Bush Eucharist with Father Dave - September 26, 2021

Our first reading this week was from the book of Esther - my least favourite book in the Bible. It is one of only two books in the Bible that never mentions God. Moreover, it is a book full of racism, treachery and violence. Indeed, I can’t understand why it’s never been made into a blockbuster movie!

I see this book as a testimony to the secular side of God. God doesn’t only exist and work in a religious context. God is with us when we are praying and worshipping and being faithful. When we are not praying or worshipping or being faithful, God is still with us!

Our second reading, from James 5, is a much more gentle reading. James, the pastor of the early church in Jerusalem, encourages us to pray for each other. Prayer works! I don’t know why it works but it works. Keep praying!

Our Gospel reading from Mark 9 begins with a wonderful exhortation from Jesus that, “whoever is not against us is for us” (Mark 9:40). Given that Haney and Nathan (the two lads who were with me) are Muslim and Catholic, respectively, this seemed particularly relevant. In the context of the reading, Jesus is at war with the devil, casting out demons. In a war, if somebody is standing alongside you, shooting at the same enemy, they are on your side, regardless of the colour of their uniform!

Mind you, this same passage that begins on a note of warm inclusiveness then turns suddenly violent – “If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.” (Mark 9:43). Again though, it’s an issue of identifying who is a friend and who is the foe in this great battle. We can’t determine who our comrades are by the colour of their uniforms, but we distinguish an enemy when we see them abuse one of God’s ‘little ones’!

It is hard to read these words without thinking of the tragic scandal of child sexual abuse within the church. "If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.” (Mark 9:42)

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