“Sustainability - A Cost Effective Way to Live!”

Karen Sloan 12/09/2021

Readings- Mark 8:27-39

It’s been a crazy week this week, actually the past few weeks, with a couple of funerals and the start of a new Progressive Christianity series.

I was hoping to do some of my research work this week, but that idea went quickly out the window.

For those who don’t know I foolishly signed up to do a PhD part time, a couple of years ago, basically so my research in orthopaedics that I did for 15 years at RPH would not be wasted.

That work involved assessing the outcome of hip and knee replacement surgery. We looked at how well patients functioned before and then after the surgery, what their pain levels were like and how much range of motion they had in the joint at various timeframes post operation. It was a way of assessing how effective these operations were at getting people back into the community, pain free and functioning normally. Administrators and health economists take this information and information about the length of stay and cost of the operation and determine the cost effectiveness to the community and to the person. They examine whether the joint replacement is worthwhile in terms of dollars spent and the increased quality life it gives the recipient. As it turns out joint replacement is an incredibly cost effective treatment, and gives people who are often completely disabled a new lease of life.

So in health, lots of energy is taken up with determining whether the cost of a procedure is worth the outcome. In today’s reading we are faced with a similar life changing question. What is the cost of following Jesus, and are we prepared to pay it?   Funnily enough the clinic which was closed in 2015, because of a lack of money has reopened this year. And of course I am a good resource for those contemplating a hip or knee replacement, so maybe for me the cost is worth the pain!!.

It is interesting that we spent many weeks in John’s gospel working through the images Jesus provides of faith. Faith is not a set of rules but a way of life. Faith is not just head stuff but heart stuff. We have to take our faith out of the intellectual sphere where it sometimes gets stuck and move it into the sphere of the heart. And when we talk of heart we don’t mean that space in our body that pumps blood but the way it is meant in the bible, a point within us where our whole being is focused. The driving force of our faith is found in the heart and it is the heart that guides our life and our actions, our inward and outward journeys as we have heard previously. In the New Testament the ideal heart for humans is perfectly modelled in the heart of Jesus. So it is Jesus who gives us an idea of what this faith based life will cost. Jesus wasn’t just a great person, he was also a person of faith, intimately connected to the mystery we call God, and who reveals to us what a faith based life looks like. That why we are Jesus followers!

In today’s reading from Mark we are confronted with poor Peter, another disciple who doesn’t get the message about Jesus and what his life and death really means. Jesus responds strongly, seemingly fed up with his blindness, and the words of Jesus that follow cut him down. We hear Jesus saying ‘For those who want to save their life will lose it and those who lose their life for my sake and the sake of the gospel will save it’. This is not about another life somewhere else, or a life that is to come. The life that Jesus is talking about is the life here and now, about the kingdom of God as a present reality, one where love is paramount. Suddenly the gospel comes alive and the risk of following Jesus more real. No wonder Peter was confused, he wanted a king who would rule with power, not one who was going to die on a cross and call them to follow. Yet Jesus is very clear in this passage about what we are to sacrifice, we are to give away our old life in order to save it.

It is a life changing moment for the disciples and for us, where everything we thought was of value isn’t and instead love and love for one another are the sole criteria by which things are measured. As listeners today, to lose one’s life in this context is to lose our old way of living, a way of comfort, conformity and consumerism which often is at odds with our faith, and which ultimately is meaningless. This is the life we lose when we follow our hearts and commit to Jesus. 

But Jesus also knew from his experience that losing this old life and entering a new life of love wasn’t going to be easy, for himself and for his followers. And he doesn’t pull any punches when telling the disciples what is going to happen to him because of it.

Suggesting that relationship is more important than winning, and love more important than power, and acting on these convictions, confronts everything that people thought was life giving, not only in the 1st century but also here in the 21st century. Jesus on the cross represents the result of this change in direction and emphasis. This is why the cross is such a powerful symbol. Jesus doesn’t enter the game and then resort to the things he loathes when times get tough. On the contrary, he goes to his death faithful to the call of radical love and inclusiveness. As John Robinson says in his little book ‘Honest to God’, ‘Jesus is the man for others, the one in whom love has completely taken over, the one who is utterly open to and united with God, the ground of all being’. 

So leaving behind our old life is hard. But Jesus does not only put forward the cost of discipleship but also the benefits. He asserts in the reading that, ‘those who lose their life for his sake will save it’. But how can that be?  Does committing to our faith with every part of our being give us something in return, something that is worth the cost that Jesus and many of his followers paid. Something that balances the cost of being out of step with the society we live in, being thought crazy, stupid or anti modern or deluded as some have called me.. Something that offsets the economic cost because we are called to help the poor, the emotional cost because we are called to help the weak and marginalised, the time cost because we are called to be in community and support one another, and often the cost of our health because we may need to stand up and voice our concerns in places where our life may be threatened.  

Many people would say the benefit of faith and discipleship is eternal life or life after death. Yet Jesus is far more radical and political than that. His benefits are for us personally and for us as a society and a world, and they are for now. But it is not something that you can tell people. Each person has to experience the benefits individually. To see and sense that the connection to God, however you define that universal presence, and to each other is life giving and life changing. And that this connection enables us to transcend the norms and expectations of society and lead a life full of purpose and meaning. A new life that is free of those things that control and belittle and marginalise all people, including ourselves.

I believe that the more we love and the more we engage with our fellows the more we can sense this freedom that comes with God, ,. And with this freedom we enjoy a fullness of life that is not comparable to anything money can buy. This is what Jesus was on about when responding to Peter, that the cost of discipleship is outweighed by the benefits it brings for all. And by hanging on to our old life we risk sacrificing this new life.  

I have had these benefits of a faith based life reinforced this week. Travelling with people through the ups and downs of life is a privilege many of us don’t get, particularly when it’s time to say goodbye to someone they love.. Yet it is in the living out of love and care that makes life more whole.  It’s very difficult explaining this feeling to others outside the church because ministry seems to be such a non-profession, you don’t produce anything, certainly don’t make any money and don’t have any power as defined by our society. Yet connecting with people , bringing forth the life and teachings of Jesus and attempting to change our society so that all people can live more complete and full lives, even by doing small things, actually seems quite powerful.  And it is the doing of small things or whatever we can that is critical because we all have choices we can make.

As Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who gave the ultimate sacrifice during WW2, said, ‘This transcendence we speak of consists not of tasks beyond our scope and power, but in the nearest person at hand’. So there is not a ranking of cost, so that the person who sacrifices all that they have including their life is ranked higher on the benefits scale. That is not what the reading is saying. Rather we are to live out our faith in a way that is consistent with the gospel of Jesus, so that every day and in each relationship love is at the centre. This will often have a cost because it is a call so different from society’s expectations, but we don’t start with the costs but with faith. And this faith can be alive and active regardless of age, stage or health status. I have seen this first hand after working for our church, having been astounded by the support given behind the scenes here for those in need, whether that need is emotional or physical  Things that go on which people do without any thought of gain or recognition is amazing. 

But it is not just to the faith community that we are called. We are also called to try to change things outside ourselves. Our society is at the crossroads and requires us to speak loudly, and act strongly against all the things that devalue and debase life, all life.  It means engaging in programs and actions that promote peace over war, love over hate, that actively encourage inclusiveness and community and that attempt to protect and nurture our environment. We are called to do what we can, when we can.

Since its Sustainable September in the Uniting Church, maybe we should focus on things that will help protect and nurture our environment.  And there is certainly a cost to seeking that, to our Western 21 century lives.

Jodie, Kerry and myself had a great conversation over coffee yesterday talking about how Kerry has reduced her plastic usage, don’t ask her about shampoo.   How many people recycle pill containers, tooth brushes, cosmetics and other daily items. How there are organisations that will take those objects in bulk and how there are many places now where you can go and by food using your own containers.

Not as convenient I know, and its seems out of kilter with big polluting companies and governments who want to stay with coal.

But they are steps non the less, even if they are baby steps..  Recycling for all its problems is getting bigger, and more accessible. We will have a first Sunday forum in Dec on this topic. But we have to have the will to participate!

How does that link to being a follower of Jesus?

If you think Jesus wasn’t too worried about the environment and about climate change you are probably right. 

But he knew a lot about the effect of money and power on those who have it and those that don’t.   We cannot follow God and money.  Solutions to environmental issues, and particularly climate change must be designed with the needs of the poor in mind. And it is the poor who will suffer more with climate change, it is the poor who have to destroy their environments to supply materials to the west and to just survive,  and it is the poor who are suffering now, in this pandemic, because of over-crowding and limited health services, linked to the inequality that exists around the world.

Ecological sustainability will also involve a search for justice as well.  David Suzuki, a leading environmentalist and scientist,  suggests the problem is one of economics as much as ecology. To go on and on expecting that we can grow forever, produce and consume forever is ridiculous without there being major consequences.   Already we are suffering not just a global environmental crisis but a crisis of inequality and social upheaval. Because as the world has got cleverer and human achievements more advanced, not everyone benefits.  The rich get richer and the poor poorer.  And for those who are rich, more possessions and money do not necessarily make each person happy or a society well balanced or an earth sustainable. The need for more also is likely to destroy us.

Now you may think recycling your tooth brush  is an empty gesture, and what difference does that make. Well, we need to start somewhere, and where there is the will to make one small gesture, maybe there is a will to do more. We are called to be among those people who see the vision and love it into being, even if it is a vision that seems completely mad and the cost too high. The cost to ourselves and to others of doing nothing is unfortunately even higher.  Like a planet that in the end cannot sustain life.

 So we are all people of faith, we are all called to give away our old life of comfort and conformity for a life of love, to be agents for change so that lives can be lived in freedom and peace.  Jesus has said if we do that we will save our life, perhaps we might even save our world. To me that seems a very cost effective exercise.

Amen