Obligation or Love?

Based on 2 Corinthians 8:7-15

How much are you willing to give of yourself and your resources to meet the needs of those you love? I can imagine that if someone in your family or a friend was in a bind and there was some way you could help them out, you would do that. You may not have the capacity to give them everything they need. But whatever you could offer, whether it be money, or some of your time, your skills, or even a hug and a word of encouragement, it’s your love for that person that motivates you to offer what you can to respond to their time of need. Whatever help you offer is a natural expression of your love for that person.

It makes a difference if we are motivated by a sense of obligation or by love. To me, a sense of obligation to help someone feels like a duty, like a “have to.” You do it to check off a box or maybe because that’s what a Christian is supposed to do. People can give out of obligation without their heart being in it. It can be sort of like paying taxes. To respond to the needs of others as an obligation rather than as an act of love seems less authentic to me. Responding out of love rather than obligation seems to be more authentic. It’s more personal, an extension of a relationship with the person you are helping whereas helping as an obligation is almost like the person you are helping is an object of your charity. There doesn’t necessarily have to be a relationship with someone when you are helping out of obligation. But when you respond out of love, of course there is a relationship. To me, responding to the needs of others out of love rather than obligation has more integrity. It seems more genuine.

This is what Paul is getting at when he writes to the Corinthian church about their participation in the collection. The collection was a fundraising campaign Paul took on as part of his ministry to the Gentile Christians. When Paul met with the church elders in Jerusalem to explain his calling to evangelize the Gentiles, the elders agreed to support him in this work. But they asked Paul to let the Gentile Christians know that their Jewish siblings in Jerusalem needed their financial support as they were suffering great poverty. So, Paul set up a procedure to raise funds for the church in Jerusalem. He asked the Gentile churches he had a relationship with to take up a weekly offering of funds. Then, periodically, either he or someone he sent would go to the churches to collect those offerings and deliver them to the church in Jerusalem.

Paul notes in the reading we heard today that the Corinthians started off the previous year with eagerness to participate in this collection. They saw it as a great opportunity to demonstrate solidarity with their Jewish Christian siblings who lived in the city where the Christian movement started. But as the year went by, it seems their interest and engagement with the collection was starting to flag a bit. Maybe they weren’t giving as much. Or they started to collect funds for other purposes. Or they weren’t consistent in having a weekly collection. Or maybe there was some complaining going on about the collection, or some questions about just what Paul or the church in Jerusalem was doing with that money. Whatever it was, Paul didn’t specify, it seemed to him that the Corinthians were not participating with the same level of enthusiasm. Something was off.

So, Paul addressed his concern with the Corinthians, to see if he can get them re-engaged in this opportunity to share with those who were less fortunate with that same eagerness which they started. He uses a few arguments in his effort of encouragement. Let’s take a quick look at them.

First, Paul wants the Corinthians to see their engagement with the collection as a test in comparison to the engagement of other communities, particularly the Macedonians. We learn about the situation with the Macedonians in the previous verses, 8:1-6.

“We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that has been granted to the churches of Macedonia; for during a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For, as I can testify, they voluntarily gave according to their means, and even beyond their means, begging us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in this ministry to the saints—and this, not merely as we expected; they gave themselves first to the Lord and, by the will of God, to us.”

Wow! These Macedonians set an impressive example. Despite their extreme poverty, they were so filled with joy that they did not let their poverty prevent them from giving to the collection even beyond their means. They begged for the privilege of giving money that would support the church in Jerusalem, their love and zeal for that church was so great. Nothing would stop them from giving what they could. Clearly, they were not acting from a place of obligation but rather from a place of love. And Paul brings up these amazing Macedonians for the Corinthians to compare themselves. He asks them to put themselves to the test. Can they match the generosity of the Macedonians? Paul doesn’t mean can they give the same amount of money. In fact, the Corinthians are not living in poverty at all but are abundant in so many ways. But do they have the same joy? The same love? Can they match their spirit of generosity when it comes to supporting the church in Jerusalem? That would be a test for anyone. It would likely be obvious to the Corinthians that they are lacking in the same zeal.

Just in case this first argument makes it sound like Paul is trying to make this like competition, Paul uses his second argument, bringing the focus on Jesus. Paul likely has in mind an old Christian hymn that he quotes in his letter to the Philippians:

“Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.”

Paul reminds the Corinthians that Jesus, who was rich, became poor for their sakes so that they might become rich. Now, Jesus was not rich in money. Paul is talking about how Jesus emptied himself of his glory as the son of God so that he could take on human form, humble himself and die on the cross so that the Corinthians can receive eternal life. In other words, he is reminding the Corinthians of the great wealth of grace they have received by what Jesus did on their behalf. Now, how should the Corinthians respond to this grace? You could say that they are obligated to respond by giving what they can to support their fellow siblings in Christ. Or they could be filled with so much gratitude, love and joy for what God has done for them through Christ that they are eager to share of their abundance to support their siblings. Obligation or love? That’s their choice. They should not look to the Macedonians as a competitor they need to beat in the game of generous giving. No, they should be inspired by the deep joy and gratitude the Macedonians have toward God because of what God has done for them. If the Corinthians can capture that same level of joy and gratitude, the giving will follow. That’s what Paul is counting on. Motive makes a difference.

Then, Paul moves to his third argument. He wants to make sure the Corinthians know he is not asking them to empty out their bank accounts. It is true that the Macedonians gave beyond their means. But they didn’t have to do this. Look what Paul says in vv. 12-13: “For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has—not according to what one does not have. I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you.” What Paul is saying is that he wants the Corinthians to be eager to share out of their abundance. In practical terms, after they have cared for their own needs and have saved some back to help assure they are well supplied, whatever is left they can give to support those in need. Honestly, if they are filled with eagerness, if they love God and love their siblings in Christ, they should want to give what they can spare to those in need rather than hoard for themselves. They are not being asked to make themselves poor. They are only being asked to give what they have to spare. This is doable and, if they are motivated by love, a no brainer.

Last, Paul finishes off his effort by calling to mind when God gave the Israelites manna during their journey to the promised land. As we read about it in Exodus, every morning as the Israelites came out to collect the manna that had collected on the ground, it didn’t matter how big or small the family, each family had just what they needed for that day. It was the living out of that part of the Lord’s prayer where we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread” which could be said another way, “Give us the bread we need for today.” When the Israelites journeyed to the promised land, God assured they had what they needed to sustain themselves for the journey. In the same way, Paul is asking the Corinthians to give of their extra so that those in poverty will have what they need, trusting that in the future if the Corinthians find themselves in poverty, the other churches, maybe even the church in Jerusalem, will give of their excess so that everyone will have enough. Or, as Paul put it, there would be a “fair balance”, no one has too much or too little, but everyone has just what they need. Some have called this principle of fair balance as an aspect of what is called the economy of abundance, the belief that there is enough for everyone. The issue is distribution.

So, what might we learn and apply in the stewardship of our resources? Although our context is different from the Corinthians, we are not participating in a collection that goes to a specific church that is impoverished, there are some principles here that we can apply as we steward our resources.

First, remember that this is not just about money. Paul is focusing on the collection of funds to be sent to the church in Jerusalem. But look back at vs. 7. See all the kinds of resources that the Corinthians excelled in. Paul says they excel in everything. They excel in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in eagerness. They even excel in Paul’s love for them. They are well supported and well-endowed in so many ways other than money. In the same way, we steward more than our cash. We are stewards of our knowledge and training. We are stewards of our faith in God and one another. We steward our commitment to God, to the church, to the larger society. We steward our passion. We steward our time. We have a lot of resources besides money that we steward and that we can potentially offer to help those in need.

Second, we are asked to give out of our abundance. We are not asked to put our own financial situation in jeopardy. We are not asked to voluntarily place ourselves in poverty. We still have the responsibility to sustain our households and be prudent about caring for our future needs. But once we have been prudent and our households are cared for, what to do with the excess? Our love for God and for those whom God loves would prompt us to give what we have to those who are in a rough spot and need some help. We can do this. We can help others without wrecking our own financial situation.

And, again, it’s not only about money. Think about how you steward your time. You only have so many hours of the day. A lot of those hours are already claimed. You have to get a good night’s sleep so you can function during the day. You have hours claimed to take care of personal needs and other household chores. You may have a job that requires a lot of your time. You need to claim some hours during the week to play and have fun with your friends and family. What hours are left? Those are the hours you can use to volunteer your time to help others. We give out of our extra. That’s what Paul is saying to us.

Finally, we are challenged to give with eagerness and love, not obligation or pressure. I have heard stories of churches that can be a bit heavy handed when it comes to stewardship campaigns. This is just hearsay, but I have heard of churches that asked for their members to submit their 1040s so the officers could see how much they were making and take 10% of that as the amount due for their tithe to remain members. I have heard of a church that would lock the doors of the sanctuary and not let anyone leave until a certain amount of money was raised. Just hearsay. I hope none of that is true. But if it is…sounds like a heavy dose of pressure. Paul was bending over backwards to let the Corinthians know he isn’t trying to manipulate them or pressure them to do anything they don’t want to do. When it comes to giving what we have to support others, obligation or pressure is not the motivation that we should be after. It is love for God and one another that is the motivation we need to give what we can to help others and to support the church.

Let everything we do be motivated by love, starting with our love for God. Let our gratitude for all that God has blessed us with, especially this community of faith and the promise of eternal life, be the foundation of our giving in whatever form that giving takes. Whether it be money, time, skill, or passion, let us offer what we can in gratitude for the great abundance of grace God showers on each of us day by day.

Despite Our Fear

Based on Mark 4:35-41

Jesus must have been exhausted. Let’s look back at all he had been doing since he returned to his hometown. Back at his house, people had crammed inside to try to get close to him, to get healed or to hear a word of teaching. There were so many people and so much need that Jesus couldn’t even sit down for a bite to eat. During all that, he had to face down those pesky scribes from Jerusalem and then deal with his mother and brothers who were worried about him. Eventually Jesus and his disciples left the house and went back to the sea, still being followed by a crowd, and then more joined so that it was a great multitude of people, so many that Jesus got on a boat and pushed back from the shore just to free up some space along the beach for the huge crowd. From there he taught the rest of the day. 

Finally, the time seemed right for Jesus and the disciples to head back out across the sea. The sun was setting. Evening was getting on. Still standing in the boat, having finished all the teaching he wanted to give that crowd, he looked at his disciples and said, “Let’s go over to the other side.” So, they pushed off, raised the sail, and off they went. Jesus, for his part, went to the front of the ship, lay down on the mat, and promptly went to sleep. Finally, Jesus could get some rest as they made their way across.

Alas, Jesus did not get as long a rest as he was hoping for. A great windstorm arises, scaring the disciples, even the seasoned fishermen among them who had surely seen their fair share of storms. You know it had to have been bad. Not only was the wind tossing the boat around, but the crashing waves were pummeling the hull and spilling over into the boat filling it with water. And all of this is happening in the darkness of night. They were certainly at risk of sinking. I think we can understand why they were afraid.

When we are afraid, this has a serious impact on us. Think of a time when you were truly frightened. In that swirl of emotion, you may lose things. You can’t find your keys. You can’t find your wallet or your phone. You can’t think straight. You may not know where to go or who to turn to for help in that moment of panic. You may not even know where you are. What we often lose when we are gripped with fear is perspective, faith, and hope.

What the disciples say to Jesus is very revealing. Of all they could have said, they chose to accuse Jesus of not caring. When this story is told in Matthew and Luke the disciples say, “Master, save us! We are perishing!” But in Mark the disciples say, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” They accuse of not caring the same person who has been spending the last several days doing nothing but care for everyone else. One of the main reasons they were on the boat in the first place was so that Jesus could have some down time away from the crowds so that he could get some rest. Yet, they accuse Jesus of not caring. But that’s what fear can do to someone. We lose perspective. We become irrational. We lose sight of what we know to be true about someone and instead get things twisted.

The disciples also lost their faith and hope. Maybe they didn’t yet have their full faith in Jesus at this point. But they trusted him enough to go wherever he wanted to go. They had seen all the healings he had performed. They knew he was no ordinary person but had clearly been filled with divine power. Jesus said to them, “Let us go to the other side.” If they had faith in Jesus, would they not have expected that they would have made it across to the other side no matter what? If Jesus was sleeping through the storm, clearly, he wasn’t concerned. Why could the disciples not have that same level of trust? But that’s what fear does. It can reveal the strength of faith. When confronted with this storm and what clearly looked to be imminent perishing in the storm, the faith the disciples had in Jesus evaporated along with their hope of survival. Gripped with fear they became convinced that they were all going down with the ship and that this same Jesus who had the power to cast out demons and teach with such great authority, who clearly was filled with divine power, was going to die with them that night. Their faith in Jesus and their hope for whatever great future was in store for them evaporated as they were gripped with fear.

Before we get too hard on these disciples, however, let’s acknowledge that there is no shame in being fearful. In fact, it is often perfectly reasonable. Fear is a good thing to have in that it can protect us from doing something dangerous. Fear can be a powerful motivation for doing the right thing and avoid painful consequences. Fear is a natural response to dangerous situations. If we were on a sinking ship in the midst of a storm in the middle of the night, it would make perfect sense to be filled with fear. In the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, we were all afraid. We feared what might happen next. Any little thing was prompting buildings to be evacuated. As part of that distorted perspective, many people of Arab descent or men who practiced the Sikh religion found themselves the targets of fearful people wondering if they were terrorists too. In Mark the gospel writer’s context, he belonged to a church that had its moments of fear. Could persecution be visited upon them, so much that the church like a ship taking on water be destroyed and all of them perish? In those early days, the Christians of Mark’s church could not always be confident that things would work out. Their existence was touch and go. In situations of great danger or when the future is unclear or even uncertain, fear is an understandable response.

But the disciples were overcome with fear. They were controlled by fear. They feared for their lives as the boat took on water and was battered and buffeted by the winds and waves. And then, when Jesus stops the storm and there was a dead calm, the literal Greek text says that the disciples were fearful of a great fear. In other words, they were more afraid after Jesus stopped the storm! Overwhelmed with fear, the disciples just could not get it clear in their heads who Jesus was. Despite all the healings, the teachings, how Jesus had explained everything to the disciples, in this moment of fear they looked at each other and said among themselves, “Who is this?” They did not look at Jesus and ask, “who are you.” It was almost like Jesus had become to them an object of wonder. If their heads were clear, they would not be asking each other who Jesus is. They knew their Bible. They knew that only God has the power to still the winds and the waves. This divine power is talked about in several of the Psalms and even in a few of the prophets, including Isaiah. If Jesus did what only God could do, then they have their answer about who Jesus is. But their fear clogged their brains. They simply could not name what they knew must be true in their hearts. They knew who Jesus was, but their fear blocked them from claiming it. Fear created a barrier between them and Jesus. In that moment, Jesus was not the teacher they were following, the one who had claimed them as his brother. He was an object of awe in which the disciples looked at each other and asked, “Who is this?”

Nevertheless, Jesus sticks with his disciples. In this situation Jesus could have responded in several ways. The disciples did not ask Jesus to do anything when they woke him up from his well-deserved nap. But Jesus rebuked the winds and waves anyway, just to remove that scary situation they found themselves in. Jesus responded out of compassion, giving the disciples what they needed in that moment, an end of the windstorm. Jesus cared about his disciples enough to challenge them by asking, “Have you still no faith?” He wasn’t going to just let this go. He named the situation for these disciples. Their fear revealed their lack of faith in Jesus, and he was going to name that for them in a way that forced them to reflect on just how much they trusted Jesus. He wasn’t going to say to them, “Wow, that was a scary situation, wasn’t it? Sorry you had to endure that.” No. Jesus wanted to push them, challenge them to get real about just how much they were willing to trust him. Jesus could have looked at the disciples and said, “You know what? I’m out. See you guys later.” And Jesus could have stepped out of the boat and walked across the sea to the other side and left the disciples to fend for themselves in that sinking boat. But Jesus didn’t do that. He stayed with them in that sinking boat. Despite them letting fear get the best of them, despite accusing Jesus of not caring about them, Jesus stuck with them in the boat. Whatever fear Jesus may have had in that raging storm did not block Jesus from responding with compassion and loving commitment to his brothers. No matter how frustrated he may have been with his disciples, no matter how tired he may have been, Jesus didn’t abandon ship.

Let this be an encouragement for us when we find ourselves in the middle of a storm and fear is getting the best of us. Sometimes we find ourselves in scary situations. And in those scary times we do lose our perspective. Our thinking gets twisted. We do sometimes have a lapse in faith. We can lose our nerve. We can even feel hopeless about our future in fearful times, amid a storm. We might even accuse God of not caring what happens to us. Nevertheless, God sticks with us. No matter what, God will never abandon us. Throughout any storm, God will never abandon ship. We may not always see it or be able to acknowledge it, but I am here to tell you that in whatever storm we find ourselves, God will be with us as we move through those storms. We can trust and believe that with God we will get to the other side.

Corn Fields and Mustard Bushes

Based on Mark 4:26-34

Things were really clicking for Jesus in his life. Huge crowds followed him around attracted by his healing powers and his ability to cast out demons. He had a group of twelve disciples who he had hand selected. They were there to support him in whatever way he needed and then sat around him in the evenings when he would teach them about the things of God. He had faced down the scribes in a very public way, asserting his authority and undermining their credibility. He made the statement about how every person who did God’s will was like family to him, making room for all the people who were drawn to him to be included, for them to feel like they belonged, not held at arms-length but that they were like a brother or sister. By every indication Jesus was the center of a real movement, perhaps even a messianic movement. It was significant enough to get the attention of the religious leaders, prompting them to start pushing back. They could feel their power and influence slipping. Things were shifting and they were losing power to control it. Jesus had a lot of power and he was not hesitant to use it. Jesus was clearly on a mission and he was clearly making an impact.

Now that Jesus is riding high, established as a movement leader, popular, threatening the status quo, he starts talking about the kingdom of God, that is, the reign of God in their day. It is an important thing to remember, that when Jesus speaks of the kingdom of God, he is not talking about a future reality that we will one day enter when we die and go to heaven. The kingdom of God is among us. It is a present reality. God’s rule and reign is currently established. When Jesus speaks of the kingdom of God, he is telling the people about a kingdom that they can participate in right now. And that’s another thing that the powers that be are not crazy about. See, there is already a kingdom that has been established. It is called the Roman empire and the ruler is Caesar. Jesus is proclaiming to the people that there is another kingdom, a contrasting kingdom, a competing kingdom…the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is not theoretical or ideological. It’s a real thing that demands the allegiance of the people. Rome, and the religious establishment that is supported by Rome, see this as a threat. When Jesus starts talking about the kingdom of God, the stakes start getting a lot higher.

So, if Jesus is going to be talking about the kingdom of God in contrast to the kingdom of the Roman empire, then we can expect Jesus will use images that reflect great power, to make the point that the kingdom of God is much more powerful than the Roman empire. The kingdom of God must be like a mighty mountain or like a forest of tall and strong cypress trees.

Jesus, however, never fails to surprise. He is regularly turning conventional wisdom on its head. What are the images Jesus uses to describe the kingdom of God? The kingdom of God is like a corn field. The kingdom of God is like a field of mustard bushes. OK…Not what we expected.

How is the kingdom of God to be established? There’s going to be a mighty army from heaven, right? A celestial calvary? If Jesus is the messiah, he’s going to lead some military coup to dethrone the Caesar or at least get Rome out of the land of Israel and Judah, set up his throne in Jerusalem and restore the kingdom of David to its rightful place. I mean, that was the messianic expectation in those days. So, that’s how this is going to work, right?

No. Instead, the establishment of the kingdom of God is like a farmer scattering seeds, whether they be corn seeds or even teeny tiny mustard seeds. Then the farmer sleeps and wakes, goes about his life, keeping an eye on things until the harvest comes when he then goes out to gather in the corn. No military invasion. No coup. No armed revolution. It’s more like farming and letting nature do its thing. What kind of kingdom is this? It sure is different from the Roman empire. The contrast between the two kingdoms could not be more stark.

Jesus is describing the kingdom of God in a way that common peasants could relate to. These were people who actually worked the soil. They knew something about planting and harvesting corn. And they knew about mustard which, by the way, is an invasive weed. In fact, if you wanted to prank someone or get back at them for something they did you could sneak over to their field and scatter a bunch of mustard seeds. That’s a good way to mess up an otherwise productive field. The kingdom of God is like an invasive weed? Sure. The main thing is that the kingdom that Jesus is describing is relatable to common people. There is a pattern here. Just as Jesus was letting the people know that he is a brother to them he is also letting them know that the kingdom manifests in the world in ways they can relate to, like farming. The kingdom of God is an extension of how they do life. It’s like cultivating the soil and like cultivating a family. No palaces. No standing armies. No command and control hierarchical structures. It’s like common community life; a community that is an alternative to the oppressive Roman empire.

At another level, Jesus is describing a reality that is hopeful. This is especially good news for the fledging Christian community that Mark the gospel writer was a part of. Mark’s community was small and insignificant in comparison to the society at large. They were scattered about. They were trying to figure out how to keep the movement going now that Jesus was gone. They had to deal with some local hostilities. But the main thing was that society as a whole had moved on. Jesus was dead and gone. Rome was still in charge. Nothing changed. The Jesus followers were struggling. They still deeply believed in Jesus. They were committed to sharing the good news. They were committed to the movement that Jesus started. But they were living in a world that was not interested. It must have been downright depressing to be a Christian in those early days. They were in need of hope. That’s what these parables provide.

Jesus taught that our task is to keep scattering seeds and trust that those seeds will sprout and grow. The seeds are the word of God, the proclamation of the gospel, the telling of our experiences of Jesus, our witness of the impact Jesus has had on our lives. These stories we tell are seeds that are planted into the hearts and minds of people. We tell our stories and then let those stories do their thing. Jesus reminds us that God is involved in this process. The Spirit is at work. Those seeds are going to sprout if the soil is good. We just be patient, let those stories do their work. Our job is to plant the seeds, tell the stories. And when the time is right, when the stories have borne fruit and people have come to a point where they want to be a part of the community, the family, the kingdom of God, we gather them in as one who harvests corn. We plant. We gather. God does the rest. We can trust the process. There is a nugget of hope.

Jesus invites us to think of churches as mustard bushes scattered all across the earth. Weeds sometimes get a bad rap. One thing you can say about weeds, they are resilient. You cannot get rid of them easily. It’s actually a source of hope to contemplate that all these little Christian communities scattered across the world are like weeds. You just can’t get rid of us! That was surely a hopeful message for Mark’s community to claim. It can give us some confidence as well. Churches are like weeds.

Mustard bushes are invasive. They are prolific. They are resilient plants. And they provide a lot of benefits. Mustard obviously can add some flavor to your food. It has medicinal benefits. It also provides safety and shelter for birds. Mustard is a beneficial weed. It offers all kinds of benefits. Just like the church. Being in community together adds flavor to our lives. The church is a community where we can find healing. There is medicine in our life together. The church is a place of safety and shelter for all kinds of birds, I mean people. The kingdom of God manifested in the world as all these churches scattered about the world truly is like a field of mustard bushes, a beneficial weed.

This is what the kingdom of God is like in real time. It is a global family, brothers and sisters who have been drawn to Jesus. And we tell stories. These stories, like seeds, take root and grow in the lives of people, slowly transforming lives until people reach a point where they are ready to be gathered into the community and find their place as a brother or a sister. Each of our communities are like mustard bushes scattered all over the place, offering medicine, offering safety, offering security. This is the kingdom, or maybe a better term is the kin-dom of God.

Good News!

Based on Mark 3:20-35

What a wild scene. Jesus has returned to his hometown of Capernaum again after journeying around the Sea of Galilee. He was as popular as ever because of his teachings and especially his healings and exorcisms. Wherever he went there was a crowd. They have come back to his house but the crowd did not respect Jesus’ privacy. They all crowded in. The crowd kept pressing on Jesus and Jesus kept on teaching and healing. They couldn’t even sit down and get a bite to eat. No time for that. The need was too great, the house so full of people. This has become a trend by the way. The last time Jesus was at his house there was a crowd packed in and the same things were happening. It was so crowded that a group of friends couldn’t get their friend who was paralyzed to Jesus so that he could hopefully heal him so they got up on the roof of Jesus’ house and tore a huge hole in it so they could lower their friend in front of Jesus. The audacity! The people had to have been so desperate that they had no qualms entering into Jesus’ home to get the healing they needed, even if that meant preventing him from sitting down in his kitchen to eat, or even if it meant ripping the roof off the house. All kinds of boundaries were being crossed to get to the healing man. It was an intense scene. That Jesus kept on ministering to these desperate people is a testament to his patience and deep love.

And with all that incredible popularity came the inevitable backlash. Jesus’ family didn’t know what to make of this, as Mark tells the story. It was too much. And not everyone in town were thrilled with what Jesus was doing, the disturbance he was causing with all this throng making a ruckus. Some were saying that Jesus was losing his mind. It was making Jesus’ family really uncomfortable, to see their son and brother causing such a spectacle. So, Jesus’ mother and brothers start walking over to Jesus’ house to see if they can restrain him, to dial it down a bit.

But it wasn’t just Jesus’ family who were moving in to shush Jesus. Some scribes had traveled all the way from Jerusalem to let these people know that Jesus wasn’t who they thought he was. These scribes were really having a hard time with Jesus. Who is this guy? Where does he get off? He hasn’t been trained. He hasn’t been authorized. He’s a nobody. And he’s going around teaching the people and casting out all these demons without being given any authorization to do so. There is no way God could be blessing this. Jesus is out of order. The only explanation must be that he is demon possessed himself, that Beelzebul, the prince of demons, is making these exorcisms happen just to delude everyone into thinking that Jesus is some kind of messiah. It’s just a big con, so the scribes think. So, they came over there right where Jesus was to let that crowd know in his hometown that Jesus is a fraud.

Well, confronted with this criticism, Jesus doesn’t back down. He doesn’t go to his mother and say, “It’s ok mom, don’t worry about me.” And he certainly wasn’t going to waste his energy trying to reason with those scribes who were clearly being irrational. Instead, Jesus faces his critics head on and in the process makes some incredible statements. We are going to focus on three of them.

The first one I want us to focus on is where Jesus speaks of tying up the strong man to plunder the house. Jesus describes his ministry like a thief who is capable of tying up a strong man, meaning Jesus is even stronger, and then ransacking the man’s house while the bound man watches on unable to stop it. Wow! I wonder how many thieves and others of a sketchy persuasion who were drawn to Jesus resonated with what Jesus said right there. It is an edgy image that Jesus is describing. Of course, Jesus doesn’t identify the strong man or the house that Jesus is robbing. We assume that the strong man is Satan whom Jesus is binding. What Jesus is stealing from Satan’s house is all those souls who were demon possessed. But it also makes me think of that early teaching of the church. When Jesus died but before he rose from the dead he went down to Sheol, that underworld place where souls went when people died, so that he could bind up Death and liberate all those souls trapped in Sheol, starting with Adam and Eve. It really is a provocative image: Jesus, the stronger man, coming into Satan’s house to bind him and then while looking on going through Satan’s house to take back all those souls that Satan had imprisoned. Jesus’ saving work is like a heist.

The second statement we need to look at is when Jesus speaks of what will be forgiven and what won’t be forgiven, the so-called unforgivable sin. This statement has generated a lot of comment over the centuries as well as a good bit of anxiety. So many people have wondered to themselves, “Have I committed the unforgivable sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit?” It’s a sin that is kind of ambiguous. When we think of sin we think of concrete actions, lying, adultery, theft, although it’s ironic that Jesus identifies his own ministry as a kind of theft. But what exactly is blaspheming against the Holy Spirit? Thankfully, Mark gives us an example of what blaspheming against the Holy Spirit looks like. When the scribes accused Jesus of being possessed by an unclean spirit, that is an example of blaspheming against the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit within Jesus that is empowering him to cast out all these demons. Yet, the scribes say it is an unclean spirit, even Beelzebul the prince of demons. That is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, and it’s unforgiveable. Jesus is letting those scribes know that the sin they are committing by accusing him of being possessed by a demon is a sin that will never be forgiven. Harsh.

So, what about that anxiety that some feel, worried about committing this unforgiveable sin? I have heard it explained to me that if someone is worried about committing this unforgiveable sin, they can be assured they haven’t. This points back to what Jesus says just before, an amazing statement that we need to hear again: “Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter.” Not some sins, not most sins, all sins. And it doesn’t matter what blasphemies you may have uttered in a weak moment. We all say things we later regret. It’s ok. That will be forgiven as well. Jesus is making it clear that our sins, all of them, will be forgiven. What won’t be forgiven will be rejection of that forgiveness, rejection of the forgiveness that Jesus offers on God’s behalf. It is to treat the gift of forgiveness as a demonic curse that must be rejected, just like what those scribes were doing. Again, if you are ever worried about whether or not you will be forgiven for your sins, be assured that in the name of Jesus Christ you are forgiven.

Here’s the last statement for us to focus on. After Jesus has told off the scribes, he is told that his family is outside and that they want to talk to him. That gives an opportunity for Jesus to redefine family. He looks around at all those people crowded into his house, looking to him for a teaching, a word of wisdom, a healing, and says that these strangers are his mother, brothers and sisters. He isn’t rejecting his biological family. Instead, he is expanding the definition of what counts as family. Jesus doesn’t care where you come from, who is your daddy, what tribe or ethnicity you were born in to, if you are doing God’s will, you are his mother, brother or sister. All borders are removed as far as Jesus is concerned. That means that if you do God’s will, which is to love God and love your neighbor as yourself, then Jesus is your brother, and you are my brother or sister. We are one global family in all of our marvelous diversity.

There is so much good news in this passage. Jesus is like a hero who breaks into Satan’s house, binds him up and then robs his house of all the souls he stole. Jesus offers forgiveness for all we have said and done, no exceptions, unless we choose to reject that offer. And we are all Jesus’ brothers and sisters, kin of a global family. Good news! That’s something worth keeping in mind as we make our way through life. Jesus is stronger than Satan. We are forgiven. We are family.