A homily to be given on January 26, 2015, to the
Urban Outreach Ministry, Chattanooga, TN
OT Reading: Jonah 3:1-10
NT Reading: Mark 1:14-20
You are telling me to do what?
You remember we talked about Mark relating to us about the mercy of the Gospel for the abused. We talked about the fact
that the book is short and packed with immediate
activity. Mark describes Jesus as a man on an urgent mission with little
time to do it all - Or perhaps, a man who knows his end and is ready to get to
the end of his task.
Today we have seven short
verses. The passage begins, “The time is fulfilled...” “Is fulfilled” are special words. Mark does not say, “The time is nine
o’clock,” or something like that. Mark is describing a divine activity, “The
time is fulfilled...” “God has caused something to happen.”
The particular words really
mean “God has made a permanent change in the world through Jesus Christ’s
entry.” Paul calls the world of humanity, the world of flesh. Remember, it
means every element of creation that forms our thoughts, values and senses. Mark
is telling us God has permanently changed Paul’s world of flesh. What has happened?
The Kingdom of God has emerged into this world of ours through Jesus and
forever changed it, but not as a completed task. Jesus has put seeds into the
world that when sprouted and mature will be the complete consummation when the
world of flesh will no longer exist in the full emergence of the Kingdom of
God.
As an aside, Mark’s words have
a striking similarity to Paul’s thinking. You may recall an earlier post about
Paul’s view of the singular and permanent change caused by the presence of
Jesus, the “Christ event.” Paul uses the image of a woman in childbirth to
describe the entry of the Kingdom of God into the world. Paul says the whole
creation has been groaning in labor pains until now. (Rom. 8:18-22, 2 Corinthians 5:2-4)
The man Jesus permanently
changed the nature of our existence, changed all creation’s relationship to God
in an irreversible and profound way. Paul understood that Jesus Christ’s entry
established the foothold of the Kingdom of God. We all stand in the “in between
time,” one foot in the old world and one foot in the new world. The seed has
been planted and now we await its maturation as it grows and pushes aside and
replaces the world of flesh.
Repentance is tied intimately
into God’s change in God's relationship with the nature of all
creation. One can say, as the writer of Jonah did when God relented and did not
destroy Nineveh, God has changed his mind, the Lord has repented, turned around
in his relationship with us. The opportunity before us beckons if we have the
ears to hear, the eyes to see and the mind to understand that he has decreed the
death of the old world has been initiated now.
The idea of permanent change
in Mark’s passage can be appreciated by analogy to what scientists have discovered about the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. They have
discovered the water has intruded between the earth and bottom of the glaciers
of the ice sheet to the point that they are beginning to lift, or float as they
slide into the sea. Enough ice has melted from intrusion of warm water
underneath the glaciers to cause them inevitably to slide fully into the sea
and melt, raising global sea level as much as 10-13 feet in the next 200-1,000
years. The change has occurred and the consequence cannot be stopped.
Lest you think I read
too much into this passage in Mark, lets look at the rest of the verses, Mark 1:16-20.
Jesus encounters and
commands two Greek fellows to follow him. It is clear they are not Hebrews
because they have Greek names, Simon and Andrew. It is not unusual that one
might encounter Greeks in Palestine, the influence of Greece was great, and
also there were many Jewish communities that grew out of the Diaspora, but they
were Greeks not Hebrews.
Mark is also telling us that
unlike the schools where students come to be taught by the Rabbi, this “Rabbi”
is calling his students to him. (Remember Jesus says in the Gospel of John 6:28-44, “No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent
me; and I will raise that person up on the last day.” and 6:66-71, v64-65: “ 'But among
you there are some who do not believe.' For Jesus knew from the first who were
the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. And
he said, ‘For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it
is granted by the Father.’ ”)
Then Jesus
encounters two Hebrew fishermen James and John and calls them to him to do his bidding. They drop
everything and even abandon their father to the boat and fish to follow Jesus bidding.
Although our historical prejudice convinces us being a fisherman was a lowly, poorly paid occupation, History points out that Caesar owned the sea of Gallilee and its fish and it cost a pretty fee to fish in it. These fishermen were most likely engaged in a profitable venture. I repeat, they drop everything including their father's profitable venture to follow Jesus’ bidding.
Again we have this sense of turning around from one's former life. In seven terse verses, Mark restates this Good News again, giving the message a sense of urgency.
Again we have this sense of turning around from one's former life. In seven terse verses, Mark restates this Good News again, giving the message a sense of urgency.
God has reconciled creation
through the entry of Jesus into the world. The world can never be the same
again. The wheels are in motion.
Mark speaks the message of
Jesus here to the abused, the hopeless and downtrodden who see, hear and
understand the Good News. Mark speaks to those who are ready to turn back from
their foolish ways and follow the teacher who demands, “follow me.”
Amen.
