“He Placed a Child Among Them”
by Bruce J. Johnson
Lois and I had the good fortune of being able to attend the Connecticut Forum on Thursday evening. We had never been there before but will no doubt return. The subject for the evening was “Personal Security vs. Personal Liberties” and the conversation among the panelists which included Heather MacDonald, Stephen Shapiro (ACLU), Richard Perle (a defense guy from the Reagan Administration) and Fareed Zakaria, (Newsweek) was very informative, entertaining and thought provoking. Much of it dealt with the Patriot Act and its role in a post 9/11 world and what personal liberties, if any, are at risk. In the midst of the conversations, I was struck by the number of times the name of Alan Dershowitz came up, usually referred to as a symbol of the tension that exists between the rights of suspected terrorists to counsel and the security rights of society… Dershowitz is the kind of lawyer that says the right to counsel overrides any need for the uninterrupted interrogation of suspected terrorists. It was interesting but I didn’t think much more about until I read Friday’s Hartford Courant.
I have listened to Kim’s sermon from last week and gather that Alan Dershowitz must be 50 or better too—He’s not afraid to speak out! And I’m still reflecting on that article---- almost as much as on today’s lesson from the Gospel according to Mark. Dershowitz’s emphasis upon the children is the article’s vocal point and so is this child a focal point for Jesus. Jesus uses children on more than one occasion to make a couple of different points.
For example, in the 10th chapter of Mark we have the passage that we use for the sacrament of baptism. In it, he presents the children that parent’s were bringing to him and tells the disciples that they had to become like them—for to such belongs the kingdom God. For the most part we interpret that to mean that they have be trusting and full of wonder, innocent and enthusiastic and capable of loving in the way that children love.
In today’s lesson, however, he includes the use of a child for the purpose of challenging a different set of attitudes and behaviors. This scene always reminds me of something I read many years ago:
Through a mistake in the records
in
After asking them about the argument they were having
while walking through the Galilean hills on their way to the seaside town of
Okay—we got that! So, what’s with the kid in our midst? Here we can potentially run into a problem because of the differences in cultures. We live in a society, on the whole, that seemingly is trying to do everything we can for our children --- we value our own and those of others. We make every effort to give them every conceivable opportunity to succeed and be happy. (Of course, at the same time, we may also be killing them with our abundance!)
But it wasn’t like that in Jesus’
“Childhood in antiquity was a time of terror. Infant mortality rates
sometimes reached 30%. Another 30 % of live births were dead by age 6 and 60% were gone by age 16.Children always suffered first from famine, war, disease and dislocation…
Children had little status within the community or family. A minor child was on par with a slave, and only after reaching maturity was he/she a free person who could inherit the family estate. The term ‘child/children could be used as a serious insult….” (p. 238)
So, when Jesus placed this child among them, he’s doing it again. We all know that Jesus normally turns things inside—out and upside down. He returns questions instead of answers to other people’s inquiries. He tells stories that need to be figured out rather than straight talk to people who try to pin him down. And above all, defies conventional wisdom about how the world operates and suggests that we need to do things that are the exact opposite.
He says things like:
“They who would save their life
will lose it, but whoever loses their lives for my sake will save it.”
“They
who would be first must be last of all and servant of all.”
“Whoever receives a little child like this, receives me.”
Yes, he’s doing it again—calling his disciples to a radical new vision of discipleship and how life and community are actually meant to be. What room is there in that way of life, in that understanding of active faith and for that matter, in that Realm of God for the bickering about greatness, about their aspirations for status and prestige and power? It’s all about our attitude and behavior toward anyone and everyone who might be considered the least among us. Eventually he gets around to talking about goats and sheep and makes it even clearer when he tells them that we do or don’t for the least among us we have done or haven’t done for him. For now, though, not only does he put that child in their midst but for all the more drama, he takes that child in his arms. (He did the same thing in the passage I cited for Alexander’s baptism this morning!)
What Jesus was teaching is not just kindness but kindness directed toward those who don’t experience the kindness of the world;
Not Just Tenderness, but tenderness toward those who not often enough feel a loving touch;
Not Just Hospitality, but a wide welcome toward those for whom other doors are slammed shut.
Not Just Inclusion, but the honored seat at the table of grace!
Will Campbell, who was good ol’ Southern Baptist who handled civil rights issues for the National Council of Churches was fond poking fun at his tradition’s practice of doing altar calls—you know, coming down the aisle to commit to Christ. He used to say:
“I hope that someday there will be an evangelistic service in which,
when the preacher gives the invitation and people start down the aisle, he yells back at them, “Don’t come down the aisle! Go to Jesus. Don’t come to me! Go to Jesus!
Upon that declaration, the people who were coming down the aisle turn around and exit the sanctuary and get in their cars and drive away. Then he yells at the rest of the congregation, Why are you hanging around here--- Don’t you want to go to Jesus too? En masse, the people then rise and head out.
What I imagine is that a half hour later the telephone at the police station starts ringing off the hook and the voice at the other end says:
“We’re down here at the old folk’s home and there are some crazy people here at the door yelling that they want to come in to visit with Jesus and I keep yelling back that we have no Jesus here!”
The next call comes in from the hospital and the story is the same, (especially with the new HIPPA regulations, we can’t tell them anything about our patients!)
Then the state mental hospital makes their call, only this time, the superintendent complains to the policeman at the desk that they already have a full house of nuts!
Finally, the calls at the desk are interrupted by a group at the door--- all requesting to visit Jesus …..
(Story from Campolo, Let Me Tell You A Story, p.30-31)
Whether we are talking about going to Jesus or receiving Jesus--- the essence is always the same--- discipleship and living the life of faith is all about serving and caring for not just the best and greatest but the ‘baddest’ and least!
I once received a thank you card with the following line:
“The heart of God is expressed as we care for others.”
Bonnie Jensen
THAT JUST ABOUT SAYS IT ALL, ESPECIALLY WHEN THE ‘OTHERS’ ARE THOSE WHO MIGHT BE CONSIDERED AMONG THE LEAST AMONG US!
AMEN