ROME IMPROVEMENT 02/28/2021

MORE POWER!  MORE GLORY!!  MORE SPIRIT!!!

 SURVEYING THE SITE—Mark 8: 31-38

Have you ever wondered what it feels like to be a yo-yo? Three weeks ago, we were reading chapter 1. Two weeks ago, we were reading chapter 9. Last week we were reading chapter 1 again. This week we are reading chapter 8. Like that yo-yo, we seem to be drawn up and down by a string that doesn’t let us go but also doesn’t let us stay in one place for long.

This text immediately precedes the Mount of Transfiguration in 9 and follows Jesus’ questions, “Who do people say that I am?” and “Who do you say that I am?”. In response to the second question, Peter claims Jesus as the Messiah (8:27-30). Messiah, along with Christ, are terms used when speaking of those who are anointed, including judges, kings, and prophets; even Cyrus, who wasn’t Jewish, is called Messiah for releasing God’s people after the Babylonian exile.

Before Peter claims Jesus as Messiah, the disciples echo the words of Herod’s advisors, and Herod himself, who have heard of the work Jesus and his disciples are doing in chapter 6. They believe that Jesus is John raised up from the dead, or Elijah, or one of the prophets, and poses a threat to the power of the government. And the disciples repeat the names of the threatening personages.

When Peter claims Jesus as the Messiah, it is with these previous nominations in mind. Today, Peter shows that he believes the term implies certain conquest and power. Jesus’ description to the disciples that he will suffer, be rejected, be put to death, and rise after three days denies this, so Peter rebukes, or censures, Jesus. In return, Jesus rebukes, or censures, Peter by telling him that “discipleship following” is not about conquest and power but taking up one’s cross.

READING THE BLUEPRINT

This week’s text again reminds us of what I have discussed since the beginning of Advent: how you look at the blueprint may determine what you see and how you build. If we think of Jesus as not having yet been arrested, tried, crucified, and risen, then the words of his teaching look like a prognostication, a pre-knowledge of what is to come.

If we read Mark’s story as starting in chapter 11, then the arrest, trial, crucifixion, and resurrection have already occurred. Jesus is only stating the facts of what has happened, but which, in epic form, the disciples are not yet aware. Jesus is in their time, but he is not of their time.

The text begins with Jesus openly teaching the truth of what will happen in the disciples’ time: “The son of Man will suffer, be rejected by the temple authorities (elders, chief priests and the scribes), be killed, and on the third day rise from the dead.”

In a sidebar audience, Peter rebukes/challenges/interrupts the teacher saying, “Wait! This is not the way things should go. How can you challenge Rome without any support? You at least need the support of the temple. The world depends on a certain amount of political leverage if the world is going to change.”

Jesus stares Peter down and charges that Peter is thinking in worldly terms not divine ways. Jesus continues, “Get behind me, Satan.” Satan is not an extra-worldly demonic presence here. It means antagonist or prosecutor evoking a courtroom-like setting. As opposing counsel in a legal hearing, or as the opposing side in an open debate, Jesus is claiming his place to present his argument.

The argument he gives to the disciples is: “Peter is considering the political realities of the day. I am speaking of a new way of living together. If you want to follow Herod and the powers granted to him by Rome, then support the systems of the past. If you want to follow me, you will need to learn that it is not about you. You must deny yourself for the sake of the greater world community. You will need to take up your cross.

“The old way of living is to save your life, your reputation, your honor in order to increase or maintain your status in society. That way leads to death. But, if you are willing to give yourself over to living with the dead of the world in a ministry of resurrection in my name and for the sake of the Good News—Christ is risen, and, in the resurrection, we are all raised into new life—then your lives will be saved, restored, be received in abundance.”

We are called upon now to be the judges. In his closing arguments, Jesus calls us to consider whether conquest, power, and oppression (worldly things) have compassion and spiritual living in them (divine things). Is there anything that we can give in exchange to justify or maybe to legitimize our lives?

Jesus concludes, “Those who are ashamed of caring for and raising up others in my name, those who are ashamed or afraid of a world of inclusion, or those who prefer power for themselves, I will be ashamed of, embarrassed for, and saddened by when God’s intent for the world is revealed and they find themselves on the wrong side of history—when the fullness of life is revealed in the value of all people, in the spectacle of the messengers of care and concern.”

He tells his disciples that following him requires taking up their cross which is not the instrument of death but the symbol of life. It is the mark of the follower, taken up, but not demanding death. Although we, in 2021, know that many people were crucified during Roman times and that the Appian Way was lined with Christians who were crucified, tarred, and then set ablaze to light the way of Caesar into Rome, these events took place after the writing of Mark’s Gospel. 

If we think of this text as being an opportunity for Jesus to teach his disciples, with Peter being that smart-aleck student who challenges the teaching even while pandering to the honor of the teacher, we miss the mark. The case for who Jesus is and what Messiahship means in the Gospel of Mark is being laid out before us so that we ourselves are able to declare who and whose we are. This passage is nothing less than the trial, or deciding debate, that will determine the role of the Messiah for the rest of Mark.

PUTTING UP THE WALLS

The trial or debate between Peter and Jesus is not a trial or debate that is concluded in Scripture. It continues through every generation. We all are invited to engage what it means to take up one’s cross and follow just as Peter does.

When we enter into the debate, Jesus again tells us to stand behind him both as impediment with worldly thoughts and as follower taking up the cross. Christ tells us that Messiahship is not about worldly titles with power over others, because, in fact, Messiahship is about service to one another and a relationship that recognizes suffering as part of life, as rejection as part of life, and yes, death as part of life too.

If we are quick to claim the cross as a burdensome pain in the death-seeking world of guilt and sin, we lose the promise of the empty cross. We lose sight of Jesus going to the cross once for all where our pious dourness is without merit. We fail to appreciate that the empty cross of resurrection leads us into life—a life that defies and overcomes death. We evade and purposefully ignore the fact that the cross is about living life, that God’s kingdom is engaged/drawn near.

The question is whether we will be raised up into the life that also raises others.

·        •    What does Messiah mean to us?

·        •    What does it mean to deny oneself in today’s world?

·        •    What does it mean to take up your cross in order to engage the burdens of the day?

·        •    What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus?

·        •    What does the social contract we have with one another look like when we see Jesus before us? 

·        •    Are we waiting our turn to rebuke him or are we walking in the footprints of eternal life?

HANGING THE TRIM

We stand in the doorway of possibility today. Many of the systemic oppressions of our U.S. culture have been revealed. In the years to come, when we are asked who we followed during this time, will we be able to say that we denied our self-complacence, took our cross, and followed Jesus’ resurrection ways of life? Or will we fear suffering, rejection, and death? The jury is still out.

“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil:  God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” – attributed to Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945)

“We need to see that the good life is something that is about us. We are on journeys of mutual transformation. Our calling is to be part of a community that’s moving in transformation, toward what God has called us to be.” Christine Jeske, UpWords podcast by Upper House, 2/15/21

ROME IMPROVEMENT 02/21/2021

MORE POWER!  MORE GLORY!!  MORE SPIRIT!!!

SURVEYING THE SITE—Mark 1:4-15

When I was so much younger, younger than today, I went to the carnival. One of the attractions was the “Hall of Mirrors. At first it was fun—I was tall, I was short; I was very thin, I was very fat. It was fun to see the various distortions until I realized that I had no idea where I was. All I saw around me were images of myself and people that seemed to be a longways away.

Sometimes it looked like people were walking toward me, but I discovered that they were really walking away from me. Eventually, I decided the only thing to do was to do what I had been taught to do when I was lost: sit down on the floor and wait for someone to rescue me. 

Finally, one of my cousins came and found me cowering on the floor. He showed me the trick of getting through the maze of mirrors—on the floor was a stripe that continuously led from the entrance to the end.  As long as I kept looking into the mirrors, I saw me, and me, lost. But, when I looked at the floor, I could find my way through just fine.

This week the text has that distorting distraction to it, but there is a through-line that will bring us safely to the other end. So, welcome to the hall of mirrors.

There is a reflected action in these verses. John appears in the wilderness; Jesus goes to the wilderness. John is the voice crying out; a voice comes from heaven. John proclaims repentance for the forgiveness of sin; Jesus proclaims repentance because the kingdom of God is engaged. John is arrested; it will take some time, but Jesus is arrested.

In this wilderness gallery of looking glasses, we are presented with a positive image and a more positive image. In this hall of mirrors, one is not lost, but found. We are told to believe in the Good News, and to proclaim what that Good News is.

READING THE BLUEPRINT

If you feel like this is deja vu, or maybe the movie “Groundhog Day”, you might be right; after all, this is February. Except for one verse, we have read this passage in various forms before. One might think the Gospel of Mark is so short that repetition of passages is necessary, but no. There are many verses of Mark we never get to.

So why do we need to repeat these verses? In part, the message included in these verses is so important that they bear repeating. In part, we repeat most of these verses in order to maintain the integrity of Mark’s good news message for us. So, let’s review.

·        We meet John in the wilderness.

·        He is the voice preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

·        People from the countryside and Jerusalem come out to him to be baptized confessing their sins.

·        We are told that John baptizes with water, but Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit.

·        Jesus comes from Nazareth, in the Galilee wilderness, to be baptized by John.

·        The heavens are torn apart, and the Holy Spirit descends on Jesus.

·        God’s voice affirms Jesus as the Son of God.

·        The Holy Spirit drives Jesus into the wilderness for forty days where other-worldly people come to him: Satan tempts him, wild beasts surround him, and angels wait on him.

·        John is arrested.

·        Jesus goes from the Jordan River into Galilee.

·        The voice of Jesus begins ministry proclaiming that the Kingdom of God has drawn near; repent and believe in the Good News.

ROUGHING IN THE HOUSE

This year, I am particularly aware of the dangerous gatherings in the wilderness. Clearly, John and Jesus were not in the middle of a pandemic—there is no social distancing here! People are gathering to be baptized—to be washed clean of their sin. Satan is tempting Jesus, wild beasts are surrounding him, and angels are waiting on him.

These gatherings in the wilderness evoke memories of Daniel in the lions’ den. Daniel is tempted to deny his faith, but angels come to be with him. Similarly, the plight of early Christians who had to choose to deny their faith or be sent into the coliseum where they were savaged by a variety of large cats or wolves. There they were confident of angelic deliverance into eternal life.

Especially during Lent, when many adopt sacrifice/fasting as part of Lenten discipline, note that this is not part of this wilderness experience. Mark is not about piety. This wilderness experience entails faith, stamina, and perseverance. It leads to belief in the Good News.

What is that Good News? Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Before you, stands Jesus Christ, the son of God, the one who has the power to overcome temptation, death, and the grave. Believe it!

PUTTING UP THE WALLS

Ah, wilderness! From our earliest Scripture readings, we are surrounded by wilderness. We may call it by various names, but there it is. From the endless wasteland or wilderness, we find all the building blocks of our world. God speaks, and these wilderness building blocks become something—light, land, birds of the air, fish of the sea, trees, plants of every kind, stars, animals of every kind, and humanity, you and me.

This week, from that wilderness place comes the voice, the Word of creation revealed to us in the person of Jesus Christ, with the words of new creation, “Believe in the Good News.” It all seems so easy, “Believe in the Good News.”

We know that the good news is that Christ is risen, but where do we go with that news? What is the good news we need to hear this week? Good news might be the power grid is back in working order in Texas. It might be water pipes did not freeze. It might be there is enough money in the budget to buy food or food might be in stores to buy. Vaccine availability, safe places to live, jobs, a car that runs, in other words, enough to meet the needs of the day, might be the good news that many of us need to hear.

With the good news of Jesus’ resurrection comes the power to raise others from the dead. Sometime ago, in the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, I found a definition of poverty that I had not before considered. The poor of the first century were “socially dead”. That is, to the wealthy and powerful, poverty was of no concern. The privileged regarded the poor as being dead, out of mind.

The article also explained that the poor were not the only people to be considered socially dead. The list of people included the blind, the lame, the deaf, the maimed, the widow, the orphan, the stranger/foreigner, the mentally ill, and the chronically ill. These people were de-humanized, categorized as being beyond help, and beneath dignity.

Jesus reaches into this world of de-humanized people. Jesus touches the socially dead, the unclean, the broken, the forgotten, and raises them up into valued members of what we will come to know as the body of Christ. In the body of Christ, we not only celebrate resurrection as belonging to Jesus Christ, but belonging to all people Jesus raises with him.

I know many of you have heard me say this before, but the article so radically changed the way I understand the Gospel of Mark that how I think of Jesus’ ministry has been forever changed. This ministry of resurrection shifts our understanding of what following Jesus means. In our creed, we say, “He descended to the dead”. Jesus has gone to those who are buried, but could it be that this statement of Jesus’ descending also refers to his descending from heaven in the first place?

Further, this ministry of reaching out to raise up the socially dead of the world not miraculously curing the sick, this ministry of resurrection, becomes something that we can do. In Christ’s name, we have the power to reach out to the socially dead of our time, raising them up into the places where we live. We have the power to make safe places of new life. To believe in the Good News of Jesus Christ is to believe that resurrection-transformation is as close as our willingness to make it happen.

This is the vision. This is the proclamation. All of God’s people have value. All of God’s people are loved. All of God’s people fall short of the glory of God, and God continues to forgive all people.

So, who are the socially dead of our world today?

Where should we, as Church, as local congregation, as individual Christians, begin?

Who are the socially dead in our neighborhoods, our villages/towns/cities, who are being de-humanized, shunned, ignored?

Who is tempted, surrounded by beasts of terror?

Can we be their angels ministering to them?

Indeed, the kingdom of God is engaged, drawn near, believe in the Good News.

HANGING THE TRIM

Amid the many voices that call out to us, seductively drawing us from following Christ, we hear, “Repent. Believe. This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin.”

ROME IMPROVEMENT 02/14/2021

MORE POWER!  MORE GLORY!!  MORE SPIRIT!!!

SURVEYING THE SITE—Mark 9:2-10

Have you ever fallen asleep in the middle of a movie, then waked without knowing what the heck is going on? Well, this week’s text is somewhat like that. Last week we were reading Mark 1 rather closely, and this week we have jumped seven chapters in order to read the text for Transfiguration Sunday. In those intervening chapters, Jesus has gathered the people: the sick, the possessed, the leper, the lame, the old and the young, women and men; he has fed the hungry (the 5,000 and the 4,000) and healed both Jews and gentiles. Jesus has taught in ways that when people have listened even the deaf can hear and in ways that the blind can see in order to proclaim the good news.

If you are old, as I am, you may remember that Transfiguration Day used to be August 6. In developing the Revised Common Lectionary, published in 1973, ecumenical conversations following Vatican II moved the date of Transfiguration Sunday for much of the Church. It was positioned as the last Sunday in Epiphany in the Lutheran Book of Worship released in 1978.

I appreciate this newer location because this day is now a line of demarcation between Epiphany and Lent. Recognizing that this day on the mountain mirrors the hill of Golgotha on Good Friday, we ponder what rising from the dead means in our lives today. The fruit of this pondering is a lens through which we can see and internalize the importance of the crucifixion story to come.

In addition, in its older position, many people were on vacation including pastors, and this new place gives pastors a time to talk about the importance of having conversation partners as we go forward in ministry together.

READING THE BLUEPRINT

Verse 1 of this chapter, “There are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.”, is something of an orphan verse. It really doesn’t belong to the chapter before, but it seems difficult to understand with this story.

If we read this passage as a pre-resurrection utterance, it gets claimed by those who advocate for the Messianic secret theory which says there are secret learnings that only the disciples knew about and that there are secret learnings for the faithful elite. I believe that any Messianic secret is not secret in Mark; it is fully revealed at the very beginning of the book of Mark: Jesus is risen.

The power of the kingdom of God is revealed in the verses for this week. Jesus bears/carries/leads Peter, James, and John, up a high mountain, apart, by themselves. Jesus is transformed before them, and his clothes became glistening/dazzling white such as no one on earth could bleach them. They are compared to what fuller’s soap does. The clothes are literally purer white than what can be achieved on earth. And there appeared with Jesus, Elijah and Moses, who were talking with him.

Peter did not know what to say, nor did he know how to respond to what he was seeing. He just knew that he was terrified. In response, Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us pitch three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

Peter was seeing the power of God’s kingdom, but he couldn’t get his head around it. If that weren’t enough, a cloud put everything in a shadowy mist preventing anybody from continuing to see anything. From the cloud came a voice saying, “This is my son, the beloved. Listen to him.” The cloud vaporized, and, when they could see again, as they looked around, they no longer saw anyone but Jesus.

As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them to tell no one what they had seen until after the son of man had risen from the dead. So, they kept this vision of the kingdom of God to themselves, questioning, “What is this rising from the dead?”

ROUGHING IN THE HOUSE

In answer to that question, as a narrative feature and as one of the bookends of Lent, the Mount of Transfiguration offers some interesting possibilities. First, we recognize the divinity of Jesus in this story. As the magi recognized Jesus as the Messiah on the Day of Epiphany, so now the disciples see Jesus’ divinity as he speaks with Elijah and Moses on this Sunday, the line of demarcation between Epiphany and Lent.

Second, in chapter 15, we will see Jesus as truly human on Golgotha, again with a person on either side of him. There are three crosses; Jesus is in the middle with a bandit on either side.

Third, at that time, the curtain of the Holy of Holies is torn in two which breaks the barrier that separates us from God’s presence. We also witness, in chapter 1, the heavens being torn apart breaking down the barrier between heaven and earth. This week the results of that barrier breaking are even more fully revealed as we see both the giver of the law, Moses, and Elijah, the prophet that did not die but was assumed into heaven, with Jesus.

Fourth on this day, we are reminded of the baptismal event of chapter 1 by the voice from heaven saying, “Yes, this is my son, the beloved.”. Then we are affirmed in our faith and encouraged not to be distracted through the addition of “Listen to him!”

PUTTING UP THE WALLS

In the 1^st century world of power-politics, Jesus commands his disciples not to make the ministry about power. Jesus’ ministry is not about his divine, extra-worldly connections. Jesus’ ministry is concerned with the needs and relationships of the world—of our relationship with God and one another. No wonder then, that the disciples kept this matter to themselves wondering, “What is this rising from the dead?”

Faith is not something we can do by ourselves. We must do faith in relationship with one another. Faith is a precious gift from God that is meant to be talked about, tested, and proclaimed. Paul Tillich, a 20^th century theologian, tells us, “Revelation is meaningless if it is not able to be recognized by the community.” He tells us that even the most important learning about God and God’s work in the world has no value unless it is able to be shared and understood by the community that surrounds us—the community that God has given us.

Faith, and the revelations we have of God’s work, requires conversation partners. This week we are shown some of the conversation partners Jesus has in his ministry. We may think that these conversation partners are only available to Jesus. After all, we are not lifted up before others with Moses and Elijah at our sides.

But, in Scripture, we do have them at our sides. In the writings of Moses and the accounts of Elijah, we have their testimony of God’s presence in the world. There we witness their willingness to stand against oppressive power with God at their side. We have been given these major figures and more as our conversation partners in faith.

Yet, these are not enough. From the cloud of witnesses in Hebrews 12 which overshadows us in all that we do, comes the voice, “The one whom you follow, the one who dies on the cross and rises from the dead, the one who lifts people up from the places of alienating death into new life and community, listen to him!” To know Christ’s leading, to hear Christ’s words, to be able to follow and understand, is to also be willing to consider, “What does this rising from the dead mean to us and the world we live in today?”

HANGING THE TRIM

Valentine’s Day is all about inviting others to be intimate conversation partners in God’s love for the world because our love for one another is only a pale reflection of God’s love for us. So, in the presence of Moses and Elijah, witnessed by Peter, James and John, hear Christ’s word of loving invitation. “Will you be my Valentine? Will you be my conversation partner sharing the good news for all people?”

What got us here?

I

Sitting in our easy chair,
We watched the marches on the air
And wondered at the world presented to us
When demonstrators broke on through
With gallows for red, white, and blue.
We witnessed then the horrors that o’er threw us.
Lord, have mercy, sing the chorus—
Lord, have mercy, sing the chorus—
Lord, have mercy, sing the chorus—

II

There is, in the knowing of ritual,
A yearning and the need for ritual;
For oftentimes, only ritual
Has the power to relieve and reveal public angst.
So, our nation was drawn
To that elemental, tabled core of devotion;
Word of prayer spoken,
Looking over Jordan pool
With lights of life
Rising to the heavens,
Not seeing, but reflecting,
On lives lost and the life to come.
“What got us here?”,
We ask in wonder.
“What got us here?
What got us here?
What god is here?”

III

Is our ground of being
Fertile loess of loss to fill the grave
Of what, though flawed, was something good?
Or can that fecund soil sustain
The seed of new growth and harvest?
Can we with careful hands
Pull the weeds among the wheat,
Or must we wait for murky future mercy given?
O Ground of Being, in you we trust
And cache our hopes and dreams in you.
In dependence on your justification
We seek your justice for all.
“What got us here?”,
We ask in wonder.
“What got us here?
What got us here?
What god is here?”

IV

There is, in avarice of land,
An esurient need of land,
And only acquisition
Has the power to sate our public covetousness.
We came, we saw, we stole the dirt.
Denying prime title or civil worth,
We sold their lives. In the name of Mammon,
Seeking ever expanding borders,
Smilingly, we wrote
Those many treaties broken;
Taking, without reflecting,
On lives lost and lives to come.
“What got us here?”,
We ask in wonder.
“What got us here?
What got us here?
What god is here?”

V

Is our image then
Devoid of God
and cannot then be saved
From wanton ways? Or is reparation desire
Enough to heal these broken lives?
Can we with careful hands
Find the wheat among the weeds,
Or must we plead for murky future mercy given?
O Image Fair, to square accounts,
You ruled our lives redeemed in You.
With repentant pennants, we treat you to surrender,
Seeking peace, for all your precious people.
“What got us here?”,
We ask in wonder.
“What got us here?
What got us here?
What god is here?”

VI

And so, we come, with ritual,
With yearning, in need of ritual,
Knowing that only ritual
Has the power to relieve and heal our public wounding.
So, we come to bind our hurts
At tabled, core conviction, with devotion
And word of prayer now spoken.
Looking into Jordan pool
We see the light
Of murky mercy given
Not reflecting now, but seeing
Lives lost and potential life to come.
“What got us here?”,
We ask in wonder.
“What got us here?
What got us here?
What? God is here?”

VII

And so, we come, in need of prayer,
With cries that fill the open air,
Remembering loss, beginning times of healing.
When impeachment trial is through
And judgments made are true,
With hope-filled hearts, we’ll bow our heads while kneeling—
Lord have mercy. Sing, believing.
Lord have mercy. Sing, believing.
Lord have mercy. Sing, believing.  

ROME IMPROVEMENT 02/07/2021

MORE POWER!  MORE GLORY!!  MORE SPIRIT!!!

SURVEYING THE SITE—Mark 1:29-40

Synagogue, the gathering place, is an important image this week. Throughout the New Testament, when we read about synagogue, we should not think of it as the center of Jewish worship; this modern sense had not yet come into being. Worship then was centered in Jerusalem, in the temple which was still standing. It was not until after the temple was destroyed in 70 c.e. that worship in synagogues fully developed.

 As I understand it, the synagogue was more of a gathering space. It might be in a building, or under a tree, or a portico designated for the purpose of reading, studying, and debating God’s word for God’s people at the time. Apparently, Jesus is aware of where these gathering places are.

 And, of course, God’s work is not limited to formal gathering places. This week we witness movement from the formal synagogue confrontation between Jesus and the man in an unclean spirit to informal gatherings as well. Through these informal gatherings, we witness the power of the resurrection and the giving of wholeness that can come when we gather with Christ in our midst.

READING THE BLUEPRINT

From the synagogue, Jesus and the “Fab Four”—Peter, Andrew, James & John—gather in Peter’s home where we hear that Peter’s mother-in-law is ill. She is presumed to be dying when Jesus gathers with her and raises her up by the hand.

Note the intimate relationship of touch in this encounter. This ministry of resurrection mirrors, though dimly, the tomb event in Chapter 16. The one who is raised up from the dead is the one who has the power to raise others. Immediately Peter’s MIL uses her hands, serving them at the table, embodying the first diaconal ministry.

Hearing of the touch that brought wholeness, and that Peter’s mother-in-law is raised up and fever free, the people bring to Jesus others who lack wholeness and those who are demonized. The whole city gathers before the door of Peter’s house.

In this gathering place Jesus lays hands of caring service upon those who are in need, and he casts out demons telling them to be silent because they knew him. This act of hospitality leads to the saving of many.

The Gospel of Mark allows us through time and repetition to see that God’s creative impulse is not limited to speaking in Genesis. In deserted places we see that God’s creative power is continuous. From the chaotic wastelands we leave behind each day, God creates anew for the continued delight of God’s people. Each day God creates space for us to enter joyfully into new work of God’s creation celebrating the life God has given us.

The image of the deserted place appears throughout Mark’s Gospel. In chapter 1, John is in the wilderness and Jesus is cast into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit. In this week’s text we see Jesus, very early the next morning, go to a deserted place, the place of new creation, where he prays.

When the Fab Four find Jesus, they claim that “everyone” is seeking him. Yet, instead of returning to them, Jesus looks to others who are seeking him saying, “It is for this that I was sent out.” He turns to others, those to whom his fame has spread, gathering with them in their gathering places, with the people of Galilee, where he continues to go ahead of his disciples, and where we continue to find him, proclaiming the good news and casting out demons.

ROUGHING IN THE HOUSE

God has made us communal beings. Certainly, we are not the only creatures with herd mentality. We are uniquely made with the gifts of communication and a need to be with one another for survival. God generously gives us other people with whom we get to share work and discover all kinds of ways to get in trouble to satisfy this communal aspect of our lives. We are interdependent because of this need for community.

At the same time, God has given us a strong need to distinguish ourselves from one another. This stubborn independence, called individuation, is sometimes so strong that we come to believe that we individually are more important than the communities that surround us.

Reinhold Niebuhr speaks of the dilemma of human nature with this need for community and the need to separate as necessary and yet sinful. He says that one of the gifts God has given us is the gift of transcendence. It gives us the ability to see beyond ourselves in order to compassionately care for one another.

Transcendence is healthy and differentiates us from other animals. The difficulty comes when we misuse it. Having been given the gift to transcend ourselves, we attempt to transcend God. When we abuse transcendence, that is, when we believe that we have the power of God over our neighbors, we sin, because we dishonor our neighbors and dismiss God’s authority in our lives.

Abuse of our gift of transcendence is more likely when we isolate ourselves from one another. Then we find ourselves believing that our needs are greater than our neighbor’s, behaving in ways that dehumanize and devalue those around us. Isolationism denies the value of God’s communal gift and denies our intrinsic need for compassionate care of one another. Gathering together in Christ’s name resists isolationism and fosters our continued communal health.

PUTTING UP THE WALLS

In these days of global pandemic, this week’s reading comes to us with certain poignancy. Into our places of illness and death, Jesus comes, takes us by the hand, and raises us up. In a time when we are not able to touch one another or be fully present to one another in the manner in which we are accustomed, Jesus comes to care for us by laying hands of service upon us. Mark uses the Greek word “therapeuo” for healing or cure, the word from which we get therapy. Through this intimate act of community, Jesus raises Peter’s mother-in-law and those whom the people of the city bring before the door of the house.

Some point out that this day is the Sabbath, and, although Jesus raises Peter’s mother-in-law on the Sabbath, the people wait until the Sabbath is over, not coming until it is evening, at sundown. More importantly, this darkness time is God’s holy creation worktime. In this creation time, the demons clearly know who Jesus is. Jesus not only casts them out, but he also commands their silence.

In these days when Coronavirus and other diseases continue to impact our lives, Jesus continues to walk with us with hands of caring service. This touch comes to us through the very community God has given us including doctors, nurses, scientists, workers who stock our grocery shelves, and housekeeping staff in our hospitals and care facilities. We know Christ’s “therapeuo” through the work of God’s people in their care for us.

Jesus continues to call out the demons of falsehood as they surround us and gives us the authority to call them out. Not only are they being called out, but in Christ’s name, we continue to command those voices of hate to be silent.

In those deserted places of our lives, we continue to seek the one who gives us life. We call him to us, only to discover that we are being led into Galilee. For this, Jesus is sent out—out of the tomb, out of the baptismal water, out of the wilderness—to a place where we shall meet him.

For Mark, Galilee is not anchored geographically. It is any place where the preaching, teaching, and healing ministry in the kingdom of God is ongoing, where Christ’s presence is known—seen, understood, and engaged.

HANGING THE TRIM

Gather us in, the lost and forsaken
Gather us in, the blind and the lame
Call to us now and we shall awaken
We shall arise at the sound of our name—Marty Haugen