Jesus Comes Out

Fifth Sunday after Epiphany – Year B

February 8, 2015

Mark 1: 29-39

As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.

That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, "Everyone is searching for you." He answered, "Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do." And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Who is your best friend? Who is the person that you can confide anything and everything to? Who is that someone that you can trust with your biggest and most-hidden secret? All of us have someone like that. Maybe it's a close friend. Maybe it's our spouse. Maybe it's our diary or journal. Hopefully, we can trust God with our innermost thoughts and secrets that we are not likely to share with anyone else. When I was younger, I remember grabbing one of my close friends, taking them aside and whispering in their ear, “Don't tell anyone, but...”

We all have secrets. We all have things about ourselves that we do our best to keep private. There are things about ourselves and things about our families that we are either ashamed of, or afraid of how people might react if they knew the truth. For many years, if a young girl happened to get pregnant she would disappear, shipped off to a family member in another part of the state for a few months. Then, she would return just as mysteriously. Her pregnancy and birth a matter of knowledge known only to a select few. There was a time when victims of rape and domestic violence were forced to keep their mouths shut, hide what had happened to them. We all have secrets. That dad had lost his job was hidden from the kids and neighbors for as long as possible. That little Johnny couldn't read or write because he was dyslexic, that was also hidden. When Jane was born with misshapen legs, she was sent off to a home to live, and never spoken of again. I had a friend who was born with 6 toes on each foot. It took years for him to be able to wear sandals in public, he was so worried about what people would think if they saw his feet.

We all have secrets. Some of the secrets we have are secrets because we are ashamed of them. Some of them are because we are unsure of how people might treat us if they knew. And some of them are secrets we keep for our own safety. Such as the secrets that were kept during World War II. Thousands of Jewish children were sheltered and hidden in closets and attics throughout Europe. Kept secret to keep them alive, hidden from the searches of the Nazi soldiers. If the child were found, not only would the child disappear, but likely also the entire family who hid the child. We keep secrets for all kinds of reasons.

When we read the Bible, especially Mark's gospel it seems like Jesus had a secret or two as well. Over and over again, we find Jesus performing a miracle or healing, then telling those around him not to tell anyone what he has done. Theologians refer to this as the Messianic Secret. There are several different ideas put forward as to why Jesus wanted his actions and identity kept secret. Some people say that Jesus didn't want to be confused with a purely political messiah; others that Jesus wanted the focus to be on his message, not on him; others say it was a story-telling tool, used to show how the message of Jesus could not be kept silent – even when commanded by Jesus himself.

In our Gospel lesson today, we see a version of the Messianic Secret. We see Jesus performing miracles, his identity being recognized by demons, and Jesus not permitting the demons to speak and identify who he was. Jesus didn't want to come out about who he was, at least not yet.

The unfortunate reality is that once you know something about someone you tend to think about them according to what you know. You find out your neighbor was in prison, and that becomes how you think of them. Your coworker shares that she was a college cheerleader, and the way you interact with her changes. Your brother reveals to you that he is gay, and the way you joke around with him changes. The demons declare Jesus to be the Messiah, and the way the crowds listen to Jesus change.

There were many different ideas as to what kind of a mission the Messiah was going to have among the Jewish people. But, the idea that had the greatest number of followers was the one that said the Messiah was to be the king who would unite Israel against their foes, leading them in glorious battle, freeing them from the cruel hands of those who had occupied their lands and controlled their lives for generations. Jesus' message of peace, love and forgiveness would have had a hard time being heard against the clamor of voices calling to destroy Rome and remove the gentiles from Israel.

In our passage Jesus declares that his mission was to proclaim the message. So, we must look and see what the message Jesus came to declare was. One of the aspects of Mark is that he combines both word and action when he speaks of Jesus proclaiming his message. It's like the saying, “Preach the gospel at all times, and when necessary use words.” Jesus' message “includes his exorcisms, healings, and legal controversies. It involves all the ways in which he makes God’s reign (or “kingdom,” as traditionally translated) known and observable. His preaching activity, the full range of his public ministry, is performative and effective: it demonstrates what God’s reign looks like, and it has real effects as it delivers people, heals people, restores people to community, forgives people, and speaks truth to power.”¹

Although Jesus' ministry of healing, his announcements of freedom from oppression were a part of who he was, a part of the message he was sent to proclaim, Jesus knew that if he allowed the crowds that followed him to dictate what he was going to do, the proverbial train would jump off the tracks. It was necessary for him to be in control, for him to reveal what he felt comfortable revealing.

When things got a little too hectic, a little too crazy, when the voices of the crowds shouting and crowding around him, demanding of him to be who they wanted him to be, Jesus sought a place of safety. He looked for a place where he could spend time with God in prayer, a place where he could be himself without the pressures of the crowd. I think that is a wonderful image for the church. What would it be like if the church became a place of refuge, where you could be who you are, who God created you to be, without having to live up to the hopes and expectations of those around you?

You are a naturally shy person, but your life requires you to interact with people on a daily basis at work. What if church gave you the space you need, to be alone, to be surrounded by people, but not forced to interact? You are the victim of domestic violence, and bare on your face the signs of that abuse. What if church gave you a place where you didn't have to hide, where you didn't have to worry about people blaming you, where you could find the support you need to get out of a dangerous place? You are a teenager who is bullied. Every day you go to school, alert every second , terrified of what might happen when you are at your locker, or walking in the halls. What if church was a place where you could leave your fears at the door, if you could find support and love you need, if you could hear the message that you are loved just as you are?

The church is called to set people free from the things that limit and bind them. But, it must go beyond simply setting a person free. What if the church was a place that not only freed you from the things that limited you, but freed you for something? Not just from, but for. That is the challenge that we in the church must face, we have all been freed for something. God has set us free to from sin and death, and all that binds and limits us; and God has called all of us to do something. What have you been freed from, and what have you been freed for?

Look to how our text began, with Simon's mother-in-law sick and in bed. Jesus comes to her, heals her, and she rises to serve. She was freed from illness to serve the needs of those around her. That too is what we have been freed for. We have all been freed so that we might serve, that we might give of ourselves to assist those around us who are in need, to set them free from the things that keep them from living whole and full lives. Whether that need is physical, emotional, spiritual or any other numerous ways in which need presents itself, God has freed us from what hinders us so that we might free others, and in freeing others we might serve our risen God. When we do so, we are following in the path of Jesus himself.

Throughout his ministry Jesus often refers to his own life in terms of servanthood, and to the life of servanthood to which he called his disciples. Jesus, though he was God incarnate, did not use that reality to rule over others, but lowered himself and took the role of servant again and again. His life was one lived not for himself, but for others.

For most people in today’s world the motto of “live for yourself” reigns. Jesus’ message and life were in constant opposition to that claim. His crucifixion as the servant without limit placed an exclamation point on that fact. The way in which Jesus defined his kingship defy human logic. His call to follow in his footsteps, to work for his Kingdom is heard by all the faithful.

In our text, Jesus does what he is called to do, he works to free people from the bondage under which they suffer, and in so doing frees them to be able to free and serve others. Jesus comes out as the Messiah in his terms, not in the way others may have wanted, not in the actions some may have demanded of him, but as the holy one of God, the one sent to be the servant-King of all creation. May we have the courage and grace to create a place where all people may be set free from the things that bid them, and be set free so they may themselves set others free to live as the people God created them to be. Amen.

1http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2344

Crossing Boundaries

Fourth Sunday after Epiphany – Year B

February 1, 2015

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that "all of us possess knowledge." Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge; but anyone who loves God is known by him.

Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that "no idol in the world really exists," and that "there is no God but one." Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth — as in fact there are many gods and many lords — yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

It is not everyone, however, who has this knowledge. Since some have become so accustomed to idols until now, they still think of the food they eat as food offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. "Food will not bring us close to God." We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if others see you, who possess knowledge, eating in the temple of an idol, might they not, since their conscience is weak, be encouraged to the point of eating food sacrificed to idols? So by your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are destroyed. But when you thus sin against members of your family, and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall.

There are few things in the world that it can safely said are shared as actions by pretty much every single living thing on the planet. One of those things is eating. Now, eating happens to be one of my favorite pastimes. I truly enjoy sitting down and biting into a wonderful dish. I love my pizza, I love my burgers, I enjoy a good beer at the end of the day. Eating is wonderful, is it any surprise that Jesus is recorded spending a fair amount of time with his disciples and followers sitting around eating? Should it surprise us that one of the central acts of the church is gathering around a table together and sharing in a holy meal? Food unites us in a way that few other things do. But, what if you can't eat it?

In recent years there has been a rather incredible increase in the incidence of food allergies. There are whole schools that have been declared peanut free due to the high number of students that have a severe allergy to peanuts. One of my nephews recently discovered he has an allergy to, well, just about everything. One of my best friends back in Iowa has Celiac's disease, and even the smallest amount of gluten can cause serious, potentially fatal problems for her. I think most of us know someone who has to be careful about the things they eat. And so, we tend to be careful about the food we have when they come over for dinner, or if we go out to a restaurant. Whether the person just can't stand mushrooms, is an alcoholic, or is deathly allergic to shellfish, their dietary situation can turn into a real boundary that can keep them or us isolated.

Now that I think about it, boundaries are also something that pretty much all of us have to deal with in one way or another. We see signs that serve as a boundary just about every day: no entry, wrong way, private property, keep out, employees only, authorized individuals only. And then there are the boundaries that we all know, but the signs are invisible. You know what I mean, places where you feel like you don't belong because you don't have the right upbringing, your bank account isn't big enough, your skin color is wrong, you don't speak the right language or you speak with an accent, you fall in love with the wrong people, you dress differently; there are lots of boundaries that our culture likes to throw in our paths.

Back in 1971, the Canadian group Five Man Electrical Band, wrote a song called Signs. The song is a declaration about the many signs that could be seen at the time, signs that limited the expressions of people. The refrain of the song proclaims, “Sign, sign, everywhere a sign. Blockin' out the scenery, breakin' my mind. Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign?” In the final verse, we hear of what happens when a church is visited. “And the sign said, "Everybody welcome. Come in, kneel down and pray" But when they passed around the plate at the end of it all, I didn't have a penny to pay. So I got me a pen and a paper and I made up my own little sign. I said, "Thank you, Lord, for thinkin' 'bout me. I'm alive and doin' fine." We may not think about it, but there are signs all around us, even in our churches.

And those are the boundaries that other people put up, what about the ones we put up? In order to protect ourselves from things that are strange, or frighten us, we put up boundaries. We surround our homes with fences, we put in security systems in our houses and businesses, we obsessively lock our doors. But, if there is anything that we should know by now, it's that all those things we put up to protect ourselves really can't keep anything or anyone out. If someone wants to get in, it doesn't matter how high the fence is, how many locks are on our doors, or how good the security system is – people will always find a way to get in, around, over, under, through any and all barriers. All those barriers really don't keep others out, so much as they keep us locked in.

Boundaries and barriers between ourselves and others are nothing new, and in our reading from First Corinthians, it's apparent that the Apostle Paul was dealing with an issue that was serving as a barrier between people of faith. The issue may have started with whether or not it was permissible for Christians to eat the food sacrificed at the temples of other gods, but in the end it really came down to the much larger question of how a person of faith interacts with the world around them. Do you separate yourself from the world, seeking to escape from the problems and issues of the world; or do you live your life in the world, engaging the problems of the world with your faith. It's clear that for Paul, this was not an easy question. He was someone who seemed to want it both ways when it came to living apart from and in the world.

Paul's division within himself was a result of some deeply held beliefs. He approached all things with the firm understanding and belief that there was only one God, and that in Jesus Christ we have all been set free from having to live in fear of the world around us – the evil in the world could do whatever it wanted to us, in the end we had heaven to look forward to. Jesus did not interact with the world with the understanding that the world and the people in it were evil, he looked upon the world with the viewpoint and understanding that wherever we are, God is there, loving us, nurturing us, drawing us into the joy of God’s life and love. With this at the core of his interaction with the world, we find Jesus crossing all kinds of boundaries and joyfully engaging the world around him. Thus, there would be no danger to a Christian in crossing that boundary and eating food that had been offered up to a god that didn't exist in the first place. Those were the two positions that Paul found himself seeking to balance.

It wasn't a balance Paul found easily. There seems to have been some boundaries that Paul just couldn't bring himself to cross, and Christians gathering with their friends and eating with them in ritual meals in pagan temples was one step beyond where Paul could go, even with his deep belief there was only one God, and all other gods were just made up. To be fair to Paul, we have to recognize that he was raised within Judaism that had a long history of devout faith in one God, while surrounded by countries and faiths that declared multiple gods. So, that Paul would have had a gut-level reaction against even the visual possibility of recognizing another god shouldn't surprise us. Even Paul's clear conviction that there is only “one God” and “one Lord” didn’t enable him to step over that boundary.

In the church, we tend to lift up Paul, recognizing his holiness and teaching. Much of our Christian understanding and theology is based on Paul's teachings. Because of that, we have a tendency to overlook those times when Paul may have made a misstep, places and issues where Paul (despite his wisdom) may have led us down a problematic path, like the way he thought about the role of women in the church. This is, I believe, another one of those instances. Rather than using this as an opportunity to live out God's grace in a very real way, to “become all things for all people” as Paul says, he retreats behind his Jewish culture and training. And that reaction of not crossing that boundary has been passed down to us over the last two thousand years. Instead of engaging the world the way Jesus did, all too often, we draw lines that separate us from the world around us.

We are in the season of Epiphany, that season in the church year when we celebrate God's presence with us, when we reflect on the encounters we all have with the holy. It is the good news of Epiphany, the good news of Emmanuel, the good news of God being with us that should be our guide when it comes to boundaries and barriers. If we believe that God is with us wherever we go, then what have we to fear from crossing boundaries in order to engage the world with our faith? I’m not saying anything goes—there are some things that are incompatible with loving God with all our hearts and loving our neighbors as ourselves. But if God is constantly surrounding us with life and love, then what are we afraid of? What do we have to fear from leaving our safe places of sanctuary, our places of refuge we have surrounded with our fences, boundaries, and limits and encountering people who challenge us with their different lifestyles and faith systems and cultural expressions?

The God who is always there, always with us, wherever we are, does not call us to live lives of separation or isolation, but to live lives of community and engagement. Our God set the model for reaching out when God reached out and came to us, delivering the message of love and grace in Jesus Christ. The God who came to us, calls us not to withdraw but to reach out. The God for whom no one is beyond the scope of mercy and love calls us not to retreat behind walls and barriers, but to take our faith out into our world that is so full of challenging diversity. And the same God promises to be with us, everywhere that calling takes us.

May we respond to God's call, leaving behind the walls and boundaries we have built, and go out into the world to tear down boundaries and walls as we share the love and grace God has shown to us with a world that is so in need of hearing that message. Amen.