The Witness: On Not Being Scandalized

On Not Being Scandalized
By John L. Kirkley
Friday, June 10, 2005

Lectionary Reflections for the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost (A)

Readings for Pentecost 5, Proper 7, Year A, June 19, 2005

Genesis 21:8-21 or Jeremiah 20:7-13
Psalm 86:1-10, 16-17 or Psalm 69:7-10, (11-15), 16-18
Romans 6:1b-11
Matthew 10:24-39

Christian discipleship is nothing if not scandalous; at least, from the perspective of human normalcy (consider, for example, Jesus' stance on family values in Matthew 10:34-37). What is so scandalous about Christian discipleship is precisely our refusal to be scandalized by others.
The interpretive key here is Matthew 11:1-6. When John the Baptist sends his disciples to question Jesus as to whether or not he is the Messiah, he replies with a report of his actions: healing the blind, lame, and lepers; raising the dead; preaching good news to the poor. And he concludes by saying, "And blessed is anyone who is not scandalized by me. (1)"

[G]enuine imitation of Jesus requires us to go a step further. Not only must we refuse to be scandalized by victims; we also must refuse to be scandalized by victimizers.

Jesus' ministry scandalized the authorities. It provoked opposition. It inspired a conspiracy to frame Jesus for treason under the penalty of death. Rather than being scandalized by prostitutes, tax collectors, and sinners, Jesus embraced them. Rather than participate in the typical human practices of victimization and scapegoating, Jesus practiced a radical form of self-giving love even unto death; thereby revealing that social order is founded upon violence and destruction (cf. Jeremiah 20:8).
In this Sunday's gospel lesson, Jesus warns his disciples that they must expect similar opposition. A disciple is not above the teacher; rather, as imitators of Jesus, we too will be persecuted for refusing to be scandalized by victims and sinners. Our solidarity with society's victims will bring to light the injustice and cruelty that the principalities and powers try to ignore or hide: "for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known" (Matthew 10:26). And this solidarity knows no limits. It is rooted in a self-giving love that is unmoved by death or the threat of death.

But genuine imitation of Jesus requires us to go a step further. Not only must we refuse to be scandalized by victims; we also must refuse to be scandalized by victimizers. "Force," Simone Weil wrote, "is as pitiless to the man who possesses it, or thinks he does, as it is to its victims; the second it crushes, the first it intoxicates. (2)" Neither the victim, nor the oppressor, is free; all are in need of God's mercy.

This is why Jesus admonishes us not to fear our enemies. To live in fear of enemies is to allow them to define our identity, rather than trusting that our identity is given to us by One in whose eyes we are of inestimable value (Matthew 10:28-31). To live in fear is to be scandalized by the other; it is to become locked in the pernicious dynamic of violent reciprocity. It is the way of death, which is the way of the world.

We must die to our identity defined over and against others, and receive our identity as God's beloved children.

Jesus invites us to discover the way out of this dynamic: the way of the cross. "Whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who loose their life for my sake will find it" (Matthew 10:38-39). We must die to our identity defined over and against others, and receive our identity as God's beloved children. "So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus" (Romans 6:11). Having been baptized into Christ's death, we no longer need live defined by those who would control us by threat of death (Romans 6:3-4). We no longer need be scandalized by them.

James Alison argues that "freedom is to be found by not allowing oneself to be caused to stumble by the evil done to one: one must not resist evil, one must go the second mile. There is only one way not to be locked into the scandals of this world, and that is by learning to forgive, which means not allowing oneself to be defined by the evil done. (3)" The way of the cross is the way of freedom. This freedom is expressed through the life-long practice of forgiveness in imitation of Jesus. As we relax into our true identity in Christ, we become capable of solidarity with victims and of forgiving sinners. We become capable of letting go of our propensity to be scandalized by others and thus defined by fear.

Footnotes:
(1) based on the use of the Greek skandalon as translated by James Alison in The Joy of Being Wrong: Original Sin Through Easter Eyes, (New York, NY: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1998), p. 141.
(2) Weil, Simone, 'The Iliad' or 'Poem of Force,' (Wallingford, PA: Pendle Hill Pamphlet, 1993), p. 11, quoted in Hedges, Chris, War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, (New York, NY: Anchor Books, 2003), p. 21. Hedges' book is a profoundly disturbing illustration of Weil's point.
(3) Alison, James, The Joy of Being Wrong: Original Sin Through Easter Eyes, p. 144.

The Rev. John L. Kirkley is long-term interim rector of St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church in San Francisco, Calif. He serves as president of Oasis/California, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of California, and is a member of the steering committee of the Claiming the Blessing collaborative. John may be reached by email at rector@saintjohnsf.org.