ROME IMPROVEMENT 09/19/2021

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

SURVEYING THE SITE—Mark 9:30-37

As we continue in the Gospel of Mark, we skip over the Mount of Transfiguration which we read at the end of Epiphany. (See Rome Improvement 02/14/2021.) We also skip over two other events. One is the debate between the disciples and the scribes.

In the other, a man brings his son with epilepsy to Jesus for restoration wholeness. This father entreats Jesus, “If you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.” Jesus says to him, “If you are able! All things can be done for the one who believes.” To which, the father immediately cries out, “I believe! Help my unbelief.”

Following this statement of faith, Jesus commands the unclean spirit to come out. The child, after convulsing terribly, is still, like a corpse, but Jesus takes the boy by the hand and lifts him up, and the boy rises.

When the disciples are apart from the crowd, they, who previously have questioned what this rising from the dead might mean, do not ask about resurrection although they have just witnessed this boy rising, restored. Instead, they query, “Why couldn’t WE cast [the unclean spirit] out?” This sets the scene for this week, as Jesus and the disciples are again on the road reflecting on what has happened.

READING THE BLUEPRINT

And from there, having gone forth they were traveling along through the Galilee. And not [Jesus] desired that anyone might know. For he was teaching the disciples of him. And he was saying to them, that the son of man is delivered into hands of men, and they will kill him and having been killed after three days he will stand up (arise). But they were unknowing the word and they were afeared to ask him.

And they went into Capernaum and having come in the house he asked on them, “What in the way were you reasoning out?” But they were silent for they were debating in the way which one [was] greater.

And having sat, [Jesus] called the twelve and he says to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he will be of all last and of all, servant.  And having taken a little girl, he stood her up in the midst of them. And having embraced her he said to them, “Whoever might a little girl welcome on the name of me [that one] welcomes me; And whoever may welcome me, not me welcomes but the one who sent me as ambassador (in his stead).

ROUGHING IN THE HOUSE

If this passage is a pre-crucifixion narrative, it begins to look like a rather ghoulish account of who will be top dog after Jesus is dead. As a post-resurrection account, this passage continues to be an uncertain wondering of bodily resurrection and the continuing engagement of the reign of God. It is another account of the disciples caught thinking they have power of their own only to discover that any power they have is derived through the bodily risen Jesus.

Rather than trying to understand and enter the engaged reign of God, they succumb to putting their minds on human things, not on divine things (8:38-9:1). The disciples are more concerned about their own power than focusing on what Jesus is doing in this “engaged resurrection reign of God world”. Rather than discussing “what this rising from the dead might mean”, they choose a discussion about power, “Which one is greater?

In a world of “honor and shame” each disciple wishes to seize the most amount of honor he can. (See Rome Improvement 09/12/2021.) “I must be better, more skilled, more literate, better looking, be a better friend, more favored, than the others. Well then, I feel that I should demonstrate that to the others, and they should know their place. After all, I was invited up the mountain; I offered to memorialize the place with booths.”

Hearing the teaching about the “son of man” again, “The son of man is delivered into hands of men, and they will kill him, and having been killed after three days he will stand up.”, the disciples still do not understand resurrection and are afraid to ask Jesus what it means. They might have been asking themselves, “When he says “son of man” is he talking about himself or us? This rising from the dead stuff sounds good, but the dying? Not so much.  Can’t we just lean into ‘There are some standing here who will not taste death.’ Maybe the best of us will be the ones or one. Yeah, let’s go there.”

It is this fear-filled, uncertain, and confidence-lacking group that Jesus addresses. “What were you reasoning out on the way?” It is to this group that Jesus shows the kingdom of God when he reaches out and takes a little girl who is running through the house, hugs her (letting her know that she is safe), and stands her in their midst.

Jesus says, “Being most important is not important. Being least important in the eyes of the world AND willing to serve all of the people God sends to you is important. Looking good and always having the answers is not important. Being willing to ask the hard questions is important. This little girl, by her place in the world without status and willing to ask questions when she doesn’t know, that’s where the reign of God is engaged. You can’t serve if you do not know that there is a need. Look around. Ask questions. Learn that it is not about you alone, but the whole of God’s creation.”

PUTTING UP THE WALLS

And on-and-on the reasoning goes down through time to today. Is it better to be Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist, United Church of Christ, Assembly of God, Baptist, or pick your own flavor of Christianity?

It is so much easier to find solace in the theological teachings, the liturgical practices, the social homogeneity/ethnic cohesion than it is to ask the question, “What does this rising from the dead mean for us today?” It is easier to see our worshipping community as a safe place for us, meeting the spiritual needs of us, of caring for our circle of friends and those who are satellite friends of us, than it is to ask about what we don’t know.

Before the people who followed Jesus were known as Christian, they were known as the people of “The Way”. So, when Jesus asks his question about what they were reasoning out on the way, he is asking not just the twelve but all who are with him on the way.

What are we reasoning out among US today?

How can we make our space a safe space for those who aren’t here?

How can we lift up the people who are thought to be beyond consideration, outside the community of us?

What question/s do we need to ask in order to understand what this rising from the dead means in the marginalized communities around us?

How can we be Jesus’ disciples if we are not willing to ask about what we don’t know?

Or worse, how can we be Jesus’ disciples when we choose to ignore the questions of the day because we don’t want to know the answers.

It is so much safer, even while recognizing each other’s value, to continue to argue, reasoning which of us is greater?

HANGING THE TRIM

Aimee Laramore, Philanthropic Strategist at Christian Theological Seminary, speaking on the connection between faith and giving, says, “To be an ally is safe. Allies are able to give their approval without getting involved. But to be a co-conspirator, that has consequences that may cause you to lose your life.”

When we are willing to ask the questions that give us understanding, we surrender our allyship and become co-conspirators. This is what Jesus is challenging us to become, co-conspirators in the engaged resurrection reign of God, to reason out what this rising from the dead might mean, understanding that we cannot, by our own reason or understanding, save ourselves. (Martin Luther, Explanation of the Third Article of the Apostles’ Creed)