Called to Prayer
James 5:13-20; Mark 9:38-50 - Season of Creation — Sunday, September 26, 2021
Pastor Ritva H Williams
We meet Jesus this morning exactly where we left him last week — at the end of episode 1 of chapter 9 — holding a little child in his arms, and saying, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me and the one who sent me.”
As a quick reminder, the disciples has been arguing about who was the greatest. Motivated by envy and self-ambition, their goal was to climb to the top of the social, economic, religious, political ladders society constructs. Jesus redefines greatness as lifting up the smallest, the lowest, the weakest, most vulnerable members of the community. It is in the very persons that society overlooks, ignores, and puts down that Christ comes to us. The disciples don’t get it.
Episode 2 — today’s gospel reading begins with Jesus still holding that little child in his arms. John interrupts Jesus mid-lesson: “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop them, because they were not following us.” Wow! John reveals that the disciples see fellow Christ-followers through a narrow us-versus-them lens. If you are not part of our church you aren’t true Christians.
Here’s the reality of the Jesus movement. Christ didn’t have only twelve disciples, he commissioned more than 70 persons to spread his message (Luke 10:1-24). Then there were the thousands of people Jesus fed, and the many people he healed of various illness. All those people had stories about Jesus they wanted to share. Some of them discovered that they could help hurting people just like Jesus did. The Jesus movement multiplied and spread like the weedy little mustard plant of his famous parable (Mark 4:30-32; Matthew 13:31-32) resulting in small faith communities popping up in unlikely places. Today there are more than 200 denominations of Christians in America, and more than 45,000 denominations worldwide — all doing mission in Christ’s name. Then there are all the other global faith communities doing mission in God’s name. Millions and millions of people trying to do good throughout the world.
Jesus’ response is clear: don’t stop people who are doing good works in my name. “Whoever is not against us is for us.” Jesus encourages us to view others by their actions — “whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ.” Jesus calls us to celebrate all the acts of compassion done every day regardless of who does them. That’s lesson #1 in today’s gospel reading.
Jesus, still holding the little child in his arms, returns to his original topic, this time to warn the disciples about the serious consequences of harming the “little ones.” These include children, slaves, persons with disabilities, and all those who are marginalized in hierarchical earthly systems that value men over women, light skinned people over dark skinned people, straight people over gay people, older folks over young people, or youth over age, and so forth.
The person guilty of tripping up and harming these “little ones” will face consequences that are even worse than having a great millstone hung around your neck as you are thrown into the sea. Yet these is hope even for these sinners. Jesus says, “If your hand causes you to trip and harm others, cut it off. If your foot causes you to trip and harm others, cut if off. If your eye causes you to trip and harm others, tear it out.” Jesus uses strong language intentionally to grab the disciples by the scruff of the neck and shake them to their senses about the consequences of harming the “little ones” in our communities.
Mark tells us in 4:33 that Jesus “did not speak [to the people] except in parables” (4:33). So rest assured, Jesus is not actually advocating self-mutilation. He is speaking in parables. Rather Jesus is charging his disciples to examine what their hands and feet do — their actions and behavior toward the little ones. Do they lift up or kick down, care for or harm? Jesus warns cease and desist with all forms of harmful behavior. Jesus is charging his disciples to examine how they look at the little ones — with compassion or contempt, with mercy or with judgment. Jesus warns tear out those negative biases and stereotypes.
Jesus tells us that there is a direct correlation between our behavior and attitudes toward the little ones in our communities and our relationship with God. “Whoever welcomes one such child welcomes me and the one who sent me.” The point of Jesus’ message is perhaps best summed up by this saying of Dorothy Day, journalist, activist, and founder of the Catholic Worker Movement: “I really only love God as much as I love the person I love the least.” If you really love God you will love all the people God loves, even if you don’t like them much. At a minimal level you will treat them with the same respect and dignity that you yourself want to be treated with.
The good news is that we can love more. We can change our harmful behavior and attitudes. We put them behind us, and let them die with Christ on the cross so that the risen Christ can fill us up with God’s love. Christ empowers us to love others as God loves us, to act with care and compassion, to look on others with grace and mercy.
We find the answer to how this happens in the final chapter of James’s letter where he focuses on the power of prayer. He encourages people experiencing bad times to pray, and people experiencing good times to sing songs of praise. He wants those who are sick to ask church leaders to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Christ. James insists that the prayer of faith heals the sick in body, mind and spirit, and releases them from shame, guilt, and remorse. Confessing your sins to persons you have wronged, and praying for one another is especially transformative. The prayers of the persons living in right relations with God and one another can be especially powerful.
Gay L. Byron, professor of New Testament at Howard University School of Divinity, writes, “prayer has carried people from all walks of life through the most difficult of circumstances. For African Americans in particular, prayer is a foundational aspect of their faith. It is a link to the power of God — a type of “conversation” with God that exceeds anything of human origin (1:5). Prayer is the catalyst of healing, the conduit through which doors are opened, and the assurance that you will make it through today and have hope for a brighter tomorrow. Prayer changes things!” (“Commentary on James 5:13-20; September 26, 2021; workingpreacher.org).
Until the onset of the pandemic, St Stephen’s had practiced healing prayer on a monthly basis. Our reading from James’ this morning is a timely call to return to that practice. As a reminder: In its ministry of healing, the church does not replace the gifts of God that come through the scientific and medical communities nor does it promise a cure. Rather, the church offers and celebrates God’s presence with strength and comfort in time of suffering, God’s promise of wholeness and peace, and God’s love embodied in the community of faith. You may receive the laying on of hands and anointing with oil together with a word of prayerful blessing as you come forward to receive Holy Communion.
James’ reminder about the power of prayer also calls us to immerse ourselves more deeply in prayer as we struggle to living through a continuing pandemic, as we trying to learn to become anti-racist, as contemplate moving forward with our Place for Everyone — All Are Welcome building renovation project. So with that in mind, let us pray:
O God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
