Hope from Hard Teachings

“If any of you put a stumbling block before any of these little ones who believe in me, it would better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.” Mark 9:42

"Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it." Mark 10:14-15

October’s readings from Mark’s Gospel contain what are sometimes known as the “hard teachings” of Jesus. They actually began with our Gospel for September 27, which contained the first quote above, along with words along the lines of, “If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; better to enter life maimed than to have two hands and go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.” (Note to blog reader: Jesus intended this as a metaphor. Please don’t cut off your hand.) Our Gospel reading for October 4 contains, along with Jesus’ gracious invitation “let the little children come unto me”, his radical teaching on marriage. And October 11 contains the story of the rich young ruler, whose wealth stood in the way of his accepting Jesus’ invitation to “Come, follow me.” These passages show, side by side, both God’s desire for us to experience the health and wholeness that comes with committed discipleship – regardless of the cost - and God’s tender care for the most vulnerable in our midst.

Our Old Testament readings come from the book of Job. Like many of us, Job wondered why he was afflicted by calamity in the midst of his faithful living. Theodicy is a branch of theology which attempts to reconcile God’s goodness with the evil we all experience – or in more familiar words, why bad things happen to good people. Job offers no pat answers to this age-old question – in fact, the book appears to have been written precisely to make the point that there are no easy answers. At the same time, the book affirms the ultimate goodness of God and urges us to trust even when we cannot understand.