Mark 10:35-45 - "Down the Ladder"

         I listened recently to a public radio presentation on parasomnia, which is category of sleep that often expresses itself in rather dramatic sleepwalking.  Basically, a person’s dreams are extremely vivid because the veil between sleep and wakefulness is extraordinarily thin.  A parasomniac actually acts out a complete dream in his or her real life setting – sometimes to humorous - and not so humorous - consequences.

         In one true story that the program host related, a man dreamt that he had won third place in the Olympics.  However, just as he was about to receive his bronze medal, the International Olympic Committee President interrupted the awards ceremony to announce a grievous error.  The man, in fact, had actually won the event, and he should be presented with the gold – not the bronze – medal. 

         The man was overjoyed, of course, and immediately began to climb onto the top spot on the podium.  However, as he did so, the podium began to shake uncontrollably and then crumpled to the ground.  It was at that point that the man awoke, only to discover that, in his parasomniac state, he had left his bed, climbed to the top of a bookcase, and the bookcase had toppled over.

         Now I tell you this story not to initiate a discussion on unusual sleep habits, but rather to point out our very human obsession with being first.  Blogger Nancy Rockwell describes the phenomenon like this.

         “First.  The word permeates our thinking, informs our social relations, orders our values and our world, tells us who we are in the bustling human sea….First Born, First Chance, First Place, First Signs, First Opportunity.  We understand ourselves in relation to the firsts that are part of our lives….First Things, First Time, First Base, First Prize….Firsts are how we know where we are and where we are going….First Lady, First Family, First World, First Act, First Place, First Among Equals….Firsts establish a social order, and we all know it. …First Step, First Tooth, First Word…These mark our progress from the beginning of our lives.”            And it was no different for James and John, two of Jesus’ disciples who are featured in today’s Gospel lesson.  Now, one might label this duo immature, dimwitted, or even socially irresponsible because of what they did that day.  However, you cannot fault them for their honesty. They knew what they wanted, and they did not hesitate to ask for it.

        Now, I know that we are all told throughout school and sometimes beyond that there are no stupid questions.  However, James and John really did give the lie to that particular piece of advice.  You have got to admit that they asked, if not a stupid, then a really inappropriate question.

         “Teacher,” they said as they initiated this particular conversation, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” 

         Now how audacious is that statement?  God, can you give me an A on that test? Jesus, I need a girlfriend.  Spirit, I really want a Porsche.  

         Holy One, “my lawn’s looking a little dry. I need for you to send some rain - but not Thursday afternoon. That’s when I play golf. I’d appreciate it if it could be dry then. Wait until Friday morning. Yes, that would be good. (Hold it), I’ve got that long drive to that big sales meeting. I can’t afford for the roads to be slick so that it slows me down. Could you make it rain just enough to take care of the lawn but not affect the roads?”

         “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”  James and John were bold and brash.  They did not pull any punches.  However, Jesus did not fall into that rather obvious trap.  Instead he asked for specifics.  “What is it? I’ll see what I can do.”  

         “Arrange it,” they said, “so that we will be awarded the highest places of honor in your glory—one of us at your right, the other at your left.” 

         They wanted the first class seats when Jesus became king – no doubt about it.  They wanted the power and the glory that should be part and parcel of the kingdom as they saw it – and besides that, apparently James and John did not think there was going to be enough of that power and glory to go around because they did not ask Jesus this favor on behalf of all the disciples.  They asked it in secret – just for themselves.

         And, boy, were the other ten disciples angry about that.  You see, they too wanted premium seats.  They too wanted the power and prestige that in their little minds were surely their due after the years they had given to this itinerant rabbi. 

         Did these guys not get it?  Were they really such blockheads?  Jesus had already told them twice that he was bent on getting to Jerusalem and that he expected to encounter immense suffering there as well as absolute rejection and even death.  Though we often call these revelations of Jesus “passion predictions”, they are probably better labeled as “Interpretations of the Messiah’s Mission.”  (David Lose)

         The long and the short of it was that the future with Jesus was not going to be a Sunday School picnic.  And it was certainly not going to be like the pomp and circumstance that James and John envisioned when they imagined Jesus entering Jerusalem and being crowned the long awaited king of all Judaism. 

         In spite of all the time they had spent with Jesus, in spite of Jesus trying his best to interpret again and again and again the essence of his mission, the foundation of the kingdom he proclaimed, and the role of discipleship, James and John (and the other ten for that matter) still did not get it. 

         They continued to imagine the formidable white horse on which Jesus would ride as he overtook the Holy City.  They still saw in their mind’s eye the banquet table and the dais and the two of them seated on either side of King Jesus.

         They conjured up the only image of leadership that they had ever experienced.  As Christian Church pastor, Mickey Anders writes, “The traditional image of leadership…is that of an autocratic person controlling and manipulating the actions of others. This approach has been practiced throughout the world among virtually all cultures. 

         Sometimes both followers and leaders prefer this kind of leadership because it relieves the followers of the necessity of thinking for themselves and of taking responsibility for their own actions and it gives leaders virtually unlimited power.  Jesus declared, however, that this type of leadership was not to be exercised.” 

         In short, the disciples visualized Jesus as simply taking the place of Herod, of Pilate, of Caesar himself.

         “Arrange it,” they had said, “so that we will be awarded the highest places of honor in your glory—one of us at your right, the other at your left.” 

         The disciples thought they knew who Jesus was and what he was about, but the reality was that they had no vague idea – even after all this time.  And Jesus once again sadly shook his tired head and softly replied, “You have no idea what you are asking.”  And then he used two ancient images of death – baptism and the cup of suffering – to try to make his point clear - but apparently to no avail. 

         “Are you capable of drinking the cup I drink, of being baptized in the baptism I’m about to be plunged into?”

          “Sure,” they said. “Why not?” And then Jesus told them what perhaps they should have realized all along.   “As to awarding places of honor, that’s not my business. There are other arrangements for that.”

          But that was not the end of the discussion.  You see, in one final effort before the final push to the Holy City, Jesus described to the Twelve his unique style of leadership – and if you remember nothing else about this sermon or even about the Gospels themselves, remember the gist of this final part of their conversation.

         “You’ve observed how godless rulers throw their weight around,” Jesus said, “and when people get a little power how quickly it goes to their heads. It’s not going to be that way with you. Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what I have done: I came to serve, not to be served.”

         As Lutheran pastor David Lose writes, “Jesus invites them not just to re-imagine but actually to redefine their understanding of power, prestige, status, and leadership. In this case he defines leadership as serving the needs of another. Which means that glory comes not from individual accomplishment but from service.”

         It is not a question of upward mobility in a world of power games and overwelming insecurity about having enough – enough time, money, prestige, or love.  

It is not a question of upward mobility in a world crowded with cultural messages that run roughshod over the essence of the gospel message to help our neighbor.  It is not a question of upward mobility in a global society that encourages us to look out for #1 - at any cost. 

         It is not a question of upward mobility, but rather it is a matter of intentionally stepping downward on the ladder – rung after rung - until we are at a vantage point to be able to really look our neighbor in the eye, until we are near enough to place a bowl of food into empty hands, until we are close enough to reach out and touch the untouchable, hug the unhuggable, and love the unlovable. 

         As Mickey Anders writes so accurately, “Jesus declares that it is only in service that one may become great.  By his example and by his direct teaching, Jesus showed the way to real leadership for us today, (which is)…not power but love, not force but example, not coercion but reasoned persuasion.”

         We call it servant leadership (a term coined by Robert Greenleaf in his book describing effective leadership in secular organizations). For us in the church, it is where each one of us, because we are Christian, acts as “a caring, humble individual who seeks the good of all, as the group of people whom he or she leads accomplishes the organization's objectives." (http://www.regent.edu/acad/schbus/cur/entr665-00fa/entr665-syllabus-00fa.htm)

         And servant leadership is not easy.  That is for sure. It will mean accepting as our own those ancient images of death (baptism and the cup of suffering), which Marcus Borg interprets metaphorically.  That is, it will mean "a dying of the self as the center of its own concern" and "a dying to the world as the center of security and identity." It is that kind of dying, that “radical re-centering” that will lead to transformation, that will lead us to the Kingdom.

         But it works.  Servant leadership works – and deep down inside we all know that.  Our culture’s road to glory, our culture’s brand of autocratic, bullying, “we are #1” leadership, is outdated, unworkable, and unsustainable.  It leads only to a dead end. 

         And we all know that when we have put someone else’s needs first – not because it was demanded of us, not because we wanted to please that person or wanted something in return – but when we did it simply for the sheer delight of helping, of serving, of stepping down the ladder, rung after rung – when we have done that, amazing things have happened.  

         We lent a hand.  We brought over a meal.  We were motivated not by our insecurities about whether we had enough time, enough food, enough love.  Instead we were motivated by the joy of giving to someone else. 

         And we found that we received in some inexplicable way more than we gave.  And our reward was not just gratitude from the one we served but also an injection of courage and sense of purpose to our own lives.  We discovered that to lead by serving, to lead by coming down the ladder rather than expecting that the only way to go was up, to lead in that way was indeed to walk in the footsteps of Jesus.

by Rev. Nancy Foran, Raymond Village COmmunity Church, Raymond, Maine

www.rvccme.org

Mark 10:17-31 - "It's the Economy, Stupid!"

         Once there was a young man with an excellent job.  He shaved every day and dressed well.  He vacationed in Hawaii for the snorkeling and Park City, Utah, for the skiing.  The cuffs of his pants were never frayed, and his socks were clean.  He only had one credit card, which he paid off in full every month without fail, and he had not defaulted on a single student loan.  He donated 2.5% of his household income to charity, which was exactly the median percentage for charitable contributions of people in his town.

         He went to church each Sunday  - even when the weather was inclement - and sat in the same pew about half way back.  He would be an asset to any congregation.  He could quote the Scriptures fairly extensively, and he attended Bible studies and book groups to learn more about theology and his faith.  He tried not to lie or cheat – and as far as the Ten Commandments went, well, he skyped his parents once a week, and he was honest, and since he was not married yet, the whole adultery thing really did not apply to him anyway.

         However, when he sat in church, much of the time his mind wandered – even when the choir was singing majestically and the preacher was preaching gloriously. 

It was that same niggling feeling that kept interrupting his thoughts, even when he did his best to shove it back down into his unconsciousness. 

         “Is this all there is?” he kept wondering.  “I have everything.  I have no worries.  Why do I feel empty?  Trapped?”

         And so one day, the young man went to his pastor.  He slouched down in the big comfy chair in the old man’s office and asked him.  “What’s missing in my life?”  And in response, the pastor told him a story that went like this.

         The devil was on the prowl one day and was out to get a Christian. When he saw an unsuspecting young follower of Jesus, he shot one of his fiery darts straight at him.  That dart struck the Christian right in the chest.  One might have thought that the Christian was dead meat – except for the fact that the young man had on the breastplate of righteousness, so he was not harmed.

         Not to be outdone, the devil next fired a shot at the Christian's head.  However, the helmet of salvation protected him, and so the fiery dart had no effect. 

         Then the devil figured that three’s the charm and aimed for the Christian’s Achilles heel.  After all, everyone has an Achilles' heel, so he shot at the Christian's feet but was foiled again.  You see, those feet were shod with the gospel of peace, so no damage was done.

         All the while, the young Christian smirked at the devil until he finally thumbed his Christian nose and turned around to walk away. The devil laughed too as he fired a final arrow into the Christian's wallet.  It killed him instantly.

         The young man in the pastor’s office was stunned at the story.  He silently rose from the comfy chair and walked out of the church building, a tear running down his cleanly shaven cheek.

         Oops!  Sorry!  That’s not what the Bible says.  That’s some newfangled modern story.  Listen up.  Here is the real story….Mark 10:17-31.

         Last week the Pew Research Center released a report on Americans’ religious affiliations.  It found that nearly one in five Americans claimed no religious affiliation, meaning that they did not identify themselves as members of a church, synagogue, or mosque.  That really should not surprise us here in Maine, which has traditionally been one of the nation’s least religious states. 

Maybe there is some truth to the old adage – “As Maine goes, so goes the nation.”

         However, what I did find surprising – and more than a little disheartening – was one of the major reasons cited by those surveyed about their lack of an affiliation.  As one respondent said, “I definitely think that some religions are too engaged in the political sphere.”

         And yet, as Christians, as those who say we follow the way of Jesus, how can we not be engaged in the political sphere?  After all, Jesus certainly was.  Why do you think he ended up being executed?  What with all the overturning of the tables in the temple and the preaching about basic human rights for the impoverished – blessed are the poor – and that whole crazy expectation of daily bread and forgiveness of debts – Jesus was messing way too much with the politics of Rome and with the Roman domination system of haves and have nots. 

         Now former President Bill Clinton will be remembered for a lot of things, but one of them is likely to be his campaign slogan – “The economy, stupid.”  It is about the economy. 

And for us, as Christians, it is about the economy, and this passage - without a doubt - brings that message home – home to our hearts and home to our souls.  

         Now before you stifle a yawn at the word “economy” or your eyes roll back in your heads at the thought of the current disagreements and vice presidential sparring over spending, tax cuts, and the salvation of the middle class, let’s first just look at the root of the word “economy.”  It derives form two Greek works:  “oikos” meaning house and “nomos” meaning rule.  Economy then is how a household is organized and structured – the household rules, so to speak.

         That was what the young man was asking Jesus about in this passage we just heard.  His question, as Baptist pastor Jerrod Hugenot wrote, is this: “What is the measure of a person’s worth?   Who has the last word on economics?  Will the “house rules” be determined by the elite, the “powers that be” that work with Rome and the Temple…or (by) the Lord God whose kingdom Jesus is proclaiming?”

        And Jesus’ answer clearly is that, in the end, the Kingdom, which he proclaims, will determine the house rules –and those rules are not going to mirror the cultural rules currently in place.  And so Jesus tells the young man to relieve himself of his possessions – not by heaping them on a garbage dump or hiding them in a closet – but by giving them to the poor, to the have nots. 

         Not because wealth is bad, mind you, because our God is a God of abundance and that God wants you and me to have three square meals a day as much as the Holy One want the homeless man in Portland with his cardboard sign to be properly fed.  Not because wealth is bad but because, in the end, our material blessings are gifts from God and are meant to be shared. 

         And Jesus goes on to tell his disciples that it will be harder for a big old camel to fit through the teeny tiny hole at the end of a needle than it will be for people who put their trust in material possessions to enter the Kingdom.  Not because material possessions are bad, mind you, but because the opposite of rich is not poor, but rather it is free. 

         As Christian Church pastor Mickey Anders wrote, the young man in our story “was not free to take the hand of Jesus because his hand was too full of his things and his love of things.  He might as well have had a ball and chain around his leg.  He was not free to follow Jesus.”

         It is like the art of trapping monkeys.  One technique, you know, is to drill a hole in a coconut and place rice in the coconut.  A monkey will come along and stick a paw into the coconut, grab a fistful of rice, and then be unable to pull its paw back out of the coconut.  He is trapped by his greed.  All he would have to do is let go of the rice, freeing his hand, and he could draw it out.  The problem is that the monkey places greater value on the rice that he is holding than he does on his freedom.  (Mickey Anders)

         So where does this passage from the Gospel of Mark leave us this morning – just days before you will receive some information in the mail about money and this church?  Is this a secret stewardship sermon?  I suppose so, though I like to believe that we talk about stewardship throughout the year here in our church – that many of our Biblical passages highlight Jesus’ affirmation of, and our obligation to, the poor and the role that the church should play in all that – that we recognize that the way of Jesus which we say we are following is about the economy, stupid.

         However, let’s face it.  We do have a hard time talking about money here in church.  It is so much easier to compartmentalize our faith – some things being public and others being private affairs.   As Lutheran pastor David Lose comments, “we think about faith when it comes to making sure our kids (are)… saying…prayers at meal time but not when it comes to balancing our checkbook… or what political stances and candidates we support.”

         
However, this passage in Mark asserts that our faith should influence all aspects of our life.  As David Lose continues, “God, in fact, cares about what we do with our money for at least two reasons. First, how we spend our money has a great impact on the welfare of our neighbor… Indeed, the question we often hear during election-season – "Are you better off (now than you were) four years ago?" – suddenly seems glaringly at odds with the biblical mandate to care for each other. I mean, should (not) we rather be asking, "Is my neighbor better? Are we as a community and nation and world better? And, perhaps most importantly, what can I do about it?"

         Second, how we spend our money has a great impact on our own welfare as well…Jesus knows that there are few things more important for us to do than to share our abundance. From volunteering at a (soup kitchen) to giving money to ensure that fewer people go to bed hungry, each time we share what we have with others, we are blessed as much or more as the recipient of our care. Jesus does not command the young man in the story to give away what he has in order to cause him grief or to test him, but (he commands him) out of love.”

         And about that love business, the fact that Jesus answered the young man out of love.  Why did he love him?  I think Jesus loved him because the young man actually thought about these things.  He struggled with his affluence.  He was not content to just sit in church each Sunday, and deep down inside he knew there was something more than being content to give 2.5% of his income to charity. 

         The young man dared to ask the hard questions – and Jesus loved him for that.  Jesus regretted his answer, to be sure, and his decision not to follow, but he loved him for struggling with how to respond to the blessings he knew in his life.

         That is all I ask of you in the coming weeks with the stewardship campaign looming – just to struggle with how to respond to the blessings you know in your lives.  It’s the economy, stupid.  It is the house rules you choose to put into practice.  It is figuring out how much this church means to you and to what extent you will work through this church to both thank God for your material blessings and to ensure that your neighbor really is better off.   

         That is all I ask of you in the coming weeks – just to struggle with that public/private dichotomy and come to terms with your relationship to your money and your relationship to the way of Jesus and to the God of abundant blessing.

         That is all I ask of you in the coming weeks – just to answer in your heart of hearts these questions:  First, how has God blessed you in the past year - either through this church or in general?  And second, how do you feel God is calling you to respond to those blessings?        

Esther 7:1-6, 9-10, 9:20-22 - "Courage"

         If you read the Bible mostly on Sunday here in church, then you probably do not know much about the Book of Esther.  After all, the lectionary offers up this “bits and pieces” excerpt that we just read only once every three years.  If you had missed this Sunday, then you would have been out of luck for a while! 

         The Book of Esther is in the Old Testament part of our Bible, and it is set some 475 years before Jesus was even born.  It is unusual in the Biblical canon for several reasons, not the least of which is because, as Seminary professor Amy Oden reminds us, this book  “has no mention of Jerusalem, the law, prophets, the Promised Land or exile, or even God. It includes no formal prayers or miracles, though (it) does depict fasting as a pious practice. Its only internal tie to the rest of the Hebrew Bible is that it involves the survival of the Jewish people.”  In short, there is no overt theology in Esther.

         It is unique for another reason too, and that is because it was named for a woman.  Face it – our Bible is full of male prophets and priests and all manner of male military leaders and kings.  Each one of you could list off the big guns - Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Joshua, Solomon, and David, to name just a few. 

         However, it takes only a cursory glance to realize that the Bible is a little light on raising up females as role models or key players.  Lots of Biblical heroes, to be sure, but you do not often find a heroine – a woman of great courage in the face of greater odds.  However, Esther is one such person.

         Her story is like a good novel because scholars believe that it is not historically accurate.  However, that being said, like many stories in the Bible its fundamental truth is embedded in its meaning rather than in its literal facts.  United Church of Christ pastor summarizes the story of Esther like this:  It “is full of all sorts of things we find in the most entertaining movies: irony and intrigue, a thickening plot, clever wits and evil villains, royal splendor and a weak ruler, and, of course, the hero(ine) who rises to the challenge and saves the day.”

         The story of Esther is chockablock full of action and adventure.  It is a tale where the underdog wins, but it is not explicitly religious or preachy. All in all, it is like a Biblical soap opera – or a Hispanic tela-novella.  However, it is still worth learning about because woven in and around and throughout the story, the voice of God is there – albeit off center stage, in the wings.

         The story takes place in Persia where Esther lived.  She was an orphan, and her uncle, Mordecai, raised her.  Now you might remember that at one time the Babylonian army conquered Israel, and many Jewish people were exiled to the outer reaches of that empire.  That was also when the temple in Jerusalem was completely destroyed, left as a smoldering pile of rubble. 

         Fifty or so years later, the Persians conquered Babylon, and the exiled Jews were allowed to return home, which many did.  However, a number of them had carved out a new life there in Babylon and so chose to stay rather than return home to their native land. Mordecai and Esther were among that group of Jews who stayed behind.  However, being Jewish in a pagan world was always a risky business, and so Mordecai and Ester kept their Hebrew heritage a secret.

         Now the drama of Esther really all begins when the king of Persia, whose name was Xerxes, banished his queen for standing up to him and mouthing off one time too many.  Now in need of a replacement consort, Xerxes gathered all of the beautiful women in the kingdom together, thereby greatly expanding his harem. 

And in the confines of the palace, these women prepared for a year for their one-night stand with the king.

         Esther apparently was a real knock out when her turn came because it did not take long for King Xerxes to declare Esther his queen – not that being queen gave her many special privileges.  You see (and this will be important later), she could still only be in the King’s presence when he commanded her. 

         Now Esther’s uncle, Mordecai, accompanied Esther to the king’s court.  After all, would not life be better if at the very least the king knew who you were? 

         However, it is with Mordecai that the real trouble begins.   You see, he had a run in with the king’s prime minister whose name was Haman.  Haman is the bad guy in this story.

         Haman was an uppity sort who must have thought very highly of himself because he expected most everyone to kneel down and pay honor to him.  That proclamation put Mordecai in a real pickle because a good Jew only pays honor to God.  He has a fundamental choice to make.  Does he out himself as a Jew – or hide his religious heritage away?

         Well, this incident is where Mordecai drew the line.  He openly refused to bow down to Haman on religious grounds.  As you might expect, Haman was furious and convinced the king to issue an irrevocable decree to not only execute Mordecai but also to kill every other Jew as well – old and young, including women and children.  Extremely pleased with himself, Haman even went so far as to oversee the construction of Mordecai’s gallows.

         Now what is Mordecai to do?  Well, that is where Esther comes in.  He does his best to persuade her to intervene - no easy task, by the way.  Mordecai is brutally honest as he tells Esther, “Don’t think you’ll survive this.  (But) if you keep silence at such a time as this, your people shall die….And besides, who knows, maybe you have come to be Queen for just such a time as this.”

         I say it was no easy task for Esther because, even though she was queen, remember that technically she had no power whatsoever – and so would be putting herself personally at great risk. Because she could only be in the king’s presence when summoned, to petition the king – uninvited – meant the very real possibility of offending Xerxes and being, at best, banished like her predecessor or, at worst, put to death. 

When you think about it, Esther had a good life going in the palace.  She had a lot to lose and not all that much to gain personally by getting involved in this particular situation. 

         However, Esther was Jewish and in the end that meant something to her.  And so she worked the system and a couple of banquets, a few bottles of wine, and who knows what else later, the king reversed his decision.  Haman the bad guy was hoisted up on the gallows he constructed for Mordecai, and once again the Jewish populace was saved from destruction.

         As a disempowered woman with her Jewish identity hidden, Esther could have just followed the path of being passive, waiting for someone else to solve the problem. But instead she chose to stand up courageously for her beliefs, her values, and her people. 

         So surely one truth we can tease from Esther’s story is what can happen when one chooses to stand by one’s faith, when one senses the presence of God if only in the wings, and when one knows deep down inside that if your heart is pure and your cause is just, your strength is as the strength of ten.         

         The simple truth of this story is that, with courage, the weak become strong. Not only that, but those who are oppressed make a difference and change the destiny of many. The message is a powerful one and is why Jews around the world still remember Esther’s story each year at the feast of Purim.  Her story is one of astounding courage in the face of great odds.

         Courage is not an easy thing to come by, particularly when things are not going well in our own lives or in the lives of others.  It is hard to muster up the courage to stand up for what is right. 

         I read this week about a research study once conducted where ten students were placed in a room. Three lines of varying length were drawn on a card. The students were told to raise their hands when the instructor pointed to the longest line.  However nine of the students had been instructed beforehand to raise their hands when the instructor pointed to the second longest line. One student was the stooge.

         The usual reaction of the stooge was to put his hand up, look around, and, realizing he was alone in doing so, pull it back down. This happened 75% of the time, with students from grade school through high school.  It is hard to maintain the courage of our convictions when doing so means standing out publicly, being seen as different, odd, even countercultural. 

         However, doesn’t such courage lie at the heart of truly being a Christian?  Doesn’t a Christian stand up for the ones nobody notices, for the ones whom the system has marginalized, for the victims, and for those who are down-and-out? 

         Aren’t we as Christians called to have that kind of courage even when we feel like the one student, the stooge – wanting more than anything to follow the crowd?  Aren’t we as Christians called to have that kind of courage because, in the end, the problems of the least are somehow our problems as well?

         One day a mouse looked through a crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife opening a package.  The little guy was terrified to discover that inside was a mousetrap!

         Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse first ran to the henhouse: "There is a mouse trap in the house; there is a mouse trap in the house."

         The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, "Mr. Mouse, I can tell you this is a grave concern for you, but it is of no consequence to me."

         The mouse then turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mouse trap in the house."

         "I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse," sympathized the pig, "but there is nothing I can do about it but pray."

         The mouse finally turned to the cow, who replied, "Like wow, Mr. Mouse, a mouse trap; am I in grave danger, Duh?"

         So the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected to face the farmer's mousetrap alone. That very night he heard a sound, suspiciously like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey.

         It woke the farmer’s wife who rushed to see what was caught. However, in the darkness, she failed to see that it was a venomous snake whose tail had been caught in the trap. The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital, where she caught one of those hospital infections and returned home with a fever.        

         Now everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient. However, his wife's sickness continued so that friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.

         Unfortunately, the farmer's wife eventually died, and so many people came to her funeral that the farmer slaughtered the cow to provide meat for all of them to eat. So the next time you hear that someone is facing a problem, and you think that it does not concern you, remember that when the least of us is threatened, we are all affected.

         Jesus understood that fundamental connection we have with one another – that concept of a sacred web that binds me to you and you to me - and all of us to the very least.  Jesus also understood that it takes courage to affirm that fundamental connection among us – that sacred web – and even more courage to openly live our lives believing in and acting upon that fundamental truth. 

         Jesus’ own ministry reflected that kind of courage.  As he faced the injustices of his day, he stood firm in God’s all-inclusive love.  Nothing swayed him from standing up for the poor and oppressed, even when he knew he would face rejection, suffering, and even death.

         Standing up for justice at the risk of our own security takes a lot of courage, courage that only comes from the inside, from the place where God dwells in our hearts.  That is why we need stories like this one about Esther. 

         We need them to remind us of what we can do with God’s help and to remind us that deep inside, in our heart of hearts, lies buried the courage we need to really be a follower of Jesus. 

         The question was once raised – if you were put on trial as a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?  How would you answer that?

       We all need a dose of courage.  We all need a role model to follow and a heroine to emulate.  We all need the strength to respond when God calls.   As Episcopal priest Thomas James Brown once wrote, “God works through humanity, through community, to bring about Christ’s reign of justice and of never-ending love. We probably won’t be tapped to deliver God’s people in the same way that Esther was, but (when we are called) we must act,”

– and act with profound hope and courage as Esther did.  After all - “If not you, then who? If not now, then when?”

       Need courage?  Read Esther.

by Rev. Nancy Foran, Raymond Village Community Church

www.rvccme.org