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Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

Mark 6:7-13

He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. He said to them, ‘Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.’ So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.


They are easy to spot. They are people who regularly attend the Toronto International Film Festival. The most common indicator is the knapsack -- standard equipment for the serious festival attendee. In the bag you will find the following: festival guide (large book, describes every film), festival schedule, book(s) to be read in line, bottled water, protein rich snack in a non-crinkle bag (in case you miss a meal, and in place of popcorn...which festival goers never eat), and (for me) sunscreen for the hours spent in line. Think of it as a survival kit for those with a serious film addiction. While not absolutely required to attend, it does provide some helpful things to survive ten days standing in line and sitting in darkened theatres.

A friend once told me that at one time her possessions were limited to what she could fit in her Pinto. As a student she moved frequently, and often across country, and so decided to limit herself to the contents of a car, neatly packed, but not so neatly packed that the Pinto would not move. Her life had defined limits in terms of what she would allow herself to possess, and as she recounted the story, it was obvious she looked on those days with some satisfaction.

***

Jesus called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics.

Permitted: a staff, sandals, and one tunic.
Not permitted: bread, knapsack, money, extra tunic.

From John Dominic Crossan:

The Cynic would not appear anywhere without his knapsack, staff, and cloak, which must invariably be dirty and ragged and worn so as to leave the right shoulder bare. He never wore shoes and his hair and beard were long and unkempt. (Jesus, p. 115)

Permitted: a staff, knapsack, and one dirty tunic.
Not permitted: shoes (sandals) and apparently personal hygiene.

The reason I share these lists is to illustrate that each movement (in this case being a disciple of Jesus or being a Cynic) had a set of standards with regard to lifestyle. And apart from the a few variables, the lists seem fairly similar. The key difference (aside from personal hygiene, which the Gospel does not mention) is the use of a knapsack. In the case of a Cynic, the knapsack was an important symbol of all that you need to travel through life (not unlike the film festival). And unlike the modern definition of the term, a Cynic was a person committed to travelling lightly and possessing few things.

Cicero tells the story of an encounter between Diogenes, the central thinker among the Cynics and Alexander the Great:

But Diogenes, certainly, was more outspoken in his quality of Cynic, when Alexander asked him to name anything he wanted: "Just now, Diogenes said, "stand a bit away from the sun." Alexander apparently had interfered with his basking in the sun.

The most powerful man in the ancient world offered him anything, all he wanted was a better tan. In many ways, this story best describes the Cynics' beliefs: a desire to step outside cultural norms and embrace the freedom that comes without property and a raft of possessions. Hence the knapsack. A Cynic had to be free to travel through life with only the things he could carry in his knapsack.

Recall that Jesus didn't permit his followers even a knapsack. No bread, no bag, no money, no extra tunic: only a staff and a sturdy pair of sandals. The message of new life required no possessions, only the things that would make the walking safe. In all things, the disciples were to be totally dependent on God and generosity of others.

And this, it seems, is the key contrast between the Cynics and the followers of Jesus: one achieved freedom through self-dependence (everything needed was in one bag) and the others achieved freedom through complete dependence. They were to trust in God to provide what they needed through the people they met on the way.

***

It would be impossible to have a discussion on possessions and Pintos without talking about the Desert Fathers and Mothers. By about the beginning of the fourth century, the desert began to fill up with monks and would-be monks who attempted to follow the example of St. Anthony. They made their homes in caves and abandoned buildings and practiced the most severe form of aestheticism: living without possessions and living completely on the generosity of others.

We learn about the fathers and mothers by the stories recorded by their many followers and admirers. They formed a collection of "sayings" that are told and retold down to our day. This retelling comes from Thomas Merton:

One of the brothers asked an elder saying: "Would it be all right if I kept twocoins in my possession, in case I should get sick?"
The elder, seeing his thoughts, and that he wanted to keep them, said: "Keep them."
. The brother, going back to his cell, began to wrestle with his own thoughts, saying: "I wonder if the Father gave me his blessing or not? Rising up, he went back to the Father, inquiring of him and saying, "in God's name, tell me the truth, because I am all upset over these two coins."
The elder said to him, "since I saw your thoughts and your desire to keep them, I told you to keep them. But it is not good to keep more than we need for our body. Now these two coins are your hope. If they should be lost, would not God take care of you? Cast your care on the Lord, then, for he will take care of us."

At some point a possession becomes more than a possession and becomes a hope. At some point it takes on qualities beyond it's utility and is given some power of position that it does not deserve. An RRSP becomes a symbol of "freedom" rather than simply a reasonable approach to retirement. A certain car will may seem make you cooler or more desirable -- when in fact, through a strict application of the rules of the road -- every vehicle will get you from A to B in about the same time.

Since it becomes very boring very quickly to preach against possessions, I'm going to take this a step further. How do congregations fall into the trap of allowing possessions to become a source of hope?

It seems to me, we do this in a variety of ways. The building is the most obvious, and I will return to it in a moment. But imagine with me everything we put our hope in that is not God: Newcomers? Young families? A positive bank balance? The minister? Anything that we give "saving power" that is not God is a form of idolatry.

It is Commandment One that we should have no other gods beside the One True God. In the Ancient Near East, this commandment was a little more tangible. Your neighbours, the tribe just over the hill, likely had a God for everything. Fertility problems? Try Min of Eqypt. Trouble with your tomatoes? Osiris. Heading to war? Horus (weirdly also the god of childbirth). Things a little chaotic? Try Seth (actually, I think he brought chaos, but the page I looked at is not clear).

Imagine how unfair it must have seemed to the Israelites to be surrounded by people with a god for every occasion and be left with only One God. As a rule, whenever someone offers us the "one solution" to all our problems we become appropriately suspicious. It just seems more practical to twin specific problems with specific solutions rather that imagine that one thing is going to be able to do it for us. The first commandment, however, is the reminder that in the world of God, it is all about the One Big Fix.

Ask congregations to describe themselves and they usually go one of two routes: there is the behavioural route and the possession route. On the behavioural side we have words like "we are very friendly" or "everyone is like family here." On the possession side, "we have an eighty year-old Casavant organ" or "our church is newly renovated and it only cost $619,000." That last speaker was me, by-the-way, just in case you wondered if ministers fall into this trap too.

In the next few months we will be in a transformed space. My caution, however, is that within a transformed space we will not be a transformed people. It might make us more comfortable. It might make us a little smug. It might make us better able to meet our mission as a congregation. But it will not make us a better people. We will be the same, with the same strengths and limitations that we had before.

I love the first commandment, not because it steers me away from other gods and goddesses, but because it reminds me that I am utterly dependent on God.

We may be surrounded by idols,
but we're dependent on God.
We may fail or succeed,
but we're dependent on God.
We may fill our homes with shiny new things,
but we're dependent on God.
We may turn to others,
but we're dependent on God.
We may love this building,
but we're dependent on God.
We may love each other,
but we're dependent on God.

Recall that Jesus didn't permit his followers even a knapsack. No bread, no bag, no money, no extra tunic: only a staff and a sturdy pair of sandals. The message of new life required no possessions, only the things that would make the walking safe. In all things, the disciples were to be totally dependent on God.

I want you to consider being totally dependent on God a gift. Imagine the relief when someone asks you about this congregation and you say "we are a church that worships God." We are a church that knows God through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, we are a church that is filled with gifts of the Spirit, we are the church filled with people made in the wonderful human diversity of God's image, we are a church that lives out the compassionate message of Jesus and gives it legs, we are the church that is the wind and flame of Pentecost, we are the church that is utterly dependent on God for meaning and purpose and saving. We're dependent on God. Amen.

posted by michael jacob kooiman @ 5:24 AM