Simplify your faith
The biggest political
and social danger today in our world is the belief that there are simple
answers to complex problems. The rise of populism, evidenced by answers to
binary questions (Trump or Clinton, In or Out), is triggering extremist
worldviews and the normalisation of hatred between opposing groupings. Put simply,
we live in a complex world with complex causes of problems amid complex
co-dependent networks of relationships. Simplification (the process of breaking
things down to simple answers) does not help. I believe it multiplies problems.
Why am I saying all
of this? Well it is because today’s chapter has Jesus telling us to ‘become
simple again’. He is asked by the disciples who is great in the Kingdom of God.
He responds (as The Message
translates it):
“I’m telling you, once and for all,
that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you’re not
even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in. Whoever becomes
simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God’s kingdom.
What’s more, when you receive the childlike on my account, it’s the same as
receiving me.
What
exactly is it about children that Jesus finds so attractive as a role model for
faith? It might be that there is an obvious answer: children who have not been
tainted with cynicism or have not been harmed in any way, have a deeply
attractive sense of trust, openness, curiosity, wonder, awe and love of the
world around them and the people who have oversight of them. They are,
consequently, vulnerable and need safeguarding (to use the term now common for
protecting). Jesus acknowledges this sense of vulnerability by saying how very
important it is that they are not bullied or crushed by adults – for such a
crime those adults’ eternal fate is doomsday.
Is
Jesus therefore saying that our faith should be all these things: trusting,
open, endlessly forward-facing with curiosity, wonder, awe and love? Is Jesus
saying that the kind of faith he is encouraging is a vulnerable faith that can
be wounded by suffering yet rock-like, or even limpet like, in its dependence
upon God? Is this the kind of faith that moves mountains – metaphorical or,
indeed, real?
I
am not sure that ‘simple faith’ means that we also are not aware of all the
complexities of life and somehow have a very black or white approach to it. The
more we are opened up to the vulnerabilities of people, their sorrows and their
joys, the more limpet-like our faith needs to be. Entering into the mystery of
love with a renewed Spirit-led dependence seems to me to a beautiful way of
life that can be childlike and adult-wise at the same time. It also requires
toughness. There has to be a willingness to be brutally honest about the stuff
of our lives that needs pruning – be it attitudes or behaviours - in order to remain simple of heart. This pruning is
very dramatically described in the verses on ‘amputation’ which are vivid in the
extreme. The letters of Paul and the call of Jesus is to maturity not
immaturity. Maturity does not mean cluttered and muddled living, but rather it does mean
growth and change and development.
And
that maturity is needed as people learn to work things out together through the difficult, challenging and
life-giving pursuit of forgiveness, which is a lifelong project of maturing and
absolute seriousness. There is much more to dig deep into on this topic. I
wonder what you think?
Chapter 18 is another of the five ‘discourses’ in Matthew’s gospel. It starts with a question about the pecking order in the Kingdom of Heaven, and leads to teaching about the quality of human forgiveness.
ReplyDeleteJesus does not answer the question about who is greatest in the kingdom, but instead leaves his hearers with something to think about to work out the answer for themselves. He could simply have said, ‘There is no pecking order in the kingdom’ or ‘All are equal’. Instead he suggests that the disciples have to change to even see the kingdom, let alone enter and wonder who will be promoted to top rank. They need to become more child-like, and the main blog analyses what this means for Jesus’ followers, including aspects of simplicity and humility.
Jesus then talks about removing the causes of sin – a very graphical section that is reminiscent of Shakespeare’s little performed ‘Titus Andronicus’, with eye gauging and hand chopping. In this way Jesus certainly makes the point strongly about cutting out of your life the things that cause you to sin, and especially about not doing anything that causes someone else to sin. ‘Sin’ is not a word much used in our current society – it is rather out of favour for it implies a restriction on our much revered freedom to ‘express ourselves’ and be an individual. ‘I did it my way’ is a great song, but a poor philosophy of life, and inevitably destructive of community. It is not what Jesus preached. For him it should have been ‘I did it God’s way’, and that is the way of avoiding sin. ‘Sin’ is simply speaking, acting, and living in ways that oppose God’s way as set out in the Bible and expressed in the person of Jesus. The word ‘sin’ may be regarded as old-fashioned, but its presence is evident all around us today: was the recent American election, for example, fought in God’s way, generating, as it did, so much hatred, division, untruth and lack of humility? And weren’t some of the main culprits ‘Christians’? Oh, dear! But, as I write this, I mustn’t forget the smaller picture in my own life – I remember the speck of dust in my brother’s eye and the plank in mine (7,3).
So, Jesus gives a strong warning not to sin or to be the cause of others to sin. But he goes further to warn about how we treat those who wrong us, and sin against us. He urges his hearers to be reconciled with the person who wrongs them, setting out a three-stage grievance procedure. First, talk it over with them one to one; if that fails seek mediation; if that fails involve the church (although it did not exist when Jesus spoke, it did by the time Matthew wrote his gospel). If all that fails, then they are probably not going to come round and be reconciled with you. But forgive them anyway.
Following on, we have the parable of the unmerciful servant, prompted by Peter asking Jesus how many times should he forgive someone who sins against him, seven times? Jesus replies 77, or in some translations, 70x7 = 490 times. Either way, it’s a lot of grievance procedures! The point is that forgiveness and reconciliation should be the norm, yet they seem to disappearing from our social life – much more profitable to sue for damages: ‘I claimed it my way!’
At last night's choir practice the children were rehearsing 'While shepherds watched". One young girl chorister suddenly asked the choirmaster, "Why does it say it's good news to all mankind and not to everybody?" How do you answer such a simple and genuine question from the complexities of global and historic gender inequality? Child like faith is curious to ask questions. Children wonder why things are as they are, and whether they have to be that way any longer.
ReplyDeleteThen there's the issue of having a vulnerable faith. On today's edition of Radio 4's Woman's Hour they dedicated the whole programme to the issue of "masculinity" (I recommend listening to it on iplayer). Bravery was suggested as a masculine attribute, especially physical bravery. But the question was asked whether men (and I would add women too) show bravery in admitting their vulnerability. For example, could teenage boys show the same bravery in showing their cycle skills and tricks as in going on a school residential taking their bedtime teddy that they still actually need? Do we all find it hard to be brave in weakness? Is a vulnerable faith a brave faith?
Matthew relates Jesus highlighting humility as the child like quality to be grown in us. It takes humility to acknowledge our need for amputation, or pruning, as John also writes about in the "I am the true vine" passage (Jn 15:1-11) It takes humility to recognise both our own need for forgiveness and our need for grace to forgive those who have wronged and hurt us, or those we love.
v.20 Jesus said, "For where two or three (bloggers and other readers) are gathered (online) in my name, I am there among them".
This daily blog is proving to be so much more than the suggested reading of one chapter of Matthew each day in Advent. It is together in the community of faith where Jesus meets with us, where in the presence of his love we grow and grapple with questions, where our faith is nurtured and nurture. It is in the company of pilgrim sisters and brothers that we can offer encouragement and share different perspectives, insights and experiences. We learn that "my way" of seeing things is clearly not the only way. It is together, in the presence of Jesus, that we dare to be vulnerable in our desire to deepen our trust in God. It is together in the presence of our loving Saviour that we begin to learn how to forgive and to commit ourselves to the way of forgiveness.
In this blog we meet with Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us.
...their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father. This makes me wonder whether Jesus is referring to guardian angels. Do they intercede for us?
ReplyDeleteMy view on forgiveness: for those who forgive easily, surely that is a gift from God, (like Antoine Leiris who wrote " You Will Not Have My Hate") . For most of us , I agree with Paul that it is lifelong journey; a very painful and difficult journey.