MORE POWER! MORE GLORY!! MORE SPIRIT!!!
SURVEYING THE SITE—Mark 9:38-50
We are now deep into considering what this “rising from the
dead might mean.” We have witnessed the disciples avoiding the issue by
determining which of them was the greater. We have seen Jesus set the little
girl in their midst in order to discuss the importance, or lack of importance,
of status and the importance of being bold enough to ask questions when they do
not understand. Apparently, the disciples are slow learners and wish to
preserve their status because this week the story continues with a
confrontation between John, and the guys, and someone else who understands the
egalitarian quality of the resurrected reign of Christ.
READING THE BLUEPRINT
John said to [Jesus], “Teacher, we saw someone, in the name
of you, casting out demons and we [got up in his face] because he was not
following us. But Jesus said, “Do not [get
in his face]. For no one who [makes] power in my name will be able soon to
speak dishonorably [about] me.”
For who is not against us is on behalf of us. For whoever might give to you a cup of water to drink because you are in the name of Christ, truly I say to you, that he might not destroy the benefit of him.
And whoever might lead into sin one of these little ones who trust in me, it is more good for him if he set around the neck of him a donkey’s millstone and he has been thrown into the sea.
And when your hand might lead you into sin, cut it off; it is honorable for you crippled to go into life rather than the two handed having to be cast into Gehenna, into the unextinguishable fire. And when your foot might cause you to stumble, [i.e.] sin against itself, cut it off; it is honorable for you to enter into life lame rather than the two footed having to be cast into Gehenna. And when your eye might cause you to stumble, throw it out; for it is honorable for you one-eyed to enter into the reign of God rather than the two eyed having to be thrown into Gehenna where the worm of them not dies and the fire not is extinguished. For all in fire will be salted. Honorable the salt, but when the salt might become saltless, how will you make it proper? Have in yourselves salt, and be at peace with one another.
ROUGHING IN THE HOUSE
One would think that the disciples would have been listening
to everything that Jesus told them, wouldn’t one? I mean, If I were there, I’d
be hanging on every word. Wouldn’t I? I’d have the record app on my phone working
all of the time. After all, what the resurrected Christ said might be important
for the future, don’t you think? Not to mention the selfies with Jesus just to
prove that I was there, no photoshopping necessary.
Well, either the batteries were dead, or the disciples didn’t have the time to listen to those things Jesus said that they forgot, or maybe the demonstration of putting the little girl in their midst was not the best visual aid. At any rate, John reports that the disciples are still concerned about who is deemed most appropriate for making the “engaged kingdom of God” known.
Clearly, they have not gotten the concept of evangelism down. “We ‘got up in the face’ of someone who thought that they could be your disciple.”
Jesus tells John and the boys, “Stop that! If this guy continues to practice faith, he will learn what it is to live a faithful life. If you give a person a glass of water and they drink it, can you take the benefit of the water away from the person?”
John may be the person that is highlighted today, but it is not much of a jump to see the world of denominationalism in his words. “We tried to stop them because they weren’t following us. Because they don’t see the wonder of God and God’s amazing capacity of salvation mercy the way that we see it, we had to tell them they are wrong and have to stop.”
I have refrained from using “hell” in this reading in favor of the Greek word, “Gehenna”. The site Jesus refers to is not hell, neither the place of dishonor where your name was forgotten forever as Teutonic peoples envisioned nor the locale imagined by Dante in the 14th century. It is much more likely to be the place of refuse that needs purification.
Gehenna is a valley outside Jerusalem that was once the site of idol worship. It was later used as a garbage repository perhaps because of the Temple’s disdain of the idolatrous place. The garbage was burned both to control the volume of garbage and to remove the source of pestilence--rats, maggots, and flies. Eventually, the fires of Gehenna burned twenty-four-seven and, when the wind was from the right direction, Jerusalem experienced 1st century air pollution.
PUTTING UP THE WALLS
Recently, I heard an interview where the person was talking about
Christian Exceptionalism and how Christian missionary practices have created an
international climate that presumes a favored—exceptional—place in the world for
us because we’re Christian. Somehow, just being Christian means that the people
we are trying to serve must not only embrace the Good News of Jesus Christ, but
that they should do so the way we do, embracing our culture as well. They must dress
like us, think like us, govern themselves like us, and want all of the same
things we want in the world—consume like us. Dr. Winston Persaud addressed this
same concern twenty-eight years ago when he asked my seminary class, “Can we
bring the Gospel to others without bringing McDonald’s as well?”
It continues to be important to recognize Jesus’ words for us this week as post-resurrection. In addition, it is important to hear them through Paul’s vision of being in the body of Christ. In Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12, Paul limns, portrays, us, with the many spiritual gifts we have been given in community, to be the body of Christ. This corporate understanding is the body Mark reports when he recounts Jesus’ teachings concerning the hand, the foot and the eye.
If the work the communal hands are doing is not the work of the kingdom or if the hand of guidance does not lead to kingdom living, then sever relations with those people. The body of Christ remains honorable with one hand only.
If the journey of the body of Christ does not lead to the cross and resurrection, if the journey does not lead into the world of need, recognizing the suffering of the world and the healing work of raising people up into justified living in Christ, then amputate the foot. If the vision of Christ’s body does not see people like trees walking or if the vision does not include hope-filled service in the future life of Christ, then enucleate, throw it away, get glasses.
The body of Christ remains honorable one-handed, one-legged, one eyed. And if you cannot lead people into that relationship with the risen Christ, the one who suffers disability and gives it honorability, then it might be better to have, not just any millstone hung around your neck, but a millstone that is so big that it takes a donkey on a windless to turn it, and then be cast into the sea.
HANGING THE TRIM
In a post-resurrection reading, we have already seen the resurrected
body of Christ with lacerations of flogging, with nail holes in his hands and
feet, with marks from the crown of thorns, and a hole in his side from the
soldier’s spear. Now this week, we bear witness to the honorability of
disability. Life, even eternal life, gives honor to all who dwell in the body
of Christ. In the very truth of Jesus’ disabilities, we find ability and
empowerment to proclaim Christ’s justifying words and work for the sake of the
world.
No comments:
Post a Comment