By Pastor Dan Wysong, United Church of Christ
It was when Jesus was working on behalf of the poor, the lame, and the sick that those in power accused Jesus of being in league with Satan. And to those in power, this made sense.
In the prevalent theology of the time, prosperity and health were God’s blessings and therefore proof of one’s own righteousness. And conversely, if you were poor or ill it was clearly because you were cursed by God because of your sinfulness. This theological perspective had (and has, for those who continue to adhere to it) the convenient side-effect of completely absolving those with health, wealth, power, or privilege from using their gifts on behalf of those with less: It was their own fault after all. If only they’d sin less and work harder, they too, would be blessed.
Jesus portrayed a very different picture of God. He pointed toward a God who was one with the poor and the downtrodden. So when Jesus begins making the lives of these clear sinners and lowlifes better, it isn’t so strange that those in power felt threatened. Jesus was undermining the theological underpinnings of their very identity. They clearly saw him as being in league with evil.
It is in this context that Jesus states the powerful truth: “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.” (Mark 3:24-25, NIV)
Jesus isn’t just stating that he can’t be using the power of evil to thwart evil. He’s stating the profound truth that those in power had forgotten they were one with those who were poor and suffering. No nation could long survive if those with power and wealth saw those without it as the enemy.
This passage has echoed powerfully across American History: quoted by Abraham Lincoln upon his election to the United States Senate in 1858 while the nation was on the brink of the Civil War. Lincoln was arguing that the United States couldn’t stay united if some states continued to practice slavery and some didn’t.
Lincoln, too, was standing up for the poor and oppressed — and perhaps on some level realizing this truth: that any house with slaves is a house divided. Any house where some people have enough to eat and some don’t is a house divided. Any house where some people see themselves as inherently good and others as inherently bad is a house divided.
It’s a lesson I believe we need regular reminding of: we are one. If we as families, communities, states, nations, and even as a global community forget this truth, we are doomed to self-destruction. It is precisely when we work together – each person offering the gifts and abilities they have to give, and each person receiving the help and resources they need, and no person or group seen as the enemy — that we are strongest and best as families, towns, nations, and as a world.
It is this hard and often sacrificial work of compromise, building trust, and working for the common good that lay a strong foundation for a better world. May we have the faith to believe that a better world is possible. May we have the courage to commit our time and energy to this work. And may we have the grace to believe in the goodness and worthiness of our fellow human beings as we go.
