"You want what you don't have, and so you kill."

19 September, 2021, Trinity 16, Year of Mark

 

Jeremiah 11:18-20

Psalm 54

James 3:13 - 4:3, 7-8a

Mark 9:30-37

Reflection (Sermon)

From today’s Letter to James:

 

“You want something and you do not have it; so you commit murder.

And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts.”[1]

 

You might say that’s not something for here and now. That’s more for probation.

 

Well, let me first offer another paraphrase of the point:

“You want what you don’t have, and so you kill.”

No, that doesn’t sound any better does it?

You want what you don’t have and so you kill?”

 

Here’s the thing. There is a school of thought – a Christian school of thought - that says that

this is true of every single human being,

whether they’ve encountered the criminal justice system or not.[2]

This is the human condition.

We all want what we don’t have, and so we kill.

At least in our minds, we kill.

We all wish our enemies dead, at least in the moment of anger.

We want what we don’t have, and so we (as it were) “kill”.

 

This Christian school of thought sets this – let’s say it – bad news

in a broader context. It claims much more. Here’s the first thing:

 

We learn what we desire by seeing what other people desire.

We learn what we desire by seeing what other people desire.

 

What do you think?...

 

I suspect it sounds very wrong.

We tend to feel that our desires are our own, they are only ours.

Our desires are very personal to us, the most personal, intimate things.

Well, there is a certain amount of evidence that this claim is, nevertheless, right.

Think of children.

I suggest we’ve all seen this among children.

One child is playing with a blue ball.

Another child comes along, and screams: “I want a blue ball.”

An adult says: “Here is a red ball. It’s just the same, only red.”

Child: “I want a BLUE ball.”

The child, you see, has learned what to desire,

by seeing what the other child desires.

 

What do you think?...

 

We learn what to desire by seeing what other people desire.

There are other claims that build on this.

One follows on pretty naturally.

It is that we are usually rivals of each other.

We are in opposition.

We are competing.

We are, in a sense at least, enemies of each other.

It is easy to see why:

our life together commits us to desiring the same things.

So conflicts will arise, as we compete for the same things.

This is certain.

Probably no longer a blue ball,

but the same principle,

throughout our lives.

 

Any thoughts?

 

We learn what to desire by seeing what other people desire.

So we are all always rivals of each other, and conflicts are certain.

…Over time, these conflicts

(whether rows or actual violence)

 become unbearable.

Then we do something:

we look for a scapegoat.

We seek to blame somebody else.

We kid ourselves that we’d get on with our rivals,

if only we could get rid of this other person.

They are the baddy.

There may be violence (a real killing).

Or we may just make life unliveable for the baddy.

 

Again, what do you think?

 

This school of thought

– and I’ve said it’s a Christian school of thought –

adds one more thing.

It says that

in Jesus,

and in particular

with the Cross,

this cycle can come to an end.

 

We learn what to desire by seeing what other people desire.

So we are all always rivals of each other, and conflicts are certain.

We look for someone else to blame, a scapegoat, and we push them out.

But…

 

if we look to Jesus on the Cross,

we see someone

·        who understands us,

·        who knows us, all the way down,

·        who knows all the games we play (the lies we tell ourselves),

·        who knows that we look for a scapegoat,

·        who says: for you, I will be that scapegoat

·        (who has long said that

his love for us is something that will trouble us,

and so who knows he was bound to be

pushed out of polite society, any way)

·        who says: for you, I will be that scapegoat

·        but who adds: you will know I am innocent

·        who adds: you will know that you killed me off for nothing.

So look at me on the cross properly,

and you won’t be able to play the game

– the destructive game – any more.

The Cross will give you life, better life, fullness of life.

 

I will ask, one last time: any thoughts?

 

We look to Jesus on the Cross,

we see someone

who understands us,

who knows all the games we play,

who knows that we look for a scapegoat,

who says out of deepest love:

“I will be that scapegoat

but… you know I am innocent.

So look at me on the cross properly,

and you won’t be able to play the game

– the destructive game – any more.

The Cross will give you life, better life, fullness of life.”

Amen. 

 

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[1] [4.2a: Epithumeite kai ouk echete, phoneuete. Kai zeloutekai ou dunasthe epituchein, machesthe kai polemeite.]

[2] This school of thought is especially associated with René Girard, (1923-2015).