The Faith to be Changed

Charlotte Collins Reed
Christ Episcopal Church
September 20, 2015

20 Proper B

As I walked into a patient's room at the hospital last week, the hospital chaplain was asking her who had been the most influential person in her life.  The patient had a ready answer to that question, with stories to share and obvious gratitude for that person's impact on her life.  She and I continued the conversation after the chaplain left, and when the patients's daughter arrived, she added to the conversation as well.  A thoughtful question had provoked a wonderful conversation, in part because the chaplain was willing to ask a meaningful question and in part because the recipient of the question was willing to engage the question and explore the answer.

Jesus has been asking some good questions lately.  Last week, we heard Jesus ask his disciples "Who do people say that I am?"  The disciples were plenty willing to engage that question.  "John the Baptist, and others, Elijah, and still others, one of the prophets."  But then Jesus asked them "Who do you say that I am?" I imagine there was a deep and awkward silence before Peter said "You are the Messiah."  Jesus takes that conversation to the next level when he explains that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, be rejected and be killed, and on the third day rise again.  Peter was appalled at this thought, rebuked Jesus, and Jesus responded with "Get behind me Satan, for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."  Now Jesus is angry and Peter is embarrassed.  So much for a great conversation!

This morning, Jesus and the disciples are passing through Galilee, and Jesus is once again teaching the disciples that the Son of Man will be betrayed and killed, and after three days rise again.  This time the disciples decide not to engage the conversation, even though they do not have a clue what Jesus is talking about. But they do not ask Jesus to explain, because they are afraid.  No one wants to be called Satan!

Through out Mark's gospel, and the gospels in general for that matter, the opposite of faith is fear.  So when we are told that the disciples do not understand what Jesus is saying, but are afraid to ask, we can infer that they are lacking in faith.  When the disciples and Jesus arrive in Capernaum, Jesus asks another question. "What were you arguing about on the way?"  But the disciples were silent.  They don't want to answer Jesus' question because they had been arguing among themselves about who was the greatest.  If we needed proof that the disciples really, really did not understand Jesus' teaching about suffering, dying, and being raised again, now we know for sure.

I wonder why the disciples were afraid to ask Jesus to explain the teaching they did not understand.  Clearly, the were afraid of appearing stupid, making Jesus mad, and being called Satan as had happened to Peter.  I can't blame them one bit for that.  But I wonder if they were also afraid of the answer.  If they actually heard Jesus say "The Son of Man will be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed he will rise again," that might not be a conversation they wanted to have.  Do they really want to know what that means?  Maybe ignorance is bliss.  What would it mean to be followers of someone who is going to be betrayed and killed?  How would they be changed if they understood what Jesus was talking about?  The disciples are afraid, and their hearts are hardened, but not without reason.

Rather than getting angry with the disciples this time, Jesus tries to open up the conversation by showing them a more appropriate response to his teaching.  Jesus takes a little child in his arms and says to them "Whoever welcomes one such child in my name, welcomes me.  And whoever welcomes me, welcomes the one who sent me."  Children in the first century world had no status.  Children were liabilities, not assets.  Some 60% of all children did not reach their 16th birthday, so parents had lots of children in order for some to survive.  If an adult male needed an heir, he adopted another adult male to inherit his wealth. Children ranked below women and above slaves.  So, this is not about Jesus telling us we should cuddle babies, as much as I might like for that to be one of Jesus' commands.  Jesus is telling us that the appropriate response to his teaching about his suffering, death, and ultimate resurrection, is radical hospitality, especially to those on the margins of society.

Radical hospitality is a Biblical value.  The reading from Proverbs, when taken by itself, looks like a hopelessly outdated job description for an overworked and probably exhausted woman.  But the description of the capable wife mirrors the description of Wisdom personified in the second and third chapters of Proverbs, so this is probably not a description of a living, breathing human person.  What does Wisdom personified do?  Wisdom provides hospitality, not only to her family and friends, but to the poor and the needy.  Example after example is given in our reading this morning to show the depth of the hospitality Wisdom offers.  Our reading from James this morning describes a community that is capable of radical hospitality because that community is free from bitter envy and selfish ambition, not worrying about who among them is the greatest, but is peaceable, gentle, and willing to yield, all of which makes for a gracious host.

Jesus is teaching the disciples and us that the appropriate response to his betrayal, death, and resurrection is radical hospitality.  We can easily think, like Peter, that we know what Jesus means.  I wonder, however, what questions we are afraid to ask Jesus because we, like the disciples, either think we know the answer, or are afraid of the conversation.  What do we not ask Jesus because we are afraid?

The disciples did not question Jesus because they were afraid.  A community of radical hospitality, a community that, as the reading from James says, if full of people who have no bitter envy or selfish ambition, but are peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, is a community that is not afraid of the question or the answer, and has the faith to be changed by the conversation.
Amen.