Who’s Your Lord?

Mark 6:1-13

Georgetown Presbyterian Church

July 9, 2006

Rev. Stephen H. Wilkins

As we work our way through the gospel of Mark this year, one of the things we discover is that, especially in the first half of the gospel, as people encounter Jesus, they walk away asking themselves, "Who is this man?" Who is this person Jesus who silences the demons and evil spirits? Who is this person Jesus who calms the storms in this world and our lives? Who is this person Jesus who gives comfort and healing in desperate times? These questions about Jesus will culminate in the question that Jesus will eventually ask of his disciples – who do you say that I am?

But the questions take on more than a hypothetical nature. As Mark writes the gospel, don’t you think that he’s asking us to apply the truths of who Jesus is to our own lives? Instead of just asking, "Who is this Jesus?", wouldn’t you agree that Mark is also challenging us to ask, "Is Jesus the one . . ." "Is Jesus the one to whom I turn to silence the evil in my life and enable me to overcome?" "Is Jesus the one to whom I turn to calm the storms in my own life?" "Is Jesus the one to whom I turn for comfort and healing in my times of deep personal need?"

There’s another question that arises out of the two stories in this morning’s gospel reading. Though the two stories are vastly different from one another, there is one common question that underlies them both. The question is a simple one: Is Jesus your Lord?

Who is in charge of your life? Who gives you your marching orders? Who is your Lord? That’s the basic question that Mark is posing to us this morning. Do you recognize and submit to the authority of Jesus?

Is Jesus your Lord?

It’s clear in today’s scripture lesson that not everybody is willing to give an affirmative answer to that question. Jesus returned to Nazareth, which was his hometown. It should have been a grand event, this small-town kid who has so quickly risen to prominence in religious circles. But instead of open arms, Jesus encountered stubborn opposition and rejection from his hometown crowd. "Who is this guy? Where did he get these high-falutin’ ideas? What’s this wisdom that’s been given to him, that he even does miracles? Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t he one of Mary’s boys? . . . And they took offense at him."

They took offense at him. Instead of proudly embracing Jesus with open arms, they turned their noses up at him. They rejected Jesus, plain and simple.

What is it that makes people reject Jesus? What is it that hardens the hearts of people and makes faith impossible?

For the people of Nazareth, it was familiarity with Jesus that made them reject him. "Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this the kid from Nazareth? Can anything good come from Nazareth? Familiarity has bred contempt.

What is it today that makes people reject Jesus?

I think that, deep down, people realize that to embrace Jesus and the Gospel will mean that they have to change their lives. That’s the whole point of the message of repentance that Jesus preaches. Repentance means turning around, doing a 180 in your life. Repentance means that you will leave an old way of life behind and embrace a new way of life.

In the Russian spiritual classic, The Way of a Pilgrim, the story is told of a promising young soldier who fell prey to the temptation of alcohol. His drinking became so bad that he was twice demoted. One day a monk came by the barracks seeking alms for the church. When he came upon the young soldier, the monk asked him, "Why are you so downcast?" The soldier shared about his troubles with alcohol. The monk nodded understandingly, and he offered this advice: "Whenever you feel the urge to drink, read a chapter of the Gospels. If the urge has not gone away after reading a chapter, then continue reading, a chapter at a time, until the urge goes away."

The first reaction of the young soldier was to protest and resist the advice of the monk. His resistance arose out of the recognition that the Gospel would call him to change his life, to give up an old way of life that he wasn’t entirely prepared to give up. Eventually the young soldier followed the advice of the monk, and his life turned around as a result.

Sometimes you will encounter resistance to the lordship of Jesus because people realize that submission to Jesus will mean that things must change, and they aren’t quite willing to make those changes or give up those things.

Maybe people reject the lordship of Jesus because they find the concept of lordship to be distasteful. Kind of like people who have those bumper stickers that say, "Question Authority."

About 20 or 25 years ago, a version of the lectionary was published called the Inclusive Language Lectionary. And some of the goals of that lectionary were good. For example, why should we always refer to "men", when the scripture reference is clearly aimed at people in general. So, verses like "Man does not live by bread alone" were changed to "One does not live by bread alone." It’s a good way to address all people.

But one of the changes that the publishers made really disturbed me. They decided to take away all references to "Lord", changing it to "Sovereign". Their reasoning was that "Lord" was an oppressive and hierarchical term that would offend people who had suffered under abuses of authority. Jesus is my friend. Jesus is my teacher. Jesus is Sovereign over all of creation. But should Jesus really be called Lord? That’s an awfully strong word, isn’t it? It means that Jesus must have an exclusive claim over your life, and maybe you’re not willing to make that commitment.

In this day and age, there’s a more subtle way of rejecting Jesus as Lord. Instead of outright rejection of Jesus, we’ve given him a makeover; we’ve redesigned Jesus to make him more acceptable to contemporary culture. Don’t you find it true that people try to fit Jesus into a neat little box, cutting out the parts they don’t like? That’s what Thomas Jefferson did, you know. As the story goes, he took a copy of his New Testament in one hand and a pair of scissors in his other hand, and he proceeded to cut out all of the things that hinted at the miraculous or supernatural.

Snip. Snip. No walking on water. Snip. Snip. No raising of Lazarus from the dead. Snip. Snip. No feeding of the 5,000. Pretty soon, what you have in the Jeffersonian version of Jesus is a fairly normal person who at the most exhibited superior wisdom.

This kind of reductionism continues today. I had a professor at the seminary who didn’t believe in the resurrection. He said that Jesus lives on in the hearts of those who believe in him, and that is the extent of how Jesus is resurrected. Snip. Snip. What’s the big deal?

Or maybe you’ve heard people say that Jesus was simply a great teacher and a superb moral example. Snip. Snip. Who needs the deity of Christ, anyway?

It seems that every time this text comes up in the lectionary cycle, it comes on the heels of yet another upsetting action of the General Assembly of our denomination. Just a couple of weeks ago the General Assembly received a study paper on the nature of the Trinity. Though the paper did not gain official approval, neither was it officially rejected. As it stands, it is a resource that will be made available for study. The language of the report set off lengthy debate, as the report encourages alternatives for referring to the Trinity as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Some of those alternative triads, which are never linked in Scripture as Trinitarian language, include: Rainbow, Ark and Dove; Overflowing Font, Living Water, and Flowing River; Sun, Light, and Burning Ray; Compassionate Mother, Beloved Child, and Life-Giving Womb... Doug Marlette, the political cartoonist, even weighed in on the debate: the alternative he offered in a post-Assembly cartoon was "Rock, Paper, and Scissors."

You can see what’s going on, can’t you? People who are offended by the masculine language of the Trinity have come up with ways to make "Trinity" more palatable; only, in the process, they have done away with the Trinity. Without explicitly saying that they have done so, they have rejected the revelation of Scripture and the tradition of the Church. The entire Godhead, including Jesus, has undergone a makeover.

Who is this man? Who’s your Lord?

Who’s your Lord? How you answer that question will determine how you perceive the mission of the Church. For our mission is given to us by the One to whom we submit as our Lord.

In the second half of the gospel lesson, Mark shows us that rejection of Jesus is not the only option. Jesus commands his disciples to embark on their first mission trip. They are sent out with nothing except the clothes on their back. They must trust that they will be provided for as they go from town to town. And through their obedience, the disciples demonstrate their acceptance of Jesus’ authority; they trust him implicitly, and they demonstrate their trust by their actions.

In just a few moments, we will celebrate the Lord’s Supper. To accept the elements of bread and cup means that you accept the Lordship of the One who instituted the meal, Jesus Christ. It means that we take our marching orders from Jesus Christ. It means that our mission and ministry is dictated, not by what we want or think best, but by the teaching and the imperatives of Jesus, as they have been revealed to us in the Bible.

But know this, as well. The Lord of the table is One who gave his life so that we might have life, and have it abundantly.

Friends, the fact is, Jesus Christ is Lord. The issue that we must decide is whether or not to accept that reality.

Who’s your Lord?