Roots and Wings
by Rev. Joanie Brawley
Anyone who lived through the 1960’s remembers what a turbulent time that was. It seemed America was coming apart at the seams. By 1968 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and both president John Kennedy and his brother, Robert (who was running for president) had been assassinated; thousands were dying the war in Viet Nam, and college campuses were taken captive by raging students with Molotov cocktails … and I? … I was a high school teenager… which (at least for my parents) may have been the most frightening thing of all!
Those were difficult years; it felt like my parents and I were from different planets, and that they were not only the dumbest people on earth, but the meanest! During some particularly rough patch, my no-nonsense grandmother took me for a long walk, and an even longer conversation. Most of it is long forgotten, but I have never forgotten one thing she said. Looking me dead in the eye, she said: “You know wise parents - real parents - love their children by giving them … roots … and wings.” That was catchy-enough bait, and I bit. “They provide roots that are deep and trustworthy, roots that anchor, nourish and strengthen their child. But they also, for better or worse, give their child wings - the wings of free-will. With those wings, you get to choose,” she said. “Whatever your circumstances, you determine your behavior along your particular life-path. We hope and pray that your roots will mature with sustaining sap to guide your path, but that’s up to you; you choose; you decide your destination. But,” she said with a steely glaze, “don’t think so much of yourself, young lady, that you imagine you won’t need a safe place to land when you run out of gas! Sooner or later, you will need to fix something that breaks, to patch up your wings. There’s no flying without maintenance! And the safe place to fall is your Home.”
Roots that nourish and restore, and wings that set their daughter free. For whatever reason, that day shifted something within me (well, some things! I was still a teenager!) But I never forgot that image of roots and wings.
Something about today’s Gospel reading reminds me of that long-ago moment. For, as challenging - as disturbing - as Mark’s words today seem, Jesus might be saying something not so different about our relationship with God - Father, Son and especially the Holy Spirit. But to get there, we’ll need a bit of background context, because Mark’s Gospel is no contemplative stroll through Jesus’ life and ministry; it is a gasping-for-breath sprint… and though we’re only in chapter three, as we enter the season of Pentecost, a lot has already happened! —-
Word is getting around Israel - especially among the scribes down in Jerusalem - that this Jesus’ baptism opened the heavens, and the voice of God declared: “You are my dear Son; in you I take great delight.” Jesus has already taught at the Synagogue at Capernaum, Mark tells us “as one who has authority, not like the experts in the law.” Jesus has prevailed over Satan in their initial 40-day skirmish in the wilderness. Wherever He goes, Jesus causes a ruckus and draws huge, spell-bound crowds, He has cast out demons, He heals people’s bodies, even as He forgives their sins. And the scribes (experts in the law and the prophets) likely also know for themselves what the demons have been screeching: “We know who you are - the Holy One of God!” (1:24) Very early on, these religious leaders were whispering among themselves: “Who but God alone can forgive sins?” (2:7) “Who but God alone can … (specifically) forgive sins?” This “Holy One of God” spells trouble for the scribes; He is dangerous; He must be dealt with.
Jesus has just called His Disciples: the twelve He chose “so that” (among other things) “they could be with Him” … become His friends! …” (3:14) Mark solemnly lists these most intimate companions by name, ending with “…and Judas, who betrayed him.” (3:19.) Already, treachery and violence cast a shadow over this Gospel; even those closest to Jesus are not necessarily to be trusted.
With all this trouble behind us (in less than three chapters) Mark now tells us that Jesus’ own family has come to “restrain” Him. At best, they are worried about Him; more likely, they believe He’s just gone crazy. (The Greek word translated here as “restrain” also means “to seize,” and is used to describe Jesus’ “arrest” later in the Gospel.) Not even His mother seems to know who He really is!
Already the Son of God faces deeply sorrowful rejection. The religious powers-that-be are after Him, His closest friends are unreliable, and His own blood-relatives think He’s crazy and plan to haul Him off, in shackles if necessary.
Yet, in the midst of all this hostility and jeopardy, Jesus boldly makes two astonishing proclamations: one vastly enlarges God’s kingdom, beyond the people of Israel, the other extraordinarily upends the burden of Israel’s 613 laws, reducing legal jeopardy to just one unforgivable sin.
Jesus is already re-orienting God’s Kingdom, and during these first moments of instruction - and warning - to His brand-new Disciples (and to us!) Jesus makes a starkly exclusionary statement, one of the harshest decrees in all Scripture! “Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never be forgiven, but is guilty of an eternal sin.” Though this is the only unforgivable sin, we shiver at Christ’s tone. What makes this sin so different from any other? Why is this unforgivable and eternal? Who IS this Holy Spirit?
Just two weeks ago, we celebrated Pentecost. On that day, God’s Holy Spirit powerfully descended on Christ’s anxious believers gathered in Jerusalem, and every one of them received the Spirit, poured out extravagantly as each one began to speak in tongues, rejoicing in the Glory of God. With the Holy Spirit comes dynamic boldness and anointing, and on that day Christ’s church was born… by and with and in the power of that same Spirit. This is what the Holy Spirit does! Just as on the day of Pentecost, the Spirit enables us - draws us - creates within us - the path into intimate relationship to God … by quickening our hearts, enlivening our faith, tweaking our consciences, and guiding us to recognize - become sensitive to - the will of God. God’s Grace and invitation through the Holy Spirit is so expansive that, if ever you wonder (or wander) in confusion over who this mysterious third person of the Trinity is, all you need do is prayerfully ask Him, and He will reveal Himself to you! This is the power and the creative Grace of the Holy Spirit.
To blaspheme against the creative power of God is to cut off One’s access to God; to tell others that this creative power is actually from Satan is condemnable. The scribes who have been tailing Jesus tragically display the unforgivable sin. We only have to hear again the question they whispered among themselves so early in Mark’s Gospel: “Who but God alone can … forgive sins?” Can you hear the truth they betray in their question?
These are smart men, well-trained and well-educated in everything to do with God’s Word. They know that only God can forgive our sins; this early in Jesus’ ministry, they know, more clearly and more certainly than anyone, who this Jesus really is. He is God! They hold the Truth in the palm of their hands, and they call that Truth a lie from Satan. They attribute to the Evil One, things they know to be of God and they intentionally claim the “Holy One of God” is Satan’s man.
Such sin is clear - and astounding. This is no isolated act, but a settled condition of the soul. It is the result of repeated and willful choices to refuse the Holy Spirit’s guidance, to deny His promptings as worthless, or even from Satan. Over time, the heart becomes so hardened - so calcified - that the sinner no longer even cares that he’s sinned. Such habitually willful, prideful acts lead the soul away from humility and repentance. And, sadly, without repentance, there can be no forgiveness. What makes their sin unforgivable is not that God refuses to forgive, but that the sinner refuses to allow God to forgive. The condemnation caused by blaspheming the Holy Spirit is not God’s doing; it is caused when the wings of human Free Will are permanently encased in unrepentant pride.
But, as tragically condemned as free-will-run-amuck renders those who choose to fly in the face of Grace, Jesus also brings the most gracious invitation! Speaking to the crowd following Him, to the Disciples just chosen by Him, and to all who hear Him now … Jesus proclaims that His family - his brothers and sisters - are united, not by human bloodline, or history, or religious performance, but by those who “do the will of God.” This was a truly revolutionary statement in Jesus’ day! It is a wonder-full assurance in our own day! Christ declares - In one sentence - a whole new understanding of what - and where - God’s kingdom is. It is not an external achievement or birthright. God’s kingdom-invitation is to your heart; He yearns to dwell within you as a warming sap nourishing your soul, healing your wounds, showing you His provision and love. God’s kingdom is actually His own family - of brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers - woven together by the very Creator of the universe! We are all invited and welcomed with cheers in Heaven!
And God did this just so we can know - participate lavishly in - His eternal, intimate and boundless love for you and me… personally! Jesus tells us (His life shows us) that He yearns you extravagantly and tenderly, making His Home deep within your own heart!
For you, whose birth-family was damaged (but whose family bears no scars?) … for you, who did not grow up with the love of wise parents (but whose parents were always wise?) this is especially your Good News! Whatever your past, whatever you have endured or lost, the truth is …only the fullness of God can provide the healing, restoration, forgiveness and unfailing, perfect love all our souls cry for! No human parent can ever fully offer the perfect love - the roots - we so desperately need! By the power and work of the Holy Spirit, our little branches can be grafted into God’s strong, sustaining roots, where we are strengthened and made whole… and, from there, we fly on God-propelled wings… intimately and eternally!
Maybe in some ways, we are really never much more than teenagers, sometimes willfully choosing defiance or pride or laziness. But roots and wings - the gifts good parents try to give - are only made perfect in God’s open hand.
Thanks be to Him… God, the Holy Spirit, will give us the Lord’s directions - show us His map, help us to fly …ever more joyfully within God’s will. We only need to ask and seek. And, lo and behold, we come to see (with our hearts) that Jesus, the Son, is God’s will for us: the Holy One of God who gave Himself up to become our safe place to land - or crash - when we run out of gas or try to defy gravity in our own power. And God, the Father … who made our roots, gave us our wings, and knits our fragile branches back into the sapwood of His love… He puts it all together, roots and wings - and makes it all possible … simply because He yearns to bring us safely Home, to Him.
Thanks be to God. Amen.