ROME IMPROVEMENT 7/18/2021

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SURVEYING THE SITE—Mark 6:30-52

We, having witnessed John’s body being laid in a tomb after Herod’s birthday celebration, which included John’s head served at the banquet table, return to the disciples who had been sent out by twos into the world of ministry. Jesus’ ministry did not start until John was arrested. Similarly, the ministry of Jesus’ disciples does not start until the report of John’s death.

But wait! John’s death is recorded here because Herod mis-identifies who is resurrected. He believes that the resurrected person known as Jesus is really John, but we know that Herod is wrong. The irony is that Herod has the right idea, someone is resurrected, but he attributes the resurrection to the wrong person.

Just as in the other gospels where the ministry of the disciples does not truly begin until Jesus has been raised and the disciples have seen and touched the bodily resurrected Christ, so in Mark the disciples have not started their ministry until the people of Jesus’ hometown have declared the person in the synagogue as the carpenter (6:1-6) (cf. Matthew 28:16-20, Luke 24:13-53, John 20:19-21:25). This disbelieving hometown crowd is not rejecting the boy grown up; they are disbelieving that Jesus is risen from the tomb. They can see and touch this Jesus; and they know that he has been crucified.

Thus, their unbelief becomes the foundation of our belief. We know that the women fled from the tomb with fear and trembling telling no one (Mark 16:8); yet, we have heard and know the story: “The good news of Jesus Christ, the son of God” (Mark 1:1). So now, Jesus’ amazement at the people’s unbelief becomes the source of sending faithful disciples. Unbelief leads to God’s activity of compassionate care and grace.

READING THE BLUEPRINT

This is a long passage and translation does not greatly alter the story. Here are some things that are worth noting.

        1.  The disciples who were sent out have returned telling of what they have learned.

        2.  Jesus takes the disciples away to a deserted place, apart, by themselves Because they had no leisure to eat.

        3.  They went away in a boat to a deserted place.

        4.   The crowd interferes with time away.

        5.  Jesus has compassion on them because they are like sheep without a shepherd.

        6.  Jesus teaches and the time grows late.

        7.   The deserted place becomes the place of the crowd.

        8.   The disciples want to send them away to find food.

        9.  Jesus commands the disciples to feed the crowd.

      10.   Disciples find 5 loaves and 2 fish.

      11.  The people are gathered in 50’s and 100’s.

      12.  Jesus blesses and breaks the bread.

      13.  Jesus gives bread to disciples to set before the crowd.

      14.  Jesus divides the two fish among them all.

      15.  All eat and are satisfied.

      16.  12 serving baskets of left-over pieces gathered.

      17.  Jesus sends disciples in boat to go to the other side.

      18.  Jesus dismisses crowd and goes into hills to pray.

      19.  Evening comes, boat is on the sea, people are gone, Jesus is on land.

      20.  Disciples strain at oars against adverse wind.

      21.  Jesus walks to them, calms their fear.

      22.  Jesus gets into boat, wind ceases. (Now they are in a place, by themselves, apart.)

      23.  Disciples are astounded, confused, with hearts hardened. 

ROUGHING IN THE HOUSE

Mark uses the important images of sea and deserted place in a Genesis-sense. That is, as God’s face is upon the waters and the wind/breath of God brings forth life in Genesis, we see Jesus having the authority over new creation in Mark. As the earth is an endless void or deserted place from which creation arises, so now, Jesus takes his disciples to that place of creation possibility.

Whether the disciples are on the sea or in those deserted places, we come anticipating new life and new ways of living. Mark’s first example of this new creation image is found in Jesus’ baptism and his subsequent wilderness experience. From this creation moment, we hear what the kingdom of God looks like when it is fully engaged in repentance and belief (Mark 1:15).

I use the word “engaged” rather than “drawn near” especially in reading Mark as post-resurrection. I interpret the Greek word “ἐγγίζω” (pronounced eng-id'-zo) to say that when a part of a machine or engine, like a clutch assembly, draws near, that is, moves into position, it is able to come into operation.

This life of believing engagement, begins, in safety, along the seashore (chapter 1). It deepens with teaching and tests the depths with Jesus when he and the disciples have their first journey to the other side (chapter 4). The disciples learn to trust with Jesus when they cross again to the other side (chapter 5), learn the value of life with Jesus on the waters when they get into a boat and go to a deserted place and are sent out on the sea alone (chapter 6). Each of these sea experiences ends with earth revealing new creation possibility.

Today we witness Jesus and the disciples going out on the sea and then engaging the people on the land with compassion. This compassion leads to teaching, and the teaching leads to discipleship living. Five loaves of bread are found; Jesus blesses them and breaks them; he gives them to the disciples to set before the people.

It is this act of discipleship, the setting of food before the people, that shows us Jesus’ ministry model. Words lead to action, and action leads to more learning. Or learning leads to mission, and mission leads to learning. (WTS community: There might be a mission statement in there somewhere.)   

At the end of this reading the disciples experience “hardening of the heart”. During the first century and throughout biblical writing, the center of emotion is usually the stomach. The heart is the locus of thought. So, when hearts are hardened in the Bible, we would say that the people were not able to wrap their minds around it.

Thus, the disciples experience cannot be understood as emotional intransigence, but an extension of their amazement. They did not understand about the bread, and now Jesus has just walked on the water and calmed the storm. The disciples are having a hard time trying to appreciate the resurrected Christ in their midst. This bodily resurrection stuff is difficult to grasp.

PUTTING UP THE WALLS

At the beginning of this reading, we are told that the disciples and Jesus need to go to a place apart because they do not have the leisure to eat. In the middle of this story, we are so consumed by the eating that we forget that the disciples and Jesus are still trying to get away to a place apart. At the end of the story, Jesus and the disciples finally get to that place apart, but there are issues—adverse winds, questioning whether Jesus is a ghost, and fear and distrust. We see the disciples in that place apart, but they are amazed, not understanding about the bread, and captive to thinking in old world ways.

Yet, in between the feeding of many with bread and getting away, two fish, representing the two natures of Christ, are shared with the people. Christ is truly human and truly divine. These two natures are especially important to us in our post-bodily resurrection reality. Jesus Christ is able to be seen, heard, and touched, but, at the same time, he is beyond the constraints of the world. In this Poseidonesque saunter on the sea, Jesus both exercises his divine nature and reveals himself to be the one the disciples know. He tells them, “Do not be afraid. It’s only me—the one you know and love.”

The symbol of fish carries with it (from the Greek word “ἰχθύς”) its acronym. The first letters of the Greek words, Iesous (Iota), Christos (Chi), Theou (Theta), Uios (Upsilon), and Sotor (Sigma) are, in English, “Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior”. If, what was shared, was one great fish, we might accept the image more readily, but these two small fish that Jesus shares with the people slide by as part of the meal without recognizing the gift of Jesus’ entirety.

We work so hard to make this a miracle performed for the delight of appetite without witnessing the power of the risen Christ. We try to explain the wonder of the exemplified possibility of God’s kingdom care for God’s people in inadequate earthly ways because we are not ready to accept the presence of the resurrected Christ in our lives and the demands of living in the resurrection kingdom.

We laugh at the simpleness of the disciples while we are not willing to see their befuddlement in our discipleship today. We tend to see this meal as a prefiguring of the eucharistic meal to come rather than an extension of the table already set. In our concrete thinking, we see the end to world hunger without receiving Christ’s gift of himself—truly human and truly divine.

We ascribe a terminal action to this feeding—the day is at an end and the people are hungry, rather than appreciating that God’s creation begins in darkness. We spend endless amounts of energy trying to explain how this is possible rather than embracing the great mystery of our faith—"Christ has died. Christ is risen! Christ will come again.” We do not appreciate that this story is a story of new life ways of energized resurrection living. In short, we do not see the altar and eucharist at the center of this story.

HANGING THE TRIM

If there is in holiness a sense of being fully engaged with the world, then, when we join in singing the unending hymn of heaven, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of power and might…,” we too might sit with the disciples in amazement. We too cannot understand about the bread, and our minds cannot fully grasp the impact of God’s activity in our lives nor the capacity of God’s grace.

ROME IMPROVEMENT 7/11/2021

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

SURVEYING THE SITE—Mark 6:14-29

At an early age, maybe during catechism, I was told, “If you read the whole Bible, you will read about the whole human condition.” Whoever told me this also went into the various kinds of literature presented, history, poetry, wisdom literature, romance, war, biography, prophecy, and fantasy. The one genre left out of the list was pornography. This week’s text brings us one of the most obscene stories in all of scripture. It explores the depravity of Roman power, abuse of power, and indifference to life. It is the description of one of two meals in this chapter, Herod’s Birthday Banquet; the other is the Feeding of the 5,000. It continues Mark’s exploration of the difference Jesus’ presence makes in a world of death and the abundance of life.

READING THE BLUEPRINT

And King Herod heard, for [Jesus’] name became apparent/visible/well known/a household word. And they were saying, “John the Baptist has risen out of death, and because of this, these powers are at work in him.” Others were saying that this is Elijah, and [still] others were saying that this is a prophet like one of the prophets. Having heard, Herod was saying, “John whom I beheaded, he is risen.” For Herod himself had sent [for] and forcibly seized/arrested John and bound him in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of Philip, his brother, because [Herod] married [Herodias]. For John was saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to take your brother’s wife,” because Herodias was begrudging [John] and was desiring to kill him and was not able. Because Herod was afeared of John, knowing that he was a righteous man and holy, and kept him safe. And having heard [John], [Herod] felt greatly conflicted yet gladly heard from him. And there came into being a timely day when Herod for his natal anniversary prepared a feast for his betters, his military commanders, the high politicos of Galilee; and entering in, the daughter of Herself, Herodias, having danced, pleased/accommodated Herod and those reclining with him; and the king was saying to the too young girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it you.” And he promised her [repeatedly], “Whatever you wish I will give to you, even half of my kingdom.” And having gone out, she said to her mother, “What should I ask?” Then she said, “The head of John the Baptizer.” And having entered immediately with haste to the king, she asked, saying, “I desire that at once you give to me, on a platter, the head of John the baptizer. And the king, having been made overwhelmingly sad, because of his promises and those reclining with him, not desiring to disregard her. And immediately, the king, having sent an executioner [who was] commanded to bring his head. And going out, he beheaded him in the prison, and he brought his head on a platter and gave it to the too young girl and the too young girl gave it to her mother.

Hearing of it, [John’s] disciples came. They took his corpse and laid it in a tomb.

ROUGHING IN THE HOUSE

My first experience of this story as something other than a conflicted Bible story came when I had to read “Three Tales” by Gustave Flaubert.  The third tale, “Herodias”, introduced me to an extra-biblical understanding. Much earlier, on Spring vacation in Florida, after suffering an extreme sunburn and being told to limit my exposure to the sun for a while, Mom took my sister and me to the John Ringling North estate near Sarasota.

The day was memorable for me for several reasons. I was given my mom’s “Brownie” camera and allowed to take my first picture. It was my first close up experience of gargoyles. During the tour of the mansion, I developed this intense itching and had to scratch my back almost continuously. As I scratched my back, huge flakes of skin rubbed off and fell out of my shirt tail onto the burgundy thick-piled carpeting. It was embarrassing, and I remember very little of the house because of the trail of dead skin I left behind.

Yet, when we got to North’s art gallery, I saw a picture of John the Baptist’s head on a large silver serving platter. The head sort of looked like John Ringling North to me. I remember asking Mom if that was how he died. People around me laughed, and Mom said, “No. That’s John the Baptist.” Later I found out that this was a very famous painting, but I was only impressed by how gruesome it was. Sixty-one years later, I can still tell you about the details of that picture, and the images of the gargoyles still visit me in my dreams from time-to-time.

Since then, I have learned several other things beyond the gruesomeness of the beheading itself:

—If an older brother died and he had no son, then the younger brother, if unmarried, was to marry the older brother’s wife in order that a boy should be born.

—In some parts of the Middle East, serving a sheep or goat head, fully roasted on a platter, is a great delicacy reserved for dignitaries.

—Dancing entertainment for private parties was provided by young women as a way of titillating the honoree and guests at state banquets.

—Offering half of the king’s kingdom is a common trope in folk tales concerned with marrying of the king’s daughter. (This reward usually comes with a number of tests for the suiter.)

These themes and more come together in this story in a way that twists them into something horribly wrong. Herod’s birthday party is supposed to be a day of celebrating life and his authority as the Tetrarch of Judea. Instead, it becomes a macabre disaster. Herod’s marriage is declared unlawful—he is the older brother, not the younger, and his brother hasn’t died. The dancer is not a young woman, but a little girl. The delicacy served on the platter is the bloody head of the prophet, and Herod’s reputation as a Roman sycophant becomes that of a ruthless killer. In the midst of obscene opulence and greed, we find this story of gluttony and of prurient and salacious over-reaching.

PUTTING UP THE WALLS

There is no indication that there is anything historic about this story, so what is Mark’s purpose in telling it? In this gruesome tale, I believe Mark sets out to warn of the traps of corrupt power and self-aggrandizement, those worldly temptations. As Jesus began his ministry with forty days in the wilderness where he was tempted, so now, when the disciples are sent out, the temptation of worldly power is set before them.

The question of who Jesus is and Herod’s conclusion speak of John’s popularity in his day, but Herod does not understand the true Messiah and the resurrected Christ. His misplaced belief leads to the goblins of superstition and imprudent behaviors exposing the rot and decadence of Roman imperial ways vs the compassionate care of God’s kingdom that has drawn near.

This meal will be juxtaposed with the feeding of the five thousand and the feeding of the four thousand in the weeks to come. This bankrupt banquet will be followed by the abundance of God’s kingdom and reflects the meal of bread and wine that Jesus shares with his disciples.

HANGING THE TRIM

Herod is so enamored of Salome’s dance that he offers her half of his kingdom. Even in a world of wealth, the offer is for only a portion of what the king controls, but God offers us everything. Not only are we given the whole of creation, but we are also given everlasting life. God’s presence is here with us now, in this place, through the waters of baptism, and God promises to be present to us throughout eternity. 

ROME IMPROVEMENT 7/4/2021

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SURVEYING THE SITE—Mark 6:1-13

Last week, when Jesus returned from the land of the Gerasenes, the crowd gathered around him beside the sea. Jairus came and begged Jesus to come to save his daughter. The crowd impeded Jesus on the way to Jairus’ house and a woman with a hemorrhage was made whole. Jesus finally arrived at Jairus’ house after Jairus’ daughter was dead, but, at the end of the account, the young girl was walking about, and Jesus told her family to give her something to eat.

This week, Jesus returns to his fatherland where he encounters pushback concerning his place among the hometown people.

READING THE BLUEPRINT

He left there and came to the fatherland of him, and his disciples follow him. Sabbath, having been created again, Jesus started to teach in the synagogue. Many, hearing him, were shocked, saying, “From where [do] these [teachings] come, and what [is] the wisdom having been given to him? And the powerful deeds that come into being by his hands? Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary, the womb-sharer of James and Justus and Juda and Simon? And are not his female womb-sharers here with us?” They were scandalized in him.

And Jesus was saying to them, “No prophet is without honor (celebrity?) except in the fatherland of him, and in his relatives and in the household of him.” And he was not able to do any powerful deeds there. But on a few feeble he laid his hands in caring, and [Jesus] was amazed at their disbelief. [And so,] he was going around the villages teaching.

And he calls before him the twelve and began to send them two-by-two and gave to them the authority over the unclean spirits. [Jesus] charged them in order that they should take nothing for the journey except a walking stick only—no bread, no bag/bindle, nor a money belt, but, strapping on sandals and not to put on two tunics.

And [Jesus] was saying to them, “Wherever you would enter a house, there remain until you would leave from there. And whatever place would not receive you, nor hear you, be walking away from there. Shake off the dust from under your feet as a witness to them. So having gone out, they proclaimed in order that all should repent/change the way they think about the world.  And many demons they were casting out and were anointing many who were sick/feeble/infirm and laid hands upon them in caring.

ROUGHING IN THE HOUSE

There are clearly two parts to this week’s reading. (1) The crowd discounts Jesus’ authority, and (2) Jesus sends the twelve into a disbelieving world of ministry. Less obviously, this passage prepares us for kingdom banquets to come—one of obscene worldly power for a privileged few and another more common meal of abundance for many. The first is in a palace where death is the program, and the other is in a deserted place of new creation living.

The two parts of this week’s passage set the stage for the banquets to come. There is the questioning, disbelieving community, and there is the faithful, following community. What at first glance appears disjointed gives continuity to what will follow.

In the background, the identity of who Jesus is continues to present a challenge. If this is the hometown boy made good, then why are they offended by his teaching, wisdom, and mighty deeds? If this is the bodily resurrected Christ, then there might be some reason for them to wonder at his presence— “We knew you when you were one of us. We mourned when you were crucified. Who do you think you are? Trying to tell us that you are the one we have known? We know you to be a carpenter, a worker with wood, but you come speaking parables and poetry, singing songs of hope. You assume the authorship of life, but we suspect that you are a plotter, conniver, and insurrectionist.

What might our response be to the bodily resurrected Jesus in our lives? Will we have faith and believe? Or will we scoff and suspect? It can’t be both ways. In these thirteen verses, Mark forces the choice.

Will we, with the crowd, continue to bind the strong man as we hang onto only what we know? Or will we trust and go into the world around us, there bearing witness to the liberating world of the resurrection and the hope-filled possibilities of God’s reign in our midst?

PUTTING UP THE WALLS

A friend of mine, who went on retreat to a Lakota reservation, went with a sense that he was going to bring something to the people on the reservation. Things did not go the way he had thought they would, and so he was surprised one day when he and his group were talking with some of the Lakota people.

Part of their conversation that day included this from a Lakota person, “You come to us with your cup full thinking that you have something to give. We wish that you would come with your cup less full so that you had some room in your cup to receive.”

When we enter into relationships believing that our status in that relationship will always be the same, we prevent our relationships from growing. When our expectations of those around us remain constant, we reject the possibility of change. When we believe that we have the abundance that others need, we deprive ourselves of receiving from the abundance of others.

We have been taught as children that it is better to give than to receive, but we need to learn to be present with one another and be willing to receive what others can give. When we learn to receive the hospitality of others, we also learn how to be hospitable to those around us. We can’t be the only ones talking in the room. Sometimes we need to listen.

If it is only about what we bring to the altar, then we can’t appreciate the gifts Christ brings for us. We are called to come with our cups half-full, so that there is some room to receive. Then we can share what we have together.

HANGING THE TRIM

Jesu, Jesu, help us to receive the gifts from our neighbors we have in you.

ROME IMPROVEMENT 6/27/2021

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SURVEYING THE SITE—Mark 5:21-43

After teaching in Chapter Four, Jesus tells his disciples to go over to the “other side”. There the disciples learn some things about themselves—whether they are ready to commit to Jesus’ teaching and whether they can fully trust Jesus in a world of impending death.

Gerasa is one of the cities of the Decapolis, an area of status and privilege where elite and ranking Roman soldiers are billeted. There Jesus encounters a man who lives among the dead, who is part of the Roman world, suffering from the violence of Rome.

A Roman legion was comprised of 4,000 to 6,000 soldiers. So, the number of unclean spirits is sizeable when they claim the name of Legion. The mascot or emblem of some Roman legions was the boar, an unclean animal for Jews. This symbol of strength for the Romans was the sacred animal of Mars, the god of war. It is thus ironic that the legion of unclean spirits enters the swine, and they rush to the sea and drown.

This is but one of several allusions to Rome and its deathlike oppression in this passage. Confronting these images of chaos, violence, oppression and death, Jesus brings new life, “right-mindedness”, compassion, and order—resurrection. Jesus’ authority over the unclean spirits frightens the people of Gerasa, and they beg him to leave. He then crosses over again “to the other side” encountering more death.

With each crossing over to the “other side”, we are challenged to consider what life is like without the resurrected Jesus’ presence in our lives: perishing in the storm, howling and bruising ourselves among the dead, illness leading to death, and social shunning (an isolating death). We are reminded to let go of fear, to trust—easier said than done.

READING THE BLUEPRINT

Rather than translate the passage this week, I would like to explore two ideas. First is the purpose and the function of the crowd both in this passage as well as throughout Mark’s Gospel. In Mark 3:27, we heard the parable of Binding the Strong Man. Until this year, I had never thought of the fact that the crowd constantly tries to bind Jesus, and Jesus is constantly breaking the fetters of their binding.

Yes, the crowd “binds” Jesus; it leaves him without space in the house (2:2) and on the shore (3:9). It prevents him from being able to eat bread (3:20) and from being able to stay (5:17). The crowd impedes his progress (5:24b) and laughs at him (5:40). They take offense at him (6:3), arrest him (14:43ff), and ultimately demand his crucifixion (15:14).

The other concept is crossing to “the other side.” It is easily understood to describe the geographical crossing of the Sea of Galilee, but when looking at the “other side” passages (4:35, 5:1, 5:21, 6:45, 8:13), it appears that Jesus ends these passages on the “other side” one too many times unless these “other side” journeys are spiritual rather than physical. If Jesus is the place of life, resurrection, and hope, then the “other side” is that which opposes that life, and we, with the disciples, explore those places of death, or non-life, with Jesus, discovering the breadth and scope of his authority, compassion, and mercy.

In the activity of the crowd and the “other side” passages, we witness that, despite the crowd’s attempt to bind, the resurrected Jesus continues to expand the community of new resurrection living, reaching out to those on the “other side”. In the coming chapters, Jesus will exercise extreme mercy on the crowds by having compassion for them and feeding them.

ROUGHING IN THE HOUSE

Leaving the Gerasenes, Jesus and his disciples cross over to the “other side” where a great crowd awaits him beside the sea. It is as if they would prevent him from coming ashore. In this crowd, Jairus comes begging for Jesus to come to his daughter.

When the crowds would impede Jesus’ progress, a woman finds the opportunity to touch his robe and receive wholeness.

When the slaves of Jairus’ house come and say that his daughter is dead, Jesus is not stopped. He continues to the house, saying that Jairus need not fear, only have faith, the very thing the disciples were not able to do in the storm on the sea. Jesus takes the little girl’s hand and says “Talitha cumi,” words of resurrection and prophetic calling. She gets up and he commands them to give her something to eat.

Colossians 1:18 claims Jesus the first-born of the dead. Therefore, the events in this passage must occur after Jesus’ resurrection. Thus, it is the resurrected Jesus who continues to make the reign of God known by raising people up. He claims the woman with hemorrhages as “daughter”, and, Jairus’ daughter, Jesus calls as “prophet”.

PUTTING UP THE WALLS

When I was young, I had a Tommy-Tippy cup. It was supposed to keep me from spilling. It was not successful at doing that, but on the side of the cup was a picture of Tommy-Tippy holding a Tommy-Tippy cup with a picture of Tommy-Tippy holding a Tommy-Tippy cup. It was my first experience of infinity. Just how many Tommy-Tippys could there possibly be?

For me, the mystery of infinity and the relationship between the here-and-now and the there-and-there have always been tied to that reddish-bottomed cup with the cream-colored sides and the reddish cap with the bear and cup picture on the side.

In the same way, we see the bodily resurrected Jesus holding the people needing resurrection who are holding onto the bodily resurrected Jesus who continues to raise up those who need to be resurrected. It is this bodily resurrected Jesus who continues to proclaim and reveal the good news for all people.

This good news cannot be bound, hidden under a bushel, or meted out by measures. Instead, it is like seeds that produce with abundance, brings order on the seas of chaos, and brings life to those who rave among the dead, suffer illness and death, or find themselves with chronic conditions that result in shunning and isolation. Jesus is the one who the crowd would bind but then find that the shackles of this world are incapable of binding.

Instead, Jesus’ resurrection limits/binds the power of sin and death. Since the threat of death is no longer a threat, Jesus is able to stand against the forces of death. He is able to be fearless, and he invites us into that place of infinite, eternal life, trusting new life, resurrection living.

HANGING THE TRIM

“Rise up, O Saints of God! From vain ambitions turn;

Christ rose triumphant that your hearts with nobler zeal might burn.

Speak out, O Saints of God! Despair engulfs earth’s frame;

As heirs of God’s baptismal grace, the word of hope proclaim.

 

Give heed, O Saints of God! Creation cries in pain;

Stretch forth your hand of healing now, with love the weak sustain.

 

Commit your hearts to seek the paths which Christ has trod;

And, quickened by the Spirit’s power, rise up, O Saints of God!”

(Norman O. Forness)

ROME IMPROVEMENT 06/20/2021

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 SURVEYING THE SITE—Mark 4:35-41

It’s been a long day at the academy. Jesus has been teaching his disciples—those who have followed him down from the hills and those whom he named in the hills. He has gathered at the seashore, and when the crowd grew, he got into a boat and has been teaching ever since. Now evening has come; Jesus is exhausted. He sends the crowd away and tells his disciples, “Go over to the other side.”

READING THE BLUEPRINT

And [Jesus] says to them in that day when evening had begun, “Let us go over to the other side.” And sending the crowd away, they took him with themselves since he was in the boat, and other boats were with him. And a great storm of wind came into being, and the waves threw themselves upon and into the boat so that the boat was already filling. But Jesus, in the stern, was on the cushion sleeping. [The disciples] waked him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we perish?”

Having been awoken, he rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Silence! Put a muzzle on it!” And the wind halted, and a great calm came into being. [Jesus] said to the [disciples], “Why are you such nervous Nellies? Have you no trust yet?”

And they feared, greatly feared; [the disciples] were saying to one another, “Who then is this that even the wind and the sea listen to him?”

ROUGHING IN THE HOUSE

The purpose of learning is to be able to act knowledgeably. Jesus has been teaching his disciples and the crowd, and now it is time to put what they have learned into action. In following passages, we will learn that the Gerasene demoniac gets it. Jairus gets it. The woman with hemorrhages gets it. Jairus’ daughter exemplifies it, but the disciples don’t get it yet.

When one is living in the world of life and safety, going to the other side puts one in the world of death and insecurity. When one travels from one parallel universe to another, there is bound to be a cosmic storm. In that place where the positives and the negatives get a chance to meet, lightning, thunder, maybe even explosions, will occur.

“Let us go over to the other side,” Jesus says. For the one who has already been there, this journey has an already known result—life. But for those who have not known the other side, death seems inevitable— “Do you not care that we are perishing?”

After hearing that this is the Good News of Jesus Christ, the son of God (1:1) and that we are to “repent and believe IN the Good News” (1:15), we discover that the disciples are not internalizing what they have learned. They are not hearing the Good News. Seed is cast upon the ground. The seed dies to itself in order that new life can be known. The seed grows into a plant that is harvested, that is, the plant is killed in order for the seed to give life again. The plant grows into a place of refuge and sanctuary for all of creation. “Let those who have ears see what they hear.”

I know that I have thrown all of the ingredients of the previous verses into one bowl and kneaded them to be a loaf of something that needs to rest and rise, but we are talking about the resurrection here. The bodily, resurrected, Good News-bearing Son of God is standing before the disciples, and we, the reader/hearers see it, but the disciples are still not there—"Who then is this that even the wind and the sea listen to him?”.

PUTTING UP THE WALLS

It is fun to laugh at the disciples in Mark. After all, we know what they apparently don’t. Yet, when we go over to the other side, we find ourselves in similar places of fear and concern. Let’s face it; we are scared half-to-death.

In the safety of our boats—our churches, our denominations, our gatherings of like-minded people—we hear Jesus’ command to go to the other side and take Jesus with us since he is in the boat with us, but, when we realize that the other side might mean the neighborhood across our street, we begin to know self-doubt and fear. After all, we might have to deal with mental illness, poverty, anger, dissolution, chronic illness, and death. We may even encounter new ideas that threaten to capsize our boat requiring us to state in whom we trust—scary stuff.

When the great winds of change blow, stormy seas of discontent will throw themselves into our places of safety. We will wish for those places of refuge, but let us be perfectly clear about this, as frightening as the storm may be, great calm can be just as scary. Then, sailing is no longer possible. Then, it is time to row. Many a sailing vessel has lost all on board because of great calm. There is a reason it is known as a dead calm.

Stories like this, stories of Poseidon and Neptune, may have been known. These capricious gods caused storms to rise up against sailors and created superstitious behaviors of fear and panic. Yet, this story of storm upon the sea is not about capricious acts that inflict pain and fear. This story is told to imagine a world of confidence and trust. We are challenged, with the disciples, to trust God’s activity in our lives, to stand firm in the midst of change, and dare to go to the other side in order to know the wholeness of Christ’s presence among us.

HANGING THE TRIM

In this text we are told of great winds, great calm, and great fear. What we are called to is everyday courage and trust.

Alternative Readings for Year B

After preaching three cycles of Year B with its repetitive nature in John 6, I looked at the parts of Mark we never get to preach. I believe these texts are important for understanding the totality of the Gospel of Mark. Therefore I put together this mini-alternative lectionary in place of those assigned summer readings. It offers the opportunity to reflect and preach on some texts we would never hear in public worship. Preaching these texts fills in the Markan gaps in the RCL and then smoothly joins back at Lectionary 25, Proper 20. In order to accomplish this, 9 weeks are involved because of the need to re-order some of Mark already in the RCL.

Although I think the Feeding of the 5000 and the Bread of Life texts in John are important to know and worthy of occasional preaching, I believe the richness of Mark in the texts commonly avoided is valuable to preach the abundance and generosity of God given in Mark. There are two frames, the feeding of the crowds in chapters six and eight and the healing of the blind man in chapter 8 with the healing of Bartimaeus in chapter 10. I discussed this further in my article “Rethinking the Gospel of Mark: Resurrection Narrative as Epic” (Scripture for Christ's Time: Reading Year B; Currents in Theology and Mission, the Theological Journal of the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago and Wartburg Theological Seminary (WTS), Vol 41 No 6 (2014).

When reading the texts of the Feeding of the 5000 and the Feeding of the 4000 please note the baskets, both in number and size.  

Readings for Sundays after Pentecost -- 2021

8^th Sunday after Pentecost                   in place of Lectionary 16, Proper 11

 INTRODUCTION

Mark’s gospel makes clear how great was the press of the crowd, with its countless needs to be met, on Jesus and his disciples. Yet in today’s gospel Jesus advises his disciples to get away and rest, to take care of themselves. Sometimes we think that when others are in great need, we shouldn’t think of ourselves at all, but Jesus also honors the caregivers’ need. We are sent from Christ’s table to care for others and for ourselves.

Numbers 27:15-21 (NRSV)                    

Ephesians 2:11-22 (NRSV)

Mark 6:30-52 (NRSV)                           

 

9^th Sunday after Pentecost                    in place of Lectionary 17, Proper 12

 

INTRODUCTION

In today’s texts we are shown how easily we are distracted from God’s plan for us. Indeed, our concern for ourselves scatters the sheep of God’s flock and prevents us from meeting the needs of others. We get caught up in saying the right words and using the right customs, discounting the needs of our world. In Ephesians we hear a prayer for our ability to focus on the important things in life, that we will receive greater knowledge for the kingdom of God. In the midst of our complicated world, we are reassured in these texts that, in spite of our failings, God continues to work in the world and creates wholeness in our brokenness.

Jeremiah 23:1-6 (NRSV)                                  

Ephesians 3:14-21 (NRSV)

Mark 6:53-7:13 (NRSV)                                   

  

10^th Sunday after Pentecost                  in place of Lectionary 18, Proper 13

 

INTRODUCTION

How often have we wished God would just come down and take care of it all—all the pain, the injustice, the sorrow and grief! In today’s readings we hear the cry of the Israelites calling for God to do just that. In Ephesians we hear God has already come and knit us into an amazing gift for the world. In Mark we find we are not so sure we want to receive the gift of wholeness that Christ offers but instead defile the gift and find ways to promote self-interest disregarding what is outside.

 

Isaiah 64:1-6 (NRSV)

Ephesians 4:1-16 (NRSV)

Mark 7:14-23 (NRSV)

 

11^th Sunday after Pentecost                  in place of Lectionary 19, Proper 14

 

INTRODUCTION

In today’s Old Testament and Gospel readings we witness the love and persistence of mothers and what they are willing to do for their children. We witness their faith and their courage that defy the powers of the world and challenge God. Persistence is shown to be a holy attribute. The people of Ephesus are assured of God’s love and encouraged to care for one another, to be imitators of God.  

2 Kings 4:17-37 (NRSV) abridged

Ephesians 4:25-5:2 (NRSV)

Mark 7:24-30 (NRSV)

 

¹⁷ The [Shunammite] woman conceived and bore a son at that season, in due time, as Elisha had declared to her.

¹⁸ When the child was older, he went out one day to his father among the reapers. ¹⁹ He complained to his father, “Oh, my head, my head!” The father said to his servant, “Carry him to his mother.” ²⁰ He carried him and brought him to his mother; the child sat on her lap until noon, and he died. ²¹ She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, ….²⁴ Then she saddled the donkey and said to her servant, “Urge the animal on; do not hold back for me unless I tell you.” ²⁵ So she set out, and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel.

…. ²⁷ When she came to the man of God at the mountain, she caught hold of his feet. Gehazi [his servant] approached to push her away. But the man of God said, “Let her alone, for she is in bitter distress; the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me.” ²⁸ Then she said, “Did I ask my lord for a son? Did I not say, ‘Do not mislead me?’” ….³⁰ Then the mother of the child said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave without you.” So he rose up and followed her. …. 

³² When Elisha came into the house, he saw the child lying dead on his bed. ³³ So he went in and closed the door on the two of them, and prayed to the Lord. ³⁴ Then he got up on the bed and lay upon the child, putting his mouth upon his mouth, his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands; and while he lay bent over him, the flesh of the child became warm. ³⁵ He got down, walked once to and fro in the room, then got up again and bent over him; the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. ³⁶ Elisha summoned Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunammite woman.” ….” ³⁷ She came and fell at his feet, bowing to the ground; then she took her son and left.

12^th Sunday after Pentecost                  in place of Lectionary 20, Proper 15

 

INTRODUCTION

Today in 1 Kings and Mark, God comes to us in silence and speaks to us in ways that we can hear. In Ephesians we are told to be thankful at all times. God does not always come to us in ways we expect, but we are to live our lives being prepared for God’s presence and in thanksgiving.

 

1 Kings 19:11-13a (NRSV)

Ephesians 5:15-20 (NRSV)

Mark 7:31-37 (NRSV)

13^th Sunday after Pentecost                  in place of Lectionary 21, Proper 16

 INTRODUCTION

In today’s readings, we are confronted with people who believe we live in a world of scarcity, that there is not enough to go around. Elisha and Jesus both say trust in God and serve the people. There isn’t enough until you serve them. God’s abundance begins in service. In Ephesians we are told to put on the armor of God so that in the Spirit we may act boldly. All things are possible in Christ Jesus. 

2 Kings 4:42-44 (NRSV)

Ephesians 6:10-20 (NRSV)

Mark 8:1-13 (NRSV)

14^th Sunday after Pentecost                  in place of Lectionary 22, Proper 17

 

INTRODUCTION

In today’s texts we learn God’s law is not external to us but part of the very fabric of our lives. God’s law and wisdom for us is revealed in the way we live with our neighbors, implanted in our hearts for deeds and words of love and concern. God’s word for us is not something to be withheld or treated as a finite commodity but shared with extravagance for the sake of the world. With the very little that we have, God’s abundance continues to overflow the baskets of our lives.

Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9 (NRSV)

James 1:17-27 (NRSV)

Mark 8:14–21 (NRSV)

 

15^th Sunday after Pentecost                  in place of Lectionary 23, Proper 18

 

INTRODUCTION

As we prepare for worship this morning, look around. What does God’s kingdom look like here? As always, God’s people are a mixed group: we are of different faith traditions, come from many walks of life, some wealthier, some struggling with sorrow and grief; some unemployed; some overworked. Yet Christ invites us all to come and know God’s judgment of mercy, to see God’s kingdom with clarity, and to know God’s presence revealed to us in Jesus the Christ. In Christ’s healing presence, we see the world in new ways of hope and possibility.

 

Isaiah 35:4-7a (NRSV)

James 2:1-17 (NRSV)

Mark 8:22-30 (NRSV)

 

16^th Sunday after Pentecost                  in place of Lectionary 24, Proper 19

 

INTRODUCTION

In this week’s texts, the role of teacher is emphasized. In Isaiah we hear of the tongue of the teacher, the gift of explaining things and the willingness to suffer on behalf of the other. In James we hear cautionary words emphasizing the responsibility that teachers have for the care of their students. And in the gospel, Mark tells us of Jesus teaching his disciples and the crowd “the way of the cross”. As our school year begins, let us think about the examples of teachers in our lives. (from Sundays and Seasons)

Isaiah 50:4-9a (NRSV)

James 3:1-12 (NRSV)

Mark 8:31-9:1 (NRSV)

ROME IMPROVEMENT 6/13/2021

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

 SURVEYING THE SITE—Mark 4:21-34

Between where we were last week and where we are this week is the parable of the sower. You know how it goes. A sower went out to sow, and he threw seed everywhere. He had mixed results. If you want to know more, you can read all about it at the beginning of chapter four.

After explaining everything to his disciples, Jesus makes a few oblique statements. Then he begins to tell us something about the kingdom or reign of God. Let’s listen.

READING THE BLUEPRINT

And Jesus was saying to them, “The lamp is not brought in in order that it might be put under the basket or under the bed/couch instead of putting it on the lampstand. Nothing is hidden when it is made visible; nor is anything secret when brought to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let that one hear. [Hear, O Israel, the Lord is one.]

And [Jesus] was saying to them, “See what you hear. With what measure you measure, it will be measured to you. And more will be added to you. Whoever has, more will come. And the one who has not, even what that one has will be taken away.” [“And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.” (‘The End’ by John Lennon and Paul Mccartney on ‘Abbey Road’)]

And he was saying, “Thus is the reign of God, like a man were to throw spore upon the earth and then should sleep and rise night and day, and the spore explode and grow. How [this happens] the man does not know. Of itself, the earth brings forth fruit—first a plant, then an ear, and then the fulfillment of the grain in the ear. Then, when [the plant] offers the fruit, immediately, he sends the sickle for the harvest [time] has come.

And he was saying, “In what way could we compare the reign of God? Or, in what parable should we present it? As to a grain of mustard, when it has been sown upon the earth, it is the least valuable of all the seeds upon the earth, and when it has been sown, it grows up and becomes the largest of the garden plants, and makes great branches, so that the birds of the air can tent under the shadow of it.”

And, with many such parables, he kept speaking to them the Word as they were able to hear. Apart from parables he would not speak to them; but in private, however, to his own disciples, he would explain all things.

ROUGHING IN THE HOUSE

If I am right and these readings are about the resurrected Jesus, then the light of the lamp might be a simile for Jesus. If you know about the resurrected Jesus and he were standing there in front of you, you wouldn’t want to deny him, hide his presence in the world, or renounce him, would you? You wouldn’t want to pretend that the resurrection had not occurred, would you? You would want people to know that God, whose presence was known but not seen, has been made visible, wouldn’t you? These verses seem to be bursting with Good News.

We all know that, according to the Bureau of Weights and Measures, a measure is a measure and that, when you barter, you get equal value for equal value, right? We know that we live in a world of the “rich get richer and the poor get poorer,” right?

PUTTING UP THE WALLS

With these parables, Jesus challenges us to reconsider the world we live in. Are we lifting up the light of Christ onto the lampstand? We are called to literally see what we have only heard in the past. We are called to encounter God’s word made visible, to get out of our boxes and concrete thinking. The world is not about measuring things out; it is not about bean-counting. It is not about accumulating at the expense of others. It is not about feathering our nests.

These verses between the parable of the sower and the passages of sowing and growing turn the expectations of the world and success upside-down. This week we witness a sower who is unaware of the spores that he sows; and yet, when the harvest appears in front of him, he takes advantage of it. He programs his “robotic” sickle to go out into the field because it is harvest time. He does nothing for the harvest he receives.

The measure he has given is returned to him with abundance. God’s grace, God’s undeserved love, overflows in us like the waters from the buckets in the “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's. Once it has started in us, it can’t be stopped. The more you share God’s love, the more it grows.

Indeed, if that is what the reign of God is like, then you might compare it to an invasive weed that grows into a protective environment for God’s creatures where the disenfranchised find a place to tent, to belong, to find refuge from the “Have Gots” among God’s justified people of the “Have Nots”.

It is always amazing to me that Jesus tells parables “as the people are able to hear them”. So far, it has taken me sixty-nine years to find resolution here, and I’m still not sure I fully understand. But I do think that hearing the resurrected Jesus tell these parables makes more sense. Maybe the Messianic Secret isn’t really so secret after all: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. Alleluia!

HANGING THE TRIM

Maybe we need to spend less time trying to make things happen and more time sharing the abundance of God’s love for us: “What a wonderful world this would be.” (Sam Cooke, et al.)

We do not do what we do in order to be saved. We do what we do BECAUSE we are saved.

ROME IMPROVEMENT 6/6/2021

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

SURVEYING THE SITE—Mark 3:20-35

Finally, we are back in the gospel of Mark. In our last Markan reading, in April, Jesus was at home, So many people had packed into the house there was no room for Jesus and his disciples, and a paralytic was being lowered through the roof because it was the only way to get to Jesus. When Jesus says, “Son, your sins are forgiven,” the scribes make charges of blasphemy because “no one can forgive sins except God alone.” With words of resurrection, Jesus tells the paralyzed man to, "Rise. Take up your mat. Go home.”

This week we again see Jesus at home. Again, the house is packed; Jesus and the disciples cannot even eat, and the scribes are still trying to restrict the deeds and teaching of Jesus. Jesus teaches in spite of their censure. If this is part of the resurrection narrative of Mark, then, although the scribes and others still attempt to limit Jesus’ activity, Jesus, who has already broken the bonds and bounds of death, is now immune to their challenge.

Thus, not limited by the scribes et al, Jesus welcomes those around him into this new relationship of resurrection freedom. Jesus invites tax collectors and sinners to join the throng, makes a man with a withered hand whole, and then, calls twelve disciples of questionable reputation to be his most immediate companions in ministry. Throughout, the demons continue to recognize the risen Christ and His authority while the world only knows the bodily-resurrected Jesus. He is truly human and truly divine.

READING THE BLUEPRINT

[After going up into the hills and naming his twelve disciples, Jesus] comes into a house and the crowd gathered again, so that they are not able bread to eat. And having heard, his people came out to hold fast to him; they were saying, “He is outside of himself.” And the scribes, having come down from Jerusalem, were saying, “He has Beelzebul,” and, “In the ruler of the demons, he casts out demons.” And having called to them, in parables he was saying to them, “How is Satan able to cast out Satan? And when a kingdom, against itself, is divided, that kingdom is not able to stand. And when a house is divided against itself, the house is not able to stand. So, when Satan rises against himself, he cannot stand but has an end. But no one having entered the house of the strong one is powerful enough to plunder his goods unless first he might bind the strong one. And then, the house of him he will plunder.

Truly, I say to you, that all will be forgiven to the sons of men, those times of missing the mark (sins) and slowness to name evil (blasphemies) when they were being slow to name evil. But whoever would be slow to call the Breath/Spirit the Good does not have forgiveness into the ages but is bound to perpetually missing the mark. [Jesus said this] because [the scribes] were saying, “He has an unclean Spirit.”

And coming to him were his mother and those of the same womb, brothers and sisters, and resolutely standing outside, sent for him calling him. Seated around him was the crowd saying to him, “See your mother and those who came from the same womb, your brothers and sisters, are seeking you out.” And answering them he says, “Who is my mother and those who have come from the same womb, my brothers and my sisters?” And having looked around those who were sitting around him, he says, “See my mother and those who came from the same womb, my brothers and my sisters! Whoever might do the will of God, that is my womb sharers, my brothers and my sisters, and my mother.”

ROUGHING IN THE HOUSE

In chapter two, when the crowd was so great that there was no room for them even at the door, the friends of the paralytic find a way from above for wholeness to be known. Now, in chapter three, there is no room for them to eat bread, which is at the heart of the Eucharist.

Although this crowding is often thought of as adulation, as a pre-crucifixion event, it is part of binding the strong man of the parable who is perceived as Jesus. As such, these crowd scenes may have something to do with the rejection of Jesus in the trial and an unwillingness to receive the new covenant Eucharist. It is a scene of adulation only as a post-resurrection event. Only then is it truly indicative of the desire of the people to follow Jesus and acknowledge the good news of Jesus’ bodily resurrection.

There is no room for resurrection and the hope of new life while the boot of Rome is upon their necks; there can be no understanding of eucharist (thanksgiving) in a world of oppression. Only after the resurrection can we realize that the fear of the scribes and the crowd are the strong man that needs to be bound. Subservience binds us to fear and death, but in the resurrection, this binding is removed.

This resurrection knowledge turns the world upside down. To have hope in times of despair is craziness when the powers create fear and death. But, in the resurrection, hope liberates us from the power of the scribes and the crowds, those who would silence the words of God’s justice. It’s enough to make someone speak out and act out against the injustices of the world.

When his people, his family, hears about the injustice of not allowing the eating of bread, they hold fast to him saying, “He is outside of himself.” In a pre-crucifixion world, we may read this as, “[Jesus] is crazy”, and there it might be true, but, in a post-resurrection world, the statement of being outside of himself might be a statement of fact. Jesus, in the truly human, bodily resurrected person, is beyond the constraints of the world. He is “outside of himself” and outside the judgments of the scribes.

The demons know he is not crazy; they know who he is. Even though Jesus will not let them speak, they continue to tell the hearers of Mark’s Gospel, “We know who [he is], the Holy One, of God.” and “[He is] the Son of God!”. Jesus’ resurrected presence is known by the spiritual forces of evil, but there is not yet room for that knowledge in the hearts and minds of all the people.

Still there is the desire—inquiring minds want to know, but they are skeptics. Among them are the scribes valiantly holding onto the promises of Torah, certainly not ready to recognize the new covenant of bread eating. Rather than believing that God can do something new, they charge Jesus with being part of Beelzebul—a hoax, false news, an alternate truth. They are slow to name the evil of their world and are reticent to acknowledge the engaged breath and life-giving relationship of wholeness that the resurrected Jesus can give.

This claim against the resurrected Jesus leads to understanding that because Satan, the antagonist, cannot defy the condition of the world, i.e., that the threat of death and condemnation no longer is binding, then the time of Satan’s authority is not eternal; it has an end. Indeed, Satan’s authority is ended. Division can only lead to death while being one in Christ brings life.

As the people of God are seeking Jesus, so now the family of Jesus seeks him out only to discover that the definition of family is changing. The kingdom, the household, the family of God is no longer restricted to genetics—womb-sharing. The kingdom/household/family is about sharing God’s hope-filled love and justice.

PUTTING UP THE WALLS

Today, we are called to enter the arena of binding the strong man—evil—in order to liberate people from living in their worlds of fear and oppression. In our polarized world mentality of red and blue, saved and damned, gay and straight, right and wrong, white and any other ethnicity, amid this polarization, Jesus invites us to sit around him, to see him, to listen to him, to bear witness to God’s plan that all should be saved.

Salvation does not come from being born into the right family/household/political party/kingdom/ nation. Salvation comes from the liberating resurrected wholeness of Christ himself and the world of forgiveness he gives. In this new relationship of grace, we are challenged to confront without combat, resist without rebellion, persist without retaliation.

We are challenged to see the possibility of Christ’s unifying leading. Can we trust in the Holy Spirit, the breath of goodness? Or will we blaspheme, choose to be slow to name and respond to the evil that rejects God’s love and justice for all people?

HANGING THE TRIM

The power of the resurrection becomes an active part of our lives in baptism. For when we have died in Christ, death no longer has power over us. When we are also raised up in Christ, we are liberated to speak out against the powers of the strong man that would prevent the world of grace and forgiveness. Satan may have had me bound, but Jesus lifted me and you into that place of discerning what centers us and the ability to name the evil of the world. “If you are going to fight evil in the world, you first have to name it.” (Peter Lars Kjeseth).