Mable was about 98 when she boarded a bus going to the Grand Ole Opry©, something she had wanted to do for years. A fiercely independent woman, tiny, looking as fragile as a wren, she continued an active life up to her death at 104. She failed to mention her trip to the family. Family and friends did wonder if she’d been out of her mind to do such a thing. Mable’s response was a smile as she told folks about her trip. Gracious, generous, and blessed with a gentle but wicked sense of humor, she was a delight to know. It was a privilege to have been a fellow parishioner with her.
Each of us at one time or another has likely been the cause of other folks’ consternation, wondering if we were out of our minds. We’ve said something, done something, or suggested that others join us in some surprising endeavor which prompts their incredulity. We’ve stepped outside the box folks assume we inhabit; we’ve dared to color outside the lines; we’ve danced a jig to a different drummer – and that makes folks inordinately uncomfortable. People spend a lifetime categorizing people they know –those dearly loved and those despised — shoving them into cubby holes of presumption, thereby running the risk of taking them for granted as well. Folks are almost offended when the people they think they have pegged dare say or do something surprising.
This season’s Gospel readings and St. Paul’s letters have undertaken a common task: the readings encourage us to live a life that may cause others to think we are out of our minds. Life in the kingdom of heaven, Jesus tells us, doesn’t happen according to our assumptions. By comparing familiar things and activities we do have a handle on, Jesus sets about tearing down the walls of our cubby holes and erasing the lines which define AND confine the living of our days. Likewise, St. Paul sets forth images of life and relationship which are direct assaults on the self-serving patterns of living which the world foists on us. Sadly, we often buy into them, too. When our minds (and hearts) are primarily focused on ourselves, overlooking the needs of others and failing to nurture the loving relationships which sustain us, then perhaps we do need help getting out of our barricaded minds.
In the summer St. Paul began describing God’s great do-it-yourself project of remodeling and restoring this damaged creation, particularly us, God’s beloved, wayward children. The opening chapters of Romans describe in graphic detail the disastrous results of selfish, indulgent living, of minds rigidly boxed in by self-gratifying folly. Baptism tears down those walls, letting in the light and life of Christ. In such bright, glorious light, selfish and secretive behaviors which hurt and maim don’t have a chance. We are re-formed and intimately related to the rest of God’s people around the globe, fashioned into one Body guided by the mind and heart of Christ, and sustained by God’s Spirit. This Spirit keeps us looking, thinking, and desiring good beyond ourselves for the sake of others. The Spirit also blesses us with the capacity to understand and rejoice in such an awareness and connectedness, moving us outside ourselves, our fears, and our isolation. Paul’s great hymn to Christ which we hear this coming Sunday is addressed to us as encouragement: Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus… [Phil 2:5a]. It is God’s desire that we ARE out of our own minds and refashioned with the mind of Christ. Happily, through Word and sacrament, through the witness of fellow Christians, and through our own ministry day by day, God provides the gifts, strength, and insight to experience this happening.
Theologian Martin Marty once wrote about hearing something for the 100th time, and suddenly, new meaning and understanding happens. Teddy Randazzo and Bobby Weinstein’s 1964 hit Goin’ Out of My Head inadvertently gives words to what God accomplishes when we find ourselves out of our minds for the sake of Christ:
Well, I think I’m goin’ out of my head — Yes, I think I’m goin’ out of my head
Over you, Over you
I want you to want me, I need you so badly — I can’t think of anything but you…
Faithfully living “out of your mind” suggests that we have begun to “put on Christ.” To do so is to enter into Jesus’ way of living and loving: to be aware of others whoever they are, and loving them with the care which we love Jesus and God’s whole creation. The conclusion of the Philippians passage explains why this might be: … for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure [Phil 2:13].