Whose Life Is It, Anyway?

The Sea Island Pulpit

Whose Life Is It, Anyway?

Mark 12: 38-44; I Kings 17: 8-16

A theologian once advised: "When you hire a housekeeper, do not ask her how she cleans. Rather, ask her about her philosophy of life. If you understand that, then you will know whether or not she can keep a house clean."

This sounds strange at first, but the more we think about it the more we see how true it rings. We each have a philosophy of life, an underlying set of values and beliefs by which we make decisions, evaluate the actions of both ourselves and others, and by which we generally conduct our lives. Some of these philosophies are rather complex, but others are very simple:

• What goes around comes around.
• The early bird gets the worm.
• "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
• Second place is first loser.
• Work hard, keep your nose clean, mind your own business, and life will turn out alright.
• He who dies with the most toys wins.
• Don’t worry, be happy.
• You meet the same people on the way down that you met on the way up.
• Shop until you drop.

Many persons follow much more formal codes which are the result of intentional work. Businesses, corporations, churches, institutions, and even families adopt mission statements, summaries of the core values and beliefs which they hold and by which they make decisions. Most of us live by unwritten values and beliefs — usually passed along subconsciously by our family and/or cultural tribe.  These comprise our philosophy of life. We rarely pause to examine what we do or why we do it.

What is our underlying philosophy of life? If we were to examine our core values and beliefs – not by what we say but by our actions – what would we see? Do we live by the Golden Rule of Jesus (Do unto others as you would have them do unto you) – or the golden rule of culture? (He who has the gold makes the rules?) I believe here are two foundational approaches/philosophies in life; from these derive all the others.

The first approach is: "This is my life and I can do with it what I want." This understanding envisions one’s life as belonging to oneself and no one else has a right to say or intrude in any way upon one’s life. Subconsciously disregarding any group loyalty this philosophy asserts one’s right to self-determination. When people are  asked whether or not the terminally ill had the right to end their life, overwhelming the answer is: "This is their life and they can do what they want." If the premise is true – its my life – then the conclusion is logical and correct.

We see the results of such a philosophy everyday in our news:

• This is my life – so I’ll use drugs if I desire.
• This is my life – so I’ll be selfish and greedy if I choose.
• This is my life – so I’ll pick the options and make my own decisions without regard for anyone else.
• This is my life – so I’ll do what makes me happy, disregarding all my commitments to family, God, and anything else.
• This is my life – so get out of my way and if anyone gets hurt, then too bad.
• This is my life — I’ll disobey pandemic guidelines or rulings as I please, regardless of the effect upon others.

This philosophy has multitudinous inherent flaws – despite the fact that it is probably the most common of our day — providing the basis for much of the greed and self-centeredness running rampant throughout our world.  If my life is indeed “mine” — then no one can have any manner of say over what I do and where I do it.  

Of course, this belief is nothing new.   When Eve and Adam disobeyed God and ate of the forbidden fruit, they were saying, "This is my life, I’ll do what I want." From that moment until the present humanity has been struggling with the reality born of that approach.

Whose life is it, anyway?

All of this brings us to the second philosophy: “This life is the gift of God; therefore I am responsible to God for what I do with my life." 

• This viewpoint honors God as the Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer of my life and acknowledges my responsibility to God for what I do with this life I call mine. 
• This perspective acknowledges that I am not born in a vacuum, but to a family in a specific place and time.  In so doing God has purposefully intertwined my life with those of others whom I cannot ignore or write off. 
• Children are God’s gifts to parents to love and nurture to maturity in Christ, but parents are also God’s gift to the child to be loved and respected by the child. 
• We are twice the child of God and therefore must see life as the gift of God to us: once by creation and once by redemption. How does Paul put it: "You are not your own, you are bought with a price."

Seeing life as gift means that I am responsible for all that I am, have, and ever will be to God. Here is a perspective that values the entire stream of life, from young to old, as the gift of God. Seeing life as gift means that whether we are 18 or 80 we are  still called to serve God in all that we do. If life is gift, then my life and life-style are the definitive statement of my gratitude.

Whose life is it, anyway?

In church we see the repercussion “life as gift” as we live in relationship and seek to build community. Christian community (koinonia) is born not out of the cultural commonalities of the world, but out of the sense that all others are the creation of God.  We build community on the foundation of our being inter-related to one another as we share together this journey of life. As an African-American preacher said, "If God is our Father, then we are all brothers and sisters; we’re kin." Life as gift acknowledges our kinship with every person upon the face of this earth.  Every. Last. One.  Even those with whom we have profound religious, ethical and political disagreement are our brothers and sisters. 

How do the two scriptures we have read this morning impact our understanding? Both are stories about women, poor widows, who are struggling with bare existence. They are literally at the bottom of the socio-economic pyramid in their society.  The widow of Zarepheth is faced with a challenge: Does she trust Elijah, the prophet of God, and fix a meal with the last of her flour?  Or does she hold onto what she has for herself and her son?

Whose life is it, anyway?

The widow of Mark 12 arrives at the the temple treasury facing a similar dilemma. Jews were required to make regular offerings at the temple. No exceptions given. Does she give her last few pennies, trusting that somehow God will provide for her needs, or does she hold onto them? Which should she do?  Which is the most responsible decision she could make?

I’ll be honest, I have always had some trouble with this text. Who would provide for her needs? Who will buy her food, clothes, etc? Why praise her? As a pastor I was called upon to help feed and clothe people who had given their last dime to some “ministry” that promised them health and wealth. Why should Jesus praise her?  Shouldn’t she be responsible for herself before she goes giving to God?  Then one day the truth hit me: what Jesus saw was a life that was so committed to God that even her last pennies were gifts to be shared rather than possessions to be hoarded.

Whose life is it, anyway?

There are some other persons present in the story from Mark: the scribes. Scribes were lawyers and they do not come out well in confrontations with Jesus. For the most part they were wealthy; Jesus indicates that they had gained this wealth at the expense of widows and their estates. Central to Jesus’ critique is an economic system that allowed the hierarchy to become wealthy at the expense of those on the bottom rung. Regularly these scribes — persons of privilege and wealth — came and dropped large bags of money into the coffers while the bystanders ooh and ah over their contributions. Their philosophy is simple:  "This is my life and I can do with it what I want." They saw life as personal possession: they worked the angles, managed the system, all with one goal: to increase their possessions. After all, as long as they said their prayers and attended to their religious duties, they were fine, weren’t they?

Whose life is it, anyway?

While the poor may flourish in our Covid 19 world, so do the scribes. Rev. Tom Ehrich, an Episcopal priest in Winston Salem told the story of a homemaker in suburban New Jersey who spent $20,000 on designer clothes for her 2 year old daughter. When asked why she replied, "I can afford it, so why not?" ( Exact source unknown.)

Why not?  Good question, is it not?  If this is my life, then I will grab for all I can and in so doing play king of the mountain with all who get in my way. If this is God’s life which has been given to me, then the answers are vastly different.

Whose life is it, anyway?

The “It's my life" mentality is having tragic consequences for our society and our churches. More and more persons are developing their own sense of right and wrong, ethical and unethical, based upon their own personal desires rather than upon the principles of our religious heritage. In conversing with psychologists, counselors, and pastors we see more and more dysfunction and emotional disorders in families and individuals, much of which is traceable back to their fundamental approach to life.

When the “my life" approach dominates, politically we divide into competing camps and conduct battle with one another. So in our society we have the wealthy versus the poor, the Republicans versus the Democrats, the Religious Right versus the Religious Left, the haves versus the have-nots, and the battles are wearing us out.

Central to the struggle is that we hear so much more of the world’s philosophy of life than of the philosophy of Jesus. We are bombarded with advertisements promising us "the good life" if we will just buy more and more and more. The witness of Holy Scripture is that the good life cannot be bought, it is not for sale. The good life does not consist of luxury cars, designer clothes, or sumptuous feasts. God’s blessings upon us cannot be added up in economic terms.  

Whose life is it, anyway?

We are currently dealing with an enemy — Covid 19 pandemic — that few if any of us saw coming.  This enemy has infected millions, killed thousands, and is still working its havoc among us.  We have seen Babel, the prosperity god of our world, brought to its knees. The personal and economic effects of this pandemic are still being written.  

How ought we to respond?  Should we buy and hoard all that we can (including toilet paper)?  Should we go and do what we want to do, when we want to do it?  Who cares if I carry the virus to a vulnerable person?  Do we really have a constitutional right to not practice social distancing and safe health and endanger others?

Quite simply, our answer reveals quite clearly our philosophy of life:

"This is my life and I can do with it what I want.”

“This life is the gift of God; therefore I am responsible to God for how I live." 

Whose life is it, anyway?

Retired Methodist Bishop Will Willimon tells the story of a former member who had been put into a nursing home. Knowing that the man was in excellent physical condition he inquired as to the reason. He learned that "John Smith" had been sent to the nursing home because of his "distressing mental state." When pursuing the reason further the other person told him: "His children became distressed about his mental well-being. John had volunteered, in his retirement, to work a couple of days a week at the church sponsored soup kitchen. The next thing they know, John has gotten so involved over there that one day he sat down and wrote them out a check for $100,00! Just like that. With no discussion, no forethought. $100,000. He handed it over to the soup kitchen. This $100,000 was what was left of most of his life’s savings. Of course, they thought he had gone over the deep end. So, they forced him to go into a nursing home where he would receive supervision." ( Will Willimon. Pulpit Resources. I have lost the exact reference.)

"I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything – all she had to live on."

Whose life is it, anyway?

May 10^th, 2020