Sermon for the 16th Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 20B Lectionary 25
September 20, 2009
Texts:  Jeremiah 11:18-20; Psalm 54; James 3:13-4:3, 4:7-8a; Mark 9:30-37

They did not understand,
But they were afraid to ask him.

They did not understand and they were afraid. 

Not understanding and being afraid to ask.

What’s this all about?

Is it kind of like high school math class?
No clue as to what the teacher is talking about,
There are all kinds of variables, letters, and equations,
If you ask a question, everybody might think you are stupid. 

Is it like my first semester in seminary,
In a night class on Church History
With a bunch of more experienced students?
The teacher is flinging around Greek words with abandon
And I have absolutely no clue what he is talking about.
But if I ask,
They might realize that I don’t really belong here,
I’m an outsider, a techie brain,
Who is not cut out for these kind of courses.

Is it like when you are in the doctor’s office,
And the doctor begins using a bunch of jargon in your diagnosis.
A lot of the words ending with “noma”.
You don’t understand him,
But you are really afraid to ask.
If you find out the meaning of the words,
It might mean that you have to accept a diagnosis
That includes the big “C”.

Or is it like the experience when the doorbell rings,
And a policeman is standing at the door?
The young man asks if your father drives a blue Passat.
Your mind can’t quite comprehend the pieces of what he is saying.
You don’t ask any questions,
Because you don’t want to hear
What the young policeman has to tell you.
You want your world to be exactly as it was,
Before the doorbell rang.  

You don’t understand and are afraid to ask.

While I was in Florida,
With my Mom,
My sister’s best friend called
And asked if I could come over and pray with her.
She had been at the doctor’s office earlier that day,
Expecting to receive a diagnosis
Of a benign mole, or at the worst
A minor skin cancer.

Instead, the doctor told her that she had breast cancer.
She told me that her mind seemed to shut down.
She just couldn’t process the information,
She didn’t understand what he was saying,
But… and these were the words she used
“I was afraid to ask”.

Fortunately a friend had accompanied her
And had the presence of mind
To ask all the clarifying questions
That her brain would not allow her to ask.

The mind is a funny thing
Sometimes it just won’t take in
Or process information that is threatening.

So what do you think was happening with Jesus’ disciples?

Imagine the setting.

Jesus has information that he knows the disciples need.
It is information that he has tried to communicate previously,
But the disciples have not seemed to understand.

Jesus carefully plans the setting.
He arranges the location
So that no one knows where to find them.
He wants to be alone with his disciples.

He does not want anything or anybody
To interrupt this important conversation.
All the cell phones and Blackberries have been turned off.
The location has been kept a secret.

Jesus needs them to understand
That together they are on a trip to Jerusalem
With an ending that is far different
From what they have been hoping for.

He had tried to explain the implications to them
Back before the transfiguration,
But Peter had just argued with him,
Saying it couldn’t possibly happen.

Now Jesus is going to try again.

He says as plainly as he can to the disciples.
“I am going to be betrayed.
I will be killed
And I will rise again.”

Of course, Jesus uses that Son of Man term,
Rather than saying “I”,
But do you think that is what tripped up the disciples?

Not a chance!

I think that the disciples were still imagining glory
And what would await them
When Jesus the Messiah
Took over the world with power and might.

It’s possible that no disciple asked any questions,
Because none of them wanted Jesus
Or the rest of the disciples to know how slow he was.

But I think that it is a better bet
That the disciples’ brains went into shut down
Just like my sister’s friend’s brain did
When she got the breast cancer diagnosis. 

They simply couldn’t process information
That so clearly contradicted
Their hopes and their dreams,
The plans they had when they left their families and their jobs
To follow Jesus.

The measure of how far they were from comprehending Jesus’ words
Is found in the nature of their conversation
For the rest of road trip to Capernaum.

If they had grasped even one iota of what Jesus was saying,
They might have been asking what they would do
And what would happen to them
After Jesus was gone.

Instead their conversation revolved around
Counting the notches and colors on their disciple belts.

I made it to brown belt;
How about you?
Or I am only one step away from a black belt;
I only have to do one more healing. 

I’m a better, more important, more successful,
You choose the adjective,
Disciple than you are.

This is the kind of conversation that you have
When you think success is going to buy you something,
Like an ambassador position
Or chief justice position
In the administration of the new kingdom
Which Jesus is going to usher in.

Jesus is saying I’m going to be killed,
And the disciples are bragging
About what their accomplishments are going to do for them.

The disciples’ brains had definitely gone into shut down mode.

It is kind of like what might happen
If you find out that your spouse has been diagnosed with a life threatening disease,
And your brain, which can’t quite process the information,
Wonders if you can still plan the camping trip for the weekend.

So what about the disciples?
Where’s the good news here?

Where do you find good news
In a story where the disciples hear that Jesus is going to die,
And then spend their time arguing about who is the best disciple.
I suggest that we look for good news
In what happens between Jesus and the disciples
After they get to Capernaum.

Even though Jesus may have been disgusted with the disciples’ argument,
He keeps talking to them,
Working with them and teaching them.

He continues to call them on their behavior,
And to show them a different way.

He gives them examples of what is expected from them.
He even uses the object lesson of a child,
Telling them that whoever wants to be first,
Must be the servant of all, even to children.

Jesus does not abandon his seemingly faithless, clueless disciples,
Even when their behavior might have driven him nuts.

Once Jesus calls someone, he sticks with them.

James, who may have been Jesus’ brother,
Writes in his letter that true wisdom comes from above,
A wisdom that is pure, gentle, full of mercy and without hypocrisy.

Rather than walking away from  his greedy, over-ambitious disciples,
Jesus brings that wisdom down to earth to them.

And it is much the same for us.

Those times when we simply don’t understand,
Or when we have walked away from some really scary information,
And are too afraid to ask questions,
Jesus is there with us, too.

Sometimes the presence comes through another person.

The friend, who sits with you at the doctor’s office,
Asking the questions you are too afraid to ask.

The person who calls you weekly,
After someone you love dies. 

Even the math teacher who senses your confusion
And invites you to stay after school to answer your questions
So that you won’t be embarrassed by the rest of the class.
Sometimes the wisdom comes in a way
That is seemingly indiscernible to you.

Such as when your ambitions get ahead of you,
And you keep trying to be first in the way the world calls first,
And somehow God shows you a different way. 
You are not sure how or why,
But somehow you just know you have to do something different.

As humans we have those times
When we just don’t understand
And for whatever reason,
We are afraid to ask.

At these scary times,
Is when we can count on God being with us.

The wisdom to know how to live in scary times
Comes from above.
It is a wisdom that shows us the way of peace and mercy
In the midst of fear and devastation. 

The disciples never quite understood
Why Jesus had to die, particularly on a cross,
And frankly, we may not quite understand it either.

Yet from Jesus’ death
Comes resurrection, new life
And victory over death and the grave.

Even though it wasn’t apparent to the disciples until later,
The God of the cross,
Is a God who sticks around in bad, scary times
And who through the victory over death
Transforms our worst fears into hope.

Amen