"The Simple Gift"
October 12, 1997
Hebrews 4:12-16; Mark 10:17-31
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The Shakers sang a song whose words went like this:
'Tis the gift to be simple/'tis the gift to be free
'Tis the gift to come down where you ought to be.
And when we find ourselves in the place just right/
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gained/To bow and to bend we shan't beashamed/To turn, turn will be our delight
'Till by turning, turning we come 'round right.
You know the tune, I'm sure. Aaron Copland took it as themajor theme of 'Appalachian Spring' and now General Motors isusing it to sell a type of Oldsmobile -- I'm not so sure how theShakers would take to that. It's a simple song about the gift ofsimplicity. Simplicity is something with which our contemporaryculture is obsessed. If you don't believe me, just go tot he'self-help' or 'devotional' sections of any bookseller --religious or otherwise -- and look at the titles. In our complexage simplicity is a desirable thing. There are many, however, whomay find their attitude on the subject well expressed in thewords of Alfred North Whitehead, "Seek simplicity, anddistrust it."
Simplicity, to be simple, is an interesting project. TheChristian faith has grappled with it almost from the beginning.Reform movements from monasticism to the Mennonites, the Amish,the Shakers, the Quakers, and yes, even the Puritans all havesought to bring it to those who seek. Unfortunately, as peopleoften discover, simplicity becomes a very complex and involvedtask -- unless it is the result of the simple gift. The simplegift is relation ship with God.
The man who ran up to Jesus wasn't looking for the gift -- hewas looking for a deal. He wanted to enter into relationship withGod on his own terms. While he had kept parts of the covenant, hewas unwilling to accept God's gift of relationship as it wasoffered. What had happened was that his possessions blinded himto what the gift offered was -- and how much greater wealth itpromised.
The tragedy is that the young man was on the right track, didgood, knew what was right and asked the right kind of questions-- even as Jesus tested him. Commenting on this story JohnChrysostom wrote,
The young man had up to then shown an uncommon eagerness; he was like a lover. Whereas others approached Christ to test him or to tell him of their diseases, those of their parents, or of still other people, he comes near Jesus to speak of eternal life. The soil was rich and fertile, but it was full of brambles ready to choke the seeds. ... Our young man left, eyes downcast for sadness, a notable sign that he had not come with a bad disposition. But he was too weak; he desired Life, but a passion difficult to overcome was holding him back.
When Jesus made the comment about the camel and the eye of theneedle, he was illustrating the difficulty of learning to dependon God when one has learned to depend on things. He challengedthe accepted view that material wealth equals blessing. So, onewho was young and rich must truly be blessed or that's what theapostles thought until Jesus pulled the rug out. Jesus could havemade the comment about a theological, social, or politicalopinion -- even about being a "Packer Backer" -- orwhatever. None of these things, like the man's wealth, are badin-and-of themselves. It is when ideas, or causes, or things areno longer things we hold or have, but hold or have us thatproblems arise. When we become possessed by what we oncepossessed, or passions, our priorities are disordered.
The story in the Gospel, to a great extent, is also the storyof the mainline Churches of the present day. The Church, on thewhole, tries to be on the right track, tries to do good, tries toask the right questions, but struggles and struggles. All sortsof analysts and pundits attempt tot explain why membership isdeclining, why other things take priority over involvement in thelife of faith, why the Church is losing its position of influencein society. Recently, John Cobb, a prominent American theologianand member of the United Methodist Church, wrote a powerfullittle book, Reclaiming the Church: Where the Mainline ChurchWent Wrong and What to Do About It. His diagnosis is, I think,right on the mark: we've lost our passion. We don't, as Cobbsays, have an understanding of Christian faith as supremelyimportant to ourselves or the world. Listen to what he writes:
But no such understanding is widely operative in our collective work as congregations or denominations. There the topic is rarely even discussed. If it is raised, it is quickly silenced because of the danger of controversy. Hence there are no serious convictions available to generate enthusiasm for our churches as a whole. As a result, those who do understand the Christian faith to be of supreme importance experience the church as only one among a variety of contexts within which to express their faith rather than its fundamental bearer. Such private understandings do not change the basic situation of the churches.
There is, therefore, a lack of shared sense of the primary importance of that to which the church witnesses. As long as this sense is lacking, the church cannot convincingly call for primary commitment or loyalty. It must inevitably settle for third, fourth, fifth, or sixth place in the priority system of most of its members. The temperature can be at best lukewarm. This cannot be changed unless there are powerful movements in which many embers come to a shared conviction as to the primary, even ultimate, importance, for themselves and for the world, of the reality the church attests.
You see, the young man was in the presence of the "livingand active Word of God" the writer to the Hebrews wastalking about and couldn't bring himself to make the commitmentto change his priorities. The Church, everywhere, is still in thepresence of the Word who makes the same claim on our lives as Hedid on that of the young man, and the claim is mitigated to oneof a list of obligations. We need to open ourselves to thepassion, to the vital relationship to the living God who woos uslike a lover and invites us to share life with him.
The young man, as Chrysostom said, was weak and couldn'tovercome conflicting passions. We, on the other hand, have a"high priest" -- the living and active Word -- who isable to sympathize with our weaknesses, who knows us and ourdesires. This priest offers the simple gift of relationship withGod which brings transformation and growth, which gives us somuch more than the mere capacity "to be good."
God offers us the simple gift of life -- and with the giftcomes the added prize of authentic human personhood, the joy ofknowing our worth is just in our being. This simple gift involvesour willingness to enter into dialogue with God and with eachother. It asks us to be open to the possibility of conversion,change, as the song says: "'Till by turning, turning we comeround right." The simple gift invites us to become thinkingChristians, too. The Creator God who sent his Incarnate Wordamong us wants us to be believers who think, who see that faithand reason, theology and science, the stuff of being human neednot be in conflict.
With John Cobb, I am hopeful for the future of the Church. Ibelieve that the passion can be rekindled. Cobb says:
...there are more hopeful scenarios. Perhaps our thinking would lead to strong shared convictions about the meaning of our faith and the light it sheds on the issues of the day. Perhaps we would be able to address the public with insight and wisdom. Perhaps we could work together for the common good with passion. Perhaps we would find our inner lives renewed. Perhaps we would learn anew the importance of our churches and enthusiastically invite others to join with us. If we seek the way together, we may find Christ who is the Way. If we seek truth together, we may find Christ who is the Truth. If we seek life together, we may find Christ who is the Life. And the Christ we find will have been the way we have trod in our quest for the Way, the learning that leads to Truth, and the aliveness we will experience as we hunger together for Life.
The simple gift is offered to each of us. The place just rightis wherever, whenever we encounter the living and active Word.The valley of love and delight can be anywhere Christian people,passionately in love with their God, gather. It's a simple gift-- it's all gift.
