Kent Winters-Hazelton preached on Sunday,
Sept. 24, reflecting on the new list of GAC priorities in light of
Mark's account of the Transfiguration and what followed it. The Gospel,
he suggests, is not about "Me," but about welcoming the Other.
THE ROAD LESS
TRAVELED
A Sermon by Kent Winters-Hazelton
September 24, 2000 Twenty-fifth Sunday
of Ordinary Time
Claremont (California) Presbyterian
Church
Texts: Psalm 1 and Mark
9:30-37
At the beginning of his best selling book, The
Road Less Traveled, psychologist M. Scott Peck records a simple yet
profound observation: "Life," is tells us, "is
difficult."
One day, as Jesus walked to road with his disciples,
he said much the same thing: "Life will be difficult."
The ninth chapter of Mark opens with a remarkable
story. There, we are told, Jesus went up to the top of a mountain
accompanied by Peter, James and John. While there they experienced a
vision so unique, so extraordinary that we have little in our own
experience which we can relate it to. For it was there that these four
experienced the living presence of the great leader of the Hebrew
people, Moses, and the great prophet Elijah. These two, representing the
historic and prophetic streams of Judaism were confirming to the
disciples that their friend, their leader, their rabbi was the Son of
God.
Walking down the mountain, you can almost imagine
Peter nudging John in the ribs and whispering, "What do you think
of that, kid? Doesn't get any better that this, eh?"
Jesus than comes to a village where a boy with a
troubled spirit lived. His parents had tried every means possible to
help their child, but nothing worked -- until Jesus came. Following the
healing the buzz around the towns and villages was all about Jesus. Who
was he? Did you hear what he did? Is he the one?
In this context, with the excitement of the crowds,
the energy of the movement, and the light headed exuberance of the
disciples, it is in this context that Jesus tells his disciples that
soon events would take a sharp turn. Before long, he would be turned
over to opposing forces and would be killed.
A little further down the road, the disciples fell
into conversation. Despite Jesus' concern and caution, they found
themselves talking not about his startling revelation, but about their
own position and power! The disciples saw a great adventure lying ahead
of them. There would be a popular uprising in Jerusalem with Jesus being
ushered in as the new King -- God's chosen One -- and they would all
reap the spoils of victory.
Now if Jesus had hired a process facilitator, this
trained professional might have been wise to take a moment and suggest
to the disciples that they may have missed the point that Jesus was
trying to make. "Jesus called you to follow him into a difficult
future and all you can do is think of your own status and greatness. He
has spoken openly of his suffering and death and all you can do is argue
about your importance."
The rude awakening of this passage lies in the truth
that there would be no place for their kind of thinking in the new order
of life Jesus would bring.
Mark does us a great favor in this story. He tells us
that the disciples did not always understand Jesus. Recognizing the
befuddled looks on his friends' faces, and hearing them debate their
merits and grandeur, he brought before them a visible parable to help
them understand what he was all about. He placed before them a little
child, the symbol of the least among them. In this moment, Jesus upsets
our world view. Here he suggests that compassionate service and acts of
welcoming are marks of those who are the greatest among us. By bringing
forth the child who is vulnerable and marginalized, Jesus seems to be
directing us to look after those who do not always fit in, and to care
for those who may not be able to care for themselves or to speak on
their own behalf; to look for ways to move beyond our own
self-centeredness.
He reminds us that our faith has something to do with
love, acceptance and welcome.
Psalm 1 is not nearly so vague. It offers a clear
choice: there is the way of the righteous and the way of the
unrighteous. There is no middle ground. Those of us who are comfortable
examining both sides of an issue may wish to scream at this clear-cut,
no-nonsense, black and white proposition. But there is something almost
intuitive about the Psalm. There is, deep within us, a notion of right
and wrong. We usually know when we cross that line. "Oh, I can't
believe I just said that." "I'm sorry, I should never have
done that." "This is entirely your fault."
The Psalm offers an understanding of life, happiness
and prosperity that differs profoundly from the way we ordinarily
understand these concepts. We often rely on self-actualization, instant
gratification and self-fulfillment to bring us to the means of our
happiness. The Psalm teaches otherwise. Our happiness comes from the
delight of following God's law. Before we get caught up in the small
print of the Psalm, let me suggest that the word "law" does
not mean a set of rules or regulations or a standard of conduct we might
impose on others or on ourselves. Rather, the word refers to God's way
of life.
It is exactly that way of life that is the object of
Jesus' lesson to his disciples. It is God's way of life that is
reflected in the simple act of welcoming a child. In receiving one such
as this we recognize his or her simple, trustful understanding of life.
We see the child's vulnerability and powerlessness and his utter
reliance at the hand of the other. A child's life is at the mercy of the
one who welcomes her -- or turns her aside. Jesus says, when we welcome
a child, we welcome God. Do we really believe this? Do we believe that
when we welcome a child we welcome God among us? And conversely, if we
turn aside a child -- or any of God's vulnerable ones -- do we shut God
out?
The Presbyterian Church today is beset with many
divisions. I believe that part of the debate that is at the heart of our
conflict lies in our struggle to understand what Jesus is teaching us in
this passage. Like the disciples, we don't always understand. It is not
a question of whether children are important. We all agree to that. And
I don't think it is a matter of one side of the church welcoming
children and the other side not. But I think it does have something to
say about the width and breadth of God's welcome.
In the ancient Middle East, children were among the
most vulnerable members of society. They were not the only ones who were
given little or no standing or status, however. This welcome of God of
which Jesus speaks is offered to many others who live at the margins of
society and were often ignored.
There is an apparent trend in the church today at
narrowing its gospel, setting standards that do not include all of us
and acting as gate keepers to make certain that those who are seen as
unworthy are not brought in. This, it seems to me, goes against the
spirit of Jesus, who encourages us to welcome those who are left out or
left behind. He reminds us to look around and see who it is that lives
without power and position and welcome them as we would welcome God.
On Friday of this past week, the
General Assembly Council of the Presbyterian Church met to prioritize
the programs of our national church. Earlier this summer the Council
had decided to two basic priorities -- evangelism and discipleship --
which would guide the ranking of the remaining programs. The ranking of
programs would become the criteria for the budget of the General
Assembly beginning in the year 2002. At the bottom of each of these
lists are programs that lie at the heart of those among us who honor the
ministry of justice equally with the outreach of evangelism. Listen to
some of the programs listed at the bottom of the General Assembly
Council's ranking: The Presbyterian Peacemaking Program, The Washington
Office, International Partnership, Self-Development of People, and
Ecumenical and Interfaith Relationships.
These are the types of programs that help us recognize
the ones who are outside our experience and context who need to be
welcomed. These are the types of programs that enable us to expand our
understanding of God's hand at work in the world. These are the types of
programs that keep us from falling into the temptation to narrow our
focus to our limited circles and reference points. These are the types
of programs that stop us in our tracks when we begin to argue among
ourselves as to which one of us is the greatest.
Jesus tells his disciples that as followers of his way
you cannot say, "The Gospel is all about me." The plain truth,
indeed the painful truth of our Gospel story is that the Gospel is about
welcoming the other.
If we were to take out our Bibles and cut out all the
passages of the scripture that talk about the programs listed on the
bottom of the General Assembly Council's list we would end up with a
book so full of holes that we would be hard pressed to find within it
the way of God as it is spoken of in the Psalms, in the prophets, in the
words and ministry of Jesus.
We must continue to
proclaim the whole Gospel of Jesus Christ. We must continue to
proclaim the whole Gospel which maintains the balance between evangelism
and the witness of social justice, for we know you cannot do social
justice without out doing evangelism and you cannot do evangelism
without doing social justice. We must continue to proclaim the whole
Gospel which calls for discipleship in the public as well as the private
arena. We must remind our fellow Presbyterians that Great End of the
Church -- which we have been promoting in our churches for the past
three years -- that Great End which calls for "the promotion of the
social righteousness" of God's realm.
If our denomination fails to reverse this trend toward
narrowing its gospel then we who continue to work for a church that
speaks about peacemaking and justice, and who celebrate the life of God
in a church that is welcoming and inclusive of all of God's children,
and explore connections with ecumenical and interfaith understanding,
and seek to follow God's way -- then we may find that we are walking on
a road less traveled. And if there are fewer and fewer on that same road
with us, many others, who are outside of our circles, who live life
unwelcomed by the church of Jesus Christ, may find that life is very,
very difficult.
In the name of the Creator, the Christ, and the Spirit
of Life.
