Friday, 26 January 2024

St Mark 3: 21 – 30

Then he went home;  and the crowd came together again, so that they 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.’

Reflection

In many ways I find this a tricky passage. As someone in this current age I find the casting out of demons difficult to deal with. In this passage we learn all about the unforgivable sin and I have found that difficult as well. In some ways I would rather ignore the passage but I cannot for it tells us something about the nature of Jesus.

Jesus is popular with the crowds, but his family have a different attitude, they regard him as being out of his mind. The scribes on the other hand think Jesus is in league with the devil, and this gives him the power to cast out demons.

Jesus has his defence, a perfectly logical defence. He asks: ‘How can Satan drive out Satan?’ and he goes on to spell out the consequences of such a division, it means the end of Satan.

The point is that Jesus sets himself up against those things that destroy and deny our humanity. He has set himself up against those things that would prevent us from living the life God intends for us. He is binding the strong man.

Jesus goes on to speak about forgiveness, that people will be forgiven their sins and they will be forgiven their blasphemies. This is the Jesus we know, the one who offers forgiveness and is accused of blasphemy as a consequence (Mark 2:7). Then we move onto the unforgivable sin. I wonder what it is all about?

When I was young, I used to fret about the unforgivable sin, had I committed it without realising. Taking it in the context of this passage I had no reason to worry. The target of Jesus’ words are those who have seen the work of God and labelled it as the work of the devil. It is someone who confuses good with evil and truth with falseness and will not see things as otherwise. We are not to be troubled by fear that we have committed the unforgivable sin.

Prayer

Merciful God,

You know us through and through,
You know our strengths and our weaknesses.
Forgive us when we get things wrong,
Forgive when we are fearful,
And we allow those fears to control us.
Forgive us when we label and reject others,
Because they are different.
Forgive us when we are compromised by our prejudices,

Merciful God,
There is forgiveness with you,
Through Christ may our fears be overcome.

Amen

St Mark 3: 13 – 19

He went up the mountain and called to him those whom he wanted, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message,  and to have authority to cast out demons.  So he appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter);  James son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder);  and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean,  and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Reflection

In today’s reading, we hear about Jesus calling twelve ordinary people to become disciples. They were then sent out by Jesus to spread the word. When have you ever been invited to something and then afterwards went out and told others about it? 

Earlier in 2023, I was lucky enough to have been invited to represent the URC on a trip with Christian Aid to Israel and The Occupied Palestinian Territories. Throughout the whole trip we were encouraged to go and see, come and tell.  Whilst away for the eight days, the thing that struck me was the incredible hospitality from the Palestinians.  Amidst the uncertainty and tension that they were experiencing, they embraced us with a warm welcome, some fantastic food, and great conversations. 

Following landing back at Heathrow, I now want to go and tell.  Often the media speaks negatively about Palestinians and I wanted to play a small part in changing this narrative by going out to speak at churches, commenting on social media, and by attending events. Just like Jesus’ disciples were told to do, this was my way of doing something similar.

In your day to day life, what do you experience or see that you want to change? What small or big difference can you make by, just like the disciples, sharing your experience and spreading love, understanding, and the message of Christ in the world around you?

Prayer

Lord, 
we ask for your guidance and strength as we seek to share these experiences with others. Help us to be messengers of peace, love, and understanding, just as your disciples were. May our words and actions make a positive difference in the world.  Amen

St Mark 3: 1 – 12

Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him.  And he said to the man who had the withered hand, ‘Come forward.’  Then he said to them, ‘Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?’ But they were silent.  He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him. Jesus departed with his disciples to the lake, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him;  hearing all that he was doing, they came to him in great numbers from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the region around Tyre and Sidon.  He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him;  for he had cured many, so that all who had diseases pressed upon him to touch him.  Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, ‘You are the Son of God!’  But he sternly ordered them not to make him known.

Reflection

At the time of writing, we are in the midst of Mental Health Awareness Week, so the words of Verse 11 “Whenever the impure spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” jump out at me.
Not only was Jesus breaking tradition by healing on the Sabbath, but he was also dealing with issues of mental health.  To be possessed by a demon, to have unclean spirits, often meant there was something wrong with you.
The topic of Mental Health has become a huge issue since the pandemic and millions of people are affected every day.  While we are aware that everyone has an “off” day where things look black and the duvet inviting, for some, that is every day.  To even get out of bed is an achievement.  But now we have come to understand it is not demon possession or spirit infestation, but a genuine medical condition that requires support, understanding and yes, sometimes healing.  The fact that the spirits recognised who Jesus was shows the power of healing, of being made whole again.  To suffer with mental health issues, whether that be depression, anxiety, or physical manifestations such as eating disorders is to feel isolated and less than human.  To receive care and understanding is a way towards feeling whole again – that there is not something “wrong” with you so you need to keep away, but that there is something different about you that needs understanding.

Jesus did not discriminate his healing only to those who were physically ill.  Nor should we.

Prayer

Lord, so often we see mental health issues as being “all in your head” and not real.  Open our eyes to the reality, so that through care and understanding we can empower those who struggle to feel whole again.  Help us, we pray, to show love and compassion to all without prejudice.  You broke tradition by healing on the Sabbath, help us to break the stigma and care for all who are in need.  Amen.

St Mark 2: 23 – 28

One sabbath he was going through the cornfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, ‘Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?’ And he said to them, ‘Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.’ Then he said to them, ‘The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.’

Reflection

In the Gospel according to Mark, Jesus is a ‘do-er’. Jesus calls and heals and preaches, cleanses, appoints, teaches and journeys with his disciples. He challenges and troubles and welcomes, he unsettles those in authority and raises up those who are considered unworthy. And this causes people to feel uneasy, to condemn and to criticise.

In this text we hear the Pharisees, men knowledgeable about Jewish Law and tradition, picking up that Jesus’ disciples were picking grain on the sabbath- thereby breaking Jewish Law. And so they speak out and challenge him. The wondrous thing that is portrayed in this text is the fact that Jesus counter-challenges them, using the words from the Hebrew Scripture (that they studied). He is not intimidated by them but responds with an informed answer that shows wisdom. The next words in the Gospel have Jesus going into the synagogue. Whilst the Pharisees question the actions of his disciples, we have a Jewish man living out his faith in an obvious and faith-filled way. A way that they struggled with.

His challenge is radical- he challenges the traditions and makes a bold claim! ‘Your rules do not apply to me…’ we read, and then we have him comparing himself to David. His claim is that people’s wellbeing is vital and looking after themselves does not stop because of the sabbath. There is no break in self-care or personal health care. It shows his understanding of the need to ‘be’ as well as do in each moment of every day.

In this text Jesus reminds those in authority that man-made rules do not trump God-given guidance and that physical and mental wellbeing is important.

Prayer

Gracious God,
May we never get so focused on our rules, regulations and expectations that we fail to make time for recharging and re-energising.

May we be able to still our hearts, silence our phones and turn off our email notifications and just be.

And may we ensure that we do not have unrealistic expectations of those around us or hold them to account in ways that hurt or harm.

Help us all to metaphorically ‘pluck grain’ as we walk this journey through life. Amen. 

St Mark 2 18  – 37

Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and people came and said to him, ‘Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?’  Jesus said to them, ‘The wedding-guests cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, can they? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.  The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day. ‘No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.’ 

One sabbath he was going through the cornfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, ‘Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?’  And he said to them, ‘Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food?  He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.’ Then he said to them, ‘The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath.

Reflection

The Mosaic Law demanded only one fast each year, the Day of Atonement, but religious leaders had piled many more on the calendar. No wonder they are nervous about and challenge the new preacher. His travels are barely under way, and he is already flouting their diktats.

But here’s a question. Who is he trying to reach out to with his talk of feasting and fasting, of a bridegroom being snatched away, of new garments and healthy wineskins?

Surely not the Pharisees; their claim to authority relies on keeping everyone in their place..

It seems – to me at least – that he is speaking to his disciples. They are “new to the job”, having just answered the compelling call of this charismatic teacher and healer, yet they barely know him.  Besides, they had grown up steeped in the very regulations he is now pushing aside.

Just what would become of them was still a closed book, but Jesus knew it was vital to make them aware that the old ways were coming to an end for them. Fasting had a time and place, but this was not it. New opportunities to say “yes” to God in meaningful and often risky ways would emerge from their apprenticeships and enrich the world to an extent they could never have imagined.

How well – how confidently – do we as individuals, as church and as The Church respond to the call of Jesus at a time when many people are turning their backs on the Christian faith, often from sheer indifference?
It is good to worship together, to care for and share with each other. But it is not enough. We are called to serve those in greatest need, to protect people who are abused and vilified, to call out injustice, to advocate openly for peace. In other words, to be an active part of the world and not just onlookers.

Prayer

Lord, make us instruments of your peace:
where there is hatred, let us sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.

Adapted from the prayer of St Francis of Assisi

Saturday 20th January 2024
 

St Mark 2: 1 – 12

When Jesus  returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. So many gathered around that there was no longer room for them, not even in front of the door; and he was speaking the word to them. Then some people came, bringing to him a paralysed man, carried by four of them. And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay.  When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’  Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts,  ‘Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?’  At once Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were discussing these questions among themselves; and he said to them, ‘Why do you raise such questions in your hearts?  Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven”, or to say, “Stand up and take your mat and walk”?  But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’—he said to the paralytic —  ‘I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home.’  And he stood up, and immediately took the mat and went out before all of them; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, ‘We have never seen anything like this!’

Reflection

Many of us reading this Bible reading today will have had to deal with a leaking church roof. I often wonder what the owner of the house actually thought about the small group of committed and caring friends digging a hole in the roof to lower down their paralysed friend.

What struck me afresh when I re-read this reading was how the crowds, hungry to hear Jesus, congregate in and outside the house. The image you get here is of a large number of people coming to hear Jesus and have him heal their sicknesses, cleanse them from sin and speak powerfully into their lives, and Jesus did not disappoint. The paralysed man certainly had a life-changing encounter with Jesus that day.

We are told that Jesus “preached the word to them” (v2.) I enjoy preaching and leading worship. I am passionate about people’s lives being changed as they encounter Jesus, become disciples of Jesus, and as Jesus becomes part of their lives.

The image of people digging through the roof of the house so that their friend can receive Jesus’ healing is a beautiful image. May we as followers of Christ bring people to Jesus so that he can touch their lives and have their lives transformed by him. May we, as disciples, never tire of coming to Jesus to have him touch our lives too.

Prayer

Loving God, I thank you that people were and are drawn to your Son Jesus Christ. As people of faith may we live lives that point to Jesus. May our lives speak of our love for you and may we, like the friends of this paralysed man, bring people to Jesus. May our churches be places of welcome where the word is preached and where people can meet with Jesus and have their lives transformed.  May the Holy Spirit lead, guide and fill us, in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.   
 

St Mark 1: 35 – 45

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 neighbouring 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. A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, ‘If you choose, you can make me clean.’  Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘I do choose. Be made clean!’  Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.  After sternly warning him he sent him away at once,  saying to him, ‘See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.’  But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.

Reflection

Did you get up while it was still dark this morning, waking up long before dawn? If you live in the UK then it’s quite likely you did, as we are less than a month past the winter solstice and the days are still short. Do you enjoy the cold weather and the darkness, or do you long for the bright days of summer?
Maybe you’re reading this early in the morning when the sun hasn’t yet risen. According to the website www.timeanddate.com where I live in Merseyside dawn today is 8.17am (UTC), and there will be around 8 hours of daylight. Meanwhile in Galilee, where our reading is set, sunrise is 6.40am local time (4.40am UTC) and there will more than ten hours of daylight. In fact, as it is much closer to the equator, mornings are never so dark; the latest sunrise time in Israel through the whole year is 6.42am. Which means that, whatever the time of year, for Jesus to get up while it was still very dark, before the sun rose, he really did have to get up early. It took an effort, but he knew it was necessary. He clearly valued that time, in a quiet place, away from his devoted but demanding friends, where he was able to pray alone before facing all that the day would bring. It doesn’t last long, his friends soon find him, and he goes on to have a busy day continuing his tour of Galilee and going into towns and villages proclaiming his message.
When did you last see the sun rise? When did you last pray alone, in the dark, in the cold of a winter morning, before a busy and difficult day? Just maybe you are doing that right now, as you read this.

Prayer

God of love
we give thanks for the colours of the sunrise,
for the changing seasons
and the austere beauty of the cold winter.
Help us to remember that, like you,
we sometimes need quiet times;
help us to find them,
and in finding them we will find you.
Amen.

St Mark 1: 29 -34

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 sunset, 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.

Reflection

The scene is domestic and intimate.  Simon’s mother-in-law has a fever.  There is dis-ease in the engine room of the home.  Her illness is what is on everyone’s mind.  It impacts on how things function – or not.  Hospitality is called for, but it can’t be delivered.  Jesus comes, takes her by the hand in an act of tenderness, and lifts her up from her bed.  She is well, and gets back to the work that one suspects she knows inside out and loves to do. Her healing opens the floodgates, and as the sun goes down the whole city gathers around the door.  Suddenly we see a community riddled with illness and disturbed people.  So many.

In our homes there are times also when dis-ease is in the engine room.  Maybe relationships are askew. Perhaps there is developmental trauma. Neurodiversity may challenge parental capacity.  Accident, injury or infection may introduce permanent change. What then do we expect of Jesus?  I find help and hindrance in this little cameo.  Yes, like Simon and Andrew’s family, when there is dis-ease in the home we need to take it to the Lord with confidence.  That is helpful.  The hindrance comes, of course, with the speed of the recovery, in contrast with so much of our own experience.  Yet faith is deeply rooted and will not give way.  His restorative work may take years, rather than moments, but will be fulfilled.

Sometimes, though, the dis-ease in the engine room ends sadly or even tragically.  I am moving off today’s text here, but need to acknowledge that this is so.  Only those in that situation can speak of it. Beyond the domestic and intimate in Mark’s story I also see the epic.  Humanity ill and laid low.  The Saviour coming to take humanity by the hand and restore us to God’s purpose of mutual loving service.  The Gospel in a narrative nutshell.

Prayer

Lord, I offer to you the homes and communities that I will be part of today. 
Thank you for them.
Thank you for your presence amongst us.
Thank you for helping us to help each other.
Thank you for the faith that, ultimately, all will be well.
 
But if it seems today that that faith is betrayed, hold us in the darkness.
 
May your peace fill our lives,

Amen