Mark 1:14-27
He could have written a book. He could
have created a travelling evangelistic team to extol the virtues of God
and persuade converts. Instead, as our scripture says, Jesus simply
came preaching the message of God.
As the late great preacher George
Buttrick said from his New York City Presbyterian pulpit: “He trusted
his most precious sayings to the blemished reputations and precarious
memories of his friends.” His words were not new. He proclaimed the
faith of the Hebrew scriptures; a message that he felt had been
corrupted by the legalism and rigidity of the religious leaders. The truth is that Jesus was a
Jew. He never tried to make a new religion; he tried, instead, to
emphasize the spiritual elements of his faith as being more important
that the legalism and practice required by the religious authorities.
To confess Jesus as Lord is to say he
is the one to whom we look as an example of how faith in God is to be
lived. I believe that
all people wrestle with the reality of God. Whenever anyone struggles
to understand what is real, they are dealing with mystery- push things
back as far as you can go, and we are unable to grasp how did anything
and everything begin. The ancients labelled that mystery with the term
God, and we do well to remember that God is not a name. God is a
term for the Spirit of creation, goodness, forgiveness, love and
acceptance.
When Jesus came, he went about
proclaiming the message of God and living in the spiritual manner of
his understanding of God or, if you prefer, reality. His message was
very simple. He said: "Follow me!" That is what a Christian
is- one who has chosen to follow Jesus. All that other stuff that
has been created by Churches and Church leaders and stated as necessary
for Church membership or Christian living is not essential.
But there seems to be something within
humans that makes it easier to struggle with doctrines and definitions,
with theological proclamation, or creedal pronouncements. Simply
to follow Jesus sounds easy, but it is tough!
If I am following Jesus, why do I have
so many friends just like me, and so few among the poor and needy?
If I am following Jesus, why are my
closets bulging with clothes, and my home so lacking in storage space
when so many have virtually nothing? If I am following Jesus, why am I
struggling with weight control, while so many are hungry? If I am following Jesus, why do I
have money for pleasure and club dues, and so little for humanitarian
causes or Church support?
Following Jesus is tough. Living the
life of Jesus is the hardest task that we are asked to do. So, we have
Churches to assist us. No Church is perfect, not even this one.
But if a Church allows room for you to struggle with your faith, and if
a Church simply proclaims Jesus as Lord and accepts you as a child of
God. then it is doing the task that it should. Your task is to carry
out ministry as your faith grows.
We have greatly complicated the faith
by placing all kinds of restrictions, barriers and requirements before
people. Now, as then, the requirement of Jesus is very basic. He simply
says, follow me!
May we have the inclination and the
courage to follow where he leads.