Reflection on Mark 10:17-31

 

All I hear in Peter’s words are exacerbation and exhaustion after Jesus instructs a questioning man and all his disciples to give up everything they own, give the money to the poor, and then follow Jesus. 

“Look, we have left everything and followed you,” Peter says. 

People usually hear Peter’s words as filled with pride about how great he is to have given up everything.  I am not so sure.  The disciples have already moaned in exacerbation, “Then who can be saved,” when told that it will be hard for the rich to enter into the kingdom of God.  It seems clear to me that Peter is continuing this sense of exacerbation.  “What more do you want from us?” Peter seems to be saying.  “Look, we have left everything and followed you.”

“What more do you want from us?” 

I have been hearing this more and more as the years go by.  Good, faithful people try and try to make a dent of goodness within their communities and, dare I say, try to bring some new faces into the pews.  But when their efforts do not seem to be doing anything, I hear the lament to God, “What more do you want from us?”

As adult sons and daughters take care of their aging and failing parents, and then they need to take care of their grandchildren, and then they need to start taking care of their own ailing health, it gets to be too much and they cry out to God, “What more do you want from us?”

The troubles of this world are a non-stop blare from our television sets, and we try to do our part.  But, so many times, doing our part to make this world a better place does not seem to make a difference.  All the while, new struggles pop up all the time.  There are always more storms, more wars, more political divisions, and they all desire our attention, and consuming our sleep.  We helplessly say to God, “What more do you want from us?”

You know what?  I do not think you are a failure, or that you lack some sort of moral character, if it is all just a little bit too much right now.  Sometimes, life is just a little bit too much, and it is OK to say so.  Things are sometimes too much.

“But, there must be something more that we can do,” we press ourselves.  “There has got to be a way to fix it all,” we say.  “What must I do?” we ask.  “What must I do?”

That is the question on the mind of the man who approaches Jesus.  He needs to know what more he can do.  “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  I can identify with this guy.  “What must I do?”  It is a good question.  It is my question.

Of course, the good, educated protestant within me immediately answers, “There’s nothing that we can do to inherit eternal life.  That is why we trust Jesus to save us.” 

See, I learning something in Sunday School.  It was not all just flannel graphs and eating crayons.  Haha, remember flannel graphs?  Just take a little cut out Jesus and stick him on the blue board!  Walla!  He is instantly walking on water.  The miracle of the flannel graph!

I am getting distracted here.  I know why.  It is because I know that the man’s question goes much deeper than just asking how to get to heaven.  It touches on those deeper struggles of life.  What he is asking is more like, “Good teacher, what do I need to do to make this life better; with less struggle; to be more holy, and to be more filled with life, and love, and laughter.”

In response, Jesus, the ever caring healer, starts with the basics.  Like a doctor trying to make sure that the low hanging fruit are not the cause of the problem: smoking, lack of exercise, forgetting to take your medicine; Jesus asks the man about the commandments.  “Do you murder?  Do you cheat on your spouse?  Do you steal?  Do you lie about your neighbors?  Do you forget to take care of your parents?”

“No, no, and no again” the man answers.  “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.”

But, being good does not necessarily make life all better, does it?  Sure, congratulations, you are not going to jail for murdering someone!  But, ask a loving caregiver of someone whose health is ailing if they ever feel free from worry and stress.

Being a really, really good person does not guarantee that you will get that “better” life.  The continued “lack” of life and vitality is precisely what gets us asking those questions that were asked at the beginning of the sermon.  “What more do you want from us Jesus?”  “What more do we need to do?”

At this point, we find some of the most wonderful words in scripture.  You see, rarely, do we ever get to hear what God feels about something.  We almost always have to guess at God’s emotions by what God does and how God reacts.  But, in a rare break in God’s façade, we get to hear how Jesus feels when he looks at tired and yearning souls such as us.  The scriptures say, “Jesus, looking at [the man], loved him.”

Can we just sit with that for a second?  When Jesus looks at us tired and struggling people, as frustrating as we must be…as blockheaded and backwards as we must act sometimes….as confused and wandering and unable to hear the words of Jesus as we are…as childlike as we act sometimes, Jesus still looks at us with nothing but love.

You are loved.  In all your struggles, you are loved.  In all the deep breaths that stem from overwhelmed souls, you are loved.  In all the wayward acts and wrong approaches that you have taken in life, thinking that they would be good, but turn out to be destructive, you are loved.  Jesus looks us, and loves us.

And, with love in those eyes, Jesus finally gives us his treatment plan: “give it up.”  “Give up the need to control it all, and follow me.”  “Trust in me.” 

You can hear this message in the answer Jesus gives to the young man with many possessions.  Jesus says, “Go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”  In other words, “give up the need to control it all, and follow me.”  “Trust in me and only me,” Jesus implies.

The man is astounded at Jesus’ teaching, going away in grief because he had many possessions. 

The disciples are also astounded.   Jesus tells them that those people in the world who appear the most blessed by God with lots of wealth are no more likely to crawl their way into eternal life than a camel going through the eye of a needle.  The disciples are astounded and confused and ask, “Then who can be saved?” 

Jesus gives the same answer to them as he did the man with many possessions, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”  In other words, “Give up the need to control it all, and follow me.”  “Trust in me.”

You want to know what I hear from Jesus’ words here?  He is saying, “It is OK if you are not enough, because I am enough.” 

Have these past weeks and months been impossible?  Are you at the end of caring?  Are you all cared out?  Jesus says to you, “It is OK if you are not enough, because I am enough.”  “For God all things are possible.”

And, maybe, when you grieve enough, as the man starts to grieve as he walks away from Jesus, you will be able to let go: you will be able to let the stuff go, or you will be able to let the controlling person go, or you will be able to let your own need to control every situation in life go, and when you do, when you grieve it all and allow it to be buried for good, you will finally be able to turn around and head in a new direction.  You will finally be able to follow Jesus; to truly follow him and trust him.  And, when that happens, you will finally be able to see the living God who loves to overcome the impossible. 

You will see the living God who opens the eyes of the stubbornly blind.  You will see the living God who feeds the entire crowd from a small amount of food.  You will see the living God who overcomes all the scorn, all the struggle, and all the death.  You will see the living God who is able to overcome death on a cross.  You will finally be able to see the living God who is able to put a camel through the eye of a needle.  You will finally be able to see the living God who loves to overcome the impossible.  After-all, seeing the living God, and following the living God, makes all the difference.

Reflection on Mark 10:2-16

 

Mark 10:2-16 (NRSV)

2Some Pharisees came, and to test [Jesus] they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” 4They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.” 5But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. 6But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ 7‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

10Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; 12and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

13People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. 14But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. 15Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” 16And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.

Reflection

“What God has joined together, let no one separate” (Mark 10:9).  You have certainly heard these words before.  They are spoken at nearly every Christian wedding, after the man and the woman have exchanged their rings and their promises to one another.  In a world which drives people apart from one another through harsh words and violence, it is a declaration that God has overcome the evil forces of the world and brought two people together to become “one flesh” (Mark 10:8). 

“What God has joined together, let no one separate” (Mark 10:9).

At weddings, we can see this miracle of God just mere feet away from us as the two gaze into each other’s eyes, share a kiss, and promise to love one another until death.  This man and this woman have been drawn together by God, through an endlessly forgiving sort of love, to live as one, to act as one, and to be one.  It is beautiful.  “No, that’s not a tear in my eye, there’s just dust in the air.”

“What God has joined together, let no one separate” (Mark 10:9).

Of course, it is easy to see what this phrase means in the context of marriage; namely that since God that drew two people together in marriage, then a marriage should not so easily be dissolved.  Divorce cannot be taken lightly because God does not take the division of what God has put together lightly. 

Now, it may be hard to hear this message in some very difficult and abusive sort of situations, but the idea at least is easy to understand.  I have to tell you though, that just the other day I was invited by God to think about this phrase in a much wider way than just marriage: “What God has joined together, let no one separate” (Mark 10:9).

At least, I think that it was God inviting me, because it all happened in a dream.  Two days ago, I had one of those stress inducing dreams where I had a number of deadlines coming up, and I was ill prepared to meet any of them.  Who knows where this dream came from?  It is not like I have a play coming up, a retreat to teach, meetings to attend, worship services to prepare, and a bunch of appointments to get the family to…all with just one vehicle I might add.  Where do such dreams come from?  Who knows? 

In any case, in the dream I am just emotionally floundering, unable to figure out how to step ahead and accomplish all of my tasks when my granddaughter Trinity comes up from behind, taps me on the shoulder, and says to me, “Opa, you know you don’t have to do this all alone.”  She came around to the front of me, looked me square in the eyes, and repeated, “You don’t have to do this alone.”  And, that is when I woke up.

“You don’t have to do this alone.”  The words may not be scriptural, but they are certainly holy words.  After-all, in the very beginning of time God pondered aloud, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner” (Genesis 2:18).  God essentially said to the first human, “You don’t have to do this alone.”  Then God took some clay from the ground and made a bunch of animals, trying to create a suitable partner; but God did not find a suitable partner for the human among the animals.  So, God took part of the man’s side and formed it into a woman.

“Then the man said, This at last is bone of my bones and flesh or my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken” (Genesis 2:23). 

I just want to note here that the word for “helper” in the Hebrew, which is “Ezer,” does not mean someone who just follows orders.  The woman is not the slave created for the man in any way shape or form.  In fact, the word “helper” is most often used as a name referring to God. 

Just think of Psalm 33:20 where it says, “Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our [helper] and shield.”  Ezer is a powerful word that, grammatically, is a combination of two words, one meaning “to rescue,” or “to save,” and the other meaning “to be strong.”  So, in Psalm 33:20, God is our “Ezer.”  God is our “strong rescuer.”  Likewise, the woman is a “strong rescuer,” given as a gift to the lonely man.

“You don’t have to do this alone.”  We all have been given Ezers.  We all have been given “strong rescuers” so that we do not need to face the world alone.

If that is true, then it is also true that when we push others away, we are rejecting our Ezers; we are rejecting our gifts from God.

But, “You don’t have to do this alone.”

I truly think that this is why Jesus is not so hot on what was termed in his time as “any reason” divorce.  It was the hot topic of the day, so it is no wonder that Jesus was asked about it.  Religious people in Jesus’ time got into heated debates, back and forth, about whether or not a man can divorce his wife for any reason.  And, without getting too far into the nuts and bolts of this ancient argument, some people argued that a man can, indeed, divorce for any reason what-so-ever.  But, others argued that there are extremely limited circumstances under which someone can divorce, such as unfaithfulness. 

And, to all of the heated arguments going back and forth, Jesus answers, “What God has joined together, let no one separate” (Mark 10:9).  In other words, we need our Ezers.  We are each other’s Ezers.  We are each other’s strong rescuers.  We do not need to do this alone.

Jesus’ answer does not give us a clear, true for all time, answer concerning when divorce is permissible.  That is not his point as he gives an answer to this ancient debate.  But, he does give us an idea of what needs to happen when the terrible breakup of a marriage occurs.  He does give us an idea of what needs to happen when the pressure cooker of life squeezes the life out of us and we do not know what to do:  We need our Ezers.  We are each other’s strong rescuers.  We need to be surrounded by those who forgive us, and love us, and help us when we cannot help ourselves.  We do not need to do this alone.

In fact, in all of the stories surrounding this teaching on divorce, Jesus tries to make certain that people are not being pushed further apart.  Jesus desires that they be drawn closer together. 

In Mark 9:37, Jesus welcomes a little child and tells the disciples to do the same.  We do not need to do this alone.  

Following that story, Jesus chastises his disciples for stopping and pushing away a stranger who is casting out demons in Jesus’ name.  “Whoever is not against us is for us” Jesus responds (Mark 9:40).  We do not need to do this alone. 

Right after that Jesus teaches that anyone who reaches out and stops someone from coming to him should cut off his hand.  We do not cause others to stumble.  Followers of Jesus should know that we do not need to do this alone.

Then we have this teaching about the two becoming one flesh, and that a woman should not simply be cast away…nor should a guy for that matter, Jesus says.  The two being made “one flesh” should not frivolously be reversed through divorce.  We do not need to do this alone.

And, then we finish with a story where the disciples, who have been taught to always welcome the children and not push anyone away, are found yelling at some children who want to come and touch Jesus.  Jesus yells back at them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs” (Mark 10:14).  Even the no worth, snot nosed little children are welcome in God’s kingdom.  We do not need to do this alone.

No one needs to do any of this alone.  We have a God who chose to come down from the heavens to live and walk and talk with us.  No one needs to do any of this alone.  We have a God who chose to take our sins, get nailed to a cross with those sins, and to bury those sins forever in the lonely, cold ground so that the kingdom would be ours, together.  No one needs to do any of this alone. 

“What God has joined together, let no one separate” (Mark 10:9).  Yes, this refers to husbands and wives who are drawn to one another by God, but it also refers to adults and children who are drawn together; strangers and those already in the club who are drawn together; those who are thirsty and those with water who are drawn together; those who are single and good friends who are drawn together; grandpas who are stressed out and grandchildren who offer to help who are drawn together, and God bringing the kingdom down to the earth and drawing the lost, hurt, and lonely inside.  “What God has joined together, let no one separate” (Mark 10:9).  We do not need to do this alone. 

It is the promise of Jesus to us when he says in the gospel of John: “When I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32).  We do not need to do this alone.

“I don’t know how to do this,” the woman said as she contemplated leaving the man who beat her daily, leaving dark bruises, and who controlled every single aspect of her life.  She did not even know how to write a check.  She did not know how to pay a bill.  She did not know how to get a job, nor did she know how to drive a car in order to get to that job.  “I don’t know how to do this,” the woman said.  A follower of Jesus answered her, “You do not need to do this alone.  I will help you with all of it.”

“But, I am not supposed to leave him,” she said.

“I am pretty sure those bruises mean that he left your loving marriage a long time ago.  You are supposed to be his wife, not his punching bag.  But, it is up to you.  I just want you to know that you are not alone.  You do not need to do this alone.”

And after that, the woman did not go through it alone any longer.  Thanks be to God.

Reflection on James 5:13-20

James 5:13-20

¹³Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. ¹⁴Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. ¹⁶Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. ¹⁷Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. ¹⁸Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.
 ¹⁹My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another, ²⁰you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

Reflection

As James finishes his letter, he gives us a vision of what the Christian community could be.  It could be a community full of prayer.  And, we are not talking about reciting the Lord’s Prayer repeatedly, or any other memorized, rote prayer (though they have their place too).  No, he is talking about prayer that comes from a suffering heart.  It is the prayer that spills out when you have tried everything, and everything has not been enough.  It is a prayer that seeks Jesus to intervene because no one else can fix what has become broken.  And, it is a prayer that is not prayed alone.

You have prayed alone before, right?  You have prayed the desperate prayer in the middle of the night that seems to echo dully out the window and into the darkness, finding no ear upon which to rest. 

But, James’ vision of the Christian community is far from this lonely image of an unheard prayer of solitude.  Quite the opposite, he says that if one is suffering in such a way, “they should call for the elders of the church,” surround the person, “and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord” (James 5:14).  The Christian community, the church, is presented as this community of prayer that actually cares, and actually comes, and actually is present in each other’s lives.

Are you celebrating anything?  In James own words he asks, “Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise” (James 5:13).  Well, if you are celebrating, then we will sing a prayer of praise and thanksgiving to God!  We will throw a party and celebrate the goodness of the Lord!  You can never sing too many songs, nor can you have too many parties as James shares what the Jesus community could look like.

And, to top it all off, this community is to be a safe place to bring your sins, and your failures, and your struggles.  Using that healing oil on the sinner, James promises that, “Anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven.  Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed” (James 5:15-16).

James understands a basic truth: it is hard to have forgiveness if you cannot even confess the sins and missteps for which you need forgiveness!  But, you are in a community filled with Jesus’ grace.  Such a community of love and forgiveness means that you can honestly bring your struggles and your sins to your fellow believers (and to God).  James promises that “anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven” (James 5:15).  James encourages us to, “confess [our] sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that [we] may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective” (James 5:16).

That is what the Christian absolutely could look like!  It could look like this group of people who loves like Jesus loves, prays for healing as Jesus prays, celebrates the goodness of God as Jesus celebrates, is unafraid to tell the truth about our sin as Jesus is unafraid, and forgives each other in abundance as Jesus forgives.  The Christian community could absolutely look and sound like this: the very real body of Christ.

I have seen this before.  I have seen it with my very own eyes, and have experienced it with my very own voice and body.  I have experienced this living, breathing community of faith that James envisions.  James says that “faith without works is dead,” but the community I experienced could in no way be considered dead by James (James 2:26).

They are a small, but spirit-filled congregation in Argentina.  When you enter their church building, you will notice a few things right off the bat.  You will first notice the broken windows above the altar and the stains of water damage marking the walls below.  You will also notice the organ, with books and chairs stacked on top.  It has not worked for years and there has been no money to fix it.  Interestingly, against one wall you will see pews stacked on top of one another.  They were formerly in the middle of the worship space, but now, highlighting the center of the worship space you will discover chairs in a circle around a central altar.

As the congregation gathers, the majority in their 20s but the oldest in their 90s, they talk, and laugh, and decorate the space with flowers from their home gardens, and they set up handmade candles gifted by relatives.

As worship begins, they share the all the good things that God had done for them throughout the week.  These are not announcements though; they are conversations throughout the space, people talking over one another; laughter rising through the holes in the broken windows above. 

Soon we sing songs of praise, and after we talk again with one another, sharing our struggles, and sins, and pains with one another.  One man shares how he tripped up on his battle with alcohol that week, and those around him give him a forgiving hug.  After the readings and the sermon, everyone taking a part in the reading and leading, we gather in a huge circle, taking turns as we pray for all that our neighbors had shared earlier, both their joys and their struggles. 

As we finish singing the last song (played on a guitar by one of the students in attendance) the local baker sneaks out of the worship space and returns with a huge, beautiful cake.  It is a Peruvian refugee’s birthday.  She had no family in Argentina.  She was utterly alone, except for her new Christian family who now surrounds her, and sings, and gives her gifts. 

I wish that James could have seen it.  He would have been so amazed by how alive, and authentic, and real these people’s lives of faith were together.  There was nothing dead about their faith.  There was nothing “put on” for show about their faith.  There were no masks with fake smiles and fake concern being worn for the sake of pleasantness and good order.  These were real people, sharing real joys, and real pains and struggles, and actually taking the time to listen and share and do this thing that we call the “faith” together.  When you are there, you know for a fact that Jesus is present.

As we were leaving worship, one of the young women came up to my traveling partner and myself and asked, “How was it?  What can we do better?”  She assumed that we “United States Americans” had some secret to the faith that was bigger and better, that she needed to learn before we left.  That is always the impression the media seems to provide after-all: that United States Americans, with their unlimited funds, do everything better.

I did not know what to say, because they had it all.  All she had to do was read James and see that they had it all.  They were a living community of faith that in no way shape or form was dead to the life and death of Jesus Christ.  Their community was wise in faith beyond imagination.

My response: “What you all have here is truly a gift.  Keep being exactly who you are.”

Young people these days appreciate people who are real.  They can smell a fake from a mile away.  They can sense a cover-up immediately.  They know when it is all a show.

But, in the same way, they also appreciate honesty, and humility, and someone they can relate to.  They appreciate connecting, in a real way, with someone who is willing to share their own lives, share their own struggles, and share their own faith.  They appreciate when the prayers are real, when the concern is real, and they love when you celebrate their joys.  When you do, they know for certain that they are not alone.  They know when Jesus is present and when people have pushed him away.

What a joy it is, then, when they find the Christian community as painted by James.  What a gift it is when they are able to find people praying in the way of Jesus, and celebrating in the way of Jesus, and forgiving endlessly in the way of Jesus, and searching and finding in the way of Jesus.  What a gift it is to have a people of God who actually care if you wander, as James says, “from the truth” (James 5:19).  And, what a gift it is to have a people of God who actually, actively, seek to bring you back, because that is what brothers and sisters in Christ’s family do.  James says that “you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins” (James 5:20).

The true Christian community truly cares and truly believes that you deserve better than having a life of being lost and wandering towards cliffs and crevasses that lead to death. 

This community of Christ’s grace is one of the most important gifts that James can possibly even imagine.  So, what a gift it is to be together, as a part of the body of our savior Jesus Christ.

Reflection on James 3:13—4:3, 7-8a

James 3:13—4:3, 7-8a

The wisdom God gives unites our hearts and minds. Instead of living to satisfy our own wants and desires, we manifest this wisdom in peace, gentleness, mercy, and impartiality toward others.

13Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. 14But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. 15Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. 16For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. 17But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. 18And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.4:

1Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? 2You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures. 7Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8aDraw near to God, and he will draw near to you. 

Reflection

“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you” (James 4:8a).  This promise in James of God’s presence with you whenever you reach out toward God brings to mind the image of a little child, grabbing onto a mother’s dress, covering eyes with the fabric when a fearful sight comes into view.  In this image, Mother God, reaches down and draws us closer as we draw near and cling to her dress in fear.

“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you” (James 4:8a). 

In fact, this entire reading from James makes me think of drawing close to my parents as a child.  In particular, it makes me think of all the times I rode on my dad’s shoulders as we walked around.  If you remember, my dad was pretty tall, so when my tiny self was on his shoulders, I felt like I was on top of the world.  From up there I could see the tops of counters, the tops of tables, and better yet, I could even see the dusty tops of the cupboards.  I feel bad for really tall people.  The world is so much dirtier up there. 

Back to my dad, when on my dad’s shoulders, I felt big.  I also felt powerful.  I would shout down from up there and people would actually listen to me.  This so rarely happened when I was on my own two feet, where it was easy for everyone to look over my head and ignore me completely.  But, up there, I felt like I was a part of the world, rather than being overlooked by the world.

In fact, I felt so big and powerful that my imagination would allow me to forget about my dad below.  I would sink into my own world, imaging that I was the tall one, stomping about in the world, in control of my own world; a real grownup.

That illusion; that daydream of control came crashing down one day while we were walking along a trail.  Ahead of me, as I moved forward on my dad’s shoulders, I saw a tree branch approaching.  I panicked, starting to shift from side-to-side, searching for a way to avoid the inevitable.  I started grasping ahead, toward the branch, in order to maybe grab it and push it out of the way.  It was all of no use though, no matter what I did, the tree branch was approaching and there was no way that I was going to be able to avoid it.  I immediately started crying in a panic laced whimper, arms flailing and legs kicking.

And, I think that is the sort of reality that James is trying to paint for us.  It is a reality where we become concerned only for ourselves, shifting, swaying, and grasping around so as to control our realities.  Because, let us admit it, the world is out of control.  At least it seems to be out of my control.  There are people who we cannot control who say and do things with which we are just never going to agree.  There are situations in which we are placed that are difficult, with few “right” answers, but we try our best to control them all the same.  We live in a world that is out of control, but we try to bend it in our favor anyway, because what else are you going to do?  “You have to think about yourself and fight for yourself in this world,” we reason, “because there isn’t going to be anyone else to do it for you!”

James gets it.  He gets that self-concern and selfish ambition comes naturally; almost expectedly.  People will naturally fight for their lives when they see the tree branch coming.  People will naturally force the ways of the world to bend in their favor in order to live a good life.  People will work the system to eke out a few extra bucks for themselves.  People will say what others want to hear in order to gain their trust.  People will cut down oxygen rich trees in order to create the field.  People will find substances that will bring joy and sedate when the prescribed ones do not work.  People will dispose of helpless, unimportant people if it serves a greater good. 

James gets it.  But, he warns: “where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind” (James 3:16).

James says that wherever there is a passion to get ahead and not be left behind; wherever there is selfish partisanship that only seeks to win rather than seeking the good and seeking the truth, then the only thing that you can expect from all of that is disorder and wickedness.  Shouts, blood, tears, anger, rage can all be expected.

“You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts” (James 4:2).  James says that all of these cravings are at war within us, and they are the cause of all of the conflict in our lives (James 4:1).

I once witnessed a community theatre completely fall apart, volunteers leaving left and right, because there was a disagreement over the color of the new seats in the theatre.  One faction wanted a warm orange, to brighten up the place and make it inviting.  The other faction wanted a dark, subdued blue, so as not to distract from what was happening on the stage.  It was a battle that devolved into name calling and votes that were nothing more than power plays during the board meetings. 

You might be thinking, “Who cares if it is orange or blue?  Just flip a coin!”  But, you would only say that because you think that the fight was really about orange and blue seats.  In fact, it had nothing to do with orange and blue seats and had everything to do with the branch of financial hardship that everyone knew was coming soon as their funds dried up, and everyone was trying to get control of the situation.  Everyone was in it to gain power and control so as to secure the future they envisioned.  And, as James says, “disorder and wickedness of every kind” followed close behind.

James gets it.  He understands how easy it is to curl in on ourselves and do whatever possible in order to gain control of the situation.  He gets it in the same way that Jesus understood that worries will arise within your soul; you do not need to seek the worries out.  He gets it in the same way the Jesus understood that anger will come and rage within your heart; you do not need to seek the anger out.  Selfish ambition and the need to control will come; we do not need to seek it out.  But, he also understands that we do not need to let it overwhelm our lives and the lives of those around us, all of whom we are supposed to be demonstrating our love.

About worry, Jesus says in the Sermon of the Mount, “Do not continuously worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear” (Matthew 6:25).  Instead, he invites us to “Look at the birds” and “Consider the lilies of the field” (Matthew 6:26 and 28).  Jesus means it.  He wants us to actually stop what we are doing, look, and meditate on the birds and the lilies, because in the stopping, we might both come to our senses and see something in a new way.

In the same way, Jesus tells us, “If you are continually angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment” (Matthew 5:22).  Once again, Jesus invites us to stop, abandon what we are doing immediately, and make things right with the one with whom we disagree.  “First be reconciled to your brother or sister,” Jesus says (Matthew 5:24).  That is the most important thing.  After-all, by making up with those with whom we are angry, we might come to our senses and see something in a new way.

James, who I remind you is a scholar on the sayings found within the Sermon on the Mount, follows Jesus’ lead and tells his people: “If you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth” (James 3:14).  In other words, if you feel envy and selfish ambition at work within, stop, do not say another word, close that mouth, and first “make peace” (James 3:18).  James and Jesus are both big fans of taking a deep breath before you do anything.  They are both big fans of, first, making peace within ourselves and with those around us.  That comes first.

There is no reason to completely lose control when you see the branch coming.  How will that help anything?  Your kicking and slashing about will just either hurt yourself, or someone else.  We know this to be true.

And, what do we discover if we just take a moment to stop?  What do we discover if we first seek peace within and without?

Do you know what I forgot that day when I saw that branch coming my way and I completely panicked?  I forgot that I was on my dad’s shoulders.  I was so consumed with saving myself that I forgot that he had a hold of me the entire time.  He had a tight hold on my legs, and he was not going anywhere without me. 

Something that I never even stopped to consider was that he could see what was about to happen just as well as I.  And, as soon as he felt me thrashing about, he reached up and held me close to his head as he swooped low and safely navigated the branch.

“Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you,” Jesus promises (Matthew 7:7). 

“You do not have, because you do not ask,” James says, reiterating Jesus’ point (James 3:2)

Or, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly,” and you use what you have been given only for yourself (James 3:3).

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you” (James 4:7-8a). 

Draw near to God, because God chose to draw near to you.  God came to you as a child.  God came to you in the healing hands and feet of Jesus.  God came down out of the heavens into this troubled world to go to a cross in order to save you from this troubled world; in order to lift you up on his shoulders and bring you home.  God has already chosen to draw near to you.  You are already sitting on the shoulders of our loving God.  You are not walking alone, nor are you walking unnoticed in this world.

So, grasp onto the one who is holding you.  “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you” (James 4:8a).  Our lives are about drawing near to one another.

One day, while Jesus was teaching about how he was going to suffer and die and rise again, two of his disciples were arguing about which one of them was the greatest.  They became wrapped up in themselves.  In response, Jesus drew a child close, took it into his arms and said, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me” (Mark 9:37). In a self-centered world, Jesus’ followers are all in the business of drawing near to one another just as their God has drawn near to them.  And, so we repeat again and again this simple truth: “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you” (James 4:8a).