November 27, 2005
Mark 13: 24-37
Paying Attention
Elizabeth Macaulay
It
is perhaps a poignant coincidence that the reading that leads us into the
season of Advent is fraught with visions of anxiety as well as the promise =
of
growth.
Visions
of falling stars and the need to be watchful and aware speak, in the teachi=
ng
from Mark’s gospel, in the same breath as the vision of budding fig
trees.
And
isn’t that how it feels, this time of Advent? There is a jumble that walks with =
us in
these days. We long for the
stillness in which to truly savor the wonder of Emmanuel - God with us. We long for the deep stillness of =
the
winter night to wrap our selves in the powerful gift of soul preparation - =
the
true work calling to us in this season of Advent.
For the whisper of the Holy, our souls in stillness wait.
And
yet, the clamor of the commercial thing which has become these four weeks of
Advent is shrill and grating. The
expectations we place on ourselves are so intense. In the next four weeks, we feel th=
e need
to: find the perfect gifts,
entertain with perfect ease, and perfectly ignore the bills we wrack up.
I
felt this so keenly two days ago.
We loaded in the car after worship on Wednesday evening and drove to=
our
cabin near Moose Lake. There =
we
nestled and reveled in the heart stretching good of family and food. The simply holy work of giving and
living thanks was the agenda for the two days we were there.
Back
on Friday night, Cooper and I decided to go to a movie. We chose one that was sold out, so=
we
had an hour to spend waiting for the next one to start. We wandered the mall, and it took =
about
five minutes for the glow of the last forty eight hours to flee our hearts.=
Having
been wrapped in the still, we were immersed in the clamor. And we mourned the loss of Advent =
in our
hearts.
What
was Jesus seeking to teach his disciples in this lesson from Mark, and what=
has
it to teach we who seek the stillness of soul nurture in a world intent upon
clamor?
The
reading from Mark sounds a call to our souls:
We
must, during all seasons of our lives, pay attention to the claim that the
movement of Jesus makes on our lives.
What
Jesus is teaching is that there will be many persons and things that will s=
eek
to make claim on our lives: f=
alse
prophets, false teachers, false values, false teachings. In the midst of such a swirl of
competing claims, our call as followers is to keep watch: to pay attention always.
Jesus
tells a story about a servant, asked to stand watch while the homeowner is
gone. That story is directed =
at we
who would be disciples. We are
asked by the Christ to be ever watchful and engaged in the life of the city
around us. We are to be ever
watchful for the presence of the Christ.
Chet
Meyers, in his book Binding the Strong Man, puts it this way:
“Mark
calls the discipleship community to live in history with open eyes, to look
deep into present events, beyond the conflicting claims of those vying for
power. (Disciples) must searc=
h for
and attack the very roots of violence and oppression that hold the human st=
ory
hostage. The coming of the ki=
ngdom
has nothing to do with triumphalism;
it comes from below, in solidarity with the human family in its dark
night of suffering. The world=
is
Gethsemane, and we are called to “historical insomnia.” (Binding the Strong Man=
, pg.
353)
So
we, tired, fearful and power filled disciples of Jesus, are called to live =
in
this world in such a way that we will not look away from the things that are
false: false values, false
teaching, false teachings - teachings that perpetuate oppression and violen=
ce
in this, our beloved world.
Two
weeks ago I was in Indianapolis at a Benedictine monastery. The topic for this seminar had to =
do
with family systems theory. T=
he
whole notion is that any group of people is a network of relationships -
families and churches alike. =
There
are predictable patterns in all systems - one of those patterns being that =
all
systems detest change. Even i=
s we
don’t like where we are, we fear change, because it takes us to a pla=
ce
we don’t know and can’t control.
Anyway,
the woman leading the sessions shared a teaching that spoke of three necess=
ary
components of good mental health and healthy functioning in community.
The
first is “Awareness”.
We become willing to be aware of issues, to keep awake, to pay
attention. We become willing =
to pay
attention to the pain or the challenges of our lives.
The
next step is “Acceptance”
In the acceptance phase, we no longer deny our awareness, we listen =
to
it. We turn it over to God, a=
nd
pray over the issue or the concern.
We trust that God is present as we seek healing and answers. This is not a passive stage in our=
healing. It is a time when we work in conce=
rt
with God to discern what we are called to do.
The
third step is “Action”.
After we have allowed ourselves to really come to grips with and dis=
cern
God’s wisdom in the midst of our issue, we take action to seek
reconciliation or healing.
Mark’s
gospel seems to be reminding us of the important and courageous power of
allowing the first step:
awareness. It is not u=
nlike
the first step in twelve step healing programs. We can’t heal, you and I or =
the
systems we are a part of, unless we are willing to be aware of the pain; to
name it.
It is in that naming where backlash happens.&= nbsp; Those who are willing to name the pain - whether it be the pain of racism or the pain of ecological devastation or the pain of conflicts too l= ong left unresolved - are often told that it is unseemly to speak their truth.<= o:p>
“No
person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to
grow.”, says Alice Walker.
The
same is true for institutions and systems.=
When we find ourselves intent upon silencing those who are willing to
name the injustices they perceive, we are in danger of blocking the healing=
of
creation - when we don’t allow ourselves or others to come to awarene=
ss,
we cannot move to the action that will create healing.
We
are called to live as people who are willing to be courageous enough to stay
awake to what is going on around us - and within us.
I
met such a woman on Wednesday night at our ecumenical Thanksgiving service =
at
Richfield Lutheran church. We=
gather
yearly with that church and with Assumption Catholic church. Together we make a most glorious n=
oise
with choirs and bells and organ and heart.=
And then we eat the best pie of the year.
The
preacher rotates. This year i=
t was
to be the priest from Annunciation.
He resigned three weeks ago, so the preacher was a Catholic lay woma=
n,
Annette =
by name. She works in
education and social justice in the parish and is a prison chaplain.
And
she preached the message of Mark this morning. As she was challenging us to be aw=
ake to
the many who are marginalized right here in Richfield and South Minneapolis=
she
told us stories of poor people living in such want, within blocks of where =
we
sat for worship. She challeng=
ed us
to be awake and aware of the fracturing caused by our unwillingness to claim
all people as the kin of our hearts, as Jesus would have us to do.
And
she made many in the congregation uncomfortable. Here she was, at this nice ecumeni=
cal
service of Thanksgiving talking about THOSE things. Challenging us to keep awake, beca=
use at
all times we encounter Christ when we encounter another.
Her
message left a variegated congregation fraught with anxiety - and ready for
growth. Because she knew - as=
did
Jesus - that we cannot heal the rips of soul that are poverty and racism and
want - unless we are willing to be aware of and name them. And then work with God to make the=
m no
more.
My
prayer for us in this season of Advent is an awareness of the gift of God m=
ade
flesh in our midst. May we sp=
end
time in stillness soaking in the wonder of that gift.
And
my prayer is that we are willing to make God flesh in the gift of our
willingness to stay awake. To=
be
citizens of this world willing to live as Emmanuel.
Amen.