Mark 3: 7- 19a (NRSV)
Jesus departed with his disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him; hearing all that he was doing, they came to him in great numbers from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the region around Tyre and Sidon. He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush hi for he had cured many, so that all who had diseases pressed upon him to touch him. Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, "You are the Son of God!" But he sternly ordered them not to make him known. He went up the mountain and called to him those whom he wanted, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message, and to have authority to cast out demons. So he appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
Blog Reflection
In his book: "Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism" Bishop John Shelby Spong says of Mark the Evangelist:
"[Mark]...grasped neither the great philosophical thought processes of his day nor the nuances that lay behind the popular mythology. He simply accepted the street version of this mythology without question. He shared without demurrer in the popular conclusions of that time regarding not only demons but also certainty that the earth was flat, the conviction that God dwelt just about the blue canopy of the sky, adn that the sun rose and set as it circled the earth. The earth, for Mark, was not just the center of the universe, it was also the extent of all that God had made. To the author Mark there was no reality beyond that which could be seen, and thus no explanations were necessary beyond the supernatural one that explained quite adequately for that time and place what a pre-scientific world could readily observe." (Page 130).
One of the greatest tragedies of Christianity is what Rev. Canon Gray Temple calls "supercessionism" in his book Gay Unions: In Light of Scripture, Tradition and Reason. The idea that all world thought, religions, morality, world governments etc must supercede into how Christianity defines it.
The problem with this ideology is what version of Christianity gets to define what?
This past week I came across a blog post in Right Wing Watch. The article is about Texas Governor Rick Perry who is putting together a prayer gathering. Among the groups with which he is teaming up with is The Southern Poverty Law Center's Designated Anti-Gay Group: The American Family Association and others who have become part of a movement called The Dominionists.
Among the positions of The Dominionists is that "only Christians have the authority and power to govern in the United States." And among the many so called "rights" that Dominionists have is the right to remove even by violence if necessary anyone who does not reflect their understanding of Christianity.
This kind of thing is the problem that results if people read the Bible in particular a Gospel narrative such as the one from Mark for today's Daily Office without doing some research and critical thinking about what is actually happening in that reading..
If we read today's Gospel at face value and with a literal interpretation it may very well sound as if Jesus is organizing the Apostles to carry out the mission of dismissing demons. Demons as the Christian Church might decide are destroying the Apostles definition of what is right in terms of the family, sexuality, women, governmental organization and so on.
Quite frankly, this is the approach that the Dominionists who also call themselves "The New Apostles" are taking in an attempt to scare Christians into believing that everything President Barack Obama and all liberal Christians and other religions might be attempting to do in American politics.
This kind of organizing is very dangerous in and of itself.
This does not reflect the kind of actions that brought about Jesus' calling and naming the Apostles in today's Gospel. That is why "The New Apostles" and "The Dominionists" are missing the mark and creating a "brand" of Christianity, that all Christians should be very concerned and skeptical about.
This criticism is no "religious discrimination." The criticisms I offer in my blog today are coming from the dangerous roads on which Christianists over the years have been taking the Christian religion.
The results are not only creating a faith made of fear and false understandings of the Bible. They give the Christian religion and Jesus Christ a bad name. That needs to be a real concern of all who believe in the Name of Jesus Christ as the Name above all Names, who is the compassionate and merciful Savior.
When Jesus calls the Apostles and names them, he is calling them to be a "companion" of the Lord (Philip Van Linden, C. M. Collegeville Bible Commentary, New Testament Volume, page 911). The term "disciple" according to Van Linden, also means "learner". "..and to learn from him it is necessary to be with him."
"A second part of discipleship is located in the meaning of "being named" by Jesus. (page 912). Van Linden goes on to refer to God's naming of things in Genesis in the creation story.
Part of being with someone is so that we may learn from that person's example. The Apostles were named so as to reflect their companionship with Jesus who was teaching from his example and commanding them to do likewise.
As we see through out the Gospel narratives Jesus shows forth God's generous and extravagant love as the poor, the sick, the marginalized and those left behind are brought to the center and given their justice and dignity. The work of Jesus is not based on a popularity contest. Nor is the mission of Jesus defined on singling out one group of people to be pivoted against another. It is also not a matter of claiming a domination of one religion over another. We would understand the whole work of Jesus better and more accurately if we pay careful attention to not only what Jesus is saying, but also on what Jesus is doing. Jesus is running from the whole idea of domination and submission as fast as he can. Jesus came to rescue humanity from the idea that one person, group etc dominates while another is subjugated.
The evil that Jesus calls the Apostles by name to "cast out" is an all out hatred defined by religious, social and political oppression and violence. At no time during Jesus' ministry did he ever demand that an individual person be "converted" to his own religion. Jesus did call people to a repentance of heart and life. A repentance of the desire to subjugate women, LGBT, the sick, the poor, the immigrant, the Native American, the Muslims, the Jews and others based on religious, social and political bias.
The problem with the philosophies and maneuvering of The Dominionists and the New Apostles is that they want to push individuals through fear, prejudice and violence masked as Evangelism, as a cult. Making Christianity into an excuse to scapegoat and destroy what they do not agree with. This is not the mission Jesus is naming the Apostles to in our Gospel today. This is a proselytizing through coercion, spiritual malpractice and doctrinal abuse.
I implore all Christians, non-Christians, Atheists and people of good will to work together to call the Dominionists and The New Apostles out for their reckless work of injustice and spiritual violence. We need to respond to these individuals and groups respectfully and peacefully and take the wind out of their sails here and now.
Let us write our State, Federal and local Governments to keep in mind that the United States has a separation of Church and State for this very reason. The United States was not formed to be a theocracy, but a democracy. Let us state very clearly that we cannot tolerate nor give too much leverage to a group that proposes making America into a country of religious bandits and peace stealing people.
As Christians, let us all recommit ourselves to the true teachings of our Founder. Let us pray and ask God the Holy Spirit to guide all of us "into all truth" and to work for peace, justice and equality for all. Amen.
Prayers
O Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who call upon you, and grant that they may know and understand what things they ought to do, and may also have grace and power faithfully to accomplish them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Proper 10, Book of Common Prayer, page 231).
Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen. (Prayer Attributed to St. Francis, Book of Common Prayer, page 833).
No comments:
Post a Comment