BALANCE

THURSDAY AFTER SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT 2015

Today is Mark 6:3--44. Today we read of Jesus feeding the 5,000…and he is about to walk on water. All of this comes right after the disciples have returned from their first independent outing as disciples.

Miraculously feeding people is sometimes seen as Jesus having “something up his sleeve,” some sort of magic trick. People puzzle at it. Some even suggest that the crowd really had food, and Jesus just really encouraged them to share it. Some of you reading this blog may have even been subjected to sermons along these lines. Before I comment on what I think this text tells us Jesus is doing, let me ask a different question. What do you think the guy who wrote this Gospel, we call him Mark, what do you think he was trying to communicate? Now mind you, in a moment he is going to tell us Jesus walks on water, and he has already told us that Jesus heals people and casts out demons. When reading a book, we might first make sure we understand what the author is saying…before we choose to re-write it.

Mark is saying Jesus, as God come to earth, is carrying out an act of creation. In the beginning there was nothing—and from nothing God made everything. Whatever your theory of how the universe all came into being…the Bible says He is the source and force behind it all. Jesus demonstrates that he is able to create…Jesus is God.

Now having written all that, this bit of the feeding is not what caught my eye. What caught my eye were Jesus’ words, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest while.” He feeds the people because they find him, he feels for them, and he cares for them. Before all this he looks at his disciples, exuberant upon their return, and his first instinct is to take them to a desolate place and rest. I am really taken by that part—and even within it—the idea of a desolate place, there is probably no cell phone service.

Some of us need to go away, even if it is for a few hours, to a desolate place. Others of us might need some company and activity. It seems like the disciples have had plenty of activity and so now they need some balance…which side of this situation do you need more? Ask God for his help to provide it.

SOME DAYS

WEDNESDAY AFTER SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT 2015

Today is Mark 6:1-29. Bishop Wright focuses on verses 14-29 that describe Herod Antipas’ confrontation with John the Baptist (JB), which led to John’s beheading. In Bishop Wright’s treatment, he again, in a fairly short space gets us to appreciate much of what is going on.

I want to look at the sweep of the 29 verses. In verses 1-6 Jesus is rejected in his home town of Nazareth. The situation was so discouraging that the text says Jesus could not do many miracles. Next, verses 7-13, in a rather summary fashion, chronicle that Jesus sends out the twelve, two-by-two, and with little to no provisions. They come back reporting great success. Lastly we read of Herod, JB, and Jesus. Herod hears of this amazing Jesus and some speculate that it is JB raised from the dead. We then get a rather long section (by Markan standards) describing how JB died.

To me the first bit—Nazareth, and the last bit—Herod, is a little like the world I am living in. I feel like we are in Nazareth—Jesus and today’s church really are like prophets in their own villages—without honor and not really able to do much. I contrast that to what I watch on TV, it is another world. A world of Herod’s. Herod desperately wanted to by King of the Jews; he wanted to be seen as a godly king. So too ISIS. Yet the reality to all who observe is that there are sick pathetic tyrants, using force to perform terrible acts of terror…and all the while it being amazingly obvious to anyone who will look, even to people who reject the idea of God, that they are not men of God, quite the opposite.

The challenge for me is to wonder “how?” How does the church in Albany shake free of the complacency of Nazareth? It seems to me that Jesus did not stop being Jesus when he was in Nazareth and Jesus will not stop being Jesus with Herod looming in the shadow. In fact Jesus will always be seeking to spread the kingdom, and we see a glimpse of that as he sends out the 12. At the end of all of this we need to be the church—the people who proclaim the Good News in-season and out-of-season—regardless of its reception. I don’t mean to say we should not try new ways. I am simply saying we need to be like our Lord and Savior, steadfast and faithful…some days easier said than done…some days he was in Nazareth…some days he and his message was warmly received...some days he was at Calvary…so pray for his Body, the church.

WE KNOW BY DOING

TUESDAY AFTER SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT 2015

Today is Mark 5:21-43. In my blog THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR I note this part of the Gospel is often referred to as a Markan Sandwich. This description tries to point out that this section starts with one story, switches to another, and then the first story is finished up. The reason the word “sandwich” is used is that the two stories play off one another, enlivening the flavor of each. Bishop Wright focuses on the “meat of the story”—the woman with the flow of blood. He again does a wonderful job, and he points out something very interesting, and raises a question for us.

The text says that Jesus’ response to the woman is “daughter, your faith has made you well.” Bishop Wright points out that our Lord’s words say it is the woman’s faith that made her well. Most of us would say it was Jesus, God, that made her well. Why does our Lord say her faith made her well? Certainly God is sovereign over everything. We might even muse that God knew she was going to touch Jesus’ robe. But our Lord’s words bring up an important point, that God whenever it is appropriate acts through people. Yes he parted the Red Sea, but it was Moses who was to hold open his arms. Yes he turned water into wine, but it was the servants who first filled the jars. Yes he healed the woman with the flow of blood, but she first reached out her hand.

I tend to think the acts of people, our acts, are a part of God’s grace or God’s Holy Spirit. For example, it took tremendous courage for the woman to enter the crowd and touch Jesus. I would say that courage was a grace from God, or God’s very Holy Spirit leading her. Having said that, we see that our lives as people of faith is not a spectator sport. We do not stand on the sideline and watch…we are in the game. Even when we are alone in our homes, closing our eyes, and saying a prayer for someone far away…that faithful act is us participating.

When you stand on the sidelines as a spectator then your experience is limited. When you enter into the competition you will experience all sorts of things. The struggle, the challenge, the comradery, the commitment, and more. In fact it is through participating that you learn at the deepest level whatever it is you are doing, is all about. Following Jesus, having faith, is the same way. Standing on the sidelines makes you just as prone to criticism as it does to appreciation—but either way you are not really understanding what it is all about. Following Jesus is about living, living not only faith in God, but in very union with him. 

LEGION OF…HOPE

MONDAY AFTER SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT 2015

Today is Mark 5:1-20. It is the story of the man who is so deranged, so possessed, that chains cannot hold him. Jesus heals the man by sending his demons into a legion of pigs. Bishop Wright in his commentary does a great job showing how Mark’s Gospel is real literature, how this story really functions at three different levels. And it clearly does. The “thing” that I wonder about is how do people who might have a sort of abstract idea of God, but are not too interested in God, react to this story?

My experience is that people, who often are critical of Christians, level the charge that we are literalists in reading the Bible. These folks then become even more literal with the text than perhaps we would be. Now please do not misunderstand, I believe Jesus healed this man and in an earlier post I wrote about demons. I write about literalism because I think it shows that as modern people, part of us are malnourished and underdeveloped in one aspect of our lives. We are so in tune with science, technology and math (all of which I love)…that we have lost our imaginations. We, when presented with something different, immediately subject it to a rational, scientific, critical and even literal critique…we prevent the message of the story to reach us.

So let me ask a different question. When you read this story of Jesus healing this man, don’t you wish it were true? I know the word “wish” is a word that you might immediately react to, so let’s try a better word, hope. Don’t you hope that there really might be a God who cares enough to act as Jesus did in the story? Can you imagine, can you dream? People of faith are people of hope. We would say because of the person of Jesus, his life, and all the eye witnesses of his presence, not just 2,000 ago…but for the last 2,000 years…that we can believe such a God is real…a God who can help us deal with the legions of issues that confront us. 

THOSE VOICES OF DOUBT IN OUR HEADS

SATURDAY AFTER FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT 2015

So I figured out Bishop Wright’s pattern. Monday through Friday we work our way through Mark’s Gospel, and then on Saturday he comments on the Gospel you will hear read on Sunday…and then on Sunday he comments on the Sunday Psalm. I am taking Sunday off. So today Bishop Wright looks at Mark 8:31-38 which you will hear Sunday at Church. It is the moment that Jesus lays out his plan…the Son of Man must suffer and die, and then on the third day rise again—Peter objects—Jesus tells Peter, Satan, to get behind him—and then Jesus tells us that if we want to follow then we need to take up our cross. You may know the story.

As has become the norm, Bishop Wright does a wonderful job unpacking the Scripture. Could you imagine if Jesus listened to Peter? Might Jesus live a full life, a life where all sorts of people were cured, where he developed a large following, and where he simply died in bed of old age? That could have been the outcome if he followed the advice of Satan. The question I am asking myself is what is God inviting us to do? I am not suggesting that our lives rival Jesus’, I am merely suggesting that we have God-inspired hopes, dreams, and goals—and we have voices in our heads telling us we can’t, or we shouldn’t. I recently had a conversation with someone who spoke to me of their dreams…and all the risks and fears they had about stretching for them. They asked me what I thought they should do. My answer was pray. After we prayed, I asked them what they thought God was leading them to do…their answer was to take the risk…BUT and it is the BUT that so often dissuades from taking up our cross to follow Jesus.

Please understand, my message is not some, “go follow your dreams” message. My message is, “go and follow God’s dreams for you.” There is a key difference. And know, when you seek to follow God’s dreams for you…there will be all sorts of voices seeking to keep you off that path. Finally, this reality, of being pulled or dissuaded from God’s path for us plays out in big and small ways in our lives every day—at least some of them may seem small to us. Consider simply talking to someone about Jesus or befriending someone. Consider whether you should help someone and share Christ’s love…what might God want…but we come up with all sorts of reasons. We don’t want to impose on people, we don’t want people to think we are a pushy Christian. And there is this reality of being the overzealous Jesus-nut. There is also the reality of being embarrassed about the message of the Cross—especially in the West. Jesus tells us today, to listen to what God is calling us to do…and then take up our crosses, and do it.

WHEN GOD NEEDS TO BE AWAKENED

FRIDAY AFTER FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT 2015

Today is Mark 4:21-41 with Bishop Wright focusing on verses 35-41. In verses 21-34 Jesus tells a few more parables and then gets in a boat with his disciples. The new naval recruits find themselves in a storm with Jesus fast asleep in the stern. Panicked they cry out to Jesus, “Wake up—don’t you care about us?!” There are many points to this story. First, we are still early in the Gospel and this event shows that Jesus is “Lord over all.” Mark continues to invite us to accept that Jesus is God. In fact after Jesus calmed the storm, the text says the disciples were even more afraid, “Who on earth (or perhaps heaven) were they in this boat with?”

The life application is fairly easy to connect. We go through storms and Jesus has power over them all—so have faith in Jesus. But what of God sleeping in a storm? The Bible says the God neither slumbers nor sleeps (cf. Psalm 121:4). We with all our theorizing, speak of a God who is omnipresent. Yet a review of the Bible shows people telling God to “wake up” all the time. Consider the Psalms: 7:6, 35:23, 44:23, 59:5 and even Isaiah in 51:9. And we too cry out, “Wake-up God!”

But perhaps, and this might seem a bit harsh, it is we who need to wake-up. Speaking for myself I need to wake-up and purge out of my brain bad theology. I have this ridiculous theology that says believing in Jesus means we all live happily ever after…like life is some sort of a Disney movie. Where on earth did I get that from? I am not the only one. I have friends who are not Christians, who when something bad happens, immediately ask, “Where is your God?” Where did they get that from?

So what is good theology? I think to answer that question we need to keep reading Mark’s Gospel and look at Jesus’ life. Jesus, God, at every turn confronts and defeats evil. Jesus, God, at every turn offers his love to people, but does not browbeat them—when they reject him, he moves on. Jesus, God, at every turn ultimately is victorious…but his journey is far from a Disney movie. You might object, you might say that he rose from the dead and ascended to heaven. True he did. But if you look at the last few verses of Matthew’s Gospel, as Jesus is ascending to heaven, the text says, some still did not believe (cf. 28:17). Could you imagine dying on a Cross, rising to new life, and ascending…and people still are asleep to who he is…not a Disney ending. So as I continue into Lent I am wondering what else I need to wake up about. 

RELAX AND GROW

THURSDAY AFTER FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT 2015

Today is Mark 4:1-20 with Bishop Wright focusing on verses 1-9. I am wondering if you feel like you do not need to read it, as you may well know this parable, I must tell you I had to slow myself down to read this passage. Bishop Wright’s exposition is again terrific. He notes how Jesus’ message is a revolutionary message and how it will take keen insight to receive it. He also points out that most everyone he was talking to probably (most not all) were thinking they were on his side. He was saying that not all of them would be fruitful. Now just pause and think of what Jesus has basically said so far in Mark’s Gospel…that he is the new king, the long awaited king that will come put things right. He has demonstrated that with teaching and signs of real power…he has called the symbol laden 12…If you are a Jew, you are thinking, “Here is our man” and your man has just told you that not all of you are really going to stay with the program—Jesus has not read Dale Carnegie’s How to win friends and influence people…He is not a politician. Why won’t all the seed take root? Because the people, while excited that a new kingdom is being established, will not embrace the message and method of this kingdom…its message is peace, love, faith…its method is the way of the Cross.

I have been thinking about ME. I have a great gift for this self-absorption. I have been thinking about how worry and trial and more get at me. Am I good soil? Is God bearing 30, 60, dare I think even 100 fold? But isn’t thinking this way exactly the wrong way to think, the wrong focus? This is exactly what Jesus said in the parable…that some of the seed even gets snatched away. Being good soil, is not so much a passive thing…you do need to watch what you put in yourself…what you read and look at…what you think about and focus on…but it does have a limit. At some point you simply have to let the seed do what seeds do…germinate and grow. Today if you have read the parable and taken the time to read this bit then I think you are taking care of your soil…so relax a bit and let Him grow.