It’s Mother’s Day. When I read in our gospel that the Pharisees came to Jesus and asked for a sign from heaven from him right after he fed a multitude with a few loaves and fish I can’t help but think of all of those mothers who have worked hard to put a healthy meal on the table for their family day after day and the response they too often get for it is: “Bleh, I don’t want to eat that!” A million bitter retorts come to mind!
While it’s a stretch to make a connection between an unappreciated mother and Jesus feeding a multitude, I think they both get at a part of human nature. People are never satisfied; especially if they don’t know what goes on behind the scenes.
The feeding miracle we read is usually called the “Feeding of the 4000”. It is the second of the great feeding miracles in Mark’s gospel. Both Mark’s gospel and Matthew’s gospel include two great feeding miracles. Luke and John only include the more famous Feeding of the 5000. Historians and biblical scholars usually suggest that there was only one great feeding miracle by Jesus and that Matthew and Mark have included it twice; and with a slightly different viewpoint from each other. There is good biblical precedent for this. Biblical authors will tell two versions of the same account, with each telling having a different meaning. In the case of the feeding miracles Matthew and Mark present the Feeding of the 5000 happening with a Jewish audience and the Feeding of the 4000 happening with a non-Jewish audience. This then shows God’s equal abundance. If you can remember worship from two weeks ago we had the story of the Syrophoenician woman who came to Jesus begging for help for her daughter. Jesus said it wasn’t fair to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs. She replied that even the dogs ate the crumbs that fell from the children’s table. Well, if this feeding miracle is the crumbs, then they also create quite an abundance!
That may indeed be Mark’s main intent in including this story shortly after the Syrophoenician woman story. That’s my interpretation. But it also sets up something else. Shortly after the Feeding of the 5000 there was conflict with the Pharisees. Now it’s happening again. We the readers are supposed to find it ironic and laugh at it. But to be fair to the Pharisees and to what Mark writes, in neither case are any of the Pharisee sect described as being present at the miracles. Indeed, Mark does not tell us that Jesus is angry with them. He
just says that Jesus sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.”
It makes sense to demand proof of something. But in the case of the Pharisees it seems like they endlessly want more proof. While it is easy to criticize them for that, there is also something of ourselves in that.
I don’t know what it is within us humans, but we always want more. Give us something that we want. It satisfies us for a while and then we want something more, something new, or better. At this point all of us live with luxuries and conveniences that the world’s wealthiest of 150 years ago did not have, and could not even imagine. Refrigeration, air conditioning, central heat, electricity everywhere, phones, cell phones, airplanes, rocket ships, satellite communication; and of course my favorite… indoor plumbing; hot and cold running water.
We have: pain medications, anesthesia, sterile rooms for surgery, and so much more.
Think back 150 years ago. That would be 1874. Imagine trying to describe a car to someone in 1874. If you’re lucky they’d have heard of the steam driven horseless carriage, which was first invented in 1803. But they’d ask how you’d get anywhere with it? After all, they were heavy and unruly.
Well, you’d reply that you’d build roads.
Build roads with what? Corduroy roads made by laying down logs in swampy areas?
No. Concrete and asphalt. They’d have heard of concrete used in masonry but asphalt hasn’t been invented yet.
Where would you build these roads?
Anywhere, everywhere. Wherever you want.
But what about mountains? Your “car” wouldn’t be able to take people across those.
You’d reply that we’d move mountains or cut tunnels through them.
And where would you get all the coal and wood to fuel these cars?
You’d reply that you’d create a fuel that hasn’t been invented yet. It would be liquid and you’d build pipelines and stations all over the place so people could get some everywhere.
But they’d ask why you’d do this? For certainly only the richest of the rich could afford such a contraption.
No, you’d say you’d make them cheaply – by the millions and everyone would have their own.
Everyone?!? You’d let everyone have such a thing?
Of course. You’d explain there’d be a test of course, to show proficiency, but that wasn’t hard to pass. And then everyone from young to old, weak or strong, smart or not could operate a car.
How fast would it go? Surely 15 mph would be a breakneck speed!
You’d reply that you’d build roads so that everyone could drive one of these cars safely and easily at 70 mph.
And they’d think you were nuts. Completely nuts!
Oh how comfortable and convenient things are for us! And are we satisfied? Do we walk around feeling a glow of the comforts and conveniences of our lives every day? Do we wake up on a windy wet blustery day and think, “Oh how blessed I am to have a home where I am insulated from all that makes me uncomfortable! I couldn’t ask for a gentler, easier, better, more luxurious life than this!”
I doubt we feel that way!
We may not be like the Pharisees always asking Jesus for a sign. But we are like them in always wanting more.
Maybe Jesus had just one major feeding miracle. Maybe he had two. Maybe as Matthew and Mark report that there was one feeding miracle for Jews and one for non-Jews. But it wouldn’t have mattered if Jesus had feeding miracles all the time and every day. We’d want more.
The human condition seems to never be satisfied. We always want more. We think we deserve more – as if we think we work too hard and are not paid enough even as we enjoy lives of ease and luxury beyond what our forebears knew or could even imagine.
Jesus’ deep sigh in his spirit fits for all generations. If we always want more we’ll never be satisfied with what we have. Unfortunately we rarely feel grateful or joyful for our lives.
What is the cure? It’s not a once and done thing. This is not a medicine you can take and have the problem go away. The need for more is a chronic condition.
Like someone addicted to a substance the first thing is to recognize that we have a problem. Life is not about an abundance of possessions. I suspect that’s why so many people are unhappy and wandering aimlessly in our world today. They have so much that gives them nothing.
So, we name before God our problem. Perhaps we should do that every day, or multiple times a day.
Then we set our minds on things that will satisfy us. You can be almost certain that the things which satisfy will not be things you can buy. Nor will they be things that you can come by easily.
Have you ever had one of those all-in-one skillet meals that you can buy? It’s a bag of frozen stuff and you just dump it in a skillet and turn on the heat. With minimal stirring you have a complete meal several minutes later. They may taste good after a long hard day and you appreciate the convenience of the meal. But they are not good as a steady diet. Good food, real food, satisfying food, takes work. Even if you roll your eyes at what your mother puts on the table after she spent quite a bit of time cooking, and making all sorts of dishes dirty, and using all sorts of cooking skills, there will likely be more overall satisfaction and health for you.
God is not stingy with us. God gives us an abundance. Our lives are better for it. Let us recognize these good things so that we can be satisfied and content, rather than being endlessly hollow because of our misguided feeling that we always need more.
Monday, May 13, 2024
Monday, May 6, 2024
May 5, 2024 6th Sunday of Easter Mark 7:31-37
You know well that most people in our nation today consider themselves to be “spiritual but not religious.” Exactly what that means is hard to define. But it is generally someone who believes in God but believes that organized religions are human made organizations at best, and oppressive at worst. They see no reason why they cannot have a full spiritual life within themselves. They don’t want to be bothered by what they would consider to be the artificial demands of religion.
I understand the appeal of being spiritual but not religious. It fits well into our increasingly individualistic culture. Despite how appealing the idea is (you feel like no one is dictating obsolete or oppressive doctrines to you) it has problems. It is not very strong nor is it an emotionally safe place to be. In fact, it is only as strong as they are emotionally strong at any given moment. But, it is what people have chosen for themselves. As long as they are able to go through life as individuals they will stick to it. There is no point trying to tell them how unstable and unhelpful their spirituality is. However, our gospel reading for today points to that instability and unhelpfulness. And it can help us to meaningfully engage them.
First though, we must acknowledge that religions do have their flaws. As Christians we can see that clearly in our own scriptures as the very disciples of Jesus struggled to understand and do what is right. They were prone to failure constantly. And the writings of St. Paul and the Acts of the Apostles both show that Christianity ran into problems right off the bat. Other religions certainly have their own problems; but I am not knowledgeable enough to address them meaningfully. So, our own recognition of our potential for religions mistakes and failures gives us constant humility in what we do.
The healing of this man who is deaf and has a speech impediment is remarkably detailed, and yet the details are puzzling. We’ll get to the details of Jesus spitting and touching the man in a minute. Before that let’s look at the details of the journey. Mark tells us that Jesus returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. The Decapolis was a federation of ten small cities of Greek culture to the east and southeast of the Sea of Galilee. Tyre is about 30 miles northwest of the Decapolis. So far so good. Jesus would go from Tyre southeast towards the Decapolis. Except Mark says he went by way of Sidon… which is north of Tyre! It would be like saying someone traveled from Victor to Canandaigua, and they decided to go by way of Pittsford! Huh? That makes no sense! Pittsford is exactly the wrong way!
Clearly the gospel writer Mark does not know his local geography! And yet, he gives us all these details of Jesus’ travels. Who really cares actually; other than the details are wrong?
Yet, again, the whole scene has details; not just the travel plans. It is as if the usual pace of Mark’s gospel has been slowed down. Mark’s is usually sparce on details. He rushes from scene to scene at lighting pace such that you barely get to think about what just happened before he is on to something else. Consider what we read last week in worship, which is the scene immediately preceding what we read today. There a Syrophoenician woman begged Jesus to heal her daughter. Mark records just three sentences said between them. Then Jesus heals the daughter. He never even gets close to her, and the scene is over.
This week’s reading has the details that a man was brought to Jesus. We’re told he can’t hear and has a speech impediment. The people beg Jesus to lay his hand on this man. Again, lots of details. Who, where, what. And interestingly, does Jesus lay his hand on him? Certainly that would be enough to do it! Remember that last week we read of Jesus healing a girl without ever even going near her! But how about this week’s story? Again, lots of details. Jesus took the man aside, away from the crowd. Jesus puts his fingers into his ears. Then he spits and touches his tongue. Jesus says, “Be opened.” Details, details, details. They are perhaps a bit gross, but we can imagine this scene vividly.
Why would Jesus do it this way? Mark records a number of miracles of Jesus. It was not only in what we read last week that Jesus performs a miracle at a distance. Yet many of the miracles include touch. Jesus touches corpses and lays his hands on lepers. This week Jesus puts his fingers in a mans ears and puts spit on his tongue. In a few weeks we’ll read about a miracle where Jesus puts spit on a man’s eyes and touches him. These are all physical touches and connections.
These touches and connections show that God is not afraid of actual touch with unclean or disgusting things. And they show that God is not interested in performing miracles in sterile environments using holy means. Through Jesus God really is in the dirt and mess of life. And of course the touch of Jesus on ears invites us to understand hearing as coming through the touch of Jesus. Spit on a man’s tongue invites us to understand speech as coming through the life and breath of God. This deaf and mute man is cured and now hears through the touch of Jesus’ fingers, and speaks clearly through the touch of Jesus’ own spit.
A spiritual but not religious person sees God as distant, and as holy, and as “Other”. Christianity teaches us God’s literal presence, and the power of real contact.
In the religious landscape in the world today Christianity is the only religion that is based on the idea of God coming to live as a human for a lifetime. However, the idea of a god becoming human was hardly unusual in the 1st century. Kings and rulers were sometimes called gods, or the son of god. Greek mythology is full of tales of the gods taking on human form for a while. They usually do so for their entertainment or to hurt or reward certain people. Yet among all those Christianity still stood out because Jesus was said to be God coming to live a lifetime; and not to play games with people, or to punish them, or to make demands of them, but to see them, touch them, care for them, and love them.
Though Jesus is not literally walking among us the way he did then the sense of the incarnation remains central to our faith. Lutherans and Catholics especially recognize the real presence of Jesus in communion. Jesus said: take eat, take drink. This is my body. This is my blood.
While many Protestant churches will say the bread and wine are symbols of Jesus’ presence, we stick closer to his literal words. You can’t get too pressed on the physics of it all because you get nonsense. But you can understand God’s continuing presence in insisting that we experience God in ways that we can see and touch and taste. You are what you eat, and the elements of communion become the elements of our bodies.
I do not want to condemn those who call themselves spiritual but not religious. But theirs is a belief system that simply has no substance. And it is ultimately very lonely, because they are choosing to experience God in their own ways. What do they do in those inevitable times when God seems distant, or never seems to say anything at all? What do they do when they don’t know what to do? Where are their spiritual spaces? What are their authorities that can question them, help them grow, and give them a sense of purpose and place? They simply have none of those things; although they think they have.
God loves you enough to touch you. God loves you enough to come to you in a way you can eat. God loves you enough to work through imperfect and flawed people around you so that together they are the body of Christ to you. And God loves you enough to work through you, imperfect and flawed as you are, so that you are the body of Christ to others.
Yes, Christianity as a religion has its flaws. There are plenty of them! I doubt we’ll ever be perfect. But we are called to embody God’s grace in this world as our world cries out for a purpose and a place and meaning to it all. I don’t suggest you go out this afternoon and start putting your fingers in people’s ears or spitting and touching their tongues. But truly being in touch with people is a big part of your faith. We are religious. We have scriptures and sacraments and worship services and ministries and studies which all are God’s gifts to us so that we can be in touch with God always.
I understand the appeal of being spiritual but not religious. It fits well into our increasingly individualistic culture. Despite how appealing the idea is (you feel like no one is dictating obsolete or oppressive doctrines to you) it has problems. It is not very strong nor is it an emotionally safe place to be. In fact, it is only as strong as they are emotionally strong at any given moment. But, it is what people have chosen for themselves. As long as they are able to go through life as individuals they will stick to it. There is no point trying to tell them how unstable and unhelpful their spirituality is. However, our gospel reading for today points to that instability and unhelpfulness. And it can help us to meaningfully engage them.
First though, we must acknowledge that religions do have their flaws. As Christians we can see that clearly in our own scriptures as the very disciples of Jesus struggled to understand and do what is right. They were prone to failure constantly. And the writings of St. Paul and the Acts of the Apostles both show that Christianity ran into problems right off the bat. Other religions certainly have their own problems; but I am not knowledgeable enough to address them meaningfully. So, our own recognition of our potential for religions mistakes and failures gives us constant humility in what we do.
The healing of this man who is deaf and has a speech impediment is remarkably detailed, and yet the details are puzzling. We’ll get to the details of Jesus spitting and touching the man in a minute. Before that let’s look at the details of the journey. Mark tells us that Jesus returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. The Decapolis was a federation of ten small cities of Greek culture to the east and southeast of the Sea of Galilee. Tyre is about 30 miles northwest of the Decapolis. So far so good. Jesus would go from Tyre southeast towards the Decapolis. Except Mark says he went by way of Sidon… which is north of Tyre! It would be like saying someone traveled from Victor to Canandaigua, and they decided to go by way of Pittsford! Huh? That makes no sense! Pittsford is exactly the wrong way!
Clearly the gospel writer Mark does not know his local geography! And yet, he gives us all these details of Jesus’ travels. Who really cares actually; other than the details are wrong?
Yet, again, the whole scene has details; not just the travel plans. It is as if the usual pace of Mark’s gospel has been slowed down. Mark’s is usually sparce on details. He rushes from scene to scene at lighting pace such that you barely get to think about what just happened before he is on to something else. Consider what we read last week in worship, which is the scene immediately preceding what we read today. There a Syrophoenician woman begged Jesus to heal her daughter. Mark records just three sentences said between them. Then Jesus heals the daughter. He never even gets close to her, and the scene is over.
This week’s reading has the details that a man was brought to Jesus. We’re told he can’t hear and has a speech impediment. The people beg Jesus to lay his hand on this man. Again, lots of details. Who, where, what. And interestingly, does Jesus lay his hand on him? Certainly that would be enough to do it! Remember that last week we read of Jesus healing a girl without ever even going near her! But how about this week’s story? Again, lots of details. Jesus took the man aside, away from the crowd. Jesus puts his fingers into his ears. Then he spits and touches his tongue. Jesus says, “Be opened.” Details, details, details. They are perhaps a bit gross, but we can imagine this scene vividly.
Why would Jesus do it this way? Mark records a number of miracles of Jesus. It was not only in what we read last week that Jesus performs a miracle at a distance. Yet many of the miracles include touch. Jesus touches corpses and lays his hands on lepers. This week Jesus puts his fingers in a mans ears and puts spit on his tongue. In a few weeks we’ll read about a miracle where Jesus puts spit on a man’s eyes and touches him. These are all physical touches and connections.
These touches and connections show that God is not afraid of actual touch with unclean or disgusting things. And they show that God is not interested in performing miracles in sterile environments using holy means. Through Jesus God really is in the dirt and mess of life. And of course the touch of Jesus on ears invites us to understand hearing as coming through the touch of Jesus. Spit on a man’s tongue invites us to understand speech as coming through the life and breath of God. This deaf and mute man is cured and now hears through the touch of Jesus’ fingers, and speaks clearly through the touch of Jesus’ own spit.
A spiritual but not religious person sees God as distant, and as holy, and as “Other”. Christianity teaches us God’s literal presence, and the power of real contact.
In the religious landscape in the world today Christianity is the only religion that is based on the idea of God coming to live as a human for a lifetime. However, the idea of a god becoming human was hardly unusual in the 1st century. Kings and rulers were sometimes called gods, or the son of god. Greek mythology is full of tales of the gods taking on human form for a while. They usually do so for their entertainment or to hurt or reward certain people. Yet among all those Christianity still stood out because Jesus was said to be God coming to live a lifetime; and not to play games with people, or to punish them, or to make demands of them, but to see them, touch them, care for them, and love them.
Though Jesus is not literally walking among us the way he did then the sense of the incarnation remains central to our faith. Lutherans and Catholics especially recognize the real presence of Jesus in communion. Jesus said: take eat, take drink. This is my body. This is my blood.
While many Protestant churches will say the bread and wine are symbols of Jesus’ presence, we stick closer to his literal words. You can’t get too pressed on the physics of it all because you get nonsense. But you can understand God’s continuing presence in insisting that we experience God in ways that we can see and touch and taste. You are what you eat, and the elements of communion become the elements of our bodies.
I do not want to condemn those who call themselves spiritual but not religious. But theirs is a belief system that simply has no substance. And it is ultimately very lonely, because they are choosing to experience God in their own ways. What do they do in those inevitable times when God seems distant, or never seems to say anything at all? What do they do when they don’t know what to do? Where are their spiritual spaces? What are their authorities that can question them, help them grow, and give them a sense of purpose and place? They simply have none of those things; although they think they have.
God loves you enough to touch you. God loves you enough to come to you in a way you can eat. God loves you enough to work through imperfect and flawed people around you so that together they are the body of Christ to you. And God loves you enough to work through you, imperfect and flawed as you are, so that you are the body of Christ to others.
Yes, Christianity as a religion has its flaws. There are plenty of them! I doubt we’ll ever be perfect. But we are called to embody God’s grace in this world as our world cries out for a purpose and a place and meaning to it all. I don’t suggest you go out this afternoon and start putting your fingers in people’s ears or spitting and touching their tongues. But truly being in touch with people is a big part of your faith. We are religious. We have scriptures and sacraments and worship services and ministries and studies which all are God’s gifts to us so that we can be in touch with God always.
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