The time Jesus complemented a religious leader

 How many of you noticed that the Gospel reading for today 

            quoted from the Old Testament reading for today?

Checking to see how many of you are listening to the lessons.

            During the liturgy this is where we are in the discipleship school.

 

The part repeated is the Shema – the Summary of the Law:

Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. 

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, 

and with all your soul, and with all your might.

 

A version of this appears in all three of the Synoptic Gospels,

                        Matthew, Mark and Luke,

                                    along with the 2^nd Commandment:

                                    “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,”

and in John’s Gospel we hear echoes in the New Commandment

                                    that Jesus gave his disciples:

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another.”

 

Mark’s version of Jesus giving the Summary of the Law 

                        that we just heard in the Gospel reading

            presents a different view of Jesus in conversation with the religious leaders.

In all those passages with the Sadduces, the priests of the temple,

            or with the Pharisees, the good, upstanding, reliable examples

                                    of how to keep all the commandments,

            or with the scribes,

                         the Torah experts who know the Law like the back of their hands,

in all those conversations Jesus would usually end up

            pointing out their hypocrisy or spiritual blindness or hardness of heart.

Jesus would poke them – frequently – to see if they got it

            about what the Gospel, the Good News that Jesus was bringing

                        what it was really all about.

 

But here in Mark’s Gospel something different is going on.

 

In this case Jesus actually complements the scribe, the Torah expert:

            When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, 

            “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

 

But what was he complementing the scribe about?

This religious leader first had said 

            what all the religious hierarchy would have already known.

The Shema 

Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. 

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, 

and with all your soul, and with all your might.

And the second commandment:

            You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

The Torah expert acknowledges that this love was to be a total engagement love,

            “to love with all the heart, 

            and with all the understanding, and with all the strength.”

 

            And then the Torah expert goes one step further when he adds:

“This is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 

 

“This is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 

 

This religious leader just reduced all the Temple worship and rituals            

            to a footnote.

The whole enterprise of the priests at the Temple 

            and all the Levitical commandments about what was to be sacrificed

                        and when it was to be sacrificed and how it was to be sacrificed

were in that instance reduced in value to zero 

                                                without that Love for God and neighbor.

 

And Jesus said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

 

There is some self reflection for us here at Nativity.

 

It behoves us to do some self reflection 

            as the Vestry prepares to interview someone 

                                                                        who will become the next priest here.

 

What are our religious traditions, rituals, customs

            that we are so invested in?

How do these hold up in contrast to those two greatest of commandments?

 

Are we in any way like the religious leaders of Jesus’ day?

How are we NOT like them?

 

If Jesus were talking to us today,

            what would he say to us?

            How would he challenge us?

 

How might he poke us to see if we get it 

            about what the Gospel, the Good News, is really about?

 

I’m posing these question for you to ponder.

            I won’t answer these questions for you.

            This is really the spiritual work each of you must do on your own.

 

And then, can we make a connection 

            between being close to the Kingdom of God,

            and the connection with Jesus?

            and what is more important that all the burnt offerings?

 

What is “more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices?”

 

            They will pass away 

                        and they did 

                                    in 67 AD after the Temple was destroyed.

 

 

Jesus replaced all that system of blood sacrifices

                        once and for all.

 

 

We have had a series of readings from he Epistle to the Hebrews 

            during the last few weeks.

 

The theme of these lessons from Hebrews 

                                                            comes through in today’s selection:

 

“When Christ came as a high priest of the good things that have come, … he entered once for all into the Holy Place, 

not with the blood of goats and calves, 

but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. 

For if the blood of goats and bulls, … 

sanctifies those who have been defiled so that their flesh is purified, 

how much more will the blood of Christ, 

who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, 

purify our conscience from dead works to worship the living God!”

 

Can you get into that 1^st Century mindset?  This not how we usually think.

            But at the time of Jesus with the Temple in Jerusalem, this was big.

 

And we need also to look at 

            what happened with that one, pure sacrifice freely offered?

Surprise!  God showed that blood and death through sacrifices 

            was not what this was all about

                        because God raised Jesus from the dead.

Resurrection nullified blood sacrifice.              Can you see that?

            The 1^st Century mind would be blown away by this.

 

So let’s consider this coming from a different angle:

            from a different Epistle:  Ephesians, Chapter 2:

“You were dead through the trespasses and sins 

² in which you once lived, following the course of this world, …

³ All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, …

and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. 

⁴ But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us 

⁵ even when we were dead through our trespasses, 

made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved.”

 

Through his death that became resurrection,

            Jesus changed the whole religious enterprise;

                        he brought about the huge Reversal.

 

That one, pure sacrifice, freely offered,

            brought life and mercy and grace  and liberation,

so that we could experience for ourselves

                        the great Love of God

            that, indeed, enables us to love God

                        with as much of our heart, mind, strength and understanding

                        as we know at the moment.

And then by God’s grace we may actually begin 

            to truly love our neighbors as ourselves,

                                                every last one of them.

Panhandling and Jesus

When I lived in Seattle I would frequently notice people standing 

at intersections and freeway on and off ramps panhandling.

Usually they would have a crudely made sign written on a piece of cardboard 

saying something like “need work, can you help?” 

            or “will work for food”

            or “Veteran, anything helps, God bless you.”

Once I saw a particularly creative one:

            “Sometimes you just need a little extra help.”

 

Common sense warns against giving money 

because your charity might end up paying for alcohol or drugs, 

although there is no way we can tell what the truth of their situation is 

during a brief encounter that ends the moment the light turns green.

 

It’s a no-win situation for you in the safety and privilege of your car 

or for the beggar by the side of the road.

Nothing’s changed in thousands of years.

 

Bartimaeus was strategically positioned by the road 

at a main intersection for maximum exposure, 

living day to day, 

hand to mouth, 

managing to get by for who knows how long.

 

A large crowd comes by; 

hope rises for pocket change to come his way.

 

Then he hears who it is that has attracted such a large crowd around him 

– Jesus.

Suddenly new possibilities arise in his mind, 

possibilities beyond simply a generous handout.

But how to get his attention in that large crowd…

He starts shouting, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me”

using the royal title for the Messiah.

Hey, King Jesus, Your Majesty, cast a little of your favor in my direction.

 

Have you ever had a panhandler 

call attention to your prosperity with a compliment 

and use that to guilt you into an embarrassed response?

 

People around him apparently thought 

that what Bartimaeus was shouting to Jesus was a little much, 

since they tried to hush him up.

But he had nothing to lose and this was getting some attention.

 

But now the whole course of the story changes for Bartimaeus.

 

Jesus calls him.

Jesus calls him to come to him

-       just like he called Peter and Andrew, James and John

-       just like he called Matthew, the tax collector

 

And something seems to happen in Bartimaeus, 

something instantaneous and powerful, 

powerful enough so that he leaps to his feet 

throwing off the cloak that they say was used 

to spread out in front of the blind person 

to catch the coins people would toss 

which his groping fingers might not find.

Apparently Bartimaeus is no longer thinking about alms.

 

He is responding to a call.

 

“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus says.

These are words of a servant,

what Jesus said to James and John in last week’s Gospel

                        as they aspired to places of honor, thrones

and it is what Jesus now says to a beggar by the road.

Bartimaeus had given him a royal title, 

and Jesus had responded as a Servant.

 

And notice, there is no judgment from Jesus 

about the appropriateness of what Bartimaeus was saying 

or how he was saying it, 

Jesus was simply being available to serve.

And the blind man said to him, “My teacher, let me see again.”

 

“My teacher” – 

Bartimaeus, still blind at this point, is already responding as a disciple.

He understands, maybe like he never understood before, 

his necessity for sight.

He is coming into awareness.

 

Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.”

                        “Your faith has healed you.”

            That same word “healed” in Greek also means “saved.”

 

By the time Bartimaeus gets to Jesus something is happening in him: faith, 

faith strong enough to restore his sight.

This faith is a gift from the Teacher, from the One who called him.

When this kind of gift comes, 

faith that goes beyond whatever we might call our own faith or belief, 

then it’s no longer a matter of 

right attitude or right motivation or right thinking, 

but surrender, 

surrendering in trust, 

surrender of self that becomes possible 

when we are in the Presence of Love.  

In that kind of assurance of Love the heart opens and the incredible happens.

 

Immediately Bartimaeus regained his sight and followed Jesus on the way.

So now you can see that this is a story about being called into discipleship.

 

This story shows us the pattern of discipleship, 

            of being called, 

of responding, 

of leaving behind that which had been your identity, 

like Bartimaeus leaving behind his cloak, 

of surrendering in trust to the Teacher, 

of having your sight opened up, awareness expanded, 

and of following Jesus in the Way.

It’s all there – for you, me and the beggar.

 

It’s all about a huge abundance of Jesus’ love, mercy and compassion 

overflowing to everyone, including roadside panhandlers.

 

There’s not much difference between us and the beggars.

They’re more aware of their need than we are of our own need.

So as a result they are more likely to be open to Jesus 

when he shows up and walks by.

 

If we could just see some of our poverty of spirit, 

we might be in a better place spiritually 

for being open to miracles happening.

 

You can look at what your own needs might be.

But how about looking at our needs as the Nativity faith community?

 

That’s not hard!

Here we are in the midst of a time of transition, 

not just for the parish in terms of clergy leadership, 

but in the course of the last two years, 

            dealing with conflict in the parish 

            while also stumbling our way through a pandemic.

 

But it is the differences within this congregation 

                        which had been seen as a problem, 

the differences can also be seen as something to affirm as a potential strength, 

as a characteristic of our faith community

that can guide and inform a sense of vision and mission for the parish.

 

Differences can truly be a strength.

Differences are good 

because these bring a richness of faith and experience to the community, 

and diversity opens possibilities.

 

The measure of true diversity is the ability to work and live together.  

This is beyond simply acknowledging differences.

The presence of diverging differences within a congregation requires 

that we are continually aware of these differences,

and that each of us is continually vigilant 

in seeking to learn about each other 

and to withhold judgment 

and to walk in the other one’s shoes as far as it is possible.

 

We all need to be careful about spiritual blindness, lack of awareness.

Let us be willing to recognize and acknowledge 

            our need for healing from blindness we might not even perceive. 

 

Blindness keeps us from seeing in the moment God’s vision and mission.

 

If we think we have everything figured out, 

we could be in danger of blindness.

 

Disciples are always in the process of learning, 

always engaged in continued education.

 

So as disciples of Jesus, 

let us all bring to Jesus our blindness, 

what we know of our narrow range of vision, 

and what we are ignorant of in ourselves, 

coming for healing, 

seeing new possibilities for mission and ministry

                                    right here, available for us.

 

You don’t have to settle with survival as a congregation.

Jesus can generate the faith in you 

            as he did in Bartimaeus.

 

Let us receive and act on the gift of faith, 

    and follow Jesus in the Way. 

Salvation

The main reason any of us is here on a Sunday morning 

is because of Jesus.

 

Isn’t that so?

Those of us who have been hanging around church for sometime, 

do we not recognize that when we look at Jesus 

–      as he is reflected in scripture and, hopefully, in each other – 

that we are being shown something profound about the nature of God?

 

The more direct our experience of Jesus, 

the more a huge scope of horizon opens up for us 

about the awesomeness and wonder of God,                                                and about the vast comprehensiveness of our very salvation.

 

Jesus is the one who opens the windows of our hearts and minds 

to this hugeness of encounter with God.

This happens in our experiences of grace and mercy 

surprising us in our lives at our times of greatest need

            and when we least expect to see the Divine Presence.

This happens as we encounter the stories of Jesus in the Gospels 

where we see many different ways in which 

Jesus didn’t just open a window or door.  

He blew them off their hinges, so to speak.

 

So often in the Gospel stories it says the people were amazed.

Mild translation.

Literally their minds were blown away.

They were struck out of their senses.

 

Jesus was always saying things and doing things 

to turn everything around,

to jolt us out of the usual perspective,

because our usual perspective is commonly heavily influenced 

by the culture around us and by our unconscious assumptions. 

So it often takes a shock to bring us out of illusion and around to reality.

 

The Gospel story for today is a beautiful example of this, 

and as such is a tremendous open window 

into the nature of grace and mercy and God’s love and salvation.

 

And you might have thought that this reading was about stewardship!

 

We could be crass about the gospel for today

            and say that whereas Jesus asked for everything from the rich man

the Church only asks for a tithe, 10%,

            so you’re being offered a good deal.

 

Then we can all sit back and go, “Whew, we’re off the hook.

            We don’t have to take seriously what Jesus said to this person;

                        it doesn’t have parallel implications for us.

            I’m not getting hit with a challenge 

about giving away my whole paycheck and all my possessions."

 

However, I say to you,

            if this Gospel provokes within you 

some reflection about your relationship with material resources, 

fine, that’s a very good thing to look at for our spiritual well being.

 

But the passage has more to do 

with the disciples who witness this exchange 

between the rich man and Jesus, 

and about salvation, 

than it does about tithing or pledging or charitable giving.

 

The challenge Jesus gives to this man who desired to follow him

            goes to the heart of this person's issues of life and faith,

and it gives Jesus the opportunity 

to use this with his disciples as an important teaching 

which is in direct contradiction to their accustomed beliefs.

 

The accustomed way of thinking about the relationship 

between material prosperity and enjoying God's favor 

is blown away,

and the disciples are brought into a different space of awareness 

that is vast, 

overwhelmingly comprehensive, 

and revelatory of God.

 

Now, there's a bit of background that would be helpful to know 

regarding that time and culture

that has stretched on through the centuries.

From OT times having many possessions, being materially prosperous

            was considered to be a sign of God's favor.

 

Certainly we say that we, for example, 

            are blest to live in this country with a higher standard of living

                                    than most of the rest of the world, 

and when we have jobs providing a steady income, 

we consider that a blessing,

and when we are able to afford taking a vacation, 

or buying a car, or remodeling the kitchen, 

we consider that a blessing as well,

            knowing that it is not always the case that we can get along so well.

 

This kind of thought is ancient and universal.

 

Sometimes it gets expanded into a whole theological doctrine,

            such as the "Protestant work ethic"

            in which hard work that pays off in material prosperity

                        is seen as an indication that you are under God's grace.

 

God has prospered the work of your hands,

            and, therefore, this is a clear sign of God’s favor –

                        a sign that you are saved, a sign of salvation.

The dark side of this comes to be seen 

in blaming the poor for their own condition.

 

Just look at the book of Job for a prime example of this sort of thinking

            that leads Job’s 3 friends to question what Job did wrong 

                        to bring on himself such disaster and suffering.

If you are blest by God, your life circumstances will reflect that, they say.

 

But Jesus blows that away.

 

The rich man runs up to Jesus 

just as he and the disciples are on the way out of town.

And he asks,

            "What is it I may do in order to inherit eternal life?"

 

He has been a good, religious person,

and this is evident because he has prospered and gained many possessions.

 

But he wants more.

Maybe the physical evidence of wealth 

isn't necessarily giving him assurance about salvation.

            Maybe he thinks that if he could do something more 

than observance of all the commandments 

his blessings would be even greater.

            Maybe he intuits that material prosperity does not satisfy

his spiritual hunger.

 

But Jesus, looking at him through and through, has deep love for him,

and so he speaks words to him to cut through 

all motives and assumptions of blessing 

to what it is that will open him to the realization of salvation.

 

Go, get rid of all that evidence of God's supposed favor and blessing.

Give it all to the poor, to those whose lives seem to indicate 

that they have fallen short of the divinely blessed religious path.

 

And then come be in discipleship with Jesus,

 

Come be reduced to the same status as the disciples

                        who likewise had turned their backs on their whole way of life 

                        and families and possessions,

in order to be near Jesus, follow him around, 

and take in his compassion and teaching.

 

But – how hard it is for someone with many possessions 

to enter the Kingdom of God.

 

The disciples were amazed, blown away by this

because Jesus just wrote off 

the whole popular, commonly-held belief system.

 

And he confounds them further:

"It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle,

            than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God."

 

You can't buy your way into the Kingdom of God.

You can't live your life 

in such complete compliance with all the commandments even

to assure entrance.

And you can’t look at “success” in your life/“having it made”

            as equated with being saved.

 

If the rich, those who supposedly had God's favor, 

can't get into the Kingdom of God,

            then what chance had anyone else?

And so in all astonishment they ask, "Who then can be saved?"

 

And Jesus tells them the Great Reversal:

"It's humanly impossible,

but not with God.

            For all things are possible with God."

 

So those first in evidence of apparent divine blessing,

those first in effort at keeping all the commandments,

even those who look successful in the world

                                                                                    will ironically be last.

And those last, those who have no illusions about saving themselves,

            those who know their utter dependence on God,

                        such as those whose lives are broken and impoverished,

they will be the first ones in through the door – 

through the eye of the needle -  

into the Kingdom of God, into state of salvation.

            

Salvation is utterly available to us 

the minute we give up our own efforts, 

our own self improvement programs,

because, and think about it,

            we can’t improve on what has already been provided.

 

Salvation is vast, expansive,

            a freedom of the Spirit no matter what the physical condition.

Salvation is overwhelmingly comprehensive, 

            the way we are meant to be,            what we were created for.

 

So perhaps we may see that this gospel lesson for today,

            while it may provide some prodding of consciousness about stewardship,

is actually about the basic life issue of salvation

            and a call to discipleship

                        so that we might realize this salvation.

 

Go, get rid of all that evidence of God’s supposed favor and blessing,

and then come, be in discipleship with Jesus,

            the one who blows opens the windows of our hearts and minds

                        to the hugeness of God and mercy and grace and salvation,

come be in discipleship with Jesus,

            and the whole Kingdom of Heaven is yours.