Familiarity breeds contempt

Texts: Genesis 45.1-15, 1 Corinthians 7.32-40, Mark 6.1-13

Commemoration: Gregory of Nyssa

Almighty God, who have revealed to your Church your eternal Being of glorious majesty and perfect love as one God in Trinity of Persons: Give us grace that, like your bishop Gregory of Nyssa, we may continue steadfast in the confession of this faith, and constant in our worship of you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who live and reign for ever and ever. Amen.

What was it about the people of Nazareth that caused them to reject one of their own? Had they not paid enough attention to Jesus as he was growing up among them to realize that he was going to be someone unique in the history of Israel? Had they been too busy with their own affairs to get involved in helping prepare him for his life's mission?

The answer to these questions is a resounding no.

The people of Nazareth rejected Jesus when he returned to his hometown not because they did not know him well enough, but because they knew him all too well. "Where did this man get these things?" they asked. "What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands?" Wherever, whatever, and however Jesus became what he was, the people of Nazareth had nothing to do with it and wanted nothing to do with him.

"Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?" In our day, "son of Mary" may be a term of endearment for Jesus. But it was nothing of the sort in Jesus' own day. To be called the son of one's mother, as opposed to the son of one's father, was a term of derision. It implied an illegitimate birth, the worst form of disgrace not only for the particular individual, but also for the entire family. The people of Nazareth "took offense at" Jesus. They knew him. They knew his family. They knew his trade. Who was he to come parading back into town, with his entourage of disciples, presuming to be their teacher and prophet?

Nazareth did not want him. They knew him too well. He was a carpenter, a child of questionable parentage in a family of no particular influence. They would have preferred he never left town in the first place. If he had stayed home and made a comfortable living making doors and hinges, they would have left him well enough alone. But he had to be about his Father's business, and that meant leaving the familiar surroundings of his hometown and embarking on a journey whose ultimate destination was a dark hill called Calvary.

Much like the people of Nazareth then, we today must overcome a serious obstacle to our faith. It is not that we don't know Jesus well enough, but that we think we know him all too well. As we continue our Lenten journey, let us hear and respond to the invitation to abandon our affinity for the familiar and step out in faith with the Jesus who knows us better than we can ever know ourselves.

Searcher of Hearts, from Mine Erase

Searcher of hearts, from mine erase
All thoughts that should not be,
And in its deep recesses trace
My gratitude to Thee.

Hearer of prayer, O guide aright
Each word and deed of mine;
Life’s battle teach me how to fight,
And be the vict’ry Thine.

Giver of all—for ev’ry good
In the Redeemer came—
For raiment, shelter, and for food,
I thank Thee in His Name.

Father, and Son, and Holy Ghost,
Thou glorious Three in One,
Thou knowest best what I need most,
And let Thy will be done.

• George P. Morris

Complete restoration

Texts: Genesis 44.18-34, 1 Corinthians 7.25-31, Mark 5.21-43

Commemoration: Edward King

O God, our heavenly Father, who raised up your faithful servant Edward to be a bishop and pastor in your Church and to feed your flock: Give abundantly to all pastors the gifts of your Holy Spirit, that they may minister in your household as true servants of Christ and stewards of your divine mysteries; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Maybe I've been suffering under the effects of this nasty virus for a while myself, but I noticed something in today's Gospel reading that I had never noticed before. Much has been said about the insertion of the account of the woman with the discharge of blood in the middle of the story of Jesus and Jairus's daughter. But something in particular stood out to me as I read the passage today:

And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. (vv. 25, 26)

And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. (v. 42)

The years of the woman's distress are identical with the years of the young girl's life. But the number of years, twelve, is itself covenentally significant. Earlier, Jesus had appointed twelve apostles (Mark 3.14ff). Later, after the feeding of the five thousand, the disciples gather twelve baskets full of leftovers (Mark 6.43ff). It is not particularly difficult, for anyone familiar with the history of Israel, to understand the parallel between the twelve apostles and the twelve tribes of Israel. It would also take only a little research to see the parallel between twelve baskets full of loaves and fishes and the twelve stones with which Elijah built an altar during his contest with the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18.30ff). The number twelve, as employed in Mark's narrative, is intended to drive home the point that, in Jesus, the true Israel is being restored.

With the account of the woman and Jairus's daughter, a central characteristic of the restoration is brought to the forefront. It will be a restoration in the complete sense of the word. The broken and bleeding will be made whole; the dead will be raised to life; and all will be "overcome with amazement" at the wonder of God's glorious new creation.

I Stand Amazed in the Presence

I stand amazed in the presence
Of Jesus the Nazarene,
And wonder how He could love me,
A sinner, condemned, unclean.

Refrain

O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
Is my Savior’s love for me!

For me it was in the garden
He prayed: “Not My will, but Thine.”
He had no tears for His own griefs,
But sweat drops of blood for mine.

Refrain

In pity angels beheld Him,
And came from the world of light
To comfort Him in the sorrows
He bore for my soul that night.

Refrain

He took my sins and my sorrows,
He made them His very own;
He bore the burden to Calvary,
And suffered and died alone.

Refrain

When with the ransomed in glory
His face I at last shall see,
’Twill be my joy through the ages
To sing of His love for me.

Refrain

• Charles H. Gabriel

Under the weather

I haven't posted here in a few days because I've been under the weather with a wicked stomach virus. Hope to be back to normal later this afternoon.

Sex and the resurrection

Texts: Genesis 42.29-38, 1 Corinthians 6.12-20, Mark 4.21-34

The most radical idea with which early Christianity confronted the pagan Roman world was that of the resurrection of the body. Any number of religions taught something or other about immortality or life after death in some kind of "spirit world." But Christianity proclaimed a life to come in which one's whole being--spirit, soul, and body--would be renewed and restored as part of God's glorious new creation.

As is often the case today, the Corinthian believers had a hard time living a life consistent with what they believed. Having been immersed in a pagan culture which reveled in carnal pleasures, they were not altogether prepared to deal with the implications of belief in the resurrection of the body. They were eager to embrace the idea that Christ had paid the penalty for their sins. But they were using their newfound freedom as an excuse for continuing to indulge their carnal passions. This, says Paul, is not the way to treat a body that is to be raised immortal.

"The body is not meant for sexual immorality," Paul writes, "but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power." Indeed, it is the hope of the resurrection which lies at the heart of Paul's teaching on sexual morality. That hope is embodied in Christ. "Do you not know," Paul asks, "that your bodies are members of Christ?" Just as Christ was raised by the power of God, so all who are members of Christ will be raised. In light of this, it would be the height of foolishness to join oneself with a prostitute. What is the benefit, Paul wants to know, of continuing to indulge the flesh while grieving the Holy Spirit, of whom your body is a temple? Can such an act of desecration bring glory to God? Certainly not!

The sayings, "All things are lawful for me" and "Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food," were popular in Corinth in Paul's day. Apparently, they were being used by some of the Corinthians to justify their carnal indulgences. In much the same way, modern-day expressions like "I can do what I want with my own body" are used to justify the pursuit of sensual pleasure without consequences. The culture at large may live by such dangerous thinking, but for those who bear the name of Christian, Paul's words to the Corinthians still apply: "You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body."

Love Divine, All Loves Excelling

Love divine, all loves excelling,
Joy of heaven to earth come down;
Fix in us thy humble dwelling;
All thy faithful mercies crown!
Jesus, Thou art all compassion,
Pure unbounded love Thou art;
Visit us with Thy salvation;
Enter every trembling heart.

Breathe, O breathe Thy loving Spirit,
Into every troubled breast!
Let us all in Thee inherit;
Let us find that second rest.
Take away our bent to sinning;
Alpha and Omega be;
End of faith, as its Beginning,
Set our hearts at liberty.

Come, Almighty to deliver,
Let us all Thy life receive;
Suddenly return and never,
Never more Thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing,
Serve Thee as Thy hosts above,
Pray and praise Thee without ceasing,
Glory in Thy perfect love.

Finish, then, Thy new creation;
Pure and spotless let us be.
Let us see Thy great salvation
Perfectly restored in Thee;
Changed from glory into glory,
Till in heaven we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before Thee,
Lost in wonder, love, and praise.

• Charles Wesley

A divisive parable

Texts: Genesis 42.18-28, 1 Corinthians 5.9-6.8, Mark 4.1-20

Commemoration: John and Charles Wesley

Lord God, who inspired your servants John and Charles Wesley with burning zeal for the sanctification of souls, and endowed them with eloquence in speech and song: Kindle in your Church, we entreat you, such fervor, that those whose faith has cooled may be warmed, and those who have not known Christ may turn to him and be saved; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The most enduring, and unfortunate, innovation of the Social Gospel movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was the replacement of the biblical understanding of the kingdom of God with the utopian ideal of the universal fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of man. We see the continued influence of this ideal today in the so-called "Emergent" movement which has recycled and repackaged much of mainline Protestant liberalism, which standardized and institutionalized many Social Gospel innovations. Thus, the image of Jesus as a great teacher of peace and harmony among all persons remains a prominent feature of pop culture Christianity. Today's Gospel reading, however, challenges that image.

In the parable of the sower, Jesus is painting a picture of the in-breaking of the kingdom of God which brings not unity, but division--and a most uneven division at that. Some will want nothing to do with it, others will fall out as quickly as quickly as they rushed in, and still others will miss out because they are too invested in the current order of things. Only those who have "ears to hear" will come into the kingdom and prosper. In other words, only one fourth of those to whom the kingdom is proclaimed will ultimately be brought into it. This is not exactly "good news" in the popular sense of the term. But, as N.T. Wright, comparing Jesus' parables to political cartoons, explains:

Everything Jesus does creates division within the Israel of his day. The parables not only explain this, but are themselves part of the process. They work, they function, as a sharply focused version of Jesus' entire ministry. Hence the comment in the middle. Jesus is not only telling them the dream, but giving them the interpretation. He is not only sketching the cartoon, but explaining the code. But those outside, who are fascinated by the story and the picture, can't understand it.

Why not? Doesn't Jesus want everybody to get the message? Yes and no. What he is saying is such dynamite that it can't be said straightforwardly, out on the street. Any kingdom-movement was dangerous enough (if Herod, or the Roman authorities, heard about it, they'd be worried); but if word got out that Jesus' kingdom-vision was radically unlike what most people wanted and expected, the ordinary people would be furious too. It was doubly dangerous. Put the cartoon into plain prose and somebody might sue.

It's a 'mystery' (verse 11): not just a puzzle, but a divine secret which Jesus is revealing. But as with all divine revelation, you can only understand if you believe, if you trust. (Mark for Everyone, Westminster John Knox Press 2001, p. 44)

This is not the only parable of Jesus which speaks of separation and division. The trap we often fall into, trying to apply them to our own day (as opposed to understanding them, first, as they would have been understood--or misunderstood--in Jesus' day), is that we try to interpret them in terms of the kingdom's final consummation, rather than in terms of its initial inauguration. There is, of course, a deep eschatological element to the parables. But Jesus' purpose in telling them to a first century Jewish audience immersed in misguided expectations the coming of the kingdom was, precisely, to separate the true Israel--those who had "ears to hear" and put their trust in him as the long-awaited Messiah--from those, like the religious establishment, who claimed a spiritual birthright on the basis of purely natural circumstances. To that audience, Jesus' declared that the kingdom of God was already breaking forth in their midst and the time for decision was imminent. The parables themselves were part and parcel to the kingdom's breaking forth. By speaking in the language of mystery, Jesus was beginning the process of separating out the true children of the kingdom from the pretenders, a separation that continues to this day whenever the Word of God is preached and its hearers either receive or reject it.

Where Shall My Wondering Soul Begin?

Where shall my wondering soul begin?
How shall I all to heaven aspire?
A slave redeemed from death and sin,
A brand plucked from eternal fire,
How shall I equal triumphs raise,
Or sing my great Deliverer’s praise?

O how shall I the goodness tell,
Father, which Thou to me hast showed?
That I, a child of wrath and hell,
I should be called a child of God,
Should know, should feel my sins forgiven,
Blessed with this antepast of Heaven!

And shall I slight my Father’s love?
Or basely fear His gifts to own?
Unmindful of His favors prove?
Shall I, the hallowed cross to shun,
Refuse His righteousness to impart,
By hiding it within my heart?

No! though the ancient dragon rage,
And call forth all his host to war,
Though earth’s self-righteous sons engage
Them and their god alike I dare;
Jesus, the sinner’s friend, proclaim;
Jesus, to sinners still the same.

Outcasts of men, to you I call,
Harlots, and publicans, and thieves!
He spreads His arms to embrace you all;
Sinners alone His grace receives;
No need of Him the righteous have;
He came the lost to seek and save.

Come, O my guilty brethren, come,
Groaning beneath your load of sin,
His bleeding heart shall make you room,
His open side shall take you in;
He calls you now, invites you home;
Come, O my guilty brethren, come!

For you the purple current flowed
In pardons from His wounded side,
Languished for you the eternal God,
For you the Prince of glory died:
Believe, and all your sin’s forgiven;
Only believe, and yours is Heaven!

• Charles Wesley

An eternal sin?

Texts: Genesis 42.1-17, 1 Corinthians 5.1-8, Mark 3.19-35

Commemoration: Chad of Litchfield

Almighty God, whose servant Chad, for the peace of the Church, relinquished cheerfully the honors that had been thrust upon him, only to be rewarded with equal responsibility: Keep us, we pray, from thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought to think, and ready at all times to step aside for others, (in honor preferring one another,) that the cause of Christ may be advanced; in the name of him who washed his disciples' feet, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Jesus was healing many and driving out demons. But "the scribes who came down from Jerusalem" were not impressed, claiming, "'He is possessed by Beelzebul' and 'by the prince of demons he casts out demons.'" Not only was this claim callous, it was also perilous, placing these self-proclaimed religious know-it-alls in danger of eternal separation from God. For Jesus warns them that "all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin."

But what was it which these scribes said which placed them outside the forgiveness of God? What was their "eternal sin?" Jesus said this to them, according to Mark, because "they had said, 'He has an unclean spirit.'" They had witnessed, before their very eyes, the power of the Holy Spirit at work in Jesus, bringing healing and deliverance. Yet, they attributed all this to "the prince of demons."

But is the "eternal sin" of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit as simple as this? Is it merely an outward act, a careless word spoken out of ignorance or hard-heartedness? Did the scribes' real sin involve only the words of their mouths, or did it involve the attitude of their hearts? Were not their careless words merely a manifestation of a callous attitude which so clouded their perception that they could not even acknowledge, much less glorify, God even when the power of his Holy Spirit was on display right before their very eyes?

Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is an unforgivable, "eternal sin" not because of any failure on God's part to forgive "all sins" committed by "the children of men and whatever blasphemies they utter." Rather, the one who "blasphemes against the Holy Spirit has no forgiveness" because such forgiveness is not desired. The merciful, forgiving, and healing God revealed in and through Jesus Christ is a total stranger to such a person, so much so that he is unable to give God all the glory, but instead gives the devil all the credit.

Originally posted 1/20/09

When O'er My Sins I Sorrow

When o’er my sins I sorrow,
Lord, I will look to Thee
And hence my comfort borrow
That Thou wast slain for me;
Yea, Lord, Thy precious blood was spilt
For me, O most unworthy,
To take away my guilt.

Oh, what a marvelous offering!
Behold, the Master spares
His servants, and their suffering
And grief for them He bears.
God stoopeth from His throne on high;
For me, His guilty creature,
He deigns as man to die.

My manifold transgression
Henceforth can harm me none
Since Jesus’ bloody Passion
For me God’s grace hath won.
His precious blood my debts hath paid;
Of hell and all its torments
I am no more afraid.

Therefore I will forever
Give glory unto Thee,
O Jesus, loving Savior,
For what Thou didst for me.
I’ll spend my breath in songs of thanks
For Thy sad cry, Thy sufferings,
Thy wrongs, Thy guiltless death.

• Justus Gesinius

Being with Jesus

Texts: Genesis 41.46-57, 1 Corinthians 4.8-21, Mark 3.7-19

Commemoration: David (Dewi) of Wales

Almighty God, who called your servant David to be a faithful and wise steward of your mysteries for the people of Wales: Mercifully grant that, following his purity of life and zeal for the gospel of Christ, we may with him receive the crown of everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and ever.

What was the first priority of the apostles? Mark writes that Jesus "appointed twelve . . . so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and to have authority to cast out demons." It is easy to say that the apostles preached the gospel and performed many signs and wonders. But it is significant to note that Jesus first appointed them "so that they might be with him." In the book of Acts, Peter and John were brought before the Council after healing a lame beggar at Solomon's portico. The members of the Council were "astonished" with the apostles' boldness in light of the fact "that they were uneducated, common men." But one characteristic of Peter and John stands out. "And they recognized that they had been with Jesus" (Acts 4.13).

The most subtle temptation every Christian faces is the temptation to do something for Jesus before being with Jesus. We would do well to ask ourselves, during this Lenten season of self-examination, just how much the work we do in the name of Jesus reflects the time we spend in the company of Jesus.

Abide in Thee

Abide in Thee, in that deep love of Thine,
My Jesus, Lord, Thou Lamb of God divine;
Down, closely down, as living branch with tree,
I would abide, my Lord, my Christ, in Thee.

Abide in Thee, my Savior, God, I know
How love of Thine, so vast, in me may flow:
My empty vessel running o’er with joy,
Now overflows to Thee without alloy.

Abide in Thee, nor doubt, nor self, nor sin,
Can e’er prevail with Thy blest life within;
Joined to Thyself, communing deep, my soul
Knows naught besides its motions to control.

Abide in Thee, ’tis thus alone I know
The secrets of Thy mind e’en while below;
All joy and peace, and knowledge of Thy Word,
All power and fruit, and service for the Lord.

• Joseph D. Smith