The Gospel of Mark: A Lenten Exploration of the Call to Serve

Intro

Ways we’ve engaged (and are engaging) with the gospel of Mark

A couple of groups have already spent three evenings together reading through the gospel of Mark in a couple of sittings. Who has participated in one of these groups? (Judy’s Friday group, Burkholder/Giudici, the group that met here in November)

And some of you have now joined in on reading through the gospel of Mark during the season of Lent.

And, if you haven’t joined in yet, you can still catch us. Either, just pick up with whatever the day’s reading is and don’t worry about what you’ve missed, OR, start from Mark 1 and take a day or two to catch up to the schedule. The benefit of this is that you know that there are others in your community who are also reading the same section… and you can have conversations if you come across something that sticks with you or raises questions.

In our sermon series journey through the gospel of Mark… we’ve taken “core samples” of Mark, starting back in January.

Then, 2 weeks ago, we paused from our Mark series to be introduced (and reintroduced) to SWCC’s local and global mission partners.

Last week, I was away on beautiful Keats Island at Barnabas Landing, leading worship and speaking at a gathering there, and soaking in the beauty of that place and then a special family gathering to celebrate my Mom’s 80th birthday. If you were here, you were gifted with James Giles’ story … a tender and beautiful story of a life transformed by Jesus.

Today, we resume our journey through the gospel of Mark.

Keeping Jesus at the centre of our church community…means we ground ourselves in who Jesus is and what He did and said so that we can recognize what He is doing and saying now. One of the ways we do this is by making our way through one of the four gospels from January through Easter each year. This year, it’s Mark!

Amy-Jill Levine says:

“In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus teaches more by actions than by words.”

And there is a call to discipleship issued through the raising of questions about who Jesus is and what kind of Messiah…

Jesus in his life, demonstrates the kingdom. Jesus announces the kingdom. Jesus calls his followers to serve. Jesus heals. Jesus teaches. Jesus welcomes and Jesus confounds.

As we make our way towards Good Friday and Easter Sunday, we listen in on what Mark records, and we try to hear what Jesus says. Try to notice what we see Jesus do. Try to wonder together what the call to serve means in 2024, in Kamloops, or wherever you might be as you listen.

The gospels are these four books at the beginning of the New Testament that tell us about the life and ministry of Jesus. Scholars agree that it is the earliest of the four gospels, likely written just during the years preceding the destruction of the temple in 70AD which took place in the context of a Jewish revolt during the reign of Nero.

Imagine this, Mark is telling a story from 30 ish years ago, but now he’s telling it in the midst of Roman occupation, Jewish revolt and Roman suppression.

Each Gospel is unique. Mark, for instance, doesn’t contain a birth narrative nor any post-resurrection appearances.

As we heard earlier in the service, the first half of the gospel of Mark keeps asking the question, “Who is Jesus?” and in chapter 8, we finally hear Peter exclaim, “You are the Messiah!” And now, this middle part of the gospel explores, “What does it mean for Jesus to be the Messiah?” before we get to the final 6 chapters in which we read the account of Jesus becoming King. The first section happens in Galilee. This middle section is “on the road” as Jesus and his disciples zig zag around. And then the final section will take place in Jerusalem.

In our text today, Jesus has been in Capernaum (at the end of chapter 9) and chapter 10 begins with them leaving Capernaum and going into the region of Judea, across the Jordan. Jesus is tested by some Pharisees who seem intent on tripping Jesus up in his take on Mosaic law.

Just before our reading, there is the encounter with the little children that we read earlier before we dismissed the kids to their programs.

And now, in verse 17, Jesus encounters his third group of people in the chapter… first the Pharisees, then the little children, now a young man.

As Marlene comes to read, would you ask God to speak to you through his Word and ready yourself by standing?

Mark 10:17–31 NIV

17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’” 20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.” 21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. 23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” 28 Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!” 29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God!

Two places we can veer off and miss the content…

The present age and the age to come.

Eternal life and the kingdom of God.

The man is asking questions about the age to come. And Jesus’ answer is about the way in which the present age is being invaded by the age to come. The way in which life now is not just about waiting for “eternal life”

The rich young ruler.

Rich.

Lets us off the hook because most of us don’t think of ourselves as wealthy. Someone else has more, and we secretly (or not so secretly) hope to be like them at some point, so we cautiously reprimand them while also hoping to emulate them.

But we don’t know at the beginning that he’s wealthy. And I think Mark leaves that out on purpose. It’s so that the punch line of vs 22 will hit harder…

Mark 10:22 NIV

22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

But focusing on the young man’s wealth can keep us from standing in his shoes… from finding ourselves in the story. And from encountering Jesus.

So, what if, for the purposes of this morning, we could all admit that we have many possessions? Maybe they’re not as high end as others many possessions. But I think most of us could easily admit that we have a lot of stuff. And that sometimes our stuff gets in the way of engaging with God, with others, with creation.

Can we start there for today? And see what we hear?

So, we are here, with many possessions, and we may sometimes be preoccupied with the age to come rather than the present age. With eternal life - or life after death rather than life now. Or we may be so focused on this present age that we miss how the kingdom of God is here already. Here now. Even as it is not yet here in full.

With all that in mind, there are three aspects of this story that I want to take some time with this morning:

A dramatic question

A disappointing answer

A comforting promise

A dramatic question - Jesus is starting on a journey and is accosted by a young man… the man runs up to him, falls on his knees and asks, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

DRAMA! (The opposite of Nicodemus coming under the cover of night to have a quiet conversation with Jesus.

This is public. This is dramatic - falling to his knees!

This is also a young man who is religiously serious (I have kept all these since I was a boy), is wealthy (as we will discover in his disappointment) and he is addressing Jesus publicly as a good teacher, wanting to know what Jesus would tell him to do…

A disappointing answer -

the Kingdom cannot be earned or inherited or achieved… it is found among the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, the persecuted… the empty are filled, the humble are lifted up… as Jesus’ mother sang in her song. Not good news for those who have position and power and who are full… filled already.

And so this young, faithful, wealthy man goes away sad. Because Jesus asks of him one thing, and it is not a small thing to ask.

(we don’t know what becomes of this young man. And in typical Mark fashion, he doesn’t tell us because it leaves us wondering what we would do ourselves… This story is found in Luke as well. And unfortunately, Luke also leaves the end of the story out.)

a sidenote: three times in our reading Jesus SEES

- vs 21 Jesus looked (at the young man)

- and LOVED HIM. And then told him the hard truth that in his wealth, there was still one thing he lacked.

- vs 23 Jesus looks around (presumably at the young man and at his disciples)

- and then announces that the kingdom is difficult to enter (which is interesting, since in the previous section, the children seem naturals at entering the kingdom, receiving the kingdom, and even BEING the kingdom.

- vs 27 Jesus looks at his disciples

- and sees their amazement turning to fear, to despondency… for some of them are certainly people of means… the Zebedee’s family business was likely a going concern, Matthew the tax collector had likely amassed quite a fortune, and others?

“Who then can be saved?”

And a comforting promise - vs 29-31

So, after a dramatic question and a disappointing answer, Jesus now addresses his disciples. They’re confused and confounded. Some of them have left everything to follow Jesus. They see themselves in this young man who has walked away from Jesus in sadness. They have counted this cost in various ways. And they’re not sure what Jesus is getting at.

Jesus is saying that following Him is more than just keeping the commandments and waiting for some sort of eternal reward in the age to come.

Jesus is saying that following Him means emptying your hands of things that will keep you from fully engaging in the life of the kingdom that is breaking in NOW.

NT Wright puts it this way:

“Because he, Jesus, is here, a whole new world opens up: the Age to Come is not now simply in the future (thought it is that, too); it is bursting through into the present, like a chicken so keen to be born that it’s already sticking its beak through the shell ahead of the right time…

…Everything will be upside down and inside out; all things are possible to God; the first will be last and the last first. In particular, those who have left family and possessions to follow Jesus will receive things back even in the Present Age - a new and ever-enlarging family of their fellow-disciples, with homes open to them wherever they go; and, of course, in the Age to Come, the god-given life of that new Age.”

And so, with our hands potentially full of things that might keep us from engaging Jesus, or of entering into His kingdom. What is the call to serve that you hear this morning?

What is Jesus asking you to let go of or to use differently - to put use for the kingdom?

What is Jesus asking you to notice, to pay attention to? Are you trying to “be good now” and wait for your “eternal reward”? He calls you to say, “Come follow Me. There’s way more to follow Me than that… come and follow! Come and live!