Putting on the crazy glasses

 Gate Pa – Feast of St. Francis

Readings:

Hebrew Scripture:     Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9: 20-22

Psalm:                         124

Epistle:                        James 5: 13-20

Gospel:                        Mark9: 38-50 

What I want to say:

WE are always being invited to have a much bigger understanding of what reign of God is all about

we are being invited to be like Francis

to pay attention to our thoughts, how we view people, creation, God

and how we live out this love affair with God

to let go of our preconceived notions of what it means to be God’s people

embrace much much bigger vision

What I want to happen:

allow ourselves and all people to be loved by God

The Sermon

1.      Introduction: strong women

last week heard passage from Proverbs seemed on face value to extol traditional roles for women, home maker

            Hannah Mollison understandably not so keen to read it

no getting away from fact that traditional roles important part of that reading

ð  I want to suggest much more than that

also extolled women to be strong,

ð  women described in this reading were not mousey submissive women

ran their households with imagination, and flair, and generosity

            I think can read it as invitation women to be more than traditionally were

ð  depends on glasses wearing as to how read it

ð  either read it – as champion of traditional roles

ð  or championing woman taking more significant roles in life household and communities. – more than submissive chattels

     Ø  this week had conversation with someone about missionary wives – seem  to me be great examples all that reading was about

     Ø  missionaries in their own right

     Ø  women who had significant ministries of their own with women lived among –

      stories only just being resurrected

      tellers of story focussed too much on men -> too traditional in understanding

      missed these other important stories

Ø  Story just heard

o   story Esther is another story of kind strong woman proverbs refers to

o   interesting book – not directly mention God once

story of young woman who uses all her cunning to save her people from plans of Haman – Xerxes prime minister

§  offended by Mordecai's lack of respect

§  plans have both Mordecai and all Jewish people executed

§  including new queen – Esther

§  uses all means at her disposal to remind Xerxes of Mordecai’s value, and to expose Haman’s evil plan

§  all which every risky given low place of women in that society

too often tempted read scripture as conservative moral voice seeks preserve status quo, or take us back to the good old days.

while at times that is true

much of it is this radical voice invites us take much bigger view of world and God’s desire for that world

including strong women

read it in this way we need to change our glasses

2.      Marks Gospel

Ø  as I said last week

I think that is what is going on in Marks gospel

Jesus presented in Marks Gospel just keeps pushing for a much bigger view of what reign of God entails, and what our role is in it as loyal and fruitful followers

    Ø  last week heard disciples being interrogated about their discussion on who greatest

ð  all about who is in and who is out and what is the pecking order?

this is fair, because their whole society revolved around those kinds of questions

as does ours – although rule of ours is less clear

Jesus talked about leaders being servants and then embraced a child and said

Whoever welcome/embraces one such as this welcome/embraces me, and whoever welcome/embraces me welcome/embraces not me but the one who sent me!

to which John replies

“Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.”

very interesting reply isn’t it

I am not sure he is getting what Jesus is trying to say here

            vision still too narrow

like those read proverbs reading as defending traditional role women

not hearing radical nature of what Jesus is on about

Jesus in Mark is really pushing disciples,

ð  Marks community,

ð   us,

      widen our vision,

      widen our understanding of what the reign of God is all about

      what our role in that is

    ð  trouble is, I suspect that we are mostly like John

      we think we understand.

      and if you think you understand then you probably don’t.

he goes on to talk about putting stumbling blocks in way these little ones-

            who are little ones?

children holding

                        “little people” spends time with

either

both

then get to really troubling stuff:

let’s try it in the Message:

   ⁴² "On the other hand, if you give one of these simple, childlike believers a hard time, bullying or taking advantage of their simple trust, you'll soon wish you hadn't. You'd be better off dropped in the middle of the lake with a millstone around your neck.

   ^43-45 "If your hand or your foot gets in God's way, chop it off and throw it away. You're better off maimed or lame and alive than the proud owner of two hands and two feet, godless in a furnace of eternal fire. ⁴⁷ And if your eye distracts you from God, pull it out and throw it away. ⁴⁸ You're better off one-eyed and alive than exercising your twenty-twenty vision from inside the fire of hell.

Ø  what is this all about – should we get out our knives?

Ø  truth is we are all sinners

ð  that’s point gospel – we are all sinners, we are all out!!!! no-one is in!

ð  But God welcomes us all in anyway

ð  we are all equally undeserving, and God still says “come on down”

ð  there is no in and out with God, and no pecking order.

              so what is all this about chopping off feet?

Ø  body parts symbolise various ways we interact with each other:

-          eyes – emotion laden thought – understanding, and intentions towards world live in

-          feet and hands- actions

-          mouth – communication – both listening and speaking

    ð  not about chopping off hands and feet and going blind

    ð  is about paying attention to how interact in world

            thoughts

            actions

    ð  being aware of how all that affects others

              do our thoughts and actions help others see the reign of God in this community?

              do our thoughts and actions help others know that they are loved, profoundly loved

              do our thoughts and actions help others know that they never need worry about if they are good enough, because they don’t need to be

o   they are already loved

in God’s eyes they, all of us are already “in”

held in Gods heart

if Thoughts and actions are not helpful to others, then we need to change them (chop them off)

3.      St. Francis

today remember St. Francis – probably speak more about him on 14^th

simple guy

simply sought live out gospel exactly as Jesus taught

no ifs and but

just gave away everything and followed crucified and risen one

knew greatest of all sinners

least God’s followers

he knew that held God’s love

knew if that was true for him then true for everyone met, including poorest and most despised

            thief

leper

            Muslim

            every creature

all creation

each of these became means by which God declared God’s love for him and all creation.

simple

he paid attention to thoughts, how viewed people, creation, God

he paid attention to how he lived out his love affair with God

so that everyone he met might know God’s love,

 and offer that love back to creation

Jesus invites us to do the same

pay attention to our thoughts and actions

to let go of our preconceived notions of what it means to be God’s people

embrace much much bigger vision

allow ourselves and all people to be loved by God