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The more things change,
the more they stay the same
Reflections on the lessons for the first Sunday in
Advent
By The Rev. Mark A. Lewis, Vicar
Isaiah 64:1-9a
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
Mark 13:(24-32)33-37
Psalm 80 or 80:1-7
When Mark wrote his gospel the Christian community was already tacking off on a strange course.
And so
scholars agree on this
one
Mark had to either make up this parable for Jesus or
probably
piece it together from
things people remembered Jesus saying.
And put it into a context that would address a problem of
the day.
The parable of the doordeeper
Mark
13:33-37
comes at the end of a passage in Mark called the "Little
Apocolypse."
Apocalypse" because like famous passages in the Book of Daniel and the later Book of Revelation, it talks about the end of the world. And "Little" because this passage is much shorter and simpler than the related sections of those other books.
An article by Matthew Fox
(of the Jesus
Seminar) reasons that Jesus
must have said something like this parable of the
doorkeeeper.
It passes the test for "authenticity to Jesus" pretty
well.
- 1. It is atypical of the
time:
An unexpected thing to say.
And therefore more likely to be authentic to this most atypical and surprising teacher. - 2. It is consistent with one of
the great themes of Jesus' teaching as a whole:
You aren't in control of things.
The world is in the mind and hands of God, so just do your best and stop pretending you're in the driver's seat
BUT, Mark has used the parable in a strange context:
Christians had begun to anticipate the return of Jesus to lead his people on earth in a bold new way.
The Second Coming.
And they were getting so wrapped up
in trying to get ready for that, that they were missing the
point
as we later came to
understand it
of what living as God's
people in the world was about.
Paul had already written several letters scolding young churches all over the place.
Telling them to get on with life.
Live your lives, but live them so that each moment you will be happily surprised
not dreadfully surprised
should the skies open up and Jesus come again.
Paul had to tell Christians to get back to work,
go ahead and plant your crops,
continue to save for retirement.
Send your kids to school.
Because you don't know when the end will come.
They thought it was just about to happen.
Mark wrote his gospel only a few years after Paul.
And his concern was that Christians were getting too so-called "scientific about predicting the end of time.
They were combing the Bible and other mystical sources from Judaism to find specific signs of the end. And then figure out whether they were already fulfilled or not. People were completely cracked off on getting a timetable as accurate as a PATH train schedule, but a timetable for when Jesus would come again.
Mark knew it was a waste of
time
and a grab for control, manipulation, even.
And, by focusing on the imaginary details of the end of
time,
people were neglecting the harder,
more important,
work of living a godly life in the world
and trusting,
honestly trusting,
God to act
as God wills
in God's own time.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Two thousand years later, you have only to turn on some right-wing Christian radio station to hear some buffoon nattering on
about the Gulf War
and various events in Middle Eastern Politics
and US Government policy
that tell us
as sure as
rain
that Jesus is gearing up
right now
and just about to bust in
and start taking names.
To them, Mark says:
"Stop the second-guessing".
Behind Mark, Jesus stands saying:
"Get on with your life.
Keep awake.
Do your best.
And it won't matter when the world ends.
You'll be ready all the time.
And being ready is its own reward."
-- Mark Lewis
Your comments or questions are welcome MLewis@secaucus.org.
Links to additional "Reflections on Lessons" may be found at the bottom of the Sunday web page.
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