Okay, boys & girls, our new word for today is MAKROTHUMIA, a term I remember only dimly from long ago. Wm. Barclay translates it “patience with people”; my own poor Greek sees it as “the greatest possibility”. “It is the quality of mind and heart which enables us to cope with people in such a way that their unpleasantness and malice and cruelty will never drive us to bitterness, that their unwillingness to learn will never drive us to despair, that their folly will never drive us to irritation, and that their unloveliness will never alter our love. Makrothumia is the spirit which never loses patience with, belief in and hope for others.” (The New Daily Study Bible, Colossians, page 127) Boy, do I need to practice seeing the greatest possibility!!
Readings for Sunday begin with a remembrance of Amos (7:7-17), who traveled from his farm in the South Kingdom (Judah) to confront the Northern Establishment (Israel) with YHWH’s displeasure at rampant injustice. His vision was of God with a plumb line, seeing whether the foundations were straight. Builders will know that if the foundation is out of plumb, subsequent stories will become more ‘n’ more crooked. A plumb line points directly to the center of the earth. Amos called the northern king & prophet to discover this center, to aim for the greatest possibility. And we should listen, too.
We’re never told exactly what the great Colossian heresy is, which Paul or his team addressed (1:1-14). But it seems to have had something to do with Needing More than Jesus: perhaps special rituals & liturgies, proper attire and food laws. Probably bans playing cards, drinking & dancing… The passage asserts that hope in Jesus leads to a transformed and holy life: “Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it…” May we Colossians reflect the beloved community by acknowledging the greatest possibility in all.
The Gospel is Luke’s grand telling of the Good Samaritan parable, 10:25ff. Having a dialogue with an honest seeker about “Just who IS my neighbor?”, Jesus lifts up the unexpected hyperbole of a Samaritan (UGGH!) who becomes the instrument of mercy for the wounded. Neither of these actors were judged better or worse: we know nothing about their worthiness or background. Yet the merciful neighbor was the Samaritan, who saw the greatest possibility in the beaten one. And, of course, Jesus pointed out the greatest possibility in that awful Samaritan…
O yeah, from the depth of my cynicism I need to pray for makrothumia. Overwhelmed by headlines and conversations with dweebs who Just Don’t Get It…how can I learn to see the greatest possibility?? Bishop Woodie White, in a recent issue of THE INTERPRETER, quoted William Sloan Coffin: “Hope is a state of mind independent of the state of the world. So, if your heart’s full of hope, you can be persistent when you can’t be optimistic. You can keep the faith despite the evidence, knowing that only in so doing has the evidence any chance of changing. So while I am not optimistic, I am always hopeful.” Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.
God Bless Us, Every One Horace Brown King
My thoughts about scripture readings for the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook, or at horacebrownking.com
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