Mark 9:38-50
I cannot remember when I have struggled with a sermon as much as I have on this one. For two weeks I have wrestled with this Gospel from Mark. I read commentaries and sat in Lectio Divina with my community hoping for divine inspiration. But what I felt was – geez I wish I were still Buddhist! You will not find Buddhist sacred text telling people to tie a millstone around their neck and throw themselves into the sea. But this is our salty Jesus. He is fired up and I can get behind that.
Some of you may remember that in last week’s gospel Jesus is telling his disciples that whoever wants to be first must be last of all and a servant of all, then he took a little child in his arms and said, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.” Clearly the care of children is a big deal for Jesus. Presumably, as he still holds a child, he offers this dire threat: “Anyone who puts a stumbling block before of one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck, and you were thrown into the sea.” It is a passage that is startling and dramatic.
Some commentaries say that the child represents all the new followers of Jesus. They are vulnerable seekers who are like sheep that he is protecting. But I feel that this is truly about not hurting children – either physically or emotionally.
I’m sure he heard of children being hurt. It happens everywhere. A child might be suffering neglect or somehow given the message that they are not loveable. A child might get the message that they are not good enough. A child might be bullied or ridiculed. And sadly, many children are physically hurt or abused sexually.
It is shocking how much suffering some children endure. And this clearly really pisses Jesus off. Thankfully, our government has laws in place to protect children. It behooves us to care about children because what happens to them will impact society. Crime and violence are a direct response to childhood trauma.
In the program I facilitate in the Men’s Colony prison I hear the most awful stories imaginable. And the impact these experiences creates young adults who don’t value their lives so therefore they don’t value the lives of others. The pain they have suffered becomes the pain they inflict. As we say in our program, Pain that is not transformed is transmitted. Or, hurt people hurt people.
Last Friday I decided to share my own childhood trauma with my listening circle. I told the men that when I was seventeen a friend of my stepfather’s befriended me when I was vulnerable and in need of a father figure. Then he sexually molested me. It changed my life forever. I suffered with profound shame and felt terribly alone. No one talked to me about it. I stopped caring about school and started hanging out with drug dealers. I needed to numb myself. It took me decades to heal from the shame I felt.
Saturday, in our morning meditation, I once again reflected on this dramatic passage and I started to weep. It suddenly became clear to me how much Jesus loves me and all vulnerable children. He is really riled up about those who harm children and those who violate the vulnerable.
Sister Greta
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