"The good news in this parable is ... that Jesus knows we will stumble and expects us to show up (in Heaven) lame and scarred by the inner struggle to be true to our loyalty to God as frail and faulty human beings."
Year B, Season of Pentecost
Proper 21, Ordinary Time 26
Sunday Between September 25 and October 1 Inclusive
17th Sunday After Pentecost 2009
Read the passage: The Message or The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).
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Today's lesson has enough wisdom for a month of Sundays. What can be read in 5 minutes may take a life-time to ponder and practice before we have been inwardly formed by the voice of the text this day.
As someone once said:
You can divide the world into two groups of people.
Those who believe you can divide the world into two group of people,
and those who don't.
Jesus' disciples belong to the first group; Jesus belongs to the second.
Has he not just said them (Verse 37):
Whoever welcomes a child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.
Yes, he has just said that.
But the disciples apparently did not hear what Jesus said. They did not hear Jesus say, "WHOEVER." (my emphasis.) Maybe they thought Jesus had said, "Whoever of you;" or, "Whoever of those who have been rigorously trained, supervised, certified and ordained;" or, "Whoever you happen to approve of;" or, ...
But Jesus draws the circle wider. His circle includes WHOEVER IN MY NAME.
Now here is what is tricky for those of us hearing this in the 21st Century. "In my name" does NOT mean simply a mechanical and literal speaking of Jesus' name. "In my name" means "aligned with / loyal to / bonded with Jesus' honour / status / mission and thereby also with the honour / status / mission of the One who sent him."
Jesus calls us to live in world that is NOT us-and-them. He calls us to live in a world that is us-and-those-who-are-not-us-but-are-also-aligned-with-God's-love-for-the-world. Discerning where in the world are those who are not-us-but-are-also-aligned-with-God's-love-for-the-world will provide a helpful and powerful check on our too human tendency toward self-righteousness and complacency. Let's practice this and report back next Sunday on whoever we have met who is not-us-but-are-also-aligned-with-God's-love-for-the-world.
Verses 42-48 also repeat something Jesus has just said (Verse 8:35):
For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake (or, in my name), and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.
Yes, he did just finish saying this. Bruce Malina (page 187, see footnote below) comments on verses 42-48:
These verses are a parable on recompense for moral behavior. Should one's previous activity (the hands and feet) or one's preferred way of thinking and judging (the eye) cause one to fail the tests of loyalty to God, one must put an end to such behavior. For it is better to endure the difficulties of ending them now, than to be requited with pain (in the life to come).
The punishment described in Verse 48 uses images drawn from Isaiah 66:24. It is crucial to remember that for Jesus, "punishment" is not God getting mad and beating up bad guys. It is simply the logical consequence of what has gone before. If you do bad things, bad things result. It's that simple.
Far be it for me to quibble with Malina, but if the verb tenses have been correctly translated into English, then this is a parable about PREVENTION not punishment: Stop doing whatever is causing you to stumble. And given that hands, feet, and eyes are a way of speaking about the whole self, the parable implies that there is no avoiding the need for such discipline. We will experience something that will cause us to stumble.
It is also important to note that this parable is a parable - it is not meant to be taken literally. But even as a metaphor there more shock in it than the gruesome images, because anyone who was missing a foot, hand or eye would not be allowed in the Temple. So Jesus is saying that it far more important to be loyal to God than it is to be able to observe religious practices.
And even though it is a distinctly modern interpretation, I think the parable can also be heard as teaching:
Don't pretend everything is perfect by looking pure and whole on the outside when you're in trouble inside. It is better to make your troubles known and get help to stop them now than to lead a seemingly perfect life only to later reap the hellish reward you have been hiding from.
The good news in this parable is not that Jesus expects us to show up in heaven completely intact, pure and unblemished. But rather that Jesus knows we will stumble and expects us to show up lame and scarred by the inner struggle to be true to our loyalty to God as frail and faulty human beings.
There is an important difference between purity and loyalty. This parable is a call to loyalty not purity.
Verses 49 and 50 are almost incomprehensible in themselves and are nonsensical conclusions to what has gone before. The great variety among different translations suggests that even the experts aren't sure what to make of these verses.
The only link seems to be the reference to "fire." And since that fire was a reference to the torment of hell, then perhaps a reasonable paraphrase might be:
Everyone is salted with inner torment. But don't let that overwhelm you; or cause you to lose your spirit. Be at peace.
David Ewart,
www.davidewart.ca
* Link to Amazon.com Bibliography for Bruce Malina, et. al., Social Science Commentary on ... The Synoptic Gospels; The Gospel of John; The Book of Acts; The Letters of Paul; The Book of Revelation; and others.
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