Today’s Word from Pastor Kat…
Mark 10:35-37:
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” And he said to them, “What is it you want me to do for you?” And they said to him, “Appoint us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”
The above gospel reading from Pastor Jim’s sermon last Sunday got me thinking… I wondered if the disciples were wanting to ensure their relevance in the eyes of Jesus (and to anyone else who gazed at Jesus’ glory!). The words “relevance” and “relevant” are not located anywhere in the Bible. And yet this is a word that floats in and out of various parts of our lives. Some leaders in other churches are concerned about their church staying relevant. What parts of our traditions are relevant and which ones are not? Are clergy vestments still relevant? Are the old hymns still relevant (I would say, YES!)? At what point do new worship trends become no longer relevant? All of this is impacted by context, and answers to these questions are as varied as the places and people asking the questions.
What once felt so relevant in my life becomes absolutely irrelevant in the face of a new medical diagnosis, or overwhelming grief.
To my teenage children, I am finding that many of my motherly concerns are VERY IRRELEVANT to their teenage priorities!
Who gets to define what is relevant and what is not? What do we do when we don’t agree?
Relevance is a culturally and emotionally complicated word. It implies something of value or importance. But if you were to unpack the original meaning of the word, one would find that it aligns very much with the response that Jesus gave to the disciples. The latin roots mean “to lessen, to lighten; to help, assist, comfort, and console.” It is related to the word relieve– another word whose roots mean “to lift up” or “alleviate.” Jesus said to them, “whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant.” In other words, in response to their anxiety to be relevant, Jesus instructed them to help, assist, comfort and console, lift up and alleviate– to be of service. Again, Jesus is flipping assumed values on their heads– that which many consider to be first shall be last, and the last shall be be first.
There was a popular book that came out in 2010 called The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. The idea was to go through every item in every room of your house and ask the question, “does this bring me joy?” If the answer was a resounding YES, then you were to keep the item. If it didn’t bring you instant joy, then you were encouraged to let the item go. I was kind of terrible at this because I’m a very sentimental person, but I appreciated the reframed question and decision making: is this item still relevant because I was told it’s important, or is it relevant because it truly brings me joy or because it lightens my burden? Which is more relevant– the item itself, or the space that is freed up when I let something go?
I also apply a similar line of questioning to thoughts and feelings. I find that sometimes stories circulate in my mind that definitely do not lighten my burden or bring me joy; feelings that no longer serve me but have lingered around weighing me down. I can’t fold my feelings up nicely and put them in a box for Good Cheer, but I can and I do bring them to God in prayer.
Blessed to be a blessing– I see and am grateful for all of the ways that the people of Trinity and many others on South Whidbey BRING JOY to each other and lighten each other’s loads, showing up for each other during good times and bad. You give examples of it every day of every week and I am so inspired by all the ways in which you console, comfort, assist, alleviate, and relieve the loads of your neighbors!
With gratitude and JOY,
Pastor Katrina
