Transformation on Two Levels

Mark begins his gospel, "The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the son of God."  Mark wants us to know that it is “good news” because it is transformational.  Mark presents the message and mission of Jesus as transformational on two levels: personally transformational, and socially transformational.   

Four times in Mark's gospel Jesus casts unclean spirits out of possessed people.  It's hard for us to identify with these stories because they are incongruous with our modern sensibilities.  Unclean spirits are not a part of our daily world-view.   

We are inclined to see the possession described in these ancient stories as pre-scientific diagnosis of conditions that must have had other explanations, perhaps psychopathological disorders or illnesses such as epilepsy.   

But whatever modern explanations we might give to these encounters, we need to recognize that in Jesus’ time possession and exorcism were simply taken for granted. Whatever the occurrence actually was, that's the way they experienced it.  Our world view is most certainly vastly different from theirs, but that doesn't mean their experience of Jesus within their worldview cannot speak to us.   

The one thing that jumps out at me about Jesus' encounters with those who were possessed is that he saw directly into the humanity of the person that was entrapped within the possession.   That’s how Jesus related to people. He looked past the surface and deeper into the person. He didn’t stop at the surface like we, who often base our judgments on only what we see on the surface. 

I don't know about you, but that piece alone speaks to me.  We may not talk about unclean spirits, but I can appreciate the experience of what it is like to be entrapped by something that feels like a force bigger than myself with the result being I am dehumanized and minimized.

For example, I have known people entrapped within a "spirit" of guilt; people who simply cannot forgive themselves for something they've done.

I've known people ensnared within denial that kept them from admitting that their life was out of control.  

I've known people caught in the grip of bottled-up anger; the slightest little trigger setting them off, lashing out against even their most precious loved ones.

I’ve known people captured by self-righteousness; needing to be right so desperately they minimized and rejected others who did not share the same point of view.  

I could go on at length and talk about fear, low self esteem, inflated pride, thirst for revenge, prejudice, self-indulgence, narcissism and many more - as things that can so dominate and diminish a human life that perhaps the only language we can find to describe the experience is the language of possession.

A question for us might be, “What are the things that can possess us (you, me) to the point that our humanity is minimized?   What can control a life in such a dominating way that perhaps only the language of possession can fully describe the experience?   More importantly, what or who can set us free?

The early community of disciples experienced something extraordinary in Jesus.  They experienced a power and a presence that set them free from that which was inhibiting their fullest humanity from emerging.  They experienced someone so filled with the spirit and love of God that he saw deeply into their beings, past the surface, past the dysfunction, past the pain, and he called forth and he drew out of them their fullest humanity - and they were transformed into courageous disciples of love and compassion in a dangerous and violence-filled world.  Can we, as modern day disciples, be open to the same love and power of God’s presence that was embodied in Jesus’ life - a power and presence that is transformational? 

That's the personal transformation piece of the "good news" that Mark announces in the opening line of his gospel.  But it doesn't end there.  It’s just the beginning.  It’s only half of the "good news."  There is another piece.

The gospel of Mark was written in the seventh decade of the first century, a dangerous time, when the followers of Jesus found themselves in a most difficult place.  They were caught between the oppressive might of the Roman occupation on one side; the growing Jewish armed resistance movement on another side; and members of the religious hierarchy that worked in partnership with the Rome on another side.

Mark shows Jesus emerging from the wilderness proclaiming the kingdom of God and calling his disciples.  Those early disciples and followers of Jesus became zealously committed to follow a unique and different road.   They understood that the primary mission and message of Jesus was the Kingdom of God – which was not about heaven – but before anything, it was about the transformation of life in this world.  It was about personal transformation, yes, but even more – it was also about social transformation – it was about “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on (this) earth,” as Jesus taught them in his prayer.  

Through their relationship with Jesus they came to the deep conviction that God cared deeply and had a profound passion for the quality of human life here on this earth - and for most of them, because they were from the peasant class, their quality of life was poor!    They were living under the thumb of the oppressive Roman domination system and a collaborative religious hierarchy that gave every advantage to the wealthy elite and exploited the poverty stricken peasants.   The economic system was designed so that the vast majority of wealth fell into the hands of the wealthiest  2% - 3%.  And, it was all religiously legitimated by a religious elite working n partnership with Rome. 

Buried away, scarcely noticeable in today’s story is a little verse that says, “They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”    The designation, “one who teaches with authority,” was a description reserved for the great prophets of Israel – and the primary message of the prophets of the Hebrew bible was a message of social justice, compassion and empowerment of the poor and powerless.  It was Mark’s way of subtly sticking it to the hypocritical religious hierarchy saying that the authority by which they ruled was a sham – and that Jesus, proclaiming the kingdom of God, was the one with authentic, prophetic authority.  It was a dangerous thing for Mark to present and considered blasphemous. 

One more significant detail:  The word for “good news” (euangelion) was an important word in the Roman lexicon.  The Romans used that word to spread their propaganda.  It was a word Rome employed to formally announce an emperor’s birth or his succession to the throne (and, of course, the emperor was also called "son of god.").  The word was also used to announce the “good news” of the Rome’s great military conquests.  

So look at what Mark does!   Mark sticks the word right back in the faces of the Romans, and in stark contrast announces the “'euangelion ' (good news) of the Jesus Christ, the son of God.”  In contrast to "The good news of Caesar , the son of God",   Mark has the audacity to announce, using the same Roman official formula, the good news of Jesus, the one who comes proclaiming and embodying the kingdom of God – a kingdom of personal and social transformation- a kingdom that was qualitatively different from the kingdom of the mighty Roman Empire and its collaborators.  What Mark is doing, cleverly and ingeniously, is delegitimizing Roman imperial power, and along with it, the authority of the religious hierarchy that was in partnership with Rome. 

And then notice this.  Right after Mark's comment about the “authority” of Jesus, the unclean spirit in the man cries out to Jesus, "Have you come to destroy us?"  Mark crafts the story in such a subtle and clever way that we are left with the impression that the unclean spirit represents and speaks also for the religious hierarchy.  "Jesus, have you come to destroy us."   Mark has woven this exorcism story into the larger story-line of his gospel to promote the message that it was not merely personal unclean spirits that Jesus exorcised leading to personal transformation, but Jesus also announced the kingdom of God that challenged the institutional evil built into the world’s mighty domination systems that systemically oppressed whole classes of people.

Jesus' mission and message truly was "good news" in the face of the "bad news" of Roman domination; truly was “good news” for those seeking something more than the “bad news” of business as usual; truly was “good news” for the oppressed and marginalized peasant classes that lived with “bad news” every day. 

Jesus came announcing the kingdom of God, the "good news" of radical transformation that had profound personal and social implications.  It eventually got him crucified.  

But that didn't end his message and mission.  After the crucifixion the early community of Jesus followers experienced him as resurrected; experienced him as a living presence that validated and affirmed his message and mission and it set them on fire with a passion for his message and mission!   And guess what?  Today, as we sit in this place, we inherit from those early disciples the same message and mission of Jesus - a message of transformation that has profound personal and social implications .  Are we energized by this inheritance – or not?  It’s a critical question we must answer!

Christianity in the United States is an enigma.  Americans go to churches in droves; ministries are flourishing; religious discourse permeates all facets of our culture; a multi-billion dollar industry has sprung up around it, but yet much of what passes as Christian faith, in my opinion, is irrelevant and shallow.  The very language we use even betrays us.  We say we "go" to church."  And that's exactly what we do.  We step out of our lives to practice our faith in a specified and compartmentalized time and place, and in so doing we gut the mission and message of Jesus of its power and relevance.

If that would have been the practice and operative paradigm of the early followers of Jesus we wouldn't be here today - the movement would have died - faded away. Those early followers of Jesus didn’t “go” to church, but they delivered and embodied the kingdom of God to the world!   Are we ready to do the same? 

This week it was announced that Wall Street executives gave themselves $20 billion in bonuses, and at the same time it was also announced that 100,000 more people lost their jobs pushing the unemployment rate towards 8% or higher.  That, and about a hundred other examples of greed and oppression we could name, should be a call to action for followers of the One who came announcing and embodying the "good news" of the kingdom of God; the One who taught us to pray "thy kingdom come, thy will be one on earth as it is in heaven."  I guarantee that's not the way business is done in heaven, and it is our mission and message as Jesus followers to seek a radical new way, a kingdom of God way for business to be done on this earth.

Jesus came exorcising unclean spirits that led to personal transformation; and by announcing that "the kingdom of God was at hand", he challenged the institutional and systemic evils that oppressed the masses - and consequently was crucified on a cross.  As inheritors of his message and mission, will we dare take up our cross and follow Jesus in his way?