Being Seen

Sixth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 8B)

Mark 5.21-43

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook page (beginning at 17:55)

 

The author of the Gospel according to Mark is rather fond of using a literary device technically known as an intercalation or interpolation. Although, this approach to telling biblical stories is more commonly and fondly referred to as the “Markan Sandwich.” So termed because Mark takes one story and sandwiches it within another story—one story being interrupted by another story and then returning to the original story. One story serving as the bread of the sandwich and one story serving as the meat or filling.  There are several reasons for using this technique. First, it sends a message to the hearer that there is something important being conveyed, so pay attention. And second, there is something about the combining of the two separate stories that enhances the overall message in a way that would not be achieved through either story by itself.

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Why Are You Afraid?

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 7B)

1 Samuel 17.32-49; Mark 4.35-41

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook page (beginning at 27:35)

 

In his first inaugural address in 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt famously said, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Perhaps the disciples in today’s Gospel lesson could benefit from those words. After all, they are overcome with fear. No wonder, as they are presented with fear on multiple fronts. Fears that seem to compound as the story progresses.

 

It all starts with a little getaway across the Sea of Galilee following a long day of ministry—a much-needed time away for Jesus and the disciples to rest before heading on to the next gig. All of a sudden, “a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped.” The disciples are starting to panic. Although I wonder about the disciples freaking out the way they do: “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” Now, of course, being buffeted by a storm would be cause for a little concern, to say the least. But this would not have been anything that unusual for the disciples. At least four of them were fishermen, making their living on this very sea. The Sea of Galilee is known for its unpredictable weather patterns, with storms whipping up unexpectedly. Surely, they had encountered such conditions before. Surely, they knew what to do, what actions to take to protect themselves and their boat. Although, truth be told, we don’t know how bad the storm really was. It may well have been the mother of all storms, of a magnitude unlike anything they had ever seen. In which case, the fear and the level of freak-out may have been justified. So maybe we can cut the disciples a little slack.

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Seeds of Possibility

Fourth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 6, Year B)

1 Samuel 15.34—16.13; Mark 4.26-34

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook page (beginning at 21:35)

 

Our Gospel reading for today is a portion of a much larger scene in which Jesus is preaching to a large crowd. He is attempting to convey to those gathered what the kingdom of God is like. As is typical of Jesus, he uses a series of parables to convey his message. Parables are merely stories using common, everyday imagery to convey some deeper spiritual or moral truth. The challenge with parables is that you have to work to figure out the deeper spiritual message being conveyed. As the closing verse of today’s passage notes, “With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.” All well and good for the disciples. Jesus gave them the expanded, annotated version. But the rest of us are left to struggle through and try to figure out what he’s talking about. To try to figure out the hidden message. In using parables, Jesus wanted his audience to figure it out for themselves. This would help the message to become more ingrained, as well as make it more personal, more applicable, to the individual.

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Intersection of Religion and Politics

 Third Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 5, Year B)

1 Samuel 8.4-11, 16-20; Mark 3.20-24

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook page (beginning at 23:40)

 

Unless you have been living in isolation and under a complete media black-out, you cannot help but know that we are smack dab in the middle of an election cycle—particularly with the Republican National Convention just over a month away and the Democratic National Convention a month after that. All marking the beginning of the final push to the General Election on November 5^th. Although, more and more, how can you tell? Life seems to have become one never-ending election cycle. As a result, politics increasingly has become front and center in our lives. That being the case, whether we like it or not, that means politics is also increasingly front and center in our religious lives.

 

I can just hear the collective gasps, if not audible at least expressed in the internal thoughts of some present. “What? You can’t talk about politics in church!” Before we continue, I need to disabuse you of that notion. Admittedly, there is a misconception that clergy are not allowed to discuss politics from the pulpit. Perhaps that stems from a misunderstanding of the doctrine of the separation of church and state. Which actually has nothing to do with the subject at hand. Separation of church and state merely means the government cannot establish an official state religion, nor can it interfere in the operations of religious institutions.

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