Song:
Follow Follow I would follow Jesus ( BY The Celebration Choir ) (gospel hymn) - YouTube
Reading:
Mark’s gospel, chapter 2: verse 23 to chapter 3; verse 6.
Some of you will remember “That’s life”, a comedy/current affairs/consumer rights programme, broadcast on BBC for 21 years from 1973 to 1994. Presented by Esther Rantzen, one regular feature of the show was the “Jobsworth of the week” award. Awarded for the mindless following of some trivial rule with no regards for common sense or justice.
One recipient of the award was the caterer who charged the customer more for toast without butter and coffee than the advertised price for buttered toast and coffee. The reasoning was that the “buttered toast and coffee” was a special offer, at a reduced rate. This meant that the customer had to pay the full price for the individual items for unbuttered toast and coffee!
The word “Jobsworth” derives from common words of some minor official who would say “It’s more than my job’s worth not to enforce this rule.”
In our modern world there are many people who will follow rules blindly; there are those who will use their position, power or authority to build their own little empire; there are those who will say something like, “well, it never did me any harm”; those will say something like “we’ve always done it this way.”.
Jesus was no stranger to the “Jobsworth” mentality, to the idea that the following of rules was the be all and end all.
And Can It Be - Wellington City Salvation Army - YouTube
Isaac Asimov was also no stranger to the idea of rigid enforcement of rules.
In “The Caves of Steel” (Panther science fiction) the hero is a detective called Elijah Baley. (If you like detective stories and/or science fiction, I can recommend the book) Rather against his will, Elijah is partnered with a robot from another world called Daneel Olivaw. He is advised that the robot has been equipped with “a drive for justice”. Elijah finds this hard to believe, and asks Daneel to define the term “justice”. He receives the response “Justice, Elijah, is that which exists when all the laws are enforced.”
A robot expert then talks about the fact that this is a good definition for a robot, but that a human can “recognise that, on the basis of an abstract moral code, some laws may be bad ones, and their enforcement unjust”. He than asks Daneel what he thinks about that. “An unjust law,” says Daneel “is a contradiction in terms”.
I assume that this is a reflection of some aspect of Asimov’s life, but whether it was from his experiences of Judaism, the military, science or society, I have no idea.
Later, Elijah tells Daneel the story of the woman caught in adultery (John’s gospel, chapter 8 verses 1 to 11) but Daneel does not understand the idea, he thinks that if the woman was guilty, and the punishment laid down, then it should go ahead.
However, the story ends with a character who had committed a crime being told by Daneel “Go, and sin no more!”
The “Jobsworth” robot, the blind follower of rules, had been changed.
Jesus was born into a society where the following of the rules was seen as the way to please God. The Jews believed that the better they followed them, the better God would be pleased.
Jesus taught that justice was not necessarily served by the following of rules. This is why he likened himself and his message to the “new wine”, which could not be kept in “old wineskins”. His message was too revolutionary for the “jobsworth” thinking of his predecessors.
In the modern church, as well as the world, there are “Jobsworth” thinkers. Those people who try to follow rules and procedures, with no regard for what is reasonable or just. It is at times like this that the “new wine” needs to burst out of the “old wineskins”.
At the moment, our world is a very different place from what we have become used to. Actions and ways of life that we had come to regard as normal are now prohibited. We have found some new ways of worshipping and expressing our faith, perhaps some of them will continue to be of value once the current emergency has passed. As we try to re-establish our lives, let us pray that we will not follow a “Jobsworth” mentality in our decisions.
Prayer:
Eternal God, we believe that your purpose is unalterable love, but also that you are active, moving and making, changing things. Thankfully we affirm that your spirit can transform people for the better, and that wherever your sovereignty is realised your creation is being renewed.
Yet, we are afraid of change. We rely on known paths and settled ways. We should often like to use your changelessness as a pillow on which to rest in the middle of life’s turmoil. You comfort us when we feel like that: but you show us that you can do better for us. You can keep us awake to the present, and alive to possibilities of the future. It is true, we know, that wherever we get to, you will be there ahead of us: but this does not mean that we have to resign ourselves to being carried passively along by fate. We can still make decisions which change the course of events. Within the limits set by the decisions of others, we can choose what will happen.
Father, we do not often know for sure how to apply the gospel to the choices which confront us. Keep us tending in the right direction. Give us enough confidence to choose instead just accepting; and to back up our choice with active endeavour. But deliver us from blindness to the arguments and interests of others. We want to be able to change when change is required, and yet not to be mere reeds bent by every wind. This we do not seem to be able to achieve: and we ask that your love may achieve it for us and in us. Amen.;
I want to walk with Jesus Christ - YouTube
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