Setting Us Free to See
“Setting us free to see”
The Rev. Canon Patricia M. Grace
Epiphany IV – Year B Mark 1:21-28
Church of the Ascension January 28, 2018
My uncle, my dad’s brother, Charlie, was born in 1939.
His would be a hard life – and everyone knew it from the start.
Because Charlie
was born with Down Syndrome –
which meant he would look different than others,
suffer from a variety of physical complaints like heart defects,
as well as many learning disabilities.
On the day of his birth,
the doctor advised my grandmother to put Charlie away –
he told her to hand over her baby to an institution
and forget about him.
That doctor saw him, not as a her newborn son,
but a problem to be dealt with.
My grandmother declined to do that –
choosing, instead, to take him home;
to feed him for weeks
multiple times a day with a medicine dropper…
because he could not seem to learn to suck.
Several years later,
when he was about four -
he proved to be a handful…
mostly, because my grandparents were loath to correct or discipline him…
too much mercy, love and guilt.
So, they eventually did agree to place him in a state facility,
four hours away, round trip from their home.
Every other week, my father and his parents
traveled north to visit Charlie…
and each time they visited, they noticed that he was skinnier,
dirtier and more difficult to handle.
So one week, my grandmother brought his favorite foods,
and some fresh clothes.
As she was bathing and changing him,
she saw that a tic tac toe board had been scraped into his little back.
Apparently the guards would lay him across their laps
and use him as a playing platform.
He was not Charlie to them, her son…
just a nameless inmate
not even accorded the basic courtesy
of being regarded as human.
My grandmother new what to do.
She went immediately to the head of the institution,
and told him she would be taking her boy home.
He warned her that she would be breaking the law…
in those days, you had to sign over your parental rights
to get a kid into care like that.
Essentially my grandmother’s response was “bring it!”
She initiated her own legal proceedings,
which grew into a larger suit
against that home and the state –
and eventually improved the care of children with mental retardation.
The sad part of that story was that my grandmother
never trusted any program again…
and Charlie spent most of his life on the couch in the front room.
Which is tragic in and of itself,
but even more so,
when you consider that Charlie had a close to normal IQ
a fantastic memory
and an incredible sense of humor.
He could have learned to read, had a job,
maybe even a girlfriend, wife, or his own family.
But back then,
if your child had Down Syndrome,
no one saw anything else in him.
My grandmother could not bear that…
that strangers would feel free to make fun of him
or make rude comments about his appearance or abilities.
That they did not take the time to know him –
to get what a sweet, funny, and loving person he was.
People just could not seem to see Charlie,
the child of God and Nellie Grace.
They saw him only as the label
that described the challenging facts of his life.
People could not see the difference between the problem
and the person who suffered from it.
But Jesus gets the difference.
In our Gospel today we hear the account of Jesus’ first public appearance.
Fresh from his baptism by John,
and those 40 days of temptation and contemplation
in the desert,
Jesus arrived at the synagogue in Capernaum.
He made his way to the bema,
the platform from which the Scriptures were read.
From the Gospel of Luke, we know he chose to proclaim
the first verses of Isaiah 61,
the prophecy of the Messiah who was yet to come.
The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners.
In this same incident described in the Gospel of Luke,
Jesus identified himself as the one to whom the prophesy refers.
He tells them that the Scripture has been fulfilled in their hearing.
In Mark, we need to read this between the lines.
Nevertheless,
that was a really big thing to say or infer.
That alone,
would be reason enough for the writer to record the story.
In fact, that news would have been experienced as so outrageous
to the first hearers,
it’s a wonder that the writer of Scripture even noticed
the small incident that follows –
in which a man with an unclean spirit began to heckle Jesus
from the crowd.
What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
the unclean spirit demanded –
using the plural to indicate
that he was speaking for both himself and the afflicted person.
But take notice - Jesus responds in the singular…
“You” he said, meaning the unclean spirit,
“be silent and depart from him.”
And as skillfully as a surgeon cuts away disease with a scalpel,
Jesus separated the person from the problem.
No.
Jesus does not equate the label with the person who is described by it.
He looks with different eyes –
he saw first, the man,
and then the demons which possessed him.
Jesus gets the difference between a person and her problem,
between a person and his position.
And the people gathered for worship that morning were amazed –
“here’s a new teaching” they said, “with authority.”
Authority – the word, exousia,
that means, he was speaking
“out of his very substance.”
We might conclude that the people were only referring
to his proclamation of the Scripture.
But the writer records their wonder at his teaching with authority,
a second time in that short passage –
just after the encounter with the demon.
So, the writer wants us to know,
that from the first moment of his ministry,
Jesus was saying,
I am the one you’ve been waiting for…
and I come for everyone.
I come especially for the labeled –
those at the margins, the outcasts,
the ones marked in ways that separate them from others.
I come for people with troubles…
those held captive by all manner of damaging things;
I come for the brokenhearted, prisoners
those who are oppressed,
and especially those possessed by evil
evil that binds them fast
and prevents them from living life in its fullness.
Out of his very substance,
Jesus said:
It’s always going to be the people first…
people who are not the same as the problems or positions
that bring them low.
Jesus gets the difference between the person and the problem.
So what has this to do with us,
we might ask, along with the unclean spirit.
Well, yes, of course,
we know now, I hope,
that folks with mental disorders
are people first.
But we live in a time, now,
when we have been given permission
in so many ways
to equate the person with their labels,
with their problematic opinions or stands.
Those who are pro-gun control,
feel free to discount folks
who are committed to second amendment rights
as Neanderthals, purveyors of death.
Those who argue for stricter immigration policies,
or refuse to advocate for refugees,
are automatically labeled as racists.
Pick whatever social issue, whatever bone of contention,
and examine the rhetoric around it.
We are no longer people with differences of opinion –
which might be fruitful to explore…
we have become only what we espouse
as alien to each other as a man possessed by a demon.
We feel free to stop at labels,
rather than consider the person behind them.
We see it even in this place.
Many folks have lined up along positional lines,
choosing judgement rather than a practice of listening to learn.
Choosing, instead,
to apply labels that denigrate
rather than wondering what might be in the hearts of those
with whom they disagree,
those who have disappointed or disillusioned them.
Bishop Brian has said that we will be all right…
and we will be.
But he has reminded us that the way we will get there,
is to get there together.
The way forward depends on our ability to see each other –
really see and hear each other,
as brothers and sisters,
as children of the same God,
who can speak the truth in love and be heard…
who can listen and love our way into a new chapter of life.
Jesus stands today on this bema,
this place for proclaiming the Scriptures
and answer’s the demon’s question –
“what have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?”
Jesus comes to show us the way –
out of his very substance,
he defines the Christian
as one that makes room for those shoved aside,
for those with all manner of problems and problematic positions.
He reminds us to see the person first…
to separate that brother or sister
from what is alienating to us about them.
That’s where new life begins…
that’s the starting point for our participation
in God’s dreams for this world, for this place,
and for every one of us.
Today, Jesus invites us again,
into a way of seeing…
of seeing like he does,
with vision that cuts through the blinding labels
that keep us from understanding each other;
which keep us from moving forward together.
He comes among us to ask us to consider,
how the Scriptures might be fulfilled in our hearing…
in our doing,
in our loving,
in our serving
and in our deep listening to each other?
How might his teaching, that teaching with authority,
move us closer to fulfilling
the promises we made in our baptisms:
to seek and serve Christ in all persons,
to strive for justice and peace
to respect the dignity of all people…
How might we do that, beginning right here, right now,
with each other, in this place.
Jesus us asking what will it take for us to open ourselves to this teaching…
how might we take his words
and do what we can to pierce the labels
that constrict and separate us?
How might we open ourselves
to the his saving power,
the saving power which sets all captives free,
from the demons that blind us
and holds us hostage from the people God desires us to be?
The Rev. Canon Patricia M. Grace
Epiphany IV – Year B Mark 1:21-28
Church of the Ascension January 28, 2018
My uncle, my dad’s brother, Charlie, was born in 1939.
His would be a hard life – and everyone knew it from the start.
Because Charlie
was born with Down Syndrome –
which meant he would look different than others,
suffer from a variety of physical complaints like heart defects,
as well as many learning disabilities.
On the day of his birth,
the doctor advised my grandmother to put Charlie away –
he told her to hand over her baby to an institution
and forget about him.
That doctor saw him, not as a her newborn son,
but a problem to be dealt with.
My grandmother declined to do that –
choosing, instead, to take him home;
to feed him for weeks
multiple times a day with a medicine dropper…
because he could not seem to learn to suck.
Several years later,
when he was about four -
he proved to be a handful…
mostly, because my grandparents were loath to correct or discipline him…
too much mercy, love and guilt.
So, they eventually did agree to place him in a state facility,
four hours away, round trip from their home.
Every other week, my father and his parents
traveled north to visit Charlie…
and each time they visited, they noticed that he was skinnier,
dirtier and more difficult to handle.
So one week, my grandmother brought his favorite foods,
and some fresh clothes.
As she was bathing and changing him,
she saw that a tic tac toe board had been scraped into his little back.
Apparently the guards would lay him across their laps
and use him as a playing platform.
He was not Charlie to them, her son…
just a nameless inmate
not even accorded the basic courtesy
of being regarded as human.
My grandmother new what to do.
She went immediately to the head of the institution,
and told him she would be taking her boy home.
He warned her that she would be breaking the law…
in those days, you had to sign over your parental rights
to get a kid into care like that.
Essentially my grandmother’s response was “bring it!”
She initiated her own legal proceedings,
which grew into a larger suit
against that home and the state –
and eventually improved the care of children with mental retardation.
The sad part of that story was that my grandmother
never trusted any program again…
and Charlie spent most of his life on the couch in the front room.
Which is tragic in and of itself,
but even more so,
when you consider that Charlie had a close to normal IQ
a fantastic memory
and an incredible sense of humor.
He could have learned to read, had a job,
maybe even a girlfriend, wife, or his own family.
But back then,
if your child had Down Syndrome,
no one saw anything else in him.
My grandmother could not bear that…
that strangers would feel free to make fun of him
or make rude comments about his appearance or abilities.
That they did not take the time to know him –
to get what a sweet, funny, and loving person he was.
People just could not seem to see Charlie,
the child of God and Nellie Grace.
They saw him only as the label
that described the challenging facts of his life.
People could not see the difference between the problem
and the person who suffered from it.
But Jesus gets the difference.
In our Gospel today we hear the account of Jesus’ first public appearance.
Fresh from his baptism by John,
and those 40 days of temptation and contemplation
in the desert,
Jesus arrived at the synagogue in Capernaum.
He made his way to the bema,
the platform from which the Scriptures were read.
From the Gospel of Luke, we know he chose to proclaim
the first verses of Isaiah 61,
the prophecy of the Messiah who was yet to come.
The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners.
In this same incident described in the Gospel of Luke,
Jesus identified himself as the one to whom the prophesy refers.
He tells them that the Scripture has been fulfilled in their hearing.
In Mark, we need to read this between the lines.
Nevertheless,
that was a really big thing to say or infer.
That alone,
would be reason enough for the writer to record the story.
In fact, that news would have been experienced as so outrageous
to the first hearers,
it’s a wonder that the writer of Scripture even noticed
the small incident that follows –
in which a man with an unclean spirit began to heckle Jesus
from the crowd.
What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
the unclean spirit demanded –
using the plural to indicate
that he was speaking for both himself and the afflicted person.
But take notice - Jesus responds in the singular…
“You” he said, meaning the unclean spirit,
“be silent and depart from him.”
And as skillfully as a surgeon cuts away disease with a scalpel,
Jesus separated the person from the problem.
No.
Jesus does not equate the label with the person who is described by it.
He looks with different eyes –
he saw first, the man,
and then the demons which possessed him.
Jesus gets the difference between a person and her problem,
between a person and his position.
And the people gathered for worship that morning were amazed –
“here’s a new teaching” they said, “with authority.”
Authority – the word, exousia,
that means, he was speaking
“out of his very substance.”
We might conclude that the people were only referring
to his proclamation of the Scripture.
But the writer records their wonder at his teaching with authority,
a second time in that short passage –
just after the encounter with the demon.
So, the writer wants us to know,
that from the first moment of his ministry,
Jesus was saying,
I am the one you’ve been waiting for…
and I come for everyone.
I come especially for the labeled –
those at the margins, the outcasts,
the ones marked in ways that separate them from others.
I come for people with troubles…
those held captive by all manner of damaging things;
I come for the brokenhearted, prisoners
those who are oppressed,
and especially those possessed by evil
evil that binds them fast
and prevents them from living life in its fullness.
Out of his very substance,
Jesus said:
It’s always going to be the people first…
people who are not the same as the problems or positions
that bring them low.
Jesus gets the difference between the person and the problem.
So what has this to do with us,
we might ask, along with the unclean spirit.
Well, yes, of course,
we know now, I hope,
that folks with mental disorders
are people first.
But we live in a time, now,
when we have been given permission
in so many ways
to equate the person with their labels,
with their problematic opinions or stands.
Those who are pro-gun control,
feel free to discount folks
who are committed to second amendment rights
as Neanderthals, purveyors of death.
Those who argue for stricter immigration policies,
or refuse to advocate for refugees,
are automatically labeled as racists.
Pick whatever social issue, whatever bone of contention,
and examine the rhetoric around it.
We are no longer people with differences of opinion –
which might be fruitful to explore…
we have become only what we espouse
as alien to each other as a man possessed by a demon.
We feel free to stop at labels,
rather than consider the person behind them.
We see it even in this place.
Many folks have lined up along positional lines,
choosing judgement rather than a practice of listening to learn.
Choosing, instead,
to apply labels that denigrate
rather than wondering what might be in the hearts of those
with whom they disagree,
those who have disappointed or disillusioned them.
Bishop Brian has said that we will be all right…
and we will be.
But he has reminded us that the way we will get there,
is to get there together.
The way forward depends on our ability to see each other –
really see and hear each other,
as brothers and sisters,
as children of the same God,
who can speak the truth in love and be heard…
who can listen and love our way into a new chapter of life.
Jesus stands today on this bema,
this place for proclaiming the Scriptures
and answer’s the demon’s question –
“what have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?”
Jesus comes to show us the way –
out of his very substance,
he defines the Christian
as one that makes room for those shoved aside,
for those with all manner of problems and problematic positions.
He reminds us to see the person first…
to separate that brother or sister
from what is alienating to us about them.
That’s where new life begins…
that’s the starting point for our participation
in God’s dreams for this world, for this place,
and for every one of us.
Today, Jesus invites us again,
into a way of seeing…
of seeing like he does,
with vision that cuts through the blinding labels
that keep us from understanding each other;
which keep us from moving forward together.
He comes among us to ask us to consider,
how the Scriptures might be fulfilled in our hearing…
in our doing,
in our loving,
in our serving
and in our deep listening to each other?
How might his teaching, that teaching with authority,
move us closer to fulfilling
the promises we made in our baptisms:
to seek and serve Christ in all persons,
to strive for justice and peace
to respect the dignity of all people…
How might we do that, beginning right here, right now,
with each other, in this place.
Jesus us asking what will it take for us to open ourselves to this teaching…
how might we take his words
and do what we can to pierce the labels
that constrict and separate us?
How might we open ourselves
to the his saving power,
the saving power which sets all captives free,
from the demons that blind us
and holds us hostage from the people God desires us to be?
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