For Sunday
Proper 9A
Collect
O God, you have taught us to keep all your commandments by loving you and our neighbor: Grant us the grace of your Holy Spirit, that we may be devoted to you with our whole heart, and united to one another with pure affection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
Reading
Reflection
There is a lot going on in this passage. But it may help to remember that Jesus spent the whole previous chapter instructing his disciples about what they are to face. Then, it says at the beginning of this chapter that Jesus goes to teach in their cities.
This is when John the Baptist sends some of his disciples to check out Jesus. To make sure he’s the real deal. And Jesus receives this with grace and humility.
All of this is set-up for what he then says about the people he’s meeting. He contrasts the motivations of John and himself toward doing the will of God with the cities and their leaders.
The most moving is that first, very human response. That Jesus is being made to feel like a trained monkey. That his work is merely entertaining; his generosity, merely consumed; his humanity, merely commodified.
And because I think most of us can recognize that sensation, we might miss the depth of the critique in it. Assuming Jesus is just complaining about himself. Or naming a personal feeling. Or that this is simply a recommendation that the people be a bit more gracious to him. And not, say, a challenge to something far deeper.
There is something about self-interest that goes beyond a single moment of selfishness. Some one-off experience of which we can say “maybe we don’t do that.”
Treating Jesus like a trained monkey means the community never actually has to turn its eyes toward God. Never has to become inviting, welcoming; or even become good hosts for the Kin-dom. We can simply do our own things and get Jesus to help out when we’re in a jam.
In truth, Jesus isn’t a safety net to take advantage of in arrogance, but in the humility of any challenging moment of great turbulent change.