Day 1019 - Does He Really Mean That - A Reprise

I thought long and hard about the passage in Day 1018, particularly the event described in verses Mark 9:38-41. How often do we find ourselves in that higher and mightier view of self that causes us to dismiss another's faith as errant because they do not see the world our way? 

If you are honest it happens a lot. But what intrigues me is how often some of my ardent Presbyterian friends who are so explicitly committed to Christian justice fall into the same cul de sac.

I saw it in Mississippi when I was working with PDA. My managers, the folks in Louisville as well as the local manager, had a conniption when I suggested teaming with the PCA relief group in Bay St. Louis. They reacted as if I was suggesting we deal with Molech, or worse Satan.

I saw it in the reaction of the Presbyterian Layman, putatively members of PC(USA) who bitterly attacked a local elder in our Presbytery because of his role in an administrative commission concerning a congregation and pastor who sought to divorce itself from the PC(USA).  The PL was patently vituperative in its criticism because it loathes the stand of PC(USA) on several theological issues. 

Then Viola Larsen, a cog in that Presbyterian Layman operation, jumped into the fray and sought to smear both the Presbytery of East Tennessee and two seed ministries seeking to develop a place for the disaffected in the world. (See Day 732 - The Problem of Self-Appointed Defenders of Christian "Orthodoxy", and posts I, II and III of Day 685.) 

I was hard on Ms. Viola and owe her an apology for my own vituperative response, but her criticism of fellow Christians in the context of this passage in Mark chafed too much to ignore. From my point of view, the Presbytery of East Tennessee was making a valiant experiment to find a way out of the spiritual morass and ennui of the modern Presbyterian Church and it was amazing a fellow Christian would seek to stop it.

Then I worked very hard to find a place for one of those new worshipping and advocacy groups that that Ms. Viola felt was so opprobrious. It was a long and difficult process to seat this advocacy/worshipping group not as owners, but as operations managers of a local non-profit here in town.

After we achieved this transition several of the suppportive board members of the non-profit and I met with the the "evangelist" and "co-leader" of the group to discus how to move forward and also seek a more stable financial footing. Managing a 100+ year old church building discovers the true cost of bricks and mortar.

In the deliberation to find a solid footing for the programming and mission of the non-profit, we had the opportunity to select one of two groups. One was the remnant of a neighborhood Baptist church, the other was this "edgy" worshipping group of Presbyterians and "outsider" folks alienated to the Church by their experience with more religiously conservative denominations.

We chose the "edgy" group; however, the Baptist group, regardless of our differing theological perspectives, desired to rent space in the building as do other worshipping groups. This Baptist group had the financial where-with-all to rent space giving both the non-profit and the emerging advocacy group a significant cash flow while supporting another worshipping congregation. This small group was a remnant of a neighborhood congregation whose other part had moved the congregation out to the suburbs. This remnant is an outsider rejected by its brethren. (I do not miss the irony in their predicament.)

When we broached the idea that our new managing partner ought to rent space to the Baptist congregation, the reflexive response of the group's leadership was something like this, "Absolutely not, they are Baptists." They made their objection clear that they felt these worshippers were not fellow Christians.

Now I grew up in the Southern Baptist tradition. It was an intimate part of my childhood experience, and it includes both the positive spiritual support as well as the contradictory hypocrisy of its political positions compared to its theological underpinnings. It also created a heartache for my parents. I do not share many of the theological interpretations of the more theologically conservative Southern Baptists and see the hypocrisy in their positions. I do not doubt their sincerity as Christians. Seeing that hypocrisy reminds me of my own.

Listening to the diatribe by this new worshipping group against this Southern Baptist and PCA congregation and hearing the evangelist reject renting space to a worshipping group was as heartbreaking as my old Southern Baptist life. As I read the opposition by the disciples against outsiders preaching the gospel and working "deeds of power" the disciples could not do themselves in this passage in Mark, I begin to understand how much we are still like the disciples who just do not "get it."

It reinforces my own sensitivity to the bias of insiders. I can only hope that the evangelist who leads this advocacy group contemplates the decision of that day to deny worship space to another Christian congregation has read this lectionary passage, and that his decision to deny space for a worshipping congregation will be a sobering and humiliating wake up call of how closely our hypocrisy colors our own hearts. On that day, his ministry became the insider barring the outsiders to the way to Christ. That denial may well be his ministry's millstone.

Jesus' admonition to the disciples seems well placed for them, and for us today. Being last to be first is a hard road when worldly values of pride and prejudice get in the way.

Grace and peace.

Day 1018 - Does He Really Mean That?

A Bible Study for the men's group at Second Presbyterian Church, Chattanooga, TN, September 24, 2015

Scripture Reading: Mark 9:38-48

Last week we read verses 30-37 in Chapter 9 of Mark. In those verses Jesus explains the nature of true discipleship to his disciples. Though they still do not understand, he tried again in verse 37, that they must understand that every person is a child of God, and those who welcome the children of God, welcome God. The unstated implication is that those who do not who welcome the children of God, disinvite God. Today we continue reading the teachings of Jesus on discipleship in Mark 9:38-48. (Some argue that only "Christians" are children of God. I argue that we are all children of our creator.)

Mark 9:38   John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.”  39 But Jesus said, “Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me.  40 Whoever is not against us is for us.  41 For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.

The worm turns. Mark emphasizes a constant theme about "insiders" and "outsiders" in his gospel. Insiders are the putative "people in the know," the powerful who block or hinder the path to righteousness of outsiders, those who are on the down side of society and religion. Up to now in Mark, the insiders have principally been the scribes, Pharisees and priests, those who promote religious tradition, and especially Rome whose values stand antithetical to the moral life Jesus advocates. The insiders stand in the way of justice for the outsiders. Now in a stunning reversal, who are the insiders in these verses, but the disciples them selves? They are affronted that someone than themselves is doing great things in the name of Jesus. Are your ears burning?

42   “If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. 

Jesus is calling out the disciples for their reaction to this outsider who is effectively acting on behalf of Jesus. Though the verses do not describe any children around, Jesus refers to a child. Perhaps it is a child of one of the disciples? One thing is a clear, the connection to the verse 37 of last week. The disciples have a problem with this person outside their band of believers and Jesus is not about to let it go unremarked.

By opposing this person proclaiming Christ, the disciples are becoming stumbling blocks. Remember when Peter tried to walk on water? Who offered a hand? Was doubt the millstone in Peter's case?

Jesus continues with hard teaching.

43 If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.  45 And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, 48 where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.

This is one of the more difficult and misunderstood passages we will find in Mark. Is Jesus being literal here, or is he speaking in symbolic or metaphorical language?

We know that the King James Version (KJKV) translated ghenna, the Greek word used in this text,  as “Hell.” A little biblical history serves us well here.

In the Hebrew Bible, Gehenna was the place where apostate Israelites and followers of various Ba'als and other Canaanite gods, including Moloch (or Molech), sacrificed their children by fire (2 Chr. 28:3, 33:6). Thereafter it was accursed (Jer. 7:31, 19:2-6).

In Jewish Rabbinic literature, and Christian and Islamic scripture, Gehenna has evolved to represent the destination of the wicked. This is different from the Sheol, where Judaism believes all the dead reside. Unfortunately, the KJV usually translates both words, gehenna and sheol,  as the Anglo-Saxon word Hell.

How many young people have been driven from congregations by pastors and members who castigate them for behavior they feel is unacceptable such as the color they dye their hair, the goth clothes they wear, the music they listen to, the questions they ask about pretense and righteousness ? We threaten them with this image of the fires of Hell. 

I hear this lament from college students at Hope House on a regular basis.  Are these "righteous critics" stumbling blocks? Are they insiders like the disciples who could not accept an outsider doing healing they themselves could not accomplish? (See the parable of the epileptic son for example.)

This raises an important point about how we read and understand scripture such as this. For good or bad we are faced with the question do we read much of the Bible for its symbolic content as a guide for living, or rather as a cold, literal recipe for living? 

Should we grasp these verses and seek to attach a literal meaning to them or, as Paul Rader at Northside Presbyterian Church in Chattanooga suggests, understand that Jesus is revealing truth by speaking in symbol, parable or hyperbole? Hear v41 again. “For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.” Is there the unstated implication that, “For truly I tell you, whoever denies you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by all means lose the reward?”

Is Hell that fire pit outside Jerusalem, or the agonizing fate of the absence of God that unbelievers suffer? I think Paul Rader is right, we have to read this passage for its symbolic or metaphorical power and we stumble by putting too much modern scientific thought into it what knowledge was unavailable in Roman times. I think we also have to keep Isaiah 66:1-24 in mind as the backdrop for the “hell” passages - v 48 is a quote of Is 66:24, for example.

Mark 9:49   “For everyone will be salted with fire.  50 Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

I was asked as a scientist if this passage makes any sense. “How can salt lose its flavor?” It sounds impossible on its face.

A (Catholic) website, talks about this passage and makes some points about salt.

Salt can “lose its flavor” (See Matt 5:13 - Sermon on the Mount) if it absorbs other chemical compounds that may be present in places where there is a high mineral content (the Dead Sea for example), or where the salt is intentionally adulterated, improperly produced or stored. Salts of boron, or other metals may impart a bitter or unpalatable taste to salt, even poison it so that it could make you ill. This would make sense of the idea that salt has lost its flavor. Good salt (symbolically) enhances the life or flavor of your brothers and sisters, don’t make it worse by being a bad salt - a stumbling block.

This idea probably lies behind verse 50,  “salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”  But perhaps verse 49 really refers to the great preservative power of salt, the thing that gave salt so much value in the time of Jesus.

Is salt a metaphor for faith?  Salt preserves food (meat or fruit, e.g. beef, apples) by desiccating both the food and microbes that might make one sick. It destroys the cell structure of “germs” usually found on the surface of the meat but sucking the water out of the cell and preserves the food. (See Leviticus 2:11-13 for an example of preserving sacrificial food for the priests.) 

If salt is exposed to high humidity it may absorb enough water to reduce its preservative power. this makes it relatively useless until dried out.

Verse 49 seems to be the key verse for the last two weeks of our reading. It says, “For everyone will be salted with fire.” There are other existing variants of this text that say, “The sacrifices will be salted with salt,” referring to its preservative power - See Leviticus 2:11-13 above. (Remember the Levites kept part of the sacrifice for their own food).

However, if you reread Isaiah 66:1-24, you will know that Isaiah 66:24 refers to the deliverance of Israel saying the Lord who will purify the remnant by fire.

In most instances in the Bible fire is used for its metaphorical power of spiritual purification. The metaphorical use of fire is almost certainly based on its metallurgical understanding. The oldest “scientists” were the metallurgists who refined precious metal such as gold, silver and copper from pedestrian ores by burning them in fire. The metallurgists took something of no value (ore) to create great value (precious metal). Therefore, fire refers symbolically to the purification of faith in the face of tribulation and trial by holding onto one’s faith and creating something of great value (Calvin would say justification).

Reflection

If we think about this whole issue and let our minds run with the symbolism or metaphor of the last two weeks’ passages, we realize how Mark has packed his gospel “chock full” of meaning using metaphors.

 Perhaps the verses of 43-48 are not about judgment of “hellfire and damnation” for faltering, but one of, or both, two alternative understandings. The text may be the way the human Jesus empowers his own strength as he laments his forthcoming Passion and divine purpose in mind as well as conveying the implications to those in his invitation to follow him that it will not be a rose garden. It may also mean that we must face the reality that to walk the road of Jesus means we may have to give up some things of the world that we hold as precious.

Mark has left us with the ambiguity of metaphor that makes us think deeply on the meaning of discipleship.