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Reuben's Sermon for The Eve of Saint Mark's
Day:
(Eve of Saint Mark) - EVENSONG 1830hrs.
at Saint George's - Cullercoats.
Sunday, 25th. April 2004 Anno Domini.
+ In
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
Amen.
Today is the 25th. April which is traditionally
Saint Mark's Day, but as, this year, it also happens to be the
3rd. Sunday of Easter, most of the Christian Church transfer
Saint Mark Day to tomorrow.
I have been asked to preach, on this, the
Eve of Saint Mark's Day.
I have been asked to preach about Saint Mark,
although looking at the Psalm set for tonight, it might have
been interesting to preach on the set readings, focusing on verse
14 of Psalm 86 where "the congregation of naughty men
rise up against me."
There's a good sermon brewing for that one
some day.
But on the eve of Saint Mark's Day, let us
think about this amazing person, about whom there are many traditions
and random stories.
Who was Mark?
What is the purpose of his Gospel?
and
What has it got to do with us today?
Saint Mark's Gospel is almost certainly the first of the Gospels
to be written, almost immediately after the lifetime of Jesus.
Up to that period there were no written accounts
of any sort.
All the stories and tradition about Jesus
had been preserved entirely by word of mouth, a method which
would not work today because such training and skills have been
lost.
The tradition of preserving large amounts
of information, passed on aurally, in the time of the early Christians,
however, was very accurate indeed.
So why was Mark's Gospel written?
Saint Mark's Gospel is the shortest of all the four Gospels,
but is very tightly packed with enormous quantities of information,
in a way which is very economic with words.
This gives it an interesting structure, which
is composed of very defined, short stories - 'Sound-Bites' if
you like.
Each of the stories is brief and to the point.
We are only told what the writer considers
essential. There is no mention of the birth of Christ or, indeed,
any of his life, until just before His ministry.
If all the events in Saint Mark's Gospel happened
one after the other, they would only have taken a few weeks -
which seems to suggest that large quantities of detail, considered
unnecessary by the writer, has not been included.
This seems to be a Gospel with certain specific
purposes.
To work out the purpose of Mark's writings, it helps to try and
find out who Mark was.
Of the few ideas as to the identity of Mark,
I am most comfortable with the most popular suggestion, which
is that Mark was the young boy who ran away, naked, in the Garden
of Gethsemanie.
The event, in itself, not mentioned anywhere
else (in any form) was fairly unimportant to other people, including
Luke and Matthew, who, understanding it - or not, chose to ignore
it.
The event must have been important to Mark.
Possibly ashamed of running away at a time
when the going was getting very tough.
The fact that this fairly unimportant event
was recorded in a 'Sound-Bite Gospel' that is so economic with
its words, and is not mentioned in any of the other Gospels,
does tend to support the idea that he was possibly writing about
himself or at least a close friend.
If Mark was not that young man, he must have
known him (for the event to be important enough to be included).
Anyway, it is almost certain that Mark was
one of Jesus' followers. Not one of the apostles, Mark was probably
a friend or even a young relation of a member of the group that
followed Jesus toward the end of his ministry on Earth - a disciple.
His information for the Gospel seems to come
from someone who, if not at the events written about, received
it from someone who was.
Many theologians believe that Mark may have
been strongly influenced by Peter the Apostle, who may have been
the sauce of most of his information.
Mark probably preached and taught in Rome and his Gospel was
written sometime in the latter half of the first century (possibly
about 70A.D. but ideas are very divided on this).
The style of writing suggests that Mark's
Gospel was written in note form, maybe for personal use when
preaching, and then drawn up in a more readable form, as the
writer got older (probably after Peter's death) for easier use
by other preachers.
So when we read Mark's Gospel, we are probably reading a set
of guides and notes for preaching, or even teaching potential
preachers.
Early Christians, believing they were living in a short period
of time between the death of Jesus and the end of the world,
were working with a sense of urgency.
It would have been regarded as of the utmost importance to spread
"The Gospel" as quickly as possible.
When writing his Gospel, Mark was not primarily concerned with
proving that Jesus was the Messiah, because among the people
he was writing for, this was taken for granted, although reference
is made to Jesus' Messiahship, most famously in Ch:8 v:29 where
Jesus asks the disciples "But who do you say that I am?"
and Peter answers Him, "You are the Messiah."
The main point of this was to show that Peter was the
first to recognize Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. Something
accepted as fact by the Christians Mark was supporting with his
sermons.
The problem is that the concept of the Messiah was supposed to
be one of a victorious figure, which to outsiders did not match
up with the fact that Jesus' ministry on Earth ended with complete
disgrace and death as a criminal.
Mark deals with this two ways:
Firstly in a historical way.
He shows (especially in Chapters: 2 and 12) the true nature of
the relationship between Jesus and the Jewish authorities (who
are ultimately responsible for Jesus' death) showing Jesus as
innocent of any charge except later of claiming to be the Messiah.
Secondly in a theological way.
He shows that it can often be God's way to bring glorious results
from poor and unpromising beginnings (see Chapter 4).
Mark proves that, as prophesied in the Old Testament and by Jesus
himself (Ch:8 v:31 Then He began to teach them that the Son
of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders,
the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after
three days rise again), Jesus' suffering was part of God's
plan and only the preparation for his present glory and almost
instant return to power.
Obviously, to spread the Good News of the life and teachings
of Christ, at that time in history, was a very dangerous thing
to be doing.
There was much persecution of Christians and Mark's Gospel was
written with that in mind.
Various communities each had their own concerns and problems.
Mark was writing and preaching in a community which almost certainly
suffered much persecution.
Some members of the community would need reassurance and help
in their troubles and one of Mark's aims would be to help in
his writing and preaching.
This was done by emphasising three things:
1: That Jesus himself had suffered exactly as his followers were
now being called upon to do.
2: That Jesus had clearly warned his disciples that following
him would involve sharing in his suffering.
3: That he had promised great and sure rewards to those who endured
such suffering without loss of faith.
With persecution and perhaps some cases of death, for the sake
of Christianity, in the community he was writing for, Mark had
to show the suffering of Christ and how Christians must suffer
also.
It was Mark's aim to show that nothing was outside the providence
of God and the predictions of Jesus.
Jesus "had to suffer" as they would suffer.
One of the most memorable characteristics of Mark's Gospel, is
the end. You remember it as one would the taste after a meal,
but the taste we seem to be left with is a little sour.
There is an uneasy end to Mark's Gospel, almost depressing.
As an ending to a Gospel Chapter 16, and particularly the last
verse, seem somewhat inappropriate.
A Gospel was to proclaim the "Good News" of what God
had accomplished in Christ.
Chapter one, verses one and two refer to "the Good News
of Jesus Christ, the Son of God as it is written in the prophet
Isaiah".
The last two chapters of Mark's Gospel are very sombre and although
the fact of the resurrection is made clear, it is done
so in a very brief, almost mumbled, way which does not leave
the reader with a final impression of joyous victory and disaster
turned into victory.
That it should end with verse eight "So they went out
and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them;
and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid".
Being written at a time of great persecution some people think
that the suddenness of the end of Mark's Gospel suggests he was
stopped from writing further.
Is it possible that Mark intended to write more, but was prevented
from doing so because he had been arrested?
Is it possible that Mark may have been very old by this time
and illness caught up with?
Is it possible that more was written but, as the old joke goes,
"The last page is missing"?
As the stories of the "Risen Christ" were so well known,
I don't think Mark even intended to write about them.
Mark concentrated on the life and teachings of Christ in relationship
to the lives and suffering of his fellow Christians.
Mark's Gospel is not the Gospel for converting people to Christianity,
that's for John.
Mark's Gospel is not the Gospel for telling of the life of Jesus,
that's for Luke and Matthew.
Mark's Gospel is a Gospel for Christians, then and now, suffering
from persecution or distress.
Mark's Gospel is a Gospel for Christians yesterday and today,
suffering from hostility or imprisonment.
Marks Gospel is a Gospel for Mordechai Vanunu and every other
Christian living in this world today, willingly suffering for
Jesus and for the day God's Kingdom will come....
....in all earthly things, as it is in heaven.
+ In the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
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