Pentecost 2 – 6 June 2015 – Year B
Grace to you and Peace from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen
The text for meditation is written in the 3rd Chapter of the
Gospel according to Mark: Verses 20 - 35
20 Then he went home, and the
crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. 21 And
when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He
is out of his mind.”22 And the scribes who came down
from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebub,” and “by the prince of
demons he casts out the demons.” 23 And he called them
to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If
a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And
if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And
if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is
coming to an end. 27 But no one can enter a strong man’s
house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed
he may plunder his house.
28 “Truly, I say to you, all
sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter,
29 but whoever blasphemes against the
Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— 30 for
they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”
31 And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to
him and called him. 32 And a crowd was sitting around
him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers3
are outside, seeking you.” 33 And he answered them, “Who
are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And looking about at
those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 For
whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”
You've probably never given this much thought, but it is amazing how
often we make reference in our everyday conversations to being "bound
up." For instance, if we're unable to help someone out because of
red tape and bureaucracy, we say that our hands are tied. If something is
really easy, we'll say that we can do it with one hand tied behind our
back. If our schedules are jam-packed and hectic, we say that we're tied
up and can't get away. You get the picture. You probably don't
realise how often you use this binding imagery throughout the day; when we
think about it, a lot.
That's what I love about our Gospel lesson for this morning. In
just these few short verses there are numerous references to binding; more than
you probably realise. Let's begin with verse 21, where we hear that
Jesus' own family members—His own mother and brothers—were outside the house He
was staying at, trying to seize Him, claiming that He was out of His
mind. The Greek word used here—kratehō—carries with it the meaning of
restraining. Basically, they were looking to lay hands on Jesus and bind
Him up and haul Him away because they figured He was crazy. You can
almost picture the guys in white suits being called in with a straight jacket
for Jesus, looking to take Him away.
So they thought Jesus was crazy; out of His mind…some things just don’t
change. Who here hasn't had this accusation made against them when
someone disagrees with them? I hear it said about me, and I say it about
others too. Believe me: This line of work necessarily takes you into a
world full of dysfunction and craziness. But that brings up a good
point. This particular line of work deals specifically in confronting sin
with the Truth and Life of Jesus Christ. Faithfully proclaiming and
serving Christ necessarily puts you at odds with the rest of the world.
It's like that old quote, "Whoever is not with me is against
me." Do you know who said that? Jesus did! In fact,
Matthew records these very words coming out of Christ's mouth in his parallel
account to this very text (Matt 12:30). Think about that for a moment. There is no grey area or
neutral zone when it comes to faithfulness, forgiveness, and salvation.
Either you are or you are not. Either you are with Christ or you are
working against Him. It’s a good thing we're not like all those terrible,
sinful people out there who work against Jesus, right?
Friends the confronting fact is that we're all guilty of attempting to
bind and restrain Christ, no different than His own family was. For
instance, how many of us have allowed ourselves to be bound up in silence or
inactivity when it comes to stewardship? "I'd love to help out more,
but I can't. My hands are tied. My funds are all tied up. I
have bills to pay, fuel tanks and cupboards to fill, holidays to take,
retirements to save for." You're right. That whole
"fearing, loving, and trusting in God above all things" only applies
to certain aspects of life; the comfortable, easy ones that we like and agree
with. To think that it would apply to all of life is crazy! "I
can't help out because that time interferes with my favourite TV show, my
Facebook time, my Golf time, my "me" time. That's crazy
talk!"
How many of us have ever allowed ourselves to be bound up in silence
when you've encountered sin? "Confront it? Rebuke it?
Are you out of your mind? That wouldn't be polite. Everyone has a
right to their opinion." Understand: I'm not talking about crazy,
heinous sins that nobody here commits. I'm talking about binding,
ministry-robbing sins that we commit right here in our community; sins like
gossip; sins like desiring to exercise authority and control that hasn't been
entrusted to us…just like Adam and Eve, who desired to be like God.
You see that's just it. All this binding that we do is sin, and
this sort of binding and restraining and hindering of Christ and His Word and
His Will has been around since our first parents were bound up in that first
church—the Garden of Eden. "If you're not with me, you're against
me." Sin—all sin—stands against holiness. There is no grey
area. Either it's sin or it's God-pleasing righteousness. Either
it's on the side of Satan or it's on the side of Christ. This Gospel
message is a reality check that may rattle some of our cages. I know that
it may sound crazy to some of you, but the message coming to us direct
from God’s Word is that by very nature we are sinful daily in some of the
things we do and say. In our own Parish community, constructive
questioning and suggestions is not a sin, but when words become nasty and
gossip and complaints abound, Satan is overjoyed and uses our sin to undermine
authority and interfere and split and bind up ministry. We must not be
deceived! These negative desires and cares and concerns are not serving
God and His people, but are rather vain, sinful attempts at serving ourselves,
to impose our own will. Jesus calls for us to turn from our binding
ways! Turn back and be unbound in Christ.
There are no exemptions here on earth, even every member of the ordained
ministry must daily question themselves, “Am I pleasing God in this
service that He has entrusted to me, or am I trying to please myself or others?”
Life is easier sometimes when you just give in to the haemorrhoids in your
life. You better believe that God’s message here today is a reality check
for me too. I hope it serves the same purpose with you, "for all
have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God."
But that's not the end of that verse, is it? All are also redeemed
in the blood of Christ Jesus. All are forgiven, or as the Greek says, all
are “aphethāsetai'd”; that is, released and unbound. Folks: That's what
this ministry is all about. That's what this congregation exists for—to
proclaim this Good News of Christ Jesus. This is why Almighty God Himself
has allowed the Holy catholic church to exist and prosper for the past two
thousand years. We, here in this Parish and in Christian Churches
world-wide as God's people, have been set free and unbound in the Gospel truth
of Christ crucified and resurrected for all mankind.
Do you realise what a tremendous, life-giving, liberating treasure God
Himself has implanted in our hearts? This is what the truly sanctified
life is all about. As those who believe and trust in the total and
complete forgiveness that is ours by God's grace alone because of the
all-redeeming work and person of Jesus Christ alone, we have been set free;
unbound to serve and proclaim Christ with reckless abandon. We are not called
to be caught up and bound up in the ways and worries of this fallen and sinful
world. Whether we live or whether we die, we belong to Christ.
Heaven is our home. We have been baptised into Christ's death and
resurrection.
And that's how we'll end for today. Look around you. Here
are your mothers and brothers and sisters in the faith. Here are those
who serve and love and forgive because of the joy of knowing that God first
loved them and forgave them unconditionally. Are we perfect? Do we
do everything the exact way you want to see things done? No, but that
doesn't mean that we're sinful for doing things differently than you
would. We are faithful in endeavouring to please God and do His will;
faithfulness which also necessarily includes repenting for our sins and seeking
the unbinding and loosing that is found only here in the cross of Jesus
Christ.
May the Gospel Good News of your justification in Christ alone by God's
grace and love alone unbind you and set you free to serve, honour, love, and obey
your Lord in all that you say, think, and do, now, through these long dog days
of Pentecost, and into all of eternity. Amen.
The love and peace of our Great Triune God that is beyond all human
understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen
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