As we discussed last night at Pipe, the overarching theme of the Gospel of Mark could be boiled down to this: What is the Kingdom of God like? Christ spent a lot of his time telling stories so that his followers could fully understand His kingship and, consequently, His Kingdom.
A lot of time was required, by way of description, because His Kingdom is fundamentally different than the Disciples were accustomed to — are certainly different than the expectations of the modern world.
During our time of confession on Sunday morning, we confess that we need forgiveness for many things, but two really stand out to me. I think they give a clear sense of what it means to live in His Kingdom:
We ask for forgiveness for hurtful words said, and for helpful words unsaid.
As Christians, we should not draw any distinction between words we offer to tear others down and words we withhold that would build others up. Both are regrettable and should be a source of conviction for Christians of good conscience.
As Christians, we must use our words to advocate for others, to affirm their humanity and to ensure that we do not fritter away opportunities to reflect the love and grace of Christ.
Remember that in Mark chapter 3, Christ could have ignored the plight of the man with the crippled hand because Jewish law prohibited healing (and many other things) on the Sabbath. He could have passed and waited for another opportunity, on another day, to demonstrate God’s grace and power.
He, of course, didn’t.
Then he went back in the meeting place where he found a man with a crippled hand. The Pharisees had their eyes on Jesus to see if he would heal him, hoping to catch him in a Sabbath violation. He said to the man with the crippled hand, “Stand here where we can see you.”
Then he spoke to the people: “What kind of action suits the Sabbath best? Doing good or doing evil? Helping people or leaving them helpless?” No one said a word.
He looked them in the eye, one after another, angry now, furious at their hard-nosed religion. He said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” He held it out—it was as good as new! The Pharisees got out as fast as they could, sputtering about how they would join forces with Herod’s followers and ruin him.
Mark 3: 1-6 (MSG)
This is such a powerful story of how to live in His Kingdom. Clearly Jesus made a conscious decision to not only heal this man, but also to make it clear to his followers that no religious law trumps our responsibility to help others in their time of need — to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.
This reminds me of my grandfather, who firmly believed, like so many Christians of his vintage, that Sunday was the “Lord’s day.” You simply didn’t work on Sunday.
But, rest assured, if my car broke down on a Sunday, he was always there to help. If his neighbors needed help with their hot water heater, he was quick to grab his toolbox. This was his way of honoring the Sabbath by honoring God in service to others.
So, with that in mind, let’s take every opportunity to demonstrate God’s love by sharing with others what God has freely shared with us.
See you Sunday morning!
The Pipe 