Lectionary Reflection — 10 June 2018
20-21 Jesus came home and, as usual, a crowd gathered — so many making demands on him that there wasn’t even time to eat. His friends heard what was going on and went to rescue him, by force if necessary. They suspected he was getting carried away with himself.
22-27 The religion scholars from Jerusalem came down spreading rumors that he was working black magic, using devil tricks to impress them with spiritual power. Jesus confronted their slander with a story: “Does it make sense to send a devil to catch a devil, to use Satan to get rid of Satan? A constantly squabbling family disintegrates. If Satan were fighting Satan, there soon wouldn’t be any Satan left. Do you think it’s possible in broad daylight to enter the house of an awake, able-bodied man, and walk off with his possessions unless you tie him up first? Tie him up, though, and you can clean him out.
28-30 “Listen to this carefully. I’m warning you. There’s nothing done or said that can’t be forgiven. But if you persist in your slanders against God’s Holy Spirit, you’re repudiating the very One who forgives, sawing off the branch on which you’re sitting, severing by your own perversity all connection with the One who forgives.” He gave this warning because they were accusing him of being in league with Evil.
31-32 Just then his mother and brothers showed up. Standing outside, they relayed a message that they wanted a word with him. He was surrounded by the crowd when he was given the message, “Your mother and brothers and sisters are outside looking for you.”
33-35 Jesus responded, “Who do you think are my mother and brothers?” Looking around, taking in everyone seated around him, he said, “Right here, right in front of you, are my mother and my brothers. Obedience is thicker than blood. The person who obeys God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”
Other readings:
For today’s Lesson, I have a confession to make: I was really torn between the Gospel and the passage from 2 Corinthians. The passage from 2 Corinthians is full of great stuff about the resurrection but I decided to leave it for another time.
The Gospel is just as juicy, especially coming from a Christian Universalist framework. From time to time, I get questions about the “unforgivable sin.” They generally run like this, “If everyone’s forgiven (and will be saved someday), how can Jesus say there’s a sin that’s unforgivable?” And, more generally, most followers of Jesus are asked the “simple” question, “What’s the unforgivable sin?” I put simple in quotes because there are some long, drawn out responses to this question from most people that usually delve into the idea of rejecting the Gospel (and even that is an entirely other post) or talking critically about some Christian leader or Christianity in general.
But the answer to the question is right there in the text! Mark said, “He gave this warning because [the religious scholars] were accusing him of being in league with Evil” (verse 30). In other words, Jesus’ statements were directed to the religious opposition — the “legal experts” (CEB2) — of his day, like so many of his other warnings and statements of justice. In Matthew’s telling of this story (Matthew 12.22ff), Jesus calls the “legal experts” “children of snakes” (verse 34) and an “evil and unfaithful generation” (verse 39). It was them — the religious opposition, the ones who heard his teaching first hand, who walked with him, who witnessed (and possibly experienced) his miracles — they were the ones spreading slanderous rumors about his character, motives, and allegiance. This sin was specific to them and tied to the then soon coming judgement upon Israel, carried out by the Romans, in the war that lasted 3.5 years (66 - 70 CE).3 In other words, I don’t believe people today can commit the “unforgivable sin.”
Furthermore, what’s one of the first things one does when caught in wrong doing? One shifts the blame. “It wasn’t me; it was her!” “I’m not lying; he’s lying!” In this story we’re told that the religious scholars were “spreading rumors that [Jesus] was working black magic, using devil tricks to impress [the people] with spiritual power.” In Matthew’s telling of this story, it’s fleshed out a bit more. There, Jesus confronts the religious scholars head on, “If I throw out demons by the authority of Satan, then by whose authority do your followers throw them out?” (verse 27; CEB; adapted; cf. Acts 19.13-16). In other words, the very things they were accusing Jesus of doing were actually being done by their own people!
Once more we see that the religious opposition was more concerned about losing their power and position than they were about the people they were supposed to be serving. Sadly, this seems to be the case even today. It doesn’t matter if they’re Christians or not, some people are just more inclined to look after themselves than serve the people in their care. One can see this quite clearly by stepping back and looking at some of our political leaders and even some of our own clergy.
While I don’t think people today can commit the “unforgivable sin,” I do think we have to be concerned about what we say. There’s been a poster going around for some time now that gives some very good advice. It states:
Before you speak, THINK …
T - is it True?
H - is it Helpful?
I - is it Inspiring?
N - is it Necessary?
K - is it Kind?
H - is it Helpful?
I - is it Inspiring?
N - is it Necessary?
K - is it Kind?
Again, turning to Matthew’s telling of this story, Jesus tells his accusers:
“Either consider the tree good and its fruit good, or consider the tree rotten and its fruit rotten. A tree is known by its fruit. 34 Children of snakes! How can you speak good things while you’re evil? What fills the heart comes out of the mouth. 35 Good people bring out good things from their good treasure. But evil people bring out evil things from their evil treasure. 36 I tell you that people will have to answer on Judgment Day for every useless word they speak. 37 By your words you’ll either be judged innocent or condemned as guilty.”
Even though there may be some truth to the old saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me,”4 we’ve seen that words do hurt people. News stories abound with the suicide of children who were bullied at school or on social media. Furthermore, we know that abuse isn’t just limited to physical abuse. Threats of violence, putting someone down, constantly telling someone he’s not good enough or that she’s “going to hell” for loving someone else — all of these take their toll on the psyche of people.
As Jesus said, “What fills the heart comes out of the mouth.” Too often we hide behind sarcasm or passive aggressive behavior. We need to pay attention to what we say and how we say it. In another place, Jesus said —
33-37 And don’t say anything you don’t mean. This counsel is embedded deep in our traditions. You only make things worse when you lay down a smoke screen of pious talk, saying, “I’ll pray for you,” and never doing it, or saying, “God be with you,” and not meaning it. You don’t make your words true by embellishing them with religious lace. In making your speech sound more religious, it becomes less true. Just say yes” and “no.” When you manipulate words to get your own way, you go wrong.
In some of our traditions, we have prayers of repentance that include our words as well as our actions and thoughts. Here are a couple:
Anglican/Episcopal:
Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.
Orthodox:
Lord, our God, by Your goodness and mercy forgive all the sins I've committed this day in thought, word, and deed. Grant me peaceful and undisturbed sleep, and deliver me from all temptations and attacks of the evil one. Raise me up again in the morning that I may glorify You. For You are blessed, together with Your Son and Your Holy Spirit, now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.
Amen and amen.
Today, the Lindisfarne Community, the intentional neo-monastic community of whom I’m a part of and an ordained member through, finished up our annual retreat. It’s the time of the year all of us who are able get together to revisit, recharge, and rekindle. For several years, though, I’ve not been able to attend because of last minute things that have sprung up. It’s a great time to be sure and I’ve prayed all week for my friends and loved ones as they met in Ithaca, New York.
Each year we meet and have workshops, prayer, meditation, tai-chi (for those inclined), and of course food and plenty of time to just walk the beautiful grounds of Casowasco. On Sunday, after the Eucharist, we welcome new members, recognize changes in offices, and ordain new clergy. It’s a great time and, hopefully, I can attend next year.
Also, and tied to the Lindisfarne Community Annual Retreat, in a couple of days, it will be the anniversary of my ordination (deacon, 06 June 2010; priest 12 June 2011). It’s crazy to think about but, there it is.
And finally, this weekend marks the Feast Day of St. Colum Cille/Columba (09 June), one of my favorite Celtic saints. You can find some great information about St. Columba at Trias Thaumaturga.
Here’s a prayer attributed to Columba:
May the fire of God’s love burn brightly and steadfastly in our hearts like the golden light within the sanctuary lamp.
I don’t really think it get much better than that, dear reader.
~~~
In the Love of the Three in One,
Br. Jack+, LC
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1. Scripture quotations marked (MSG) taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
2. Scripture quotations marked (CEB) are taken from The Common English Bible. Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible.
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