Not That Kind of King Sermon 7/28/2024

            Herod the Great was an interesting guy.  We know him as the king who was alerted by the three wise men that a new King of Israel had been born.  And who subsequently issued the order to murder every child under the age of two in and around Bethlehem, in order to protect his kingship.  Of course, as we shall soon see, protecting his kingship was business as usual for Herod. 

Herod was born into an Arab family.  His father, Antipater, was Idumean, but Antipater’s ancestors had been forcibly converted to Judaism, so Herod was a Jew, at least technically speaking.  But Herod’s mother was an Arabian Princess, so by blood, Herod was pure Arab.  When Herod was growing up, Israel was independent and was ruled by the Hasmonean dynasty.  After the death of their father, Hasmonean brothers Aristobulus and Hyrcanus fought over the throne of Israel, they ended up in a war, and both brothers appealed to the prevalent world power, Rome, for assistance, and so Rome sent Pompey to Israel.  But Pompey did not go to assist one or the other of the brothers.  He besieged Israel and conquered it, making it a client state of Rome, thus ending Israel’s independence… Oops!

Early in the Roman rule of Israel, Julias Caesar, who was friendly with Herod’s father, Antipater, entrusted Antipater with handling the affairs of Judea, making him an unofficial governor.  The young Herod was able to leverage his father’s connections with Rome to get himself appointed Provincial Governor at the tender age of 25.  While a practicing Jew, at least overtly, Herod’s Arab bloodline caused native Jews to view him as an outsider and to question his Jewishness.  Because of that questionable bloodline, a political marriage seemed to be in order, and so he married the Hasmonean Princess Mariamne.  He did this in an attempt to add legitimacy to his claim to Jewishness, and also to try to consolidate his growing political power.

Making a long story short, (I’ll bet you’re glad) Herod was declared King of Judea by the Roman Senate when he was about 38 years old.  After becoming king, the remaining heir to the Hasmonean throne challenged Herod’s authority, so Herod had him executed.  When the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling body, which had retained some autonomy even under Roman rule, questioned Herod’s authority, Herod ordered 47 of the 93 members of the Sanhedrin executed.  In doing this, Herod managed to kill some of the best and brightest minds of Judaism, which did not exactly endear him to the Jewish people.  A few years later, believing it necessary to protect his throne, he murdered his Hasmonean wife, Mariamne and their two sons. 

Herod lived in constant fear of rebellion and as such, summarily executed anyone who threatened his rule.  Herod also had a secret police force that spied on the people and would put a swift and brutal end to any talk of insurrection.  In short, Herod was a bit of a tyrant, and was not at all liked by the majority of the Jewish people.

But… Herod did have some good things going for him.  He was a prolific builder, rebuilding the Jerusalem Temple and turning it into one of the wonders of the ancient world.  He added a royal palace next to the temple, and added a theater, a stadium, and an amphitheater, all in Jerusalem.  He built the fortress at Masada, and built the city of Caesarea Maritima from nothing, a city that had planned streets, underground sewage, an aqueduct, a Roman temple, and an amphitheater.  Of course, it goes without saying that it was the Israelites who paid for all of this with their tax dollars; which added still another reason for the people to hate Herod. 

But Herod WAS a shrewd ruler, who managed to protect the political independence and liberty of the Jewish people, as long as that liberty didn’t interfere with their subservience to Rome.  And Herod was known all over the ancient world as an effective advocate for the diaspora; the Jews who lived, scattered throughout the Roman Empire, for whom Herod would engage the empire on their behalf when necessary.  Among his good works, Herod succeeded in having Jews exempted from Roman military service, forged a deal with Rome that exempted all Jews from having to participate in emperor worship, and managed to have the Romans allow the Jews relative freedom to practice their religion.  So, he truly was a very complicated man, and actually a very effective, if widely disliked, ruler.

  As for the Roman’s part in this, the Romans required that each day, in the Temple, a sacrifice was made for the welfare of the emperor.  You can imagine that didn’t go over well with the Jewish people.  Also, the Romans and not the Jews appointed the High Priest, so if the High Priest did not toe the Roman line, he would quickly be replaced.  And on top of Herod’s already high taxes, the Roman taxes were oppressive, and the Romans were quick in taking retribution against those individuals and families who had trouble paying.  Israel was heavily occupied by Roman troops, and those troops routinely mistreated the populace, harassing them, forcing them to perform menial tasks for them, and mocking them for their religious observances.

Herod the Great died not too long after Jesus was born, but, good and bad, Herod had set the tone for how Israel would fare under Roman rule.  Upon Herod’s death his son Herod Antipas succeeded him, becoming Tetrarch of Galilee and Perea, and Antipas carried on most of his father’s oppressive policies.  It’s not at all hard to see how the Israelites really despised Roman rule.  It was intrusive, expensive, and humiliating, but the Israelites bore the difficulties, believing that Roman rule was God’s will.  All the while, however, Israel was anxiously awaiting the coming of the Messiah. 

There are two different threads of prophecy in the Old Testament that speak of the Messiah.  One thread recognizes the Messiah as the suffering servant.  This is the thread that Christians recognize as the First Coming; the appearance of the human yet divine Jesus who shows us the Father and dies for our sins.   The second thread contains the prophecies of the Messiah who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords; the Messiah who does battle with, and defeats, the evil forces of the earth.  This, Christians recognize as the second coming of Christ in His glory. 

But for first century Jews, and even for our Jewish brothers and sisters today, the Old Testament prophecies about the suffering servant are assumed not to be speaking of the Messiah, but are assumed to be speaking about Israel herself, and so the only prophesies that Jews consider to be Messianic are those of the Messiah ascending the throne of David and becoming a great military leader who restores Israel to the dominant place among the nations.  That this was the prevailing opinion of first century Judaism is borne out by several of the Dead Sea Scrolls where multiple commentaries and non-Biblical texts speak plainly of the expectation that the Messiah would subjugate Rome and restore the everlasting throne of David. 

It is into this circumstance, and into these expectations, that Jesus begins His ministry.

We’ve spoken at length over the last few weeks about the events in this week’s reading.  We’ve spoken about the miracle of feeding possibly as many as 10,000 people or more with 5 barley loaves and 2 fishes.  We’ve spoken about Jesus, walking on the water and His ultimate identification of Himself as the Great I Am.  But the one thing about which we haven’t spoken yet, is the reaction of the people to Jesus’ miracles.  The Bible tells us that a lot of the people who were following Jesus around, were following Him simply because they wanted to witness a miracle.  And in today’s reading, Jesus gives them one, big time!  So spectacular was this miracle of the feeding of the 5,000; so unmistakably an act of God, that it is the only miracle except for the resurrection that is mentioned in all four Gospels.  And it was so spectacular and so unmistakably an act of God, that John tells us that the people began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”  John also tells us that Jesus knew that the people intended to make Him king by force.  And so, He withdrew to a mountain to escape the crowd. 

Very often, when we have our minds set on something, we find it extremely difficult to absorb new information that contradicts what we think we know, and it’s even more difficult for us to allow this new information to change our mindset.  It’s difficult because this new information creates something called cognitive dissonance, a condition that can cause an individual discomfort or anxiety because something that is a deeply held belief is being challenged or even proven not to be true.  Very often, the human response to cognitive dissonance is to dismiss proven truth in favor of the entrenched worldview that is in opposition to that truth. 

Even among the disciples we see evidence of a struggle over this, trying to replace the image of a conquering hero messiah with the truth of a loving servant God.  And scholars generally agree that even Judas’ betrayal of Jesus was not something done in malice, but rather was an attempt to force Jesus to declare Himself king, vanquish the Romans, and set up His eternal kingdom, with Israel forever and ever as the world’s dominant power.  It was a worldview that was entirely, well… a world view.  It was people interpreting God and His plan through the lens of their earthly experiences.  But God’s actual plan is something radically different. 

The world values strength.  The longing of the ancient Israelites was for their nation to be glorified, for their nation to reign supreme over all the earth.  Remember the story about when James and John asked Jesus to promise them that they would have the seats to His right and to His left when He came into His glory?  James and John were seeking the prestige and honor to which they somehow believed that they were entitled.  And this mindset really hasn’t changed much in the last 2,000 years.  Humans still generally value strength.  Prestige and honor are still goals to be pursued.  It is a very human tendency to desire to stand above the crowd and to be recognized. 

Isaiah tells us that God said, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.  As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.  Theologians have often described Christianity as “Flying upside down”.  For the Christian, the things of this earth are most emphatically not the things of God. 

Where the world envisions a king who would subjugate the nations and enforce God’s law upon the people, God envisions a world where obedience to Him is given willingly and joyfully because the people know that their King is loving, and compassionate, and passionately pursues the happiness and well being of His beloved children. 

The world envisions punishment and retribution for sin and even calls out for vengeance on those who have sinned, but God calls us to repentance, showering us with unmerited grace like a flowing river, and lovingly restoring the relationships with Him that have been broken by sin. 

The world envisions a hierarchy where some people are imagined to be inherently better or more important than others.  In this world, a person’s value is judged by race or color or age or gender or intellect, or social status, but God envisions a world where all are truly and completely equal, where love demands that every single one of God’s beloved children is afforded dignity and grace, and an exactly equal place in the fellowship of believers. 

The world envisions religion as lists of rules and regulations to be followed, enforceable laws where those who violate those laws are subject to wrath and judgment.  But God envisions a loving and intimate relationship with His beloved children.  A relationship where God lovingly provides for His children’s every need, and even more, a God who lovingly provides for the complete happiness of His children, and His children love and adore and obey God simply because of who He is.

The world envisions a place where people work to surpass others, where resources are hoarded and possessions become a measure of status, declaring your superiority over others.  But God envisions a world where people work to support others, where resources are shared in such a way that no one is left wanting.  In a complete reversal from the world’s values, the one who does the most for OTHERS, is the one most esteemed.  After James and John made their very worldly request to Jesus, Jesus answered them, saying, “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave.  Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Psychologists describe a thing called confirmation bias.  It is the tendency of people to accept facts that conform to their worldview, while rejecting facts that contradict those views.  For the Israelites who wished to force Jesus to become king, they were seeking His kingship for all the wrong reasons.  From their worldly standpoint, they expected a worldly king; a king who supported all of the worldly values that they held.  But Jesus wasn’t interested in their worldly values.  Jesus came to show us this upside down kingdom of God.  He came to show us the nature of God’s love and compassion, and forgiveness, and the magnitude of His generosity and His grace.  He came to show us that there is indeed a way that is higher than our ways.  We need to learn how NOT to interpret God and His plan through the lens of our worldly experiences, but rather through the example and teaching of Jesus. 

To be a Christian is to ask God to incorporate us into His plan.  It is to embrace the wisdom of His upside down kingdom, and to allow God to make us a people who turn away from the ways of this world, and allow Him to transform our hearts into hearts that look like His heart.

Why Was Healing Important? Sermon 7/21/24

            Warren Wiersbe asks a great question, “From what you remember about Jesus’ life, what would have convinced you that He was truly the Son of God?”  Now, we have to admit… compared to the disciples, we have a bit an advantage.  Most of us have grown up around the idea that Jesus IS God, and so maybe we have a tendency to overlook just how radical this whole idea of God becoming fully human really is.  The disciples had no such advantage; and even though they were eyewitnesses to the life and teaching of Jesus, the disciples still struggled to understand.

            Our story today begins right after the disciples return from having been sent out in twos to bring a message of repentance, to heal the sick, and to drive out demons.  It was a successful journey for each of them and one has to wonder how they felt when they saw the power of God working through them as they healed people with just a touch.  These were ordinary people, not unlike us, who had been given this extraordinary power, and were now using that power to spread the Good News about the kingdom of God. 

            Mark tells us that when the disciples returned, they reported to Jesus all that they had said and done, but Jesus, recognizing that the disciples were pretty worn out-after their journey, suggested that they go to a remote place to get some rest, to refresh, and to get something to eat.  As an aside, it’s nice to see that Jesus Himself advocated for adequate rest and relaxation for those who have immersed themselves in doing the work of God’s kingdom.  Jesus and the disciples attempted to get away from the crowds by taking a boat what was probably a pretty short distance, to an area that was what Mark described as “a solitary place”.  It was a good plan, but some folks saw Jesus and the disciples headed across the lake and those folks ran on ahead and met the boat where it landed.  How many folks?  About 5,000.  Actually, John’s Gospel clarifies that it was 5,000 men, not counting the women and children.  Now, 5,000 men would fill the Ocean Grove Great Auditorium almost to capacity, and there were probably at least as many women and children, so this was not a small crowd!  As the boat came ashore, Mark tells us that Jesus had compassion on the crowd because they were like sheep without a shepherd.  And so He began “Teaching them many things.”  In stating that Jesus had compassion, the word that Mark uses is quite visceral.  The ancients believed that the seat of one’s emotion was in the bowels, and so in the Greek, the word was ἐσπλαγχνίσθη (splagch-ni-zomee) which Strong’s delicately defines as “Being moved in the inward parts”.  It was a word that was reserved for feelings of deepest empathy and compassion. 

            Our reading today completely skips over the well-known story of the feeding of the 5,000, but we need to bear in mind the fact that once again the disciples had a front row seat at another miraculous event.  That will become important later.

            In discussing Jesus’ statement about sheep without a shepherd, one of the commentaries that I used this week referred me to Ezekiel 34… the whole chapter.  And I’m not going to read the whole chapter this morning, but to summarize, God is speaking to Ezekiel about Israel’s leadership.  God tells Ezekiel to pronounce judgment on the shepherds of Israel because they take the sheep’s food and keep it for themselves.  They don’t provide care for the weak, they don’t heal the sick, they don’t go after the strays, and they bully and badger the sheep without mercy.  God then tells Ezekiel that He Himself will be the shepherd and will do Himself, all of the things that Israel’s shepherds have failed to do.  God then tells Ezekiel that He is going to judge the sheep also, because some members of the flock mistreat others, take their food and water from them, and force them away from the flock.  And so, God tells Ezekiel that David will be their shepherd and will feed and care for them while the malicious sheep will be banished. 

            In reading that full chapter of Ezekiel 34, we find a description of what Jesus was talking about when He explained the difference between Him, as the good shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep, and the hired hand, who cares not for the sheep.  Jesus, as the shepherd, is of course, both God, and the Son of David, and is therefore, the fulfilment of the Ezekiel prophecy as the true shepherd who cares for His sheep.  That care was abundantly illustrated when Jesus, rather than being bothered by the crowd that greeted them as they stepped off the boat hoping for some rest, immediately began to tend to their needs; both spiritual in His teaching of them, and physical in His miraculous feeding of them. 

            Even though this next part isn’t included in our reading today, I think the event adds an important dimension to our story.  After feeding the crowd and sending them away, the disciples headed out onto the lake again, with Jesus staying behind to pray.  And once again, the disciples experienced difficulty getting across the lake, and once again, Jesus saw this and walked on water to meet them. Interestingly though, this time Mark tells us that Jesus intended to walk right past them.  The disciples, when they saw Jesus walking on the water, were once again, terrified, thinking once again that Jesus was a ghost.  Jesus immediately said to them, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” And then He climbed into the boat with them.  But there is one important thing here that is lost in the translation.  When Jesus said “It is I”, His actual words in the Greek, were ἐγώ εἰμι (ego eimi).  Possibly some of you may recognize these words by now.  At the burning bush, when Moses asked God what His name is, God responded that His name is “I Am”.  The transliteration of that Hebrew name into Greek is ἐγώ εἰμι, so what Jesus actually said to the disciples was “Take courage and fear not, for I AM.  Jason Meyer explains, “This whole story is a revelation of Jesus’ deity.  Jesus is not saying ‘Don’t be afraid, you know me, I am not a ghost’.  He is saying ‘Do not fear, because I am God!’”

            After Jesus got in the boat, He and the disciples, once again put ashore, and Mark tells us, “As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus.  They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was.  And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.”

            The first thing I asked you all this morning was a question that Warren Wiersbe posed about what would convince you that Jesus was the Son of God.  If we were to look, just at the last few weeks, we would find Jesus walking on water, calming a storm, driving multiple demons out of a man from the Gerasenes, healing a woman who had been bleeding for 12 years, raising Jairus’ daughter from the dead, feeding 4,000 people, and then 5,000 people with just a few loaves of bread and some fish, and then walking on water again.  One might be inclined to think that, somewhere along the line, the disciples would have figured it out, but after everything they had witnessed, and the miracles that they had each done personally, they still mistook Jesus for a ghost and were terrified. 

Let’s think about all of this for a minute.  When the disciples advised Jesus to dismiss the 5,000 people so they could go into the town to buy something to eat, Jesus told the disciples “You feed them”.  On the surface, the disciple’s response, which amounted to them asking Jesus if he was crazy, did He realize how much it would cost to buy enough food to feed them all, seems entirely reasonable, and even pragmatic.  But… in the context of the fact that the disciples had JUST come back from a journey where they had performed miracles THEMSELVES, why is it that not even one of them considered the fact that Jesus might have enabled them to feed the crowd miraculously by themselves.  If only they had faith as small as a mustard seed…

Why were the miracles important?  In His miracles, Jesus is showing His disciples, and us, the truth of His divinity; the truth that He is indeed Emmanuel, God with us.  And what a rich statement that is!  The God who created the entire universe, simply by speaking it into existence, is also the God who loves enough to heal everyone who touches Him.  As with Mary and Martha when their brother Lazarus died, He’s the God who walks with us in our most difficult times, and cries with us in our grief.  As with Peter, He’s the God who refuses to let us sink when we take our eyes off of Him.  As with the crowds of 4,000 and 5,000 people, He’s the God who refuses to let His children go hungry and feeds them until they are full.  As with the little children, He’s the God who refuses to let anyone hinder their coming to Him.  As with the woman at the well, He’s the God who refuses to let a person’s less than perfect past interfere with His forgiveness and His restoration.  As with Peter’s mother-on-law, and the Centurian’s servant, and the man who was let down through the roof, He’s the God who conquers sickness.  As with Jairus’ daughter, and the Widow’s son, and Lazarus, He’s the God who even conquers death!  As with Mary Magdeline, and Joanna, and Susanna, He’s the God who breaks the barriers of gender and as with Matthew, and Zacchaeus, and Simon the Zealot, He’s the God who breaks the barriers of class and status.  And through His love and His grace, He brings forgiveness and wholeness and dignity to all who love Him.  This God who created the entire universe, simply by speaking it into existence, became fully human, and lived among us, that we may see and understand exactly who God is. 

In John 14, on the night that He was betrayed, Jesus was speaking to the disciples and Phillip asked Jesus if He would show us the Father.  Jesus responded, “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?  Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?  The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority.  Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.  Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves.”

“The evidence of the works themselves”.   To the disciples, and to His closest followers, Jesus revealed the purpose behind the miracles.  I mentioned a few weeks back that when we look at the miracles of Jesus, what we think we are seeing is Jesus somehow bending the rules of nature, doing something extraordinary and supernatural.  But that isn’t the case at all.  What Jesus is actually doing is not something that is contrary to the way that things are supposed to be.  What He is doing is returning things to the way that they were intended to be.  He starts with a world that is broken with sin and illness and death, and through forgiving the sin, healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, giving hearing to the deaf, and even raising the dead to life, He is restoring the world to the way that God always intended for it to be.  And the best part of this is… He does ALL of this out of love.  In all of Jesus’ actions, all of His teachings, all of His miracles, there is an undercurrent of love that runs through all of it.

            And now, here we are, 2,000 years later.  And we read the stories, and we talk about the miracles, and in 2,000 years, their purpose still hasn’t changed.  God is still explaining to us, through the life, and teaching, and example of Jesus, exactly who God is.  This is why it is so important to hear the stories.  This is why it is so important to talk about the miracles.  Because the stories and the miracles lead us to the fact that Jesus is truly the Son of God.  And there is no more important thing that we can do in this lifetime than to learn that.  And once we have learned that, to lead others to Him that they may discover that for themselves.

A Disturbing Turn of Events: Sermon 7/14/24

For the last few weeks, we have been talking about how Mark uses “story sandwiches” or intercalations as a device both to draw the reader into his story and also to allow the “sandwiched” stories to interpret or to illustrate one another.  Once again today Mark is using a “story sandwich” as he intercalates the story of the sending of the disciples to carry the Gospel, and their subsequent return, with the story of the execution of John the Baptist.  Last week we spoke about how the rejection of Jesus when he was in Nazareth was an important lesson for the disciples to learn so that they would be prepared not only for success in their teaching and healing ministries, but also be prepared to be rejected. 

This week we have a much darker lesson.  Mark L. Strauss explains, “The most likely relationship [between the disciples’ story and the John the Baptist story] is that both episodes illustrate the nature and cost of true discipleship.  The Twelve are commissioned to set aside their possessions, comfort, and personal ambitions to proclaim the Good News of the kingdom.  John the Baptist meanwhile pays the ultimate cost of discipleship – giving his life for the Gospel.”

The King Herod of our story today is Herod Antipas.  While Antipas liked to be called “King”, he was, in fact, a Tetrarch, meaning a ruler of one fourth of a kingdom.  After the death of Herod, the Great (You remember him, he was the guy who tried to kill Jesus, by killing every male child under the age of two in and around Bethlehem).  Herod the Great’s kingdom was divided among his four sons with Antipas being declared Tetrarch of Galilee and Perea.  Herod Antipas ruled for about 40 years and was not only responsible for the death of John the Baptist; he was also the Herod before whom Jesus stood trial. 

Philip the Tetrarch was Herod’s half-brother, and one of the four brothers to rule Palestine after the death of their father Herod the Great.  Philip was married to Herodias but when Antipas made a trip to Rome where he stayed with his brother Philip, Antipas fell in love with Herodias and convinced her to divorce Philip so that she could marry him.  According to Leviticus 18:16 this was a direct violation of Jewish law.  John the Baptist reminded Antipas of this violation, every chance he got.  Because of this, Herodias hated John the Baptist, and wanted him dead, but Antipas was intrigued by John the Baptist.  Mark tells us that Antipas didn’t understand him, but that he liked to listen to him.  But, Antipas had John arrested, probably for two reasons.  First, of course, would have been to satisfy his wife, Herodias.  But the second reason was quite simply that Antipas just could not have John continually preaching to the people about how he had sinned in marrying his brother’s wife.  So, Antipas imprisoned John so that John couldn’t keep heralding that sin to Antipas’ subjects.  However, Antipas protected John because he knew that John was a righteous and holy man. 

We all know what happened next.  We’ve all heard the story about Herodias’ daughter Salome dancing, about Antipas offering Salome anything up to half of his kingdom, and how Salome, at her mother’s urging, demanded the head of John the Baptist.  That Antipas was wracked with guilt over his murder of John the Baptist becomes apparent when Mark tells us that, upon hearing of Jesus’ miracles, Antipas assumes that Jesus is John the Baptist, raised from the dead.  In the Greek, Antipas says “John the Baptist is ἠγέρθη (egerthe)”, which carries a specifically divine implication.  The translation of that word in the text would best read “God has raised John the Baptist from the dead”.  Mark L. Strauss again observes, “Antipas doesn’t just fear retribution from John; his conscience is telling him he has done a great evil and will answer to God.  Instead of repenting, however, Antipas responds with fear.”  Random question:  Do we think that God would have forgiven Antipas had he repented?  I have no doubt, because I believe that God’s grace is even bigger than we can imagine.

And so, I would like to talk about the message that Mark is revealing in this current story sandwich, and the essence of Mark’s message is that it is a discussion about the cost of discipleship.  But now I need to fast forward almost 2,000 years because in the 21^st century, no discussion of the cost of discipleship is complete without a discussion about Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  So with my sincerest apologies for another history lesson…

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German theologian and pastor, and a founding member of the German Confessing Church which arose after Adolph Hitler took power.  According to Hitler biographer Alan Bullock, Hitler disdained Christianity, but at the time that Hitler came into power, 95% of Germans were Christian (32% Catholic and 63% Protestant).  As such, Hitler knew that, if he was ever going to have anyone following him, he was going to have to use the church.  And so, when Hitler unveiled the National Socialist Program, a 25-point plan for how the National Socialists would lead Germany, point 24 was a demand for “Freedom of religion for all religious denominations within the state, so long as they do not endanger [the states] existence or oppose the moral senses of the German race”. 

Hitler espoused a movement called “Positive Christianity”.  This was Hitler’s attempt to placate any Christians who believed that the Nazis were hostile to Christianity.  But in truth, Hitler was just trying to coopt the churches to serve his own purposes.  In 1937 Hans Kerrl, the Hitler appointed head of the German Church, which was the name given to the churches that supported the Nazis, said, “Positive Christianity is not dependent on the Apostle’s Creed, nor is it dependent on faith in Christ as the Son of God.  Rather it is represented by the Nazi Party.  The Fuhrer is the herald of a new revelation.”  There are those who believe that apostacy is insidious and hard to discern, but sometimes, all you have to do is listen carefully to what people are saying.

Hitler introduced a new Bible that eliminated most of the Old Testament and any positive mention of Jews in the New Testament.  This new “New Testament” now portrayed Jesus as “an Aryan hero of human origin who fought the Jewish people” ¹ This new “Christian” church eschewed Christian notions of meekness and guilt, believing that they “Repressed the violent instincts necessary to prevent inferior races from dominating Aryans” and Hitler ultimately sought to unite the entire Christian population of Germany into a church in which Hitler, and not Jesus, was the head of the church.  The Nazi affirming German Church became quite large and influential.  Hitler biographer Ian Kershaw wrote that, “while many ordinary people were apathetic… after years of warning from Catholic clergy, Germany’s Catholic population greeted the Nazi takeover with uncertainty, while among German Protestants, there was more optimism that the Nazi takeover would bring about a strengthened Germany and might bring with it “inner, moral revitalization”.  This goal of the German Protestants to have the church and the government working together to strengthen the nation and to enforce their morality on others is unfortunately, nothing new in the church.  Either before Nazi Germany, or after.

In response to the Nazi takeover of the church, a group of devout Christians led by Karl Barth, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Martin Niemoller formed the Pastor’s Emergency League.  This coalition of pastors resisted the Nazification of the church and formed what became known as the Confessing Church.  So called because the church’s foundation was based on a confession; specifically the Barmen Declaration.  The Barmen Declaration, written primarily by Karl Barth, pointed out difficulties with the theology of Hitler’s church, and stated what the Confessing Church believed.  (And by the way, the Barmen Declaration is in the Presbyterian Book of Confessions as a part of the Presbyterian Constitution.  I’ve left a few copies of the Barmen Declaration on the welcome table in the Narthex this morning, for anyone who would like to take one and read it!  It’s only a few pages long.)

Needless to say, Hitler didn’t think very highly of the Confessing Church.  It was soon summarily outlawed, and Bonhoeffer and Niemoller were arrested and sent to concentration camps.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer was hanged at the Flossenburg Concentration Camp just two weeks to the day before the camp was liberated by the US Army.

In case you all are wondering why my sermon took a sudden turn away from Mark this morning…  Bonhoeffer is the author of a book called “The Cost of Discipleship”.  And as we reflect on the lessons that Mark is teaching in his story sandwich about the potential costs of bearing the Gospel, the words that Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, amplify Mark’s teaching in a very contemporary and very meaningful way.  In his book, Bonhoeffer speaks of the contrast between cheap grace and costly grace. 

In Bonhoeffer’s own words, “Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession…Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.” 

“Cheap grace means grace sold on the market like cheapjack’s wares. The sacraments, the forgiveness of sin, and the consolations of religion are thrown away at [bargain] prices. Grace is represented as the Church’s inexhaustible treasury, from which she showers blessings with generous hands, without asking questions or fixing limits. Grace without price; grace without cost! The essence of grace, we suppose, is that the account has been paid in advance; and, because it has been paid, everything can be had for nothing. Since the cost was infinite, the possibilities of using and spending it are infinite. What would grace be if it were not cheap?…

Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it, a [person] will go and sell all that [they have in order to] buy it. It is the pearl of great price to buy for which the merchant will sell all [their] goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a [person] will pluck out the eye which causes [them] to stumble; it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciples leave [their] nets and follow him.

“Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a [person] must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a [person their] life, and it is grace because it gives a [person] the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: ‘[You] were bought at a price’, and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.”

As we reflect on Mark’s lessons and Bonhoeffer’s words today, we soberly consider the cost involved with choosing to become disciples.  We can all be deeply grateful that we do not live in a society where our faith could endanger our lives, but that doesn’t mean that discipleship doesn’t come at a cost for us as well.  We already spoke about sacrificing possessions, comfort, and personal ambitions, but just like that person who sold all that they had to buy that one exquisite pearl, or to buy that one field that contained the treasure, what we give we give joyfully, because what we stand to gain is so unimaginably better than anything that we could possibly give up.  Jim Elliott once said “[A person] is no fool who gives what [they] cannot keep, to gain what [they] cannot lose”.  

Again, Mark L. Strauss explains, “Here we find the true essence of discipleship.  It is following Christ’s model, but always in service to Him.  It is a willingness to give up one’s life, not for our own glory, but for the glory of Christ.  As [Christians], this is one of the most difficult principles to apply.  So much of our self-worth is tied to our position, prestige, and influence.  To live a life of self-sacrificial giving, promoting the cause of others over ourselves, goes against our natural human tendency to self-promote.  Yet it is the epitome of authentic [Christianity].”

We all have been called to be bearers of the Gospel.  We have been called to a life of discipleship where we are asking God to allow us to be a part of His kingdom… to live in such a way that God’s love is exhibited in our day to day lives, in order that others may see God’s love in us, and seek to become a part of God’s kingdom also.  This has always been God’s plan.  Growing the church is not about trying to compel or coerce or enforce.  It is about disciples changing the world one heart at a time.  It is about showing our beloved brothers and sisters, by example, how to live lives of love, compassion, empathy, and grace.  It is about building a church whose members hearts look like God’s heart. 

This is our call.  This is our mission.  To be sent into the world, that we may show the world, the wonderful, extravagant, limitless love of God, in order that others may choose to seek that love for themselves.

¹The Aryan Jesus:  Christian Theologians and the Bible in Nazi Germany by Susannah Heschel

Take Nothing for the Journey: Sermon 7/7/24

July 7, 2024

Take Nothing for the Journey

            The first century residents of Israel had a peculiar way of thinking about status and social mobility.  For us, living in a culture that embraces the “American Dream”, where we believe that dedication and hard work can bring a person material success and an improvement in their social status; a culture where we teach our children that anyone can grow up to be president, it may be difficult for us to understand a society that believed that you are born into a certain social strata, and were fully expected to stay there for your entire life.  But that is what first century Israelites believed.  If you were born a king or a governor then that was your place and your destiny, and God probably put you there for a reason.  Conversely, if you were born, say, a carpenter, then THAT was your place and your destiny, and God probably put you there for a reason too.  But there was more to this.  Also in first century Israelite thought was the idea that, if someone rose above their “place” … that vocation and social strata into which they had been born, then their ascendency from that strata would mean “climbing over” other people.  In other words, those who were previously above you in social standing, would now be moved below you in social standing.  And I suspect that those who were previously above you would not readily give up their sense of superiority over you, and so actions would very likely be taken to prevent you from making that upward bump in social standing.

            In our story today we see Jesus returning to Nazareth, the town in which He grew up.  James F. Strange, a professor of religious studies at the University of South Florida, did some extensive research on first century Nazareth and one of the things that he concluded was that the population of Nazareth at the time of Jesus was, at most, about 480 people.  Is it any wonder that, before he was introduced to Jesus, the future Disciple Nathaniel said “Nazareth? Can anything good come from there?”  Nazareth was likely one of those small towns where everybody knew everybody, and everybody knew everybody’s business. 

And so, here we have this little town, and all of the townspeople have been hearing all of these stories about how Mary’s kid Jesus was performing miracles and Mary’s kid Jesus was teaching in the synagogues, and now Mary’s kid Jesus was coming home, and it was probably going to be quite an event.  When the day came, and Jesus was teaching in the Synagogue, the townsfolk were initially astonished at how He was teaching with wisdom and authority. But it didn’t take long before the novelty wore off, and people began saying to themselves, “Wait a minute!  This is just Mary’s son, the carpenter.  What business does He have going around teaching like this?”  Mark tells us that “They took offense at Him.”  But the Greek here is really interesting.  The phrase “taking offense” is translated from the Greek ἐσκανδαλίζοντο (eskandalizonto), which is the source of our word “scandal.  But in the Greek, the word actually means “to put a snare in someone’s way, or to trip someone up”. 

Because most of the townsfolk would have known Jesus growing up, their familiarity with Him was a stumbling block that prevented them from recognizing the fact that Israel’s Messiah was standing right in front of them.  They all thought that they knew who Jesus was, but their pre-conceived notions prohibited them from looking any deeper and finding out who Jesus REALLY was.  I especially love how The Message translation of the Bible expresses this verse, “Because people think they know who Jesus is, they end up asking disdainfully, “Who does he think he is?”  Add to all of this the fact that there were some influential people in the town who probably resented the fact that Jesus appeared to be moving ahead of them on that social status ladder, and you have a recipe for Jesus to experience widespread rejection, and that is exactly what happened.  There is a parallel account to this story in Luke 4.  And while there is some disagreement among scholars as to whether Luke’s account is reporting the same event as this story from Mark, or if they are reporting two different visits to Nazareth, we read in the Luke account, that the townspeople actually took Jesus to the edge of a cliff with the intent of throwing Him off.  Luke tells us that they are not able to do so, because Jesus turns around and walks right through the crowd.

            But we shouldn’t be too hard on these folks from Nazareth.  Making up your mind about what you believe isn’t a particularly hard thing to do.  Keeping an open mind to new things that can expand your knowledge and understanding requires just a little bit more effort.  It’s much easier, and much more comfortable just to stick with what you know. 

Most of you know by now that I am an internet junkie.  I spend WAY too much time on Facebook, and I spend a bit of time on Quora also.  Quora fascinates me.  I end up answering a lot of questions there, because there are just so many people asking questions where it’s obvious that these folks who are asking the questions are just mired in their way of thinking.  My hope in answering them is that I may give them some food for thought that might just open their minds a little.  And this is important, because just as the familiarity the folks from Nazareth had with Jesus proved to be a stumbling block to their understanding of who Jesus really was.  So it is that there are many, many people today who identify as Christians but barely exhibit the fruits of the Spirit, if at all.  I’m not saying that these people aren’t saved, because God grace is immense, but I am saying that they are very often unfruitful.  And the reason that they are unfruitful is because they think that they have it all figured out what it means to be a follower of Christ, when the reality is that they are barely scratching the surface of their call to discipleship.  The Rev. Mary Austin once said “When you get rid of the God that you think you know, you make room for the real God to come in.” 

Christianity isn’t a destination, it’s a journey.  The believer makes a lifelong commitment to growing in understanding, in love, in grace, and in relationship with God AND with others.  To simply “pray that prayer” and then think “that’s it, I’m in” really robs a person of the riches and the joy and the peace that comes from the development of a lifelong, intimate relationship with God.  The people of Nazareth sacrificed all of that, because they couldn’t get past their initial assumptions.  Mark tells us that Jesus was amazed at their lack of faith.  Only twice in the Bible is Jesus said to have been amazed.  The other time it was positive!  He was amazed at the faith of the Roman Centurion whose servant He had healed.  But I think it’s probably not a good thing when it’s your lack of faith that amazes Jesus!

Mark tells us that “[Jesus] could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.”  Now one must take a little care with this passage.  I would imagine that, somewhere along the line, most of us have heard stories of people being told that they weren’t healed or that something bad had happened because they didn’t have enough faith, but that is just not how these things work.  Pastor Luke Sumner had a great explanation of this when he said, “I don’t think Jesus is measuring their faith, willing to heal people once it hits a certain level. Because this is not how faith works. Faith is not a quantity but a posture, a willingness to see what God is doing and say, “I may not be totally sure, but I am willing to take a step in that direction.”  Simply put, if the folks from Nazareth didn’t have faith, why would they even bother to go to Jesus to be healed in the first place?  And I think that this is what amazed Jesus.  The fact that those who needed healing wouldn’t even take a chance because it seemed to them to be a waste of their time.

One of the things that Mark does in his Gospel is to interrupt a story to tell another story.  These “story sandwiches” or intercalations, as they are called, are designed to draw the reader deeper into the story and to allow the “sandwiched” stories to illuminate each other.  We saw this last week when the story of the woman who was bleeding interrupted the story about Jairus and his daughter.  And this week Mark “sandwiches” this story of rejection and the inability of Jesus to perform many miracles, between the miracle stories of the last two weeks, where Jesus showed incredible powers; and the story that follows in the next verse about Jesus sending out the disciples in twos to spread the Gospel.

            So, our story continues with Jesus going to the surrounding towns, continuing to preach and heal, but now, Jesus divides the disciples into groups of two and sends them out also.  And I believe that the experience in Nazareth was an important one for the disciples.  Remember a few weeks back when the disciples were mega frightened at the fact that Jesus had calmed the wind and the waves?  The disciples had just experienced a period of Jesus displaying amazing power over illness, demons, nature, and even death.  So it was probably essential for the disciples to see the other side of the coin in Jesus being rejected.  This experience would have given the disciples more reasonable expectations of what they might encounter in their journeys.  Jesus anticipated that at some places the disciples may also be rejected, and even gave them the instructions that “If any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”  Shaking the dust from your feet was a traditional Hebrew practice; something that Jews who were traveling outside of Israel did when they left Gentile territory and returned to Israelite territory.  It was a way of making a statement that you have nothing to do with the Gentiles that you are leaving behind.  For the disciples to shake the dust from their feet when they left a Jewish town was making a statement equating the Jews of that town, with the idolatrous Gentiles; it was not at all a kind gesture.  Jesus didn’t take His rejection at Nazareth personally.  It didn’t deter Him at all from continuing His mission of teaching and healing, and He didn’t want the disciples to be discouraged with rejection either.  Anyone think that after His rejection, Jesus said to the disciples “See, it can happen to the best of us?”  No?  Never mind. 

            So, the time has come, and Jesus is sending out the disciples.  And when He does, He sends them with some very specific instructions.  They are to carry nothing for this journey except for a walking stick and sandals; no bread, no bag for carrying supplies or personal items, no money, not even a change of clothes.  These are pretty difficult instructions, don’t you think?  There are those who, through the years, have interpreted this passage as a requirement of asceticism for preachers and evangelists, but I really don’t think that is Jesus’ goal here. 

We have to understand that hospitality was a matter of primary importance to the Jewish people.  The Jews would have been familiar with the stories of Abraham providing hospitality to three men who turned out to be angels, and it was deeply ingrained in Jewish thought that travelers should be welcomed as if they were God Himself visiting.  So, as the disciples traveled to the different towns, there were almost certainly people in every town who would have been willing, and even eager, to provide these traveling preachers with food and a place to sleep.  Interestingly, Jesus commands them that, once a townsperson has welcomed them into their home, they are to stay there for the duration of their visit to that town.  As one might imagine, if their preaching and ministry of healing was well received in a town, there may have been people of higher social standing offering the disciples finer food and more luxurious accommodations, but Jesus does not want the disciples to take part in any of that. 

So, what is there for us to learn from how Jesus instructed the disciples?  Because, after all, we also are sent by Jesus to share the Gospel.  The first instruction was that they go in twos.  Traveling in twos would have been prudent, as it would have been safer, as sometimes there may be robbers on the road (who by the way would have been pretty disappointed in the fact that the disciples were traveling with nothing but the clothes on their backs).  But more than that, the disciples were preaching a message of repentance, and from the standpoint of Jewish law, two witnesses were required in order to testify to the truth.  But possibly most important is the fact, that when all is said and done, Christianity is about community.  Pastor James Lawrence says, “For Jesus, there is no such thing as a lone-ranger Christian. Because life is too hard to go it alone. And being a follower of Jesus, is too hard to go it alone. We need His help and presence. But we need each other’s help, too.”

I believe that a big part of the reason that the disciples were sent out empty handed was to ensure their total reliance on God to provide for their needs.  And this wasn’t just a matter of what to eat and where to sleep, it was also about how to do the work that Jesus was sending them to do.  And that hasn’t changed in two thousand and some years.  We still need to rely entirely on God to equip us to do the work that He has called us to do, whatever that work may be.  The disciples preached and healed with confidence, not in their own abilities, but because they had been given authority by Jesus to act in His behalf.  That same authority to act in His behalf has been granted to us today when we choose to immerse ourselves in the work that God has called us to do as His disciples.

Lastly, we have the message of Nazareth…  Don’t be discouraged if we are rejected.  When rejected we simply need to shake the dust off of our feet and move on to the next task to which God has called us.  To be rejected in the name of Christ is not a failure on our part.  If God has provided the audience and God has provided the words that we speak, then for us to be rejected is entirely the fault of those who refuse to hear the words of life.

I’d like to close with another quote from Pastor Luke Sumner, “God is working to see a world transformed by love and justice.  God has called us to join in that work, and indeed, that work is most powerful when done together.  But too often, the systems and religious structures we build to help us do this work can also hinder the work, making it harder to see what God is up to.  So, our work in [the] coming season[s] is to join in this work by re-imaging a way of doing church that helps, and not hinders God’s kingdom, and by learning to see where the Spirit is moving, and inviting others to join us as we step out in faith to see how we can co-create a world of love and justice.”