Unknown, Unseen, Unto Christ

A minister, a Boy Scout, and a computer expert were the only passengers on a small plane. The pilot came back to the cabin and said that the plane was going down but there were only three parachutes and four people. The pilot added, “I should have one of the parachutes because I have a wife and three small children.” So he took one and jumped.

The computer whiz said, “I should have one of the parachutes because I am the smartest man in the world and everyone needs me.” So he took one and jumped.

The minister turned to the Boy Scout and with a sad smile said, “You are young and I have lived a rich life, so you take the remaining parachute, and I’ll go down with the plane.”

The Boy Scout said, “Relax, Reverend, the smartest man in the world just picked up my knapsack and jumped out!”

Lord God, bless Your Word wherever it is proclaimed. Make it a Word of power and peace to convert those not yet Your own and to confirm those who have come to saving faith. May Your Word pass from the ear to the heart, from the heart to the lip, and from the lip to the life that, as You have promised, Your Word may achieve the purpose for which You send it, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

Psalm 146:5–9 ESV

5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, 6 who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever; 7 who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free; 8 the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. 9 The Lord watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

The God of Scripture is unlike the gods of other ancient civilizations, although all civilizations had a being or beings who had qualities that were higher than those of humans, in the areas of authority, knowledge, strength, abilities, and/or existence. Often, for example, in the case of the Graeco-Roman Pantheon, the gods were basically larger-than-life humans. By contrast, the pantheism of Hinduism veers between polytheism and near atheism with a predominant motif being that of an impersonal force (think Star Wars).

The Old Testament reveals God to us as one who is personal, powerful, compassionate and just. All things owe their existence to Him, and He cares about everything and everyone that He has created. He also cannot be persuaded to support injustice by anyone for any reason.

Throughout the Old Testament, God, known to His chosen people Israel by the name, YHWH, spoke mainly through chosen servants - the prophets - to make known His will to His people. Nevertheless, they were never at ease in His presence:

Exodus 20:18–19 ESV

18 Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off 19 and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.”

And so it was. God spoke to His people through means which He authorized, and allowed them to approach Him through the means that He had selected. The sacrifices, Feasts, and Solemn Assemblies were designed by God to enable His people to come into His presence, as it is written,

Psalm 95:1–3 ESV

1 Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! 2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! 3 For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

and,

Psalm 95:6–7 ESV

6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! 7 For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice,

While this relationship was sufficient for Israel to enjoy the benefits of Covenant, it was the rare person who experienced intimacy with this God. For many, perhaps that was ok, maybe they liked the Lord YHWH being at “arm’s length.” Then they wouldn’t feel any responsibility towards developing and deepening this relationship.

Whether they had any intentions, however, God had declared that this distant love was not what He had in mind for them. The Great Commandment called for them to “Love the LORD with all of your heart, all of your mind, and of your soul, and all of your strength.” You cannot love anyone in that way from a distance.

So God fixed it.

Galatians 4:4–7 ESV

4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

John 1:10–13 ESV

10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

When Jesus speaks to us in today’s Gospel text, He speaks, not as the God who lies in wait to sting like a serpent. He speaks as the One who desires above all things that you would “have life and have it abundantly (). That’s why He sometimes speaks correction instead of comfort:

Mark 12:38–40 ESV

38 And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces 39 and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, 40 who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

The Scribes had a two-fold role in the Jewish community. “On the one hand, Josephus depicts scribes as government officials functioning in a range of capacities, including high-level bureaucrats (J.W. 1.529), temple affiliates (J.W. 5.532), and low-level village officials (J.W. 1.479). The same perspective is also evident in his additions or clarifications while retelling the biblical narrative in the Antiquities (e.g., Ant. 6.120; 7.364). On the other hand, scribes appear as a distinct group in the New Testament, as well as in the Mishnah and the Tosefta. In addition, scribes are clearly associated with legal expertise and the teaching of Scripture.”

SD IV:6 it is God’s will, order, and command that believers shall walk in good works; that true good works are not those which people invent for themselves or that take their form according to human tradition but rather are those that God himself has prescribed and commanded in his Word; that true good works are not performed out of our own natural powers, but they are performed when a person is reconciled with God through faith and renewed through the Holy Spirit, or, as Paul says, “created” anew, “in Christ Jesus for good works” [*].[1]

[1] Robert Kolb, Timothy J. Wengert, and Charles P. Arand, The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2000), 575.

(D. Andrew Teeter, “Scribes and Scribalism,” ed. John J. Collins and Daniel C. Harlow, The Eerdmans Dictionary of Early Judaism (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2010), 1203.)

Jesus tells us something else about the scribes in this passage, something that we can sometimes see today from some who are involved in ministry. Either some of them, or all of them (depending on the presence or absence of the “comma”), tended to carry themselves in ways that attracted the praise and reverence of their fellow countrymen. They also took advantage of pious widows. They did these things under the guise of being religious leaders, people with particularly keen spiritual insights. In Jesus’ eyes, however, this becomes the basis for an even deeper level of condemnation. Jesus has not called us to function as “spiritual superstars” when He Himself frequently shunned the adulation of the crowds and directed those whom He blessed to basically act as if nothing special had happened, and particularly, discouraged attempts to publicize His role in those blessing events.

Mark 1:40–44 ESV

40 And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” 41 Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” 42 And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. 43 And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once, 44 and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.”

Concordia Commentary: Mark 1:1–8:26 Characteristics of the Plot

For over a century, scholars have noticed that there is a “messianic secret” in Mark, specifically, that Jesus works to conceal his identity; see, e.g., 1:24–25, in which an unclean spirit, who knows Jesus’ identity, is commanded to be silent. In fact, not only does Jesus command silence to those who know him, especially in connection with a miracle (1:34, 44; 3:12; 5:43; 7:36; 8:30; 9:9; cf. 8:26), but he also works to conceal his identity either by withdrawing (1:45) or by trying to remain incognito (7:24–25). Perhaps most surprisingly, he actually acts to hide the truth. This is seen most clearly in the astonishing statement after the telling of the Parable of the Sower, 4:11–12:

ἐκείνοις δὲ τοῖς ἔξω ἐν παραβολαῖς πάντα γίνεται,

ἵνα βλέποντες βλέπωσιν καὶ μὴ ἴδωσιν,

καὶ ἀκούοντες ἀκούωσιν καὶ μὴ συνιῶσιν,

μήποτε ἐπιστρέψωσιν καὶ ἀφεθῇ αὐτοῖς.

But to those outside the whole lot proves to be in saying/parables—

in order that seeing they may engage in seeing and not see

and hearing they may engage in hearing and not actually understand,

lest they turn and it be forgiven them.

Here, both the constructions with ἵνα plus μή (ἵνα goes with both occurrences of μή in 4:12) and the construction with μήποτε are negative purpose clauses that cannot easily be explained away. We may also note Jesus’ refusal to give the Pharisees any sign (8:11–12).

Jesus shows us something else in today’s Gospel passage that we might not have noticed as He watches the offering gifts being left by those who visited the Temple.

Jesus shows us something else that we might not otherwise notice as He watches the offering gifts being left by those who visited the Temple.

Mark 12:41–44 ESV

41 And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. 43 And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. 44 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

In our consumer-oriented society, where it seems that Madison Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue both love , we evaluate people on the basis of their financial status. We admire those who have large sums of money, willing to overlook how they obtained it. In many inner city communities, our young people often seek to imitate people whose sole claim to fame derives from the happy accident of an entertaining ability to sing, dance, act, or be athletic. It is true that those skills are often honed to a fine edge, far beyond the levels of most of us, nevertheless, they are skills that entertain rather than transform our communities.

Ecclesiastes 10:19 ESV

19 Bread is made for laughter, and wine gladdens life, and money answers everything.

we evaluate people, among other qualities, on the basis of their financial status. Success is often assigned to those who have large sums of money at their disposal, with only a passing consideration to how they obtained it. In the black communities of the U.S., our young people often seek to imitate people whose sole claim to fame derives from the happy accident of an entertaining ability to sing, dance, act, or be athletic. While I don’t deny that those skills, in order to reap a financial reward, are often honed to a fine edge, far above and beyond the levels of most of us who gaze either jealously or admiringly, nevertheless, they are skills that are seldom used to improve our communities, nor can they be used in such a fashion directly.

Even the church is guilty of partiality - lit. “receiving the face.”

James rebukes the Christians of the first generation for their sin in this area:

James 2:1–4 ESV

1 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 2 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” 4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

The Sin of Partiality

2 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 2 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” 4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? ames rebukes the Christians of the first generation for their sin in this area:

And while Paul and James may have approached the subject of justification from different angles, they spoke with one voice regarding this sin:

1 Corinthians 11:20–22 ESV

20 When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat. 21 For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. 22 What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not.

If we had been sitting with Jesus in the temple that day, would we have seen, the “generosity” of those who gave much cumulatively, but little percentage-wise, , or the incredible trust of the woman who gave little in dollar terms, but literally “her whole life” in relation to the finances that she possessed?

I know that ministry is costly. I also know that God has told us that “the earth is the LORD’s and all of its fullness.” He has told us that we are to share with one another, and gave us the examples of the Jerusalem and Macedonian churches where grace and generosity opened the doors to a whole new way of viewing those who were in need. In the former case, the givers and receivers knew each other, and the feedback was immediate, while in the latter case, they were strangers to one another.

As a missionary, part of my ministry involves visiting the congregations and individuals who support the work in Gary, IN, along with writing and publishing newsletters so that you can get a picture of what we are doing. We invite people to the mission area of operations to do short-term assistance, which also sometimes leads increases of financial support.

While I appreciate the support, and thank you for it, I also hope that you are doing this because of the people whom you don’t know - the citizens of Gary whom I serve in Word and Sacrament. Some of those with whom I interact had never experienced Lutheran worship before, while others were raised up in the Faith. I am there to serve them all, and your prayers and financial support make it happen, by the grace and help of the Lord. I pray that your concern for their spiritual well-being at least equals your affection for me and my family, because by supporting me, you are serving them.

It also incarnates the great love with which Christ Jesus loves us, in that while were were still sinners, Christ died for us. Our giving echos His self-giving. Just as He did not “earn” the title of “Son of God” by dying for us, He simply showed us how much God truly loves us, even as the fallen creatures that we are, so we do not “earn” the title of “Christian” by our generosity, we merely show that we have internalized what it means to be called by the name, Christian.

It is true that the name “Christian” no longer appears to be the badge of honor it once was. that’s ok; it wasn’t a badge of honor the first time it was used in Antioch. Under such circumstances, we are more like the Apostles and the church fathers than we ever were when Christian and American were practically synonymous in the eyes of the world. Even more importantly, we are more like our Lord when we are despised and rejected of men than when we are invited to the best seats at the feasts and when everyone wants to take selfies with us and they give us myriads of “likes.” It’s important that you get this; it isn’t because we are “trying to be more like Jesus,” but just because Christ in us is the hope of glory, as it is written:

Colossians 1:26–27 ESV

26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

We might not get to be famous, but we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to be faithful, because God is faithful towards us in supplying the Spirit to us liberally in Word and Sacrament. We might not all be rich in finances, but we are all rich in an inheritance that neither Wall St. nor Capitol Hill can damage or drain.

1 Peter 2:21 ESV

21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.

So together, being Joy:Fully Confessional, Joy:Fully Evangelical, Joy:Fully Lutheran Christians, we serve one another in Witness - Mercy - Life Together, we show the work of the Spirit in our hearts, and the reality of the Kingdom of God, a Kingdom not made with hands, a Kingdom not of this world. It’s a Kingdom with a power that the world didn’t give, and the world can’t take away.

There is hope - hope for the poor widow who trusts in God’s mercy and care through the church, and hope for the wealthy social icon who finds that Christ can bring you into relationships that can’t be purchased. Even for the scribe, there is hope in Christ:

Matthew 13:51–52 ESV

51 “Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.” 52 And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”

Christ the King has come, giving us new lives for old, a blessed hope for our fading ones, as He takes our old, unknown and unseen condemnation unto Himself, and makes of us a new creation that shines in the light of His glory and grace.

By the way, remember the computer whiz who grabbed the wrong pack? God graciously allowed the boy scout and the minister to catch up with him, and they convinced him to let go of the scout’s backpack and cling to the minister, who opened his chute, and so all were saved.

And let the peace of God, that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds, through Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.

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