New Family Values
March 12, 2006
Mark 3:31-35
“Whoever does the will of God is my brother, sister and mother…”
Mark is full of juicy characters that are part of the story of the Jesus Movement. They each play roles on many levels. Let me introduce 4 of them to you from the gospel of Mark:
From Verse1: 4,6--John the Baptist: John the Baptizer appeared in the wilderness proclaiming a baptism of mending for the forgiveness of sins. He was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. (Smelly guy preaching wildly, just a bit different but harmless…)
From Verse 3:13,14; 14:10-11, 43-46--Jesus went up the mountain and called to him those whom he wanted including Judas Iscariot and called them the 12 disciples or also the apostles. Sometime later, Judas went to the chief priests to betray Jesus. They were quite pleased and promised him money. He began to look for an opportunity to betray him. And, while Jesus was scolding the other disciples for falling asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane; Judas arrived. And with him there was a crowd with clubs and swords who knew that Judas, the betrayer, would give them a sign, “the one that I kiss is the man, arrest him and lead him away under guard.” So he went up at once and said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him. They laid hands on Jesus and arrested him. (Car salesman, politician, best friend with wandering eyes)
From Verse 7:26-29--The woman was a Gentile--a Syrophoenician woman, and her daughter had an unclean spirit. She came to Jesus and bowed down at his feet, begging him to cast the demon out of her daughter. And he said, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take their food and throw it to the dogs.” But she answered him, sir even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.” For saying that you may go, the demon has left your daughter. (Fundamentalist women…long hair (can't cut it) skirts (can't wear pants) Woman in a birka from Middle East…Mormon wives many to one husband…Middle East warrior woman…Catholic woman with too many children…Chinese woman abandoning her baby….)
Verse15:40--There were women looking on from a distance as Jesus was being executed including Mary Magdalene. She and the others used to follow and provide for Jesus when he was in Galilee; and many others who came up with him to Jerusalem. Mary Magdalene saw where the body of Jesus was laid inside the tomb before the stone was rolled in front. She was also one of the three women who saw the tomb had been opened and that the body was no longer there. (Ordinary women doing God's work but in shifty uncomfortable ways…Needle exchange, prostitutes, homeless, street ministry, women doing the hard work behind the scenes and maybe they look a bit hard, fractured, broken too.)
In our tradition, “family values” is not a new dialogue but quite old. It dates back to the earliest of the Hebrews and then makes a distinct change with the Jesus movement. The Hebrew culture studied, “Honor your mother and father” one of the Ten Commandments. But the Jesus movement was challenged with the new commandment to love God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself. This means that loving God is first; primary; a driving force in how you are being, what you are doing, where you are going. All of it centers in God's call to you, as a unique creation of God instead of a familial bloodline, societal placement, what job you do. The entire culture is being redefined in this heretical passage. All who do the will of God are part of our family. All who do the will of God are to be included in this love of God, the presence of the Spirit and the witness of the Word. And, Mark underscores this with story after story pushing the limits of who is included in this family over and over again. So let's meet these people who are part of our family, doing the will of God. Let's see who they were that we might have the courage to be.
Hairy, scary, bug eating, Pentecostal preacher, out in the dangerous place, John the Baptist, he is family. He is family, for he is doing the will of God in preparing a way in the wilderness. Making a way for people to mend. Making a way for people to reclaim their way of being. He's doing it in an unorthodox way. He is saying things people have not heard before. But, people are being healed in dark places and finding a way to be more focused on the pure, creative, loving intention that God places within each of us. He's speaking to those who had been silenced and put away. He's offering a place for all to come and find their voices and themselves as welcome family members in God's wide kingdom. Relatives on the journey, each with a piece of the DNA that it takes to create a whole family of love, peace, mercy, and hope. When we see John the Baptist today, we must think, hey! We're part of the same family, what piece of the DNA does he hold? How might we make it relative to the will of God?
Judas is also among these Jesus people of Mark. Judas is part of the family. He was chosen by Jesus as one who should be a disciple, an apostle, a teacher of the word and one who can be trusted to go out and teach and cast out demons. Jesus saw in him what God saw in him: possibility, creativity, detail oriented, leader. And, he was all of those things. But, he was also loyal, traditional and faithful. Unfortunately, as well-intentioned as those things were, he served them instead of God. Making loyalty and faith to Tradition more important than loyalty and faithfulness to a Still-Speaking God. But, the beauty of our story, is that Judas, Judas is still our brother. He did serve and do the will of God. He joined the Jesus Movement, he traveled around with them taking nothing along but the presence and love of God. He taught, shared, healed, and inspired. He was a disciple of Jesus. He did something horrible, getting caught up in the politics of the day. He betrayed his friend, his mentor, his guide, his hope…He fractured his family. But, no one of us must be judged by one action. Not one of us should deny we have also fractured the family at times. We must allow him grace for his worst moment. We are more than one part of ourselves, good or bad. When we meet Judas today we must ask ourselves what part of the DNA does he hold? How will we make it relative to the will of God?
We also meet Mary Magdalene at the end of Mark. She was a faithful servant of Jesus throughout his ministry. But in Mark we only meet her at the end. We meet her at the cross, where she is faithful until the end. We have heard things about her--not very nice things. Some call her a prostitute. Some call her a whore. Some call her a saint. But, everybody calls her something. And, nobody wants to be considered her friend, not to mention her family. Because, when you are friends with her, or when you hang out with her, people might say the same things about you. And yet, she was beloved by Jesus. She was considered part of his family and we know this because the story ends with her still in the picture. When we meet that woman or girl that nobody wants to associate with, we must ask ourselves what part of the DNA does she hold? How will we make it relative to the will of God?
Finally, we meet the Syrophoenician woman. This is extremely clear- she was of another culture. A culture that was in complete opposition to the Hebrews. A culture that would just as soon kill a Hebrew as look at one. And, the Hebrews felt the same way about the Syrophoenicians. So here she comes, asking for Jesus to heal her daughter. One of “Them”. And, Jesus calls her a dog and says she's not worthy. And, this isn't just one horrible thing to say to her, it's considered a double slur because, the Hebrews would never have a dog in the house, it was considered unclean. To associate her with the dog and then imply the dog was in the house was a doubly horrific thing to say to her. And, yet, she is granted her miracle because of her faith. Jesus has to back down to her because she embodies the core of his message and she reminds him of that. Jesus could not see this woman as family. However, by the end of their interaction he realizes, it's not blood, it's not culture, it's not upbringing, it's not the rules we learn as children, it's the will of God, the love of God that's guiding our living. When we meet the Syrophoenician today we must ask ourselves what part of the DNA does she hold? How will we make it relative to the will of God?
These are four powerful examples of how diverse our family of God is. These are only four examples of how forgiving, inspiring, inviting God's love is. These are only four examples, that no matter where we are, who we've been, we are welcomed on this journey of faith. We are welcomed into this community of faith. For, we are not the people called invisible or marginalized. We are not the people imprisoned by the wilderness. We are not the people known for our worst deeds. We are not the people known by the whispers of others. We are not the people known by a blood line. We are not the people known by a cultural background. We are simply the people who are working to live into the will of God, a family of faith, an evolving community of love. And that's how it's relative to the will of God. Let it also be relative to us, Let us pray.