Introduction
Having fiercely exposed the truth that jealousy, of which ingratitude and self-righteousness are both forms, lead to depression and/or violence, three raw scriptures lead us, with relief, to a feeling of abundance and peace. These texts recalibrate our priorities and expectations, moving us on from harshness to peace, with the antidotes of thanksgiving, self-awareness and prayer for reconciliation.
Context
Europe tries desperately to work out who can come in and who cannot, who belongs with us and who does not. How quickly rich blessings seem drab because they are familiar, and we start wondering why someone over there seems to have more than us. How easily we conjure nostalgic images of a great prosperous past. Certainly jealousies plague our politics.
London Fashion week (ended Tuesday 22nd September) has raised again the question of model sizes and how we might achieve a healthy approach to body image. A very positive move by one fashion house was to include an amputee in their team of models. This news rather heightens the scandal and irony of Jesus’ choice of horrific bodily imagery to defy our self-righteous exclusivity. It prompts us to handle with great care his daring, if not reckless language, while also accepting his harsh judgement of the deliberate violence that human jealousy can lead to, all too visible in the tragic amputations we encounter in the lobby of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital here in Birmingham where many soldiers have been treated. Certainly, jealousies about body image can curse young lives; jealousies between factions can curse whole nations.
Meanwhile, Archbishop Justin Welby convenes a meeting next year for Primates of the Anglican Communion whose disagreements have come to beg the question: who gets to belong to a church and who does not?
Reflection
Moaning ingratitude, nostalgia for Egypt (a lovely list of succulent ingredients there, Numbers 11:4-6; how about baked trout with cucumber quickly fried in olive oil and sprinkled with dill, perhaps? Mmmmm) and contempt for the miraculous manna which has now become ordinary, all leaves Moses, as leader, utterly exhausted. He is so low he asks God to end his life (v .14). His sarcasm with God (vv.12-3) is met with fiercer grotesque sarcastic imagery (see 11.18-20). But in loving anger God also provides a solution to exhaustion – the sharing of leadership, and undeserved blessing of the Holy Spirit (v.26).
James, after another pretty unrelenting exposure of corruption, at least ends his letter on a positive and peaceable note. He also offers us something we can each achieve for God and neighbour, to some degree, free from competitiveness and fear. And that is to pray. Imploring us to seek reconciliation (v.15b-16) he says, ‘Are you impressed by Elijah’s prayers controlling the weather? That’s nothing compared to the miracles of reconciliation that can happen when you pray, and the blessing you will enjoy on their return.’ (see v.17-20)
Anne was a young mother who, on discovering her cancer was soon to end her life, came for baptism with a vibrant and humbling faith that silenced her priest. She confessed a complex and misguided past, and passionate care for her ten-year-old son, whom she credited with saving her life by changing her priorities utterly. With disarming candour about death, she wanted all to be well for him after she had gone. Some important people in her family had let her down, a seemingly impossible amount of forgiveness needed, so they were out of reach. Some others supported her, though, with tear-jerking, male tenderness. Cautiously, her priest prayed with her for her health and for all those relationships. Was it a miracle that she lived two years instead of the promised six months? Perhaps. It was certainly a miracle that she pressed on in her own fervent prayers towards that seemingly impossible forgiveness, and found such reconciliation that, when she died, she knew that relationships had been restored, thus giving her son the security he needed to navigate the saddest possible change in his young life.
Before berating secular policies, commercial manipulation, or other faith groups, analysing Church jealousies a little might be wise. Jesus devastatingly slices through our jealousy and says, ’Stop looking snobbishly at others, and see to the health of our own soul. You want to cut others off from the body of the church? How about looking at yourselves? Any bits you should cut off?’ How resentful are we of another church’s apparent success? What resentments lurk when we see another faith expressed confidently? How far do we berate political leadership in order to distract from our own laziness in building community? Then, after the fierce cutting, not to be taken literally, come a series of word stitches gradually calming the breath, slowing the rhetoric. Fire–salt–fire–salt. Salt, being a symbol of covenantal promise, leads us to a calmer place of reconciliation: ‘have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another.’
These passages are parabolas of resentment, anger, irony, rising always to something good, something healing. They are to be handled with care as they open very dark places in our psychology and soul. Their destination and purpose is always reconciliation.
Prayer
The Greek word for stumbling block or ‘offence’ used in Mark 9.42 is skandalon.
Wise and loving God,
you know our holding on to resentment,
even when we really have been wronged,
can be a kind of jealousy.
It can become our identity.
The scandal of being wronged
can be dwarfed by the scandal of our unforgiving hearts.
We pray for your Spirit
to anoint and heal our troubled relationships.
Knowing and loving God,
the scandal of others' sin is dwarfed
by the scandal of us distracting from our own.
Give us, your church, generosity as we look outwards,
and a fiercely loving critical eye as we look inwards,
that we may not stand in your way
as you meet your children in the world.
Bountiful and loving God,
the scandal of people needing to ask for help
is dwarfed by the scandal of our hardness of heart.
Give the nations courage and compassion in equal measure
as we face humanitarian crises of our own and others’ making.
Amen.
Questions
Ched Myers, in his seminal commentary on Mark, Binding the Strong Man,* describes this passage as showing ‘good outside’ the church (9.38-41) and ‘bad inside’ (v.42-48).
Reflect together on any Christ-like faithfulness and generosity you can celebrate beyond the bounds of Church, and on any jealousies, attitudes or habits within your fellowship that might need the sort of repentance and reconciliation James says is possible.
* C. Myers, Binding the Strong Man, (2008) Orbis Books, ISBN 978-1570757976.
Action
Remembering Moses’ time of depression and frustration as a leader, perhaps you could contact someone who has accepted leadership – it could be the leader of a school team you play for, or someone in your workplace, a politician or local community leader of some kind, a member of your family who has taken responsibility for something, or even, perhaps, someone in your church. Thank them, specifically, for their service, or for something they have done well. If that feels too self-conscious, you could, alternatively, say something good about them to another person.
Young People
If you are blessed with skilled and experienced youth ministers or mentors, this might be the week for careful, supportive reflection on jealousy, insecurity, body image and belonging. If these texts are heard in church by young people, it might be a time for discrete watchfulness and listening, to ensure that any people in a suggestible frame of mind might stay safe. It is certainly the week for all of us in ministry to pray for healthy self-image in young people, and to uphold discreetly to God any young people we encounter who seem to live with an unspoken shame.
David Warbrick is Parish Priest for All Saints Kings Heath in the Anglican Diocese of Birmingham, where he has served in diverse contexts for over twenty years.
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