Curses and Prayer

On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see whether perhaps he would find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. He said to it, ‘May no one ever eat fruit from you again.’ And his disciples heard it. Then they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold doves; and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. He was teaching and saying, ‘Is it not written, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations”? But you have made it a den of robbers.’ And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching. And when evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city. In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. Then Peter remembered and said to him, ‘Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.’ Jesus answered them, ‘Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, “Be taken up and thrown into the sea”, and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. ‘Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.’ Mark 11:12-26

I really love this passage from Mark as it captures Jesus at his most cranky. There is nothing more human than being cranky. We might, as Jesus was, be hungry, when we act out in our crankiness. Or we might be horrified and angry by the holy being treated as commerce. We might just be cranky because we are feeling lonely and ignored. Jesus lived in a human body and was just like us. He reminds us today that there is power in our prayers and in our curses. We are never alone in our humanity. The Creator is with us, having lived as we do, and has compassion for our needs and responds to our prayers.

Loving Creator, you know us intimately

you live with us in our smallest moments

you inhabit our dreams and our deepest hopes

and you promise to listen to our heartfelt prayers.

We often find ourselves angered and cranky

we flail around in our hurt and confusion

you understand the feelings and need we have

and you hear us in our prayers and our cursng.

Help us t trust that there is more than our sorrow

that you are listening and loving mountains

you will turn the tables of greed and selfishness

and help us bring blessings to a hurting world. Amen.