Proper 25 (B) + Restored to community + 10.25.15

(www.mashable.com)

M Campbell-Langdell

All Santos, Oxnard

                                (Job 42:1–6, 10–17; Psalm 34:1–8, (19–22); Hebrews 7:23–28; St. Mark 10:46–52)

And Job said: “Therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:6).

I must admit these words surprised me a bit, coming out of Job. Thinking about all he has suffered, do we really have to see him repent? Yes, he realized he was talking a bit out of turn with God. But it seems a bit much to have to hear him say that after all he has suffered, he still must repent. Was it not sufficient for him to say that God was much bigger and more capable than we could imagine? Surely we could have left it at that.

Gustavo Gutierrez, the Latin American liberation theologian, said something interesting about this passage. He said that this word “naham” which is translated “to repent” is here combined with another word, “al.” And put together, they mean that the speaker is changing his or her mind. Perhaps what Job is really saying here is that he is changing his mind about dust and ashes. Thus this is not so much repentance as the start of a new tale, a beginning of the walk away from the pain and suffering he has withstood.^[1] It is almost like he sings along with the popular praise song, “I’m trading my sorrows, I’m trading my shame, I’m laying them down for the glory of the Lord!”^[2]

Because it is true that when we go through hard times, there comes a time when we have to decide: Am I going to stay in this painful place, or am I going to begin again? Just like Bartimaeus drops his coat in today’s gospel reading and thereby leaves behind his beggar status, Job leaves behind his troubles. He is restored to his community. Would he have liked to have his original children back? I imagine so. But he finds community and in community he enters into the joy of the Lord, four generations worth of family and grace.

Many of you have lived through awful, traumatizing things in your lives, and some are still going through them, and for you, we are praying you through! These things don’t happen immediately. Job comes to this after forty-two chapters and an encounter with God. But for those of you who have gone through difficulties, I know that you still carry those experiences within you, but you have found joy in community and in what God has provided, and for that I am so grateful.

And those of you who have lived through this know that you gain something for your troubles, and that is often a sense of wisdom and insight. For example, you may have learned that family or chosen family relationships are much more important than any possession. I wonder if this might be why Job is unique in leaving an inheritance not only to his sons, but also to his daughters.

Because we are in a season wherein we talk about money—giving to church, yes, but also our relationship with money. And we can be conscious of something very important. If we earn or save only for our wellbeing, and do not consider others, or when we divide up family wealth in ways that are unjust, we may feel secure but in reality we break down the relationships with friends and family that are so vital. But if we share as Job shared, we are restored to community.

All this reminds me of a film that I saw a couple of weeks ago. It was called “My Old Lady,” (2014) and I thought it was a light romantic comedy. Boy, was I wrong! So to start with, don’t see it if you are offended by crude language or confused by films that once in a while go into a foreign language. But it had some interesting points. The film is about a man who, upon the death of his estranged father, learns that he has inherited a grand Paris flat. And he is super excited, because the truth is that this man is practically penniless. So he plans to go off to Paris to sell the apartment and make a bundle.

But there is a problem! When he arrives at the flat, a lovely elderly lady is living there, along with her daughter. And as time passes he learns that this is his father’s lover, and that she sold his father the flat with the understanding that he would pay her a small amount per month for the rest of her life. Oh no! Now he not only can’t sell the flat, but he needs to come up with money to pay her. It’s all very confusing. At first, he gets quite nasty and starts carting off her belongings to sell them in order to make money. But then, as he gets to know the woman and her daughter, he begins to realize that the relationships are much more important than the building, and they find a way to keep the apartment together. The man comes to Paris lonely and unhappy, and by the end of the story he is happy and has found his place.

In the book of Job, we can see that Job is restored to community. Everyone comes to dine with him. And they also bring him money and gold rings. But you get the feeling from the lavish family descriptions at the end that all of that is immaterial next to being restored to family and community.

It is interesting to see that in the gospel passage for today, Bartimaeus, or “Blind Bart” as I like to call him, seems to know a bit of this, also. Although he is out begging in the streets, he doesn’t ask Jesus for money. Not money, but mercy. He is the first in the Gospel of Mark to call him “Son of David,” a messianic term, and the first outside of Jesus’ inner circle to see who Jesus is. And Bartimaeus asks Jesus something special: “Have mercy on me!” One commentator pointed out that this “mercy” is most likely the Jewish concept of “hesed,” a term which has to do with being restored to community. Since many people with disabilities felt isolated and excluded from community, it has been pointed out that Bartimaeus wanted healing in order to be a part of a community again.^[3]

It is indeed true that Bartimaeus asks for his sight to be restored, but he, who could see what was most important, that is, who Jesus is, really wants to be a part of a community. He wants to be restored to right relation with his fellow human beings. And note, he is restored to community, but not so much to that of his Jericho town, but instead he joins the Jesus tribe. Jesus begins the healing by healing him, but then continues it by including him in community.

So, whatever “good” we are talking about in our lives, be it money or something else, let us look for ways to share “hesed.” Let us find ways to restore all to community. May we at All Saints be a church community where, no matter what you have lived in your past, you can be restored in community and start again. May we leave behind all the painful things that hold us back and enter into the joy of the Lord!

Because as the song I mentioned before ends:

“I'm blessed beyond the curse for his promise will endure
And his joy's gonna be my strength
Though the sorrow may last for the night
His joy comes with the morning.”

Amen.

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[1] Gustavo Gutiérrez, On Job: God-Talk and the Suffering of the Innocent (Maryknoll: Orbis, 1986), 86.

[2] Darrell Evans and multiple, “Trading My Sorrows” 2010 Christian Lyrics Online.

[3] Bob Cornwall, “Let Me See Again: Lectionary Reflection for Pentecost 22B,” Ponderings on a Faith Journey, (http://www.bobcornwall.com/2015/10/let-me-see-again-lectionary-reflection.html), (October 20, 2015, accessed October 22, 2015).