Readings for Proper
20B:
Wisdom 1:16-2:22; James 3:16-4:6; Mark 9:30-37
September 21, 2003
The Rev. Karen Siegfriedt
St. Jude the Apostle Episcopal Church, Cupertino,
CA
Jesus said to his disciples: "Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all."
According to our Judeo-Christian tradition, wisdom is a gift from God. Godly wisdom resides within a person and is usually bestowed only upon those who are committed to a life of faithfulness. Those who are wise possess attitudes of compassion and justice and are able to discern God's will for humanity. Godly wisdom is often very different from cultural insights and current practices of a society. This is because godly wisdom sees the bigger picture and has no motives for profit, personal gain, or prestige. All of the passages that were read from the Bible today, are about wisdom. Let's take another look.
Our first reading is from the Book of Wisdom. (We rarely read from the Book of Wisdom during our Sunday services, so I suggest you may want to go home and read the whole Book. It is very interesting and has a lot to say about immortality, justice, and righteousness.) The Book of Wisdom has often been attributed to King Solomon. Although King Solomon was known to have chosen God's wisdom over fame and fortune, this Book was probably written some 900 years after his death.
In today's passage, the author describes a group of people who lack godly wisdom and who are engaged in secular human reasoning that has gone awry. Let me summarize their train of thought: Life is short and sorrowful. Everyone dies and no one comes back from the dead. Death is the end of the story. Thus, there is no real meaning in life, no greater purpose. The most reasonable thing to do under these circumstances is to eat, drink, and be merry. "The one with the most toys wins." So, strive for a life of extravagant pleasure, frenzied activities, and luxurious items. Attack and destroy anyone who challenges this hedonistic lifestyle. The author concludes that there is no hope in this kind of distorted, atheistic thinking. It is a life of despair. He ends by saying: "This is how they reasoned, but they were led astray, for their wickedness blinded them, and they did not know the secret purposes of God, nor hoped for the wages of holiness, nor discerned the prize for blameless souls." [Wisdom 2]
The second reading is from the Letter of James which speaks about envy, selfish ambitions, disorder, conflict, and disputes. James says that these destructive postures are caused by cravings within a person. These inner cravings originate from a self-centered wounded ego (i.e. the world). When these cravings get out of hand, a person tends to make choices that are hurtful and harmful in the long run. The advice that James offers his community is to seek the wisdom that is from God (i.e. from above). And how will people be able to discern the difference between godly wisdom and distorted human reasoning? James says: Godly wisdom is "pure, peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits."
Finally, in our gospel story, Jesus offers us a wisdom that has incredible implications for a peaceful and just society. He says that true greatness has nothing to do with success, intelligence, status, money, or talent. Rather, true greatness is about offering our lives (our time, talent, and treasure) in service to others- especially those on the margins. Let's take a closer look at Jesus' wisdom.
Jesus and his disciples are in Galilee, on their way to Jerusalem. He tells his disciples that his ministry is going to come to end; that he will be betrayed, killed, and then rise again. But his disciples can't grasp or refuse to grasp what he is saying. So instead of struggling with this difficult issue, they regress to a lower level of consciousness where they begin to brag about who is the greatest. This causes Jesus great consternation. After having taught and personally demonstrated that true discipleship is about a sacrificial lifestyle, the disciples don't seem to have a clue. Jesus then calls them together and says: "Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all." Jesus measures greatness by service to others. Servant ministry is at the core of Christian discipleship. But to measure greatness by lowly service is very alien to the values of today. We have been convinced by the media, that greatness means success, wealth, intelligence, and exceptional talent. This is certainly not godly wisdom! If we were to be truly honest, we know deep in our hearts, that great people are not those who use others and institutions to further their own wealth, prestige, and personal ambitions. Truly great people are those who use their personal gifts and talents to serve others.
Fortunately, we see glimpses of this selfless way of walking in the world- either in ourselves or in others. And when we do see these selfless acts of reaching out, we are encouraged and our hope is strengthened. The other day, I was reading about Voices from Ground Zero. After the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center, many people poured out a relentless love for one another in the midst of suffering and pain. Joseph Bradley, a crane operator, volunteered his talents for the recovery effort. His only motive was to try to save lives by removing debris and rescuing potential survivors of the attack. Sitting in his crane, he worked alongside of 25 firefighters with tanks and torches.
This is what he reported: "Everything went perfectly, but we were soaking wet, working in 18 inches of water straight through the night. All night long they blew the whistle believing that Liberty Plaza was coming down. That happened 4 or 5 times, and I thought to myself, Joe, you came here to die. I prayed for darkness because I couldn't handle what I was seeing. The first body was a lady in a business suit; middle-aged. It was remarkable. She wasn't even dirty. We laid her down on the stretcher and fixed her eyes and her lapels. I remember the firefighter on the back of the stretcher fell, but he lifted up his arms up over his head as he went down so the body wouldn't hit the ground.
After that, I was sitting on the curb with my head in my hands. It was the middle of the night. That's when the Salvation Army kids appeared in their sneakers with their pink hair and their belly buttons showing and bandannas tied around their faces. One was a little girl pushing a shopping cart full of eyewash through the muck. They came with water and cold towels and took my boots off and put dry socks on my feet. And we kept on going all night until morning. I've never seen so many people pull together. We thought we were going to rescue a survivor, but that was not to be.
After being relieved, we came out from the wreckage and saw a bunch more of those multi-colored hair kids with piercings and tattoos all over their bodies. As we walked by, they all started to cheer and that was it for me. I had never identified with those kind of people before, but I started crying and I cried for four blocks. There were so many people who came out to help with the wreckage and to help the helpers. Before this tragedy, I never knew anything about Episcopalians or Presbyterians, or gays, or people with nuts and bolts through their cheeks, or those Broadway people. But now I know them all. We (the rescuers) were not the heroes. They are the heroes. They have cried and prayed out loud for me. I never thought I would have a family like this one."
When Jesus defined greatness as "service to others" he laid down one the most profound truths for the salvation of humankind. Those who have ears, please listen and inwardly digest this godly wisdom.
| Updated 9/22/03 |
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