ITCH AND SCRATCH
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily is, “Itch and Scratch.”
Today’s gospel [Mark 10:17-30] has the word “lacking” in it – and as I reflected on that word and idea – and I looked it up Greek [hustereo] – and all that – to get a better grasp at what might be going on here, the word “itch” hit me. It might have been the sound of “ck” and “ch” in those words: “lack” and “itch”. Or I might have been itching my ear at the time. I don’t know.
But I began to think about “Itch and Scratch.” And this is not an ad for the Maryland Lottery – those buy and scratch cards,
A SHORT QUESTIONNAIRE – 5 QUESTIONS
1) How many times in a day is it normal for someone to feel an itch and scratch it?
2) Do we have more itching and scratching of our skin in the winter than in the summer?
3) Do we itch and scratch more when we’re nervous or in traffic jams?
4) Do we itch and scratch when we lie?
5) Has anyone done any research on itching and scratching?
THE SPORTING SCENE
I was watching the Dodger 2nd playoff game the other night – I’ve been a Dodger fan all my life – and I was watching Andre Ethier of the Dodgers biting some skin on his right thumb – up near the nail. They were losing and the game was almost over. His biting that tiny bit of skin was ongoing – and the person with the camera was focusing on the faces of the Dodger players leaning on the railing at the edge of dugout. I noticed players scratching their noses – their ears, their hair. I’ll stop there. So maybe the answer to my 3rd question is: “Yes, we itch and scratch more, when we’re nervous.”
INNER ITCH
How about inner itches? How about an itch in our soul? How about spiritual itches?
The man in today’s gospel ran up to Jesus, knelt down before him, and asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
What triggered this man to do this? Was it something Jesus said? Was he watching Jesus? Did he hear about Jesus? What caused the itch? Did Jesus’ scratch at the way to do life itch him?
WEDDINGS, BAPTISMS AND FUNERALS
My first two years as a priest was in a parish, Most Holy Redeemer, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City. It was a fascinating experience. I was living and working in the East Village – 1967 - 1969 – right in the middle of the Hippie Revolution. Then I was changed to a retreat house in New Jersey and for the next 33 years I wasn’t a parish priest. I worked in two retreat houses, preached on the road – giving parish missions, priests’ retreats, nuns’ retreats, teaching, doing group work – all over the country. Then in August of 2002, I began this wonderful experience of being stationed here at St. Mary’s, Annapolis, just being a parish priest and not being a pastor and not having to worry about money or management. Couldn’t be better.
In general, the only weddings, funerals and baptisms before I got here were family ones. I discovered here at St. Mary’s an interesting phenomenon. The wedding is over, the funeral is over, the baptism is over, and someone afterwards comes over to me and says something about the Spirit – God – religion – that touched them. Something triggered an itch in them. Something scratched this person’s surface.
I think what happens is what happened to this man in today’s gospel. Something got itched during the wedding or funeral or baptism. They haven’t gone to church or synagogue or temple in the longest time – and something itches them. Their surface was scratched a bit during the service. To me it’s also exactly what today’s second reading is saying, “The word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.” The sword of the word gets in there – into a person – underneath their outside and as a result they have a spiritual itch. [Hebrews 4:12-13]
I am very sure of this. It’s happened to me a lot here at St. Mary’s in the past 7 years.
And afterwards, I find myself also scratching the surface of their comments.
Of course, I want to know what triggered a movement of grace – an itch of God – a scratch of God – on the skin of that person’s mind or soul.
To me to wonder about this is scary. It makes me nervous. It borders on mystery – guessing – judging. It borders on the idolatry – saying this is how God works. And I know, I don’t know the mind of God.
I know from studying preaching and movies and reading novels and being on the stage a bit in the seminary, the key to good preaching, writing, drama, is not noticing the actor or the writing, but the listener is noticing his or her’s own heart and own story. As priest, my prayer is that nobody notices me or what I’m saying or doing, but they are noticing themselves – scratching themselves and their own heart and family and life.
I also know that I can get in the way. I know that some people want to hear personal stuff from the preacher at times and others go crazy when the preacher mentions his family. I am aware that some preaching institutes teach that a good way to unfold a sermon is to proceed with these three steps: telling the preacher’s story, the scripture story, and then the listener’s story. I know the 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 rule. One third like you, one third don’t like you, one third don’t care and don’t even notice you. My goal in preaching is that the only persons you notice are God and you.
I know that people want spirituality – want the personal – want a good story – want interesting – want challenge – want God when they come to church. I know that Greg Pierce, a writer out of Chicago, said that the Sunday sermon congregation spend most of their time – other than sleep – in two places: work and relationships – and too many sermons and much of spiritual writing don’t go there. (1)
Where do you itch for challenge – insight – a new take?
I pinch myself being stationed in Annapolis – with so many different people with so many different itches – and sometimes someone tells me about one of them – like after a wedding or a funeral or a baptism.
Amazing. Where do you itch?
THE MAN IN THE GOSPEL
The man in today’s gospel wanted more. This man came to Jesus with an itch for more – for something different in his life.
The man in today’s gospel has Mark saying this about him, “Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, ‘You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”
With that look and with those words Jesus not only scratched the surface, but Jesus went inside this man – who was scratching his head about Jesus and life.
Jesus talked to the man and said to him, “You know the commandments” and the man said he knew and kept the commandments – since his youth.
Then Jesus really scratches the surface of this man and challenged him to let go of everything. At that his face fell. At that and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.
This man had stuff – but perhaps without knowing it – he had a lack – and Jesus itched it.
It seems he wanted Jesus to scratch his back after he scratched Jesus back by calling him, “Good teacher” – and by kneeling down before Jesus. You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.
Then Mark presents Jesus’ observations about possessions and stuff. Possessions can possess us. Stuff can stuff us. Our soul can become so bloated – that we can’t fit through the eye of the needle – and enter into the Kingdom of God.
THE KINGDOM OF GOD
The Kingdom of God – have you entered it yet? Have you scratched the surface of that one yet?
The Church is about the Kingdom – not vice versa. People get upset about the church all the time. Of course, the Church is people. There’s 1/3 characters in it we don’t like. The Church is not for itself. How many times do we churchy people have to hear this?
Hopefully, our itch is not for churchy stuff – but for kingdom stuff.
I spent 9 years in a job called “Novice Master” – preparing and screening young men who were figuring out whether they wanted to spend their lives – in the way Jesus talks about in today’s gospel – giving up everything – house, family, having wife and children, for the sake of the gospel and the kingdom. It was a one year experience and I did this with 9 different classes. It was a very interesting 9 years of my life – getting up close and personal – getting into the heart and mind of men – mostly in their twenties – trying to figure out what they were going to do with their lives.
Part of the process was to go to programs with similar young men and women who had entered the religious life – to become nuns, priests and brothers – people wanting to discern their future.
I was very aware of the old, old monastic saying, “Habitus non facit monachum.” “The habit doesn’t make the monk.”
The vestments, the churchy stuff, doesn’t make the priest.
The hats and the robes don’t make the pope or bishop.
In my opinion, in my judgment, in my way of seeing, unfortunately I saw people wanting the habit, the robes, the externals. Sometimes it’s the reason some knocked on our doors and began the process – but my hope was they would discover Jesus – and the Kingdom – and hear Jesus trying to knock that outlook out of them – as he did with the Pharisees who wanted tassels and front seats – and recognition – and as a result they couldn’t fit into the kingdom of God. (2)
Scratch the surface. Get to the inner stuff. Discover the essence not the look. Be like Columbus – leave home, set sail into the unknown in search of something – only to discover you’ve discovered something else. Life. And Jesus said, “I have come that you might have life and that you have it to the full.” [Cf. John 10:10a]
SHAKESPEARE
It’s the stuff Shakespeare is getting at – over and over again – in his plays.
Read the “To be or not to be” speech in Hamlet. “That is the question.” How to deal with life’s slings and arrows – "a sea of troubles" – “the heartache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to.” Is the purpose of life to sleep – to dream – to die – "to shuffle of this mortal coil" – or is it, instead to go deeper – “to face enterprises of great pith and moment”? [3]
All these things are "the rub" – as Shakespeare puts it – the stuff beneath the look, the clothes, the glitter, the possessions, the skin, till we discover the stuff on the kingdom.
The call of Jesus is to let go of everything – to squeeze through the eye of the needle – and when we get onto that other side – we’ll find ourselves laughing a lot more. We have a lot more of the wisdom today’s first reading is talking about. [Wisdom 7: 7-11] We’ll know a lot more – because the sword of the word – has opened us up so we can see the significant cuts we can make in our life. The letting go, the emptying, then the filling of the lack is what life is all about - so that we’ll find ourselves with Jesus in the kingdom he came to start.
CONCLUSION
When God gives you the itch, scratch.
Then, hopefully, you’ll see and experience Jesus looking you right in the eye and he’ll say, “Do you know what you’re lacking?”
And we’ll mutter a few things. Then he’ll really tell us.
Then we have the choice to make the cut or cut and run – like the guy in today’s gospel who walked away sad. Hopefully, we’ll stay like those who stayed and we'll too discover this new world – on the other side of the eye of the needle called "The Kingdom of God" – Life with Jesus - which goes on forever and ever. Amen!
[1] Gregory F. A. Pierce,
Spirituality At Work, Loyola Press, Chicago, Illinois, 2001
[2]
Matthew 23;
Mark 12: 38-40;
Luke 11: 37 to 12:3;
Romans 2: 29
[3] Shakespeare,
Hamlet, Act 3, 1, 56
OUT FOR AN AFTERNOON WALK
