“Heart, Soul, Body, On the Path of Life”
“Heart, Soul, Body, On the Path of Life”
1 Samuel 2:1-10 Psalm 16 Mark 13:1-8
November 17, 2024, Twenty Sixth Sunday after Pentecost Year B
Pastor Andy Kennaly
Sandpoint, Idaho
Good guys and bad guys, winners and losers, the righteous and the wicked. The light, the dark, whatever metaphors, analogies, images, or words you want to use to create opposites: there are many ways to categorize and label. We see people blame others all the time. That culture is shaped by wars, political influence, and threats is nothing new.
In 1 Samuel, Hannah’s prayer is a national thanksgiving. These are words put in her mouth by a nation that reveres their king, kind of a reverse editing going on. This is a literary device, because although it says the LORD will judge the ends of the Earth; he will give strength to his king,” they don’t have a king, yet, according to the narrative. This text puts a prayer in Hannah’s mouth, who gives thanks to God for delivering the oppressed, for defeating the enemy, and for strengthening the king. This warrior-friendly text has good guys and bad guys, winners and losers, the righteous and the wicked, and in that sense, even in how 1 Samuel is shaped and who is quoted as saying what, we this form of media used to do what we could call, ‘control the narrative.’ The winners wrote this passage.
Nations in our time aren’t much different. For example, for generations now, the official military strategy and nation security policy, especially since nuclear weapons were introduced, has been Mutually Assured Destruction. MAD. This is intended as a deterrent; if an attacker launches an assault, the defender will obliterate them, even though the defender is also destroyed by the attack. Everyone loses. Mutual destruction is assured because there are far more weapons at play than would be needed to fulfill even one level of destruction. So far, MAD is the best solution to destruction that humanity has come up with! It is mad. Total destruction! The mentality that created this and thinks that it is okay is still empowered as trillions of dollars maintain these arsenals.
Yet here we are in a “might makes right” world where this violent ethos shapes the thoughts and actions of millions of people, if not billions. The stronger the warrior, the more certain the victory, especially with God on your side; that’s the belief. If someone with violent intent views their perspective and practice as blessed and anointed by God, this is a dangerous scene. Yet entire nations give a sacrosanct quality, an inviable, sacred reverence to the industry of taking up arms. Defenders are venerated. Weapons are built, sold, and used all around the world at tremendous costs, in more ways than one.
That the existence of weapons, either nuclear or not, is acceptable to most people, weapons that cannot be used without the full intent of destroying life; this reveals the limitations and deficiency of humanity’s mental capacity to this point in history, assuming time is linear, of course.
Good guys and bad guys, winners and losers, righteous and wicked; these categories of competition show us how we split the field, and our very thinking is rooted in judgment, in pitting one thing against another. In being against something, energy is used to prove you are right and they are wrong; more energy goes into making the other look bad, both to rally people to your cause and to validate the strength of your defended position. While in the short term, this energy flow may stimulate and inspire people, in the long run, this is a tiring and hard way to live. But most of the time, it’s the only game in town.
Saints and mystics throughout the ages have somehow tapped into another way. They’ve learned, or had revealed to them, a deep Wisdom that helps them navigate through a world seemingly controlled by a level of consciousness that has gone mad and is easily manipulated through unexamined biases of egoic pride. These saints and mystics don’t play the game of splits; they practice a new mind, not based on judging or dividing or the comfort of preferred biases, but of humility, an approach that cultivates spiritual connection and shows there are deeper roots of inter-abiding that lay closer to our heart of hearts.
Hannah in 1 Samuel rejoices from the heart and finds strength in God. In passing, this national hymn mentions, “The bows of the mighty are broken,” and ends by saying “…not by might does one prevail.” But even these words tied in the larger hymn seem bound to an idea that God helps you win, that God is on the side of the victors, those who have the privilege, who interpret a mandate to write narrative, the scriptures, they are the winners.
But again, this “might makes right” way of thinking points less to a reality, and more to mindsets that have developed to a point but are unable from that point to see a larger view. Now in our world we face multiple major problems, things that will not be solved by the same mindset or systems or practices that create them.
This gets us to the scene in Mark chapter 13 where disciples come out of the Temple in Jerusalem and seem very impressed by grand stones that form the architecture of the Temple building. Their Jewish world considers that Temple as God’s residence, the place on Earth where God lives, so it’s fitting for those stones to be mighty.
Let’s try something. Let’s turn to “A mighty fortress is our God!” It is hymn # 260. Annie, would you please lead us in a short intro, and then let’s all sing verse one.
A mighty fortress is our God, A bulwark never failing.
Our helper He amid the flood Of mortal ills prevailing.
For still our ancient foe, Doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great, And, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal. (public domain)
We can thank Martin Luther in 1529 for those words and worldview and religious doctrine and all the assumptions that pile up in just a few short lines of verse.
But what’s not to like? God is a mighty fortress, a bulwark never failing, our helper. According to this song, we need this because of mortal ills, a flood of mortal ills that seem to prevail. Like floods, we drown in our own imperfections and limitations. Writing from a time when people were burned at the stake, accused of being possessed by the devil, we sing that very thought, that the devil is evil and powerful and nothing on Earth can overcome or combat the vile strength of hatred from this foe.
Christian tradition affirms and values these images of God as strong, a reliable defense against not only the woes of the world, but a spiritual warfare between good and evil. All of this in the context of patriarchy. This is what we’ve inherited, particularly since the Reformation Luther was instrumental in. There’s been a place for all of this within Tradition.
It seems compelling. There’s something inviting and comforting in the view of God as mighty, as our protector, our refuge. Maybe we need that, especially when the world seems crazy.
It is good to have a refuge, a time and place set apart to regroup, to take a break, to catch your breath, to gain footing. Like the Psalmist in Psalm 16 who compares the delights of the faithful with the sorrows of those who choose other than God. This Psalmist claims God’s protection and this leads to a glad heart, a soul that rejoices, and a body that rests secure as the path of life is revealed.
Our context so often depends on a mentality of win/lose, a paradigm that assumes a “for or against” stance. It’s in that context that God as a mighty fortress makes us glad, we’re inside the kingdom. But we’re also invited toward a larger view, a deeper experience, and less volatile perspectives because mere comfort is fleeting and denies what’s deeper.
This is what’s behind Jesus’ response to the disciples. Jesus, who sits opposite the Temple as he teaches, is less concerned about the Temple structure, the building, about the construction of stones stacked on one another, all of which reinforce the belief that God dwells in one place. Jesus is more concerned to break through the disciples’ lack of awareness, their dull, unconsciousness hearts distracted by externals, and their fear and worry about events outside their control, and how they want God to save them from pain and suffering. They seek comfort, from one source or another.
Peter, James, and John ask Jesus when all this destruction will come, and what the signs will be. Jesus seems to know a mythical level of consciousness depends on certain storylines at the exclusion of others. Since this is easily manipulated, he warns them not to be led astray by others who play on their limited assumptions.
Human consciousness goes through phases. As Jesus tells the disciples to beware, we also learn that we are not exempt from pressures exerted by human madness, and there are consequences that do take place. We are reminded of the need to self-critique, which requires a level of maturity, as does the ability to learn new perspectives, let alone cultivate a heart space that can hold multiple perspectives at once.
Jesus is not ignorant of the times we live in. Jesus does say, “When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come.” This is not doom and gloom. Rather than end times, as in the destruction of life, this is end-times in the sense of revelation, of new revealing as something wonderful comes.
Perhaps Jesus means the end of violent thinking is still to come; that wars and rumors of wars that are part of our experience will cease, and future humanity will only hear troubling tales of times past. It hasn’t happened yet, people resort to violence and patterns of domination, but someday that type of thinking will stop, and people will no longer learn the ways of war. The meek shall inherit the Earth.
Jesus says, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes, there will be famines.” But guess what! All this is the status quo for us. Jesus points out current reality as presented. Nations struggle to coordinate with each other, they act with self-interest and pit blame on others. War is viewed as an extension of politics. But then Jesus says, “This is but the beginning of the birthpangs.” Birthpangs.
Birth reminds us that pain and suffering are not empty, but they help something emerge. Birthpangs really hurt, but they are an indication of imminent new life that comes from within. An internal restructuring takes place. It takes effort to give birth because the body changes itself. This goes better with the help of loving people through solidarity and compassion. New life comes through the shared struggle.
To bring down stones that guard the heart may seem impossible, especially in polarized, rigid, dialectical politics. It takes humility and intention, at a spiritual level, to create an opening from which God answers the invitation to change us from the inside. But we are thankful that Jesus comes out from the temple, for we are God’s Temple, living expressions of God’s love in the world, and our true narratives have very deep storylines, far more compelling than what tries to lead us astray.
Christ calls us to examine the narratives we’ve inherited. It is our time to move beyond madness and the limitations global posturing has created. We are called toward planetary possibility, to make quantum leaps into a future that resurrect deep Wisdom from the past to claim wholeness in the present. The hymns that future humanity will sing have not been written yet. The storyline is just beginning to emerge, like birthpangs of life’s relentless expression of love.
May God help us to trust a deeper vision, new paradigms of transformed thinking and renewed hearts shaped by grace, and to keep our attention on God’s creative power shown through the vulnerabilities of love. As we live into very dynamic situations, may God’s love be glorified, now, and forever. Amen.