September 22, 2024
Pentecost + 18
Friends, please be seated.
A Jewish American colleague, teaching on the expression “Love your neighbour as yourself.” opens with these words: “The rabbi of my home congregation, Kathy Cohen, would start every d’var Torah with, “This week’s is my favorite Torah portion!” (https://www.danielkirzane.com/sermons/love-your-neighbor-as-yourself)
Christians might say “this week’s reading is my favourite Bible reading” or “this week’s Gospel is my favourite Gospel reading”. But Rabbi Kathy says the same thing every week about a single Torah thought. This week’s is my favourite.
I understand what Rabbi Kathy means. There is always something –or several somethings– in each week’s Scripture to delight the preacherly instincts and to claim pride-of-place as favourite. And each week, we get to move on to our new, and most recent, favourite.
Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom.
Wisdom and understanding are seated in real-worldly gentleness. I love that. I aspire to that. The Greek text reads “the humility of wisdom”. (’en prauteti sophias) The implication from James is that true wisdom holds humility within. Another translation reads “meekness”. Gentleness born of wisdom captures the sense humble wisdom. So, James is not talking about wisdom broad brush but about wisdom born of gentleness, and wisdom that issues in gentleness, and in all of that there is a current of humility. So that’s my first favourite thing for today. Christians are held out to be the authors of good works that are done in gentleness born of wisdom … in the humility of wisdom. Then James goes on to characterize the sort of wisdom he’s talking about…
The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a whiff of partiality or hypocrisy.
Gentleness, meekness, humility … they’re all embedded in there somewhere! Compare that with the episode in today’s Gospel reading.
“What were you arguing about on the way?” But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another as to who was the greatest.”
Oops. No humility there. The thing of it is, though, that Mark is reporting Jesus’ interaction with his own disciples. “Hey Peter, I’m better than you are. Shut up, Philip. We all know that Andrew’s better than you and I’m better than him.” Little wonder that Jesus got exasperated.
Now, what the Gospel writers wrote about, and what James wrote about, and what Paul wrote about, undoubtedly reflected what was going on in their own communities. People maneuvering out of self-interest. They reflect on Jesus through pastoral eyes set upon their own communities. Mark picks up the image of the disciples jockeying for position likely because it was familiar … that’s what he saw in his own community. That’s what he saw in the early church.
James is concerned about humility or gentleness, not because they were theoretically interesting, but because he felt that the community of his time –the people to whom he was writing– needed to be reminded of them.
And Mark is reminding his community that Jesus was not much into listening to the disciples arguing about who was better than whom, especially given that they were all somewhat wanting next to the women-folk of his entourage. I’d give you three Peters for any Mary, any day. Mark was the evangelist of fewest words, but he, like the others, recalls for his readers some few fragments of Jesus’ ministry over three or four years –stuff they needed to hear.
So, Jesus sat down and gathered the twelve. My other favourite text! That was a very rabbinic, very teacherly thing for Jesus to do – to sit down. The teacher was always seated, while the students might well stand. The fact that Mark tells us that Jesus sat down is a cue that Jesus is about to teach and to say something important but also to suggest something of his standing in his own community.
Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all. Then Jesus took a little child and put it among them; and taking the child 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.”
In Jesus’ culture children did not have much status. So, in taking a child to make his point, Jesus is saying something about such humility as welcomes even those who have no status. It’s not about welcoming such as have less status, a rung or two down the ladder, but such as have no status. Jesus knew many such people … people who lived outside the great gate at Jerusalem … or who inhabited a graveyard … or who were going to get nailed to a tree with him. I dare say that each of us can conjure people who, in the periphery of our lives, have no meaningful status. I’ll leave that piece to your own hearts and imaginations. You can fill in your own blanks better than I.
Welcome the child and you welcome Jesus. Welcome Jesus and you get God. Welcome the child and (by transitivity) you welcome God.
We are now much of the way through the Season of Creation. In our liturgy –in word, in music and in prayer– we have sought to honour the season with greater clarity than we may have done before. One of the sins of our age has been to treat God’s creation as having no status and often without regard, much less, humility. Hubris has often seemed our way. Last week, we heard that we might do well to think of God’s creation as a neighbour worthy of our love no less than any human neighbour.
Some last words about this favourite passage. Mark is conjuring a scene in which children are running around and where Jesus could scoop one up and present her, him, them to the disciples. Where there were children, there were women, and where there were women, there were more than twelve disciples. Just sayin’.
Today’s readings offer a wide-open invitation to treat with humility that which we might treat with airs or disrespect whether your neighbour in the flesh or your neighbour in the substance of this beautiful world. This morning, this planet is overseen equally by Brother Sun and Sister Moon in these first minutes of the fall equinox. In this balance in time, and in the waning days of the Season of Creation, let us show by our good lives that our works –whatever they might be– are done with gentleness born of wisdom. This week’s d’var Torah is my favourite.
Silence.
And may the church say “Amen”. Amen.
André Lavergne CWA (Pastor)
Honourary Assistant,
Church of St. John the Evangelist, Kitchener.
Angus Sinclair was appointed Director of Music of St. John the Evangelist on February 1, 2023. Having graduated in 1981 (Honours B.Mus.) in organ performance from Wilfrid Laurier University, he went on to distinguish himself as a church musician, recitalist and accompanist touring in both Canada and the UK. For over 40 years Angus has served parishes and congregations throughout Southwestern Ontario as director of music. He experiences his present appointment to St. John’s as a welcome homecoming, both spiritually and musically.
As our parish musician, he provides both support and leadership so that a variety of parish programs can find musical expression and attract participation. When our handbell choir is in season, he is one of our ringers. At parish dinners, he provides popular piano music for the guests to dine by. For both worship services and concerts, he will rehearse and accompany vocal and instrumental soloists from our congregation on piano, organ, or even accordion.
Angus Sinclair was appointed Director of Music of St. John the Evangelist on February 1, 2023. Having graduated in 1981 (Honours B.Mus.) in organ performance from Wilfrid Laurier University, he went on to distinguish himself as a church musician, recitalist and accompanist touring in both Canada and the UK. For over 40 years Angus has served parishes and congregations throughout Southwestern Ontario as director of music. He experiences his present appointment to St. John’s as a welcome homecoming, both spiritually and musically.