Mark 10:(32-34) 35-45

Lent 5 | March 17, A.D. 2024 | Mark 10:(32-34) 35-45 | Andrew F. Weisner |

Jeremiah 31:31-34
Psalm 119:9-16
Hebrews 5:1-10

Mark 10:(32-34) 35-45
³²They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them; they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them what was to happen to him, ³³saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the Gentiles; ³⁴they will mock him, and spit upon him, and flog him, and kill him; and after three days he will rise again.”
³⁵James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” ³⁶And he said to them, “What is it you want me to do for you?” ³⁷And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” ³⁸But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” ³⁹They replied, “We are able.” Then Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; ⁴⁰but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”
⁴¹When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. ⁴²So Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. ⁴³But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, ⁴⁴and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. ⁴⁵For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

Homily

There is a “condition” in this world that afflicts us all. It is a condition that we are, all of us, familiar with, and that we refer to quite regularly. In fact, we say something about it in our liturgy, calling it by name, every week. The condition, the affliction, is “sin.”

But before some of you go to “turning me off,” or start thinking that I’m going to start finger-pointing, or – as the old folks used to say, “steppin’ on toes” – hear, first, please, some of the synonyms, some of the descriptors, for the word “sin.” Other words that can be interchanged for it include “brokenness;” “fallenness;” “accidents;” “pain and suffering;” “sickness;” and sometimes, yes, “self-centeredness.”

“Sin” is a general biblical, theological term and concept, that most folks can understand on some level. Unfortunately, many folks think of “sin” as referring only or mainly to “those things I do that are wrong.” Well, yes, “sin” does include that, but the idea is even bigger than that. Some folks think that “sin” often refers mainly to sex. Heavens No! Yes, it can include that, but the notion of sin is so much more, so much bigger than just that.

“Sin” is a small, three-letter word that, in the Bible , and in the Church’s language, is a large, catch-all term, which means: this fallen world, human beings included, that are so much less, so much other than, what God created us to be, and who are less than that which, one day, we will be.

Creation is broken, theological language states that “it has fallen” from the optimum of what God intended it to be. There is sickness in this world, everything from the common cold that annoys and pains us, to cancer and heart-attacks and strokes. Sickness, of any kind, is not among the things of creation that God wanted, intended, there to be; and you or I or someone we love “being sick” is not the result of somebody doing something “bad” or “wrong!” It simply IS the case that people get sick; and when we do, we are less than we want to be; and the fact that it can happen that people can and do get sick means that creation is currently less than what God originally intended.

Now, how is it that you, and I, all of us, and all of creation got into this condition of being, living in less than what God intended? All we know is, Yes, indeed, some human beings, certain ones of our ancestors, named in the Bible, called Adam and Eve, did something “wrong,” something other than what God had asked them. However, there is at least one story of pain, sickness, suffering, and catastrophe, being part of this world apart from – or in addition to – Adam and Eve. Our theological grandfather from the 16^th century, Martin Luther, loved blaming sin and pain and suffering and death on this figure. We read and hear about him in the OT book of Job; and there is reference to him in the theological works and tradition of our Jewish brothers and sisters; and that is, the devil. Martin Luther said that the devil is related to and the agent for pain, suffering, temptation, and death.

Looking at the concept and reality of sin, as we now do, today in the midst of the Church’s season of Lent, we – you and I, human beings – are not directly responsible for these “instances,” or “results of,” sin in this world, such as hurricanes, earthquake, and tornadoes. All those things sure can cause an awful lot of tears, pain, and suffering. Sin, brokenness, fallenness, is pervasive through all those instances of suffering; and one day (we look forward to it!) such will not be!

In the meantime, there are certain things we, human beings, can try to do, in order that sin not have its own way and cause such detrimental effects.  We can try to be more generous, loving, and compassionate; to do such would help to alleviate so many of the detrimental effects. However, exactly how to be more generous, loving, and compassionate: sometimes we get lost in our efforts to do and be those things.
The sure and safest way – THE Path – for us human beings to be generous, loving, and compassionate, is following the Ten Commandments, and then to follow the interpretation that Jesus gives them in his Sermon on the Mount, St. Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 5, 6, and 7. We can do those things, if we will – sharing, giving generously to those in need; to have such respect for other human beings and their personal integrity that we do not even look upon each other lustfully; not to speak harshly, not to swear, reconcile with each other; let our days – our lives – be filled with good works for the sake of others so that people will give glory to God in heaven.

These things, let us strive to do, for then  we will be like Jesus. However, the commandments, and Jesus’ teaching, have been around for a long-long time, and generally, humanity’s actions, even now, are turned just as inward as ever, and even as violent, as they have ever been.

Therefore, as we look at ourselves, and how we, humanity, are – as we say, “captive to, in bondage to, sin” – we are enthralled in sin no less than creation with its hurricanes, earthquakes, lightning, and storms. We, for our own sakes, and on behalf of creation, look to the future.

There will come a day when God will completely, totally, take care of all these things. He will wipe away every tear; sin and death shall be no more. Today, the prophet Jeremiah, speaking the word of the Lord, promises that, since we fallen humans cannot follow the law, the way of God that is given to us, then he will write his law within us, on our hearts. We will not even have to be taught; we will not have to say, “Know the Lord;” we will not have to ask, “What are we to do?,” for we all shall know;  our hearts and minds, our wills and our wants, will be totally united with him.

All of this shall be, all this is possible, because Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus-God-with-us, is raised from the dead, and now lives. He, as Lord of all, totally one with, united with the Father, now lives, and is directing history, our lives, and all of creation, toward a new day, a new community, of which all of us will be a part, because it has been promised to us in our baptism.

And today, this very day, he comes to us, spanning the distance from the fullness of life he now lives, to the life in bondage to sin that we now live. He comes to us to continue that process of uniting us to himself, preparing us for that day as he gives us himself, the Bread of heaven and the cup of salvation, as we receive the Body and Blood of Christ. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

From: The Rev. Andrew F. Weisner, Ph.D.
North American Lutheran Church
Antioch Lutheran Church, Dallas, NC, USA