Angels attended him

Mark 1:12-14

The Spirit, the Desert, Satan, Wild Beasts and Angels!

We live in a more or less hostile environment. There is much in the world to pull us down.  Whether it is the physical situation, or loneliness, or temptations, or danger.

What we need is angels.  God provides Jesus with the help he needs.  Neither does God forget us in our need.  We are all children of God!

Angels waited on him.  Angels attended him.  Angels ministered to him.  It means they were there for him.  That was their purpose.  It still is.

Back to Palestine/Israel.  There's an organisation called Ecumenical Accompaniment Progamme in Palestine Israel (EAPPI).  EAPPI is a work of the  World Council of Churches, set up in response to pleas from Christian in Israel for the church to do something about the conflict in Palestine Israel.

EAPPI provides groups of individuals who go for three months to be a peaceful presence in the region.  They stand at checkpoints to support Palestinians, they may report human rights violations, and are a vital part of the efforts to bring peace with justice to the region.  See http://www.eappi.org/ for more.

These EAPPI volunteers are among the angels who attend the Palestinian people.

You are my Son

Mark 1:9-11

The first chapter of Mark's Gospel has the Greek word meaning 'immediately' 11 times.  (It's not always apparent in the English translations, because the translators use different words).  Here is the first use of the word - 'And just (Greek - immediately) as he was coming up out of the water ...' 

As soon as Jesus enters the story, things take off.  There's an urgency about the Mission.  But, before the mission  can begin, Jesus is baptised and affirmed as God's son.

To know who we are can take a lifetime.  The journey of self understanding can be a tortuous one for many.  The most important part of our identity is our place in relation to God.  God's child.  Everyone should be able to know this, and be afforded this dignity by others.

I have just been watching the documentary film 'Occupation 101' about Israel/Palestine.  Palestinians are treated by many Israelis as second class citizens.  The are treated by the Israeli state as people with no rights.

They have to stand in line to cross checkpoints to get to work, or school, or hospital.  There is a recent documented incident of a Palestinian woman dying in childbirth because she was not able to get to hospital.  (Her new born  child also died)

I could say much more about this, and probably will.  The trauma of living in a war zone in conditions of poverty, and oppression has had devastating effects on the Palestinian people.

The children of Gaza will need an army of psychiatrists to help them if they are ever to live anything like a normal life.

The wall that separates Israeli from Palestinian is called the wall of separation.  In South Africa there was no wall, but Apartheid (which means separation) meant that black South Africans were treated as less than human in the same way that Palestinians are treated by Israel.

One small thing that we can do is to treat everyone with the same respect.  We all need to know our identity as a child of God

He will baptise

Mark 1:4-8

John the Baptist is the link between the Old and the New.  he stands in the tradition of the Old Testament prophets - proclaiming a message of repentance (metanoia - radical change) and forgiveness.

John's prophecy - that someone will baptise with the Holy Spirit - is referred to later in Acts 1:5 by Jesus after the resurrection.  The baptism that will take place at Pentecost, with the coming of the Spirit.

So what Mark is looking forward to in these words of John  'He will baptise with the Holy Spirit' - is beyond Christ's death and resurrection, all the way to the coming of the Spirit.

Mark is setting his stall out in its entirety.  This is what it's all about in the end, he is saying.  The fulfilment of God's plan through Jesus, that will culminate in the coming of the Spirit.

As it is written

Mar 1:2-2

What Jesus brings is not a new religion.  We have enough of that.  More than enough.  Jesus was rooted in the Old Testament scriptures, in the faith of his ancestors.  What Jesus brought was a fulfilment of the promises made long ago.

These words are addressed TO Jesus 'See I am sending my messenger ahead of you' 

The old is often rejected in favour of the new.  The old is often scorned.  It's boring, irrelevant.  But this new thing that Jesus does is rooted in the ancient revelation of God through the prophets. Christians (especially evangelical and charistmatic ones)  sometimes think that by singing a load of new songs and listening to inspirational preaching, we can get everything we need to feed our spirit.

This is in  danger of being Do it Yourself Christianity.  There are ancient ways of reading, and praying and living that we miss at our peril

The Beginning

Mark 1:1

The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ.  Opening words are important.  This is Good News.  Whatever else it will be, it is Good News.

The Greek for in the beginning is 'en arche' ... these two words are at the start of the book of Genesis, and also John's gospel.  In Genesis, the new beginning is creation.  Everything has a starting point.  'En arche' is about something new.

In Genesis God's new beginning brings life out nothing.  Mark the evangelist is now talking about another new beginning, God's new creation, which is all about who Jesus is and what Jesus will do.

Week one

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.

Jade Goody died early today, Mothering Sunday 2009. One of her last decisions was to be baptised, together with her two sons, Bobby and Freddy.  She has prepared herself for death in a way that we rarely see these days, and I applaud her for it.

For all the advances in medical diagnosis and treatments, human beings still die.  We may sometimes be able to prolong our lives, but we are not immortal.  Sadly we are often unwilling to face this truth, and so do not prepare ourselves for death.

In past centuries, one of the roles of the church was to prepare people for a 'good death', but all we seem interested in these days is having a 'good life'.  In those days, people would pray that death would not come suddenly or unexpectedly, so that they could prepare for it.

In that time, they would make their peace with God, with their loved ones and neighbours, and prepare to meet with God.  Bur even before that, they would live their lives in the knowledge that this life is, at least in part, a preparation of the life of the world to come.

And when that time came, they would hope that their family would be around them to share their final hours in this life, and commend them to God.  In those days, a priest would often be called to pray with them as the end came near.  In these more secular days, our society has found other ways of preparing for death, and people do not see the need to involved clergy.  Interestingly, however, some of the 'ancient' ways of the church are being rediscovered, particularly the importance of making peace with others.

I am given hope by Jade Goody, who died peacefully in her sleep, surrounded by her family.  My prayer for her is that she found that 'good death' for which she was seeking.  In her recent marriage, and in her baptism, and in other ways, may she have found peace, and in the end, may she, with the faithful departed, rest in peace to rise in glory.