The Daily Office: 1st Week of Lent

Mon. – Mark 1:1-13
Tue. – Mark 1:14-28
Wed. – Mark 1:29-45
Thurs. – Mark 2:1-12
Fri. – Mark 2:13-22
Sat. – Mark 2:23-3:6

This week we begin the Gospel of Mark, which we're also studying in more depth in our Sunday Lenten series. And we'll continue through Mark throughout the five weeks of Lent before Holy Week.

As I said last night, there are two themes in tension in the first few chapters of Mark's Gospel: the building of community and response to opposition. Jesus begins his ministry by calling a community, starting with the two sets of brothers, Simon and Andrew, and James and John. He invites anybody, tax collectors and others dismissed as "sinners" into his community. He welcomes them as they are, warts and all. And only after he has provided that welcoming place does he begin to teach (1:21-22). The irony of building a welcoming community is that in trying to create community, Jesus encounters opposition "immediately." (Note the almost monotonous use of that word, along with "at once" in the Gospel. Why do you suppose Jesus is so urgent? What should we be more urgent about?)

Jesus definitely has opponents among the religious establishment. They question his authority (2:6-7). They accuse him of guilt by association (2:16-17). Finally they protest that he's breaking all the rules that have made life predictable and orderly (2:23-3:6). And of course, Jesus has an even bigger enemy: "And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan" (1:13). The Hebrew word, "Satan," means "accuser." And what Jesus encounters from the very beginning of this Gospel is accusation.

It seems a little contradictory to speak of community and welcome and inclusion while simultaneously gearing up for a fight. But Jesus did, and so do we. Is there a difference between disagreement and accusation? Can we honestly disagree with each other without accusing each other? If we are headed for a fight, what is it that you will fight for? Are you perhaps picking too many fights in your life and work? Lots of questions to think about. Perhaps the surest guide to navigating this tension is to ask the Marines' question: is this the hill I want to die on? Not fight on, but die on. Remember that by the world's standard of might making right, Jesus lost his battle. What battle are you willing to lose for the sake of love?

[The image, "Jesus in the Wilderness" is by Stanley Spencer]