September 6, 2009 Psalm 146
James 2:1-10
Teacher’s Pet
Chances are good that somebody here this morning at some point in grammar school was the “teacher’s pet.” The “teacher’s pet” is a rather weird title when you stop to think about it, but it makes sense since kid’s made it up. A good pet is both loving and obedient. The implication is, of course, that the teacher has attached him or herself more closely to one student than the others; that the “teacher’s pet” gets special treatment; that he or she is a more favored one; that it’s more likely that a C+ will become a B- than a C. Teachers’ pets sometimes are simply chosen because of teachers’ inclinations; sometimes the students position themselves to be chosen. At any rate, teachers who show preferential treatment for one student above the others, run the risk of causing some students to feel inferior – which, of course, is not good.
On Tuesday, school starts in Mashpee and in many school systems across the country. We certainly remember the students, teachers, and administrators as they get underway. We think about the rituals of this time of year: the last trip out in the boat before we start thinking about fall; the cookouts and beach parties planned for tomorrow; and, in preparation that big day when school buses again begin to roll, the shopping for school clothes and supplies. Before long, apples will begin to appear on teacher’s desks and teacher’s pets will be unofficially designated for the school year.
Well, we are only human are we not? Teachers naturally connect with some of their students in special ways. There are usually children in every class who are particularly pleasant, hardworking, and eager for any number of possible reasons to get on the good side of the teacher. By the same token, the students have their favorite teachers. Such favoritisms become embedded in the system often being passed down through older siblings to younger siblings.
By the time I got into junior high school, I just knew that I wanted Mr. Granneman for English class. After all, both of my sisters had been his students and they loved him. I did not get him for English, but I did get him for Latin, which was another story! This was an experimental one semester course for students to try. My oldest sister who also took Latin had loved it. My other sister for some reason never went down that road and I should have followed her. For whatever reasons, Latin with Mr. Granneman was not a success story for me. Needless to say, unlike my sister Joan, I never became this teacher’s pet.
A month ago, as I stood in front of the Pantheon in Rome, I thought of that class as I attempted to translate the words over the massive columns. I did decipher the word “Agrippa” but then again, so has the rest of the tourist world. Had I only worked harder in that Latin class, I might have been able to read the entire line!
The reason for bringing all this up, of course, is that both readings this morning present rather formidable challenges: justice, fairness and acknowledging that favoritism is a grievous wrong.
The Psalmist presents God as One particularly compassionate toward the downtrodden – the hungry, the oppressed, the prisoners, the blind, the innocent, aliens, and the fatherless. James, “A servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ” says basically the same thing: “But if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.”(2:9)
Speaking of Rome, not surprisingly we came upon beggars from time to time. During an evening walk, we were approached by a woman sitting on a small platform with wheels. She was very low to the ground and moved quite skillfully up and down the streets. She propelled herself with her arms and right leg. But her left leg was quite malformed. She obviously was handicapped. We gave her some money.
A little later that same evening we came upon a man seated with his back to the wall. There was a cup sitting in front of him. He said nothing. His head was down, his eyes were closed and he was rocking back and forth. His right arm was in full display and it was shaking. The arm was malformed. Remembering the ethics of James his illustration of favoritism in which the wealthy were shown to the best seats in the temple while the poor were shown where to stand, as we had given money to the woman with a deformity, we also gave money to the man with a deformity. Ethics for ministry say that what you do for one, you must do for all.
We never saw the woman on the cart again, but the man I did see as I realized we were both in line later that night for a gelato. The man was quite mobile, and obviously articulate. (Of course I had no idea what he was saying.) I did get the impression that he bought gelato here often. Was his arm deformed? Yes, but he seemed perfectly capable of managing himself and had obviously learned to compensate for his physical condition.
It had never dawned on me that some beggars live perfectly normal lives. They raise the money they need, pay their rent, and buy their food just like the rest of us. All of which to say is that this business of treating everybody equally can be challenging, to say the least! Some would say that the man was running a scam. But, by the same token, I allowed my prejudices to see this man as helpless and downtrodden; I projected my definition of beggar onto him. Nobody forced me to put money in the jar; I did it of my own free will thinking this might just save his life for another day; he could buy some food. I never thought he might get in line with me for a gelato. Then again, why not?
The mandates in both readings this morning are huge challenges. How are we supposed to go through life without showing favoritism and without wanting to protect what we feel is rightfully ours? These ethical issues enter every arena in life from a very personal level such as feeling entitlement to sit in first class in an airplane; to matters of tax write-offs; to decisions about national health care systems; to whether or not one nation should invade another. There is no escaping the ethics of the Letter of James at any level of the human experience. As we like to say, “You can run but you can’t hide.” There is no avoiding these ethical decisions upon which civilizations and governments are built.
So, where do we go with this? Actually, now that I have made this all into an impossible mess and debate without resolution, James gives us the bottom line and the mandate becomes clear: chapter 2, verse 8 “If you really fulfill the royal law, according to the scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you do well.”
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus responds to the question, “Which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus responds, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Just imagine if we could live this way; how we would catch a glimpse of the Kingdom of God. AMEN
