March 15, 2009 at 1:07 am · Filed under discipleship, fasting, prayer, Scripture and tagged: homiletical thoughts, Jesus Christ, Mark 1, Mark 2, Mark's Gospel, prayer, Prayer Thoughts, Scripture, Son of God, study notes
Lenten Study Notes
Mark 1-2
I have studied through Mark in depth five or six times and taught it in various situations at least four or five times. It is my favorite Gospel of the four perhaps because of it’s quick pace, literary value, and brutal honesty. The Gospel itself is marked (no pun) by the constant use of a small Greek phrase ‘kai euthus’, which means something like ‘and then’ or ‘immediately’ or ‘at once.’ The NIV, as do most translations, I noticed translates it differently so as to give the Gospel ‘flavor’ (although it appears that the NASB is fairly consistent in its use of ‘immediately’). This creates a sense of urgency in the Gospel as if Mark were always in a hurry to get us from one point to the next, never content to leave us lingering too long at one scene. In the overall picture, we know where Mark is in a hurry to get us and by the time we get to the crucifixion the pace has slowed (in my judgment) considerably. He wants us to drink deeply at this point.
I don’t know why Mark was in a hurry to get us through the story (as a whole). I do know that Mark starts his story of Jesus in Nazareth in Galilee (1:9) and that when the story ends, after the Resurrection, he instructs his people to go back to that very place (16:7) which I take as Mark’s way of saying something to the reader like: Go back and start the story all over again. Read it again! It becomes quite circular to the point that one might never stop reading the Gospel story Mark tells which by his estimation I gather would be just fine. We are to be engaged in the Gospel story and engaging it constantly, continuously, never stopping for a breath. I’m fairly certain that is Mark’s objective even if he doesn’t say so in so many words.
Mark tells us nothing of Jesus’ birth or childhood. He begins abruptly by announcing the appearance of John the Baptizer with a quote from Isaiah (and Malachi). There’s also another aspect of this Gospel that is intriguing and it is the first verse: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Now it could be that your Bible as put a footnote saying that ‘Son of God’ here is in ‘many’ manuscripts but not ‘all’ and thus ‘Son of God’ is either eliminated altogether, footnoted, or written in such a way as to suggest that the translators are uncertain as to whether to include it or not. I’m rather particular at this point, and I hope not too contradictory. At the end of Mark’s Gospel we encounter a similar problem: Do we take the short ending and stop at verse 8 or do we take the long ending and stop at verse 20? Well, here’s the thing. I like ‘Son of God’ included in 1:1 and I like ending the Gospel at 16:8 thus eliminating verses 9-20. It’s not the end of the world if you believe differently. Let me show you why by talking just about 1:1 and leaving 16:8 for another discusssion.
If ‘Son of God’ is included in 1:1 then we, the readers, know something about Jesus that those inside the story do not know. Namely, that this story we are reading is about Jesus Messiah, the Son of God. Inside the story, the characters never quite get this. Jesus won’t let demons talk about it (rightfully so!) and the disciples are often dense (so Peter). Jesus tells people to keep quiet about it and more than once does his best to escape detection. Thus has been born in Mark the so-called ‘Messianic Secret.’ So those of us reading the story, we are whispering things like ‘duh! It’s the Son of God. How can you miss that?’ when he calms a storm (4) or drives out a herd of demons (5) or feeds five-thousand (6) for example. But what we see, those inside the story miss or they are told to keep quiet or tell no one. Until…until chapter 15 where the most unlikely of all characters makes a startling announcement at a rather strange moment in the story.
Chapter 15 is the narrative of the crucifixion of Jesus and isn’t it interesting that the last human to speak in Mark’s Gospel (aside from the Jesus after his resurrection) is a Roman Centurion who was guarding the crucifixion. And do you know what he says? That’s right: “Surely, this man was the Son of God!” So it is not ironic at all then: Jesus doesn’t tell him to be quiet either, does he? This is the one time when it is alright for the ‘secret’ to be out; that is, at the crucifixion. Jesus’ full Sonship is to be seen by us in the cross where he died.
I think this is most significant especially if the Gospel ends at verse 8 of chapter 16 where we read this: “They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.” Now we, the readers, are saying this: “It’s the Son of God! Say something! Say something!” And we wonder: If they said nothing, who will? Someone has to say something. Well, that’s all very preliminary to be sure, but there might be some homiletical thoughts in all that madness somewhere.
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Notes on Mark 1-2 (includes questions)
At this point, I will offer a brief comment or two on a couple of the pericopes in chapters 1 and 2 and follow up this section with some prayer thoughts.
1:1-8: Here I like The Message translation (vs 7-8): “As he preached he said, ‘The real action comes next: The star in this drama, to whom I’m a mere stagehand, will change your life. I’m baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a kingdom life. His baptism-a holy baptism by the Holy Spirit-will change you from the inside out.’” Jesus would change what it meant to be clean, what it meant to be pure, what it meant to be washed and baptized. He would give these things new meaning. John says essentially, ‘I can only get you wet. The one coming after me will totally undo your life.’
1:9-13: Jesus is baptized here and immediately (‘kai euthus’) he is driven out into the desert where he is tried by the Satan. I wonder if we prepare people for baptism in this way, that is, by warning them ahead of time that once the Spirit gets a hold of them there’s no telling where he might drive them? Oh, and about the baptism of Jesus and the ‘voice from heaven’ and the ‘Spirit hovering like a dove,’ and the ‘Son in the water’…do you remember any other place in the Bible where the Spirit ‘hovered’ over the water and God spoke? (Genesis 1:1-2?) So what does this say about Jesus and the inauguration of the New heavens and new earth, new creation, new covenant? Also, see that word concerning the ‘heaven being torn open’? You know where else the Greek word for ‘torn open’ (‘schizo’) appears? That’s right: The crucifixion chapter: 15:38: “The curtain of the temple was ‘torn’ (‘schizo’) in two from top to bottom.” How might the baptism of Jesus be related to his crucifixion?
1:14-15: William Willimon notes, concerning Jesus’ sermon in Luke 4, his first sermon, something that fits well here too, “So one might have thought, but no-with Jesus, the attack begins in the very first sermon. Jesus, in his preaching, is a troublemaker who brings, not peace, but a sword.” (Conversations with Barth on Preaching, 197).
1:21-39: Anyone else find it ironic, or not, that the first place Jesus does a miracle in Mark’s Gospel is in the synagogue? In John, he turns water to wine at a wedding. In Mark, he drives a demon out of a synagogue. Jesus came to bind the strongman and rob his house so I don’t suppose it is odd at all that he begins by binding the strongman who sat in the midst of the worshipers. Perhaps we too need Jesus to do some house-cleaning. And judgment, wrote Peter elsewhere, begins with the household of God. As these verses continue, we see that Jesus continued to drive out demons from the midst of the people and the synagogues (1:39). It kind of makes one wonder if these demons in the midst of these places of worship were not disrupting the worship and stirring up the people so as to prevent them from hearing the Word of God spoken among them? Could we too be so blind and self-absorbed that we don’t even know there are demons among us? Or could we be so indifferent to their presence that we tolerate them among us? Or could it be that we are so weak and powerless that we believe we cannot do anything about their presence among us? Whatever the case, Jesus came among the people and began by driving out th demons from their midst. This says a lot to me about his work.
1:40-45: I love the statement, “I am willing.”
2:1-12: Again, short and sweet. I love this remark by the author of the book, “When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’” (2:5) He saw their faith. Hmm. Did his friends happen to recognize a connection between his physical condition and his spiritual condition? Is that why Jesus first forgave his sins? Do you think this might be true also in the life of someone we know? Do we know anyone who is physically undone and the only thing that might fix them is to bring them to Jesus so that he can forgive them their sins? Is there a connection between physical sickness and spiritual sickness?
2:13-28: If Jesus only came to ‘call the sinners’ and not the ‘righteous’ then it seems to me that before we can hear or answer his call we have to recognize that we are ‘sinners.’ So long as we are convinced we are ‘righteous’ then we can be fairly well convinced that he did not come to call us. ‘Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ is an odd question. I wonder if these people weren’t just a wee bit jealous that he wasn’t eating with them? Maybe a better question would be, “Why are the tax collectors and sinners eating with him?” They go on to criticize his ‘fasting’ habits. Evidently, he is not fasting enough for their taste. And he is also criticized for not taking the Sabbath seriously enough to actually observe it. What we see here is something that perhaps we have lost a bit of in our quest to be the biggest church on the block: Jesus truly was concerned with people. So he eats with people who invite him to dinner and it makes no difference who they are. He refuses to ruin people by forcing them to observe old habits when a new time was upon them. And he refuses to elevate a ‘day’ above a person. “The Sabbath was made for people, not people for the Sabbath.” So they criticize him for eating with the wrong people, for not giving up food enough, and for eating on the wrong days. What sort of people have we become when we have sunk down to the point of criticizing when and if and how people eat? Jesus is pointing out that these people are missing the greater picture: People give rules value not the other way around. The observance of a practice must never become so strict that it prevents people from practicing it with joy. Note too, that chapter 2 begins and ends on the Sabbath as Jesus helps them understand exactly what the Sabbath is supposed to be: Liberating, freeing, full of rejoicing, and rejuvenation.
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Some Prayer Thoughts from Mark 1-2
We can pray for those who are baptized because they will invariably be driven into places by the Spirit that we cannot control. They will face all sorts of trials and struggles and tests. We can and should pray for their protection and strength. Many will give up, but it must not be because we have given up on them.
We can pray for Jesus to fill our nets as we go about fishing. We can pray that those who are called to follow will follow and leave behind whatever baggage that has weighed them down. Many still carry around nets. Jesus calls us to a life without a net.
We can pray that Jesus drive the demons out of our churches. They are there. They lurk. Open our eyes Lord, that we may no longer be indifferent to their presence.
We can pray that he will raise up a generation of pray-ers. (1:35). Isn’t it striking that Jesus, the Son of God who possesses power enough to drive out demons, survive a wilderness of trials, and preaches the Kingdom still must pray? We too must be people of prayer. Pray he raise up a generation of pray-ers.
Dare we pray that God would stretch out his hand and heal lepers, raise the dead, cause the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the mute to speak, the paralyzed to walk, and the demons to be gone? Is God’s hand too short to do this in our generation?
We can pray for more people to sit and eat meals with tax collectors and sinners. We can pray that more of us would be so attractive to others that tax collectors and sinners would invite us over to their house to eat and enjoy dinner. When was the last time a ‘sinner’ invited you over to their house to eat food? Would you go? Make this a simple prayer this week: “Lord, let some sinner I know invite me over for dinner.” Do you know any ‘sinners’? That might be a place to start too.
The bridegroom is not with us. Have you fasted recently? Maybe now is the time to fast?
When was the last time you took a break? A Sabbath? If Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath, a mere day of the week, then is there anything he is not Lord of? So examine yourself in the Lord: Is there any part of yourself that you have not submitted to His Lorship?
Finally, pray for Gospel preachers. Mark says that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the beginning of the Gospel. Then Jesus comes on the scene and starts preaching ‘The time has come. The Kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the Gospel!’ Lord prepare us to repent. Lord prepare us for the Kingdom come near. Lord prepare us to hear the Gospel. Lord prepare us to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom come near. May your will be done. May your Kingdom come. Let the Gospel be on our lips.
I hope these, admittedly, preliminary thoughts are helpful to you in your prayer life and your study of Mark’s Gospel. We learn a great deal about Jesus in these two fast-paced, whirlwind chapters. There’s much more to learn as Mark’s Gospel progresses.
October 16, 2008 at 2:30 pm · Filed under devotional, discipleship, prayer, Scripture and tagged: 1 Peter 5:7, angst, anxiety, Christianity, church, discipleship, Jesus, prayer, Scripture
Friends,
I feel like it has been forever since I had a meaningful post here. I need to write this morning, but in a non-connected sort of way. I have some rumblings I’d like to share with you from the past week or so.
First, I learned something interesting about ‘church’ this week. Tuesday night I went to visit a young couple who have been worshiping with our congregation. I was feeling rather pleased with myself when the husband said, “I really enjoy your preaching. It really gets deep and feeds me spiritually.” He’s a Catholic and he and his wife have been worshiping at what might be called a ‘PD’ Church and they are in their 20’s. Wow. Then Wednesday morning I went to FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) at the local Middle School where I work. We were doing sort of a survey of the kids and one of the questions was, “So when you think of church, what word comes to mind?” My 7th grade PK spoke up, “Boring.”
I guess that just goes to show that no matter what sort of congregation one has or worships with not everyone will be pleased.
Second, I watched the latest installment of Rambo this week, Rambo. It was an interesting movie. It featured some Christian missionaries who hearts were bigger than their brains and, of course, a lot–I mean a lot–of bullets. Stallone raised some important questions about war, violence, justice, peace, and, I think, Christianity. The film was unbelievably violent. I didn’t know that the human body could be shredded in so many ways (I thought once I had seen “Saw” I had seen it all.) Stallone took it to a ‘whole nover level.’ The film wasn’t the best Rambo I have ever seen: the dialogue was full of cliche, too fast, too predictable. Furthermore, I tend to disagree with the idea that nothing changes–even though I have argued otherwise here and elsewhere in the past. But the violence and horror and blood: Oh, it was glorious!
I guess it just goes to show that no matter what the plot or how bad the dialogue I will tune in to a film where the bad guys get eaten up by .50 caliber machine gun bullets, in a variety of ways, and the hero lives (Oh, and where a once pacifist Christian grows a set and bashes in the head of a child of Babylon).
Third, it has been a long week. Last night, I had a huge ‘family discussion’ with my youngest son, who is in 5th grade, because he just refuses to do his homework. Then his teacher, a 20 something just out of college who knows all about raising recalcitrant and stubborn children and what is the best way to educate them, sends me email informing me of how my son is ’still not turning in his homework’ as if to say, “You freaking moron, why won’t you make your son do his homework. I have been over this with you a hundred times now. Are you dense.” I want to respond to her e-mail, but I let my wife instead. My son simply does not see the point of doing ridiculous math problems where he has to, and I quote, ‘interpret the remainder.’ What does that mean? I can’t blame him; I hate math too. He says, in an all too eerie imitation of his father, “I can add, subtract, multiply, and divide. Why do I need to do story problems?” Oooooohhh. I get it. I really do.
I guess it just goes to show that no matter ‘important’ the work to be done, there will always be someone who refuses to see its value or significance.
Fourth, I can’t pray this week. I don’t know why. I have prayed a little. I have been reading my bible. But I just cannot seem to find the energy to pray. My dad lost his job again. My brother had to be evacuated from his house in CA due to fires. My mother, I am convinced, hates me. I fought with my sons yesterday and hurt my oldest son’s feelings. I go to bed early and can’t get up. My wife and I were getting along and then I snapped at her again this morning. One of the ladies wants me to, get this, hang curtains at the church building this afternoon. What? Is that why I’m around here? Is that what my degree prepared me for? To hang curtains? You’ve got to be kidding me. I can’t pray this week. I’m stuck in a funk. Plus, on top of that, I just finished reading Joshua. And for the first time in my life, the book of Joshua frightened and confused me.
I guess it just goes to show that no matter how much is going right in a person’s life there will always be enough wrong to sap the strength, the joy, and the communion. Rich Mullins said it best, “It’s hard, yes it’s hard. You know it’s hard to be like Jesus.”
Fifth, I’ve been lurking this week; reading; watching; listening. The world of the blog is a complex place. One day I think, “I’m done with blogging.” The next day, I get 200 hits on my blog and change my mind. What amazes me is the depths that people are willing to go to in order to be right. (It was my oldest son who confronted me with this hard truth last night. I won’t tell him, but he was right.) I have trouble living with myself just because I am, so I don’t know how some bloggers live with themselves when their sole purpose in life and writing is to destroy everything that is not of themselves. I have to admit that sometimes I wish I had never started blogging. It’s a terribly depressing place at times. I think I’ll start praying for a worldwide crash of the blogosphere. Nah. I’m too vain for that. Someone said to me the other day, “The problem is that some bloggers are more in love with theology than they are with Jesus.” Gawd, I hope that is never me. I love theology, but not at the expense of The person.
I guess it just goes to show that everything that is a blessing is also a curse. If we find some joy while we are here, perhaps there will be distress from some place else. Thankfully, Jesus can be found.
Sixth, and finally, the world is uh, messed up. I am frustrated because there is so much hate, so much greed, so much violence, so much fear, so much disaster, so much death. Really, this place is too much. I hate it here most of the time and yet I lack the necessary courage to constantly pray ‘maranatha!’ Really, this place needs some serious help because I’m just pessimistic enough to believe that it is not going to get better before it gets worse and with presidential elections looming, taxes likely to go up, the ever-present concern of when the next terrorist strike will come, the growing concern about how all the financial stuff will affect my salary (since it depends upon donations to the church)–well, that and more, my concern about the Steelers winning every Sunday and my disappointment with Jeff Gordon’s terrible, terrible year in NASCAR. Well, the world is messed up and I have just been thinking about whether or not I am doing enough one one hand, and on the other lamenting that I can only do so much, that I feel so helpless.
I guess it just goes to show that the world is in much bigger need of someone much bigger than I to solve the problems that this world is faced with just now. (I also seriously doubt that either presidential candidate is going lessen my anxiety.)
It’s only Thursday. I have band practice and a board meeting tonight. I have a wedding rehearsal tomorrow. I have prayer meeting and a wedding on Saturday. Somewhere in the midst of all this I have to write two sermons. I don’t know if I can write sermons this week. Maybe I’ll just watch some more baseball and hope that the Red Sox get clobbered again. One can dream, can’t he? Happily, on Sunday, I can worship with my friends. In the meantime, I’m glad to know you and happy you stopped by for a visit today. Perhaps some of my angst can touch you and point you to Jesus. I’m sticking with Jesus today. I hope you are too.
“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7)
I think I’m getting back into prayer shape. I hope you will join with me.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Reprinted courtesy of CRN.info
Technorati Tags: prayer, angst, church, Scripture, Christianity, discipleship, Jesus, 1 Peter 5:7
February 17, 2008 at 11:16 pm · Filed under discipleship, prayer and tagged: Christianity, discipleship, following Jesus, Galatians 6, grace, Hebrews 12, Jesus, prayer
Friends,
What is the best advertisement campaign ever? Take Nike for example. Every year they spend millions of dollars on advertising their product. The ads are fancy. They are video. They are audio. They are paper. The ads are on television, radio, the internet and on billboards.
The product is marketed by professional athletes who are given access to as many shoes as they need. (It is hard to imagine buying a product from someone who doesn’t have to buy it himself, but that’s another point altogether.) Go to a ball game and see the wall signs. See the ads on players hats, shirts, pants, socks, and on the gloves and bats they use. Nike places their logo in just about any place they or anyone can imagine.
I suppose some of their best advertising comes in the form of spectacular television spots that are designed to stimulate the senses. But is this really where the best advertising comes from? Is this the best Nike can do? Is the television the place where Nike sells the most shoes? I don’t think so. Let me tell you how I discovered this.
I was walking through the snow one day in my pair of Nike’s that I managed to find at the bargain price of $25 or so on the sale rack at a local sports store. The snow was fresh, clean, and no one else had dared to walk where I was walking. It is one of the small pleasures in life being the first person to walk on a fresh blanket of snow. I don’t know why, but there is something rather thrilling about being the first person to leave a trail across a yard covered in beautiful gleaming white snow. I was doing this one day.
I happened to look down and I noticed that I had left a perfectly formed footprint in the fresh snow. You know what I could see? That’s right. There in the snow, in the center of my footprint, clear as day, plain as sky, was the outline of a perfectly shaped Nike Swoosh.
This got me to thinking about advertising. I don’t care how many Nike golf balls Tiger Woods hits into a green or how many Witnesses there are to Lebron James’ mastery of the basketball. The best advertising that Nike gets is every single step that ordinary folks like myself take in a pair of their shoes. Why? Because we leave a Nike Swoosh everywhere we go. It is stamped into the mud, the dust, the grass, the concrete, snow, slush, and hardwood floors. That image, that Swoosh, left in a billion footprints every day is the best advertising that Nike will ever get.
And so too it is with the church. It is not the great big campaigns that advertise Christianity the best. It is not the Billy Graham crusades. It is not 40 Days of Purpose. It is not Your Best Life Now (not that Best Life is an ad for Christianity). None of these things: Not the biggest mega-church or the most charismatic evangelist nor the preacher with the most miracles under his belt. The best advertising the Christians do is found in every single step we take. Trillions of steps taken each day in the Name of Jesus are the best advertising we can do.
With each step of perseverance, with each step taken despite opposition and persecution, with each step taken in spite of suffering, with each step we take in the race marked out for us we ‘advertise’ Jesus. This is because Christians, like Nike, leave an imprint on this world with each step we take. This is why we press on, ahead, and are commanded not to look back. If we look back we run the risk of gloating over our victory or grousing over our failure. Instead, we look straight ahead to Jesus who also had a path to walk (Hebrews 12).
And that path is hard to walk. Oh so hard to walk.
Lord, I’m too weak to walk. Too stupid to understand. Too ungracious to be graceful. Too unlovely to be lovable. Lord, I, like you, see all the ugliness inside of my heart. I see all that which is despiseable–all that which you suffered for. And yet you chose me to be an ad campaign for Jesus. You chose me to carry his marks, his wounds, in my life. Those wounds…Lord can wounds save even me? Help me walk the path marked out for me…sketched by your finger…traced by your eye…trod by your feet…mark the place in my heart Lord that is lonely and afraid on this journey…mark it with your grace. And I–I–carry the marks of Christ?
Soli Deo Gloria!
