This Book: The Gospels - WDJD? (Mark 1 v1-8)

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Preach the gospel. When necessary use words. - Ostensibly St. Francis of Assisi

Do as I say, not as I do. - Far too many people to name here

I doubt Jesus would approve either of these statements.

Jesus was both life and word in perfect balance. He did what he preached, out in public and in the quiet when he was alone with his apostles. He preached what was true, and what was worth living.

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In the Gospels, we have four very different writers telling the same story, and speaking the same truth—that Jesus was and is the Son of God.

Each of the four books is written by a different author from a different perspective.

They all begin in the Old Testament, but in different places.

• Matthew begins his gospel with Abraham, connecting us to the beginning of God's covenant love for his chosen people who are going to be a blessing to the whole earth
• Mark starts his gospel connecting us to the prophet Isaiah, reminding us of the consequences of our broken promises, and the joy and hope of God's kept promises.
• Luke starts his gospel with the prophet Malachi who wrote that cliffhanger at the end of the Old Testament, followed by 400 years of waiting. Luke picks up where the story left off and saying, ‘Okay, buckle up.’
• John begins his gospel even further back: in the language of Genesis, “In the beginning.” Connecting us to the very, very beginning of our journey with God.

Each gospel begins in a different place, and each ends in a different way.

• Matthew ends on a mountain in Galilee with a mixture of joy and doubt.
• Luke ends in the suburb of Bethany, and then in downtown Jerusalem with great joy and praise.
• Mark ends at the tomb on resurrection morning with the women in fear.
• John's gospel ends on that beach—that wonderful meeting—with Jesus asking a question.

“... Same Jesus. Completely different felt experience. [Because] each gospel is a sermon preached to a particular church in a particular moment.” - workingpreacher.org

Jesus preached a lot. The Good News does have to be preached with words.

But the Gospel must also be lived. So what did Jesus do?

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First, Jesus defied the powers.

In that world, as in ours, everybody knew who was in charge—where the power was. In Jesus' world, the Roman Empire was the sword at your neck. Privilege for a few, won through violence and intimidation of many. Rome had power to take you by the scruff of the neck, pick you up, give you a little shake, and put you down somewhere else, just because they could.

Jesus knew where the power was. But he didn't play.

He didn’t carry a sword. He didn’t ever fight back. He didn’t walk around with bodyguards and an impressive posse.

He did have a posse but they were, like, fishermen. Women. A tax collector and an insurgent. The people that Jesus gathered, that he lifted up, that he travelled with, that he let get to know him... they were ordinary and powerless. These were the people who he trained to take his place.

When Jesus came up against empire, he did not push back. For his purposes, empire had nothing to say. Whether you were the Syro-Phoenician woman, or a Roman centurion, or Pilate himself, Jesus did not look at your money or your status, or your insignia, or your uniform, or your sword, or your virtue; he looked at you. And he wasn't impressed. And he wasn't afraid.

Where Jesus did push back was against religious leaders: Pharisees, Sadducees, and Priests who held another kind of power; they placed themselves between the people and God. They held the keys and decided if you were living right. With those people, Jesus went toe to toe, standing not between you and God, but between the system and the people that God was calling to come and find him.

Jesus did amazing things like daring to forgive sins, out loud and in public. “Your sins are forgiven.” “Go and sin no more.” With no temple sacrifice and no shaming. Instead, any shaming he did was towards the self-righteousness and judgmentalism of the religious elite.

Jesus spent time with people who knew they didn't deserve it. People that the religious elite frowned at from a distance, trying to stay upwind. “Tax collectors and sinners.” Jesus welcomed a gift offered by a prostitute, paid for out of her earnings. He laid his hands on and spoke blessings over children, probably having to raise his voice to be heard over their rambunctiousness. Jesus sat and talked with a woman from Samaria - the enemy!

Jesus didn’t play games with power, or with the powers-that-be. He just showed us what true power looks like.

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Second, Jesus demonstrated his authority. Authority is different from power.

• Over sickness and disability, giving sight to people who were blind. Mobility to people who wanted to be able to walk. Strength to people whose bodies had turned against them.
• Over death by giving life to a young girl whose father was grieving, to a young man whose mother was grieving, and most famously to Lazarus.
• Over the powers that have power over us, like our sinfulness and our failing. He spoke words of forgiveness to people who came to him in need.
• Over things that have power over us in the spiritual realm. All we really know about Mary Magdala from the text is that she had been tormented by 7 demons, and by the time we meet her, Jesus has set her free.
• Over things we fear. He touched the infected skin of lepers, and dead bodies. He allowed himself to be touched by a woman who was ill. He took a cup of water from the hands of that woman from Samaria.

Jesus walked towards and reached out to take hold of things that, according to the Law of Moses, made him ceremonially unclean. Separated him from respectable society. In reaching out to take hold of things that were unclean, he healed people. He gave life to people. He gave hope to people. He built bridges between people.

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Third, Jesus directed our path.

If you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently, God is pleased with you. For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps. 1 Peter 2 v20-21

On the night when Jesus surrendered his life to the power of the Roman Empire—the night before his death—Jesus knelt and washed the feet of people who had followed him that far, but who Jesus knew within a couple of hours would use those same feet to run away and leave him alone. One of those pairs of feet belongs to Peter, who does not come off well in the story of Jesus' crucifixion. Peter, who wrote the words, “You must follow in his steps,” because Peter had learned what it was like to not follow in those steps... before he returned.

Never in his life was Jesus naive. He was not a fool. He was not hoodwinked by somebody who wanted something from him because he felt sorry for them.

Jesus sees you.

He sees you, and he may not be impressed but he still kneels to serve, knowing that we don't deserve it.

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The wisest thing that we can do is imitate Christ.

He is our example. His every action preached the gospel of life, and love, and hope. He always did what he said. He always spoke as he lived.

We can see what that looked like in his life. So what about us? How do I live like Jesus?

I can defy the powers. Sometimes standing up against political power. Sometimes pushing back against (and resisting the temptation in myself to wield) religious power and manipulation. It means never, ever, ever standing as an obstacle between God and someone he loves. Never turning my back on someone trying to find their way to God.

I can demonstrate not my authority, but his. I can boldly speak the name of Jesus against the darkness. I can surrender my own self-righteousness... sitting down with the ‘tax collectors and sinners’ to share a meal. I can surrender my rightness... praying God's good for my enemy. I can surrender my will to his will... trusting him with my pain, my hope, my fear—when all I want to do is take hold of it and fix it myself.

I can—not direct my path—but discern the path he has set for me to walk, whether it looks like courage, or like humility, or like waiting, or like making a sacrifice that I don't want to make. Sometimes it means finding joy in more places than I ever even thought to look. Sometimes it means giving and receiving love and forgiveness in my community of faith, learning from the people that God brings into my life.

Is God stamping one of those points on your heart right now?

Defying the powers. Demonstrating his authority. Discerning the path.

Is there something in your life that Holy Spirit is speaking to you about? That you need to hear?

Don’t walk away from that conversation. Listen. Answer. Ask.

He is here.