09/27/2009 WHAT GOOD ARE WE?
WHAT GOOD ARE WE?
“Salt is good; but
if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it?”
Mark 9:50 (NRSV)
My colleague, Pastor Richard Conner of
Salem UMC in Manheim,
A new associate pastor assigned to
Pastor Conner describes the event this
way.---
See in
your mind… four-year-old little angels, all dolled up & proudly wearing
tutus, lovingly sewn together by mothers.
Standing in a circle (in the chancel), holding hands, a prayer is
said. The little ones (then) turn,
leading worship & praising God to the taped music…. After this time of worship, parents,
grandparents, guests, friends -- all of God’s people – praise Jesus with an
enthusiastic round of applause! God is
good. Children can lead worship. Children can lead us older type folks to
God. And how the church is blessed when
they do so.
The
next week, both pastors received a letter in the mail. (Let me say),this is the most bizarre thing
that has ever happened in my (42 years of ) being a pastor. Are you ready? The letter began with these words, “Why do we
have to have so many children in church?”[1]
After such a heartwarming story, we
wince at its conclusion. We wonder, “How can a Christian behave that
way?”
Jesus, the bold teacher, healer, & miracle-worker
who “speaks truth to power” in Mark’s portrayal, devotes his ministry to the
persons his society ignored & oppressed.
If you were poor, crippled, diseased, or a woman, Jesus paid particular
attention to you. He was exceptionally
counter-cultural & thus rubbed the powers-that-be the wrong way.
Children also join the list of persons
to whom Jesus is especially devoted. He
heals them & even raises one child from the dead. Chapters 8 & 9, though, make more
frequent mention of children. Pastor
Nancy’s sermon last week got us started on this theme, one that I’ll pick up this
week & next. (Next week the topic is
children & divorce). This
mini-series, then, will be capped (off) with a drama performed for our kids on
October 11th’s Children’s Sabbath.
We hear today’s opening story &
wonder if this letter-writing church-goer learned anything about caring for
children from Jesus & the Bible. It’s
not only this person’s unwelcoming attitude toward children that’s a
problem, I’m sad to say. Other behavior of
adults toward children has been bad, too.
Certain leaders new to the national scene are now saying that children,
especially ones with congenital conditions or diseases in infancy, are not
fully human until their personalities develop more & they possess certain
marks of independence. (What if their personalities don’t develop, or they
don’t achieve milestones of independence?)
There are many pastors, who despite no biblical or doctrinal
restrictions, refuse to welcome baptized children at holy communion. (That’s a parental choice, not a pastoral
one.) There are leaders in churches who
consider programs to safeguard children the overblown paranoia of lawyers &
insurance companies. “Harming kids
doesn’t happen here,” they blithely state.
How deeply it pains Pastor Nancy &
me to personally know ordained colleagues who have been arrested for sex-crimes
against children & youth. There were
two in the past year here in
When Jesus uses the term, “little ones”
in verse 42, most contemporary readers believe that he means children. A closer reading - & this is why Bible
study can be so enriching – reveals that “little ones,” is not confined to
minors, but is a New Testament phrase pertaining to all of Jesus’ followers,
regardless of age. Just as we are all
God’s children, so are we all Jesus’ “little ones.” That’s important. We can’t just say that Jesus doesn’t want us
hurting children, but doesn’t want us to harm each other, any of us, child or
adult. Children grow up to be adults.
The other fine point of which to take
note in this passage is also in the opening of verse 42, which mentions the
identity of persons who place a “stumbling block” in the way of “little
ones.” Our New Revised Standard Version Bibles
in the pew say, “any of you.” Another
favorite translation which many of you prefer, the New International Version,
says, “anyone.” Other familiar versions,
including King James & Roman Catholic translations, say “whosoever,” or
“whoever.”
They all mean the same thing, we think, so does it
really matter? Yes, the difference
matters, & here’s why.
We cannot just consider the literal translated words
of the Bible. We need to consider the
context in which those words were spoken.
In these verses, Jesus is addressing John & the other disciples (see 10:31 &
10:38).
Crowds were probably not present, as they were in our lesson two weeks
ago. The phrase, “Any of you,” implies
“any of you disciples here with Jesus.”
The word, “anyone,” though, implies any person whatsoever, not just Jesus’
close followers within earshot.
What this means is that Jesus is not speaking to anyone
& everyone in the world who reads his words, but pointedly addressing those
of us who are his followers. He was
speaking to his Disciples then. He’s
speaking to his disciples now. These
verses are meant for us & our behavior. We are the ones grieved by our wrongdoing, so
upset that it would be better to lose the part of the body that causes
us to sin, than have it accompany us to heaven to mar our experience there. Now, that’s a rather strong statement, I
realize.
Again, however, it is not a phrase to be taken
literally. Taken seriously? Yes, but not
literally. If it were to be literal, we
could expect to encounter count-less blind quadraplegics in heaven, as well as
persons without eyes & limbs who took Jesus’ advice & are walking
around even now. “All have sinned &
fall short of the grace of God (Romans 3:23),” &
these parts of our anatomy abet our sinning!
There would be a lot of us in this predicament! Quite frankly, if we literally take Jesus’
teaching to its literal logical conclusion, we’d be missing tongues when we
curse, ears when we choose to hear certain scripts & lyrics, brains when we
think of unkind things, & a few other body parts that make sin so real in
our lives! ‘Nuff said! Again, this is not to be taken literally.
In fact, the anatomy Jesus chose – eyes & limbs –
were ones that farmers & persons in the agrarian culture of the ancient
near east did lose with some frequency.
Even today, it is not uncommon for persons employed in agriculture to be
victims of such gruesome injuries, moreso than the rest of the populace.
Jesus teaches that persons who are sincere about faith
hate sin. We genuinely grieve the wrong that we do
& the hurtful results that it causes.
It is with honest regret, then, that we confess & ask God’s Spirit
to help us change.
Is sin a problem for everyone, not just Christians? Of course it is. It’s just that our faith – our love for
Christ & his supreme love for us – inspires in us the desire to be
different, to do differently, & to do better. Some folks can say, “So what?” or “Who
cares?” when it comes to sin, but, as Christians, we cannot be so glib &
unconcerned about it (see 2nd Peter 2:21). We know it’s
our sin that put Jesus on the cross. And
even the persons in the society who say they don’t give a hoot about sin, when
Christians sin, get all sort of concerned (bent-out-of-shape concerned!) about
our sins & mistakes.
Think about it.
When the marketing vice president of a pharmaceutical firm coerces a
drug’s researcher to fudge a study’s results, it’s wrong & maybe even
criminal. If that money-grubbing v.p. is
a professing Christian, that’s even worse in people’s opinions, isn’t it? Or, when the boss tells the company
accountant to hide some expenses or “cook the books,” a rather frequent
occurrence in our culture anymore (!), it’s immoral or a felony. If we learn that supervisor is a Christian,
& some of the Enron & big accounting firm executives were, there’s
quite the outrage.
Indeed, for ones who love Jesus & take to heart
what he did for us/them, it would be better for a millstone to drag them
drowning into the sea, or have body parts amputated. It would be better. If these individuals I mentioned have any
shred of love for Jesus, & some of them must, imagine their shame standing before
Jesus Christ. Some of us can imagine the
shame, not because we’ve committed such egregious sins, but because we know all
sin – our sin, big, little, or anything in between -- is despicable.
It doesn’t have to be the accounting error that cost 10,000 pensions, or
unethical financial practices that brought the nation to recession, or
inappropriate adult behavior that scars & injures children. Jesus died for all sin, regardless of its
magnitude. Sin starts small &
graduates (to these levels). These are
travesties, indeed, but we, Christians,
are held to a higher standard with all our behavior all of the time.
“Why?” you ask. “Why are we held to a higher standard?”
Well, not just because we know better. Lots of persons know better. We, however, know something much better. We know the love of Christ. We know what he gave up for each of us. We know his love, his blessings, & how
his grace so amazingly transforms our lives.
We know that first-hand. That
counts for something. That means something
to us. Or, does it?
Why worship?
Why read the Bible? Why
pray? Why participate in a Sunday School
class? Why do anything that Christ
teaches, if it doesn’t mean much, if it doesn’t impact our daily lives in a
positive way, if it doesn’t have a healthy affect on the lives of others within
our orbit of influence? Churches want to
know why kids don’t show up. Because for
too many of their parents, Christ doesn’t mean much to them. When Sunday becomes a show, our children see
the sham. They don’t want to be a part
of it & may be more honest, than their parents.
As Hebrew National, the kosher Jewish hot dog
manufacturer used to advertise: “We answer to a higher authority.” We do, (too)!
One of the hard things new pastors come to realize is
that they are held to a higher moral standard & so are their families. It may not be fair, but it’s real. “To whom much is given, much will be required;
& from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded”
(Luke
12:48b), Jesus made clear.
I tell the same thing to our church staff &
elected church leaders, as I tell ministry candidates. That goes for Sunday School teachers &
group facilitators. It goes for the
choir & families interacting with homeless guests in June & the youth
group when they’re at the diner during a lock-in. And, if you haven’t figured it out by now, it
goes for all of us who consider our faith & baptism to be more than just a ritualistic
dousing of water.
“Holiness of heart & life,” have
been the bywords of Wesley’s, Albright’s, Otterbein’s, & Boehm’s followers
for over 200 years. Pastors often fail
to preach & teach it. Congregants either don’t know it, or ignore it. Without that holiness of heart & life, that
personal & social holiness, Jesus’ followers are like salt that’s lost its
taste. What good is it? What good are we? And, if we, Christ’s followers, don’t strive
to do good & be good, what can we expect of others?
Too often, we, Christians, have lost that spice, that
unique flavor, that particular sense that makes us so beautifully, boldly,
& wonderfully unique.
- We’ve lost that
compassion that was the hallmark of Jesus’ ministry & the early church,
a loss that wrongfully allows us to consider mission work as something for
missionaries & sharing our faith as a task for preachers, evangelists,
& fanatics, rather than for the good of the ones we’re all called to
love.
- We’ve lost that fire
in our bellies for Christ, a fire that sometimes may be a “trial by fire,”
but always one that refines & purifies & draws us closer to
perfection in his love & even improves our neighborhoods.
- We’ve lost that resurrection
hope that makes life so worth living, on even the worst days. What’s faith without hope? Wishful thinking? Blind faith? Myth?
Fantasy?
- We’ve lost the grace
that helps us love the unlovable, & be models of civility &
understanding amid a culture that shouts down & demonizes
opponents.
- We’ve done more
finger-pointing & finger-wagging at others, than sought to examine our
own consciences & improve ourselves.
We’ve spied the speck in the other’s eye, denying the 2”x4” in our
own.
- We’ve lost the Bible
& Christ’s model as the prime foundations for how we lead our lives,
counting Jesus & scripture as mere “helpful guides,” not the leading
sources of ordered direction for living.
- We’ve lost that sense
of sacrifice, making us lust for ease & convenience, such that it’s
easier to be unethical or immoral at work or school or on the athletic
field, than take a little pain & peer pressure for what’s good & right.
- We’ve lost the idea
that the Christian faith is 24/7/365, forgetting that God, that eternal
“audience of one,” is 24/7/365 forever.
- We’ve become bland
& subpar, rather than the most joyous & fully alive individuals
that God created, Christ redeemed, & the Holy Spirit enlivens. “I’ve come so that you may have life
& have it abundantly” (John 10:10b)!
“Why
do we have to have so many children in church?”
That all can change for the better. We can commit our lives to Christ again &
be revived, just as we were when we first found the loving grace &
forgiveness of the Savior.
Let us pray…. God of grace & mercy, return to us the
joy of our salvation. Return us to
yourself, Loving Friend. May your Holy
Spirit inspire us & empower us to put you first in our lives, Lord
Jesus. Come & fill us anew. Come & transform us again
… & forever. We totally commit our total lives to you.
In the Name…. Copyright 2009 by G.D.Knerr in