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Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

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 about 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.’


Hands up if you think you are the most humble person here.

Ah, the humility trap, an old favourite. Seems a little odd to imagine that people might compete to be the most humble, but in many ways this is exactly what happened in the desert in Egypt in the third century. Men and women fled the cities to join monastic communities and to try to purify themselves and live apart from the world. They would live near great teachers and exchange wise ‘sayings’ to reinforce their way of life. Humility was a key theme of their life together.

Quoting the desert fathers and mothers, it is customary to begin with Anthony:

Abba Anthony said, ‘I saw the snares that the enemy spreads out over the world and I said groaning, "What can I get through from such snares?” Then I heard a voice saying to me, “Humility.”’ (Ward 1975, 3)

Many of the young monks left homes and security, some great wealth, to live an impoverished lifestyle, usually dwelling in caves. They left behind status and expectations for a life of mostly solitude and silence. Another story, this one from Abba Macarius:

A brother came to see Abba Macarius the Egyptian, and said to him, "Abba, give me a word, that I may be saved." So the old man said, "Go to the cemetery and insult the dead." The brother went there, abused them and threw stones at them; then he returned and told the old man about it. The latter said to him, "Didn't they say anything to you?" He replied, "No." The old man said, "Go back tomorrow and praise them." So the brother went away and praised them, calling them, "Apostles, saints, and righteous men." He returned to the old man and said to him, "I have complimented them." And the old man said to him, "You know how you insulted them and they did not reply, and how you praised them and they did not speak. So you too, if you wish to be saved, must do the same and become a dead man. Like the dead, take no account of either the scorn of men or their praises, and you can be saved." (Ward 1975, 132)

It is a lesson we try to teach our kids, around not listening to what others think, although we usually stop at scorn and forget to mention the part about listening to excessive praise. One might argue that the ‘way of humility’ has gone out of fashion in the seventeen hundred years since Anthony and others thought so much about it. But I would argue that as a biblical theme, and as theme at the heart of Jesus’ way, it remains near the centre of who we seek to be.

Just before I move on, I have to share another favourite, this time a blessing from Abba Euprepius, a blessing you won’t hear in church but one that points to the great difference between then and now. His blessing went like this: “May fear, humility, lack of food and anxious misgivings be with you.” Perhaps we can see why people eventually left the desert, but more than a kernel of truth remains for us to ponder and compare to the teachings of Jesus.

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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 about 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.’

With so many fans of Dickens in this congregation, perhaps you can tell me what life was like for children in Victorian England.

Most children in Victorian England had no childhood at all. They were mining coal or sweeping chimneys or cleaning houses. The children that were not working we not playing either, but were regarded as “smaller adults” and expected to act accordingly. Children were introduced early to the same activities that the adults we doing, needlecraft, hunting or fighting in war. One of the remarkable things about the “Master and Commander” stories of Patrick O’Brian is the accurate portrayal of children in the Royal Navy. Lord Nelson, greatest hero in the Royal Navy pantheon, began his career at the age of twelve.

Look farther back to Roman Palestine and you find a society where the father of the clan has absolute power to accept or reject newborn babies. Girls were frequently rejected, but even boys when patrimony was in doubt and so the father had the power of life and death. Some scholars argue that the inclusion of the famous hug in Mark 9 was part of an unfolding debate in the early church whether they had an obligation to rescue abandoned infants and raise them or whether they should simply accept the traditional approach or discarding unwanted children.

I will leave the question of Mark’s intention regarding infanticide and focus instead of the immediate lesson for the disciples. There was no better way to illustrate the idea that ‘whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all’ than to point to a child. Quoting Dom Crossan, children were nobodies and the disciples were called to enter a “Kingdom of nobodies” and accept the new status that came with being his disciples. This was not a zero-sum game where one would beat the others in a kind of “Survivor Galilee” but rather a complete reorientation away from the values of the world to the values of humility and service found in Jesus. (Crossan 1994, 64)

So how do we travel through time, through ancient Palestine and Victorian England and end up here at this moment? Before we create too much distance, we need to point out a few similarities. Children still live under military occupation in Palestine. Children worldwide are engaged in work to provide the products that we purchase and give to our children, the children who most often lack for nothing. Babies, especially baby girls, are still abandoned in China and India where government polity or social custom favour male children over female children. It seems we haven’t traveled far from Roman Palestine to today.

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From Richard Niebuhr:

The humility of Christ is not the moderation of keeping one’s exact place in the scale of being, but rather that of absolute dependence on God and absolute trust in him, with the consequent ability to move mountains. The secret of the meekness and the gentleness of Christ lies in his relationship to God. (Ward and Wild 2002, 226)

Jesus said “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” In other words, unless you adopt the status of children in his context, that is unless you become nobodies, you cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven. What an amazingly counter-cultural idea--the world shouts at us that we are supposed to be a “somebody,” we are supposed to feel special, we are supposed to separate ourselves from the pack, we are supposed to pursue Freedom 55 and all the other self-serving messages that surround us daily. What are we to do?

Trust in God. Trust in God’s way. Trust that embracing meekness and service are the secrets to successful living and not having the biggest RRSP at the end.

Pride alert: We are going to have a wonderful new building. We are going swell with pride over the success of amalgamation and the creative use of proceeds and the wonderful new chancel but let us never forget who all of this is for:

Somewhere in our community a mother has already checked her pantry twice this morning worried that the food won’t last until Thursday morning food bank day.

Somewhere in our community a young couple is surrounded by shiny new toys and designer furnishings and feel only despair. A day after they buy something new they have nothing left to talk about and the distance between them grows.

Somewhere in this community someone has been getting the signal that material success is a mark of God’s blessing and that the way to succeed is to overcome others.

God became vulnerable and entered our world as an infant. God led Jesus in the way of humility through a hurting world all the way down to the cross. His relationship with God was one of utter humility. May God help us to humbly surrender this place to the people who need it the most, the people who yearn for God and surrender themselves to God’s care. Amen.

posted by michael jacob kooiman @ 2:46 PM