Thoughts going in, Sunday July 1st

Mark 5:21 When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. 22 Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. 23 He pleaded earnestly with him, "My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live." 24 So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. 30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?" 31 "You see the people crowding against you," his disciples answered, "and yet you can ask, 'Who touched me?' " 32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering." 35 While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. "Your daughter is dead," they said. "Why bother the teacher anymore?" 36 Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, "Don't be afraid; just believe." 37 He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. 38 When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. 39 He went in and said to them, "Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep." 40 But they laughed at him. After he put them all out, he took the child's father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. 41 He took her by the hand and said to her, ""Talitha koum!"" (which means "Little girl, I say to you, get up!"). 42 Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. 43 He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.

            This passage represents another one of those well-known "Markan Sandwiches," a story-within-a-story. It's the sort of thing that if it only happened once in a Gospel.... no big deal. But in Mark's Gospel--the shortest of all of the Gospels--at least one commentator counts NINE such "sandwiches." That's well beyond coincidence, and whereas older scholarship seemed to think of Mark the evangelist as somewhat disorganized or easily distracted, newer scholarship has come to see this as a distinctive literary device--not invented by Mark, but used brilliantly by him.

            So, all of that aside, what can we learn from this reading? Several things, no doubt. For instance, consider Jesus the exemplar minister. On his way to minister to Jairus, he's presented with an opportunity to minister to someone else in need. When this happens to us, it's usually disconcerting; it's usually troubling. We've already had to rearrange our schedule.... dinner is already going to be late because we've decided to do a charitable deed.... an act of Christian kindness for someone. What would happen if on the way to that act of Christian service, a totally unplanned, spur of the moment scenario of need should confront us? Would we seek to side-step it? "NOT NOW, NOT NOW, I'm on my way to do a charitable deed somewhere else," might be our first response. "Here's my card, call me tomorrow," .... or maybe we'd give the person someone else's phone number...or worse yet, ignore them altogether. Jesus, however, demonstrates an exemplar approach. He neither sidesteps the interruption nor does he completely forget about his initial commitment to help. In that sense, any of us who would seek to emulate the Lord in acts of Christian service can learn from the Master. But what else is going on?

            Surely one of the functions of Mark's Sandwich of these two stories is to introduce an initial contrast....yet for the sole purpose of ultimately blowing away all contrasts. Here's what I mean:  Take the man Jairus. First, he is of course A MAN... which gives him an automatic higher standing within the culture of the day. Not only is he a man, but he's the leader of the local synagogue. This is a position of authority and prominence... and like all positions of authority and prominence in this culture, it indicates that the man himself is wealthy. True, Mark does not present Jairus as a man who is trying to play off his wealth and position. He comes to Jesus and falls on his knees (v22). Yet, a reader of the era would naturally suppose that OF COURSE a holy man like Jesus would go and help THIS person.

            Next, take the unnamed woman. First, she's a woman...which in this culture automatically means that her standing is FAR LESS than ANY man's, let alone a man like Jairus. And, as mentioned, she's not even named...which gives her even less standing in the narrative. Add to that the fact that she's destitute. Evidently she had had means at one time, but the story says she's exhausted all of her means in an attempt to find a cure for her condition (v26). Finally, consider her particular malady, a continuous menstrual flow that makes her ritually unclean; it limits both her movement and acceptance within her culture. Jairus is a rich, healthy, man; she is a poor, unhealthy/unclean woman. The term "polar opposites" comes to mind....and here's where St. Mark strikes! By hooking these two people/stories together, Mark is teaching us some important truths about the universal need for Christ, and God's universal love and outreach to all. There are IMMENSE DIFFERENCES between these two people... yet Mark is, in essence saying, ....there's no difference between these two people. Concepts such as this may seem like no-brainers to us in our egalitarian "class-less" culture, but we need to remember that the idea that "all men [sic] are created equal" is an extremely recent blip on the radar screen of history. In Mark's day the idea that there is NO DIFFERENCE between Jairus and the unnamed woman would've been radical.

            Of course, that's part of the "good-news-ness" of Mark's gospel. The Christ has come. And he hasn't just come for rich and powerful men; he's come for all! The old spiritual "The Ground Is Level At The Foot Of The Cross" comes to mind.

Cheers,

TM

Thoughts going in, Sunday June 24th

35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side." 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A great squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care that we're perishing?" 39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Peace! Be still!" Then the wind died down and there was a great calm. 40 He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" 41 They were greatly terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"

            Every week I reserve the right to choose what I feel is the most helpful of the various English translations available for our Sunday readings--and trust me, the list of options continues to grow with each passing year. For the most part I've discovered that I like the clarity of the "TNIV" (Today's New International Version). That said, I'll quickly add that frequently NO translation fully hits the nail on the head every week. This week I've gone with the TNIV, but I've taken the liberty of 'fixing' a few things.

            For instance, in the span of 7 very short verses, the original Greek uses the word "mega" 3 times. Mega in Greek means the same thing it does in English. It means **GREAT, and/or great-big... and we're supposed to sit up and take notice at the word. I was, therefore, quite disappointed that almost every English translation glossed over one or more of the "megas" of the text. Why? I assume they were there... originally... to grab attention. So let's LET THEM GRAB our attention. It was a MEGA SQUALL (vs 37). And yet as great/mega as that squall was, after the word spoken by Jesus there was a MEGA CALM (vs 39). Then...ironically, when it's all over the disciples are gripped with a MEGA FEAR in the presence of Jesus (vs 41).

            Why fear? Shouldn't they be thrilled that they're not drowning? Mark here captures the truth that encountering a presence that is GREATER than the worst storms of life can indeed be disconcerting. Fear is a very natural reaction. In order to track with this, all we have to do is transfer it to our setting. What Midwesterner isn't absolutely TERRIFIED at the thought of a tornado--especially one of those category F5 monsters? Viewing the footage of such a storm in the comfort of our own living rooms is enough to send chills up our spine. But then.... imagine encountering a power MORE POWERFUL THAN THAT.... a power that, with a word, could cause the tornado to evaporate. Whatever fear we may have had of the ominous threat would be quickly transferred to the power greater than that threat. Mark captures a very normal/natural reaction on the part of the disciples. Our God is indeed an "awesome God" as the praise tune says, but it's a good reminder for us that ENCOUNTERS with the awesomeness of God drive us to our knees in respect....and, yes, fear.

            The big picture that St. Mark would have us see, however, is that the story doesn't end there. The story doesn't end with the disciples cowering in the presence of the awesome/fearful power of God on the lips of Jesus. This one they call "Teacher," this one who is present with them and who is greater than any storm that life can dish out, will go on to do something even MORE MEGA....something of ultimate greatness; he will sacrifice himself for all humanity,...and in so doing, he will once and for all calm the stormy rift between The Creator and all of His Creation.

Cheers,

TM

Some scheduling stuff...

Well, it's that 'vacation' time of year and that goes for me too. That being the case, there will be some hiccups along the way in terms of postings of "what's going on here" and also podcasts of my sermon. I've just podcasted the sermon from June 10th and there will be no sermon podcast for June 17th (I was away and had a guest pastor in my absence). This will happen again July 8th, the next time I'm out of town.
Have a happy and safe Summer!!


TM

Thoughts going in, Sunday June 10th

Mark 3:20 Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. 21 When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind." 22 And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, "He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons." 23 So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: "How can Satan drive out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. 27 In fact, no one can enter a strong man's house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man's house. 28 Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven all their sins and all the blasphemies they utter. 29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, but is guilty of an eternal sin." 30 He said this because they were saying, "He has an evil spirit." 31 Then Jesus' mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, "Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you." 33 "Who are my mother and my brothers?" he asked. 34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother."

            "He's off his meds...." you can almost hear that oft-used phrase of our time being used by Jesus' well-intentioned family members in vs 21. There are a zillion questions just in that one little verse. For instance, considering that this passage forms the typical "Markan sandwich" [a literary device detected over and over again within the Gospel of Mark whereby the writer introduces item A, gets diverted for a bit with item B, and then returns to item A] it is easy to **assume that the named family members (mother/brothers) who appear in vs 32 are the same family members mentioned in vs 21. OR, maybe not. Perhaps a group of uncles and cousins arrive first in vs 21, only to be followed by later-arriving mother and brothers in vs 32. The second unanswered question about vs 21 is whether or not they really mean it. It's one thing for your family to think that you're off your rocker. It's an entirely different matter when your family thinks you've gone too far; you've angered some *very powerful people; and you're about a millimeter away from the point of no return. At such times, out of fear, love, and desperation....those who care for us most are likely to say anything--anything, like... "he's off his meds"...."he doesn't know what he's saying/doing"...."he's out of his mind"....all with the hoped-for result that they can say come along back home Jesus, it's time for a nice cup of hot cocoa and your favorite tv show. Leave the nice men from Jerusalem alone.

            Since Mark doesn't really say much more on the matter it's difficult to know the precise motivations (and identities) of the family in vs 21. My preferred understanding, though, is that they were well intentioned and had Jesus' best interest (to say nothing of the family reputation) at heart.

            Regardless, that introduces the wider point.... the point that in this Markan sandwich **TWO** alternative narratives are presented to the reader as to how the previous actions of Jesus may be understood (the whole of chapter 2, plus previous verses of chapter 3; healings, exorcisms, teaching, and especially reinterpreting the sanctity of the Sabbath). It *could be that this Jesus guy is just a nut-job... someone who's delusional about his own sense of importance and who's managed to take in an unsuspecting country bumpkin public. *OR it could be that he's not delusional, but is, rather, skilled in the dark arts and has summoned magic (forbidden) for the purposes of making a name for himself (in order to fleece an unsuspecting bumpkin public).

            Either way, it's fair to say that Jesus' motivations are being misundertsood.... and I find that misunderstanding to be SYMPTOMATIC of just how fallen we/this world really is. When you're so delusional that you think you can jump off a skyscraper and fly, THAT'S PRETTY DELUSIONAL. When you're so sick that you don't realize you're sick, THAT'S PRETTY SICK. One of the recurring themes of ALL of the Gospels is that we here have fallen SO FAR away from God... that we didn't recognize him or his work when he took on flesh and got close to us. He came to his own, but his own received him not, as it says in John's Gospel. Probably the greatest irony of all is that in the Gospels the people who are the most religious are also the most 'blind' to God's presence among them in Jesus.

            This passage is full of application and challenge for us even 2,000 years later. Does our religion hinder or facilitate our ability to recognize Christ's presence and activity in the world? To what degree do we make 'excuses' for Jesus? [are we 'apologetic' and/or timid about our call to stand with the neglected/marginalized/despised of our day?]. Would it be more comfortable for us if we could just gently guide Jesus back home to a nice cup of hot cocoa and some Giligan's Island re-runs so that he'd be quiet and stop bugging us? After all, from what he says, those who are truly closest to him aren't those who have a religious pedigree OR those who can claim a blood relation, but rather, those who actually reach out and **DO the sort of things he's doing. (vs 35 Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother).

Cheers,

TM