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Reflections from our Pastors January 30, 2024
Mark 1:21-28
The sky is astounding,
beautifully blue.
It influences my breathing.
My breathing becomes slower and deeper.
I want to stay looking up,
absorbed in its watery hold,
letting its reflective brilliance enter me.
It brings me to commune with the tree roots,
the rabbit grooms
at the base of the evergreen
and I revel in the long shadow it casts
in winter’s late afternoon sun.
The melting ice cubes in my coffee
cozy up to each other,
nesting together diluting the morning’s cup.
Jesus, entering the synagogue, brings a similar energy. Jesus and his four muscular, burly, smelly fishermen come with an aura of calm and beauty. It is the energy of the Creator.
Jesus teaches and the scribes and people are astounded. His teaching is radical for sure and also because there is no ‘teaching’ yet at this time. Rather, the scribes present a text with multiple previous interpretations of it. They discuss and debate the interpretations, but no authoritative teaching. There wasn’t a rabbinical lineage yet.
To further emphasize his message and presence, Jesus expels a demon who professes for all to hear: ‘You are the Holy One of God.’ The scribes are shocked and afraid. They interrogate Jesus, “By what authority do you teach.” Jesus does not say who he is. In fact, he doesn’t make any claim. He is here with illiterate fishermen, his friends.
The scribes ask about Jesus’ Authority. For them, this is a totally legitimate question. Jesus comes espousing what looks like a new theology. Jesus says: ‘listen up and I will tell you how you will never thirst or hunger; how you will be free; how you will have life in abundance.’ Of course they ask: “On What Authority…?”
Why would the institution of centuries old beliefs and tradition change? While it is true that the Hebrews suffered persecution and lack of resources, they experienced and still under Roman rule, experienced slavery and oppression. They could say that “Our methods, worship style, and ways of processing give us some security even if we are not free. Now, you want us to listen to you, Jesus, give up overtaxing, give up our hard-earned prestige? Some of us actually have gold, good food, servants, and decent housing. We play the game well with the Romans.”
The scribes could add, “Of course, there are some who we reject because they don’t fit into the established framework: They are unclean, or too poor to pay taxes but we make them pay anyway, or they are sick and die from lack of clean clothes and food. There are those who we never want to see or hear from, and the 1000 crucified in Rome every day for political crimes, well, we really stay away from them! We want to remain in good standing with our oppressors. One of the scribes might say: “To be honest, in my heart, I don’t remember who I am. I don’t think my grandparents would be proud of me. But I can’t follow you as my model. I can’t see myself in solidarity with these others. I like my life and I’m not changing.”
So again, what do we do with this question ‘…By whose Authority?’ Maybe this is the right question for someone but not for Jesus. Maybe this is the wrong question for Jesus. It’s hard for anyone to grasp Jesus’ teaching that the Kin-dom of Heaven is here and now, not to mention the story of the Good Samaritan.
If we change the question from ‘by whose authority?,’ to something like ‘How is it you are so confident?,’ we find Jesus not answering the question but rather we find a person totally filled with the light energy and love energy of the Creator.
Jesus can influence our conscious awareness, transforming us through Light and Love. As we work on our own growth and development, we raise our awareness, deepen our stillness, increasing our connection to creation, moving us slowly toward personal integration -- that wholeness that Ilia Delio, OSF, talks about: a view of life that fosters the integration of science and religion; a fearless way forward that is open to change, allowing us to open our doors to a flexible and changing container for our religion when we see it needs be; a personal Way toward integrity, authenticity, and heart-centered love.
Jesus’ Way is asking us to reach ‘a particular level of human consciousness as the Kin-dom…’ This is Jesus’ gift, a gift freely given.
The sky is astounding,
Beautifully blue.
Brilliant as it floods.
It influences our breathing.
May we be blessed with openness to the free gift of Light and Love, only to give it away.
Rev. Jane
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