Grace to you and
peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. Amen
There’s something
about Jesus that challenges us and everyone who has heard him speak and teach
throughout the ages.
He is simply
different.
He doesn’t
conform to the ways of the world in which we live, and that makes us
uncomfortable.
It makes us
uncomfortable because not only doesn’t he do things the way the world expects,
he doesn’t do things the way WE expect.
Elisabeth Johnson
is an ELCA pastor and missionary serving in Cameroon and the writer of this
week’s commentary in the “Working Preacher”.
She writes:
“In this narrative, Jesus arrives
proclaiming that the reign of God has come near, calling for repentance,
healing diseases and disabilities, and forgiving sins. Throughout his ministry,
he associates with the last and the least in society -- Gentile women (Mark
7:24-30), bleeding women (Mark 5:24-34), lepers (Mark 1:40-45), raging
demoniacs (Mark 5:1-20), tax collectors and other notorious “sinners” (Mark
1:13-17). He even welcomes and makes time for little children, much to the
disciples’ consternation (Mark 10:13-16).”
“For all of this, he is condemned as an
outlaw and blasphemer by the religious authorities, who decide that he is too
dangerous and must be eliminated. Here it is important to emphasize that Jesus
does not die in order for God
to be gracious and to forgive sins. Jesus dies because he declares the forgiveness of sins. Jesus
dies because he
associates with the impure and the worst of sinners. Jesus dies because the religious
establishment cannot tolerate the radical grace of God that Jesus proclaims and
lives.”
“The radical grace of God that Jesus
proclaims and lives completely obliterates the world’s notions of greatness
based on status, wealth, achievement, etc. Perhaps that is one reason we resist
grace so much. It is much more appealing to be great on the world’s terms than
on Jesus’ terms. Greatness on Jesus’ terms means being humble, lowly, and
vulnerable as a child. Greatness on Jesus’ terms is risky; it can even get a
person killed. But as Jesus teaches repeatedly, his way of greatness is also
the path of life.”
In our day we don’t
spend much time worried about Gentile women, bleeding women, lepers, demoniacs,
tax collectors, and other notorious sinners, nor for that matter do we view
children in the way that they were viewed in Jesus day.
At that time,
they simply had no status and were of little account.
That Jesus would
put one such child before the disciples and instruct them that “Whoever
welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me
welcomes not me but the one who sent me” was simply unheard of.
Who are the last
and the least in our world?
That’s one of the
questions we need to ask, if we would understand the implications of Jesus’
teaching, and who Jesus is.
Who are the last
and the least in our world?
Race is one
issue.
“White privilege is the fact of people with
white skin having advantages in society that other people do not have.”
We don’t like to
admit that it is so, but minorities simply do not have the same status in our
society that white people have always enjoyed.
Some will argue
that point, citing things such as affirmative action, and suggest that there
are actually privileges afforded to those who are minorities.
But that our
culture has tried to correct a wrong does not mean the wrong doesn’t exist.
As for myself, I
have little experience with minority cultures.
I haven’t lived
in predominantly black or Hispanic communities.
But I have seen firsthand the plight of Native Americans in this
country.
Race simply is an
issue regarding status in this country, still.
Who are the last
and the least in our world?
Economic status
and vocations (or lack thereof) are major indicators of the value we place on
people.
Migrant workers.
Homeless people.
People on
welfare.
People who are
locked in minimum wage situations.
Blue collar as
opposed to white collar.
We simply do not ‘afford’
the poor much status, in spite of God’s own concern for the poor in the Bible.
Who are the last
and the least in our world?
Sexuality
matters.
It matters if you
are male or female.
It matters if you
are gay or straight.
It even matters
if you have been a victim of sexual abuse.
People who have come forward and spoken about having been abused or who have
sought justice, have routinely been devalued and dismissed.
The stigma in our
society associated with being a victim of abuse is so great that many will
refuse to acknowledge that they have been abused, and in fact may not even
recognize their abuse for decades. I
know, I am one such person.
Education
matters.
Geography matters.
Citizenship
matters.
It matters if you’ve
ever been convicted of a crime, especially a sexual crime.
The point is that
Jesus reached out to the outcast. Those
of little value. Those so often
overlooked, or even despised by the world.
And for that he
was rejected.
As Dr. Johnson
wrote:
“For all of this, he is condemned as an
outlaw and blasphemer by the religious authorities, who decide that he is too
dangerous and must be eliminated. Here it is important to emphasize that Jesus
does not die in order for God
to be gracious and to forgive sins. Jesus dies because he declares the forgiveness of sins.”
Why is it so
important for us to recognize this about Jesus?
The answer to
that question is simple.
If we do not understand
the favor Jesus has shown to the least of these, we cannot comprehend grace.
Here I’ll just
share a personal observation from my own experience.
There was a time
when my status was that of being a young, highly educated, successful, white,
married man with four children, and as such, an ideal pastoral candidate. With that as my public image I was a viable
candidate for almost any call in the church.
That status
changed.
I am now an
aging, bipolar person, a recovering alcoholic, and one who has faced many
different struggles in my life, including being a victim of abuse. When I share that I become vulnerable.
I become vulnerable
because the world as a whole does not value those experiences.
The opportunities
for me are now much more limited.
And it isn’t lost
on me how gracious you have been as a congregation to welcome and accept
me. Not every congregation would.
And you know
what?
Your acceptance
of me has taught me a lot about grace, and God’s acceptance and forgiveness of
me.
That’s what it
means to be witnesses to the Gospel.
It means to live
gracefully, condemning no one, and welcoming all.
That’s what Jesus
did.
But it remains a
struggle for us.
All of us, I think,
value some people over others, and see certain people as simply being beyond
the reach of grace, compassion, and understanding.
For me, the most
difficult people of all to accept and forgive are people who abuse others,
especially children—and this is because of my own experience of that.
I have had a
person, one in particular that I remember, who confessed to having sexually
abused a young child.
As a pastor I am
called to proclaim the forgiveness of sins.
To offer absolution for those who confess and seek God’s grace.
But this issue
more than any else leaves me wanting to condemn such people for all
eternity. They are to me a notorious
class of sinners. And for them, I have a
difficult time offering any word of forgiveness.
We state that our
purpose as a congregation is to welcome, love, and serve all in our local and
global community –
Well, for me, the
difficulty with that would arise if a pedophile showed up. Such a person is the lowest of low, in my
estimation.
And yet, grace
abounds.
It may be beyond
my capacity to forgive a pedophile but it is not beyond God’s grace.
Nor is it beyond
God’s grace to heal the wounds of one who has been abused.
Nor is it beyond
God’s grace to lift up all who have been put down.
Nor is it beyond
God’s grace to welcome the outcast, to value the worthless, and to forgive the
unforgivable.
We welcome
children, because in our day children are highly valued. They are not the “least of these”.
But there are
others that challenge our human standards.
I have tried over
the years to forgive the man who abused me, and perhaps with God’s help I have.
The thing about
recognizing that God can and will forgive, even him, is that it helps me to
appreciate all the more that God can and will forgive me.
Does he deserve
to be forgiven?
Probably not, but
grace is not about deserving.
Do I deserve to
be forgiven?
No, but I am.
That’s grace.
Amen
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