Reflection on Readings for 11 November 2012 proper 27

Mark 12:38-40 “As he taught, Jesus said, “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honour at banquets. They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.””

This passage reminds me of something that happened when the Anglican Diploma students went to the Indigenous theology college graduation on Thursday night. The Indigenous priest asked us, “Who are you blokes?” Our fearless leader replied, “This is the Anglican theology students.”

The Indigenous College is also Anglican, but he replied, “Anglican? What’s that? The Chosen Frozen! ...and more frozen than chosen!” And we all laughed, because we could all probably bring to mind an image of traditional Church that fitted this description....... but not us of course!!



This passage from the Gospel is an invitation to take an honest look at ourselves.... the Pharisees were the religious leaders who were God's earthly representatives. Can you imagine what God would be doing if he were on earth? Would he be parading around in the shops escorted by the dignitaries, such that the poor folk, (the single parents, the hung over night clubbers and smelly addicts) were kept away? Would he remain in the altar sanctuary area of the church and wait for people to come to see him?



I hope the answer is obvious, but I want us to make this a little more personal.... WE are God's representatives on earth.
In the past the clergy had been seen as people deserving respect in the community. But I would like you for just a moment, to consider how your friends, acquaintances and work colleagues would respond to you if you were to announce to them that you were to be ordained a priest tomorrow.



In some circles, being clergy can still be seen as a position of respect but, more often than not, this is now a position of disdain in society. On the flip side it is still a good thing on a job application to proclaim that you are a church goer..... So it is now the people in the pews who’ve become the people of honour and respect who might fail to realize that they are actually claiming and enjoying a seat of honour, and who may not realize it, but they maybe figuratively devouring widows houses. Anyone who calls themselves “Christian” is God's representative on earth but it is becoming increasingly important that the laity realize that they are called to this..... are we aware of this and responsible? ...or do we simply enjoy the privilege of being seen as a "holy" or “good” person?


Here is the benchmark to test if we are truly being God's representative on earth? Do we love our neighbour, and care for the poor?


During my week away, taking part in the intensive unit for the Diploma course, the idea of power was discussed. Each person there truly desired to NOT abuse the power, position and responsibility we have. Someone reminded us that mother Theresa described the people that she worked with as the "ungrateful poor". We need to realize that the reward for being truly God's representative on earth may well mean that no earthly reward may be forthcoming. (Remember the story of the ten leapers? Only one returned to give God thanks.)


Not all are called to work directly with the poor in the way of mother Theresa, but we all need to have the same heart that genuinely has concern. The poor that we may be called to work with are the people we meet each day. They may or may not be financially poor, but they may be spiritually poor.... emotionally poor... simply worn out and hurt.
They may be the ungrateful poor, with little regard for our efforts, but this is our mission because we know it is the poor that God is concerned with, and often, the poor who are his chosen. Such is in the case of Ruth.... Ruth 3:3 “One day Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, I must find a home for you, where you will be well provided for.”


Naomi was a woman of great grief. She was a woman of God and yet her sons and husband had died. She had told her daughter-in-laws that they could go home to their family of origin, thus releasing them from any obligation to look after her. Can you imagine her grief? Not only would it have seemed a great emotional loss, but who would care for Naomi and provide for her?



While the natural reaction would have been to cling to the daughter-in-laws and demand that they had an obligation to care for her, Naomi puts the welfare of her daughter-in-laws ahead of her on and strives to trust solely on the Lord for her future. I suspect she didn’t hold out much hope, but that which she could give, she gave..... she gave the hope of remarriage and a happier life to the daughter-in-laws.



In many ways she was like the widow from our Gospel reading who gave to God all she had to live on. And we read on to discover that Ruth follows in this same act of selflessness.



Ruth refused to leave her mother-in-law and proclaimed that famous commitment statement, “where you go, I will go. Your God will be my God and your people will be my people”.



You know, that wonderful commitment is all good and well, and to us it might seem lovely, warm and fuzzy, but this was a commitment that could have meant the death of Ruth. She was going to live with a foreign people, and if our own experiences tell us anything it should be about how hard it is to be accepted when we try to become part of a new family. I wonder if this “family” of God, the Israelites, were as difficult to be accepted by as some of our own church families.



Ruth was not even an Israelite by birth. She was an outsider in that community- but she chose to be joined to the family of God, not because of the acceptance of the people, but because of her duty and love for her mother-in-law. I have no doubt many would have still regarded her as an outsider -bigger fool them to reject her, as she became an ancestor of Christ.



We often have subconscious limits about just who might be the recipients of God’s grace. I suspect that the Israelite people of Ruth’s time would never have thought it possible that this outsider could have been God’s chosen vessel to bring them salvation. It was a long way down the line, but Ruth was the great grandmother of King David and therefore an ancestor of Christ.



Certainly the story testifies that Ruth’s commitment to her mother-in-law was admired by many, but it was only the wonderful man, Boaz, who would redeem the property to which this outsider belonged, and, reading between the lines, it seems that these remarks about Ruth’s admiration came from a distance, as if from those who feared to contaminate themselves with an “unclean” Gentile woman.



Are we limiting God’s grace by rejecting someone who might just be a vessel, chosen by God, to bring God’s message of salvation? Although we may subconsciously sometimes reject some one as being a possible recipient of God’s grace, do we also subconsciously reject someone as not being able to bring us God’s grace? Ruth shows us that she was both. She was an outsider destined to receive God’s grace and she was an outsider who was the bringer of God’s grace and salvation. What I am really asking is, do we realize that God can reveal himself to us through the man who seems to be just a little slow? ....through the new Christian who seems to be a little flighty and worldly?.... The elderly quiet lady... and the list goes on....



Hebrews 9: 24 “For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence.”



In God’s perfect plan for our salvation he died to unite ALL to himself. He also sent us all his Holy Spirit. Taking this through to its logical implications we see that God lives in all his people, therefore he can minister to all and through ALL.

Once upon a very long time ago I use to be very critical as I listened to the preaching at church. Somehow it dawned on me that I had the wrong attitude and I can remember that this was at a time that my house backed onto the church grounds. I’d go to church on Saturday night, but I could hear it a second time while I sat in my back yard. I remember that I decided that I should pray for the minister while church was going on. So I prayed for his sermon, that the Holy Spirit would lead him and also that the Holy Spirit would enable the listeners to hear God’s message in what he was saying.



None of us is perfect and we all fall very short of perfection, but many of us do care deeply about the truth of God. Sometimes this caring causes us to fight for what we believe to be true and this is necessary and good, but do we realize the person we are arguing with just may have the same passionate commitment to the truth of God?



We have the potential to be the equivalent of the hypocritical Pharisees if we remain comfortable in our honourable position in society and church and do not care for the poor.



I’d like to suggest that our poor neighbours that God would have us care for, are the very same people that we may have hurt with our criticisms. These maybe the emotionally poor, or the spiritually poor... maybe even the financially poor who’ve learnt to hide it well so that they appear to fit in. I’d also like to challenge us to care for the outcast - Those who are new to our churches and those who maybe just feel alone.... they maybe hard to spot, but if we pray for God’s guidance I’m sure we’ll not be led astray.



Finally I want to point out that the outcast, the criticized, the overwhelmed and the harassed that God wants us to also put our whole self into caring for, is our ministers. These are those on the front line of the battle and they have become society’s outcast and sometimes they are outcast in their own churches. Often they are called by God to move from where they are comfortable into places where they are unknowns and outsiders and they find themselves giving all and getting only criticism in return.





Mark 12:41- 44 “Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.

Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”