Close to the Ground

I remember quite a few years ago speaking with a woman at church. I had preached that day and she came up after and said how much she appreciated my words and said, “I could never do what you do…” I asked what kinds of things she did.  She said with a little shame in her voice, “I am not a theologian like you and I don’t read all those amazing books…I just go to the nursing home and visit people a few times a week. I sit and talk with them and bring them communion. Then we usually hold hands and pray. We just say the ‘Our Father’ together and sometimes we just sit in silence…”

My eyes filled up with tears as she spoke. What she was describing was incredibly holy and meaningful work.

So often in this world we succumb to hierarchies and deem some work, some activities – even some people – as more important than others.

In the gospel today, Jesus tells the story of a Pharisee and a tax collector. The Pharisee declares aloud how wonderful and important he is – listing his righteous resume of tithing and fasting – ending with gratitude that he is not like these other low-lifes like the tax collector! The tax collector, however, is humble before God and prays only for God’s mercy and forgiveness. And Jesus declares that the tax collector is the one who found God’s favor that day.

We all probably have forms of righteousness games that we play.

Maybe we think we’re a more ‘woke’ person than other people and feel a bit superior because we’ve read all the right authors and know all the terms unlike our backwards family members and colleagues. (This could apply to our consciousness about racism, sexism, climate activism, recovery, etc.)

Maybe we think our work is more important than someone else’s and we don’t hold those folks in very high esteem because they don’t have as much responsibility, status or supposed impact as we do (this could also apply to how we view the status and perspective of young/older people as well).

Maybe we think that where we live, what we own, and how much money we have says something about who we are and says something about those who don’t have it like we do.

Maybe we’re convinced that how we see the world is THE way to see the world and not just a perspective that has been shaped by many factors and has its own limitations.

The list can really go on and on…

The counsel that Jesus offers his disciples today is about not thinking that we’re more than anyone else (and not thinking that we’re any less either!) or that what we do is more important that what anyone else is doing. He goes on to say that it is best to remain humble about who we are and what we do.

I love the root word of humility. It comes from humus – the top layer of the earth in which things take root and grow. Humility enables us to remain open and fertile so that what is needed in the world can grow. We play our part and recognize its importance in the world, and realize that it is just one part of a very large drama that is happening all around us.

For me the created order helps me take in Jesus’ teachings.  For example, oak trees do not look down upon maple trees with disdain. Raccoons don’t chide squirrels as less than. Crickets don’t make fun of worms. They all work together. Every part of creation has its place, and we’re called to take ours up – with all of our gifts and all of our failings.

The apostle Paul gets into this deeply in 1 Corinthians 12. In it he says, “What we have is one body with many parts, each its proper size and in its proper place. No part is important on its own. Can you imagine Eye telling Hand, “Get lost; I don’t need you”? Or, Head telling Foot, “You’re fired; your job has been phased out”? As a matter of fact, in practice it works the other way—the “lower” the part, the more basic, and therefore necessary.”

And we saw this last point profoundly demonstrated during the pandemic (and since then) when we discovered all of the “essential workers” who have been neglected, taken for granted, paid poorly and exposed to great risk and without whom this world could not function.

Every life is important – and not just human lives.  The lives of rivers, mountains, forests and oceans are important. The lives of fish, lobsters, squid and manatees are important. The lives of crickets, grasshoppers, worms and snails are important. The lives of strawberries, pine trees and apple trees are important. The lives of whales, deer, muskrats, birds and rabbits are important.

God invites us to stay close to the ground today – to remain humble, open, fertile and receptive.  May it be so.