Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost 19th September 2021
Mark 9:30-37
They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, ‘The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.’ But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him. Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, ‘What were you arguing about on the way?’ But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.’ Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.’
Reflection:
I suggest that at one time or another in life, we’ve all been in a place where we simply can’t accept what is right in front of us. We’ve all had a situation whereby we just don’t want to admit that the outcome wont be what we think should or want to happen. It’s not because of ignorance or tenacity. This isn’t an unbending unwillingness to face the facts. This lack of acceptance is often based on fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of what might be… As we look at Mark’s account of the dialogue between Jesus and his disciples listen again: “But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.”
I often wonder why were the disciples are afraid? Were the worried about what others might think? Of looking silly for asking? Or perhaps they could not imagine how anything of what Jesus was saying could be true. It simply sounded too terrible and wasn’t their mission going to end in victory? How could Jesus, who spent his time teaching and healing and doing so much good…how could Jesus suffer the way he described? How could someone this blameless suffer and die.
Added to that, Jesus doesn’t just predict that he will suffer, he also states that he will be betrayed. And this implicates at least one of them in the incomprehensible events that Jesus is saying will come. They must have questioned, how could any of them betray their Lord? How could any of this possibly come to be? In saying this Mark is making a point. You see Jesus prediction is simply too terrible to face, too horrible to think about and too simply too frightening. The disciples don’t understand and, quite frankly, they don’t want to. Not out of stubbornness, but out of fear. So, what do they do? In the next moment they have moved on, human nature kicks in and are arguing about who would be the greatest. I really have wonder how it would have been to be one of the disciples there with Jesus as he starts this journey to the cross. Which makes me wonder if in their fear they even heard the last part of what Jesus said, “and three days after being killed, he will rise again.” It seems as if it’s been all too hard so they have dismissed any idea of grasping the reality of what is to come.
I read somewhere - Fear does that. It consumes you. It narrows options and constricts your vision of the future. Fear saps hope and strangles the imagination. Fear renders us powerless. Fear overwhelms.
Fear of the future. Fear of being alone. Fear of harm, of hopelessness, of scarcity. Fear of never being accepted or loved or valued. Fear comes in all shapes and sized, and it can destroy possibility. It is in this sense, that fear, is the opposite of life…. So perhaps the disciples were just not yet in a place where they were ready to accept anything but greatness in this mission that they had embarked on with their Jesus, their teacher. Remember last week Peter has just identified Jesus as the one, the promised Messiah.
Now we know that Jesus came to save us, to set us free. To take on our fear. To face what we could not. To travel to the cross, alone if necessary, because everyone else is too afraid. We know that Jesus came to rescue us from the things that bind us: Sin and death and that Jesus brings salvation and hope- hope that there is something much more.
Amazing Grace vs 2: Was Grace that taught my heart to fear
And Grace, my fears relieved
How precious did that Grace appear
The hour I first believed…
As we begin to believe, our understanding turns around and our belief, our faith overcomes all fear. We can bring our fear to the cross, knowing that Jesus death is not final, but is the beginning of life eternal. So, we can bring our fear to the cross and leave it there for Jesus to deal with.
Years ago, I read a short story (and I wish I could find it again!) It went something like this:
There once was a village in the midst of Asia, where the people were all starving, life was frozen and the villagers could not hunt for food, fetch water or work in the fields. The reason was, that on top of the mountain behind the village was a huge and very fierce dragon.
Some of the strongest warriors had gone to see if they could fight the dragon, but to no avail, each returned saying- The dragon is too BIG. The dragon is too fierce. The fire coming out of its nostrils is too hot and its roar too ferocious. Each warrior would depart from the village with full armour and spears, bold and confident but before long they would be back, defeated and deflated. What could they do? How would the people in the village survive?
One day a young boy came forward and said to the King, “I will fight the dragon!” “You!” Said the king. “Why, you are only a boy, how can you fight the dragon?” But, the boy insisted and so the king agreed to let him go.
The boy left with only a small spear and a stick. The people shook their heads and laughed. “He’ll be back soon”, they said.
All day the boy climbed and he climbed. He could see the dragon, with fire out its nostrils but he didn’t give up, he climbed, higher and higher, closer and closer to the dragon. Until he got quite close…
The boy started to realise that the closer he came to the dragon, the smaller the dragon had become. Until he reached to top of the mountain and there was the dragon in front of him- it was the size of a large frog. He could pick it up in one hand. It was not scary at all.
He realised that the dragon is the pestilence, drought, fires, and other things in life that bind us and do not allow us to function freely as God intended.
You see, the dragon represents our fear! When we stand back and dwell on our fears, they get larger and more distorted. But, as we face our fear and journey with Christ to the cross, we see more clearly God’s sovereign love and goodness, we are therefore not bound and we can rise above our fear to victory and freedom.
Jesus, having mastered fear- leaving it with God, having born ours, having endured the fear of death and death itself by hanging on the cross, creates a new possibility. Perhaps we sometimes look at the gospel message like Jesus is the original super hero. But we need to follow the story more carefully to understand it. What Jesus does, finally, is die. He, yes, his human mortal body, is defeated by death, Yet God raises him from the dead. And it’s this promise, and this promise only, that allows him to master his fear and ours.
That is, Jesus conquers fear in the only way possible: by trusting the love, mercy and power of God. By trusting that the life God promises and gives, is greater than death. The only way through fear is by love and trust. And that’s what Jesus does, trusting in the love of God. And in doing that he makes it possible for us, also, to know and experience God’s love and find the ability to trust as well.
Therefore, when we realise this and then find ourselves in a place where we simply can’t accept what is right in front of us, and as I said earlier, I suggest we’ve all had a time like that, we can then walk on with confidence. Knowing that if we face our fear with God beside us, he will give us the calm of his peace. Below are the words of a modern version of Turn your eyes upon Jesus, I recommend that you read this through several times as part of your ponderings today and remember we are never alone, for God always journeys with us.
Prayer: Dear God, in our moments of fear, remind us of your love. Remind us of your grace. Remind us of your mercy and goodness and promise to bring us through all things. And when we struggle to believe and trust, remind us of Jesus, who went before us to lead the way. In Jesus’ name, Amen.