The Gospel isn’t meant to be gulped down on Sunday morning, but gnawed on through the week so it really becomes a part of us. You’ve got to work at it, like a dog with a good bone! Here’s the Gospel for this coming Sunday — Third Sunday After Pentecost — with food for thought on restoring to unity all people with God and each other in Christ. Gnaw away!

Mark 3:20-35

The crowd came together again, so that Jesus and his disciples could not even eat. When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.” And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.” And Jesus called them to him, and spoke to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.

“Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin” — for they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Then Jesus’ mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.” And he replied, “Who are my mother and my siblings?” And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my siblings! Whoever does the will of God is my sibling and mother.”

The Backstory – What’s Going On Here?

Jesus is already becoming quite a spectacle. He has performed healings and tangled with the Pharisees and cast out unclean spirits. Just before this passage, he has appointed the twelve “to be with him and to be sent out to preach and have authority to cast out demons.”

Jesus is proving to be a person of power on many levels, and when that happens, you make enemies. The scribes turn against him, trying to attribute his power to Satan. This accusation provides an opportunity for Jesus not just to deny this charge, but to also claim a unique status for himself. His family is not his biological mother and siblings … he belongs to all who do the will of God.

A few things to chew on:
*”No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.” Charles Baudelaire once said (and later quoted by Verbal Kint in the movie The Usual Suspects) “The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.” Evil exists. And if we are to be a part of Christ bringing in the kindom of God, we need to be able to name it and challenge it and rob it of its power. But we need to engage this process with great humility … because evil is subtle and easy to miss, and also because it is easy for us to demonize the Spirit — particularly when She is personally challenging to us. Another area where there is lots of prayer needed!

*”Here are my mother and my siblings!” — We have all heard it said that “blood is thicker than water.” Well what Jesus is saying here is that water (baptismal commitment to God and recognition that in God we are all one) is thicker than blood. These are some of the most difficult words in all of scripture. Think of what it was like to be his mother and siblings when word of it trickled outside the door to them! But this is not primarily a rejection of his own biological family … instead it is a strong statement that as followers of Jesus we must embrace one another with the same deep loyalty and fervor. And, like our own families, realize that this is a family of God’s choosing, not ours.

Try This:
Jesus says “a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand.” Division is a part of our brokenness as humanity. Certainly, Paul’s letters show us that from the earliest Christian community, division was alive and well (check out his letters to the Corinthians if you doubt that!). We are called to be a force for unity … but not just unity but unity in Christ. Unity in self-giving love.

First off, keep in mind the work of recognition will often result in us being called divisive – because the only way to reconciliation is to point out the divisions that already exist … and people who are either unaware of them or unwilling to recognize them will accuse us of being divisive just for pointing them out. So don’t confuse pointing out that division exists – an essential component to unity – with being a force for division.

Now, this week, take a few minutes at the beginning of each day to think about the relationships in your life — family, friends, church, work, school. Are there ways that you are a force for division there … or not challenging division that is happening? Are there ways that you are a force for unity in Christ there … or a force that is embracing our shared ministry of reconciliation.

Then invite God in prayer to use you as that force of reconciliation. And to give you the strength and courage to embrace that call.

“The worst thing to call someone is crazy. It’s dismissive.”

That headline is [2]a quote from comedian Dave Chappelle during his appearance a few years back on Inside the Actors Studio with James Lipton.

Chappelle, a brilliant and edgy comedian, famously quit his highly successful television career at the height of his fame and went to Africa and basically checked out of fame – until coming back into the spotlight a year or so ago.

People didn’t understand. Rumors spread that he was on crack (white people jump to that one a lot when people of color behave in ways white people don’t understand), that he had gone crazy. When really what he had done was to recognize that the environment he was in was toxic and make a choice for health, a choice for sanity.

When we are threatened, we are tempted to demonize.

We can be threatened by someone’s power. We can be threatened because we don’t understand someone. But whatever the cause, when we are threatened to demonize.

We demonize to dismiss. We demonize to take power away.

As Dave Chapelle says, “The worst thing to call someone is crazy. It’s dismissive.”

That’s what is happening to Jesus here.

…for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.”

Jesus is showing himself to be a person of great power – healing paralytics and the like. He is saying things that people don’t understand, challenging conventions about things like fasting and food laws.

There are two lessons for us in this.

The first is we need to be VERY slow to demonize anyone. If we feel threatened. If we feel challenged or confused, we need to first look to see if there isn’t the Holy Spirit at work … and maybe the point isn’t for us to demonize … but for us to listen, learn and be changed.

Are people out in the street screaming things you don’t understand? (“The whole damn system is guilty as hell!” “If we don’t get it, shut it down!” “No justice! No peace!”) Don’t immediately assume they are crazy. Maybe they are responding to an environment that is toxic. Maybe this is what sanity looks like when the world is crazy. Maybe our job is to listen and learn. Maybe our job is even to join them.

The second is that if we are to follow Jesus, we better get used to it, too. Because following Jesus means that great power will be flowing through us. And following Jesus means that we will be challenging conventions about all sorts of things.

As Aaron Sorkin wrote in [3]The West Wing episode “The Midterms about Charlie Young,” the black young man who was dating the president’s white daughter: “If they’re shooting at you, you must be doing something right.”

Jesus (predictably) responds brilliantly to the charge … let the results be the test. Jesus is casting out Satan … so if Jesus is of Satan, all of this will fail. But if Jesus is of God, all will stand.

That is our answer, too — in both instances. We look for the Holy Spirit in surprising and challenging places. We don’t jump to calling people crazy or demonic … and we don’t panic or let ourselves be dismissed when those charges are leveled at us.

We continue the work of the church, “restoring to unity all people with God and each other in Christ” … and we know that if our labors are true, by God’s grace, they will stand.

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Check out the rest of Sunday’s readings

The Lectionary Page has all of the readings for this Sunday and every Sunday.

Collect for Sunday: Pray this throughout the week as you gnaw on this Gospel.

O God, from whom all good proceeds: Grant that by your inspiration we may think those things that are right,  and by your merciful guiding may do them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Want to read more?
“The Text This Week” is an excellent online resource for anyone who wants to dive more deeply into the scriptures for the week.

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References

1. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114814/
2. http://www.hulu.com/watch/2160/inside-the-actors-studio-dave-chappelle-part-1
3. http://westwing.wikia.com/wiki/The_Midterms