Evendays

Modern evangelical preaching and movies from Hollywood are not the first to dramatize the cross, of course. Take, for example, the following quote that I ran across recently. It will keep me on the lookout next time I’m in an art museum…

“In some ancient Eastern traditions, Adam was buried on Golgotha and his son, Seth, planted a tree on his grave which was later used to make Christ’s cross. From the late tenth century onward in Western art Adam’s skull was sometimes shown at the foot of Christ’s cross, where the atoning blood touches it, removing Adam’s sin and atoning for all humanity” (M. Eugene Boring, Mark: A Commentary, note on p. 427).

Mark 11:11ff brings us the quick, action parable of Jesus cursing a fig tree that was naturally unable to give fruit. The riding-on-a-donkey King, the one who comes “in peace”, then goes to the temple and turns over tables and chairs, chases out sellers AND buyers, merchants and worshippers, and forbids city-dwellers to cross the sacred ground with their wares.

When the disciples come across the fig tree the following day, it’s ready to be cut down for the fire. Jesus then tells them to put their faith in God.

A couple of thoughts:

• Judean Kings would sometimes do what Jesus did. Good King Hezekiah cleaned out a temple full of idols. Jesus used his prerogative as blessed king to “whip” away, if but temporarily, the rottenness of first century Judaism.

• The judgment of the fig tree becomes a judgment of sterile religion, maybe even of sterile worship. There are echoes of O.T. prophets in the air:

When I saw your fathers,
       it was like seeing the early fruit on the fig tree.
       But when they came to Baal Peor,
       they consecrated themselves to that shameful idol
       and became as vile as the thing they loved (Hosea 9.10).

So how much of a “prophet” should the preacher be when he teaches from this text?

Just wondering…

Son 1 and I spent last weekend at a retreat center about 45 minutes north of Frankfurt in Germany. He went as a participant, I as the speaker. The theme chosen for the Singles’ retreat was “A life of significance” and the main text that they gave me was the wonderful list of spiritual blessings that we have in Christ, found in Ephesians 1.3-14.

Singles from Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Holland, USA and Hungary attended the weekend. We met Christians who had been born under communist regimes and others who grew up in Islamic countries. There were new Christians and not-yet-Christians, yet very few multi-generational Christians. They were open, ready to listen, ready to confess, ready to laugh and play.

One of the ladies wrote to everyone upon her return home:

The weekend was a great encouragement for me! Next time Satan tries to convince me that I’m or my life is insignificant, I can tell him that it’s not true for if we remain in Christ, we are significant!

It is true: Those in Christ have been blessed with every spiritual blessing. Now that’s significant.

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Have you got your copy of Yancey’s book, Prayer, Does it make a difference? We’ll be discussing the book at http://www.biblos.theobloggers.org starting October 21. Why don’t you join in the discussion?

Familiarity can kill faith. Hold it. Let’s try again. Expectations that have not been formed by God can kill faith.

Jesus goes to mom’s for the weekend and heads to the synagogue on Saturday. Mark tells us there’s a big crowd come to hear the Rabbi.

They are surprised. “Where did he get his wisdom? Where does his power come from?” Then, murmured truths smother their astonishment. Ungodly expectations undermine the plan of God.

“He’s the carpenter! He’s Mary’s son. We know his brothers. We’ve seen his sisters grow up…”

Behind the statements of truth is the prideful rejection of the humble servant and the heart-breaking fact that if they could not accept this elementary humbleness, they could never accept a bleeding, crushed, hanged-on-the-tree Messiah.

Mark is addressing a weary church, Christians familiar with the story they’d heard a 1000 times. He’s not fighting unbelief, but rather bland, sterile, already-been-there belief.

As teachers, Mark surprises us, for the evangelist does not meet our expectations. ("Tell us something new, Preacher! Put a new spin on it.") Rather, he recounts the “Beginning of the Gospel of… the Son of God.” He reforms expectations by retelling the story with conviction that expectant faith in the Servant will, once again, take hold of the children of God.

Thank you very much for the comments on welcoming Son 1 back home. I’ve made a few comments on your comments… Wife and I are going to discuss the different suggestions that you made and then fly out the lucky winner. So please don’t make plans, at least any plans you can’t change, for the next few weeks.
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Our Sunday text was Mark 4.35-41. It’s the disciples’ story where Jesus is sleeping in the boat at the same time it’s filling up with water, beaten by winds and waves.

I found 5 hymns in our French song book that deal with Jesus and this miracle (not counting a children’s song). Most are about turning to Jesus when life gets tough. Or just realizing that he’s in the boat with you and so, in the end, all will be okay. A couple poeticize about crying out to Jesus to save us in those difficult times.

But I’m confronted by the text, for in the middle of it stands Jesus’ reproach of the lost-faith-no-faith disciples, a correction that takes place specifically because in their doubt, or because of their doubt, they woke him up. Which leaves us to wonder if they wouldn’t have been more “faithful” to just let Jesus rest and simply ride out the storm in his sleeping presence.