"remember who you are" by anna blaedel

Mark 9:38-50
First UMC, Osage
10.05.2008

I want to share something I read in this month’s Upper Room, something my mom read, and called to remind me, “Perhaps we think the spiritual life would be easier if there were clear rules about behavior in every situation. But Jesus tells us always that the spiritual life is not about rules; it is about relationship.”

Let us pray. May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of all of our hearts, be acceptable to you, O God, our strength and our redeemer.

When I was 15, my pastor Scott Grotewold preached a sermon that, try as I might, I have never been able to escape. Nor have I been able to forget. I admit that the details of the sermon have faded, as sermons tend to do. My pastor told of his grandma, her deep care and concern for him, their shared relationship. Her efforts to protect him, and his efforts to escape her constant attention. Now, he was a good kid. Not prone to getting into trouble, not one to push the limits too far. It’s not that he needed more rules, or even needed to follow more closely the rules already laid out. I believe every parent probably knows, deep down, that rules aren’t a fail safe against trouble, let alone hurt or heartbreak. So, every time he opened the door to leave, no matter how he tip toed, he would hear his grandma call out, “Remember who you are!” Half warning, half blessing. No attempt at an endless listing of prohibitions or commands. “Remember who you are.” Safety and sanctuary and safekeeping and security in relationship, not rules.

And, after that sermon, every time I opened the door to leave, every time I tried to tip toe around or silently slide past my own mom’s protective attention, I too heard this half warning, half blessing. “Remember who you are.” My pastor’s grandmother knew, my own mother knew, that mere restrictions rarely ensure our safety, let alone our happiness. Remember who you are. Remember whose you are. Responsibility to relationships, not to rules.

This morning’s gospel reading calls us to remember who we are. Mark writes, “Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.” Or, in Matthew’s perhaps more familiar version, “You are salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can it be restored?” Or, in Eugene Pederson’s translation, The Message, “You are to be the salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness?”

Remember, in the 1st century, salt was a precious commodity, serving a crucial purpose. It added flavor and zest, yes. But in the arid climate of Palestine, salt was indispensible for the preservation of food. Salt losing its saltiness meant the people would go hungry. The phrase “Worth your salt” comes from this context. The Romans gave salt out to their soldiers and civil servants as salary. “Not worth your salt” meant that you weren’t worth your wages. Didn’t measure up, didn’t meet expectations, weren’t of value. If salt has lost its saltiness, how can it be restored?

Remember who you are. You are the salt of the earth. Precious. Valuable. Or, as the congregation responds to every baptism at a colleague’s church, “Beloved, Precious Child of God, Beautiful to Behold.”

Remember, too, that Jesus is not saying this to a select few, the pre-screened favorites, those who are well dressed, well behaved, easy to like and fun to be around. Following relationship, not rules. Just a couple of verses before this morning’s story, the disciples have been fighting mightily amongst themselves, shouting and arguing and making a spectacle. They are vying for the title of “Greatest,” vying for power and prestige. Jesus tells a parable about the many stumbling blocks to living faithfully in community. Stop worrying about who is better than whom. Stop fighting about who is in and who is out. Stop clamoring to prove yourselves. Why? Because God already sees you as precious. So precious. Invaluable. Of sacred worth. Each and every one of you! Salt of the earth! Don’t forget your saltiness! Remember who you are! Beloved, Precious Child of God, Beautiful to Behold.

Or, as the stoic philosopher Epictetus wrote, “You bear God within you, poor wretch, and know it not.”
Remember who you are. Remember whose you are.

World Communion Sunday. A day when Christians around the world remember the relationships binding us together. When love is easy. When hate is easier. When it is clear we are cut from the same cloth. When we can find nothing but difference. When we respond to the other with kindness and compassion. When we respond to the other with suspicion and distrust. When we are at war with each other. When we are at peace with each other.

Remember who you are. And remember that this identity is shared. Each and every one of us here, and each and every one throughout this world. Beloved, Precious Children of God, Beautiful to Behold.

Do this, invites Jesus, in remembrance of me.

Do this, invites Jesus, each of you, all of you, all of us, in remembrance of me.

When we forget, what good are we? You bear God within you, poor wretch, and know it not!

Be in union with God, and in communion with each other. Beloved, Precious Children of God, Beautiful to behold. Not some of us, or even most of us. Not just the Americans or United Methodists. All of us.

At the heart of the spiritual life, teaches Jesus, is the call to relationship. With each other and with God. Because we are all created by God, and God calls it good.

Remember who you are. Thanks be to God! Amen.