Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
September 20, 2009
The Gospel: Mark 9:30-37
Sermon: Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
The Rev. Dr. Vicki L. Smith, Rector
The Gospel: Jesus and his disciples went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, "The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again." But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.
Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, "What were you arguing about on the way?" But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, "Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all." Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, "Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me."Mark 9:30-37
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost Sunday - September 20, 2009
In his book The Great Divorce, CS Lewis brilliantly describes the contrast between heaven and hell. Hell is rainy, gloomy and dark. Nobody gets along with anyone else, ever; the sun never shines and people are never even contented, let alone happy. Heaven, on the other hand, is a place of green grass and trees, bright sun and beautiful flowers. People are caring and everyone feels loved and special. The unique feature of Lewis’ description of heaven and hell is that there’s a bus that runs between the two. Each day, if they choose, the residents of hell can get on the bus and move to heaven. Because it’s hell, most of them don’t choose to go, but the choice is always there. Heaven or hell, your choice. In his novel, Lewis offers us an intriguing picture not just of the afterlife, but of life with God and life apart from God, and that’s a choice that we make not only after we die, but here and now as well.
That’s exactly the choice that both Solomon and James are talking about this morning. They lay out for us the profound contrast between life with God, a life of righteousness and faith; and life apart from God- a life, as Solomon says, of envy and selfish ambition.
Solomon says, “The ungodly say to themselves, Short and sorrowful is our life, and there is no remedy when life comes to its end.” And James describes this life apart from God as full of envy and selfish ambition, marked by disorder and wickedness. I’m afraid that we don’t have to look far afield to see lives like that all around us. We are a nation that is angry and resentful; we envy others their accomplishments and covet their possessions. We feel entitled to be first and anything less is “disrespectful” of us. We compete all the time for small things like the best parking space or the shortest line at the grocery, and much bigger things like the best house, the hottest technology or the fanciest car; and if we cut someone else off, or push them aside, that’s ok, because we should be first. Competition is not bad, in and of itself, but when it is rooted in envy and selfish ambition, it leads, as James tells us, to disorder and wickedness. Sadly, that Biblical description of life willfully apart from God is a description of the lives that all too many of us lead today.
Contrast that with the life of righteousness, the life offered us by our God. God offers us the opportunity to embrace, as James says, “the wisdom from above” that brings us lives that are pure, peaceable, and gentle; lives that are full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. What an incredible contrast to the life apart from God! What a wonderful life we can have, if we choose.
In our hearts, we know that the peace we seek will not be found in earthly accomplishments. We know it won’t be found in getting everything we want or always being first in line. We know that selfishness will never make us truly happy and envy just eats at our hearts. We know that the ungodly are right, such a life is sorrowful, empty, flat and colorless.
We also know, though, that our lives don’t have to be that way. We do not need to live our lives apart from God. James tells us that if we draw near to God, God will draw near to us. The simple willingness to draw near God will bring us a life of righteousness, a life marked by the gifts of the spirit, by mercy, love and faithfulness. Our lives need not be empty, flat and colorless—they can be rich, vibrant and joyful, if we but choose to receive God’s gift of life in Him.
It reminds me a little of the movie The Wizard of Oz. You undoubtedly remember that part of the movie is in black and white—Dorothy’s home in Kansas is portrayed in black and white film; it’s flat and gloomy and there’s that mean woman who takes her dog. When Dorothy arrives in Oz, though, everything is in color. It’s beautiful and rich, with depth and complexity. It isn’t all good; things don’t go perfectly for her, but her life has a beauty and depth that it didn’t have before.
That’s sort of how I imagine life with God and life apart from God.
Life apart from God is lived in black and white, flat, empty and colorless. Life with God is lived in vibrant color, with richness and depth, vibrancy and joy. Both options lay always before us—we choose whether or not to accept God’s gift of life in him. In the book of Deuteronomy God says to the people, “I set before you life and death, blessings and curses….choose life, loving the Lord, obeying him and holding fast to him.”
Each day, we make that choice. Each day, God offers us life with him or life lived with worldly standards. It would seem obvious which one we really want. It took a tornado to get Dorothy to Oz, it takes a simple “yes” to get us to the life God wants for us. So let us say yes—let us say yes to God’s love, to the gifts of God’s spirit, to mercy, peace and goodness. Our lives need not be marked by envy and selfish ambition; rather, let us set those aside and say yes to our God, this day and every day.