4th Sunday after Pentecost

The Gospel of Mark begins, right out of the gate with an audacious claim. 1 The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. What that sentence implies is that the age of the messiah, the messia5nic age has begun. The question is: What does it look like?

Jesus begins his ministry with an ordination of sorts. He comes to John to be baptized. So, even before Jesus shows up, there’s already something afoot; something’s happening. Jewish people were coming to John to be baptized. This was not typical. The typical thing would be for Gentiles who were converting to Judaism to be baptized, but Jews were never baptized themselves.

So, there’s already a movement of some sort going on. Jesus, in allowing himself to be baptized, cements his identity with it. And he will, indeed, come to lead it.

It’s interesting to see how Mark portrays the life of Jesus. For example, he tells us that Jesus teaches, but reports little of what Jesus actually says. Mark’s point in this is to say, in effect, if you want to follow Jesus, look at what Jesus does. Jesus’ very life demonstrates the kingdom which Jesus came to establish.

Although Jesus doesn’t declare himself to be the Messiah, his actions do. He demonstrates power over sickness, fulfilling Isaiah’s signs of the messiah: Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; 6 then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. (Isaiah 35:5-6)

He demonstrates power over nature. He has power over the elements, stilling a storm, for example, which is a power ascribed to God by the psalms.

He demonstrates power over demons. He casts out demons and commands them to be silent.

And he demonstrates power over death. Jesus raises the dead, echoing again the prophet Isaiah and the prophet Daniel.

Its only after performing all of these various miracles that Jesus finally asks the disciples two pivotal questions: “Who do the people think I am?” And, of course more importantly, “Who do you think I am?” Peter makes it clear that, while the people don’t understand who Jesus is, the disciples most certainly do. Yet when Jesus, on three different occasions, makes a prediction regarding his passion, that is his death and resurrection, the disciples don’t get it.

It’s really pretty tragic. I mean, here disciples are. They’re on the inside track. They have more opportunity to hear Jesus than anyone else. The have the benefit of not just his public teaching, but also his private teaching with them. They understand so much more than most people! But tragically, they fail to understand the most important thing about Jesus. Even though the disciples recognize Jesus as the Messiah, they fail to understand what kind of a Messiah he is. They simply fail to grasp the truth concerning Jesus’ identity and his mission.

We see this in the three times that Jesus predicts his passion while traveling with the disciples. All three times they follow the same pattern. Each time, it’s after a significant event. The first time is after Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Messiah. The second time is after Jesus’ transfiguration. And the third time is when Jesus leaves Galilee for Jerusalem where he knows that he will be confronted by the power of empire and death.

Each time, the disciples’ response is the same: confusion. In chapter 8, Peter rebukes Jesus. In chapter 9, the disciples are arguing amongst themselves as to who among them is the greatest. In chapter 10, James and John try to wheedle their way into positions of influence with Jesus. And what their responses reveal is that throughout it all, they are focused on the wrong things: Power, Position, Prestige, and Prominence

Jesus’ teachings about servanthood and carrying the cross, don’t compute for them. Each time, Jesus responds to the disciples’ confusion by stressing that involvement with him implies servanthood without limit.

So, for example, in Chapter 8 we read: 33 But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” 34 He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36 For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37 Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38 Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:33-38)

The second time is in chapter 9: 35 He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” (Mark 9:35)

The third time is in chapter 10: 41 When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. 42 So Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. 43 But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:41-45)

Again and again, Jesus makes it clear that the enemy they face is not the Roman government. The real enemy is Satan who exercises his power through sin and death. Rome is the enemy only insofar that they are an extremely efficient agent of oppression and death.

Jesus’ real conflict is with the civil and religious leadership of the Jewish people. When he enters Jerusalem he does so on a donkey, indicating that he comes in peace. He goes directly to the Temple and gives it the once-over.

He comes back to the Temple the next day and causes chaos. He attacks the people in charge for denying Gentiles access to the Temple, and for exploiting worshipers through the sacrificial system. 15 Then they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves; 16 and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 He was teaching and saying, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” (Mark 11:15-17)

He has a second confrontation with the leaders of the Temple wherein he makes it pretty clear that unless they straighten up and fly right, God will take the Kingdom from them and give it to the Gentiles. This infuriates the leadership, and they start looking in earnest for a way to deal with Jesus permanently.

Again and again, the question posed to us by the gospels is: What kind of Messiah was Jesus? What was the nature of his kingship? What kind of a kingdom did he establish? Whatever kind of Messiah first century Jews were waiting for, they were not expecting the Messiah to be a servant.

There’s no moment that illustrates this more clearly than in the Gospel of John, when Jesus, the guest of honor so to speak, like a servant, girds himself with nothing more than a towel and goes about washing the feet of his disciples. It causes a deep moment of conflict for them, as illustrated for us through the person of Peter.

3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, 4 got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” 8 Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” (John 13:3-8).

When Jesus went to the cross, he showed himself to be a servant without limit. Nobody who witnessed Jesus’ crucifixion and death expected Jesus to return to life. God, however, in raising Jesus affirms Jesus as the Messiah.

God’s vision for the world is that we all should live in community, seeking to glorify God by serving each other in all that we do. And unlike most humans, God isn’t interested in national borders, flags, or skin colors. Realizing the enormity of what God calls us to do, God sends us the Holy Spirit. It’s through the spirit that we learn to understand, believe, and embrace the truth of Jesus life, death, and resurrection. It’s through the spirit that we’re empowered to live as members of Jesus’ servant community.

The spirit speaks to us through scripture, holy baptism, holy communion, and the example of the saints, both living and dead, teaching us to walk in the ways of discipleship in servant community.

This August will mark the 10th anniversary of our arrival here, at Calvary. Over this past week Anke and I spent time with both our church council and the LEAD team, reflecting upon how much this community has grown and changed during that time.

When we arrived here 10 years ago, Calvary was still a very inward focused place. It was to be expected. The congregation had been through a rough separation from our predecessor. People were angry, hurt, and worried about the future.

10 years later, we are a congregation that has grown in spirit and in ministry. We have learned, once again, to be the servant community that God calls us to be. That kind of transformation is a testament to two things: It’s a testament to the power of the Holy Spirit to guide, lead, and mold us to be the servant congregation God needs in this place, in this community. It’s also a testament to your openness of heart and spirit to accept that same divine guidance and leadership. It’s not just a story of faithful ministry. It’s not just a story of the power of the spirit. It’s a story of resurrection.

AMEN