The Medicine We Need

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets, Houston

September 22, 2024
Proper 20, B
James 3:1-12
Psalm 116:1-8
Mark 8:27-38

So, when my kids were younger and they had colds and various other things for which they’d take medicine, I would give them the medicine, and they’d pretty well take it. Maybe they’d ask, “What is this?” I’d tell them it was cold medicine and would make them feel better, and so they took it. Even then, though they had no idea of what it was or what it did. 

It wasn’t not like it was some new food that they could eat and spit out if they didn’t like it. The medicine was something they didn’t really understand at all, other than “Mom and Dad said it’s good for me, so I’ll take it.” It occurred to me at one point just how much trust there was in that. They were curious about it, but otherwise, the thought of not taking it didn’t really occur to them. We said it was good for them, that it would help them, and so with no further understanding, they took they medicine. 

Jesus’ trust in God was like that trust of a child. What did he do in the garden of Gethsemane, when he wanted to walk away from it all and not be arrested and killed? Jesus prayed, “not my will be done, but your will be done.” God had joined with humanity by becoming human as Jesus, and so in dying on the cross, God joined physically with humanity even in our death, so that nothing, not even death itself, can separate us from God. 

To Jesus, in the garden of Gethsemane, it is as if God said, “Your death is the medicine that humanity needs,” so Jesus, without even fully understanding said, “Ok, I trust you; your will be done.” Jesus had the trust of a child. 

Jesus also compared himself to a child. When his disciples were arguing among themselves about which one of them was the greatest, Jesus brought a child to them and said, “If you welcome a child, you welcome me.” Don’t worry about who is greatest. Trust in God. The child that Jesus brought to them had no greatness like the disciples wanted, but the child did have the trust of a child beloved of their parents. Jesus didn’t desire greatness from his disciples, but rather trust, knowing that setting aside their egos and trusting in God is what would be best for all of them. Trusting in God was the medicine they needed.

In James’ letter which we heard today, he wrote to a church that was in need of some medicine as well. The sickness from which some of them seemed to be suffering was “bitter envy and selfish ambition,” kinda like Jesus’ disciples before them.  

“Who is the greatest?” Jesus’ disciples asked. They were jockeying for position, wanting to have power and glory in Jesus’ kingdom. Those to whom James was writing seem to have been doing the same thing, fighting among themselves, trying to gain advantage over one another. Who was going to be in charge? Who was going to have more power and authority over the others?

I dare say that’s something we do in our lives too. Whether we’re wanting greatness in the larger society around us or we’re simply wanting some power over the people in our lives, most of us have some ways that we want greater power. That need for greatness is fueled by insecurity of not being good enough. That need for power is fueled by fear and a desire for greater control in our lives, control over others so they don’t have control over us. Our desires for greater power and control are totally understandable, and those desires sound like wanting the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, trusting in our own power, rather than letting go some of our power and trusting in God. 

Jesus taught his disciples to give up their desires for power and to trust God like a little child because Jesus knew that would heal them more than gaining the power they sought over one another. If they got the power and greatness they wanted, their fear and insecurity would still be there. They would constantly be at odds with one another, constantly fighting for more power, not trusting each other. Power and greatness wouldn’t heal them, but just give them more over which to be fearful and insecure. 

The medicine that would heal the disciples and did heal the disciples was to entrust their lives to God. When they did, what happened in their lives? Peace, gentleness, mercy. They found they could face the challenges of life, not always getting their way, but finding greater peace with life’s challenges, trusting in God. Greatness be damned, Jesus’ disciples found they didn’t need it.

What Jesus’ disciples found was that greatness within the church wasn’t about power but about service. Those who seek power within the church by seeking positions of authority misunderstand the way of Jesus and the places of importance within the church.

What is the most important work of the church, and where is that work done? The most important work of the church is done in the actions and relationships of all of the members of the church. The most important work of the church is how all of us live and teach the love of Jesus. How do we love and serve one another? How do we heal the wounds of the world by caring for those around us? How do we help others have the peace of God that comes through trusting in Jesus? That is the great work of the church, and it is done by everyday Christians, regular folks. 

All of the perceived greatness within the church, the pastors, the priests, the bishops, all of their work is done to support the great work of the church, the work of everyday people living as Jesus’ disciples in our everyday lives. 

Where does that work come from? How is that work done? The great work of everyday Christians is done first and foremost by trusting in God. In all of the changes and chances of our lives, we find peace and belonging by seeking God’s wisdom from above. As James wrote, “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. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.”

Our conflicts and disputes come from our cravings, even our cravings to be right, even our cravings to force others to be right and righteous. That’s wanting control over the world, wanting power and greatness. Rather than seek power and greatness, we are taught to submit ourselves to God. It may seem like getting our way would heal us, but it won’t. Like a kid getting medicine they doesn’t understand from their trusted parents, we are healed by trusting in God more than in ourselves.  

Walking with God in the Way of Love

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets, Houston

September 1, 2024
Proper 17, B
James 1:17-27
Psalm 15
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Hey guys, don’t think about kittens jumping around in front of a scared looking puppy. Stop, I said don’t think about it. No kittens jumping. No scared puppy. Keep it out of your mind.

Failures. Kidding.

It’s hard not to think about something when you’re focusing on not thinking about it. Ok, now think about Jesus’ teaching in the Gospel we just heard. ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.’ Spending time in worship can be really good for us, and the worship God truly wants is caring for one another. Loving one another. Think about someone in need and choosing to help them out. Think about a time you were in need and a kind and loving person came to your aid. I’m guessing you weren’t just thinking about cats and puppies anymore, were you?

Jesus said that the things that defile a person are the harmful things that come out of our hearts. Fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly, these selfish things that we do are what defile us, not doing our religion wrong. 

So, I could preach about not doing those things, talking about each one in detail, and saying “That’s bad; don’t do it.” The problem is that sometimes the harder we try not to do something, the more we fixate on it and the harder time we have not doing it. Don’t think of the kittens and the puppy, right? And as soon as I tell us not to, we start thinking about it. 

Jesus giving us this list of things not to do is important and teaching we often need to realize that these things are harmful, and there’s more to the story. Jesus didn’t just say, “This stuff’s bad; don’t do it.” Jesus gave us a way of life so that we would not just fixate on harmful behaviors and end up doing them anyway. The way of life that Jesus gave us is the way of love. 

Now, following the way of love is part of why there so many are religious practices. Religious practices, at their best, are meant to help train us, to keep us walking with God in the way of love, walking with one another so the thought of harming one another would go totally against who we are. Unfortunately, we often forget that, and religious practices end up being ways we try to please God. 

As far back as human history goes, people have had belief in one type of god or another, and along with all of our various beliefs about God or gods, people have continually sought ways to please God. People have tried to get God on their side against others. People have tried to gain God’s favor so that crops will grow or natural disasters won’t happen. In all sorts of societies, people have done all sorts of things to appease their gods. 

Folks have sacrificed animals and various food on altars. Folks have burned things, said particular prayers at particular times, cut themselves, had ritual dances, even left out milk and cookies. 

What we find over and over in scripture is that God was never all that interested in any of that stuff. 

In Jesus’ day, the some of the religious leaders were pretty adamant about doing everything they could to try to please God. We heard today about the Pharisees who even went beyond the actual laws that they were supposed to follow and said that Jesus and his disciples were displeasing God because they were eating without washing their hands. There were a lot of laws about washing, about being ritually clean before God, but washing your hands before you ate wasn’t one of those laws. By tradition, they had added hand washing to the ritual purity laws. 

On the one hand, it was really helpful in keeping disease down. As far as societal health went, handwashing was fantastic. It just wasn’t going to make you more or less righteous before God.

All of those rituals and religious laws weren’t bad, but folks could miss the point, thinking the rituals were there to please God, rather than to be helpful for the people. The practice of keeping the laws, of following the ritual, with a mind toward connecting with God and trusting in God, can be helpful. You’re training yourself to trust in God in all things. The rituals and laws are like daily practice of trusting in God, unless they become things you must do lest God be angry with you.

Look at modern Christianity, guilting people for not showing up for church on Sunday. No wonder people don’t want to come…as though coming to church pleases God in and of itself. Worshipping together is meant to be helpful for us, joining together with one another, taking some time to pause in the business and struggle of life, to rest together, connecting with God. That’s a good way to practice religion…and it’s not going to make God happy with us.

What is the religion that pleases God? Taking care of one another.

The more we take care of one another, the more we see the absolute beauty and divine worth of every human being. When we see one another’s divine worth and care for one another, then we end up not falling into those destructive ways Jesus talked about: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, and folly. Rather than not thinking about kittens and puppies, we focus on loving one another.

Those vices that Jesus mentioned are all about selfish pleasure seeking with no regard to the hurt we do to others. Gaining immense wealth with no regard to how it hurts others. Taking and taking and taking, with no regard for anyone else. Taking people’s things and livelihoods. Taking the truth from people. Taking life from people. 

All of these desires we have within us, and acting on these desires is what defiles us, Jesus says. Acting on our selfish desires with no regard for others is what makes us ‘stained’ by the world, as James says. 

Look at religious hypocrites, which we all are at times, but think about the big examples. Huge mega-pastor televangel-whatevers who have an enormous following. They’re great at showing how religious they are and demanding that same religious purity from others, and then they get brought down by some big financial or sex scandal. We tend to call such people hypocrites, but the real problem is not the hypocrisy, but that they were chasing after the wrong things in the first place. It’s not as though their super religiousness was stained by their misdeeds. The point is that all of their religiosity that looked so impressive never much mattered in the first place.  

They were hearers of the word and not doers, at least in part because of a focus on doing all of their religiousy stuff right, trying to please God (or at least show off about pleasing God), rather than simply trying to love and serve other people.

True religion, according to James, is to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. Being here, following other religious practices is training to trust in God, to love ourselves, to love others. When we do that, those selfish desires which live within us tend to fade away. We love and care for others, and that makes our religion true. Loving and caring for others is the religion that pleases God.

We don’t need to make grand gestures to appease God. We don’t need to be super religious. Just go with the simple notion that we all matter, that we all are of divine importance, and treat one another accordingly.