Proper 21 Yr B, by Deacon Marty Garwood

Lord, open our lips.
And our mouth shall proclaim your praise.

So the journey to Jerusalem continues.  We have seen amazing things as we have traveled this road with Jesus.

Yet we continue to miss the point.  Jesus has asked us hard questions.  Jesus asked us “Who do you say that I am?”.  Jesus has tried to tell us what to expect in the days to come but the idea that He will be killed and then rise again is impossible for us to understand – to wrap our minds around.  And we are afraid to ask how that can even be possible.

We argue about which one of us is the best disciple ever.  And somehow Jesus knows that is what we were talking about.  So He tells us that whichever one of us wants to be first must really be the last of all and servant of all.  What in the world does He mean by that?  And to top it off, he holds up an inconsequential child as an example of how we should welcome others – others that are really Jesus and the one who sent him.

And when we see someone outside of our close-knit group casting out demons – and daring to do it in our teacher’s name – we expect Jesus to stop him.  But no.  Instead of understanding our point that if that person is not with us – he is against us, Jesus turns it around on us and says that whoever is not against us is for us.  That simply is not the way it is done.  Doesn’t Jesus care about his honor – our honor?

I have deliberately used the present tense in recapping the Gospel readings for the past few weeks.  Although the Gospel of Mark was compiled nearly 2,000 years ago, it sounds strangely like today.

The Christian community today still argues about which is the best form of discipleship.  The concept of putting ourselves last is still counter-cultural.  That is not what society holds up as the standard for success.  

And even today we Christians can have a tendency to want to keep “our” Jesus tucked into a nice safe box of our own creating.  We take pride in our methodology and may have little tolerance for other theologies and forms of worship.

If they are not with us – then they must be wrong.

They must be wrong – they are too liberal –.

They are too conservative – they must be wrong.

They are too literal.  They don’t take Scripture literally enough.

They welcome in just anyone – even the sinner.

They exclude people – even the sinner whom God loves.

How can our God be their God?

Even we Episcopalians can fall into a way of thinking that pits us against them.  We have a little slogan that goes something like “The Episcopal Church Welcomes You & You Don’t Have to Check Your Brain at the Door”.  Yes, it is meant as an invitation  with a touch of humor and probably has served as an attraction for some.  But we need to guard against using it as a form of arrogance or elitism.

We Christians need to be constantly reminded that God does not belong to us.  We belong to God who loves each of us intimately and infinitely.   We belong wholly – as in completely – to God.  And we belong holy – as in sacred – to God.   We can not contain God into a box of our making – even a box that we call a denomination  - a box which has been created by human minds.  God is greater by far than the sum of all Christian denominations and world religions.

The human trait to contain and to claim apparently runs deep in our DNA.  The disciples – in their humanity – were threatened by the actions of someone outside of their community.

Peter and Paul – in their humanity – struggled with the question of how to claim the gentile converts.   They were of differing opinions on whether or not it was necessary for those Gentiles to be circumcised and to bear that mark of conversion to the Jewish faith in order to follow the teachings of Jesus.

We – in our humanity – often struggle with the difference between tolerance and respect.  Sometimes our tolerance may even teeter on the brink of intolerance.  But respecting the differences often comes with difficulty.  We may find it incomprehensible that other denominations or faiths are indeed doing God’s work when it may look so different than how we have been called to live out God’s mission.

God’s work is God’s work.  God’s people are called by God and God’s ways are infinite.  We have all been given gifts and strengths to carry out that mission in the world.  God’s action in the world is not limited to only those practices with which we are familiar.  Jesus continually taught that if we are inflexible in our thoughts, our deeds, or our worship, we are missing out on the fullness of God’s kingdom.

My gifts are not your gifts.  Your strengths are not my strengths.  Our ways are not their ways.  Their practice is not our practice.  Does that make any one less than the other?  No it does not.  It bears witness to the infinite vastness of God’s creation.   The thing that runs deep and true through every one of us is the love that God has for us.  Love does indeed win.

In the last two petitions of our Baptismal covenant we are asked if we will seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbor as ourselves.  And we are asked if we will strive for justice and peace among all persons and if we will respect the dignity of every human being.   Seeking and serving Christ, striving for justice and peace, and respecting EVERYONE’s dignity – and yet not one word about intolerance or even merely tolerating the different.  It is certainly a good thing that we acknowledge that we can do none of those things without God’s help.   It is because of God’s help – because of God’s love – that we can rise above the notion that if they are not with us – they are against us.  With God’s love illuminating who we are and whose we are – we can be open to the sacred knowledge that if they are doing work in the name of God – they are part of who we are – and yes – we are part of who they are.

We can heal the divisions which are caused by the mind-set of us vs. them.  We are all beloved children of God struggling within the limited knowledge of our humanity to live the lives God calls us to.   There should be no we or they.  There should only be peace among us as we work together bringing the love of God to the world.

Like those disciples of so long ago, we continue to follow Jesus – even when we don’t get it right.   We continue to make mistakes.  There are times that we simply aren’t sure what we are doing. And we do get it right on occasion.    But we know that Love wins and we know that God has faith in us even in those times we aren’t sure of our own faith.

Because we keep stumbling along trying to live into the image of God that we are meant to be, we become seasoned veterans in this life of discipleship.  The concept of seasoning or salting is two-fold.  If something is well-seasoned, it will last longer.  For instance, a cast iron fry pan which has been well seasoned with oil and heat will cook more evenly and won’t rust as easily.  In the days before modern refrigeration or artificial preservatives, a heavily salted barrel of meat or fish would still be edible months later.  

As seasoned disciples, we become stronger and wiser in how we are to share this journey with other disciples.  We become aware of how limitless is the variety of ways in which disciples accomplish the work of God.  We are meant to be preserved by God’s love in living this life which we have been called to.

The other aspect of seasoning – of salting - is creating flavor – that burst on your tongue that makes you want to take another taste and then another taste and then another.   I believe that as well seasoned disciples we are meant to be that burst of flavor in a bland and tasteless world.

Last weekend on the public radio program called “The Splendid Table”, I heard an interview with a woman who is in her nineties and still owns and manages a restaurant in New Orleans.  As I thought about this homily, one of the things she said kept coming to mind.  She talked about the difference in people who merely exist rather than really living.

As disciples of an incredibly loving God, how can we merely exist?  We have been salted with Jesus.  As disciples we should be fully alive in Christ.  We are called to truly live in the full flavor of God – in that mix of salt and yeast of the bread – in the pungent full bodied flavor of the wine – the bread of life and the cup of salvation!

When we live our lives in Christ with enthusiasm and zest it is apparent to the world that there is something different about us – something delicious if you will.  Because we have been salted with love, our lives have been consecrated and transformed.  Others will see that we are full of flavor and they will want to come for a taste of what it is that we have.   They too will then be consecrated and transformed.  By truly living, rather than merely existing, we are symbols of that Splendid Table that is our promise of life in Christ.

My beloved brothers and sisters, if we are to have salt in ourselves as the Gospel tells us, then we may on occasion need to remind ourselves of the incomparable words of Emeril Legasse.

BAM – kick it up a notch.

Amen.