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The Christian's “Success"
Epiphany
5B
February 8, 2009Mark
1:29–39
In the Name of Jesus. Amen. “C’mon, Jesus! Everyone is searching for you! What are you doing way out here all by yourself, anyway? People are going to say you’re unapproachable, distant, unfriendly. Don’t you realize people expect to be able to come and see you any time they want? You should be taking greater advantage of the peoples’ good will, and your new popularity!” No wonder “In the morning, while it was still very dark, Jesus got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.” People were flocking to him, singing his praises as the latest in wandering wonder-workers and magicians. If you weren’t sick or demon-possessed yourself, lacking television, Facebook and computers, watching Jesus heal others and bounce demons out of people made for great entertainment. This had to not only have troubled Jesus, on the one hand; but, being fully human, it must have also been something of a temptation on the other. The ministry he was doing was, after all, attracting a lot of attention, a lot of excited people, and it was making him very popular in the community. Misunderstanding who Jesus was and what he was about, they were “hunting” him out – that term in Greek suggests seeking him out with misguided intention, or with a desire to possess or own. At least the numbers were impressive, and he was doing God’s work, healing people and casting out demons. Let the people come, no matter what the reason. Isn’t that better than not coming at all? So, “In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.” Was he sent into the world to be successful in terms of sheer numbers of people? Or to be faithful, to be the Messiah? Clearly, Mark is saying, they are not the same thing. Notice also that Mark denies “Simon and those who were with Jesus” the title of disciples at this point, for they were acting just like the rest of the clamoring crowd. By the time they find Jesus, his prayers had borne fruit. No, he would not go back to instant popularity and the crowd’s misguided expectations; he would go on to other towns and proclaim God’s Kingdom there also, for that was why he came – not to build one large church, but to share the Good News of God’s compassion and justice to all people. Many people would not understand, would not accept him, would want him to go away; but some would understand, accept, and embrace him. That was the nature of his calling; not to be “successful” in the world’s eyes, but to be faithful in God’s eyes. “And Jesus went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God’s reign in their synagogues, and casting out demons.” Those of us who know the rest of the story of this miracle-working Messiah know that by any measure of the world’s standards of success, Jesus was a complete failure. He never did free the Jews from Roman rule (talk about disappointing peoples’ expectations!). He never did attract a large, consistent following, or build a mega-church to attract thousands of curiosity-seekers. Even his meager following, twelve men he picked up “off the streets,” kept misunderstanding who he was and arguing among themselves about who was the most important, most influential, most irreplaceable among them. One even sold him out to crooked church authorities. Another denied ever knowing him. The rest fled when the going got rough. Jesus spent much of his time with real down-and-outers – not the movers and shakers in the community. In the end, he died a humiliating and brutal death as a common criminal, on the latest Roman instrument of torture – being nailed or tied to a cross. Is that any way to live out such a high calling as being God’s anointed Messiah? St. Paul, also, writer of our Second Lesson this morning, was something of a suspicious character. First he persecutes Christians. Then, he becomes one. He, like Jesus, was an itinerant preacher. He was always being charged with heresy by church officials; with being unpatriotic by Roman officials. He was a repeat offender, being sent to prison repeatedly for the same crime (preaching the good news of Jesus). And we call him the greatest apostle who ever lived? It would seem that our role models for being successful Christian leaders, or simply successful Christians, or even a successful church, leave a bit to be desired. Well then, perhaps, “success” is not our calling. Perhaps the question we need to be asking is not “How many members do we need to have to be considered a successful congregation?” but “Are we growing in our relationship with Jesus Christ? Are we becoming more and more the disciples God calls us to be – both as individuals, and as a congregation? Are we being faithful to God’s mission of reconciling all people to himself through Jesus Christ?” The question isn’t, “How can we get bigger and bigger?” Or even, “smaller and more cozy?” The question is, “How can we best use our individual and collective time, our wonderfully diverse talents, our possessions, our building – all of which belong to God – to serve God faithfully, to do everything in our power to witness in word and deed to the good news of Jesus Christ?” No matter what the bad news is, or how much bad news we are bombarded with – recession, unemployment, struggling auto industry and private businesses, terrorism, world hunger – we have the same GOOD NEWS Jesus preached: that God is at work squarely in the midst of our messy world, our messy lives; that Jesus chooses to be with us in, with, and under such simple things as water, bread, and wine. God doesn’t work in flashy, carnival-like ways. He doesn’t pull peoples’ strings like puppets or wind-up dolls, or program people like computers to live nicely and be kind to one another. What purpose would there be in that? What meaning? What relationship? What love? God can work in the world any way God wants to. More often than not, God works through God’s people. God works through us. As we learned this past week in 9th grade Confirmation: “The Holy Spirit calls us through the gospel, enlightens us with God’s gifts, makes us holy, and keeps us in true faith.” (mean, 3rd Article, Apostles’ Creed). But there are so many distractions and temptations around us, just as there were around Jesus. Even Jesus needed time to pray and to listen to God, to think and to focus, in order to make his life and ministry a faithful one. In a way, the busier we are, the more we need to take time, make time to pray and to study and to worship and to seek God’s leading in all that we do – from the way we run an office, to the way we raise our kids; from the way we choose what activities to be involved in, to the decisions we make concerning the life and direction of Lutheran Church of the Cross. In many of our undertakings as a congregation, we might very well “fail” in the world’s eyes. Even Paul writes, “I have become all things to all people that I might by all means save some.” Why so much effort to achieve only “some”? “Woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel! For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, then because God has entrusted me with a commission ... I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with others in its blessings.” Jesus sought, above all else, to be faithful to the Father. St. Paul also sought to be faithful to his Lord and his calling. So we look at them as examples not of success, but of faithfulness to our same calling: to proclaim the good news, teach God’s word, and serve people wherever, whenever, and however we can. May God continue to give us the will and the wisdom to do it. And may we grow richly in our relationship with Jesus Christ, our Savior, and Lord. Amen. Rev. Joan Gunderman, Senior Pastor
Lutheran Church of the Cross, Nisswa, Minnesota |
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