Missing the Point

Lectionary Reflection for the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, Year B

September 20, 2015

But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him. Mark 9:32

Have you ever labored long and hard to make an important point and then been completely misunderstood by your intended audience? If you have, you understand the frustration that comes with such miscommunication. Perhaps Jesus was feeling some of this frustration in this week’s gospel lesson when his disciples seem to be missing the point entirely. Of course Jesus exhibits impressive patience and restraint with his merry cohort.

They’ve been arguing about who is the greatest among them–a topic around which they can wrap their heads, rather than this confusion, depressing future Jesus is foretelling. Like children who have been caught dipping into the cookie stash, they appear considerably chagrined and fall silent when asked about their conversation. Jesus seems to know what they are  up to because he quickly sets them straight.

To be first in Jesus’ reign means taking last place. It means serving others, all others. It means welcoming the innocent, powerless, marginalized, and ignored. Children in Jesus’ day definitely fell in the marginalized and devalued category, and a little child is the subject of Jesus’ object lesson.

Yes, the disciples miss Jesus’ point entirely. As much as they’d like a leader who holds great fame, power, and wields might, they find themselves following a radical rabbi who seems more and more on the outs with the power structure and religious elite. Worse yet, Jesus seems not to care that he’s not on the Who’s Who list of popular and powerful people. What good is all this healing and miracle stuff if he’s not going to use it to gain influence in order to overturn the unjust structures oppressing his people?

Are we really any different than those disciples? Maybe we’re not arguing about who’s going to be the greatest among us, but it’s still all too easy to miss the point when it comes to discipleship. Being a faithful disciple is not glamorous work. It’s not a surefire way to land you on the cover of a national magazine. It’s not the way to easy wealth and prosperity. No, faithful discipleship is still about serving others. It’s about getting out of our comfort zones and loving people who don’t look like us, act like us, or even think like us. Discipleship involves welcoming all people to the table, particularly those who are on the margins and whom society easily brushes off as inconvenient or abhorrent.

Faithful discipleship is about giving up and giving away rather than about getting and grabbing. Even though we’re on the other side of the cross and resurrection, following Jesus is still countercultural. Discipleship involves sacrifices if one desires to be “all in.”

When we look down the street at the “successful” congregation, what do we think? You know the one. It’s growing; it offers that “other kind” of worship; it has really awesome programs for families and youth; it has a trendy new building where it’s cool to belong. When we look at that congregation do we see competition and wonder, like the disciples, who is the greatest?

Really, all Jesus asks is that we look outside ourselves, give ourselves away in loving God and neighbor, and welcome others in his name. It’s both a stewardship issue and a communication issue because it all matters — what say, do and are. It’s also a point we dare not miss: “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” That’s what matters. This is what it means to follow Jesus. As creatures of habit, we need to be reminded over and over again, so don’t be afraid to return to basics and hammer home the main point about discipleship. We all need to hear it because if we don’t we just might miss the point AND miss the boat to real and lasting life.

Photos; Eric Huybrechts, , and