Throughout Eastertide, our gospel readings were in John’s gospel as we witnessed the resurrection appearances and the ascension, and then we celebrated Pentecost and Trinity Sunday.
But today we find ourselves back in Mark’s gospel, and many of our gospel texts from now through the Reign of Christ on the last Sunday before Advent will come from this gospel.
Remember, each gospel writer placed a different emphasis on the character of Jesus : Matthew emphasizes how Jesus is the Messiah and the fulfillment of the prophecies in Judaism; Luke draws our attention to the boundary-breaking nature of Jesus’ acts of healing to say that the gospel is for the whole world; and John defines faith as a relationship of trust in God and Jesus.[i]
Mark, who wrote the first and oldest gospel account, wants us to know that Jesus is the Son of God and he came to bring Good News to the world. He begins his gospel with the baptism of Jesus, his temptation and then launches his ministry in Galilee.
Immediately before the passage we just heard, Jesus appointed the twelve apostles, including Judas Iscariot, and then Mark says Jesus went home. I think we often think of Jesus as an itinerant preacher traveling from one town to the next, but here we’re invited, with the crowds, to his house.
So there we are with Jesus, the apostles, and the crowd filling his house, shoulder to shoulder, leaning against walls and sitting on the ground. A crowd of followers so dense that Mark says they could not even eat. Imagine the rising temperature inside, the buzz of conversation growing louder and the restless energy of the assembled crowd.
And there are still more people outside the house. In particular, there are these other two groups.
One group is his mother, brothers and sisters. People who had known Jesus since childhood and watched him. People who should have known that he was the Son of God. But instead of believing his testimony and his proclamation, they accuse him of being ‘out of his mind’ or ‘beside himself.’ Mark says they are there to restrain Jesus or seize him and prevent him from continuing his ministry.
The second group is the scribes. These would have been the Temple heavyweights, the religious and theological experts who held authority over people. One might expect they would recognize the Divine in their midst. But instead of affirming Jesus’ identity as the Son of God, the scribes accuse him of being possessed by Beelzebul and under the power of demons. They want to discredit him and prevent him from continuing his ministry.
But Jesus doesn’t indicate that he feels any obligation, responsibility or duty toward his relatives or the scribes. His identity and his obedience, his authority and his power come from God alone.[ii]
Instead of recognizing the gospel work Jesus has been doing, healing people from diseases and fevers and setting others free from demons or unclean spirits, these two groups rejected his ministry and condemned him because they did not, or could not, recognize God at work.
Maybe their hearts had been hardened, or maybe they felt threatened – were his relatives afraid of what people might say about them? Perhaps they had already heard rumors and unkind words. Did the Temple authorities feel exposed by Jesus’ teachings that opened wide the possibility of God’s restoration for all people and disrupted their power to control or coerce?
Whatever their motives, Jesus calls out their sin. They have failed to recognize the work of the Holy Spirit taking place right in front of them. And they have blasphemed – reviled or insulted – the Holy Spirit with their denial.
That is the meaning of verse 29 – the unforgiveable sin is not to curse or take God’s name in vain when you hit your thumb with a hammer or get cut off in highway traffic. The unforgiveable sin to attribute the work of Jesus to Satan. It is to do evil in the name of God.
Like the people in Galilee, today we are easily divided and separated.
If we follow Jesus’ mother, sisters and brothers, we put a greater value on what others are saying about us than whether we are doing God’s work and witnessing God change people’s lives.
If we follow the scribes, we value own power and systems over the transforming healing and restoration that God makes possible for every one of God’s children.
Instead, Jesus invites us into his house and calls us to follow him and do the will of God. It is in the gospel work of loving God and loving each other that we find unity. It is in Jesus that we find our identity and in God that we find our authority.
We mustn’t doubt that the Holy Spirit is at work among us inside this congregation and in our community and world; instead, we are called to open our eyes and hearts to see how God is working.
I am always excited to come back and preach after synod assembly because that time together is always a vibrant display of the Holy Spirit at work in our ELCA congregations and with our partners. Even though we met on Zoom, this weekend’s assembly testified anew to the Spirit’s work across our synod. The Reverend Doctor Tim Smith was elected to a second six-year term as bishop of the North Carolina Synod, and we adopted a budget and ministry plan that prioritizes our mission start congregations including collaborations with the Episcopal and Moravian Churches, and establishes a new giving opportunity in the All Races, One Church, or AROC Fund, to encourage creative and sustainable ministry in our seven NC congregations that are primarily black, indigenous or people of color.
We celebrated anniversaries of congregations and ministers, including the Rev. Glenn Riechly [reekly] who has been ordained in gospel ministry for 71 years and 14 congregations where faithful people of God have gathered together for more than 225 years each!
And we met seminary students who are our synod’s candidates for rostered ministry –young adults who are called to lead the Church in new ways. We learned how our college campus ministries sustained their mission during the pandemic and how our camp ministries at Agape/Kure Beach, Lutherrock and Lutherridge are preparing to welcome campers this summer after being closed last season.
We have talked before how challenging this last fifteen months have been, but as we witnessed and I heard again at assembly, God was still with us working to bring about good and working to bring transformation to God’s people.
Thanks be to God.
[i] Enter the Bible, https://www.enterthebible.org/newtestament.aspx?rid=5
[ii] Breen, Mike. Covenant and Kingdom: The DNA of the Bible. 3DM. Kindle Edition.
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