March 18, 2018 Lent 5 Mark 11:20-13:37

In the first part of our gospel reading Jesus is getting asked about a whole lot of hot button issues of the day: authority, the place of the temple, paying taxes, eternal life, and the commandments.  His answers to any one of them could get him into trouble.  I don’t want to suggest that the current state of our political climate is a parallel to Jesus’ day, but I do think the way he handles things gives us some principles to live by.

            I’m sure you’ve all sat around the table with a bunch of relatives at a holiday and somebody brings up a hot button topic.  It seems to happen a lot these days.  There might be a ringing silence, and your anxiety may shoot through the roof.  What’s going to happen?  Is it going to be ignored?  Is someone going to blow up?  Is there going to be a fight?  A great holiday with lots of anticipation may turn into a disaster.

            Some people bury their heads in the sand – probably a bad idea.  Some people instantly blow their top and start an argument – probably also a bad idea.  Some people try to be diplomatic and see things from all sides and then try to be the peacemakers.  That’s kind of sweet – but it could also be a bad idea.  In some things there is no room for diplomacy.  Some things are simply wrong.  They must be stopped or rejected.

            I say it is our faith responsibility to be able to engage in conversations about hot button issues or political issues.  We should not shy away from them when they come up.  Although we also have to remember that following the example of Jesus when you engage something may still get you in a lot of trouble.  Good Friday didn’t exactly turn out sweet for Jesus now did it?

            So what does Jesus do?  Every time Jesus is asked about something it’s presented in a limiting way.  For example, should they pay taxes to Caesar or not?  It’s an either/or situation.         Last Wednesday many high school students held a 17 minute walkout as a protest to gun violence and in memory of the school shooting in Florida.  I was pleased with the way the students decided to express themselves, and in Canandaigua at least, I was pleased with the way the administration honored the students’ desires.  They were allowed to walk out, or not; no punishment, no judgment.  And yet I couldn’t help feeling like it was all limiting.  It seemed like students were either for or against.  There was no room to express anything more complicated, and it that’s the end of the situation then the complications can never be expressed.  Only time will tell with this one, but a lot of hot button issues turn into either/or situations; people battling for their side to win.  They rejoice when they do, and they get mad and want revenge when they don’t.

            How many civil conversations are there on Facebook over hot button issues?

            The same limits were being placed on Jesus.  But he refused to let society’s ways of defining an issue be his way of defining an issue.  Look at all his answers.  He redefines things according to his own terms, which are God’s terms.  Jesus’ answers take thought.  They are seldom simple.  They honor the value of people and they honor how complex issues are. 

I think that people are by nature lazy.  We want simple solutions to complex problems.  How many times do politicians on the campaign trail say that an issue is complex, there are no easy solutions, and that everyone is going to have to work hard on it for a long time?   What do politicians usually say?  That the opposing party is the problem and just kick them out and everything will automatically get better.

Lea Schweitz is a systematic theology professor at the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago.  She talks about what she calls the “wicked problems” of the world.  By wicked problems she doesn’t necessarily mean they are particularly evil.  She means that they are not easily addressed – things like poverty, racism, and addiction.  You can’t just hire experts to study the problem, then implement a solution, and have the problem go away.  That’s the way people want things to work, but it doesn’t.

No, for Lea “wicked problems” are problems where you do the best you can today to address it.  But you know that the problem isn’t going away.  Six months or a year from now you have to restudy it, see how your solutions worked or didn’t work, and then adjust them and move forward.  You can’t stick to party lines or ideological purity.  And no one ever gets to claim victory, and maybe the problem is never solved.  But constant thoughtful attention can minimize it.

I think this is how Jesus wants us to address the problems of the world.  We have to be careful to avoid being blinded by our own desires, our own concepts of how things work (or should work), and blind attachment to particular authorities or parties. 

Let’s wrap all this up by pointing out something easy to overlook.  This week’s reading began with the disciples noting the withered fig tree.  You’ll remember from what we read last week that this is the tree Jesus cursed because it didn’t have figs.  The whole thing raises more questions than it answers, but the point of it was a prophetic action.  The withering of the fig tree to its roots symbolizes the withering and rejection of the temple in Jerusalem.  And now Jesus uses it to talk about prayer.  He says that if you have faith in God you could say to a mountain, “’Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you.”  (Mark 11:24)  If that were the case I’d never lift a shovel again!  I get all sorts of wild images in my mind of how I’d use such powers.  And in that imagination I miss how Jesus teaches to apply it, for that is the real thrust.

What is his practical application of prayer and it’s power?  He uses it for forgiveness.  “Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father in heaven may also forgive your trespasses.”  (11:25)

There’s nothing triumphal in asking God for forgiveness and in forgiving others.  If mountains are hard to move, so also forgiveness can be hard.  I don’t think Jesus means to just ignore the wrong people do.  No, there needs to be accountability.  A parent needs to establish discipline and consequences in his or her children.  Jesus isn’t talking about no consequences for wrongdoing.  Jesus is talking about rooting your understanding of yourself and others in your common brokenness before God and your need for God’s grace.

If you can see yourself in the proper light before God, then you will also see others in the proper light before God.  From there the real issues of the world can be addressed, and we can all grow in faith and hope.