4EpiphanyB, January 28, 2018,
St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, by Annette Fricke
True
or False. “Does one bad apple” spoil
“the whole bunch?” Who thinks it’s
true? Who thinks it’s false? It is, in fact, true. “As they ripen,” apples
“produce a gaseous hormone called ethylene, which is a ripening agent. When apples
are stored together, “the ethylene each apple emits prods the others around it
to ripen further” and to the point of spoiling. “(Fun tip: Want to quickly
ripen an avocado? Stick it in a paper bag with an apple overnight.)” But, you
might ask, does that “apply to people” as well?[1] Again, the answer is “true” at least
according to the Pharisees. Certainly,
you have heard of bad company wearing off onto those who keep it? You might have had parents who did not want
you to mingle with bad company and therefore restricted you from certain
so-called “friends” of yours outside of school hours.
Jesus
comes to us at the beginning of Mark’s gospel as one who teaches with
authority, not as the scribes. He brings
a new teaching with authority. In the same paragraph, he also casts out an
unclean spirit. Jesus has authority in both word and deed. Notice how the teaching is elevated above the
healing. Notice also the comparison to
the scribes. What set them apart? Unlike most of the people, 90 percent “of the
population ,they could “read and write.”
Therefore, “their interpretation of the law was considered absolute.”[2] Jesus challenged their authority like nobody
else before him. Jesus is clearly
identified as the Holy One of God, arriving at the synagogue which is a holy
place on the Sabbath, a holy day and encounters something that should not be
there according to the law, an unclean spirit in a human being. During this
time period, Jesus is also out of place because he did not even have permission
granted by the leader of the synagogue to teach. He was out of bounds both by teaching and
casting out an unclean spirit. Jesus was also out of place. Jesus did not wait for an invitation, but
asserted himself, inappropriately.
According to the Jewish law, it was not proper to touch an unclean
person, because by touching that person, you become unclean yourself. That is why the priest and the Levite in the
Good Samaritan story pass by rather than stopping to help the beaten and robbed
man. That is how far the teaching authority had gone astray among the Jews of
Jesus’ day.
What
does this text mean for us today? It
says that Jesus was not afraid of offending anyone, he just went ahead and did
the right thing. He was willing to step
out of the crowd mentality. Very few did
that in Nazi Germany, because their form of Christianity taught them to respect
governmental authority. Many who did were killed. Some people today are
questioning the women’s marches and asking why they are doing that. With the recent news about Larry Nassar, the
Olympic Gymnastics doctor, it is definitely one of the issues or reasons the
women are still marching across our country.
The president of MSU is resigning.
A man in a position of authority has
mis-used his position to abuse others. There are several victims. Abuse is not
going to stop on its own. There are things we can do. We can be
whistle-blowers. We can demand justice be done. We can go with our child or
grandchild to their doctor and dentist appointments and talk to them about
inappropriate behavior. We can make a report to Child Protective Services. In
my own occupation, it is becoming more and more important that we always ask
the question about whether or not our clients have suffered trauma. Not all
people who have experienced trauma will have PTSD, but treatment can be given
if appropriate. It cannot continue to be ignored. Jesus says that we are to reach out to the
outcast of society. Our congregation
should be reassessing at least yearly how to help those who are unable to help
themselves. We will probably make a few
mistakes along the way and we need to be careful to check our interpretation of
scripture with others and with other writers who have researched the historical
context. There are many who have studied
the Bible in the past and have helped to elucidate the scriptures. We should remain humble in our
interpretations, knowing that in the future, someone may see these scripture
passages a bit differently from what we do now.
We are limited in our understanding; we are not Jesus.
Remember
the saying that one bad apple will spoil the whole bunch? It depends on how long you let it go. Before doing the job of spoiling, it will
help mature the other apples. One apple
can also be a help to the others. To
paraphrase Donny Osmond, “One bad apple [doesn’t] spoil the whole bunch.”
It’s
a choice each and every day; we can either guide each other towards life and
maturity, to work together to do God’s work here on earth or be the rotten
apple that stirs the pot leading to decay.
It’s
a choice and with God’s help, we can make the right decisions.
