Proper 17, Year B (2009)
James 1:17-27
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
God be in my head,
God be on my lips,
God be in my heart,
God be in my hands –
that the world may know your love. Amen.
When you look into the mirror, what do you see?
Or, more aptly put, when someone else looks at us, what do our lives reflect?
That is the question that James wants us to think about,
and, I think, Jesus in his own way poses the same question to the Pharisees and scribes.
This week as one of my daughter’s 1st fifth grade homework assignments she was asked to write about herself. “Who am I?” was the title.
Our first response to such questions is always to state the obvious:
“I am a 43 year-old woman with brown hair and brown eyes, fairly short, average build. I am an Episcopal priest serving as chaplain at the Episcopal Center at Duke. I am married and have two children, two dogs, a cat and a hermit crab!”
Pretty obvious stuff and all very important in their own ways but, nevertheless, external observations.
James,
and Jesus,
ask us to dig deeper.
The externals have their place, but those things can change almost overnight and oftentimes take their value from the society around us.
What makes us holy, sacred, blessed
are the ways in which we live out our faith in the world.
As Episcopalians, and particularly as Episcopalians involved in the academic world, we have many opportunities for new beginnings.
We have this time at the beginning of the academic year,
we have Advent,
we have New Year’s,
we have Easter and even Pentecost
to ask ourselves anew: “Who are we? What do our lives reflect of the Kingdom of God?”
Do people we meet in our daily lives have any idea that we are followers of Christ?
Some years ago I assisted my congregation’s youth minister in leading a Sunday School class for Jr. and Sr. High students.
His mantra for the class was: “We are here to build up, not tear down.”
Any time that any one in the group said something harmful, destructive or disrespectful, the youth minister would say, “Why are we here?”
And the resounding answer sounded, “We are here to build up, not tear down.”
It was amazing how many things would come out of students’ mouths and even my own mouth that were destructive.
It was also amazing to see how over the course of two years, hearing that “we are here to build up, not tear down” became something I heard in my own mind before I said something out loud that was harmful.
I think this was Jesus’ point.
The traditions we receive and practice are meaningless if our intent is not to practice the presence of the Kingdom of God in our lives.
This discipleship business is difficult and one that cannot exist without intention and without the assistance of our faith community to challenge and support us.
The society in which we live tells us daily that our outward appearances are most important.
We are told that the consumption of worldly goods will make us feel better about ourselves, regardless of the income or working conditions of the people who make those goods, not to mention whether we actually need them or not!
Our world tells us that if there is something we want, it is OK to fight someone in order to get it.
We are to divide ourselves into “like” groups rather than reach out to understand the needs of those who are different.
The Gospel teaches us something different and reflects a different image.
Instead of trying to limit who is “in,” Jesus flings wide the doors and invites everyone to faith, particularly those who his society and faith had cast aside.
We are each of us gifted by God with a unique set of gifts to make present the Kingdom of God in this world.
James says that we have been graciously gifted by God so that we may become a kind of first fruits.
The “first fruits” are the first glimpses of new life in the harvest, and they point toward the abundance of life which is to follow.
The “first fruits” were also offered to God in recognition that all of life belongs to God.
We belong to God, and we offer our lives that God may bring about abundant life through us.
If we choose to live out our faith by embodying love, compassion, forgiveness and reconciliation, then the suffering, pain and injustice in the world can be transformed.
So, next time you look into the mirror, I invite you to see a beloved child of God who has been particularly gifted and continually called to live out God’s Grace and love in this world.
Amen.
