Line Dancer Face | February 21, 2017

February 21, 2017

There’s a certain complacency that happens when we get too comfy, too familiar, or too bored. This complacency can lead to an arrogance like a “been there, done that” kind of sentiment. I was jogging on the treadmill at the gym one day (not recently or anything, but definitely within the last 5 years, OK, don’t judge!!) and I was able to watch the “dance studio” part of the gym through floor to ceiling glass windows! YES! There was some sort of step class going on and I could totally tell who had been there before and who had not. I could tell this by the look on their faces. There was this one guy, he was middle-aged and confident, and his almost matching work out clothes gave him away as a “regular” gym dude, you know what I mean? Anyway, his body was totally into the moves of the step class – it screamed, “I’ve been here before, people!” His body did the routine with a certain amount of knowledgeable gusto. Then I looked at his face and I became so confused because it looked so totally bored that I almost had to laugh. Then I just stared for a few because, let’s face it, I could. He put himself into the big glass looking box for a reason right? What other reason could there be than to invite people on the outside of the glass looking box to stare at you. The more I stared the more I felt like I recognized the look on this man’s face – my brain started filing through its memory cards to identify this familiar look and it finally stopped at LINE DANCER FACE! Yes, that’s it – that’s the face – you know the one at “In Cahoots” on ALL the people that go there a few times a week and know ALL the dances by heart, or the look on the faces of the people at a wedding during the Electric Slide (hell the look on MY face during the Electric Slide!). This look says: “I am like so bored right now because, of course, I learned this dance in like 1991, but I had to come out here and do this dance to show you all how well I know it – but, yawn, I am so bored right now.” That face!

Today’s gospel has this kind of undertone. I know I’m crazy, but stick with me here. Jesus wanted some alone time with the boys because he needed to teach them some Master’s level theology. This kind of lesson would be reserved for his advanced students only because it would talk about his passion and death and the mainstream crowd would not know what to do with this kind of teaching yet. He had been alluding to it on a few separate occasions and it still was not computing in their brains. They had their “line dancer faces” on: “Yeah, yeah, yeah, we’ve already heard this, Jesus”, brushing it off because they knew the routine already. Once you know the routine, the next phase of arrogance turns into a pissing contest. Who knows the routine the best? Who is the teacher’s favorite? Who is the closest, greatest, etc.? In line dancing world, I’ve observed that the dancers with the most bored faces (maybe even throwing in a yawn or two) are the ones that know the routine the best. This can be the same in most of our churches as well. The person that can go through the motions with the most ease has obviously put in the most amount of time, and is among the greatest because they know the routine so well that their face is one big complacent canvas of seriousness.

Jesus knows exactly how to get the boys to pay attention and just a little riled up by comparing them to women and children! Bam! His reference to, "If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all”, is a direct description of the female’s role in the Middle East and in the next sentence, who is it that would receive children, yes, that would also be women! I love that Jesus was unafraid to include everyone in his message and I can just imagine a sweet subtle smile of appreciation on the faces of their wives, or the Mary’s, and the other female disciples within earshot. Jesus needed to throw these good ole boys out of their complacency and to break their comfy routines because they were still missing the point. Just when we get comfortable with the steps, God changes them so that we don’t ever develop “line dancer face” when it comes to love. Love is dynamic and is constantly growing, moving, and maturing. Let’s not get stuck in a routine just going through the motions. Let’s constantly choose to serve and welcome and learn. Complacency can lead to pride. Boredom can lead to false ideals. Routine can lead to thoughtlessness. Jesus wants us on our toes and for our faces to radiate wonder, joy, and the newness of life. Have a blessed day.

Reading 1 SIR 2:1-11

My son, when you come to serve the LORD,
stand in justice and fear,
prepare yourself for trials.
Be sincere of heart and steadfast,
incline your ear and receive the word of understanding,
undisturbed in time of adversity.
Wait on God, with patience, cling to him, forsake him not;
thus will you be wise in all your ways.
Accept whatever befalls you,
when sorrowful, be steadfast,
and in crushing misfortune be patient;
For in fire gold and silver are tested,
and worthy people in the crucible of humiliation.
Trust God and God will help you;
trust in him, and he will direct your way;
keep his fear and grow old therein.

You who fear the LORD, wait for his mercy,
turn not away lest you fall.
You who fear the LORD, trust him,
and your reward will not be lost.
You who fear the LORD, hope for good things,
for lasting joy and mercy.
You who fear the LORD, love him,
and your hearts will be enlightened.
Study the generations long past and understand;
has anyone hoped in the LORD and been disappointed?
Has anyone persevered in his commandments and been forsaken? 
has anyone called upon him and been rebuffed?
Compassionate and merciful is the LORD;
he forgives sins, he saves in time of trouble
and he is a protector to all who seek him in truth.

Responsorial Psalm PS 37:3-4, 18-19, 27-28, 39-40

R. (see 5) Commit your life to the Lord, and he will help you.
Trust in the LORD and do good,
that you may dwell in the land and be fed in security.
Take delight in the LORD,
and he will grant you your heart's requests.
R. Commit your life to the Lord, and he will help you.
The LORD watches over the lives of the wholehearted;
their inheritance lasts forever.
They are not put to shame in an evil time;
in days of famine they have plenty. 
R. Commit your life to the Lord, and he will help you.
Turn from evil and do good,
that you may abide forever;
For the LORD loves what is right,
and forsakes not his faithful ones. 
R. Commit your life to the Lord, and he will help you.
The salvation of the just is from the LORD;
he is their refuge in time of distress.
And the LORD helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him. 
R. Commit your life to the Lord, and he will help you.

Alleluia GAL 6:14

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
May I never boast except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel MK 9:30-37

Jesus and his disciples left from there and began a journey through Galilee,
but he did not wish anyone to know about it. 
He was teaching his disciples and telling them,
"The Son of Man is to be handed over to men 
and they will kill him,
and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise." 
But they did not understand the saying,
and they were afraid to question him.

They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house,
he began to ask them,
"What were you arguing about on the way?" 
But they remained silent.
For they had been discussing among themselves on the way
who was the greatest. 
Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them,
"If anyone wishes to be first, 
he shall be the last of all and the servant of all." 
Taking a child, he placed it in their midst, 
and putting his arms around it, he said to them,
"Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me;
and whoever receives me,
receives not me but the One who sent me."