Psalm 1:1-6Galatians 6:1Mark 9:30-37
When Cadedra and I spoke earlier in the week I told her that not only was I really excited to hear what she had to share with us today, but I also didn’t want to be like the disciples arguing over who gets the spotlight. So, I’d like to start off by inviting Cadedra to come and share what God has placed upon her heart about her experiences through Wesley United Campus Ministries.
[Cadedra will speak about the importance of accountability in her faith journey and how the Wesley offers that.]
Thank you, Cadedra! I’m so glad that the Wesley is a place of shelter and encouragement for you. It’s so important that we have those people with whom we share faith that can lift us up in times of need or hold us accountable for things we may not even see.
That’s such an important part of being in a faith community, but it sure is a tough sell. “Come be a part of us, we’ll hold you accountable.” Yuk. Don’t we have enough of that in our lives? Aren’t there enough voices and forces trying to mold us into their image?
Yet, we have hope for something more. We offer hope in something more. We offer the hope of being loved for who you are and encouraged toward who you might become.
Mark’s gospel gives me a particular reason to hope, and we’re going to see it over the next few weeks. See, the thing is, the disciples in Mark’s telling of the Jesus story are kind of clueless. Even when they get it right, they don’t seem to know why, but Jesus is ever patient (if not at least a little exasperated).
What I want to lift up about these passages today, from this patiently exasperated Jesus, is the hope that we can find in the midst of criticism. In fact, Jesus’s response to the disciples reminds me of a conversation I had with my daughter a while back. I was trying to give her some constructive feedback on something, and she stopped me and said, “Dad, do you even know what constructive criticism is?”
I have to admit I was a little taken aback. I know that sometimes I can be overly critical of my children – as any parent can – but I thought I was doing OK. Turns out the deal was that she had just learned a technical form of constructive criticism in her theater class.
From that perspective, constructive criticism means that you say what you observed and how it went well. The idea is that most people know when they flub a line; you want them to know what worked and how to capitalize on that.
So, Jesus knew the disciples were posturing like football players who had just scored a touchdown, and he wanted to redirect the energy. He wanted to describe what could be and why it matters.
He took a child from the crowd and said, “Welcome a child in my name and you welcome God.” That doesn’t mean that he wants us to worship children and cater to their every whim. It means that worrying about personal greatness is a very adult thing to do, but not a very faithful thing to do.
Welcoming innocence and cultivating it within your own heart is a very faithful thing to do. Welcoming the voice of a friend that asks if you have thought through your choice, and even prayed about it, is a very faithful thing to do.
I do want to say one thing about personal responsibility, though. While Paul talks about the need to look out for each other, he also recognizes that we all make choices. When he says not to get caught up in each other’s sin, he means don’t get caught up in the kind of group think that leads to self-harm. He means that when someone is a jerk on social media, becoming a jerk in response is not helpful.
Our actions, at least according to the Psalm, must be a reflection of the stream that feeds our roots. If we truly want to be happy and to live well, then we must be like the tree planted by the river – nourished by the love of God.
If we can do that, if we can be that kind of community, then everyone can say with confidence, “I am a child of God.” Then each of us become like the one Jesus claimed, and in the same way our hands become the ones claiming others in Jesus’s name. Let’s do that. Let’s be that. Amen.
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