A Better Way

September 30, 2018

Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

On Thursday of this past week, like so many, I paused my day to watch the testimony of Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh at the senate committee hearing. As Dr. Ford sat to take question after question from the senate committee reliving one of the most horrifying moment of her life, I was caught off guard with the flood of tears that came to my eyes and flowed down my cheeks. My tears were rich with the pain of the recognition that this is not how the world is supposed to be and really didn’t stop for the rest of the day, I wept for Judge Kavanaugh, I wept for all the women, men and trans individuals for whom this past week has been particularly painful, I wept for those who don’t understand why it so hard for those who have been abused to speak the words associated with his or her trauma and I wept for a world that still finds so many excuses to strip anyone of their basic humanity.

In the midst of my hot salty tears I thought for a moment, truly what would Jesus do if he were in that hearing room at that very moment. I am quite confident of two things, that likely, if Jesus was in the room while Dr. Ford was testifying Jesus would hold her, hug her, weep with her and remind her that she is made in the divine image of the one who created her. Also, if Jesus was in the room while Kavanaugh was testifying he would look at the senators all around the room and encourage every member to loosen the grip of the stone they are holding so tightly aimed at someone else in the room. Jesus would look them each in the eye, including Kavanaugh, and remind them that they are made in the divine image of the one who created them.

By saying this please do not assume an opinion of guilt or innocence nor an ambivalence of the exploration of justice, rather my clear articulation of “This is not how it’s supposed to be!” The public executions must end. We must learn how to handle these things while acknowledging the humanity of everyone involved. We must truly learn how to be the saltiest of salt in this bitter world.

When we weep tears of heartache, compassion, anger or joy, we are flooding the world with salt created from within our very own beings and this is a good thing. Tears can be extremely powerful not only for the one who weeps them, but for those around them who see the tangible stains and allows them to feel heard and loved or to sit up and try to listen a bit deeper.

Jesus references salt in three out of the four Gospels, what we call the synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke. All very similar to what we read here in Mark today, “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other.” [1]We know from scripture as well as throughout history that salt was used for many different things – it was used as currency, seasoning, preservative, disinfectant and for many ceremonial practices. Often throughout scripture salt is also used as a synonym for wisdom, harmony and peace.

Salt cannot actually lose its saltiness – well, technically if it was submerged in water it could, but it also changes its chemical compound at that point and therefore is no longer salt, not the point – Salt doesn’t lose its saltiness. But salt that sits, unused, misused, warehoused or ignored is worthless. Therefore if we do not use the wisdom and resources that we are given we are just as worthless as a storehouse filled with salt tucked away.

How, then, does Jesus want us to use our salt, our wisdom and gifts, in this world? To learn, in this scriptural context all we need to do is look back a few verses. Jesus says to his disciples, “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea”[2]Followed by the very drastic statements of… if your hand, your foot or you eye cause you to stumble cut them off or pluck it out.  While many of us assume that when Jesus says “little ones” here that he is referring to children, it does make sense. Remember last week when Jesus’ disciples were arguing who was the greatest among them and Jesus responded by picking up a small child, but actually in this context it is unlikely that Jesus was referring to children.

The writer of Mark doesn’t try to trick readers all that much, he tends to say children when he means children. Often, in both the Hebrew and New Testament scriptures, when writers make reference to “little ones” they are talking about those who are the most vulnerable or those on the margins. Joel Marcus, a professor at Duke Divinity School and a leading scholar on the Gospel of Mark says, “’little ones’ can be a term for the people of God in their weakness, apparent insignificance, and subjection to suffering and abuse.”[3] As a community we are commanded to keep any person who is currently in their weakness, who society deems insignificant or has been subjected to suffering and abuse at the very center of our lives – at minimum we are told to not “make them stumble” – to not make their lives harder.

The reality, my friends is that we as a nation in particular, are quite often doing the exact opposite. We have developed policies and practices that make it harder for anyone struggling to stay on their feet. We make it harder for returning citizens to get employment and housing following a period of incarceration. We make it harder for veterans to get access to care they need. Frankly, we have spent generations making it harder for anyone who is not white, heterosexual, male and abled-body. And we have absolutely created a system in which it is outrageously hard for anyone who has been abused to speak up faced with these dominant and domineering systems that have intentionally been put in place to force those who don’t fit the bill to stumble.

The tears, the anger and the frustration that so many of us have shared over the past week truly are rooted in this violation of the beloved humanity of another being. The reality that instead of showing compassion and care to a survivor of sexual abuse, we put her on every public access channel and watched elected officials do everything in their power to cause her to stumble. I do agree with Judge Kavanaugh when he said that the hearings were a circus – they certainly were - a painful, inhumane circus that has left significant carnage in its wake.

This is not how it is supposed to be. This is not how we are supposed to treat one another. We as Christians, as followers of Christ we have to be different. We have dig deep within ourselves and be salt in this world. As the Dean said in his e-news greeting this past week – we must allow our salt to be seen and shared with the world around us, not only is the alternative bland, but it is inhumane and the worst reflection of who we are.

There are two very tangible ways that we are able to offer our physical salt to the world. The first we’ve talked a lot about already – it is through our tears. When we are moved to tears it is because our humanity is being touched in one way or another. We must take note of our salty tears. They give us space to lament and acknowledge the brokenness that we are a witness to or we are experiencing. There is a point in which tears are not enough – we must move on from tears and begin to sweat. It is our sweat and the sweat of those around us that gives us hope. Yes, this is not how it is supposed to be, but we do not need to accept this bland existence that so many are offering us. We are salty and we can change this world and we are changing this world.

Every time we bring those who are in their weakness, who are suffering or have been abused closer to the center of our lives we are seasoning the world around us. Every time we intervene and stand up for ourselves or for another whose humanity is being diminished or stripped we are seasoning the world. Every time we as a faith community feed our hungry neighbors we are seasoning the world. Every time we come together as this beautiful and imperfect community to worship, to admit our faults and to share a meal together we are seasoning the world and our selves. As Jesus says, “Do or do not. There is no try”[4]Okay, that wasn’t Jesus, but Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back, but there is certainly truth here – We can allow the world to continue the way it is. Or we can use the salt we have been given and go all in to do whatever we can, in our small ways, to transform the flavor of this world.