In the 1991 movie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves that starred Kevin Costner the opening scene shows a dungeon and men changed in various ways to the walls. The camera eventually moves to a close up of Costner and his co-star who is about to be taken to have his hand chopped off because he stole. Costner’s character strikes a bargain and it is his hand that is placed upon the block of wood.
From the Gospel reading this morning we hear what sounds like Jesus advocating for the “cutting off” of body parts should they cause us to ‘stumble’. In other words when we give in to the temptations placed before us each day and not take the time to think through, offer prayer, reflect or simply pause and breathe before we make a decision then the question we need to ask; “are we involving God in our lives or are we operating from a place of thinking only of self.”
Originally this scripture reading was probably separate texts as we look at one set of verses that addresses competition against those who cast out demons in Jesus’ name but who do not visibly follow Jesus like the disciples in contrast to the second set of verses that focus on not harming the little ones and the problem of sin. What both sets of verses have in common, however, are their emphases on spiritual discipline. In each set of verses Jesus warns the disciples against thinking in ways that are adversarial to God’s ministry and goal. The disciples are competitive and easily distracted. They vie for Jesus’ attention and God’s favor, failing to focus on ministry and service. Instead of focusing on being servants of one another and others, they try to set themselves apart from others. Sometimes they compete to be teachers pet with Jesus, but Jesus has no interest in that. The purpose of his ministry is not to favor one disciple over another, greatest over the least, or any one human being over and against the other.
"A great deal of good can be done by people who realize they are not perfect, that their motives may not be completely pure, that their faith is not yet fully formed, but who submit their desires to Jesus Christ and put him in charge of their lives." The disciples rather like thinking of themselves as the “in-crowd”, as those closest to Jesus, greater than those they consider outsiders and as better than others (9:8). Jesus patiently corrects such attitudes and misconceptions, instructing them to stop what they have been doing and leave perceived outsiders alone. He also explains why they should stop telling so-called outsiders not to pray in Jesus’ name, informing them that “no one” who casts out demons in Jesus’ name “will be able to speak evil of Jesus’ name soon after” doing so.
Jesus made it clear that he along with his disciples were not a little clique, working in a corner of life, fenced off from others. His world view, using the eyes of God, made him well aware that God’s actions are not limited to a select few, the in-crowd.
Marcus Borg writes the Christian life is about “being born again” or being transformed into a new way of being and living and the “Kingdom of God” [1] The Kin-g-dom of God is justice and peace and i ntolerance of the other is certainly an attitude that Jesus rejected in today’s gospel reading.
From our Hebrew text we should note that God never appears in the Hebrew version of the book of Esther, which is the form translated in most modern English versions. The Greek version of Esther, familiar from Catholic Bibles or from ecumenical versions which contain the Apocryphal "Additions to Esther," is a very different matter. In that version, God is frequently mentioned, and the main characters, especially Esther, are shown to be devout Jews who are never far from prayer.
Esther is probably not a historically accurate tale, rather it was written for inspiration, to give people spirit. Esther moves from being a powerless member of a powerless group, a woman in Jewish Persia, to a queen who has the power to save her people. She uses her intelligence and her beauty, her grit and her grace. She is clever. She is brave. She serves as a model for all who find themselves downtrodden, oppressed, in exile. She serves to inspire all those who need momentum, all those who need hope. There are times in each of our lives when we need to stand up for what we believe. When we view something as wrong it is the responsibility of Christians to make their opinions known. The best way for great causes to fail is for good people to do nothing. "Let someone else tackle that problem. What can one person do against the system?" We hear these responses from people who then list a whole host of excuses.
Throughout the pages of the Bible we find people who were willing to stand up for what they believed. These men and women saw that something considered as just was not right and they could no longer tolerate it. They felt they had no other choice than to take a stand. Oftentimes taking a stand places us in an unpopular light. When we take a stand we place ourselves at risk. We risk our reputation, our social standing, and occasionally even our economic well-being.
Do you know of someone like this? Someone who has stood up and taken a stand?
Erik Cramb wrote a story titled “Living Stones”: ‘I am a stone! Shouted Marta, this dumpy young woman from El Salvador , rolling up her sleeves, shaking with frustration and pointing her finger in accusation. ‘You [Europeans] must be intentional about working together with us [the poor of the third world]. You must get clear about what you are doing. Do you not know that the European Community is in an all our war against the poor? You are out to kill us! But as Christians we are on body, and if one part hurts the whole body hurts…I that not what the bible tells us?’
In the stunned, embarrassed silence she went on: ‘I need to shake the world to a new reality and if you are not expecting to shake the world, why are you here?’
‘While we are hungry, you go on diets. My mother is just a simple peasant woman. She does not understand the gringos. They use things to fatten up their cattle, then they eat the meat and get fat. Then they all go crazy for diets.
‘One day stones are going to speak…well, here is a stone talking to you … I am begging you really to listen to us, to read the signs. Unless you really listen to us you can’t talk yourselves to sleep.’
‘I am alive thanks to God and it is one of the tricks of God that I can still call you brothers and sisters. I am bringing you not the helplessness but the hopefulness of the struggling people. We don’t need help, we need brothers and sisters in the struggle to change the world.’ [2]
How is what you are doing an expression of how you want to be? Are you living into the teaching Jesus gave us?
Solving the problems that face our world will not be done in a quick burst of frantic action by any one person. But one person can effect change. Think of the pond, still and glassy looking, now pick up the perfect skipping stone and toss it out into the middle. Notice the ripples moving ever outward. One action can affect many.
Our Thrift shop in the basement of our church is another example, one person came up with the idea that it would be good to recycle gently used items and that others would benefit, those who have the excess and those in need. Our church made space for the people of Jasper to bring their used items to us. Now people from all faith traditions and walks of life come together to organize and display these items. In turn folks from all walks of life and faith traditions come into the basement of our church and purchase items at a reasonable price. As a way of paying forward our church sends off the excess that we accumulate thanks to the generosity of many to other places in our province, other stores who in turn do the same thing. One person’s idea, one person standing in solidarity with those who are so often considered the least of these can bring about change.
The story of today’s Hebrew text was one of standing with and the gospel is about the disciples’ attempt to draw a circle around Jesus and themselves – shutting out the one who was casting out demons in Jesus’ name. I leave you with a powerful poem by Edwin Markham titled “Outwitted. I feel it sums up for us the lessons we heard from our scriptures:
“He drew a circle that shut me out –
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But Love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle that took him in.”
[1] Borg, Marcus J. The Heart of Christianity. HarperCollins Publishers Inc. 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022. Page 126, chapter seven, “The Kingdom of God, the heart of Justice”.
[2] Paynter, Neil and Boothroyd, Helne. “Holy Ground”. Goose Publication, 4th Floor, Savoy House, 140 Sauchiehall St. Glasgoq G2 #DH, UK. Pages 399. Cramb, Erik. “Living Stones”, stories and readings. Page 348.