From the Daily Lectionary for Thursday in the Fourth Week after the Epiphany
Mark 8:27 – 9:1
Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” And they answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.” And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.
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. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” And he said to them, “Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.”
Just two things: The vocation to which we are called as followers of Jesus requires our lives, that is to say, it is to be our first priority, our raison d’être; it is to live in the manner of Jesus, bearing the Good News to the world that love is stronger than oppression, stronger even than death; that coercion and violence are never suitable means to an end; that justice is God’s means of loving the world into its fullness… and that we act as if that is at the heart of reality. That’s first. Mark is adamant about it.
Second is that this fullness of creation, that which the Gospel writers call the “kingdom of God,” is a present reality; that the mere presence of love in the world infuses all of life with meaning and purpose. The kingdom of God is present in the world just the way it is. To live “as if” this is true is to live a noble life in which there is unspeakable joy, not in the hereafter, but for now.
The church, the gathering of God’s people, is not a mere social obligation, not a hobby, but an essential rudiment of God’s presence in the world. If nothing else, Mark is calling us to be serious about our baptism and the responsibilities that accompany it.
The stakes couldn’t be higher, no calling more noble… and life, after all, is short. We would do well to heed Mark’s terse perspective. I’m reminded of the immortal line from the movie The Shawshank Redemption, “Get busy living, or get busy dying.” There is no in-between.
A Prayer for Social Justice (BCP p. 260)
O God, who created us in your own image: Grant us grace fearlessly to contend against evil and to make no peace with oppression; and, that we might reverently use our freedom, help us to employ it in the maintenance of justice in our communities and among the nations, to the glory and honor of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
