One of my coworkers affectionately calls me "skinny bastard". It isn't that I am so skinny, just much skinnier than I used to be and much skinnier that he is. I thought of that because this passage reminds me of another expression which is 'stubborn bastard'. I've heard this phrase used affectionately too, perhaps of a spouse or of a family member, it could be affectionate but it's really a judgment which speaks to all of us in one way or another.
I often speak about God's invitation. We are called and often called to do something in particular with a nudge on the shoulder by God. If we fail to respond, God often returns to us with a baseball bat or 2x4 to get our attention. We are invited and often guided to make the right decision. In this context, I was nudged by God for years to see the truth about myself. While there are many truths about every one of us, this truth ( of many ) was that I am gay. In retrospect, the signs were all there but so were the considerable invitations from God. I denied, suppressed, rationalized and lied to myself. I guess you could say I was a stubborn bastard.
It a similar vein, we all are so invited and welcomed and yet we don't allow ourselves the joy of being so close to God. By not loving others we wind up denying God herself and making ourselves less fit for heaven than the ones we judge. It is a truly ironic paradigm. How stubborn are people who use Scripture to justify a life of hate, exclusion and judgments of others? These are some of the most malignantly stubborn. Stubborn bastard would be a step up for those people.
The Scriptures are replete with stories of those that welcome and those that do not. From the harsh judgment rendered unto the people of Sodom and Gomorrah over their inhospitality over the two angels under Lot's care. People are so stubborn that rather than see the judgment of God over inhospitality, selfishness and superiority, whole religions have mistranslated and subverted the meaning of that Genesis passage rather than accept what God is nudging us to : inclusion, hospitality of strangers and generosity of heart and purse.
Of course scripture often portrays things in an exaggerated light, highlighted to push us into the right direction. How subtle is the story of the Good Samaritan? The Priest and the Levite, the ones you would think would be less stubborn to God's will are the stubborn bastards. Then, the one you are taught is the person to avoid is the one that helps. Further, who is it that the Samaritan helps? Is it really someone who was mugged and robbed? Perhaps that too is a summary judgment and allegory for those that we are too stubborn to see as fit for care. Could it have been another marginalized person for their time? Was the victim a Roman citizen? a Gentile? a person with leprosy weeping at the side of the road? Could the person be an illegal immigrant today? or someone with AIDS? Could that victim be any range of people we are too stubborn to see and welcome as a brother or sister, a beloved child of God, certainly loved, at least as much as we ourselves are loved by God, eh?
Our stubbornness at invitations from God, at judgments we prefer to make rather than allowing our hearts to be transformed all the while complaining about the splinter in someone else's eye whilst clinging to the beam stuck in our own vision? We are all it seems capable of being stubborn bastards. And yet, God loves us and nudges us on to love, to be so transformed and become the radiant butterflies we are created to be.
For stubborn bastards and our willingness to accept God's invitation of love, I pray
Mark 6:14-29
King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some weresaying, ‘John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him.’ But others said, ‘It is Elijah.’ And others said, ‘It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.’ But when Herod heard of it, he said, ‘John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.’
For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod had married her. For John had been telling Herod, ‘It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.’ And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed; and yet he liked to listen to him. But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of Galilee. When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, ‘Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.’ And he solemnly swore to her, ‘Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.’ She went out and said to her mother, ‘What should I ask for?’ She replied, ‘The head of John the baptizer.’Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, ‘I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.’ The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb
No comments:
Post a Comment