Combating Self Elevation
- davidwperk
- Mar 18, 2024
- 7 min read
Devotional Reflection, Monday, March 18, 2024
The week of the fifth Sunday in Lent
The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.
Key phrases for reflection from today’s reading:
35He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.’ 36Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, 37‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.’ 38 John said to him, ‘Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.’ 39But Jesus said, ‘Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. 40Whoever is not against us is for us. 41For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.
You will find the full text of today’s Gospel at the end of this reflection.
Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 957)
AM Psalm 31; PM Psalm 35
Exod. 4:10-20(21-26)27-31; 1 Cor. 14:1-19; Mark 9:30-41
Today we celebrate the Feast of Cyril of Jerusalem. (See below.)
David’s Reflections
Some anonymous philosopher once quipped, "Lord, help me in the search for truth but deliver me from the company of those who have found it." * The final paragraph of today’s Gospel offers a classic example of the dangers of believing you have found the truth. Jesus’ followers encountered a stranger performing exorcisms in Jesus’ name and tried to stop him because he was not a part of their group.
Three observations come to mind. In the context prior, Jesus’ followers had failed to heal a young man while Jesus was on the Mount of Transfiguration. When Jesus returned and healed him, he took the disciples to task, saying that such healings do not happen apart from prayer (implying some lack on their part). They then took to task a man performing healings in Jesus’ name, healing that they themselves had been unable to effect.
Second, the text says that they tried to stop him. Thankfully, they were not successful. This unknown person was not dependent on their approval or acceptance. We can only imagine that he may have one of the larger band of disciples that existed prior to the resurrection. (1 Corinthians 15 alludes to 500 who saw one resurrection appearance.) Perhaps he had seen Jesus heal and heard him teach and had come to faith with the realization that he was to follow Jesus’ example. Perhaps he then had returned home and taken up Jesus’ ministry without Jesus’ or the disciples’ knowledge.
Third, Jesus included this person in the circle of faith. He regarded him as a genuine follower who should be respected and received as such. Jesus’ approach to boundaries calls to mind lines from Frost’s poem Mending Wall.
Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offence.
Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,
That wants it down.+
The possibilities for reflective self-examination about this incident feel rather limitless. Becoming part of any community automatically establishes boundaries, an insider/outsider dynamic. Some are in with you and some are out. The genius of the Christian faith, when we live into Jesus’ sense of mission, is understanding that the only boundary that really counts is faith. What distinguishes me from someone with no faith commitment or from someone committed to another world religion? The only distinction that counts is faith. I have faith in Jesus as the ultimate expression of the nature of God, and even that faith has come to me as a gift, awakened by God’s seeking love touching my life. All other boundaries must be, as Gordon Lathrop, the Lutheran liturgical scholar, once wrote, permeable.$
That means also that I have in common with all other Christians the most important boundary distinction. We all share faith in Jesus as God’s Son. I may feel theologically superior to some and superior to some in my understanding of Jesus’ mission in the world, and those feelings may ossify into boundaries, or worse into barriers. Pride and her cousin elitism tend in that direction. We could find ourselves playing the role of these disciples, rejecting people who are living and serving in Jesus’ name and who actually may be more effective in some areas of living out Jesus’ mission in the world than we.
"Lord, help me in the search for truth but deliver me from the company of those who have found it.”*
* Quoted in an email from a friend.
+The Poetry of Robert Frost, ed. Edward Connery Lathem. (New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1969), pp. 33-34.
$Gordon W Lathrop. Holy Things: A Liturgical Theology. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1993, p. 132.
Collect of the Day, The Fifth Sunday in Lent
Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP, 219)
Collect for Monday in the Fifth Week of Lent
Be gracious to your people, we entreat you, O Lord, that they, repenting day by day of the things that displease you, may be more and more filled with love of you and of your commandments; and, being supported by your grace in this life, may come to the full enjoyment of eternal life in your everlasting kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Holy Women, Holy Men, p. 60)
Today we celebrate the Feast of Cyril of Jerusalem, bishop and theologian (died ca 386 CE).
Collect of the Feast of Cyril of Jerusalem
Strengthen, O God, your church in the sacraments of your grace, that we, in union with the teaching and prayers of your servant Cyril of Jerusalem, may enter more fully into your Paschal mystery; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
A Collect for the Renewal of Life
O God, the King eternal, whose light divides the day from the night and turns the shadow of death into the morning: Drive far from us all wrong desires, incline our hearts to keep your law, and guide our feet into the way of peace; that, having done your will with cheerfulness while it was day, we may, when night comes, rejoice to give you thanks; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 99)
For a Birthday
Watch over your child, O Lord, as her/his days increase; bless and guide her/him wherever she/he may be. Strengthen her/him when she/he stands; comfort her/him when discouraged or sorrowful; raise her/him up if she/he falls; and in her/his heart may your peace which passes understanding abide all the days of her/his life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen (BCP, 830)
A Prayer for Light
O Lord God Almighty, as you have taught us to call the evening, the morning, and the noonday one day; and have made the sun to know its going down: Dispel the darkness of our hearts, that by your brightness we may know you to be the true God and eternal light, living and reigning for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 110)
A Collect for Mission
O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: Grant that people everywhere may seek after you and find you; bring the nations into your fold; pour out your Spirit upon all flesh; and hasten the coming of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 100, 257)
Daily Office Gospel, Mark 9:30-41
30 They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to
know it; 31for he was teaching his disciples, saying 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.’ 32But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid
to ask him.
33 Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them,
‘What were you arguing about on the way?’ 34But they were silent, for on the way
they had argued with one another who was the greatest. 35He sat down, called the
twelve, and said to them, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of
all.’ 36Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he
said to them, 37‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and
whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.’38 John said to him, ‘Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and
we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.’ 39But Jesus said, ‘Do not stop
him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to
speak evil of me. 40Whoever is not against us is for us. 41For truly I tell you,
whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will
by no means lose the reward.
Daily Offices in The Book of Common Prayer
Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, The Book of Common Prayer
Noonday Prayer, page 103, Book of Common Prayer
Order of Worship for Evening (Vespers), p 109, Book of Common Prayer
Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer
Compline (Night Prayer), page 127, Book of Common Prayer
Daily Devotionals, page 136, Book of Common Prayer
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