From this Sunday until the end of July, we will be reading through Marks\u2019s Gospel from chap 3 to 6 \u2013 a sermon series I\u2019ve (ambitiously?) called: \u201c”Powerful words, mighty deeds and rising opposition”.
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As you may know, Mark\u2019s Gospel is really divided in two parts: Jesus\u2019s ministry in Galilee and then Jesus\u2019s journey to Jerusalem, the turning point being Peter\u2019s confession of faith and the transfiguration Chapter 8-9. At the beginning of his ministry, in Galilee, Jesus draws attention to himself by performing healing, casting demons and proclaiming the coming of the kingdom of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As he does so, of course, he attracts a lot of people, but he also gives rise to a growing opposition \u2013 an opposition that will eventually lead to his death, but also to his Resurrection as the disciples get to understand what it really means to be the Messiah – \u201cThe suffering servant\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But for now, we are in Jesus\u2019s early ministry. Our passage today actually starts after Jesus appoints the twelve \u2013 \u201csends\u201d them. We see that Jesus does not only call disciples, people who will sit at his feet to learn from him, Jesus sends them on the mission as well \u2013 the disciples learn by doing. Not only do they take in Jesus\u2019s example, but they are to imitate him and to participate in his work \u2013 even at the beginning of their formation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now it says something for us, of course. When we follow Jesus in our daily lives, it\u2019s not only about learning about him, we learn from him and we learn from him as we do, as we imitate him, as we strive to love as he loved, as we strive to do God\u2019s will as Jesus\u2019s did God\u2019s will \u2013 and it\u2019s actually the topic of our passage today:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesus recognizes his disciples as those who do God\u2019s will. Jesus goes even as far as to say that those who do God\u2019s will are to him \u201cBrother, sister and mother\u201d \u2013 Not just \u201cstudents\u201d or \u201capprentices\u201d, but his own flesh and blood. But we know that don\u2019t we that Jesus wants us to become his very flesh and blood \u2013 that\u2019s the reason Jesus gave us the Eucharist. It\u2019s not only about following, it\u2019s about belonging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But let\u2019s start with the beginning. To me, there are three main things to notice about the passage we have heard today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– The first thing that is important is this re-definition Jesus makes of what it means to be close to him, to be one of his kindred. We see that Jesus does not necessarily feel close to his natural family, the people he was \u201cassigned at birth\u201d if you will. Actually, they are so different from Jesus that they think that Jesus is not \u201cright in his mind\u201d (The translation we\u2019ve heard today say \u201csome people\u201d think that Jesus is out of his mind, but the original Greek links this declaration to Jesus\u2019s own family). But then, if Jesus does not necessarily feel close to his natural family, he does not feel necessarily close to religious authorities either \u2013 it\u2019s actually an understatement to say that since some scribes think Jesus is possessed by a demon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As so we discover that Jesus does not like to be labeled and does not conform to the expectations. As a son, a brother, or even as a good Jew or as a rabbi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think there is something important in that. To me, what Jesus does is not so much that he downplays the importance of family, rather he rejects \u201cfamiliarity\u201d for another kind of bound. Jesus rejects \u201cdomestication\u201d, Jesus does not want to be domesticated \u2013 to become who people wants him to be \u2013 and he does that well since we see that the people who should be naturally close to him or welcome him as a peer think he is out of his mind or possessed. Jesus is not who they expect him to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And to me this is of importance because I wonder, as we examine the way we are to follow Jesus, if belonging to Jesus\u2019s family as Christians does not sometimes turns into \u201cfamiliarity\u201d and \u201cfamiliarity\u201d turns into \u201cdomestication\u201d. Having been Christians for 10, 30 or 50 years, we end up thinking we know who is Jesus \u2013 what Jesus would say, what Jesus would want, or what Jesus would do. And we can still love Jesus very much \u2013 certainly his family did love him \u2013 and yet we misunderstand him, Jesus becomes who we would like him to be \u2013 Most of the time a savior or a god who confirms our expectations instead of challenging them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so the challenge for us \u2013 but also the joy and the excitement – as we go through this liturgical season is to get to know Jesus again, to remove the labels we have put on Jesus, and as we re-examine who Jesus is, we can reexamine how is it that we should live our Christians lives. I certainly invite you to let yourself be surprised by the Jesus in Mark\u2019s Gospel \u2013 who certainly did not come to the people to make them feel better about themselves, but so they can change their hearts and change their ways, and from there, how they can change the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– Which takes me to my second point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being part of Jesus\u2019s family isn\u2019t about flesh and blood, at least not in a biological sense, and it\u2019s not only about belonging to a religion \u2013 the religious leaders who rejected Jesus shared the same Scriptures, the same rites, and the same faith than Jesus \u2013 they would worship in the same synagogues and sacrifice to the same Temple. But Jesus identifies those who truly belong with him as those who \u201cdo the will of God\u201d. The sin against the Holy Spirit Jesus mentions is this way people can label themselves as godly and religious, when they consistently refuse to amend their behavior and call right and holy what is wrong and unfair. But as the first disciples, we are first called to do God\u2019s will rather than giving ourselves titles or declaring that we are God\u2019s family. What makes us part of the family isn\u2019t our birth right but what we concretely do. And we know what is God\u2019s will in Jesus\u2019s eyes, rather than a set of rules, it means to have compassion and to work for justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In concrete circumstances of course, we may not have the same understanding of what is God\u2019s will. But we are certainly called to seek God\u2019s will together, to do the best we can to stick to Jesus\u2019s example: teaching the love of God, denouncing abusive power, condemning lies and hypocrisy, practicing a religion of the heart rather than performing religious rites\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I mentioned earlier, Jesus wants his disciples to learn by doing. And we also learn by doing, by serving together. In the end, Jesus tells us, this is what makes our unity. Seeking and doing God\u2019s will \u2013 that it is actually the source of our unity, and this is my third and last point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– Jesus notices in this passage that a divided house or kingdom cannot stand. And this is actually the way of the devil. You may know that st its root, the word \u201cdevil\u201d means \u201cthe one who divides\u201d. And we can certainly witness how much evil comes from division: in nations, in families, in churches, in marriages and even within ourselves. So we are right to seek unity. Yet unity isn\u2019t about proclaiming that we are one big family, again it\u2019s not about sharing a common label \u201cChristians\u201d or \u201cEpiscopalians\u201d or in our case the \u201cpeople worshiping at St Margaret\u2019s\u201d. Our unity \u2013 and our belonging with Christ and to Christ \u2013 should come from our desire to do God\u2019s will together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In many churches, a common mistake is to think that we have to get along and agree on everything and then we can seek God\u2019s will. But as he sends his disciples, Jesus shows us that we first need to seek God\u2019s will and then we can be with one another in harmony because we have a common goal, a mission: \u201cWhoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so Division is the work of the devil, very likely, but sometimes conflicts also come when we don\u2019t have a clear sense of what we are supposed to accomplish together. We see that in churches, but also in work places, in marriages and so on. Unity comes from what people seek to do together to bless one another and to bless the world. When they see a bigger picture than their own, limited will and desires. We can more easily leave our conflicts aside when we have a sense of purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, I think it\u2019s good news, isn\u2019t it? Because in the end, Jesus invites us to live beyond ourselves, in a perpetually expanding family and mission field and all we have to do is to start somewhere \u2013 but about that, we\u2019ll talk next week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
From this Sunday until the end of July, we will be reading through Marks\u2019s Gospel from chap 3 to 6 \u2013 a sermon series I\u2019ve (ambitiously?) called: \u201c”Powerful words, mighty deeds and rising opposition”. As you may know, Mark\u2019s Gospel is really divided in two parts: Jesus\u2019s ministry in Galilee and then Jesus\u2019s journey to … <\/p>\n