The Hard Truth of Discipleship

Jesus’ disciples were shocked and confused when he said to them, "The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again." They did not understand what he was saying. 

While Jesus and the disciples were walking through Galilee Jesus gave instructions about the hard truth of discipleship.  He predicted that betrayal and death would take place in Jerusalem and how, after being killed, he would rise again.  It is likely the disciples were so frightened by what they were hearing they were afraid to ask. 

During the years that I was teaching philosophy at Rhode Island College I generally talked with students about my understanding of what education is all about.  I believe in an interactive approach rather than a straight lecture format.  My approach to teaching and learning was somewhat different from many other faculty and, for that, I am indebted to Parker Palmer, a teacher’s teacher.  Parker is an author and educator who founded a Center for Courage and Renewal. 

           

In his book titled, The Courage to Teach, Parker Palmer writes, “All education has the potential to be spiritual formation.  The problem is that education often is a process of spiritual deformation.  The enemy of education is fear.  In the academy we are afraid to get our ignorance out on the table.  We institutionalize a way of knowing that is deeply rooted in fear.  The way we know, the way we teach and learn, the way we live are deeply related. 

“Our institutionalized way of knowing has three components:  1) It is objective.  It holds the world at arm’s length, distances the student from the subject, distrusts and fears subjectivity; 2) It is analytic. After making an object of something, you take it apart, dissect it, analyze it; 3) Then you experiment.  After chopping something into pieces, you manipulate it and move the pieces around to your own liking.  This is spiritual deformation.

Palmer continues, “In contrast to this, the Jewish and Christian traditions say, ‘be not afraid.’  Theirs is an urgent contribution to an alternative way of knowing.  This way of knowing is now being articulated by some feminist scholars and black and minority voices.  It is also beginning to have an impact on many people who perceive the transformative power of education.  This way of knowing has four marks that include: one, knowing, truth, knowledge is personal.  Jesus, when asked what is truth, said, “I am the truth.”  There is a big difference in saying truth is personal or truth is propositional.  We need to acknowledge that autobiography is important in knowing; two, truth, knowing is communal.   It emerges from the body dealing with itself in an open, communal way.  The same is true in science.  What is found must be shared and subject to replication; three, truth, knowing is also reciprocal or mutual.  It is not just our seeking truth, but truth seeking us; and four, the fruit of knowing, truth, is transformation.  The problem is that we do not want to be transformed, we want to do the transforming.  This is our fear, our resistance to change.”

The task for Jesus’ disciples and the task for us as people of faith is to find ways of naming and addressing the fears that inhibit hearing and understanding difficult truth.  These fears stand in the way of developing opportunities for communities of truth to emerge in which transformation and spiritual formation occur.

As we heard in Mark’s gospel, the disciples were also preoccupied with another debate. In a house in the town of Capernaum they were arguing among themselves and Jesus asked about their disagreement.  They were ashamed to tell him because they were debating who among them was the greatest.  They seemed unaware of what was really happening.  Debating about their relative status of deserved future prominence was for them a reasonable undertaking.  They were, after all, students of a rabbi who would soon be recognized and honored in the capital city of Jerusalem.  Jesus understood their confusion and spoke to correct their longing for prestige and status.  "Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all."

Then, to make his point, Jesus took a small child into his arms.  The child was a living symbol of those whom the disciples were to serve. "Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me."  But more than this, "whoever welcomes me welcomes…the one who sent me."

As I read this I could not help but think of all the refugees from Syria and countries in Africa who are being forced out of their homes because of war and violence.  Many are families with small children, some of whom are infants and mothers who are pregnant.  It is our obligation to welcome them by supporting countries and agencies that provide a safe haven, and our country should also welcome them.

Normally, children are free spirits.  They are naturally curious and inquisitive about everything.  They are always taking risks, trying something new, experiencing what they have not known before, developing their own sense of right and wrong, good and bad, creating their identity and expressing their personalities.  It is wonderful to watch all this in children and to share with them as they grow. But when they are forced to abandon their homes, their spirits are no longer free and their development is seriously compromised.

In Jesus' day children had no status.  During the time of Jesus and Mark children were considered unimportant. But it is children and people like them who must be the concern for Jesus' followers.  Jesus, in the context of the social norms of his day, turned things upside down.  He taught that true greatness means giving of yourself in service to others without concern for what you will receive in return.  It is unconditional love.

Have you ever heard the voice of God in a young and innocent child?  I think we are often like Jesus' disciples, wanting God to be the greatest extension of ourselves and to make up for our inadequacies and shortcomings. It is hard for us to hear and to understand the Gospel telling us, "Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all."  We don't easily recognize that what we think of as weakness in reality may be strength, or what we perceive as strong may actually be weak.  We want God to be a bigger version of ourselves, created in our image and able to fix things for us.  It’s often hard to recognize that those who are the least among us are created in God's image.  God is not what we expect.

Jesus reminds us that true greatness is not about achieving honors for ourselves, or compiling a list of credentials or accomplishments, whether spiritual or material.  Instead, true greatness is measured in God's eyes by our service to others and whether we truly welcome the least among us.  In welcoming them we welcome God.  Amen.