Lessons from Downton Abbey, Week 5

March 17, 2013

Lessons from Downton Abbey, Week 5

Matthew, the Reluctant Heir

Monotations: Inheritance

John 6:10-15

Jesus said, ‘Make the people sit down.’ Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they* sat down, about five thousand in all. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, ‘Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.’ So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, ‘This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.’ When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

The story of Downton Abbey begins with the tapping of a telegraph relaying the news of the sinking of the Titanic. We soon find out that the heir to the Earl of Grantham was aboard and did not survive the disaster. Because of British law at that time, none of Grantham’s daughters can inherit the title or the estate so they begin a search for the next nearest male relative. They find Matthew Crawley, a third cousin once removed. Matthew is a commoner who works for a living. To our way of seeing, as a lawyer and the son of a doctor, Matthew is already a part of high society but to the nobility he is middle class (a decidedly pejorative designation). Matthew has neither sought nor desired his elevation. When he and his mother arrive at Downton, he is determined to be unchanged by the traditions, values, and ways of the nobility.

Jesus, as best as we can read history, grew up among the poorest of the poor. The peasant class subsisted by raising crops on the land their family owned, hopefully making enough to pay their taxes and feed their household. The word we usually translate as “carpenter” in describing both Jesus and Joseph is “tekton” and it indicates a worker who has lost their land and must hire themselves out to others to earn a living. This may give us a clue as to Jesus’ love and commitment to the poor and destitute. He personally felt the weight of the oppressive systems that kept his family and others he knew in poverty. He could see the opulence that both Caesar and King Herod lived, and knew that lifestyle was supported on the backs of the poor.

However you want to read the miracle of the multiplied loaves (did bread magically appear, or did selfish people magically become generous with strangers?), the implication of story is that in the Kin-dom that Jesus teaches and demonstrates there will be more than enough food for all the people. It is the embodiment of a level field: no one has to compete to survive, no one has a place above any other.

But instead of catching the vision of a whole new system of living together, the well-fed people on the hillside begin to think, “this Jesus would make a better king than the one we have now!” Jesus has no desire to participate in a system that pits the poor against each other so that the rich can live in luxury. So when he sense that the crowd want to make him king, he flees. Still, in one form or another it seems that Christians have ben trying to make him king ever since.

As fascinating as the world of Downton Abbey is for us, the interplay between the titled class and the servants, the struggle to maintain roles in the midst of a changing society, we can ask ourselves where we are in this discussion about titles, kings, and inheritance.

Matthew was reluctant about his inheritance. It challenged his thinking about himself, his role, and his society. We may be reluctant heirs for much of our religious heritage. We have had some vigorous conversations about redefining some of our Christian traditions, practices and definitions. But what have we received from our forebears that are indeed worth carrying forward? What is valuable and helpful in our inheritance?

The original meaning of the word “tradition” is not to hold on or to keep but instead to hand on, to give away. Someone (really, many someones) handed their tradition on to us. Like Matthew, we may in fact be reluctant heirs. But Matthew accepted his role and it changed him even as he brought change to the system that endowed him. The estate that was once simply the opulent home of a distant relative grew to be something he loved and wants to insure its health and continuance. His style and values change the estate, and not without conflict but he pursues the gifts he brings to the estate because he believes it will make it healthier and longer lived.

Jesus inherited his understanding of God and world from his forebears. He was unwilling to leave the world unchanged, to mutely accept a system of oppression and isolation. He changed his inheritance and ours as he envisioned and enacted a different kind of world, one where love of the other was as importance as love of the self.

As reluctant heirs, where are we uncomfortable with our inheritance? What changes to the tradition will our values and understanding bring? And what do we see as valuable enough to hand on to somebody else?