Proper 5B + It’s all forgiven + 6.6.21 + Alene Campbell-Langdell (Guest post)
It’s all forgiven
All Saints’ Oxnard
Proper 5B, Mark 3, 1 Samuel 8, Psalm 138
The Rev. Alene Campbell-Langdell
One of
my favorite scenes in the book by C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the
Wardrobe, shows Aslan, the lion instantly recognized by all familiar with
the Gospels as a symbol of Jesus, entering the castle of the wicked queen. This queen had held the creatures that
populated this fantasy land under her power for so long that no one really
remembered any other possibility. There
were a few legends and prophecies about things being made right, but so many
generations had lived and died under the queen’s rule of terror and oppression
that no one could really imagine anything different. Then Aslan comes along and inspires a few
people and creatures to fight back, and while the queen is busy putting down
that rebellion, Aslan enters the queen’s own house. One of the ways the queen has kept her
subjects under her power all this time is by turning anyone who objects, anyone
who dares to speak of a different kind of rule, into stone. Thus, her house is full of stone statues that
used to be living, breathing beings. As
Aslan enters this cold, dead world, he begins to breathe life into each of
these statues, frozen in their one act of hope, of daring to believe that
things could be different. What follows
as Aslan breathes these statues back to life is complete and utter chaos…and
exuberant joy. There’s a younger lion bouncing
around trying to tell everyone what to do and a gentle giant who comes very
close to stepping on all of the little creatures running around his feet. It’s a crazy scene and probably not so far
off from the description we get in the gospels of the crowd around Jesus.
We are
told that the crowd was so large that Jesus and his disciples had trouble
finding space or time to eat. The crowd
was pushing and clamoring for healing, a release from the bondage of mind,
body, and spirit that had held them for so long they couldn’t remember things
ever being any different. They couldn’t
remember a world where you weren’t defined by the color of your skin or the
family you grew up in. They couldn’t
remember a world that wasn’t divided between rich and poor or where a label,
diagnosis or orientation could make you an outcast for life. And then the breath of God’s Spirit began to
flow through them, breaking religious rules that had bound rather than freed,
opening up new forms of family and belonging, and inviting those who had lived
on the outside into the center of the action.
In Lewis’ story, those newly enlivened
creatures are quickly formed into an army that destroys the queen and her
oppression and brings about a new kingdom where no one is turned into stone or
forced into slavery. And that is rather
the point of the Gospel of Mark. In the
opening chapter, Jesus’ message is summarized as “the kingdom of God has come
near” (Mark 1:15). And this is context in which we should hear Jesus’ response
to those who fear the chaos and disruption that is happening. “If a kingdom is dived against itself, that
kingdom cannot stand…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” (Mark 3: 24, 27). We, who were once stuck in the same repeating
nightmare, have caught a glimpse of something different. And yes, it will be chaotic, and your family
may think you’re crazy, but there is joy and healing and new life. But, just like those newly enlivened statues
in the queen’s hall in Narnia, our healing is not for our sake alone. You have been enlisted to take back the world
from the powers that seek to enslave and destroy. You have been healed in order to bring that
healing to others: one act of kindness, one prayer for healing, one march for
justice at a time.
And yes,
there will be controversy. Jesus’ family
thought he was crazy and tried to forcibly stop him from doing his work. The religious leaders labeled him a deviant[1],
and tried to convince the crowd that the healing they were experiencing was
actually evil. Something all too
familiar to those who have been told that loving is a sin. Jesus’ response is to remind us that we have
a new family and to give a solemn warning about the destructive nature of
seeing something objectively good and refusing to accept as such. Too many people hear this passage and fear
that they have accidentally separated themselves from God for eternity. But notice that Jesus is careful not to even
lock the scribes who are accusing him into the label of “blasphemer.” Instead, Jesus points out the danger of
labeling someone or something as evil simply because God’s action in the world
doesn’t meet our expectations. It is our
refusal to see and accept what is good that separates us from the One who is
Good. Later in Mark, the disciples will
very proudly come to Jesus and say, “We saw someone casting out demons in your
name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us” (Mark
9:38). Jesus’ response is the famous, “Whoever
is not against us is for us” (Mark 9:40).
Psychologists
tell us that we are genetically wired as humans to focus on the negative and
the potential threat in our lives to the exclusion of all that is good, and
joyful and positive. There is a safety
aspect to this. If one is about to be
hit by a car, it is very important to be alert and react to the danger that
that car presents. However, we can
become so focused on that moment with the car (and what might happen with other
cars) that we quit the seeing the beauty in the world around us. Therapists working with people suffering from
anxiety see this often. The person will
become stuck in the fear and anxiety they felt during a particular situation or
at a particular moment in their lives. One
of the ways of working with that is to ask them, “What happens next?” They are invited to finish the story and
realize that the horrible thing they experienced is not the end of the
story. The crucifixion is not the end of
the story. Christ is risen. Our bodies deteriorating is not the end of
the story. Instead, Paul says, it points
us to eternal life. The king who does
exactly what Samuel warns the people he will do, and forces them and their
children into giving up their wealth and their lives for the sake of the ruler,
is not the end of the story. God takes
the royal line of Israel and ushers in a new way of life through a descendant
of King David. And Jesus, before warning of the possibility
of separation from what is good, makes a truly startling declaration, which I
think the RSVP doesn’t make as clear as some other translations, so let me read
it to you from the Message version, “There’s nothing done or said that can’t be
forgiven” (Mark 3:28). Everything is
forgiven. Let that sink in. You are free.
You are free to make mistakes.
You are free to not always know what is right. Breathe in the Spirit. Look around you and see that the story is not
done. You have been invited to join in
God’s healing work and to be part of the resurrection. You are forgiven. You are free.
Will you join God’s work in healing the world? Will you help finish the story?
[1] For
more on “Deviance Labeling” in the Gospels see Malina and Rohrbaugh, Social
Science Commentary on the Synoptic Gospels, 2nd Ed (Fortress
Press: Minneapolis, 2003), pp 352-353.
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