In October of 1893, the Chicago Evening Post first ran an article that contained the fictional character of an Irish Bartender named Mr. Dooley. This article, written by the journalist Finley Peter Dunne, used Mr. Dooley’s character to make satirical comments about the social and political issues of the day, and continued for years as a regular column in the paper.
One of the most often quoted, and best remembered sayings of this fictitious Mr. Dooley is about the newspapers:
“The job of the newspaper is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.”
At a Diocesan Convention a few years ago, I sat with a group of people at a workshop, where we were discussing, essentially, our life motto – what makes us tick. And I said that I felt that my job as a pastor was to do this very thing: “comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable.” Some people laughed, and some people liked it so much, they wrote it down.
That word, “afflict” is usually used with illness, but what it really means is “to provoke.” To provoke others to think, to not let people fall into a philosophical or ethical rut – especially when their lives are comfortable, and not affected by the social ills and injustices of the day. To provoke to love and good deeds, rather than anger.
Our Gospel reading for today is a conversation between Jesus and an unnamed disciple, in which Jesus predicts the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. At this point, the temple, though extremely large and beautiful, is still being built. Moreover, the goal of the Jewish people at this point had always been to have a temple built in Jerusalem, so to talk about this beautiful structure being destroyed would have been a source of confusion for his disciples and those who believed Jesus. And, it would have been a source of provocation to anger by those who opposed him. Needless to say, both groups of people would have been provoked to deeper thought at why Jesus would say these things.
But Jesus is not only predicting the destruction of the temple. In the verses immediately following – and not in the lectionary today – we see that Jesus tells his disciples that those who believe in Jesus will be brought before councils, beaten in synagogues, and betrayed by their own family to the point where they are then put to death. Nevertheless, Jesus says, you must continue to preach the Word of God to all nations, and say what the Holy Spirit is telling you in all situations, because those who persevere until the end will be saved. In other words, not only will the temple be destroyed, but you may be destroyed as well, so be aware, and Watch. Watch, because there will be many who claim to be your savior, who claim to come in the name of Jesus, but who are deceivers at heart, and aim to draw you away from the truth.
This passage is one of the apocalyptic sayings of Jesus, and we take it to mean that Jesus is telling us how the world will end, and what his followers can expect before his second coming. The entirety of the passage follows Jewish apocalyptic thought, which is that “God controls history, that the world has become so evil that only God can save it, and that God will rescue the world at a time of God’s own choosing.”
But there is more going on than just apocalyptic rhetoric. If we look at the passages in Mark before this one, we run across a few passages that are familiar to us, but all have a similar theme. Jesus curses a fig tree that did not bear fruit, and the next day it is withered away. Then, Jesus goes to the temple, where he sees the money lenders, and he kicks them out of the temple because the money lenders have turned a house of worship into a den of thieves. By doing so, he infuriates the leaders of the temple. He then has a conversation with the leaders of the temple – those living comfortably and in luxury by abusing the people – and tells them that they do not know either the scriptures or the power of God. In short, they lead the people in a religion that lacks power and conviction, and more importantly, lacks the presence of God.
All of these small stories, leading up to this apocalyptic speech of Jesus, are meant to help us – and the disciples – realize that Jesus is saying that anything that does not bear fruit is worthless. This temple, led by those whom Jesus has accused of not knowing the scriptures or the power of God, is just as devoid of true worship as those who enter into it. And this temple, just like the barren fig tree, will be destroyed. The temple, the structure, the words and rhetoric might be beautiful, Jesus says, but the spirit of God is not among them. And therefore, the temple will fall.
Does that sound a little bit like “afflicting the comfortable?”
Apocalyptic writing uses symbols and imagery from the present age to signify the end of an era, the passing of the old, and the birth of something new. The new thing was belief in Jesus as the Messiah. The opening of the holy of holies – the presence of God – to those who would believe.
If last week was all about the Christian Hope – the return of Christ in Glory – then this week is all about what to do if Jesus doesn’t come back. If the promise hasn’t materialized yet.
The entire letter to the Hebrews is dealing with people who had joined The Way, the belief in Jesus as the Messiah. And yet all of them were expecting Jesus to return within their lifetime and bring a closure to the state of the world. Or, at the very least, to bring about a glorious change within the world, because they were expecting the change to be external, rather than internal. And when that external change failed to materialize, they began to question whether Jesus was really the Messiah, the one they should follow. They began to question if they should follow another, or wait longer for the real Messiah to show up.
And so some of them returned to their previous religions and spiritual practices, and left the faith. Others remained, but in a state of drudgery and obligation. And still others felt that if Jesus wasn’t going to return anytime soon, they could do as they please, living their lives with disregard for the teachings of Jesus, and living in such a way that their lives were indistinguishable from the rest of the world.
In short, they were becoming what Jesus had accused the leaders of the temple: people who knew neither the scriptures, nor the power of God. A fig tree, barren of fruit. A beautiful temple facade, yet one that is lifeless within.
It is for this reason that the author of the letter to the Hebrews urges the believers in the community to “provoke one another to love and good deeds.” When we are behaving as some of the people in the community that the letter to the Hebrews was written to. Or when we are like the leaders of the temple – those that Jesus warned about failing to know the scripture, or the power of God, that is when we are more likely to provoke people to anger, rather than love and good deeds.
This can be neatly summed up in a comment I saw this week:
If they hate you because of Jesus, that’s okay. If they hate Jesus because of you, then we have a problem.
The author of the letter to the Hebrews knew, as Jesus did, that a religion that focuses more on outward appearance than inner change, that focuses more on obligation, rather than sacrifice, that type of religion would be barren, fruitless, and devoid of true worship. “Let us provoke one another to love and good deeds,” the author says, because to sit idly by, to go through the motions, to claim to be believers, but to behave as wickedly as the rest of the world is no better than a fig tree that bears no fruit, or a beautiful temple that is empty of God’s power.
Those types of things will not survive, but will be destroyed.
“Let us provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another.”
It is when we engage in this sort of affliction, this sort of provocation, that we grow together as a community of believers that joyously proclaims the power of God. We may not see the results right away, but when we provoke, and prod, and encourage one another, the power and love of God is made manifest among us, and through us, to those outside of our family of believers.
And it is because we all, together, make up the Body of Christ, and we all, together, are ministers in the Kingdom of Heaven. And all of us have the task of continuing in Christ’s mission to reconcile the world to God.
So. Let us go and comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable.
Let us provoke one another to love and good deeds.
So that we can see the power of God proclaimed among us, and the rest of the world.
