17th
Sunday after Pentecost - Mark 9:31-37 - September 19/20, 2015
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +
Before we dive into the text, I want to say a bit about the Gospel of Mark in general. I would hope that by now you've seen and heard just how intense this Gospel can be. Things are violent, the disciples frequently mess up, there's mobs and fights; it's a mess. There's a good reason for that. Most folks assume that Mark is written in Rome near the end of Peter's life - that it's basically a recording of what Peter taught in Rome... when the Church is Rome was being persecuted by Nero. Now, when there is the thought that the soldiers might break down those doors in back and take us away to the lions, you don't sweat the small stuff. You don't dance around things or sugar coat them. Instead, you get to the point - you see how utterly stupid the things we typically worry about are, and instead we are focused upon Christ Jesus who dies and rises to save us - because we sure aren't going to be able to save ourselves when they kick down our door. Christians in Syria or the Sudan today aren't having big arguments in their congregations about the color of the carpet - they want to hear Christ Jesus and His forgiveness and life proclaimed. And that's what Mark is doing - this Gospel shows Christ Jesus triumphing over both our worst folly and the worst circumstances we find ourselves in - and reminds us that we should be focused upon Christ. Mark does this again today. So, let's dive in.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +
Before we dive into the text, I want to say a bit about the Gospel of Mark in general. I would hope that by now you've seen and heard just how intense this Gospel can be. Things are violent, the disciples frequently mess up, there's mobs and fights; it's a mess. There's a good reason for that. Most folks assume that Mark is written in Rome near the end of Peter's life - that it's basically a recording of what Peter taught in Rome... when the Church is Rome was being persecuted by Nero. Now, when there is the thought that the soldiers might break down those doors in back and take us away to the lions, you don't sweat the small stuff. You don't dance around things or sugar coat them. Instead, you get to the point - you see how utterly stupid the things we typically worry about are, and instead we are focused upon Christ Jesus who dies and rises to save us - because we sure aren't going to be able to save ourselves when they kick down our door. Christians in Syria or the Sudan today aren't having big arguments in their congregations about the color of the carpet - they want to hear Christ Jesus and His forgiveness and life proclaimed. And that's what Mark is doing - this Gospel shows Christ Jesus triumphing over both our worst folly and the worst circumstances we find ourselves in - and reminds us that we should be focused upon Christ. Mark does this again today. So, let's dive in.
The
disciples went on from there and passed through Galilee. And [Jesus]
did not want anyone to know, for He was teaching His disciples.
Alright, so basically after last week's debacle where they didn't
cast out a demon, Jesus pulls His disciples aside - take a walk with
Me. Even today we'll have those father son chats that are done on a
walk - well, in Jewish culture if the Rabbi was going to be intensely
teaching his disciples rather than the crowds, this would often be
done walking. And this was for the disciples' own good - because you
might be needing to lay into them a bit, to reinforce things they
were messing up on - and you don't do that in front of the crowd.
You pull them aside. So Jesus pulls the disciples away from the
crowd and gives them this to chew on: "The
Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they
will kill Him. And when He is killed, after three days He will
rise."
But they did not understand the saying, and were
afraid to ask Him.
This isn't the first time Jesus has told the disciples
plainly and clearly that He was going to die and rise. That happened
in the previous chapter - it was part our readings skipped, but you
know the story. Jesus asks the disciples who the crowds say that He
is - Peter confesses "You are the Christ, the son of the living
God" - Blessed are you, you get the nickname Peter now. And
right after that, Jesus tells them that He, since He is in fact the
Christ and the Son of God, is going to suffer and die in Jerusalem
and then be raised. And that's when Peter pulls Jesus aside, you
don't want to do that, and Jesus says, "Get thee behind me,
Satan." That's what happened the first time Jesus tells them
about this. And when He tells them again, they still don't get it.
Even though they just saw Jesus fight that demon in the little boy
and raise him, even though Peter and James and John had seen the
transfiguration, heard the Father's voice boom out "listen to
Him" - they still don't get it. It's not how they want the
story to go. And more over - they are afraid. Afraid to ask. Afraid
that they might get smacked down like Peter got smacked down last
time, afraid because they couldn't cast out last weekend's demon,
afraid because what if Jesus isn't joking and they are actually going
to kill Him?
You see, to sinful man, this idea of death and
resurrection, of dying and rising is utterly terrifying. We don't
want anything to do with it - we don't want the Cross - we want fame
and power and earthly glory - not the glory of the Cross. We think
following Jesus, being a good little Christian, should mean that we
are wealthy and famous - Jesus should have lots of earthly power, so
we should have lots of earthly power and might too! And then Jesus
talks about dying - about every single drop of our earthly power
going away. That's not what we want - we want power and glory, we
want to be accounted the greatest - that's something much more
comfortable to talk about.
As evidence of that, consider what we hear in the text.
And they came to Capernaum. And when He was in the house He
asked them, "What were you discussing on the way?" But
they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another
about who was the greatest.
So, Jesus had just told them that it will be about death and
resurrection, and this makes them bitterly uncomfortable. And He
lets them ponder that. So what do they do instead? When we hear that
they were arguing about who was the greatest, we think that this
sounds terrible, how could they even think that! Actually, it makes
perfect sense. Remember what has just happened. The 9 couldn't cast
out a demon, while Peter, James, and John got to witness the
transfiguration. You think that they aren't doing a bit a trash
talking to each other - it's what guys do, especially when they are
nervous. "Heh, if I was there, I would have cast the tar out of
that demon." "Yeah, sure you would have... but at least
the Teacher didn't call me Satan like he did you, Peter." They
are gabbing, they are reestablishing the disciple pecking order - we
find out next week that basically John "won" their argument
because he's the one who pipes up to Jesus with the disciples'
question. But do you see the contrast - Jesus has spoken to the
great spiritual truth of death and resurrection, and instead the
disciples go back to what is much more comfortable. Power plays and
ranking.
Time
for Jesus to get them back on track. And
[Jesus] sat down and called the twelve. And He said to them, "If
anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all."
Now,
understand, what Jesus says is crazy talk. If you walk into the
White House, you don't find the President scrubbing the public
toilets after visiting hours. 99% of the time, the CEO ain't taking
a pay cut to save some entry level clerk's job - nope, it's time for
layoffs. And why? Because in the world, we want power, we want to
be first, that way we have power to cover our backside and make other
people do the dirty work. But that's not what Christ does. He is
first, He is the Ruler, He is God. Yet what does He do? He comes
and serves all. He suffers, yes, He even dies. And if you want to
know how His kingdom works - well, you too are going to suffer for
the sake of your neighbor - that's just how it goes. To our flesh -
crazy talk. But also our salvation - or as Paul puts it in 1st
Corinthians - For
the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us
who are being saved it is the power of God. This
is something important to remember - let what Jesus says about the
faith seem silly and foolish to the world - because it is to the
sinful world.
Jesus
gives us another example of that - And
he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in
His arms, He said to them, "Whoever receives one such child in
My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him
who sent Me." Okay
- let's see how crazy this sounds. Remember, the disciples had just
been talking about who was great, who got to be in charge, who got to
be high and mighty - and who will thus get lots of earthly power and
might and stuff. And then Jesus drops a toddler in front of them. A
toddler's not going to give you earthly might. You know what a
toddler gives you - a booger and a full diaper. Alright, you want to
serve Me, you want to serve God - here you go. Diaper detail.
Luther plays off of this idea in one of my favorite quotes: "When
a father goes ahead and washes diapers or performs some other menial
task for his child, and someone ridicules him as an effeminate
fool…God with all his angels and creatures is smiling."
This is Christ's point. It's not about your best life now, or
money, or power, or wealth. God gives you people to serve - and you
know what - when you serve your neighbor, this is good. So, in other
words, quit your yapping about power and might, disciples, and
instead, so show some love to your neighbor - especially ones who
can't pay you back.
And to tie this all up nicely with a bow - go love your
neighbor, because it's not about power and glory - rather, it's about
death and resurrection. It's about going and suffering now for your
neighbor's sake, and looking forward to the resurrection of the body
and the life of the world to come. You disciples need to learn to
die, you need to learn humility, you need to learn to break your
pride. Have a diaper. Because death is not proud - so you need to
learn to be not so proud.
In
fact, I will point out something about our service, about our worship
that may not be obvious. It's all teaching us how to die. That's
what the entirety of the Christian life is in fact - preparing for
death so that we die in faith in Christ and are raised to new life.
It starts with baptism - what does such baptizing with water
indicates - it indicates that the Old Adam should by daily contrition
and repentance be drowned and... die. Oh. And how does the service
start - The invocation - in the Name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit - the very words used at our baptism - and as soon
as we remember our baptism... we confess our sin. We exercise a bit
of that daily contrition and repentance. We admit that we deserve
not praise and honor but punishment - the confession ain't just
whistling dixie. And then we get to the readings and the sermon, and
part of that is God's Word of Law. Folks, if there isn't a point in
the sermon where God's Law doesn't make you squirm a bit, it means
I've wussed out and haven't done my job that week. Daily contrition
and repentance. Training to die - so that Christ raises. In fact,
even the Supper is a training for death - as often as we eat this
bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord's death until He
comes. We proclaim His death, and we look to His return when He will
bring resurrection. As Christians we live not seeking glory here,
for we know that is fleeting and empty. We sing of a different glory
- "Lord of Glory, You have bought us with Your life blood as the
price/ never grudging for the lost ones (that's us) that tremendous
sacrifice." We see in Christ the crucified our salvation, so we
sing "Now no more can death appall, now no more the grave
enthrall". Let death come - for we are forgiven by Christ and
we will rise.
My dear friends - it's not about rank, it's not about
prestige or glory or earthly power or money or any of the other
stupid things we are tempted to focus on. Christ Jesus has died, He
has risen - and so you are forgiven and so you too will rise. This
is truth. Until then, go show love, confident in the love that God
has for you on account of Christ Jesus, for Jesus serves you well.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +
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