3rd Sunday Pentecost (Proper 5, Year B) June 10, 2018

 

O God, from whom all good proceeds: Grant that by your inspiration we may think those things that are right, and by your merciful guiding may do them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

 

Mark 3:20-35

The crowd came together again, so that Jesus and his disciples could not even eat. When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.” And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.” And he called them to him, and spoke to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.

“Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— for they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.” And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

Faith from the Margins to the Web Contributors:  David and Jennifer

 

David started off the conversation, “What stood out for me in this Gospel is that people were all on their own path; people around him weren’t really honoring where each other were.  It was like a house divided: good and bad.”

Jennifer reflected, “It makes me think about what am I choosing to do and how I am weighing my options.  Inside of me, I feel like I have a some really good things…”

“…and challenges…” interrupted David

Jennifer continued, “well yes, and challenges we all have of course, but also just a whole lot of really good things.  Some days I feel like the choice is difficult because it’s hard to choose between a lot of different, but very good things.  We reduce it down, and try to simplify it. So, we think about always having to choose between good and bad but that’s easier to determine. But what do we really know about choosing between good and good?  Like, family and God? That’s when it gets really hard to know what to do, and that’s what stood out to me in this scripture.”

“OK, that’s interesting” said David. “Because we have this one law, to love God and love each other but we still have to figure out how to do that.”

Jennifer nodded, “Exactly.  So, I may have several good things that I want to do in order to live into that, but I have to keep asking myself, ‘How is the good that I want to do a part of the Spirit of God?’”

David was getting the point, “OK, OK.  I hear you! I think what’s I’m getting out of it is that part where Jesus wanted people to know that he was with them and when people believe in Jesus, it isn’t about the places where they are accepted or even what they are feeling inside.  When I first studied the bible, I’d look at different verses and texts and think about where they fit into my life. But now, I try to feel like, how do they fit together? I mean, it isn’t just this verse for this day, but how is it that I live into all of it.”

Jennifer added, “That made me think about how everyone here in the Gospel lesson…even Jesus’ family…they are apart from him, standing outside.  But you know, when I look at Jesus from a distance that’s when I start to wonder, “well what does that mean?” or I judge it, or dismiss it like even his family was doing.  Then I think: we need to be at Jesus’ feet, not judging from a distance. But to listen, right there at Jesus’ feet.”

“What I think other people need to hear” added David, “is that it isn’t about trying to figure out what the demons are in this world, or where they came from.  They need to hear that it can get better, that it is better. The other people, society out there, they need to hear the love and not the judgement. It’s easier to stand in judgement.  I want people to feel the love! I know for me, I can judge all day long. But I have to start living and loving in a spiritual way, a heart way. The demons out there tell us we can handle it all on our own, that we can be on our own in the midst of sinners and temptation.  But Jesus says, be with me. Come here, live in me, do right in your heart, trust in me. That’s good stuff. But its hard, though.”

Jennifer said, “I just keep hearing all these people confused about Jesus, confused about who he has, saying that he’s talking all crazy or that he’s the devil.”

David could related to that, “I mean, yeah, there is still that false gospel out there, the temptation to find an easier way than reliance on God.  I mean, I catch myself. I fall into those traps. And I know it when I get myself back aligned with God and then when I do that is when people say, ‘what is wrong with you?’ and I know, that’s probably when I am living right!”

Jennifer related, “I think about it as a filter; when I look through the filter of Christ’s eyes I see things differently; when I hear through Christ’s ears, I hear different things.  I feel different things when I’m living through the filter of God’s love. It just hits us differently; it helps me define myself not by all my flaws or even my own strengths, but through my identity as a child of God.  And then, if we do that with ourselves, we find ourselves able to see others in that way, too.”

David added, “And you what happens when you do that?  People smile more. They are not hung up on the words someone says or the way someone looks at them.  They are seeing God.”

“Right!” said Jennifer.  “Joy in God enhances our joy in others.  My own joy is just this big, but in God that joy for others is magnified.  When we act in that joy, it is like the world are our brothers and sisters.”

Both David and Jennifer considered those in whom they saw this joy:

David started: “I’m thinking about a lady that comes once a month and brings me some groceries.  I think of her as an angel, doing the will of God. It isn’t just the groceries; it’s that we have made a friendship through that, through God.  She is an angel and a mentor and I always feel that I know God more through her.”

Jennifer thought of someone as well, “Yes! I’m thinking of my friend, who is someone I know is living her life with deep understanding of the will of God, and she is tells the truth and isn’t caught up in trying to be nice about it!”

They both chuckled.  David added, “I feel you!”

Jennifer continued: “But it’s true, and I know she knows it’s true.  And she is always there. If I stumble, she’s there and she’ll hold me in it.”

“That’s really it” said David. “It isn’t just a friend thing, it’s a caretaker thing.  Like we have spiritual caretakers who are more than family. Let me tell you a little something.  My mother left me, left this earth three years ago. She was a deep Christian, she served God. She made sure we were baptized, that we went to church and has our faith.  It wasn’t just about the baptism or the going through the motions, though. She was Christ for me. And even though she isn’t here anymore, I think that in God that people are still with us…even if they aren’t here…someone who lives that deeply in Christ they still influence you.  You still hear them when you stray. In Christ we keep those connections.”