Grace to you and Peace from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen
The text for this meditation is written in the 3rd Chapter of the Gospel according to St 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 much thought, to 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. Most of us probably don't realise how often we use this binding imagery throughout the day.
In just these few short verses of the Gospel reading there are a number of references to binding; probably more than you realise. In verse 21, 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 bindHim up and haul Him away because they figured He was crazy. Even Mary, knowing who Jesus was, thought that he had become overwhelmed by His large following and lost touch with reality. To make it worse He was humiliating them in front of their neighbours in their own home town!!
Then we read that the Spiritual Leaders of the day, the Scribes and the Pharisees were making the accusation against Jesus that he was “possessed by Beelzebub,” and that “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons”. In doing so they were trying to ‘bind’ Jesus from the very mission that the Son of God was born into this world to accomplish.
Then we have the statement of Jesus that“no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man”. May I say that most preachers of the Word avoid this Gospel reading. Ifyou will excuse the pun; it is easy to get into a bind trying to convey its’ message.
So Jesus’ family thought Jesus was crazy, out of His mind and the Scribes thought him Satanic!! …some things just don’t change. Who here hasn't had some sort of accusation made against them when someone disagrees with them? I hear it said about me, and I confess that I have questioned the sanity of others too. Believe me over the 18 years I was an ordained minister, on many occasion, I was called into a world full of sin, dysfunction and craziness. But the real point of this Gospel is that for a Christian to be true to their Faith involves specifically confronting sin and the devil with the Truth and Life and Teaching of Jesus Christ. Faithfully proclaiming and serving Christ necessarily puts us at odds with the rest of the world.
In his parallel version of today’s Gospel, St Matthew records Jesus as stating, (Matt 12:30)"Whoever is not with me is against me." 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 with Christ or you are working against Him. Unfortunately, being aware of that undermines our human nature and frequently leads us to judge others who don’t agree with our thoughts or standards. We think of them as sinful or crazy and in so doing bind Christ from working through us as he desires.
The confronting fact is that we're all guilty of attempting to bind and restrain Christ in no way different than His own family or the Scribes did. For instance, how many of us have allowed ourselves to be bound up in silence when we could have spoken out when we've encountered sin? "Confront it? Rebuke it? No I’m not that crazy! That wouldn't be polite. Everyone has a right to their opinion." Understand: I'm not talking about dark, heinous sins here. I'm talking about binding, ministry-robbing 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.
How often are we bound in inactivity when it comes to helping those in need? It seems 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”. I mean; we really are there and we do want to help; but … well even Jesus’ family thought he was a little crazy and had gone overboard when he gave all of himself!!
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 make us feel uneasy. The message coming to us direct from God’s Word is that by very nature we are sinful daily in our thoughts, words and deeds.
In our own Parish, Cluster or community, Satan is overjoyed with the weakness of our human impulses 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, in faith every member of the Christian community is called daily to 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. But God’s message here today is a reality check for all of us; as St Paul tells us Romans 3: 23"for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God."
About now you must be feeling a bit like the Israelites must have felt when Moses came down from the mountain and threw the two tablets containing the Ten Commandments at them. It is true, our sin does condemn us; but what of verse 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”. The message of salvation here is thathe “strong man” represents Satan, who is strong and armed for battle. “His house” represents his kingdom, a realm of evil, misery and death. In his house he has “possessions,” probably representing people under his control. Like the men in the Gospels who were “demon-possessed,” they are Satan’s possessions. The “stronger” man who attacks and overpowers the strong man, tying him and robbing his possessions, represents Jesus. I this case, as described in Matthew, He has just freed a man from Satan’s possession.
The good and liberating news is that we and 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. That's what this ministry is all about. That's the mission of this Ministry Unit and Cluster — to proclaim this Good News of Christ Jesus. This is why Almighty God Himself has allowed the Holy catholic (i.e. universal)church to exist and prosper for the past two thousand years. We, here in this Parish, in this Cluster 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.
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 always agree in the way we want to see things done? No! But that doesn't mean that we're sinful: That is the very essence of a human family. In our weakness, the Holy Spirit binds us together in love, using our God given gifts and talents to faithfully endeavour to serve God and do His will. This is God’s own Spirit which He graciously infused us with at the Baptismal Font. The Spirit that leads us to repent of our sins and to forgive those who have offended us; faithfully seeking the unbinding and loosing that is found only here in the cross of Jesus Christ.
We can leave this place today reassured in the Good News of the saving Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ that we are justified in Christ alone by God's grace and that His love alone will unbind us and set us free to serve, honour, love, and obey our Lord in all that we say, think, and do, now, through these long 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
No comments:
Post a Comment