Deceit, disloyalty and discipleship

As we continue our way through Mark’s record of what we now call Holy Week, we are up to Wednesday. Notice it is called 2 days before Passover. Passover was the significant point in the religious year, just as we count down to Christmas, people counted down to Passover, making sure all the preparations were in place.

A few weeks ago I mentioned a literary device that Mark uses, it is called ‘frames’ or ‘sandwich’; in which Mark surrounds an event within another event. We saw it with the story of the Temple being framed by the withered fig tree.  This passage is also one of Mark’s frames. We will look first at the frame, then at the story of the woman.

The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to arrest Jesus^* by stealth and kill him; for they said, ‘Not during the festival, or there may be a riot among the people.’

The chief priests and scribes, not all of them, but many of them, were wanting Jesus out of the way. These were people in collaboration with the Romans, and Jesus could upset their privileged place.  The thing people were scared about were the crowds, crowds that were following Jesus, crowds that showed his popularity, crowds that made it difficult to keep people in their ‘right’ place; the religious leaders were concerned about Jesus’ popularity, because if they lost control of the ‘religious practice’ and the people were not controllable, then the Romans would come down hard on the whole population.

The religious leaders were wanting to get rid of Jesus because of the crowds, but it is also the crowds that prevented people getting to Jesus. The leaders were concerned at what would happen in they openly arrested Jesus.

The second part of the frame:

Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. When they heard it, they were greatly pleased, and promised to give him money. So he began to look for an opportunity to betray him.

The chief priests and scribes were looking for a way to arrest Jesus, but were prevented by the Crowd, they had given up, and here is Judas offering to betray Jesus. Often we think of the crowd as being against Jesus, but the problem was that Jesus was popular. The only way the religious authorities could arrest Jesus was to know when he would be away from the crowd, arrest him and execute him before the crowds knew what was happening.

A side note, when we read of the trial before Pilate, and the crowd calling for Jesus to be executed and Barabbas freed, Mark notes that this crowd was stirred up by the chief priests, it is quite likely that it was a select crowd that had been allowed into the governor’s grounds.

Now to the story that is framed by deceit and betrayal; the story of an unnamed woman who poured expensive ointment on Jesus’ head, anointing him for burial before his death.

Jesus has told the disciples a number of times that he will be arrested and put to death, but they disciples just don’t get it, then we have the unnamed woman come and anoint him. Nard was used to anoint a body before burial, but if Jesus is to be killed as a criminal, there is not usually the opportunity for anointing, so she has done it beforehand.

And the response of those around her, how outrageous!, wasteful! This could have been sold and given to the poor. Jesus responds: you always have the poor with you… you can show kindness to them whenever you wish. but do we? We may talk about the poor, pray for the poor, but do we do anything to prevent  or alleviate poverty? Or do we ignore the problem, and imagine that it is for people with more power and influence to do something about such issues.

Jesus recognises her actions as preparing his body for burial ahead of time, but others in the room see only expensive perfume being wasted.  Jesus commends her for doing what she can. We might think we have little to offer to Jesus, or the world; but here we have an example of a person with limited opportunities, offering what she can.  “In the midst of deception and disloyalty we find an act of dedication to Christ and his cross”.[i]

We have a contrast here between the deceit of the religious leaders, the disloyalty and betrayal by Judas, and an act of generosity by the unnamed woman, she is a true disciple because she has believed. What will we be remembered for?

I wonder what we can learn from this story? about Jesus, about ourselves?

One thing I notice about Jesus is how aware he was of what was going on around him, he could read the signs of his impending arrest and death. He was challenging violent political power and unjust religious collaboration, that was, and still is, dangerous.  We need only look at people like Oscar Romero in San Salvador, and Nelson Mandela in South Africa, people who challenged oppressive situations, and were killed or imprisoned for doing so.

Jesus also recognised the actions of those around him, he saw something in the actions of the woman, he saw devotion and discipleship where others only saw waste.

What do we learn about ourselves? This story happened in a different time and a different culture, what can we learn about ourselves.

I wonder how often we look for bad things to happen to those we consider are in our way. I remember an incident with Ice skating where one competitor’s family attacked another competitor so she was unable to compete in National Championships.  I am sure we don’t do anything so obvious, but how often do we want people out of the way. The problem child in our child’s class at school, the problem person in the office?

I wonder how often we miss the generosity and beauty that is around us; because we are too busy looking for something else? In the story of the woman anointing Jesus there are some in the room more concerned about money than about devotion. In our busy lives, and these days everyone seems to be busy, I wonder what we miss out on?

And I wonder what we make of Jesus? is he is a pest to be eliminated or avoided? Is he causing us to question the way we live? Do we listen to these stories and, like the twelve, wonder what Jesus is talking about, or do we live out our faith like the woman, step out of the shadows and have the courage to do something beautiful, generous, daring;  

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[i] http://www.lectionarystudies.com/studyg/passionsundaybig.html

Asking Questions

Note: this sermon is heavily reliant on chapter 3 of The Last Week By Marcus Borg and Dominic Crossan.
The poem ' It was on a Tuesday' is from Stages on the Way from Wild Goose Worship Group

Poem:It was on the Tuesday

I was told once that you should never ask a question if you don’t know the answer. Now that isn’t true all the time, sometimes we want to find out about something, but often we only ask questions if we already know the answer.  The situation we read about today reminds me of question time in Parliament.  All sides of politics only seem to ask questions they know the answer to, and the point of the question is rarely to find out something, but to make someone look good or bad, depending on the political perspective of the person asking the question.

Reading through the week leading to the crucifixion, we have considered the political implication of riding into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, and looked at the collaboration of religious leaders with the Roman occupiers. Today we read about Jesus in the Temple surrounds.

Jesus would not have been the only Rabbi, or teacher,  in the area surrounding the main Temple building. This area is often called the Temple court, like a courtyard.

Mark begins the Tuesday discussion with people wondering about the authority of Jesus, then there are some parables, then the part we heard this morning, which begins.

‘Some Pharisees and some members of Herod's party were sent to Jesus to trap him with questions.’

As in many religions, there were factions within Judaism at this time. The first group we read about today are the Pharisees, a group dedicated to intensification of religious practices, such as tithing and Sabbath observance and purity laws. The Herodians, or Herod’s party, are people who were supporters of Herod, the ‘royal’ family  appointed by Rome.

The authorities had noticed how popular Jesus was with the crowd. There are a number of possible reasons, and here I am speculating: Jesus spoke about religious practice in ways that were available to ordinary working people; he healed; he travelled with ordinary people by foot, as most people did; in short, he wasn’t part of the religious elite, and he was able to take them on in a debate and the religious elite often came out looking foolish.

The religious elite were concerned about the popularity of Jesus, because it could cause political problems for them and they feared a crackdown by Rome.

The Pharisees and Herodians came to trap Jesus. The question they asked is about paying taxes to Rome. They thought they knew the possible answers. Either Jesus would say yes, and be discredited with the crowd, or he would answer no, and then he could be charged with denying Roman authority, which was sedition.

The answer Jesus gives is to turn it back onto the questioners. Jesus knew this was about trying to trick him, so he played them at their own game. By asking for a denarius, a coin which displayed the Emperor’s image, the questioner is discredited by having Roman coinage, rather than Jewish coins which did not bear any image on them.

The next group to try and trap Jesus are the Sadducees, a group of wealthy, powerful families which included the high priestly families. The Sadducees only held the Torah, the first 5 books, to be sacred scripture, most Jews also included the Prophets.

The writings of Prophets emphasize God’s justice against the injustice of social systems dominated by the interest of the powerful and wealthy.

‘Then some Sadducees, who say that people will not rise from death, came to Jesus’

The Sadducees did not believe in any form of life after death, so why ask a question about life after death? Because they care more about trapping Jesus than about the answer.

Jesus’ answer includes a reference to Exodus, one of the books the Sadducees accepted as scripture. Jesus’ answer does not give a clear answer to the question about marriage and heaven. It does seem to affirm some form of afterlife, but, and this is an important but, Jesus also says that God is God of the living and not of the dead. The Sadducees had asked about the wrong thing, they asked about life after death, when the kingdom of God is about life before death, life in this world.

‘A teacher of the Law was there who heard the discussion. He saw that Jesus had given the Sadducees a good answer, so he came to him with a question:
Which commandment is the most important of all?’

The teacher of the law or scribe was a person who could read and write, unusual in that day. Asking a Rabbi what is the most important commandment, was a common question for rabbis, though some were known for their lengthy responses. The scribe asked Jesus because he had noticed how well Jesus had answered the other questions that day.

The answer is one Christians are familiar with: love God and neighbour. But there is much in saying that. Firstly, loving God and giving to God what belongs to God is a radical statement of monotheism. Which means if God is God, then the Emperor is not! Or the dollar, or status, or winning at all costs. Loving your neighbour as yourself means not living with the divisions that are an accepted part of civilisation; rich and poor, respected and marginalised, righteous and sinners, friends and enemies, Jews and Gentiles.

The scribe responds, and adds to Jesus’ comment: ‘It is more important to obey these two commandments than to offer on the altar animals and other sacrifices to God.’

In the midst of the conflict stories of this section, we are again reminded of the difference between some, not all, of the religious leaders and Jesus. The Scribe has affirmed that loving God and neighbour is more important than what happens in the Temple.

 ‘You are not far from the Kingdom of God’

The Scribe was not far from the kingdom because he knew in his heart what was important, to be in the kingdom of God means more than knowing, it means living it.

So what does this mean for us. We are not debating with Jesus, asking odd questions to try and trap him? Or are we? I wonder how often the questions we ask are the wrong questions, how often we ask about the Kingdom of God as if it is about life after death; how often we ask about the Kingdom of God as if it is confined by a set of doctrines we can parrot back at the right moment; how often we ask about the Kingdom of God not listening for any answer other than the one that fits with our own desires.

The Kingdom of God is about life: here, now, for all. Some of the Pharisees, Sadducees and other leaders tried to discredit Jesus because he was popular with the crowd. At times people will try and discredit us because we believe in God, because we live differently, because we stand up for the poor, the oppressed, the marginalised. And we stand up for the poor, the oppressed, and the marginalised not only in words, but in actions.

The reading today is from Tuesday, 3 days before the trial and crucifixion.  The conflict with the Roman and religious authorities continues, not all religious authorities,  but there is concern at the life and teaching of Jesus. Life and teaching that exposes the hollowness of power, the false divisions that have become a normal part of society, the dominance of ritual over righteous living.

The Kingdom of God is for here, for now, for everyone and every part of God’s creation. What questions do we ask to avoid living the Kingdom into being?

what is worship for?

This is the second in a series following through the book: The Last Week by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan, which follows the Gospel of Mark's narrative from Palm Sunday through to Easter Sunday. I recommend reading this book, rather than relying on my interpretation of it.

I wonder what it would be like if this church wasn't here. What difference would it make to your life, our life, to the people of this area and city.

Some  background on the passage we heard from Mark’s gospel this morning.

Mark uses ‘frames’ or ‘sandwiches’ as a literary device. In this passage, the story of the fig tree ‘frames’ the story of the Temple; that is a hint that they are related stories. This isn’t the only place Mark uses that technique, when you are reading Mark’s gospel, keep an eye out for it.

During this part of Israel’s history, Israel was part of the Roman Empire. The Temple was a significant place for the people of Israel. It was also a place where Roman political power and Jewish religious power intersected.   

Mark places this event the day after the entry into Jerusalem, and during the week leading to the crucifixion.   This was Passover week, remembering the Passover when the people of Israel left slavery in Egypt. Passover was huge, lots of people coming in to town, one person describes it like the Christmas rush. Religious tourism was an important part of the economy of Jerusalem, as pilgrims came for major festivals.

The traders associated with the Temple were in an outer area, and a necessary part of the Temple life. Pilgrims came from all over the Mediterranean region, so buying animals for sacrifice was much more practical than carrying them great distances, also the temple tax was paid in local currency, so money changers were essential.

One part of the Passover celebrations was sacrificing lambs. The sacrificial system was part of life for many ancient cultures for centuries. People maintain relationships with each other in two basic ways – giving of gifts and eating together. Think about the people you are friends with, how often do you meet for a drink or a meal. When people sensed the divine and were looking for ways to relate,  giving gifts and eating together turned into a sacrificial system.  In sacrifice as ‘gift’, the animal or grain is burnt on the altar. The idea was that the smoke rising to God was a gift. In sacrifice as a shared meal, the animal was transferred to God by its blood being poured over the altar, when the animal was eaten, it was divine food in a feast with God, where God was the host.

The so-called ‘cleansing of the Temple’ Jesus quotes from Jeremiah chapter 7. Here Jeremiah is calling people’s attention to their false sense of security in the Temple. ‘den of robbers’ is Jeremiah’s way of saying a hideout for  thieves, thieves who steal people’s life by oppressing them, by acting unjustly and without compassion.

So what does all this mean for suburban NN, in NN in the 21^st Century?

Do you have a place you go when you want you don’t want to accept responsibility? As a child did you have a way of avoiding the consequences of your actions? I have read that studying theology can be a way of avoiding God, I wonder if coming to church is also a way of avoiding God, all the outward signs of faith, but none of the transformation.

The Temple, the place considered to be God’s home on earth, and the priests whose role it was to offer the sacrifices in the holy of holies where ordinary people did not go, had become a refuge for collaborators. Is this church a place for people to come and pretend all is well in the world, to come and ignore inequality, oppression, poverty and injustice? Last week we looked at the difference between the Roman Empire and the Kingdom of God. Does our worship allow us to sit comfortably with the status quo, confident of our own in heaven, comfortable with our place in the world.

Remember I mentioned the framing of this incident with the story of the fig tree. Now it was not the season for figs, so the story of the fig tree, read on its own, doesn’t make a lot of sense. But looking at the Temple story framed by the withering fig tree, helps us make sense of the Temple story.

The Temple without fruit is not worthy of its name; just as a fig tree without fruit is useless.  While the Old Testament includes variety of sacrifices for different occasions, there are also places which talk of the need for justice, compassion and inclusion; because without these things, the sacrifices are meaningless.

Looking at sacrifice as a meal with God, how long can we sit at the table with God, as a guest of God, and not  be changed by that encounter.

Reading the gospels we get a picture of Jesus as someone involved and interested in all of life. It can be easy to spiritualise the stories we read, but that is not the intent of the Gospels. What we do here this morning, is not an end in itself. Worship is not for the sake of worship. That is not to say that worship and worshipping together are not important, but they are not all there is to our Christian faith. We believe that in worship, we encounter Jesus, or maybe we become more aware of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Praising God is good, remembering the life, death and resurrection of Jesus is good, celebrating the coming of the Spirit is good; but they are not ends in themselves.

This morning N was baptised, what will he learn from hanging around with this congregation?

A poem:

Like a well-barnacled ship,
the gospel lumbers through time
encrusted
with layered domestication.
We find it difficult
to think of Jesus
angry.
Love God.
love you neighbour.
love your enemy.
But anger?
Jesus’ anger disturbs
yet reveals
there’s a time for anger.

When we focus on places in which to worship
rather than people to serve
there’s a time for anger.
When we focus on self
and ignore the extreme need of many
there’s a time for anger.
When we accept poverty, injustice, war
as part of the natural order
there’s a time for anger.

There’s a time for anger
that results in action
that
heals the hurting
supports the suffering
relieves the exploited
frees the enslaved
brings God’s love to bear.

There’s a time when it’s wrong
not to be angry.
© Jeff Shrowder, 2012.

A Clash Of Cultures [Mark 11:1-11]

Over the next four Sundays will be hearing some stories from Mark's gospel that we rarely hear. Stories that show a clash of power and culture, stories that remind us of the choices that we make as disciples. Stories of challenge. Starting here at Chapter 11 of Mark's gospel, Mark gives us a day by day account of the week in Jerusalem. This passage we heard today is the first time Mark indicates Jesus has travelled to Jerusalem, while other Gospels record earlier visits to Jerusalem, for Mark this is the first time Jesus has entered the city and the Temple. 

On one hand we have the Roman Imperial culture, a culture based on military might, wealth, and working with locals who would keep their own people under control. Leading up to the Passover festival there was a procession into town, a procession of war horses and  uniforms and the jangle of metal. A procession to show people that the military was in town, to maintain order, to quell any uprisings.

Roman imperial culture worked alongside the system that had existed in Israel for many centuries. The religious and political elites used a series of economic, political, and religious measures to maintain power and control.

Each family needed land to farm, to enable them to grow the crops they needed to eat with enough left over to barter and swap with their neighbours. There were a number of ways in which people's land was taken from them. While land could not be bought or sold it could be used as collateral against debts. Unfortunately the small landholders who needed the money from such a loan were often not able to repay it, therefore their land was taken from them. Also the King was able to acquire land for the kingdom. King Herod, the King during Jesus’ lifetime, acquired land so that it could be given to influential families.

The Roman imperial system relied on local collaborators. These were mainly wealthy families, but also the religious elites. Herod was made King and he used his wealth and influence, his power and the military at his disposal to maintain order in Jerusalem and Israel. This system meant that ordinary people did not have a say in how their society was shaped.

Rome allowed local religion to continue during the Empire in the various places that they conquered. Local religious leaders would be used by Rome to ensure that the local population stayed compliant and obedient to Rome. If the population started using religion to go against the occupation, the religious leaders would be replaced or the religion would be made illegal. The system was supported by the religious elite; by supporting the system of Roman occupation of political privilege of economic inequality, the religious elite benefited from the system.

The Roman Imperial system relied on keeping the populace under control, and local high ranking people loyal to Rome. This was possible in Israel due the existing system of land acquisition, and a sense of the culture, including economic culture, being put in place by God. Who could then dare to oppose it?

From the other side of town there was also a procession, a man on a donkey, with some country folk with him, no uniforms, no jangling metal. A procession to expose the oppression that the other procession stood for.  A procession led by a man whose life was the antithesis of Roman Imperial Culture, and much of Jewish culture. A man whose life and teaching was about each person having enough, the evils of greed, the abuse of religion.

There are many places in the world today, including in our own country, where economic and political injustice continues. There are still places in the world today, including in our own country, where religion is part of that oppression. It is not that long ago that in South Africa where religion was part of the understanding of those who put together the apartheid system. In this country at the moment there is a debate about school funding, about the relative amounts of money that private and public schools should be getting. But there is little debate in this country about the number of children who live in poverty, about children whose life chances are reduced because of poverty.

People in Jerusalem knew what these two processions meant. They knew that the Roman procession was there to keep them in line, to make sure nothing out of the ordinary happened while their population went from about 40,000 to 200,000 during the Passover. They understood the symbolism of this military procession coming into town.

People in Jerusalem would also have known the symbolism behind the man on the donkey. The allusions to old Testament texts of the King coming in on a donkey, a new King who would save his people. ‘Hosanna’ that Mark records people saying, means ‘save us’, meaning save our country. Some people would have been a little confused as to how this man on a donkey was going to be able to fight the Roman army, how else could this be the one who would save the people. But that was not the way of Jesus.

During this season of Lent we journey with Jesus to the cross. As Lent comes around each year it can seem a burden, a drag to go through this dry and barren and challenging time. It is a time of refocusing, of looking at our lives and our motives. It is a time of being intentional in looking at the conflicts between our faith and our life. Lent is a challenge. The challenge of Lent this year is about following the way of Jesus; the way of discipleship.

This passage today sets up the background for the coming week, a week of conflict, blessing, meals, betrayal and crucifixion. When Jesus talks about following on the way this is the way that as disciples we are called to walk, to journey. The way that does not bow down to false gods of Empire, domination and oppression. The way that speaks the good news in order to bring life and hope and peace, not to use religion as a means of oppression. The way of sacrifice rather than remaining passive and on the sidelines.

There were two processions into Jerusalem, one of Empire, and one of the country bumpkin riding a donkey. Which procession are we in?

In what ways does our living support oppressive and unjust system is?

In what ways do we risk standing up for those who have no voice?

note: thanks to Marcus Borg and John Crossan 'The Last Week' for the idea of preaching through some of the stories from Mark and for many of the ideas included.