What with the Olympics and life in general, it is very much ‘be the best’. What can we attain, can we reach higher than the next person? In today’s texts: both Hebrew Scriptures and New Testament, we might ask ‘Which is it to be?’
To do or to be?
In the passage from Proverbs (Proverbs 31:10-31) it might read as if it is a list of things that women need to do. But it is not. It actually tells the man to praise the women for what she has done. But more than that even, this latter portion of Proverbs is about Wisdom: it is about not what we do, but who we are? It is all about our character.
Ruth
There was a woman of the Old Testament, the Hebrew Scriptures, called Ruth. She was a destitute foreigner who worked in the field. Her life looks like nothing like the description of Proverbs 31. She made no clothes, had no husband- for she was widowed. Her children didn’t call and say how great she was, she had no children. Was she constantly swapping fine linen one Ebay or Amazon, keeping the home completely dust free? No she gleaned for leftovers in the field, taking the castoffs basically. And her eventual husband Boaz says “All the people of my town know that you are a woman of noble character” (Ruth 3:11).
In that phrase contains the Hebrew for women of valour. It isn’t because of what keeping up appearances, meeting expectations of others but through wisdom and strength, and being faithful. We might also find other women such as Ruth in Scripture: Mary Magdalene, Martha, Junia, Priscilla, Phoebe, the list goes on. And we can say this to those in our lives who bring their unique gifts, their insights, passions and callings to bring hope and healing to this world, God’s world wherever we are. This passage is for us all. It’s not about roles but about our character. Which is it to be for us?
To be the greatest?
It wouldn’t have clicked with me, but some of you might recollect that last week’s New Testament passage (Mark 8: 27) from Mark’s Gospel started with:
“This was because he was teaching his disciples: The Human One must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and the legal experts, and be killed, and then, after three days, rise from the dead.”
Soon after Jesus and his closest mates go up a mountain and are transfigured. This week we start the reading of Mark 9: 30-37 with:
“This was because he was teaching his disciples, ‘The Human One will be delivered into human hands. They will kill him. Three days after he is killed he will rise up.”
Bit of a repetition here.
The disciples are struggling to get the message. Their focus is upon who is the greatest. It’s odd that when I was teaching we kept referring to getting a good job which would pay well, give you everything you might need – want – and all would be well. To do this you would need to climb the ladder of success, which means being better than the other person who is also climbing up the ladder. The Roman system back then was just like ours, albeit a bit more cut throat, literally. As I said earlier we strive to do better than the other: such as in the Olympics. The Kin_dom of God system is different, it is counter cultural. Being that servant is the pathway to this ‘greatness’ that others seek. So for us, which is it to be?
Jesus responds by saying that whoever welcomes one of these children in my name welcomes me. And our focus now is upon the child. In a week or so we will read of the disciples shooing away the children – they still don’t get it, and possibly nor do we.
It isn’t about the child, but the least of us, it is the embracing of the unloved. The path to God’s power is to open our arms to the powerless.
Churches Today
With attendances to churches falling generally, the overall interest in Christianity decreasing, we may feel that we need to adopt some business tactics to increase participation. They call it the McDonaldization of the Church. Can we copy what that church did to maximise youth attendance? Can we get more ‘bums on seats’ by having this or that in our services?
Shall we stream the service or become totally hybrid?
We might wish to see Church as a process, of getting people interested, to getting them through the door, to ‘buying in’ to the product and then releasing them, hoping that they’d return the following week.
When what people might really appreciate in this cut throat business world, especially following the pandemic is to be heard.
Where we, the Church, become the guest and the other is the host in our conversation. Where we ask may we be with you and hear of your joys, your sorrows, and where we may see the Christ in the other. The Churches focus for so long has been the ensuring that our services continue as they have always done, that many people come to the church, when we can turn what some might perceive as the Church inside out, or upside down.
So what’s next?
So continue with our focus upon refugees, families with nothing, children who are hungry just down the road, and expect nothing back in return.
For generations we have persisted in allowing others to see the Church as the building rather the people. So as a Church, we may consider what we do, and the reasons for doing that. What is essential? What is comfortable and why is that?
We may wish to discern who God is calling us to be in our community, wherever we are. And see the Christ in each other, yes see Jesus in whomever we are with, and we, as the guest in that conversation, allow God to take the lead. It is more than what we do, how we do things, because our character is key: in the divine way rather than the human way.
This isn’t going to be easy. The disciples only really realised who were the ‘greatest’ after the resurrection: it took all that Jesus did for the penny to drop for them. It doesn’t need to be like that for us. Which is it to be?’
It was very interesting to read