Year B Proper 20 23 September 2012
Proverbs 31: 10-31 Psalm 1 James 3:13 - 4: 3, 7-8a Mark 9: 30-37
When I was downloading the readings for this week I groaned when I saw Proverbs 31. I thought it was the reading about that amazing woman that makes me feel inadequate. I was right, the reading is about this perfect woman who seems to be super human, but I was also wrong because she no longer made me feel inadequate. The difference is time and circumstance….and understanding.
Once upon a time I felt I was judged as being an inadequate mother and wife and the woman from Proverbs 31 proved it by comparison. The reading speaks of a woman who manages her household, cares for her family and servants and also has her own personal work that she seems to also find time for. If we leave it at that we miss the point, and I think that I had previously overlooked the point of the reading. The point being that this woman was who she was, and could do what she could do, because she was a woman of God.
Proverbs 31:30-31 “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.”
This is a lady from a respectable, well established and wealthy family. We read that she has servants for whom she provides food, and that she cares for the poor and needy. This is a lady who doesn’t want for anything and could well “Lord” it over others and enjoy her position, but she doesn’t. Instead she uses her position as a gift from God to be used for the benefit and blessing of others.
This sheds some light on our Gospel reading. Once again Jesus talks of his death and resurrection, as if emphasizing to the disciples the truth of the matter, but then he asks them what they were talking about on the road. He knew well what they were talking about. They were arguing about who was the greatest among them.
Perhaps they were beginning to believe that Jesus would indeed die and so they needed to know who would take over as leader….. Maybe they missed the bit about his resurrection…. I suspect that Jesus heard the conversation and let it develop until all their ambitions were exposed.
James 3:14 “But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.”
Sometimes it isn’t until a situation arises that we become aware of our own ambitions and envy and when we do become aware we need to heed the words of James because there are two natural responses. One is to deny that the envy and ambition exists. The envy and ambition will continue to drive our actions and poison our being like an invisible evil force. The other natural response is to own the ambition as something we boast about….. “I want that thing, and I envy that person …” etc..
James tells us to do neither of these things. Instead we need to acknowledge it and confess it. We need to look at our desires in the light of the wisdom that Jesus has shown us.
James 4:1-3 “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”
“You desire but do not have, so you kill……” You may read that immediately say that doesn’t apply to you, but have you ever stifled someone’s creativity because you wanted to be the one seen as in charge? Or put someone “in their place”, for the same reason? Have you ever talked about someone behind their back and spread rumours simply because you don’t like the fact that they look better than you or seem to have more than you?
James tells us that we do not have, because we haven’t asked God, and if we have asked, we ask with wrong motives. Sometimes we might even almost convince ourselves that our motives are in line with what God wants, but God isn’t fooled.
Jesus let the disciple show their true colours. Their ambition and jealousy was revealed, and then he told the disciples that whoever wants to be first must become the servant of all. He took a child and explained that to be a servant means to welcome, care for and serve even children.
In that ancient culture children were the last people that were to be respected. In complete contrast to our own culture, if a house was burning down it would be expected that you’d save the elders first and the children last. Children were not even considered heirs until they came of age. So to then be told that the most important person in the kingdom of God must be a servant to little children was somewhat a shock.
The perfect picture of a leader in the kingdom of God is that one that we find in Proverbs 31. Once again this will be a shock to many people because firstly she is not a man. This woman does not have a view of herself that places her above others, but she uses her gifts for the blessing of all.
The world truly is crazy. We live in a world where homosexuals are fighting for their rights to marriage and yet we in the church still can’t acknowledge women leaders. As my friend, Mike Nelson, once said, “after all… we can’t just let anyone tell us about Jesus!!!” (He was being sarcastic).
Once upon a very long time ago when God was inspiring a very wise man to write the book of proverbs, he chose to portray a leader and he chose a woman. But let’s be realistic about this…. It isn’t the fact that she was female that was important, it was that she feared God and used her gifts for the benefits of others. Free will means that we need to choose if we will fear God and use our gifts for the benefits of others, but there are no limitations on God’s gifts and there are no boundaries when God empowers.
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