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Getting Out of
the Christian Ghetto
Mark 1-2
They are all pretty much the same color: Wear the same kinds of clothes.
Listen to the same, counter-cultural music even though many people find
it offensive and artistically empty. They speak the same odd language; a
version of English but with a vocabulary all it's own full of words and
metaphors not used or very well understood in mainstream American
culture. Often, even the clothes they wear make the point that though
they are a minority, they are not about to change their cultural
identity to comply to a disapproving society. That disapproval is one of
the reasons they form closely knit groups with unusual names and
sometimes rather strange rites of initiation. And they pretty much live
in the same parts of the city in what some people would call a ghetto.
But they don't call it a ghetto. And the groups they form are not gangs.
They call them churches. The clothes I'm talking about are not baggy
denims and gold chains, but T-shirts with Bible verses. And it's not
expressions like "What up Dawg," that makes their speech sound odd, but
words like "redemption," "salvation," and "repentance."
One of the seldom faced facts about our religion is its tendency to
create holy huddles of isolation called Christian ghettos. Unless we are
very intentional about it, we become little islands all unto ourselves.
Our thinking becomes inbred with self-affirming rationalizations. We
develop relationships only with people of like precious faith until,
like water following the path of least resistance; we pool up in a low
place and stagnate. We begin to measure ministries and missions by
whether or not they make us comfortable. And chances are that if they
make us comfortable they won't be all that different from what we're
already doing. But if they are radically different, they won't feel
comfortable. So we stay the same demographically, relationally and
spiritually.
The longer you've been a Christian, the more likely you are to live in a
Christian ghetto. Living in an island of isolation. And, ironically, the
more Bible based you are, the more irrelevant you tend to be. That's
ironic, because if you really get into the Bible what you discover is a
Jesus who went around busting down the walls between God and culture.
The religious leaders of his day were mad enough to kill him precisely
because he did everything he could to integrate their synagogues and
temple with people they had worked very hard to segregate. Jesus was
crucified because he was relevant! He was killed because he was
intentionally relational. They murdered him because he bought up all the
houses in the neighborhood and rented them out for free to the very
people they had evicted. Jesus was in the religious ghetto busting
business.
Turn with me to the gospel of Mark. We're going to do a scene by scene
survey for the next few minutes of Mark's first two chapters. There are
eleven scenes. We'll spend, on average, about a minute a scene, give or
take. Then we'll end up by making three observations about what it means
to do church the way Jesus did it. Ready?
Scene 1: (Text Mark 1:1 - 8. Location: Wilderness near the Jordan
River.)
Mark introduces us to one of the strangest characters in the Bible; a
man named John the Baptist. I say he was strange because of what he
wore; camel's hair and lots of leather. He probably looked a lot like a
biker. And he ate; locusts and wild honey. I can't wait for someone to
come out with the John the Baptist diet for guaranteed weight loss. I
guarantee you, that if you eat nothing but locusts and wild honey, you
will lose weight.
John was a prophet who preceded Jesus and prepared the people for his
ministry. He preached that people needed to quit all their sinning and
be baptized so that they could be forgiven. And how was he received?
Look at vs.5.
And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and
were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
Scene 2: (Text: Mark 1:9 - 13. Location: Wilderness near Jordan River).
Then guess who shows up. Jesus comes to be baptized. A voice from heaven
affirms his decision. "You are my son, whom I love; with you I am well
pleased." Then immediately, the Spirit of God drives Jesus into the
desert where he is tempted by the devil for forty days.
When all the people are being baptized, Jesus identifies with them by
submitting to baptism himself. It's almost like he's saying, "Hey, I'm
one of you." Then God identifies with Jesus by affirming his decision.
Almost like God's saying, "You're one of mine." Then, maybe to show that
Jesus really is very much like the rest of us, he undergoes a world
class grilling from Satan. Like Satan wants Jesus to be one of his.
Scene 3: (Text: Mark 1:14 - 20. Location: Region of Galilee).
Scene 3 begins ominously "After John was put in prison." Mark doesn't
even tell us why until chapter 6. John got into trouble by telling the
truth about the moral scandals of the political leaders. If John, who is
just the warm-up act, gets thrown into prison, what's going to happen to
Jesus?
But Jesus doesn't seem to be afraid. Look at vs. 15. "The time has come.
The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" Then
Jesus began to assemble his team. He called four fishermen, Peter,
Andrew, James and John and told them, "Come follow me and I will make
you fishers of men."
Whatever Jesus is up to, it involves three things, God, good news and
people. Let me say that again: God, good news and people. We should
remember the connection between those three things. It’s important!
Scene 4: (Text: Mark 1:21 - 28. Location: Capernaum Synagogue).
Jesus enters a synagogue, the local church. For those of you who have
somehow gotten the goofy notion that Jesus wasn't a church goer, you
should pay attention to Mark 1:21. And Mark 3:1. And Mark 5:22. Jesus
was always going to churches; He was a lot more open to churches than
they were to him.
But whenever Jesus went to church strange things happened. This time,
he's teaching and all the people are listening, when suddenly a man with
an evil spirit stands up and starts shouting. I'm certain that wasn't in
the order of worship.
"Be quiet," said Jesus sternly. "Come out of him!" Mark says the evil
spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek. God,
good news, people. Something good happened to that man and his family
because they went to church to meet Jesus.
Scene 5: (Text: Mark 1:29 - 34. Location: Home of Simon and Andrew)
People are beginning to figure out that Jesus has some answers for their
questions. He has some power for their weakness. He has some healing for
their sickness. The whole town of Capernaum shows up at the home where
Jesus is staying and all night long he helps them.
Scene 6: (Text: Mark 1:35 - 39. Location: A solitary place).
Scene 6 tells us where that power comes from. Vs. 35. "Very early in the
morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went
of to a solitary place, where he prayed." Sometimes we in the church get
a little too impressed with our creativity and our programs. We begin to
imagine that if we do it just right; we can make a real difference in
the world. We have the audacity to entertain the idea that if we
practice the faith just so, that if we teach it just right, that if we
plan ever so carefully, we'll make a major dent in Satan's stronghold.
But on the heels of a very successful opening day of ministry, Jesus
goes off by himself to a solitary place to get some face time with God.
I think he did that for three reasons. He needed to stay connected to
the power source. He needed to stay focused on his mission. He needed to
maintain his relationship with his Father.
Scene 7: (Text: Mark 1:40 - 45. Location: Somewhere in Galilee).
Mark chapter one ends by telling us that all his initial success hasn't
changed Jesus. He meets a man with leprosy and Jesus is filled with
compassion. The leper is certain that Jesus has the power to heal him.
He wonders, though, whether Jesus cares. "If you are willing, you can
make me clean." "I am willing," Jesus said. "Be clean." Immediately the
leprosy is gone and the man is reconnected to his family, his friends,
his church, his community.
Scene 8: (Text: Mark 2:1 - 12. Location: A home in Capernaum.)
Chapter two begins with Jesus preaching to a packed house. Healing
people has taken lots of time, but his main mission is to bridge the gap
between God and people by telling them the good news. In the middle of
Jesus second point, the ceiling tiles above him are lifted away and a
man on a stretcher is lowered right in front of Jesus. His four friends
couldn't get him through the door, so they made a rooftop assault. And
Jesus is impressed. I can't help but imagine a big smile turning up the
comers of his mouth as he looks up and sees four faces staring down at
him.
He turns to the paralyzed man on the stretcher and says, "Son, your sins
are forgiven." And for the first time someone criticizes Jesus. The
religious leaders ask, "Who does this guy think he is? God or
something?"
Jesus reads their minds, turns to them and says, "Which is easier? To
say 'your sins or forgiven?' or to say, 'Rise and walk?' But that you
may know I have the authority on earth to forgive sins.... “Then Jesus
turns to the paralyzed man and says, "Get up off that stretcher and go
home."
I imagine some folks there were pretty uncomfortable with what they
thought was a pretty cruel thing to say to a guy who couldn’t move a
muscle. But then the man's fingers twitched. He wiggled his toes. He
actually sat up. Then stood. Then danced all the way home.
Scene 9: (Text: Mark 2:13 - 17. Locations: Along the shores of Galilee
and in the home of Levi.)
Beside the Sea of Galilee again, Jesus sees something no one else has
ever seen; the potential in a man named Levi. To everyone else, Levi is
a hated tax collector. A traitor.
Switch the scene from first century Palestine to 21st century Iraq and
Levi's face would be held up in a cave and airing on Al Jezera
Television. He'd be a wanted man. Well, he was wanted all right. Jesus
recruited him to be one of his disciples. And the first thing Levi did
was to throw a party and invite all his sinner friends to meet Jesus.
The religious leaders responded like a worried homeowner's association;
"There goes the neighborhood. Why are you eating with tax collectors and
sinners?"
Jesus' response was basically, "Well, that's why I'm here. God, good
news, people."
Scene 10: (Text: Mark 2:18 - 22. Location: Outside the home of Levi).
Not only is Jesus ignoring the neighborhood covenants, he's running
right by the established traditions. The really religious folks were
fasting when they noticed that Jesus and his disciples were celebrating
with the sinners. So they asked, "Why aren't your disciples fasting?"
Jesus borrowed a couple of images everyone in that culture would have
been very familiar with. Do you sew a patch of new cloth on an old
garment? No. If you do, when you wash the old garment, the new patch
will shrink and ruin the garment.
Do you pour new wine into old wineskins? No. When the new wine ferments
and expands, the old wine skins will break. You pour new wine into new
wineskins.
His point? God is doing something new and the old ways of relating to
people and to God have reached the end of their usefulness.
Scene 11: (Text: Mark 2:23 - 28. Location: The grain fields on the
Sabbath).
Jesus and his disciples are walking through a field of grain on a
Sabbath -- the Jewish day for rest and worship. As they walk, some of
the disciples strip off heads of grain rub them between their hands and
eat the kernels. The Pharisees are stunned. The disciples are working on
the Sabbath. For in their odd way of viewing the world, the disciples
were harvesting and threshing grain, acts which constituted working on
the Sabbath, which was expressly forbidden.
I love Jesus' response. "Have you never read?" Instead of bowing to
their traditions, he pointed back to Scripture. He reminded them of what
David did when he and his men were hungry, how they put human need above
religious scruples. He ends by telling them, "Look, humans were not made
to serve the rules. The rules were made to serve humans."
Now that you have the background I want to point out 3 things in this
scene by scene survey about how Jesus related to people.
1. Jesus went around doing good.
Did you notice how many different locations Mark told us about? Jesus
spent time in the wilderness and in the city. He preached in private
homes and in public synagogues. He met people on busy streets and on
rural roads. He spoke with people along the seashore and in the fields.
Jesus got around.
One of the ways we can avoid becoming a Christian ghetto is by getting
out of the building. I'm thankful for this wonderful facility, but not
everything that needs to happen can happen here. We need to spend time
in our neighbor’s homes, in the hospitals, in the Grocery Story meeting
needs.
Not only did he get around, but everywhere he went he did good. He
healed people, taught them, and later in Mark, feeds the hungry. Jesus
did good through his ministry of mercy. Mercy is God's attitude toward
people in distress. Mercy is giving a person a fish so he can eat today.
It isn't always attacking problems at the systemic level. Sometimes we
think that if we can't fix the big problems, there's no point in trying
to do something small and immediate.
Jesus didn't seem to have a problem with that. If someone was hurting or
hungry, he helped them right there and then. Yes, the systemic problems
of society need solutions. But it takes a long time to correct a
culture. Lots of people are going to hurt between now and then. No, a
Band-Aid won't help a bullet wound, but if all we've got is a Band-Aid,
shame on us for not using it. If we want to be the kind of church that
looks like Jesus, then we, too, must go around doing good. Even if the
good we do is little.
2. Jesus' ministry was aimed at body and soul.
I'm impressed with how balanced he was. He healed the sick and liberated
the demon possessed. He confronted the complacent and taught the
confused. His ministry wasn't just aimed at hungry stomachs or sick
bodies. But neither was it all talk and no action. Jesus came to save
souls.
Apparently, a part of that mission is also helping people in more
immediate and physical ways. If we want to be worthy of the name on our
sign, we'll continue and expand our care for the needs of the whole
person.
3. Jesus believed that to change a community, you have to change the
church.
That's why he called Peter, Andrew, James and John. On any Sabbath you'd
find those four men in church. But for them, church was just a weekend
obligation. Jesus turned it into an every day obsession.
That's why he called Levi. Levi didn't go to church any more. The church
had kicked him out. But Jesus wanted Levi to use his gifts to build
God's eternal kingdom instead of his own temporary castle.
Jesus believed the way to change a community is to change the church.
That's why he confronted the religious leaders. All they wanted to do
was defend the status quo. Jesus saw that they had made tradition an
idol and comfort their god. He knew that if God was going to bring good
news to the people, the church had to get down on its knees in prayer;
that it had to get back into the book; that it had to get out into the
community.
If the church gets down on its knees, gets back into the book, and gets
out into the community, I guarantee you we don't become a Christian
ghetto. We'll be exactly what Jesus called us to be. A city on a hill
that cannot be hidden. If we let God take control of our lives and this
church, the walls will come down, the doors will fly open, and lives
will be changed. Beginning with mine and yours.
If we are going to impact our own lives we must, believe in God
Accept the Good News
And Share our joy with People
God, Good News, and People are at the heart of our calling.
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