B, Post Pentecost 18 Proper 20 - Mark 9:35 "Wisdom in the Wind"
Mark 9:35 (ESV) “And
he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, ‘If anyone would be
first, he must be last of all and servant of all.’ ”
Imagine you are walking in the dark. Your light is fragile, a candlelight, a
burning wick, that’s easily snuffed out.
It’s not a battery-driven, weather-proof torch that continues to burn
after taking a beating, dropped in the mud, submerged in water. No! It’s a flame that requires three things in
perfect balance to exist: oxygen, heat, and fuel.
The fuel is the wax of the candle, or the oil in the
reservoir. Oxygen too is needed, but not
too much, especially with such a small flame!
And heat is the third. But
because the flame is so small and its heating qualities are limited, too much
oxygen, too much air, will take the heat away in an instant and the flame is
out, and the light is gone.
Now imagine you are walking in the dark, in a raging
windstorm, just before the rain comes pouring down, or perhaps near the ocean
where the waves are whipped up by the winds and freezing salt spray is soaking
everything. How do you keep your wick
burning. You have oil in your lamp; to
light the way, how do you keep it burning?
In ages past various devices have been designed to protect
the wick from the wind. Glass was
typical, or a metal mesh scrim was used to diffuse the air and protect the
flame. How fortunate we are today to
have torches that recharge with electronic light sources such as bulbs or LEDs
(light emitting diodes)!
Nevertheless, a fragile flame in the wind is a good picture
for understanding ourselves and our faith.
Our faith flickers in fragile vessels as we face furores along the way
of life. What sustains the flame of
faith within, so we might withstand the day of judgement, and not be blown away
like chaff in a windstorm?
You all know the answer is Jesus Christ! He sustains the flame of faith within, so we
might not be blown away in the wild storms of life and death. But to our continual surprise, how Jesus
sustains the flame of faith is contrary to human thinking, it’s opposite to human
modes of operation, what we do and how we react, and Jesus’ way is the reverse
of what we’re taught by the world.
Jesus was born into the fragile frame of humanity. And within that frame he bore the same
fragile flame, as do we all.
James speaks of the qualities with which we should
operate. These are ultimately the
qualities of Christ. James asks, “Who is wise and understanding among you? By
his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.” (James
3:13 ESV)
Meekness of wisdom or wisdom born in meekness is a quality
misunderstood by most. Where Jesus says,
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall
inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5 ESV) The modus operandi of the world is to
put meekness aside in favour of assertiveness, self-confidence, and boldness as
individuals and collectively with mob mentality!
But the structure with which the world operates is contrary
to what Christ Jesus brought on behalf of God the Father, and how it was enacted
and empowered, when he put aside the privilege of his divinity, humbled his
spirit, was compelled by the Holy Spirit, and ultimately gave up his human
spirit on the cross. Within Jesus’
meekness was a wisdom far above the works of any other person.
When James asks, “Who
is wise and understanding among you?” The answer is Jesus, and not me!
Yet what we find when the storms of life threaten the
fragile flame within, our worldly way turns on the gas of the old Adam within,
and the pilot light of Christ gives way to the heat of our fiery passions and
pride. And rather than being protected
from the storms we face, we engage with frenzied force adding to the faithless
fracases of the world.
We hear from James, “if
you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and
be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but
is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.” (James
3:14–15 ESV)
Our jealousy and selfish ambitions are no match against God,
since “He yearns jealously over the
spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? (James 4:5 ESV)
So jealous is God our Father over you, he sent Jesus to be
the “blessed one”. Jesus is the blessed
one of the Psalms and is the blessed man introduced to us in Psalm one. He is blessed or balanced in a way fulfilled
by no other person. His way is the
blessed way, he does not walk with the wicked, he does not stand in the ways of
sinners, nor does he sit to join with the scoffers.
However, Jesus who delights in the law of God, sits with
sinners to teach them God’s way, he does not stand in the way of sinners, but
he stood for all sinners on the cross, having walked the way of the cross.
In meekness and humility, he took what was earthly,
unspiritual, demonic, on himself on the cross and gives you what the world
cannot. He allowed his separation from
the Father and the Holy Spirit and descended into hell, so we no longer have to
go there, or be separated from God. But
in the wisdom of his meekness, he won victory over death.
When Jesus sat down with the twelve disciples, he sat down with
sinners, not to join them in their sin but to teach them the way of the
cross. Their lesson was a bitter lesson
learnt. They were the first to learn
through their bitterness when they deserted Jesus at the cross. Yet eleven of them were reinstated in the
forgiveness they received, and the blessing Jesus bestowed on them when he
breathed the Holy Spirit on them.
They were the first to learn the lesson, and the lesson
continues for us, through the bitter experience of sins exposed by God’s Word
of Law. But the blessed reinstatement continues
too, with the breath of the Holy Spirit keeping the flame of faith burning, so
we receive and believe the forgiveness of our sins.
Jesus sat down to serve sinners, to balance us with his
blessedness, to straighten our crooked ways with his blessedness. He took his stand and hung on the cross for
the forgiveness of your sin, and he walked the way of the cross for your
salvation. Jesus’ meekness led him
through death to the resurrection. This was a meekness that allowed his flame
to be snuffed out. But the wisdom in his
meekness meant death had no control over him. He could not stay dead! This wisdom is meek, but it’s servanthood contrary
to the ways of the world, you and me, who daily struggle to allow the Holy
Spirit deal with the pride and passions of the old sinful spiritual self.
The world does not understand what Jesus teaches you and
me. That, “if anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” In fact, Jesus is the only one who
understands this in a practical way, having willingly experienced not just
meekness, but the weakness of death, to be last of all and servant of all. Having done so, he is the firstborn of the
dead, the glorified head of the church. Even
so, he continues to serve us now, interceding for us before our Father in
heaven.
Undergirding this upside-down triangle is the Trinity that
bears the church. The upside-down
pinnacle of the church is balanced on the cross of Jesus’ death and
resurrection that connects it with the Triune God.
This balance defies all human pride and passions that
struggles under the folly of the world’s frenzied faithlessness. This balance and level in the church comes
from Christ who balances our frailty and fragility with his wisdom won through being
the eternally begotten firstborn of creation. But also, because he is the Servant
Head of the church, the firstborn of the dead (Colossians 1:15-20).
You now have this wisdom within. Despite the fragility of your frame, within
is Jesus’ faithful flame, that has not only weathered the storm but has
conquered the raging storm of death so you can take you stand, straight and balanced
in Christ, anchored in his blessed wisdom in the wild windstorms of life and
death. Amen.
