Saugatuck Congregational Church, UCC
©Rev. Alison J. Buttrick Patton
February 8, 2015
Scriptures: Mark 1:29-39
A rabbi became troubled that his life had no meaning, that he was somehow on the wrong path. He went out walking, and lost in thought, he wandered onto a military base that was closed to civilians. A soldier stopped him and shook him from his reverie. “Who are you, and what is your purpose here?” asked the soldier. In response, the rabbi asked: “Soldier, what do they pay you to guard this base?” The soldier named his fee. “I will pay you the same, if you will ask me those two questions every day.”
“Who are you and what is your purpose?”
Today is a particularly good day to ask those two questions, on this Sunday when we gather for the annual meeting of Saugatuck Church, just a few short weeks into the new year, a few short weeks after having begun our move back to this restored sanctuary. Today, as we hover between baptism and sainthood, the waters from the font still damp on Ellery’s brow; the light of each memorial candle illuminating our worship, today as we give thanks for the gifts of those who have gone before and open ourselves to the gifts of those who follow after: Today is a good day to pause and ask, “Who are we, and what is our purpose?”
This is, of course, a big question, the biggest kind of question. The kind that keeps one awake in the wee hours of the morning, tossing and turning. The kind that sends is rushing into the guidance counselor’s office, to sort through piles of college catalogues, or onto Travelocity.com, to find the perfect pilgrimage. We search for clarity in the dregs of our morning coffee, or in the wisdom of a friend. We ponder or gut-check or follow our hearts. Who are we, and what is our purpose?
Kevin Jorgeson and Tommy Caldwell recently achieved the first free climb ascent of El Capitan’s Dawn Wall in Yosemite National Park, Calif. Kevin described the climb as his Moby Dick, a goal he hadn’t been able to shake since it first occurred to him 10 years ago.[1]
Kayla Mueller, who was tragically killed this week in a Jordanian air strike in Northern Syria, after being held hostage by ISIS for several months – Kayla is being remembered as a young women of remarkable commitment to service, a young adult who traveled to Syria to provide aid to Syrian refugees. Among other things, she taught art classes to refugee children. “For as long as I live,” she once said in an interview, “I will not let this suffering be normal.”[2]
Bruce Jenner, 1976 Gold medalist in the decathalon, may be in the process of transitioning from male to female… He has not made a public statement about his transition yet, and that’s his story to tell, but I am struck by a NY Times op ed written by Nicholas Kristoff this week, in which he applauded Jenner’s courage: “Considering the violence and discrimination that transgender people endure, no one would go through this except for the most profound of motivations: to be authentic to one’s inner self.”[3]
Asking the question, “Who am I and what is my purpose?” and really attending to the answer might just compel us to scale astonishing heights or travel to foreign lands; or give us the courage to claim our humanity in the face of those who would deny it.
It might just provoke us to give our whole lives.
Jesus knew this. The first chapter of Mark, which we’ve been reading these last few weeks, portrays Jesus as a man with a clear sense of who he was and what he was called to do. And if we readers are in any doubt, we need only recall the day Jesus was baptized, when the sky ripped open and a voice declared, “You are my son, the beloved; with you I am well pleased.” There you have it: Beloved child of God. Those words launch Jesus’ ministry – an urgent mission, according to Mark. Reading this gospel is a bit like speeding along a winding country road: ‘Immediately,’ Mark writes, and “at once,” and ‘as soon as they left.’ … Mark’s prose, clipped and efficient, carries us from river to desert to synagogue to Simon’s home and out again in the course of just a few short verses. “Let’s not waste any time,” the writer seems to be saying. “Jesus has a lot to do.”
So, ‘as soon as’ they leave the Synagogue that Sunday afternoon (Jesus having just cast out an unclean spirit), he heads for the home of Simon and Andrew, where he learns that Simon’s mother-in-law is in bed with a fever. Without hesitating, Jesus goes into the room where she lies. Despite the fact that doing so breached a clearly defined social boundary, despite that fact that he should not have gone near a woman to whom he was not related, he went (indeed, those social boundaries never seemed to stop him. You might even say that boundary-busting was his calling, that his purpose was to break down barriers, wherever he went…).
In a powerful, tender moment, Jesus takes Simon’s mother-in-law by the hands and raises her up. And it’s as if his sense of calling and conviction is transmitted to her through the tips of his fingers, like a sort of electric spark. As the fever leaves her, his sense of purpose fills her. Or maybe it’s more accurate to say: Her own sense of purpose fills her. No sooner is she well, then she takes up her role as head of household and host and serves all those who have gathered in her living room (by the way, the Greek verb translated as ‘serve’ in this passage is diakoneo [dee-ak-on-eh’-o], from which we derive the word ‘deacon.’ So you could say that Simon’s mother-in-law was the first deacon!). It is even possible that she joined Jesus’ mission that day, that she was one of the women described in Mark as funding Jesus’ ministry, and of remaining with him to the very end. There, indeed, is a woman with a clear sense of purpose.
After that encounter at Simon’s house, Jesus goes out to pray. The disciples try to bring him back, to take care of the crowds that have gathered outside Simon’s door. But Jesus never intended to stay in one place. “Let us go into the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there, also: for that is what I came out to do.” Demanding crowds and anxious disciples notwithstanding: Jesus was clear that he was called to spread the news of God’s love, not just in one house, or in one town, but across the countryside. “That is what I came out to do.” So he went.
Which brings me back to that provocative question: Who then are we, and what is OUR purpose? Do we have that clarity of vision, that sense of direction? To put it another way, and maybe more bluntly: Why are you here?
Each of us will have our own response, no doubt, and those responses will likely vary over time. But today, poised between the font and the saints, we might begin by saying this: WE are beloved children of God. Every one of us. In the waters of baptism we are marked as God’s own, and welcomed into this faithful community.
Together, we are members of Christ’s community, part of a Church that extends back through the generations; we carry with us the spark that was passed on to us by those who have come before. We gather with this purpose: to follow the one who wades into every troubled torrent, for the sake of healing, loving and redeeming God’s whole world. Of course, that raises yet another question (isn’t that the way it goes?): How do we do that, exactly? How to we follow Jesus here at Saugatuck Church? That’s another question that could – perhaps should – involve many conversations over many weeks of Sundays.
But I’d like to try out one idea: what if our purpose were to create space for people to ask their honest questions about faith, and to grapple with them. What if we were called to be the kind of wide-open, welcome community that said: “Here, you can wrestle with the big questions. Here, there is no taboo topic. Here, we are judged not so much by our certainty, as by our curiosity.” In a culture increasingly populated by skeptics, religious nomads, and spiritual seekers, what would it mean to be a church that welcomes uncertainty? What would that look like? For starters, that kind of community would need to engender trust, banish judgment, cultivate flexible thinking, invite investigation… It might encourage experiments in worship. Is that our purpose? To create community bound together by our shared quest for deeper, embodied faith?
Or, here’s another thought: what if our purpose was to be like that soldier the rabbi met: to ask each person who crossed our threshold, “who are you and what is your purpose?” What if our common calling was to help individuals to discern their call? What would that look like? It could mean creating lots of spaces for prayer and deep, reflective listening; it might mean nurturing a small group ministry, so that each person has a supportive setting within which to listen for God’s voice and discern his or her direction. It might well mean that we’d measure our vitality not just by how many people come to church, but by how many people we bless and send out to faithfully serve in all kinds of ways and places…
Is that God’s purpose for us? Or is there something else?
We may not know yet, but these are questions worthy of our shared time and attention, so we will continue to consider them together. During the season of Lent, I will lead a small group book discussion on the book by Martin Copenhaver: Jesus is the Question: the 307 questions he asked and the 3 he answered. I invite you to join me for those conversations on Sunday afternoons, where we might be provoked by Jesus’ questions to consider what it means to be on this journey of faith.
In any case, there, here, in fellowship hour, in meetings, in Bible study, in prayer group, when we meet each other in the grocery store, may we continue this sacred quest. May we continue to ask, together, these sacred questions, and to listen together for God’s leading . May we discover together the purpose that God intends for us, that thing that may just engage our whole lives. Indeed: would that not be a blessing? Thanks be to God. Amen.
[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/15/sports/el-capitans-dawn-wall-climbers-reach-top.html
[2] http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/07/world/middleeast/isis-claims-american-hostage-killed-by-jordanian-retaliation-bombings.html
[3] http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/05/opinion/nicholas-kristof-bruce-jenners-courage.html
Mark 1: 29-39 – NRSV Translation
29 As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. 31 He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them. 32
That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. 33 And the whole city was gathered around the door. 34 And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. 35
In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. 36 And Simon and his companions hunted for him. 37 When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” 38 He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.” 39
And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.