January 17, 2021
Hope Lutheran Church
Rev. Mary Erickson
Mark 9:30-37
The Bottom of the Totem Pole
Friends, may grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and Christ Jesus our Lord.
There’s a phrase: the bottom of the totem pole. Totem poles are wooden monuments made by Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest. They’re carved from the trunks of very large trees. The poles depict the heads and bodies of various creatures, from humans to birds, reptiles and even marine life.
To call someone the bottom of the totem pole, or low man on the totem pole, means that they have the least amount of status and importance. Everyone is above them.
However, in reality, to the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest, the lowest figure on a totem pole is actually the most important and significant. Since that figure is at eye level, it’s the most prominently seen. The master carver is assigned to create it. The bottom of the pole is the thickest and most substantial part of the pole. It bears the weight of everything above. For these reasons, totem poles typically are interpreted from the bottom to the top.
So the familiar idiom actually has the whole situation flipped upside down. The bottom figure isn’t the least important; it carries the most significance.
It’s a common human instinct to rank people in value. Our society consists of a complex caste system with tiers of importance. We can be ranked according to race or gender, body type and physical appearance, athletic ability or lack thereof, popularity, intelligence, wealth or poverty, what neighborhood you live in, what kind of accent you have. The list is endless.
Our notions of caste can lead to dangerous consequences. If an African American man is driving a fully loaded Cadillac Escalade, some people might take issue. That person is driving a vehicle above his status. Something is wrong.
We can categorize and rank people in very complex combinations. You may be quite high in one category while low in another. This can make it difficult to discern who might “pull rank” over another person. Let’s say you have a Caucasian woman and an African American man. According to our North American caste system, the race of the woman gives her higher status than the darker skinned man. But according to gender status, the man carries greater power and influence than the woman. Who is greater? Who is “lower on the totem pole?”
Jesus’ disciples were involved in just such a ranking contest while they were travelling along the road. The disciples were arguing over which of them was the greatest. I wonder what categories they used? Performed the most miracles? Best grasp of the scriptures? Having the ear of Jesus?
When they arrive at their destination, Jesus innocently asks them, “Hey, what were you guys arguing about along the way?” You get the feeling that Jesus knew full well about their topic of conversation! He heard enough of the conversation to know what was going on. But he plays dumb. “Hey, what were you guys talking about?”
The disciples realized enough that their jockeying for importance wasn’t going to set well with Jesus. They’d heard him speak often enough about the Kingdom of God to have an inkling that their discussion was at odds with Kingdom values. Their lips are zipped shut!
The irony of their discussion is that Jesus was just telling them about his destiny. Here he is, the Messiah, in the flesh. If anyone were king of the hill, top of the heap, it would be him! But he declares that he’ll be despised and scorned. Jesus will be rejected, tortured and killed.
Jesus will go low. He’ll descend as low as you can go, all the way to Hell. Jesus must go low. He’ll make himself the low man on the totem pole. To human eyes, that makes him the most despised. But the eyes of faith see him for who he really is: he’s the foundation of salvation. By going low, he supports all things upon him. All things rest upon his love and grace.
So Jesus tells his disciples how greatness is measured in the Kingdom of God. “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.”
Then he emphasizes his point with a child. He gathers a small child, wrapping his arms around it. In the culture of first century Palestine, children were held with the least regard. Children were without power and influence. They couldn’t produce wealth. They were dependent on others to provide for them. Children were at the very bottom of cultural significance.
But Jesus lifts up and cherishes this child. He tells his disciples, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.”
The kingdom of God operates with a radically different value system than our world. It runs counter to the priorities of human culture. Jesus lifts up the lowly as the most important souls. The “low man on the totem pole,” according to society, is the most highly regarded in the Kingdom of God.
This was a value James took to heart. In his letter, James cautions us to regard how we treat people who come into our fellowship. If we pander to finely dressed, wealthy people who visit, but disregard poor people in ragged clothes, we have disobeyed kingdom logic. We all need to consider how we deem the little ones in our midst: those who are physically vulnerable, the frail and infirm, the elderly, the very young, the sidelined, the overlooked. They stand as Jesus in our midst. How ever we welcome them into our midst is how we are welcoming Jesus.
One thing is for sure: we are all equal at the foot of the cross. As we place ourselves there, we see that we are all in need of a savior.
In just a little bit, we’ll celebrate a baptism. As Lutherans, this gift of grace has come to most of us when we were but infants or little children. In that instant, we were the little one who was taken into the arms of our Savior. We were welcomed into the kingdom of God. That gift of grace came to us when we were just a little, powerless being. We were claimed when we had nothing to offer. Such is the grace of God.
