Gospeling Your Life According to Mark 7-8

 

Mark 7 dives into the conflict that can happen within the church.  Imagine a gathering of humans who don’t all agree on who God is, why Jesus came, or how in the world to describe the Spirit?  Imagine a gathering of humans where what we do with our budget or the decisions the Council makes don’t always sit well with each person?  Chapter 7 isn’t just about then and there; it is about the ways we can criticize and critique the church still today.  We are all a bit Pharisaic in our beliefs, otherwise, we would get new beliefs!  We think we have the “right” ways to do things and want the church to affirm/accept/adopt our ways.  Hold in your heart that God’s wisdom that can never be confined or contained or comprehended by any of us. 

 

And if that isn’t annoying enough, which it might be, chapter 7:24 begins one of the most disturbing stories about Jesus recorded.  He calls a beloved daughter of God, “a dog”.  I read this and think, “Wait, who is this and what has Mark done to Jesus?”  Or I think, “Jesus, um, maybe you need a Snicker’s bar, because you seem hangry!”  Or maybe this is a story about the humanness of Jesus, that even he made mistakes.  Or maybe this is a story of repentance, that Jesus changed his mind and direction of life (see mediation from Monday).  Or maybe this is meant to be like a speed bump in our reading, don’t get too comfortable or complacent thinking that we “know” Jesus, he will do things and say things that baffle and bewilder (even offend) us.  Hold this dizzying and disorienting story close to see what is provoked and evoked for you.

 

In chapter 8, we get a second feeding story.  Jesus already fed 5000 plus, now he feeds 4000, which I guess is good news that sometimes attendance dips at any religious gathering!  How is reading the first 8 chapters of Mark feeding you?  Some of what Mark lays out is sweet to our lips and fills our souls, like the images of healing and hope that we encounter.  Some of what we read will be bitter or sour to the tip of our tongue, like what we read in chapter 7.  Hold all this.  What are you feasting upon so far in the gospels?  What is filling you?  What would you take a pass on so far in what you’ve read?  Hold this as you are being held by the One who still feeds us with manna, bread of heaven, through the good news of God’s love.  Amen.