Mark’s gospel | Swallowsrest

Posts Tagged ‘Mark’s gospel’

It’s good to be here!

August 4, 2012

Transfiguration 2012

Mark 9:2-9

Marian Free

In the name of God creator of the universe and all that is in it. Amen.

“It’s good to be here!” That’s how our hymn began this morning: “It’s good Lord, to be here.” I hadn’t thought about it until now, but there are at least two ways in which to use this phrase. “It’s good to be here” may be said in the form of a sigh – we’re here at last, it’s good to put that behind us. “It’s good to be here“ may be an exclamation of pleasure or delight. We say we’re glad to be here because the company is great, the venue is great, the food is great.

The hymn picks up on the phrase that Peter utters into today’s gospel, but it has one significant difference. Peter puts himself into the situation saying: “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here.” Instead of being an impersonal statement it becomes a statement which has the speaker embedded in it. That is, it is less about the event and more about the speaker. It is an interesting reaction to what has happened on the mountaintop. Peter, James and John – Jesus’ inner circle – have had the sort of religious experience that few people have. They have seen Jesus transfigured before them, they have seen first hand the heroes of their faith – Moses and Elijah – and they have heard a voice from heaven declaring Jesus to be God’s Son. They were in fact, in the presence of God. Unless we have had a similar experience, it would be hard to imagine what it must have been like. I imagine that it would have been terrifying, exhilarating, awe-inspiring and humbling all at once. It is the sort of event that would leave one speechless – no words could match the situation that the disciples had experienced.

All the same, Peter can’t help himself. He blurts out: “It’s good for us to be here.” Why does he think it is good? Is it because he, James and John have been given a glimpse of heaven. No. Apparently that is not why it is good that he is there. Is it because he, as part of the inner circle, has been privileged to witness the heavenly Jesus and to discover Jesus’ true identity. No – that is not the reason either. Maybe Peter is grateful that he has had such a life-changing experience. But no, that is not the reason why it is good that he is there. In fact, Peter seems not to have any idea of the significance of the situation. He hasn’t really grasped the enormity of the event or how blessed he has been to have been a part of it. In fact there is no indication that he feels that he has benefited in any way from the experience. The reason that it is good for him to be there is that it is good for everyone else that he is there! It is good that he is there because he can do something to enhance the situation. He can build something that would hold the event in time, a monument to what had happened. It is not that he is blessed to have witnessed something so amazing, but that others are blessed by his being there!

Can you believe it? Peter appears to be telling Jesus how lucky he (Jesus) is that he has taken Peter with him! Lucky Jesus! Where would he be without Peter? Peter knows just what to do in this situation – he can build shelters for Jesus, Moses and Elijah! Jesus can leave it all to him! This fits with our perception of Peter – he is rash, he always puts his foot in his mouth and he never really understands what is going on. Now he thinks that Jesus needs him. He just doesn’t get it. Jesus, the Son of God, has chosen him among all the disciples to be part of the innermost circle, to see him as he really is and to share Jesus’ most private moments. Jesus who can walk on water, heal the sick, calm the storm, cast out demons doesn’t need Peter. Peter needs him. It is Peter who will change and grow as a result of his relationship with Jesus. However, Peter doesn’t see this, Peter thinks that Jesus needs him and so offers his services at this most inappropriate moment.

As I reflected on Peter’s response, I wondered if it might not be a metaphor for ourselves, for the church. I have a suspicion that from time to time at least, we fall into the trap of believing that God needs us, that without us and without our constant effort, God will be lost – the church will fail and the Christian faith will come to an end. This is evidenced in our constant navel gazing about the state of the church, our anxiety about empty pews and about census figures which reveal that fewer people identify as Christians, the programmes we organize to encourage people to come to church and the ways in which we continually tweak our worship in the hope that more people will join us.

All of this not only demonstrates a lack of trust in God and in God’s presence in the world, but also that we believe that the future of the church, the future of faith is dependent on us. Such an attitude suggests that we feel that God needs our help to be known in the world, that a church is necessary for faith in God to spread throughout the world. Of course this is a ludicrous idea! God can and does manage quite well without our help. Without our help, God created the universe. Without our help God called Abraham and formed the people of God. Without our help, God sent Jesus into the world and without our help God continues to make Godself known to a multitude of people and in a wide variety of ways. And still we think that God needs the church and that God needs our help for the church to survive.

When the situation is put like that we can see that there are times when we can be likened to Peter, that there are times when we fail to wonder at the gift that God has given to us or when, faced with an apparent problem we fall into the trap of thinking that God needs us instead of remembering that it is we who need God.

I wonder what it would be like if instead of wanting to build edifices to contain or to commemorate what we have seen and known, if instead of worrying about the institution, we could simply stand back in awe and wonder at the ingenuity and magnificence of God. What would it be like, if we could simply acknowledge and surrender ourselves to the creative power of God and allow God to determine how the future will look?

It is good that we are here. Our experience and knowledge of God draws us together to offer praise and thanksgiving to the one who has given us everything. It is good to be here to be drawn in wonder and awe into God’s presence. It is good to be here. It would also be good to be content simply to worship God and let God take care of everything else.

Tags:church, Mark's gospel, Transfiguration
Posted in Mark's gospel, Transfiguration, Uncategorized | Comments Off on It’s good to be here!

How will they hear?

July 7, 2012

Pentecost 6

Mark 6:1-13

Marian Free

In the name of God whose word informs and enlightens our faith. Amen.

In his charge to Synod, the Archbishop spoke with passion about the Bible – the contradictions contained within it and the importance of studying it. (anglicanbrisbane.org.au) The reason that he spoke so strongly is that the Natural Church Development tool that is being used by many of the Parishes in the Diocese has revealed that one of the weaknesses in our Parish life is passionate spirituality – our reading and understanding of the Bible. We all know what we believe and some of us are able to articulate it to others, but when it comes to explaining the central texts of our faith we are on less certain ground.

There are at least two barriers to becoming more familiar with the Bible. One is that academic study of the Bible can be quite challenging, if not confronting. For many, it is a discipline that is demanding and difficult. A second barrier is that of time – in particular the lack of it. In past centuries, the services of Morning and Evening Prayer were designed to provide an opportunity for the Bible to be explained and expounded. Longer passages of the Bible were read during these services and it was expected that the sermon would be up to half an hour in length. In a less pressured world, in which there were fewer forms of entertainment, there was more leisure to spend time in church. Many people attended both Morning and Evening Prayer or Communion and Evening Prayer which provided a larger diet of Bible reading than is possible in the Eucharist alone. Longer readings and longer sermons on Sunday mornings might solve the problem, but would destroy the balance of Word and Sacrament which is central to the Eucharist and perhaps lead to fewer people attending church.

Not only do we have less time to spend expounding the Bible, it is also true that not all members of the clergy have had the confidence or courage to share the latest scholarship with their congregations. What this means is that few lay people have been given the opportunity to keep up with the research of the last 100 years and many are shocked and surprised when informed that scholars have made discoveries that change the way in which familiar stories have been previously taught and understood.

As you know, the Bible study group in this Parish has been studying the gospel of Luke using a commentary written by Brendan Byrne. Over the course of the study, I have become acutely aware of how complex much of Jesus’ teaching is and how difficult it is to understand unless one has the tools with which to interpret it. I think for example of the story of the dishonest steward who is praised by Jesus for acting in a way which will secure his future. At first glance it appears that Jesus is saying that God approves of dishonesty! Then there is the story of the widow who wears down the unjust judge through her persistence. Does this mean that God is like the unjust judge and will not act unless we wear him down with a constant repetition of our requests?

There is a lot more to the New Testament than the wonderful stories and adventures that we learn at Sunday School. Our understanding of our faith is enhanced and our appreciation of our texts is enriched if we take some time to grapple with and to try to understand what the more difficult passages really mean. For example, the story of the dishonest steward is, of course, not a story about God’s approving dishonesty but rather it is Jesus’ challenge to all of us that we make sure that we live our lives in such a way that we will be welcomed into heaven – that, like the dishonest steward, we make provision for our future salvation. The story of the widow and the judge is not about our wearing God down through endless prayer. Rather a reminder that God is not like the unjust judge and will hear our prayer. This means we should not allow ourselves to feel disheartened when times are difficult, but that we should remain confident that God will hear us. In both stories, Jesus is using unsavoury characters to shock us into paying attention to what he is saying.

During my week away I was able to read a book written by a friend of ours – Paula Gooder . In it she explores a wide variety of methods that are used by scholars to study the New Testament. What makes this book easy to read is that it is aimed at those who are new to biblical studies. Not only is each explanation brief but each is followed by an example of how the particular technique is used to interpret a passage of the bible. This means is that the reader not only learns all kinds of interesting things about the New Testament, but is also able to apply what they have learnt.

Today’s gospel consists of two discrete stories both of which contain puzzles for the modern reader. In the first section, Jesus is welcomed by the people of his hometown, but shortly afterwards they are scandalized by him. Why their change in attitude? Secondly, Jesus is identified as the son of Mary. This is quite unusual in first century Palestine – a person would usually be identified by their father’s name. The first puzzle is solved if we understand that the people attribute Jesus’ ability to work miracles not to God, but to some other – possibly demonic-force and so they treat him with suspicion. The second puzzle – that of his name may be a derogatory inference to the fact that his father is unknown. Put together these two explanations help us to make sense of why Jesus was rejected by his hometown.

The second story in today’s gospel relates the sending out of the twelve disciples. In itself, the account is reasonably straightforward unless we are familiar with the ways in which Matthew and Luke record the same account. Not only is Mark’s account briefer, but Matthew and Luke change at least three significant details. Whereas Mark’s Jesus sends the disciples two by two, Matthew and Luke send them out all together, Mark says the disciples may take a staff, Matthew and Luke expressly forbid the taking of a staff and finally, Matthew and Luke enlarge the disciple’s task by adding the healing of the sick to Jesus’ command to cast out unclean spirits. Among other things, these differences have led scholars to believe that Mark was written first and that Luke and Matthew used Mark to write their accounts but added to it details that were known to them.

Our scriptures provide us with an exciting and fascinating glimpse into the life and teaching of our Saviour, they give us insights as to how we should live as followers of Christ and they open doors into the way that Jesus was seen and understood by his contemporaries and those who followed after. Passages that at first seem difficult to understand are often easily explained and others that seem harsh and uncompromising are sometimes a means to shock us into action.How will we know what they mean if we don’t make time to read and understand them? We live in a world that is increasingly divorced from the church and from the teachings of Jesus.

If we don’t know and tell our story who will?