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Jesus Prays

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Mark 1:35-39

Even Jesus needed to get away from it all.  After all the activity in Capernaum, he gets up in the middle of the night, and finds a deserted place to pray.  It doesn’t last long!  Simon and the others soon find him.
I suppose this is what I am trying to do in these nine and a bit weeks.  Refreshment of body, mind and spirit is what it’s all about.  Maybe regaining things that have been lost in the busyness of life and ministry.  Maybe discovering new things about myself, the world and God.
These verses about Jesus going off the pray and get some spiritual refreshment are very appropriate for today (Sunday), and in a few minutes, I’m heading off to St Columba’s in Hull, where I was a curate for three years.  It’ll be good to be sitting in the pew, receiving.
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After Sunset

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Mark 1:29-43

Here it is again – (euthus – immediately) – Immediately they left the synagogue, and go to Simon and Andrew’s home, where Simon’s mother in law is sick with a fever. Jesus heals her and then heals many who are brought to the house.
So – all this happens on the same day. A healing in the synagogue, a very personal healing in the home, and then the healing of a whole crowd of people.  And it’s the sabbath.
So is it significant that the large crowd only come to the house ‘after sunset’ ?  That is, when the sabbath is over.
Jesus sabbath activity would quickly become a cause for conflict between himself and the religious leaders.  We have the seeds of that conflict already, and in those two words ‘after sunset’, an idea of how much influence the religious laws had on the people, so that they wait until the sabbath is over and it is safe to come to Jesus.
As I ask how this gospel might speak into situations of oppression, it makes me think of situations where there are obstacles that prevent people from accessing health care, and other basic necessities.  
For Palestinians, the many regulations and checkpoints mean that people cannot live normal lives.  Every morning from 3 am, hundreds of Palestinian men will come to the Gilo checkpoint in Bethlehem to go through to work in Jerusalem.  They have to arrive this early to be sure of getting work.  They leave their homes while their families are asleep, and arrive back when they are once more asleep.  The checkpoints open at dawn, and they must wait in line, directed to move by red and green lights.  They can be turned back after waiting several hours even though they have been security checked.  It is a life without dignity and respect.
Next week, Pope Benedict will visit Jerusalem.  He will pass through the same checkpoint. But he will arrive at 8 am, when the authorities have dictated that he will arrive, and it will be quiet. 
So I have two pictures in my mind.  The first is a crowd of people in Capernaum, waiting for sunset, when it will be safe to come to Jesus.
The second is a crowd of people in Bethlehem waiting for sunrise, and eventually passing through to work, and an hour or so later the Pope arriving.
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7 Days

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In just 7 short days, we will be in Washington. (D.C. that is)  Can’t wait!  Just planned the itinerary and booked some motels.  The theme of conflict will be well served by a visit to civil war battle sites at Manassas. (Which made me think of an album by Stephen Stills ‘Manassas’ which I am now listening to on Spotify)!

I’m trying to decide whether to take the laptop … it’ll make blogging easier …
Proposed itinerary:
Day 1 – 3 Washington … the sights, including Smithsonian Institute, Native American Museum
Day 4 – 6 Shenandoah National Park – including white water rafting, a hike and a drive down the Skyline Drive
Day 7 Charlottesville
Day 8 Williamsburg
Day 9 ??
Day 10 Manassas Battle Site and home for Bev and Joel, while I head off to Eastern Mennonite University at Harrisonburg for my course.
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Authority

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Mark 1:21-28

Jesus rebukes an evil spirit.  Those around Jesus soon learn that he speaks and acts with authority.  The root of authority is author.  If I’m the author of a book, then I speak with authority.  Jesus is described elsewhere in the Bible as ‘The author of life’.  (Acts 3:15).  Who better to speak and act with authority?
The way that Jesus influences situations is to do with who he is, and not the power that he has.  Contrast that with the comment about the scribes -the religious leaders-  who do not speak with authority.
Power is about position, and strength, and being able to make people do things even if they do not want to.  Authority comes from who you are as a person.
I discovered early on in my teaching career that although I had a limited amount of power, in the end, what I needed was to have authority. That authority needed to be a part of who I was as a person, and what I said and did needed to be fair, if the students were to respect me.
I’m reminded again of EAPPI, (Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme for Israel and Palestine), which is based on acting not with power but with the authority that comes from resistance to evil in a non violent manner.
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Consuming Passion

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I’m reading a book of essays about the cross – about why the death of Jesus really matters.

If you’re a Christian you’ll have thought, prayed, sung about the cross.  If you’re not – (a Christian that is) – you may have never given it a second thought.
I think about it a lot.  And because I believe it’s at the heart of what it means to be a Christian, I want to be able to talk about it intelligently and accurately.  (As far as that is possible).  Because it is SO important a part of Christian faith, it’s important not to get it wrong.
There’s a school of thought that says it something like this.  People are sinful. Sin needs punishing.  We can’t be in relationship with God because sin has created a barrier between us and God.  We deserve to take the punishment, but God has provided another way.  Jesus, the sinless one, is punished for our sin.  God punished Jesus instead of us.  If we accept this, then we can be saved.
It’s what I grew up with, and I accepted it completely.  (Although there was always something at the back of my mind that didn’t really like it as a good solution to the problem).  The roots of this way of seeing the cross go back a long time, but it was only really expressed as ‘God punished Jesus instead of us’ in the 19th century.  Increasingly over the last 10 years or so I’ve changed my view on this.  In its pure form, this ‘Penal Substitutionary Atonement’ theory of the cross is based on some pretty dodgy ideas.  
1.  That God is violent.  (Well, you have to be violent to punish someone by crucifying them)
2. That violence can solve things. (Might is right).
3. That broken relationships can only be restored by punishment
There may be more … but I’m going to come back to this, don’t worry.
By the way, leading evangelical and social activist Steve Chalke got himself a lot of hate mail when he called this theory of the cross ‘Cosmic child abuse’
I’m hoping that one of the things I’ll be able to do in the next two months is give this some more careful thought – watch this space.
see here for some more http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/content/news_syndication/article_050726consumingpassion.shtml
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Follow me

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Mark 1:16-20

This is the bit where Jesus calls four named disciples.  The word ‘euthus’ (immediately) comes in twice here.
Two disciples are casting their nets – fishing.  The other two are mending their nets.
The call is to follow Jesus.  The call comes to them, not in church or synagogue, but at work.  The call is not to go it alone, but be part of something bigger, with Jesus leading the way.
The two aspects of their old life will also be a part of their new life.  Instead of catching fish, they will be catching people.  Instead of mending nets, they will be involved in mending (making ‘perfect’/whole) people.
But following Jesus will mean much more than that.  If we follow him all the way, it will take us to places where we might not choose to go.  Places where we are not comfortable, places where we risk losing our dignity, or our freedom of action.  
So when I think about following Jesus, I am trying to put myself with those who have not chosen to be where they are.  Those in hospital.  Those without work.  Those going through a breakdown in a relationship.
And I think of those who, like the EAPPI volunteers, are aligning themselves in a practical way with the oppressed.
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Week One Of A Sabbatical

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It’s Thursday 7th May 2009.  I’m on day 4 of a nine week sabbatical.  I thought I’d keep a diary.

For about 6 yrs I’ve been learning about conflict and peacemaking – through Bridge Builders, an offshoot of the London Mennonite Centre.  So when it came to thinking about a focus for some study, I decided to look a bit more at conflict and peacemaking in the Bible, and especially think about the cross.
I’ll be spending a month in USA – partly family holiday, partly study at Eastern Mennonite University.
I’ll be doing some related reading, but I also wanted a devotional focus, so I picked Mark’s Gospel to read – a few verses at a time.  I’m making some notes on it as I go, with particular reference to conflict, power, oppression, and related themes.
Well that’s an outline … so here goes.
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Jess’s Blog Away In Tanzania

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My daughter Jessica (18) is in Tanzania, and has just set up her Blog.

This is her latest post.

Aw man, this weekend was SUCH an experience. we went out to mama rhoda’s village to stay with her brother and we were staying in mud huts held up by sticks. they are traditional “wigogo” houses and they are for people that are about 5 ft tall.most of them are very short..so when i was inside i had to tilt my head to one side and crouch down cause i was too tall!! We and mama rhoda(mariam) went to this village 2 hours out of dodoma. We got there about 6.30 on friday evening and as soon as we got there after 2 seconds there was about 50 kids around the car!! we leaned out of the windows and stopped the car and talked to them for about 15mins, and then it was getting dark and we needed to find this invisble house in the darkness..so we drove off and ALL of these little kids, from 3 years old to about 15 yeard old, were chasing our car! its like something you would see on TV!!! with no proper road and it was almost dark we found this little mud hut and mariams brother didnt even realise we were coming! they have no electricity so the only form of communication is sending letters in cars that happen to be passing through!! Even though we were unexpected we were so welcome in their home. along side the bedrooms were 36 goats and sheep, 2 HUGE pigs, loads of chickens and dogd and cats! the space was about the size of a small garden but everything was crammed in! that evening we were all sat in the open space and mariams brother got into the goat pen and brought one out… he said to us that we could take it home as a gift. We were so shocked! to buy a goat is the same amount of money as I would get paid in 1 month.. we really were honoured guests. we siad that we had no way of taking it home… and he said ok, we can either take it to your house in 1 week or you can eat it and we will prepare it for you now… we had not other option than to say eat it now!! so they killed it in front of us and we had to eat EVERYTHING!! we ended up eating the heart, liver, lungs, intestines, testis and all that stuff and even the blood. ewww… it didnt taste nice at all, ut we had no other option reallt than to eat it because this was such a treat. then of course we had to eat the mean too… they watched us eating it … was a bit off putting and it meant we had to keep smiling no matter how horrid and chewy it was!! but we arent poisened yet!!!
anyway, more or less straight after this we went to bed. it was about 12.30 by the time we had finished it. me jenny and mariam slept in a small room on the mud with the cats.. well we didnt sleep much but it didnt matter.
the next day started at 5 am. we had to use the toilet! we had hoped that we could hold our selves… but it wasnt possible! all the loo was, was a small hole in the ground about the size of a baked beans tin, with a wall up to my waist! it was a bit awkward trying not to expose all to the wigogo people, but i succeeded finally. we went to visit some people in the town and then went to see mariams brothers farm. it was quite sad, but interesting. this time of year the maize should be about my head hight by now, but it was only just ankle level. they are really struggling with the rain, but are getting by. it was a 2hour walk each way across the fields every day to the farm for them… i only just managed to get there and back!!!
after thios they cooked us a tanzanian dish called ugali, which is basically maize flower in boiling water to make a white flower jelly.. ill make it for you all one day… it an experience!! anyway, we got ugali… but it was made with millet. it was very different. it was a gray colour and was like sand. its easier to grow with no rain, and so most people grow this if they think the rains wont come. wasnt very nice really, very grainy, but i guess its nutritious and at least they have food!!
after this we went to a fresh water spring! that was amazing! i wont go on too much about that cause ive said lots already! but there was hot water bubbling up from uderneath the ground!!! it was beautiful! people go there to bath and wash clothes (…and by the smell of it goodness know what else they did in there too..! ) and that was so nice.
it was about 5.45 and time to get home before darkness dawned upon the fields and we got home safely afrriving 5mins from home with a FLAT TIRE!!!!! thank goodness we were in town by now! we got 2 guys to change it and they said theyd do it if they could have a soda for it so we agreed and they got it done so quickly. timed to the mili second they took 2 mins 37.126 secs to change our 4×4 patrol car tire! not bad eh?! surely got to be a world record!
anyway we arrived back and it was nice to have our comforts, but it made me realise how much we dont need these things. we have been braught up to be dependent on electricity and elecrical things that we never see what amazing and exciting lives we could live. We are so lucky to have things that we have! its just so amazing – i can post this on here in 5 mins and people 4,700 miles can read it within seconds!
You go to a doctor who you cant pronounce the name of, you get a prescription which you cant read, he tells you to go to a pharmacy you never knew existed, and they give you some pills which you have no clue about how they work….. thats faith!! these guys in the village had sooo much faith in God. they just knew from day to day everything would be good for them. everything would work out ok and they’ll live until God chooses them to live to. they just know… they trust and they are soo happy! HEBREWS 11:1. 🙂
what amazing things God’s shown me this weekend!
have a great week. xx

My Comment:

What an experience for her!!!

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What do you think about ?

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I’m a fan of Lawrence Block – writer of mystery stories – and especially of his Matt Scudder character. Scudder is an ex-cop turned private detective, and a recovering alcoholic.

He gives away a tenth of his fees, usually putting the money in collection boxes in churches, and usually catholic churches, because they tend to be open all the time.

In one of his short stories, he goes to church to think. “After breakfast, I went to St Paul’s but there was a service going on, a priest saying Mass, so I didn’t stay. I walked down to St Benedict the Moor’s on 53rd Street and sat for a few minutes in a pew at the rear. I go to churches to try and think, and I gave it a shot, but my mind didn’t know where to go. I slipped six twenties in the poor box. I tithe. It’s a habit I got into when I left the department, and I still don’t know why I do it. God knows. Or maybe he’s as mystified as I am.”

Reading that – a phrase popped into my mind. ‘What do you think ?’ Not, as in what’s your opinion, but what do you think about ….

I guess for many of us, we just don’t. Think, that is. We are so busy that we get through with the minimum of thinking.

So .. I’m going to try and spend a bit more time just thinking. No T.V. No book. No people. Just me, thinking.