June 3, Ordinary 9B (Mark 2:23-3:6)

This story of Jesus at the synagogue in Capernaum begins oddly and ends badly. The oddness at the beginning is the way the camera lurches immediately, without hesitation, from Jesus’ entrance to the man with the withered hand. Usually a narrator builds a nest before placing the egg, something like, “Jesus went to the synagogue, as was his custom. Some Pharisees, who had confronted his disciples over plucking grain on the sabbath, were there. There was also a man present with a withered hand.” But no, Mark cuts right to the chase and shines the spotlight instantly on the odd man out, the cause of the forthcoming crisis.

Several years ago journalist Bill Bishop published The Big Sort, in which he argued that American mobility allows for a constant shuffling and reshuffling of the social deck, resulting in lifestyle enclaves that are increasingly monochromatic. We seek places to live, work, and play only with people like ourselves. “We have built a country,” Bishop writes, “where everyone can choose the neighbors (and church and news shows) most compatible with his or her lifestyle and beliefs.”

Yes, of course, some people do this, but, honestly, I have never encountered a faith community where this sorting strategy was entirely successful. No matter how strenuously we try to keep our pews filled with folks just like ourselves, the Spirit keeps sending people who disrupt the norm, whose very presence provokes a rethinking of who we are and what we are about. Once, the pastor of an edgy church for people on the margins was written up favorably in the local newspaper and the next week was “freaked . . . out because our weird church was suddenly inundated with people who looked like our parents.” Several years ago, I worshiped with a downtown congregation of demure Canadian Presbyterians whose worship was utterly serene, except for the 20 or so homeless people who danced ecstatically around the communion table during the service and shouted enthusiastic responses during the sermon. Their presence was troubling, no doubt, but also a profound gift of the Spirit, who disrupts all neat sorting schemes.