| Mark 1:14-20 "The Insurgency of God" |
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| Written by Rev. Don Lee | |
| Saturday, 21 January 2006 | |
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Sometimes things get lost in translation. Like these notes from the Taiwan DVD liner of the movie “Swarm.” Monsters by the millions, and they are all for real. Excel to take the director of the disaster condition the text, once the successfully be responsible for the Neptunian number and skyscraper conflagration of a the action in the drama part, and have to feel the elephant of the public soul with result, have the authentic fact conduct and actions the basis, persons the details that match wits also there is certain science can’t he stunt of the letter, high also increased then that penetrate everywhere.” –The 365 Stupidest Things Ever Said Calendar (April 2, 2006) Talk about lost in translation! Ever feel that way about the Gospels? Lost in translation?! The gospel of Mark gives us the most unrelentingly unflattering portrayals of the Disciples. Hapless, dim, uncomprehending. Makes you wonder why Jesus chose the 12 and why he refused to do much of anything without their involvement. Their one redeeming quality seems to be their willingness to drop everything to follow Jesus. Time after time they will fail him, and yet, Jesus never gives up believing in them and will, after all is said and done, entrust to them, his kingdom. Our gospel reading comes from Mark 1:14-20. Please stand for the reading of the gospel. Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’ As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake—for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fish for people.’ And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him. Prayer: Jesus, what were you thinking? You seemed to have such low standards for those you would call your disciples. We expect them to be righteous saints, intensely religious people of great spiritual depth; firmly committed to the movement of God for justice and peace in the world. We find them to be something quite different; something (well) more like us. Flawed and failed human beings more concerned with personal matters then with kingdom issues, sinners who at times shine, and at times flail around as if drowning in shallow water…. It’s as if we are looking in a mirror. Lord, help us to hear and understand what you are saying to us in the Gospel this morning. Amen. One of the great hymn writers of my generation quite aptly summarizes the theme of our scripture reading this way: You say you want a revolution Well you know We all want to change the world You tell me that it's evolution Well you know We all want to change the world But when you talk about destruction Don't you know you can count me out Don't you know it's gonna be alright Alright Alright (It somehow sounds better with grinding guitar!) You say you got a real solution Well you know We'd all love to see the plan You ask me for a contribution Well you know We're doing what we can But when you want money for people with minds that hate All I can tell you is brother you have to wait Don't you know it's gonna be alright Alright Alright (Believe me, you don’t want me to sing it!) You say you'll change the constitution Well you know We all want to change your head You tell me it's the institution Well you know You better free your mind instead But if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao You ain't going to make it with anyone anyhow Don't you know know it's gonna be alright Alright Alright The songwriter? John Lennon. Written in response to the Vietnam War, “Revolution” was the 1st overtly political song by the Beatles. According to the gospel of Mark, Revolution is precisely what Jesus is up to! Today Jesus begins the movement into history called the kingdom of God. After his dramatic baptism, Jesus strides forth to recapture enemy territory. At last! God is going to get back what belongs to God. The revolution begins today! And what’s the 1st thing Jesus does? What is his 1st decisive revolutionary act? He says to a couple of guys gutting fish and mending their nets, "Follow me!" At this point one might expect these two fishermen to ask: · Who are you? · Where are you going? But no, they just drop what they're doing and follow Jesus. They become his disciples. No mention is made of any skill or qualification. They simply stumble after Jesus and the kingdom of God gets going. A group of untrained, uneducated, untalented fishermen, and tax collectors stumbling along after Jesus? Is this anyway to start a revolution? Yet there’s no question God’s Kingdom is revolution! In the book, “The Spirituality of Imperfection,” the authors tell the story about a black man who wanders into a white, country-club type church and despite the obvious cultural differences, takes a liking to the worship service and minister. When he asks the pastor about joining the church, however, the response is cool. “Why don’t you take a few weeks and pray about it,” the pastor suggests, knowing well the obstacles that face the visitor if he actually tries to join. Weeks later, the man comes back to the pastor’s study and reports that he has taken the pastor’s suggestion to pray and, hallelujah, the Lord has answered. “What did God say to you?” the minister asks. “Well, preacher, God told me to just forget about it. God said he’d been trying to get into this church for years still hadn’t made it.” -Ernest Kurtz and Katherine Ketchum, The Spirituality of Imperfection. Something tells me this is not the kind of REVOLUTION Jesus had in mind! It’s not a question of politics or civil rights. One could argue that it’s a question of prejudice and charity. Ultimately, this is a Kingdom issue! None of us measure up to the Bible’s standard of righteousness. So when the church decides for God, who is “in” and who is “out” then the church has fallen into idolatry. Thank God we are all treated with grace. Jesus’ calling of his 1st Disciples provides the theological grounding for membership into the UMC. All are welcome, they have only to respond. No one will be denied membership based upon some sort of litmus test. God’s grace is available to all. Jesus’ hiring practices may be credited to his predilection toward the poor and lowly of society, but that misses a deeper spiritual truth; that all people are of sacred worth in God’s eyes. You may not know this but I was appointed to Holy Covenant because of your reputation in the NT Conference as a forward thinking, open minded and inclusive church. Where else to appoint the first and only Asian-American to be appointed as senior pastor to a primarily Caucasian church in the Conference. I understand there were a number of churches I was not considered for because of their reputation and because of who I am. Our culture turns people into a laundry list of labels: White, black, left, right, middle, lower, poor, affluent, straight, gay, poor, democrat, republican…. Yet Galatians 3:23-29 proclaims, “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” Talk about revolutionary. God’s “no longer” strips off socially imposed labels that violate the sacred worth of each and every child of God. In God’s kingdom, exclusion is sin! Instead, God calls us to into community. We are all children of God and that makes us family! I like how writer Mary Roach defines family. “A collection of people who share the same genes but can’t agree on a place to pull over for lunch!” Folks, we share the same spiritual DNA. We Christians spend way too much time pointing out our differences, arguing over who’s right, instead of focusing on what we have in common. And it’s surprising how much we do agree upon! As far as the war in Iraq, everyone I have talked with ultimately wants peace and for our troops to come home. Even with regard to human sexuality, I have yet to meet anyone who wants the government to dictate who they can fall in love with. Two things have had a profound impression upon me over the last year. I had scheduled for a couple of UM missionaries to come speak our church about their work in the occupied territories. When I mentioned this to Rev. Jack Soper, the founding pastor of this church, a great ecumenicist and lover of justice, he strongly cautioned me against having these missionaries come. Turns out these missionaries spoke to a gathering at his church and ended up alienating a number of people in attendance because of the couple’s one sided pro-Palestinian views of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; undermining some of the progress his congregation has done in developing a sensitivity to both sides of the issue. The 2nd thing was when Rev. Bill McElvaney, professor Emeritus from Perkins spoke to a book study group about the disagreements he had with his brother over politics. As best I can remember it, he said, “For many years we tried to fix each other. Then one day I told myself, “I don’t need to be right.” We eventually learned to accept one another as human beings.” When Bill was asked how things resolved with his brother, he added, “I just learned there were some things we were never going to agree on and to talk about something else.” In a perfect world, everyone would agree with me/us. But given that our world is less then perfect (as are we) maybe the goal we should shoot for 1st is tolerance. Tolerance of our differences. The gift of self-determination, not just to us, but to all people. Tolerance is a necessary step toward God’s kingdom of love and peace. So what does tolerance look like? My wife Susan and I attended a showing of “Munich,” a Steven Spielberg movie that deals with the Palestinian terrorist attack on the Israeli athletes at the summer games in Munich, and Israel’s response through it’s own elite anti-terrorist death squad. Let me tell you, it was a brutal movie to watch. In the movie there’s an entirely fictional scene in which Avener (the head of the Israeli death squad) and his Palestinian opposite meet and talk calmly, with the latter getting a chance to make his case for the creation of a homeland for his people. That scene means everything to (screenwriter, Tony Kushner) and Spielberg. Says Spielberg, “The only thing that’s going to solve [the Middle East conflict] is rational minds, a lot of sitting down and talking until you’re blue in the gills.”P.67 He continues, “I’m always in favor of Israel responding strongly when it’s threatened. At the same time, a response to a response doesn’t really solve anything. It just creates a perpetual motion machine…There’s been a quagmire of blood for blood for many decades in that region. Where does it end? How can it end?” p.66 Time December 12, 2005 Blood for blood will never win lasting peace. We may say that we are committed to peace, unity and justice in the world but how is that suppose to happen when even the Universal Christian Church with its UM’s, AME’s, Baptists, RCC’s, Presbyterians, Lutherans, and non-denominational Bible churches (to name a few), continues to be one of the most fractured institutions in the world? We good people need to find a way to sit down with each other, and make peace with one another. Peacemaking begins at home! My wife is teaching me that. We have to learn to be tolerant of our differences, and that begins with finding common ground! It’s impossible but by the grace of God! On February 28th, Fat Tuesday, our church is having a Mardi Gras celebration. It’s going to be a fundraiser for Payne Memorial AME Church. Our adult mission team worked on this church and has expressed a desire to continue in relationship with them. Payne Memorial may be a black church in a poor neighborhood of New Orleans, but let me tell you, it is rich in faith! We may have no denominational ties but we are family. I am asking you to open your heart and to participate in this celebration of God’s Kingdom revolution. Jesus once told the Sadducees, “Is not this why you are wrong, that you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God?” (Mark 12:24) Scripture tells us that Jesus’ disciples are chosen for their willingness to drop everything and follow him. I wonder if the reason we may not have experienced the power of God in our lives (or in our church) is because there are some things we haven’t been willing to drop or some places we haven’t been willing to go to follow Jesus. In the book “The World is Flat,” NY Times columnist, Thomas Friedman discusses the ten forces (he claims) that have flattened the world. Flattener #1 he describes as the fall of the Berlin wall. He writes, “The first time I saw the Berlin Wall, it already had a hole in it. It was December 1990 and I was traveling to Berlin with the reporters covering Secretary of State James A. Baker III. The Berlin Wall had been breached a year earlier, on November 9, 1989. Yes, in a wonderful kabbalistic accident of dates, the Berlin Wall fell on 11/9. The wall, even in its punctured and broken state, was still an ugly scar across Berlin. Secretary Baker was making his first visit to see this crumbled monument to Soviet communism. I was standing next to him with a small group of reporters. “It was a foggy, overcast day,” Baker recalled in his memoir, The Politics of Diplomacy, “and in my raincoat, I felt like a character in a John le Carre novel. But as I peered through a crack in the Wall (near the Reichstag) and saw the high-resolution drabness that characterizes East Berlin, I realized that the ordinary men and women of East Germany, peacefully and persistently, had taken matters into their own hands. This was their revolution.” Friedman concludes, “I remember thinking how unnatural it looked- indeed, what a bizarre thing it was, this cement wall snaking across a modern city for the sole purpose of preventing the people on the other side from enjoying, even glimpsing freedom.” P.48-49. This is what I think: In the REVOLUTION which is “the Kingdom of God,” Jesus peers through a jagged hole and sees ordinary men and women (like you and me) peacefully and persistently, taking matters into our own hands tearing down the walls from the inside. Jesus says, “Follow me.” It’s up to us to drop everything; · our racism, · our pride, · our self-proclaimed righteousness and join the throng of those who walk in his steps. We may not all follow him the same way or even end up at the same place. But we cannot “follow Jesus” without being tolerant of our differences and recognizing our shared identity as members of God’s family. “And when this happens, (in the words of Dr. King) when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every tenement and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, free at last." –Martin Luther King Jr. “I have a Dream Speech.” |
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