WEDNESDAY AFTER CREATION 3
25 September 2013
Readings:
Key Verses (using the World English Bible):
1 Pet. 1:22: “Seeing you have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth through the Spirit in sincere brotherly affection, love one another from the heart fervently.”
Mark 9:42: Jesus said, “For whoever will give you a cup of water to drink in my name… will in no way lose his reward.”
Reflection
The Season of Creation wisely devotes two Sundays in its three-year cycle to water themes. As we saw this past Sunday, water can symbolize so many things in Scripture and in the tradition of our faith. It can represent the grace and power of God, as when God parted the Red Sea, holding its waters back until the Israelites had passed safely through. It can also portray chaos and danger, as when Jesus calmed the churning waters that threatened his disciples in their sailboat. Rising from the waters of baptism is meant to reenact the believer’s burial and rebirth, rising to life again, in Christ.
But Scripture is also mindful of the principal symbol of water: our source of life. The Egyptians panicked as their water turned to blood, for they wouldn’t last more than three days without drinking water. And in today’s reading from the Gospel, Jesus uses this fact to teach a subtle, yet valuable lesson, one that the Church would do well to heed.
The disciples complain to Jesus that someone who isn't following them is using Jesus’ name to heal. Jesus’ reply is striking: “Whoever is not against us is on our side… Whoever will give you a cup of water to drink in my name… will in no way lose his reward.” For all that Jesus has to say about himself, his mission, his origins, his relation to the Father—and it’s plenty—you won’t find any of that here. Jesus does not encourage his followers to cross-examine this foreign healer. Does he confess the consubstantiality of the Son with the Father? Does she believe that Jesus spoke to the Native Americans too? Recite the rosary? Practice only adult baptism? Keeps the Sabbath on Saturday? Do they follow the church year, or just the Memorial of the Last Supper? No, in all essentials, when it comes down to it, Jesus here is swift to include them all on his side.
What would Christianity look like if we really followed this example? If our many divisions prevent us from offering each other the cup of salvation, why can’t we just offer each other that cup of water instead? For water, too, is a common need we all share. We can still disagree; we can still cling in love to the tradition we were raised in. But when it comes to acts of kindness, to respect, to nourishment and fellowship, we already have Jesus’ promise that no reward will be lost.
Did the disciples get it? It’s hard to tell with those Twelve sometimes. On one occasion, Jesus foretold his death, and they began to argue about which one of them was the greatest! But I imagine that when they lost their Master, their immense grief brought them back to his words, to relish and savor them, like some do when receiving Communion, to hold on to him any way they could. The community of the apostle Peter is urged “to love one another from the heart fervently.” I write it this way because, coupled with Jesus’ words, it almost sounds to me like the desperate plea of someone who personally has walked down the path of quick judgment and sectarianism.
In situations of life and death, of sincere love and devotion, creed is not important. In the things that matter most, God will not ask what religion you belong to, or whom you believe in. God will simply be there with you, and for you. There’s nothing to lose.
Prayer of the Day
Most high and holy God,
pour out upon us your one and unifying Spirit,
and awaken in every confession of the whole church
a holy hunger and thirst for unity in you;
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Amen.
—from Evangelical Lutheran Worship, prayer for “Church Unity”, p. 73
Hymn: “Where cross the crowded ways of life”
(Words: Frank Mason North, 1903; adapted by Joseph A. Soltero, 2013
Tune: ‘Gardiner’, aka ‘Germany’, from Sacred Melodies, 1815, arranged by William Gardiner)
Where cross the crowded ways of life,
Where sound the cries of race and clan
Above the noise of selfish strife,
We hear your voice, O Son of Man.
In haunts of wretchedness and need,
On shadowed thresholds dark with fears,
From paths where hide the lures of greed,
We catch the vision of your tears.
From tender childhood’s helplessness,
From human grief and burdened toil,
From famished souls, from sorrow’s stress,
Your heart has never known recoil.
The cup of water giv’n for you
Still holds the freshness of your grace.
Yet long these multitudes to view
The sweet compassion of your face.
O Master, from the mountainside
Make haste to heal these hearts of pain.
Among these restless throngs, abide.
O tread the city’s streets again.
Till all the world shall learn your love,
And follow where your feet have trod,
Till, glorious from your heav’n above,
Shall come the city of our God.
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