In the Beginning and In the End, Jesus

With this episode we begin a journey through the gospel of Mark. I believe anyone who wants to begin a serious study of the Bible should start with this book, so I hope you'll join the journey as we hear the main theme of Mark's gospel: Jesus.

Transcript

In the Beginning, and in the End, Jesus 

Welcome back to Dr. Ken’s Sermons and Studies. With this episode we begin a series that will take us through the gospel of Mark, which I think is where everyone interested in beginning a serious study of the Bible should start. It was the first of the four gospels to be written. It is the shortest, and Mark is always in a hurry. In fact, there is no birth story in Mark. He skips all of that and jumps right into the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, and so that is where we will begin, as well. Today we focus on the words of Mark 1, verses 4 through 11.

Mark 1:4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. 8 I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

9   In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

The Reverend Nadia Bolz-Weber is the founding pastor of a Lutheran church in Denver, called the House for All Sinners and Saints.  She kind of reminds me of John the Baptist.  She doesn’t wear camel’s hair, but she does like to wear her clerical collar over sleeveless shirts that show off the tattoos covering her arms.  She’s a little rough around the edges for most mainline Protestants.  The Denver Post described her ministry as based “on the resurrection and a bit of insurrection.”  She fits well into the mold made by John the Baptist.

They have a tradition in her church of making “saint cookies” on All Saints’ Sunday…little gingerbread men and women that the folks in the congregation bake and put on a table with a little card containing the name of someone they want to remember.  One year Bolz-Weber was looking at the cookies and saw the name Alma White.  Not familiar with the name, she asked someone nearby who Alma White was.  They said she had founded a church in Denver in the early 1900’s.  Hoping she’d discovered a potential hero, she Googled the name.  Let me let her tell you the rest of the story:

My excitement about discovering a hero only built as I read her Wikipedia entry: “Alma Bridwell White…was the founder and a bishop of the Pillar of Fire Church.” [Oh my gosh. It’s true!] I went on to read that in 1918, she became the first female bishop in the United States. She was noted for her feminism [Yes!] and her association with [wait for it…] the Ku Klux Klan, anti-Catholicism, anti-Semitism, anti-Pentecostalism, 

racism, and hostility to immigrants.[1]

So, not only did that ruin her hope of gaining a role model, it kind of made her wish Alma White’s name wasn’t on the saint cookie table.  We all know that feeling these days. Many of the people we thought were saints, when we hear the full story, we discover are not completely…saintly.  Saints are not saints because of what great people they are or were; saints are saints only because of God’s amazing ability to work through them in spite of their faults.  

Nadia Bolz-Weber finishes her story about Alma White and the saint cookies by saying, “I believe that the power of Christianity…the power of what we call The Gospel, cannot be destroyed by [our sinfulness and] corruption. Because in the end, there is still Jesus.”

In the end, there is still Jesus.

In Mark’s gospel, the story of Jesus begins not with his birth, for there is no mention of Jesus’ birth in Mark, but with his baptism.  Jesus begins his ministry by entering the waters of the Jordan River.  Coming up out of the water, the sky tears open, the Holy Spirit descends upon him, and a voice comes from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” 

In case there is any question or doubt, the gospel of Mark wants to make it very clear whom we are going to meet in the rest of the book: not just a man, this is God’s Son, the Beloved, with whom God is well pleased.  This is a message I wish each of us could imprint on our hearts: the purpose of every Christian church; the purpose of every person on this planet earth who calls themselves a Christian is Jesus.  Just Jesus.  In the beginning, there is Jesus, and, in the end, there is still Jesus.

It is not our theology; 

it is not our ethics or morality; 

it is not our social ministry; 

it is not the church itself.  

Like every other organization, the Christian church has an embarrassingly spotted history of corruption and immorality.  

·      Presbyterianism’s own John Calvin opposed Copernicus’s idea that the earth revolved around the sun.  

·      Galileo, who followed Copernicus, was convicted of heresy and lived under house arrest until his death.  

·      In our ignorance, we have, at times, considered societies to be savage, and in need not only of our religion, but our western European lifestyle, when they often had traditions and morals greater than our own.

·      We’ve told women to stay in abusive marriages.  The list goes on.  

·      The only thing we have is Jesus, who somehow manages to use us in spite of ourselves to spread the good message, and to do God’s good work.  

I grew up in the days of the civil rights movement, and I remember many Christian ministers and churches who opposed it.  But I also remember that without the support of many other Christians and churches, the civil rights movement would not have happened were it not for Jesus working through the Christian church.

For all the faults of his disciples, Jesus, the Son of God, the beloved Son, finds a way to do good through us.  

The book of Hebrews begins with Jesus, as well, and with one of the best summaries of Jesus identity you will find anywhere.  You could do worse than to take these four verses, paste them on your bathroom mirror and read them every morning 

and evening until you have them memorized:

Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds.  He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

In the beginning, and, in the end, there is still Jesus.

When I hear people talking about their faith, the one thing I hear the least is an understanding of who Jesus is.  I hear about theology; I hear about moral stances; I hear about interpretations of the Bible; I hear about caring for the poor; I hear about justice; and I hear about evangelism.  I hear about praise music and mission trips, and church growth and how to keep young people from leaving the church.  I hear about all of these things, and they are all important.  But the thing I hear about the least is that which is most important: Jesus. 

Who Jesus is; 

why Jesus came into this world; 

why Jesus died on the cross; 

the meaning of Jesus’ resurrection; 

the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Jesus himself with us.  

All those other things are only understandable in light of whom we believe Jesus to be.

In these last days God has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds.

In the beginning, Jesus.

When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

In the end, Jesus. 

Nadia Bolz-Weber is right.  We are a church for all sinners and saints, and the truth is every one of us is both.  We are all sinners by the self-centeredness in our souls that causes us to spin out of control at the slightest nudge.  We are all saints by the grace of God in Jesus Christ who somehow manages to use us anyway.  It doesn’t matter if your name is Alma White or Mother Teresa, or Billy Graham, you are only a saint because Jesus has worked through you.  Saints are just sinners who have been used by Jesus.

Because, in the beginning there was Jesus, and, in the end, there is still Jesus.  

And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

[1] Bolz-Weber, Nadia. Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People (Kindle Locations 179-183). The Crown Publishing Group, 2015.