Penelope Bridges
How do you feel about our reading from Proverbs? Reading these verses is frankly exhausting for me. The capable wife (or in another translation Woman of Power) does everything, it seems. She makes clothes, grows food, engages in real estate transactions and commercial deals, runs the household, gives to the poor, supports her spouse, and of course fears the Lord. It reminds me of parish profiles when they list the qualities they seek in a rector or dean, you know, the ones that call for the priest to be 24/7 available in the office while constantly going out to visit the sick and maintaining a good work-life balance. As this entire list of virtues is given only in the context of how she provides for her husband and children, we might also think of the “good wife’s guides” that were widely published in the US in the 1950’s.
The last verse, however, offers a twist: “Give her a share in the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the city gates.” Here is the reward for this ultra-competent woman: to be properly compensated and publicly recognized at the city gates – the city gates being the location of all important business in ancient Israel. While most of our Proverbs reading might be very attractive to most world cultures in its portrayal of the wife whose whole purpose is to make her husband look good, the notions of adequate compensation and public acclaim sound a challenging note and shouldn’t be taken for granted: witness the gender pay gap that we still see in this country, or the new Taliban laws that forbid an Afghan woman to even look at a man who is not a relative. And I refer you also to the Trad Wife movement that is active in the United States today: this passage from Proverbs is the Gospel for those who espouse that lifestyle.
Scholars tell us that this passage, placed significantly at the very end of Proverbs, and written in the form of an acrostic poem, the first letter of each line spelling out the Hebrew alphabet, is a bookend to the beginning of Proverbs where Lady Wisdom is first introduced. As such, this poem is intended to be read not simply about a human wife but is a summary of all that the book has to say about Lady Wisdom, the personification of all virtues that characterize the truly faithful individual. Those who exhibit Wisdom are blessed indeed, regardless of gender.
When we read Scripture closely, we sometimes find that seemingly insignificant phrases can carry great weight. For example, in the Gospel, “Jesus sat down.” That doesn’t sound like an important moment, but remember Luke chapter 4 when Jesus read his mission statement from Isaiah in the synagogue, then sat down to preach his introductory sermon. The early church followed this practice, with the people standing and the preacher sitting, offering pronouncements from the seat – ex cathedra. You know that when the Pope speaks “ex cathedra” it means that he is offering a particularly important teaching. So it is with Jesus. He overhears the disciples squabbling amongst themselves about who is the greatest, and he takes the opportunity to state this core value of his ministry: you have to let go of ambition. You have to let go of power. You have to pour your whole self into a life of service. Treat everyone you meet as a full human being: be as gentle with other adults as you are with this baby.
This is the second of three times in the Gospel when Jesus tells his disciples that he will be killed, and he wouldn’t have to keep telling them if they understood and accepted it. The first time he predicted his passion, in last week’s Gospel, Peter tried to stop him talking about it. In today’s passage, we learn that they still don’t get it, instead starting an argument about who is the greatest. The third Passion prediction will come in the next chapter of Mark, and revealingly our Sunday lectionary will skip right over it. However, on October 20 we will hear what immediately follows that prediction, and I bet you’ve already guessed that the conversation among the disciples will again be completely the opposite of what Jesus is trying to tell them, as James and John ask to sit at Jesus’ side when he comes into his glory. They don’t get it. They don’t understand what Jesus means by glory. They are as blind as any of the people whom Jesus heals, as spiritually blind as the Pharisees.
Why is it so hard for them to understand? I think we have the same challenge: we don’t want to dwell on the suffering of Jesus but prefer to go straight to Easter joy. So the church in its wisdom requires us to say in the Creed, out loud, at every principal service, that Jesus was crucified and killed, and then the presider reinforces it in the Eucharistic Prayer, always mentioning the betrayal, suffering and death of Jesus before offering us his broken body and spilled blood. We are required by our tradition to acknowledge that Jesus suffered and died before we can celebrate his resurrection and receive the blessing of the sacrament. This liturgical emphasis wouldn’t be necessary if we didn’t have a tendency to gloss over it.
The disciples’ blindness provides a connection with our Proverbs reading: just as the woman of power is valued only insofar as she enhances her husband’s status, so the disciples, hearing Jesus predict his own death, are concerned only with their own ambition: who’s the greatest? Who is the heir apparent to the Messiah, his right-hand man? And Jesus, overhearing, breaks into their fantasy to teach them about true leadership. You want to be great? He says; Then look after each other and look after the ones of this world who have nobody to defend them.
Jesus tells the disciples to be servants. The word is diakonos, or deacon. Maybe Deacon Brooks should be preaching this sermon, although I am also a deacon, as all Episcopal priests serve for a period as deacons before being priested. We are all to be deacons for one another, and especially if we are in leadership roles. For a leader to adopt the mindset of a servant is to go against our cultural norms that say “Be in charge” “Be strong” “You can do it all by yourself”.
Our staff had a short retreat last week and as we opened up to each other it was very evident that we all understand that our shared calling is to serve: we serve God by serving this cathedral. We are to serve all people as if we are serving Christ himself. That means providing for those who cannot provide for themselves, no matter where they stand in the social hierarchy. In ancient Israel children and servants occupied the lowest rungs of the social ladder. No rights, no voice, the last to be fed. So, by holding a little child and passing her around the group, Jesus is making a strong point: care for the little ones, the least among us, and you care for Jesus himself.
Children are needy: they cannot look after themselves but must depend on others to feed them and keep them safe. The status of a child is the polar opposite of someone the world calls “the greatest”. Jesus is turning worldly values on their head by saying, effectively, that if you want to be close to God you have to be needy, vulnerable, and powerless. This may be a scary thought, but it can also come as a great relief for those of us who feel pressure to strive to be first, to be important, to be in charge.
This is the time of year when we invite people to discern whether they might be called to stand for election to Chapter, our board of directors. I believe that every active parishioner should take their turn serving on Chapter. These days it seems to be harder than it used to be, to find people who are willing to take leadership roles. Perhaps we are influenced by the way political leaders at every level are treated, and so we shrink from the unkind scrutiny that is too prevalent today. Perhaps we believe that people will expect too much of us, and that accepting a leadership role may leave us stranded and alone, trying to fix everything.
The role of Chapter is to serve the congregation: to act corporately, to make decisions as a unit and to work in partnership with the clergy and staff. It can be deeply satisfying to be part of a body that moves the beloved community forward and makes it more and more a reflection of the Kingdom of God. It can be revelatory to read the monthly reports and witness how much work is being done, how much the campus is being used, how many lives are being changed here on a daily basis. Servant leadership is not solitary: we do what we do together, holding each other up in prayer and each offering our unique gifts in service of the church we love.
As we observe Creation Care today and all of this month, I want to take a minute to reflect on our call to serve the earth and all her creatures in the light of our faith. In the ancient world, it was inconceivable that the actions of humans could mortally wound the earth. There was no large-scale manufacturing or mining; no giant dams that changed the course of rivers; no factories or vehicles producing sulfurous fumes and excessive carbon dioxide; no artificial ingredients, or petroleum-based plastics or textiles. Everything was biodegradable and everything was produced on a domestic scale.
So the strong woman of Proverbs spins and weaves her own cloth, using natural dyes; she buys food in its natural state or grows it herself. She has no expectation that anything she creates will outlive her or irrevocably damage her environment. Perhaps it was easier in that time to live as a person of integrity who could be likened, as in our Psalm, to the ultimate expression of permanence, a sturdy and fruitful tree well established and nurtured by a sustainable water supply.
In the context of caring for creation, to be a servant means caring for that which will nurture others. It means advocating for actions, habits, and policies that are life-giving and earth-sustaining. It means holding back on our cravings for convenience and exclusivity in favor of sustainability and the common good. It means nurturing our own souls by slowing down, looking around us, and thanking God for the incredible beauty and inventiveness of the natural world. It means being satisfied with enough and not constantly craving more and more. It means living in a way that demonstrates our understanding that we are stewards of creation and not its owners.
We do all this as the servants of the Creator God so that those whom we serve, and especially the last and the lost and the least, both now and in future generations, will live in a world where they too can enjoy Creation’s bounty. May God grant us the grace to serve with joy.
