Bragging Rights and Power Trips

Have you ever read an autobiography of a famous person simply because it promises to deliver all kinds of dirty little secrets about other people?  Some of them almost delight in bragging about their crazy stunts and bizarre, outrageous behaviors.  They go from one scandal to the next.  You can read all about Prince Harry’s life and resentments of his family, the media, his school and anyone else in too much detail.  His oversharing has not been appreciated by royal watchers who have been watching him live in royal splendor since he was born.  There’s not a lot of sympathy for someone you’ve watched all their life who decides to tell you how rough life really is.

Maybe that’s why Jesus had such a tough reception in Nazareth. The hometown crowd was too cynical.  Here he was back again, after a long absence where he disappeared into the wilderness for a long while, and when he came back, he brought strangers, city folk, tax collectors and stinking fishermen, as his best buddies.  It was obvious he had gotten too big for his britches and needed to be taken down a peg. There are many tales of the young city slicker coming back home after an education and being snubbed for their highfaluting ways.

This was surprising to Jesus, and his efforts to heal people fell flat in front of people who could tell stories of when he was in diapers.  And they snidely insulted him, “Is this Mary’s son, coming here thinking he can impress us?” Calling Jesus “Mary’s son” instead of “Joseph’s son” hinted at him being illegitimate without directly coming out and insulting him to his face.  Being called a carpenter wasn’t much better. The Greek word used here for "carpenter" was a handyman that could be called on to do the typical tiny jobs around a household, replace the hinges, get the hair clog out of the sink drain, that kind of thing.  Not the kind of person who would carefully craft a beautiful piece of mahogany into a one-of-a-kind coffee table for a wealthy patron and post the time-lapse video on TicToc to drum up likes.  There’s a different Greek word for that kind of carpenter.

The fact that this story doesn’t show Jesus in a good light after building him up as doing amazing things, is one of those signposts that Jesus was a living, breathing human being, and that the disciples around him often were as confused by what he taught as we are.  The trip to Nazareth has all the hallmarks of a failed trip.  Not quite as bad as a disastrous political debate broadcast around the world, but close.  The astounding thing was that Jesus didn’t let it shake his confidence.  He didn’t come up with a new marketing plan, a better advertising campaign, a new strategic vision. Instead, he sent his disciples out to go and practice what he had shown them.  He gave them authority to care for the people they met on their travels.  That authority was not shaken by Nazareth.  It wasn’t disrupted.  Jesus just carried on and said to his followers to remember to focus on the loving and healing part of the message.

The message Jesus was sharing wasn’t to get him elected to take over the Roman Empire and free the Hebrew people from their oppressors. Or how he was hard done by his family growing up.  It was to proclaim that God was in their midst, bringing new hope and new healing to their broken culture.

Paul also was clear that his preaching was not about him either. He wasn’t trying to impress people with his superpowers as a great disciple.  He wasn’t bragging about his debating skills or his mental sharpness.  He was writing to remind them about the teachings Jesus shared.  The teachings of caring for one’s neighbors, of being a community of equals, of working together, of looking after people whom the culture regarded as worthless and unimportant.

Our world today still struggles with these teachings.  We like to focus on people who are glamorous and powerful.  We idolize characters like Ironman, set aside as special, showing off how important they are for the survival of the world.  They are the only ones who can stand between the average joe and the powers of corruption.  Paul rejected that kind of hero worship.  He would have been the last person to build a Crystal Palace kind of church and plunk himself in the middle of it and bask in the power and adoration he felt entitled to.  Instead, Paul chose humbleness and caring, just as Jesus had.

We too have choices. Do we talk about ourselves and how great we are, or do we talk about how God shows up in our lives despite our weaknesses and challenges?  When Christianity is at its best when it remembers to be a channel of God’s love.  When it’s at it’s worst, selling $60 bibles to promote a political party or inflicting the 10 commandments in every classroom, or controlling women’s bodies or setting up cult-like mega churches with charismatic personalities, it degrades the message that God loves us all.  We think that we can’t talk about our faith unless we are smooth and practiced like a great political debater, but Paul and Jesus remind us that we can share that God is stronger than our weaknesses, and shines through our imperfections.  When we focus on caring for our neighbors, reaching out to those who are seen as insignificant, when we volunteer on Canada Day to serve our community, we are, like the disciples, living into God’s plan in amazing and beautiful ways.  The disciples never thought that they would teach millions of people about Christ, Paul never thought his humble words of compassion would topple an empire and last for centuries.  We never know when our simple small acts of kindness might do the same.  May we be inspired as Paul and the 12 were, to live our lives bragging about God’s love for us all. Amen.

Handing off Power

 

Ever seen a politician working the crowd, shaking hands, trying to have that personal touch to win your vote? Or maybe a celebrity on a book tour when they know they only have a limited amount of time to be in that spot and want to meet as many of their fans as possible? 

I had the privilege of sitting down beside Douglas Cardinal, famous architect and recipient of the Order of Canada last week.  He loved having an audience to tell the story of how he wasn’t allowed to study architecture in Canada but had to go to a university in Texas instead.  The interesting thing is that his assistant was watching the time so he didn’t have to.  Important people usually have someone along who is watching the time, keeping them moving so they can get to their next appointment on their very packed schedule. 

Just like the disciples hustling Jesus to get to the house of Jairus in time to save the life of his daughter.  There wasn’t a moment to spare.  This was an important person, and the fact that he came humbly to fetch Jesus, had boosted Jesus’ importance in the eyes of the crowds surrounding him.  Jesus had hit the big time!

Welcome to one of the longest stories Mark wrote about Jesus.  Usually, Mark kept his writing simple, straightforward and a bit blunt.  But in this passage, Mark went into great detail.  He described the emotional state of Jairus as well as the woman desperate for healing, and the family members who had started the funeral rites for Jairus’ daughter. Mark quoted what the woman with the hemorrhage said to herself, and even quoted Jesus speaking in Aramaic!  This story made quite an impression on Mark.  

It highlights a contrast between the high-ranking, powerful religious authority and the nameless, poverty-stricken woman.  But there’s also the similarity between them, they both are looking for healing, the woman for herself, Jairus for his daughter.

Both the woman and the girl were considered unimportant in a patriarchal society.  Girls were only potential brides to carry on their future husband’s line, and often had no choice in whom they married. If they couldn’t produce babies, and a woman who was constantly bleeding would not be able to have a baby, they also would be seen as a burden on society.  The woman would be seen as untouchable by both her husband and the rest of society.  That meant solitary confinement, and if she was going to go out in public, she had to stay away from all men, not easy when living in a bustling town. She certainly would not be allowed in a synagogue, nor would she be allowed in the presence of a popular Rabbi or Jairus either, for that matter.  Yet she dared do the unthinkable, leave her house and sneak into the crowd, hoping she could figure out a way to get him to heal her on the sly.  It would not have been easy in the hustle to not get bumped or stepped on, and having the courage to work her way into the crowd to grab the hem of his robe would have taken some effort!

It’s fascinating to note that despite the urgency of Jesus getting to Jairus’ home, he stopped immediately to figure out what had happened.  The disciples, just like assistants to politicians, tried to get him moving, but he wasn’t going to budge.  His priority was not their priority.  He wanted to talk to the desperate person who reached down in the dust to touch his robe.  Much to her surprise, he did not condemn her, he commended her, admiring her faith.  Then and only then did he take off and heal Jairus’ daughter.

All well and good to have lofty priorities and to take time to really care for the people his culture thought were insignificant, but what would that look like here today in Canada?  Do we know anyone who lives or lived by those principles?

As a matter of fact, there was at least one person who we all know of.  He was the son of a United Church minister, grew up in the church, and spent his life caring about the people of Canada who were not necessarily wealthy or powerful.  He became a diplomat and an ambassador for Canada.  He worked for the United Nations in their early days, and his efforts to set up UN Peace Keepers to go to conflict zones netted him the first Nobel Prize Canada had ever been awarded, and it was for Peace.  He came home after being the president of the UN General Assembly, and entered politics.  Sometimes it went well, and he established the Canada Pension Plan; a universal Medicare system; a unified Armed Forces; and a new national flag which took 6 months of nasty arguing and debating before our current flag was accepted by both Conservatives and Liberals.  He also championed women’s rights, bilingualism, immigration, minimum wage and multiculturalism.  Four years after he resigned as the 14^th Prime Minister of Canada, his funeral was presided over by the United Church Moderator.  His friends and family called him Mike, but the world knew him as Lester B. Pearson, and The United Church knew him as a man who could be both conciliatory and dictatorial, but who did his best to live up to the values Jesus taught.

We don’t have to be politicians or famous architects to live out the values that Jesus taught.  Many of us will be volunteering on Canada Day, flipping pancakes, serving popcorn, pouring tea or coffee, riding in parades, and helping our neighbors find a good spot to see the fireworks.  There will be opportunities to make time for someone like the woman touching Jesus’ robe or the little girl.  May we notice when we bring Christ’s healing love to those we meet, through the strength of Jesus, the love of God and inspiration of the Spirit.  Amen