspective, as a child, it was often in ways that I did not always like. But, in response to my complaints I was always reminded that this was how you welcome people. Whether we like it or not, welcoming others, even those we know and like, into our space, means things have to change.
The second lesson I want to share is from my experience at a Christian Camp. I had the opportunity to take a group of High School students to a Young Life camp in the San Juan Mountain range in southern Colorado. Though I will always remember the beauty of the mountains I was truly impressed with the camp staff. I watched as the staff went out of their way to make all visitors feel welcome. They engaged each visitor in such a way that let them know they mattered, were special, and loved, all in the name of Jesus.
The staff of that camp served people, in Jesus name, with a passion I have rarely seen since. In my conversations with the staff I learned two things which still amaze me. The first was that they worked extremely long hours for very little pay. The second and most amazing thing was that there was a two-year waiting list just to serve on the kitchen staff, which was the lowest paying job at the camp.
I believe that these two experiences illuminate vital lessons for our church as we seek to thrive in a world which has changed right before our eyes. In order for us to be a truly welcoming community, to truly welcome people into our house, we must be willing to adjust our institutional lives. Just like it was for the first disciples of Jesus, this will not always be easy or comfortable. This is a challenge not only faced by Westminster but by many communities of faith. It is a foundational shift where churches move from spending the majority of its energy on the maintenance of the status quo of the institution and instead commit its time, energy, talents, and money to the mission of Jesus Christ, no matter the risk.
The other lesson has to do with our calling and remembering the foundation of our faith. In order to do what we do, we must always remember the ‘why.’ That means we must know why; we come to worship, sing in the choir, usher, serve on session, a committee, a task force, or participate in Christian education or a work day or even why we give money and pray to support the work of the church. If we forget the ‘why’ of our calling, all of this can easily become drudgery. And frankly, no one wants to be around a group of people who are miserable. That two year waiting list to work in a kitchen was not because the work was fun. It had everything to do with the fact that they knew why they were doing what they were doing. They knew who it was they were serving.
So, if your service in the church becomes drudgery it is time to re-evaluate. First, it is time to remind yourself who calls you to your work. Then, take a close look at your God-given gifts and talents. If what you love doing and what you are good at have nothing to do with how you are at work in the service of God then it is time to do something different. Jesus Christ calls each one of us to be servants, using the gifts and talents we have for the sake of the gospel. Who knows, we may just end up with a two year waiting list for work in the kitchen!
Which brings me back to the original question: “How are we doing at welcoming children?” There are many ways to approach this question. However, the most fruitful way to wrestle with this question is let it become our driving motivation. From a practical standpoint, basic church growth models repeat one simple fact. Focus on the children and people will come. But, beyond that selfish motive, it also serves as a good indicator. After all, when we are not good at welcoming children it is a good indication that we are more interested in being served than on serving others. So, while the question begins with how welcome children it should lead us to extend hospitality to everyone who walks through our doors or anyone who encounter throughout our lives.
The ultimate question then, the one where we finally get honest with ourselves is this: Are we willing to extend this sort of hospitality? Are we willing serve all people in the name of Jesus despite the inevitable changes? This is what the gospel is all about. “…on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. Jesus sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” Then Jesus 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.” Amen.

It's Just Offensive

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
September 17th 2006
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“It’s Just Offensive”
Mark 8:27-38
In the Presbyterian Church, each person who is ordained as a minister of Word and Sacrament must submit a written statement of faith. I still remember the anxiety in preparing a written statement of my faith to present to the committee on ministry for my pre-examination. I remember that the committee took their work very seriously. I learned that a number of candidates were required to re-write their statements in order to pass. That is why I should have considered myself fortunate that they only asked me to make one change. However, I am still troubled by their request.
In my statement, when I wrote about the death of Jesus, I used the word execution instead of crucifixion. The committee said that I needed to use the word crucifixion because using the word execution might cause me trouble in my examination at the presbytery meeting. They suggested that I not do anything which might cause a stir so as not to get into any trouble. Even after making the point that crucifixion was in fact a public execution, I was finally told that it was too confrontational and would be offensive to some people.
I wish I could stand here and tell you I stood my ground. I wish I could tell you that I told the committee that the cross was offensive and as such refused to change my statement of faith. However, I decided to follow the path of least resistance and changed my faith statement so that no one would be offended. However, when I moved to Saint Louis, and was asked to submit my faith statement for this Presbytery, I added the word execution back into the document. This addition did not seem to offend anyone and I am still not sure what to make of that.
Our reading from Mark’s gospel begins with a very simple question. “Who do people say that I am?” Jesus seems interested in the word-on-the-street. However, he is after something else entirely and quickly turns the question to his followers. “Who do you say that I am?”
Peter is the only one to answer: “You are the Messiah.” Jesus responds by telling Peter, and everyone else, to be quiet. What happens next seems like an unrelated topic. Yet, this encounter has everything to do with Jesus’ teaching about the cross.
Peter mistakenly calls Jesus the Messiah. It becomes clear later that Peter believes the Messiah will be a mighty warrior. Peter was not alone in his belief that the Messiah was going to come and overthrow the Roman occupation and establish God’s kingdom on earth.
Nowhere in the Gospel of Mark does Jesus refer to himself as Messiah. It is almost as if he goes to great lengths to avoid confusion on this point. However, many followers of Jesus miss this point. So, when Jesus says: “that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again,” Peter’s protest makes more sense.
These claims had to seem like nonsense to Peter. It is out of his confusion and arrogance that Peter tells Jesus to be quiet. Come on Jesus, don’t you know that the Messiah is not weak. You are supposed to conquer and kill! Jesus must have just had a momentary lapse of memory. It is a good thing Peter was there to set him strait.
Jesus responds to Peter by calling him Satan. Then, he calls the other disciples and even the crowd so they will not miss this central teaching and make the same mistake that Peter has. Jesus says:
If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life?
Peter, and others, assumed that Jesus would act like the rulers of this world. They expected a Messiah who would say things like: “Bring em on,” or “Go ahead make my day.” Instead, Jesus talked about being killed. He went even further by saying that if anyone wants to be a follower they must pick up a cross and follow him.
The cross, in ancient Rome, was used for public executions. This form of execution was never to be used on Roman citizens. It was a means of social control and domination. Ultimately, it was used to not only to kill, but to humiliate, and guarantee tranquility. Jesus’ use of the cross was so offensive because it was never intended to be a symbol of faith or hope or eternal life. It was a symbol of political repression, torture, and humiliation. Jesus call to pick up a cross is nothing short of offensive.
William Willimon, the former dean of the Duke University Chapel, says that Christians in North America have lost touch with the offensiveness of the cross. He has even suggested that churches replace the cross with an electric chair in order to reconnect with the offensive reality of the cross. However, I think it might be easier to come to grips with the offensive nature of the cross when we take time to look at what the images of torture inflicted by the United States in Abu Grahib in Iraq. If we want to connect with the offensiveness of the cross, one only has to look at those pictures. This is the reality to which Jesus was speaking and that is why it was so offensive.
Jesus encounter with Peter and the others points to a struggle that all disciples must face. Will we follow the way of Peter and try to fit Jesus into our agenda or will we follow Jesus on the way of the cross? Too often the followers of Jesus have tried to attach Jesus to our pet projects, our traditions, our prejudices, our political parties, and even our wars. But each time we do this, we stand, not with Jesus, but with Peter – the one Jesus called Satan. The simple reality is that disciples are called to follow.
Being told to pick up our cross and follow Jesus can sound like more things to add in our already busy lives. But being a disciple, picking up our cross and following Jesus, is not about adding one more thing to our busy calendars. Instead, it is an all encompassing call to follow where Jesus leads. In the business of our lives, and even the work of the church, it can be easy to loose track of this call. If you hear the call to pick up your cross and follow as just another item on the unfinished ‘to-do’ list, then it may be time to put some things down. This morning we are going to have the opportunity to do this, at least symbolically.
At the end of the sermon you are invited to take the blank piece of paper in your bulletin and write down those things which may be standing in the way of picking up your cross. What is it that God may be calling for you to put down or cease doing or ‘let-go’ of in order to pick up your cross and follow? Whatever it is, or they are, write it down on the paper. When you come forward, lay the paper on the floor in front of the communion table. Then, pick up one of the crosses on the table and return to your seat.
These crosses are yours to keep. They have come to us all the way from Liberia. The crosses were once the casings from bullets used during the many years of conflict in that country. Christians in Liberia have taken these shell casings and fashioned a small crosses. It is a powerful symbol of hope which does not allow for the scandal of the cross to be forgotten. What was once an instrument of death, a cross and a bullet, have become a symbol of hope.
When Jesus invites his followers to pick up their cross, he is inviting all of us to pick up the symbols of death and domination and turn them into symbols of hope. What the Roman Empire meant for humiliation, torture, and death, Jesus has turned it into a symbol of hope. May these small symbols of spent bullets be the tiny reminder that death does not have the last word and that we are called to proclaim this message to the death dealers of this world. Amen.

Dog People

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
September 27th 2006
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“Dog People”
Mark 7:24-37

Despite initial appearances, this passage is not about healing. Instead, the entire passage, its location, movements, and verbal encounters, point to a new social reality found in Jesus. It is a new reality which showed that the practices of the ancient faith community were flawed. And this new reality continues to challenge the very foundation of modern faith communities’ work and ministry.
When Jesus moves to a new location, the mentioning of Tyre is critically important. It is an indicator that Jesus has moved well beyond his homeland and, into gentile territory. This movement into gentile territory is an indication that something unexpected is going to happen.
Once again, Jesus looks to retire from the hectic pace of his days. Upon entering Tyre he attempts to discreetly enter a home. Despite his best attempts Jesus is unsuccessful. A woman comes into the house and interrupts his hoped for rest.
Even though we do not know the name of this woman; we know much about her. She is a gentile. While this could have been assumed from the location, the writer goes out of the way to let us know she is a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. In other words, she is a pagan woman who is not part of the religious community.
When she falls at Jesus feet and begs for your daughter’s healing, she has risked much. Coming to Jesus in this way means she has broken well established social laws and customs. First, she entered into a private home which was not hers. Then, this gentile woman approaches a Jewish male, a religious leader, and speaks directly to him. Her actions demand nothing less than a stern rebuke and dismissal.
What happens next is rather shocking. After begging for help, Jesus responds by calling the woman a dog. The offensiveness of this may be lost to those of us who happen to have a dog as a family pet. However, no matter how much we might love that pet it is still be an insult to call any human being, made in the image of God, a dog. However, in the ancient world, and in ancient Jewish literature, calling someone a dog was never a term of love and affection. It was always used as an insult specifically directed towards the Gentiles. There is no way around the fact that Jesus is using a commonly known insult based on ethnicity. So, if we are not shocked, we have not grasped what has happened.
Jesus says: “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” Why does Jesus use this ethnic insult to respond to a cry for help? Is Jesus angry about his rest being interrupted? For just a movement have the prejudices of his day seeped into his speech? Or, is Jesus using this as an opportunity to challenge the prejudice of those around him? There are no easy answers. In fact, any attempt to dismiss these questions ignores the seriousness of the offensive insult.
Undeterred by the insult and dismissal, this unnamed woman responds and radically changes the dynamic of the encounter. The scene began with her bowed before Jesus as one would bow in deference to a person in authority. But now, she engages Jesus on equal footing, acting in ways socially unbecoming for a woman.
No longer bowed before him, she directly challenges his dismissal. “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” This gentile woman has challenged a male authority figure. Not only that, but she uses the derogatory term used against her to plead her case. It is a powerful turn of events. A woman, who society sees as powerless, has found her voice in a powerful way.
Once she has challenged Jesus, it is clear that he knows this is no ordinary encounter. Jesus does not respond by becoming defensive or dismissive of this woman. Instead, Jesus says: “For saying that, you may go--the demon has left your daughter.” Healing and restoration have come to this woman’s home.
The passage is a witness to the persistence and faithfulness of this woman even in the face of societal marginalization. This woman refuses to let the ways others define her control her life. Despite being defined and dismissed as only a woman, a gentile and a dog, she knew that God’s radically inclusive love included her as a full member in the family of faith!
This passage is also important as a witness to those in positions of power. After being opening challenged by this woman, Jesus does not dismiss her but instead engages her as an equal. It is an action which should echo throughout all faith communities who claim the name of Jesus. In other words, faith communities, particularly privileged ones, are called to welcome all people, not as charity cases, but on equal footing.
There is a dual message in this passage. It is a word of empowerment for those who society defines as powerless or dog-like. It says; do not accept the definition that others place upon you, for you are a child of God, not a household pet. It says; do not defer to people in power when they are wrong. And to those in power there is a word of challenge. Jesus’ example shows that people in positions of power must move beyond condescending paternalism and dismissive arrogance. It means that Christians in power can no longer treat anyone like a dog, no matter how nice or how much you might like dogs. This passage is the embodiment of a new social order found in Jesus Christ.
This message is rather strange for the church in North America. Our faith communities seem determined to ignore the implications of this passage. We prefer to worship with people of our own race, our own class and our own political affiliations. We find it easier to create barriers based such arbitrary things like: which high school you attended, where you live, economic status, tenure, age, ability, gender or sexuality. This is the way the churched in North America seem to like it.
Any challenge to our well established order is a real threat. In fact, crossing these boundaries is scary and can even seem ‘unnatural.’ Even Church growth models reinforce the ‘natural’ divisions. So what we, here at Westminster, seek to do here really flies right in the face of our culture. But the good news is that Jesus crossed boundaries and broke down the dividing walls of hostility. Jesus invited all people, including his church, to live out the reality that we are all brothers and sisters. This is the radically new social order to which we have been called. It is not easy and we continue to stumble on the way. However, we are not alone. God is with us and God is not finished with us yet. Amen!