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http://www.brenhambanner.com/articles/2011/11/30/news/news01.txt

Now that the budget super committee has failed, the Budget Control Act now calls for $1.5 trillion in budget cuts over the next 10 years.

At the same time, 46.2 million Americans are unemployed; 17.1 million are underemployed. 1 in 5 American children live in poverty. The poorest counties in the U.S. are rural. 14.5% of households struggle with food insecurity and 15 percent (45.8 million) receive food stamp assistance. Food stamp rolls have risen 8.1% in the past year alone. 1.6 million people are homeless, including nearly 135,000 veterans. The income gap between the top 1 percent and the bottom 99 percent, from 1979 to 2007, increased 275 percent.

Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security will be exempt from budget cuts. WIC, SNAP and other programs that help the poor will not be exempt. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) and The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) are a lifeline to millions of struggling & impoverished Americans. Developmental Assistance may be exempt. DA holds up the needs of poor people around the world: agriculture, malaria, etc. and amounts to 6/10 of one percent of the budget.

At the same time, there will be tremendous pressure to keep certain special interests exempt from budget cuts. There will be a significant campaign this next year to keep the military exempt. If this happens, all the other programs will bear the brunt of the budget balancing process. Every group that gets exempt from this point on, will hurt those living in poverty. More children will go hungry.

There are a lot of expensive, well-paid lobbyists that are tirelessly pressuring legislators on behalf of special interest groups. There are no expensive, well-paid lobbyists advocating for the poor. Who will speak for the poor, the widow and orphan? Who, in our society, will do what the Hebrew prophets did with the kings: demand justice for the poor?

If not us, then who?

Augsburg Confession

Article XVI: Of Civil Affairs.

Of Civil Affairs they teach that lawful civil ordinances are good works of God, and that it is right for Christians to bear civil office, to sit as judges, to judge matters by the Imperial and other existing laws, to award just punishments, to engage in just wars, to serve as soldiers, to make legal contracts, to hold property, to make oath when required by the magistrates, to marry a wife, to be given in marriage.

Dr. Robert Tuttle, Lutheran, lawyer and professor at George Washington School of Law, says this article is revolutionary for three reasons:

1. Gift: Government is viewed as a divine gift. Due to war, famine and black plague the death rate during the Reformation was astronomical. There was incredible social dislocation. Government’s role in addressing these needs is confirmed. We have also known social dislocation in our age. Consider Somalia. Liberia. Civil government Is a blessing, when it does what it should do. As a church we have a responsibility to support and pray for civic leaders, building up they vocation.

Luther: “God gives us food, house and home through civil rulers.” (Paraphrased from the Large Catechism)

Those who serve are called to difficult work. It’s a challenging vocation, wrought with uncertainty. Read Book 19 of Augustine’s “City of God.” We begin by respecting the difficulty of political judgements, and honor the vocation of those who serve in the public sphere.

2. Trust: Civil government is a gift, but it is also a trust. A trust, in legal terms, is a gift given for purposes and for beneficiaries. Limits are imposed.

One crucial limit of civil authority is that it does not have jurisdiction over religion. We have “secular” government. This does not mean religion and government do not speak to one another, just that they don’t have jurisdiction over one another. The church cannot dictate laws. The government cannot determine faith.

So we thank God or civil government, but we recognize that it is limited. Government does the work of God, but it does not reveal God or teach us about God. We must beware of the government tendency to use religion as a tool for its purposes. Nazi Germany is the most poignant example.

The authority of government lies in the consent of the governed, not by divine right. Religious institutions have a vibrant role. The church cannot make laws, but it must not be silent.

We acknowledge the accountability of religious institutions to civil law. Zoning, building regulations and so forth. The two kingdoms does not mean churches are exempt from the laws of the land. Sexual abuse is an excellent example. Tuttle, though, believes that the exemption of clergy housing allowance from federal taxation is unconstitutional. He bets it cannot and will not ever be litigated.

3. Duty of loyalty. Trustees have the duty of care and loyalty. With this comes great discretion. Courts will not intervene. Input from religious institutions on how to care is appropriate. Critique is fair.

The duty of loyalty is different. A crucial part of advocacy is calling those who serve to attend to those for whom they care. The church has a responsibility to speak for those who are least likely to be at the table. The rich and powerful have says to get their interests represented and needs met. The poor and powerless do not. The church has a particular responsibility to do this work.

Given that 1/5 children in the U.S. live in poverty, are we meeting our obligation to speak for the most vulnerable?

Come away with me to a lonely place…

Mark 6:31

This time of year I’m mindful of our brothers and sisters in Christ at Living Word, Katy, who have just returned from visiting dear friends at Iglesia Luterana Luz Divina, in Lima, Peru. Some of us have been going for twelve years, weeping with those who weep, rejoicing with those who rejoice, sharing our lives together. It is liminal space, a place apart.

Liminal Space. It’s the place where we get away. It’s the Israelites in the wilderness. Jesus in the desert. The disciples on the mountain. Paul in the wilderness. For many liminal space is summer camp, sabbatical, vacation, holiday travel to visit loved ones, retreat, continuing education, cultural immersion. It is a place apart, away from the routines and daily grind.

Liminal space gives us a great gift: perspective. It gives us a place to step away from our lives, and see them from outside. It is a place to dream. We can rethink ourselves, reinvent, recreate. All the great prophets got out of dodge. Some suggest there is no spiritual growth without liminal space.

Getting out of our cultural box changes us. We view our culture through the eyes of another. We see the strengths and the weaknesses of our own place in the universe. We are challenged and inspired. Although the forces of inertia are strong to pull us back into the familiar routines when we return, we cannot possibly return unchanged. The journey alters the course of our lives.

As you go into the place apart, find quiet. Listen for the life-changing voice of God.

Good and gracious God, you called Abraham and Sarah to leave the comforts of home and trust you in a place they did not know. As we journey from home and family, walk with us.

Give us eyes to see your Christ in the eyes of those we meet along the road.

Give us ears to hear the rustling of your Spirit.

Give us hearts to feel the challenge of being a stranger in a new land.

Give us courage to surrender to the experience.

May our hearts might be drawn to love what you love, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Giving is an incredible barometer of our spiritual health. Spiritually healthy people are generous people. Giving is an indicator of our priorities, what we worship, our gods. Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

We know this. We believe it. Giving is not about budgets. Its about faith. So, if the only time pastors preach on giving and generosity is during budget time, then we send the message that all this talk about generosity isn’t from a pastor who understands and cares about our spiritual lives, it’s really just about balancing an institution’s budget.

So, now that the fall stewardship campaign is over (for most churches), when are you clergy going to preach about giving next? Gonna wait ’til next fall?

Why not enjoy the freedom of preaching your heart out about giving an generosity, at a time when you’re not budgeting, or asking for anything?

For those who schedule their Sunday readings by the three-year Revised Common Lectionary, here are some times you might consider preaching and teaching on the joy of giving.

December – Yuletide is a great time to talk about giving. Christmas is the season of giving. People’s hearts are softened. Ebenezer Scrooge haunts us. Take a Christmas offering for a ministry beyond your walls. Tell the story of Saint Nicholas. It’s also year end. Some will receive bonuses and consider tithing from them. Others will consider year end gifts for tax purposes. Give them a chance to do something that will give them joy and serve the kingdom.

Lent – Almsgiving is one of the disciplines of Lent. Ash Wednesday we read from Matthew 6. Don’t worry about your life. God will take care of you. Seek first the kingdom and then everything else will be added unto you.
The importance of repentance is a strong theme in Lent. Return to the Lord your God. Change your ways, your priorities. Lent 3B is the Cleansing of the Temple. Jesus isn’t upset with money in church. In fact he will prasie the widow who puts two pennies in the offering. Instead he is criticizing the Temple sacrificial system. The money is being used to purchase animals to be sacrificed, rather than supporting the priests, the poor, the widow, orphan and alien. This may be a great time to talk about our spending priorities as a church and as families.

Mother’s Day – On this day most (not all) people reflect on how much their mothers gave them. It’s a great day to talk about giving, using the image of the sacrificial mother. No, its not a religious festival, but it will be on 90% of your congregation’s minds. While some can’t have kids, and some choose not to, everyone had a mother, and a good mom, a loving mother is a great example of caring for those who can’t care for themselves. The text is John 15: This is my commandment, that you love one another, and bear fruit.

June 24 – We have 2 Corinthians 8 as our epistle, where Paul talks about the offering for the saints in Jerusalem. He brags on the Macedonians who are yearning to give even though they are poor. In the kingdom of God, even the poor give to the poor.

July 22 – We read the Feeding of the Five Thousand on this Sunday. This story exemplifies God’s providence. The miracle of one boy’s generosity multiplies the resources. You have four weeks of “bread” texts. Why not use the first to talk about the joy of generosity?

September 9 – Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23 says, “Those who are generous are blessed, for they share their bread with the poor.”

November 11 – The widow places two copper coins in the Temple treasury. Jess teaches about proportionate giving. She offers very little, but gives the most, because it’s 100%.

Thanksgiving – This is a great time to talk about giving. We give because we have an attitude of gratitude. When we are filled with an overwhelming sense f gratitude, our natural instinct is to give.

This Sunday the gospel reading consists of the first eight verses of the Gospel of Mark. Here you have it:

The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

²As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,

 “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, 

who will prepare your way;

³the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:

‘Prepare the way of the Lord,

make his paths straight,’”

⁴John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. ⁶Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. ⁸I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

 Before we dive into Mark’s gospel and pull it apart piece by piece, it might be good to step back and look at the whole. Here are a couple of outlines.

 Mark Outline

 This is an outline of Mark’s gospel that I have used over the years, adapting it to various needs and group Bible studies. I honestly don’t know where it comes from. I probably robbed several New Testament scholars, renaming things along the way to help me get my mind around the gospel.

There are many outlines of Mark out there. Some are very long and detailed, allowing the reader no perspective on the whole. Some draw the lines in different places. For example, some outlines place 1:14-15 in the first section, as a summary of the preface. Others place 1:14-15 in the second section, as an introduction to Jesus’ Galilean ministry. At the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter. The goal is simply to “see” the scope of the gospel: its plot and movement.

The value of an outline is the ability to see the sweep of the entire book. In Mark, that sweep moves us gracefully from Jesus’ ministry up north in Galilee, to his Judean ministry, then crucifixion and resurrection.

A few interesting things

• Mark uses the phrase “and immediately 42 times.”
• Mark never uses the word “law.”
• Only mark gives the healing phrases of Jesus in the original Aramaic: talitha cum and ephphatha.
• In Mark, Jesus is a carpenter (6:3). In Matthew he is the carpenters’ son.
• In Mark (6:3) Jesus names his brothers and mentions his sisters.
• In Mark, the disciples can carry a staff and sandals. In Matthew and Luke they cannot.
• Jewish customs are explained for an apparently Gentile audience.
• Jesus declares all foods clean (7:19)

 Outline of Mark

I.                    Introduction (1:1-13)

The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

1. The beginning of the Good News: Forerunner John the Baptist (1:1-8)
2. Jesus’ Baptism (1:9-11)
3. Jesus’ Temptation (1:12-13)

 II.                  The Ministry of the Hidden Messiah in Galilee (1:16-8:26)

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee… 

A. The beginning of the Galilean ministry (1:14-15)
B. The Call of the Four (1:16-20)
C. Exorcisms and Healings in Capernaum
D. More Healing, and Conflict Stories (2:1-3:6)

E. Parables (4)
F. More Healing Miracles (5 and 7)
G. Double Tradition:

6:30-7:37                                      8:1-26

1. Feeding 5,000                    Feeding 4,000
2. Crossing the Lake             Crossing the Lake (8:10)
3. Debate with Pharisees  Debate with Pharisees
4. Healing                                 Healing

III.                Journey to Jerusalem (8:27-10:52)

Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi… 

A. Gradual Revelation of Suffering

(Predictions: 8:31, 9:31, 10:32-34)

B. Pattern 3x

1. Prediction
2. Response
3. Instructions
4. Complementary Material

IV.                Hidden Messiah to Jerusalem (11:1-13:37)

When they were approaching Jerusalem… 

A. Judgment in Action (11:1-26)
B. Judgment in Words (11:27-12:37)
C. The Little Apocalypse (13:1-37)

V.                  Passion and Resurrection (14-16:18)

It was two days before the Passover and the festival of Unleavened Bread. 

A. Jesus Prepares for His Departure (14:1-42)
B. Jesus’ Arrest and Trial (14:43-15:20)
C. Jesus Crucifixion and Burial (15:21-47)
D. Jesus’ Resurrection, Appearances and Ascension (16:1-8, alternative ending)

Contents of Mark’s Gospel

 For some, rather than an outline that attempts to identify the structure of the gospel, for some, a list of the contents may be more helpful. I started with http://bibleencyclopedia.net/index.php/Gospel_Of_Mark  but found http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_Mark to be more thorough.

Galilean ministry

• John the Baptist (1:1–8,6:14–29)
• Baptism of Jesus (1:9–11)
• Temptation of Jesus (1:12–13)
• Return to Galilee (1:14)
• Good News (1:15)
• Calling Simon, Andrew, James, John (1:16–20)
• Capernaum (1:21–39)
• Leper and Paralytic (1:40–2:12)
• Calling of Matthew (2:13–17)
• On fasting and wineskins (2:18–22)
• Sabbath observance (2:23–3:6)
• Multitude at the Sea of Galilee (3:7–12)
• Commission of the Twelve (3:13–19,6:7-13)
• Blind mute (3:20-26)
• Strong man (3:27)
• Eternal sin (3:28-30)
• Jesus’ true relatives (3:31-35)
• Parable of the Sower (4:1–9,13-20)
• Purpose of parables (4:10-12,33-34)
• Lamp under a bushel (4:21–23)
• Mote and Beam (4:24-25)
• Growing seed and Mustard seed (4:26–32)
• Calming the storm (4:35–41)
• Demon named Legion (5:1–20)
• Daughter of Jairus (5:21–43)
• Hometown rejection (6:1–6)
• Feeding the 5000 (6:30–44)
• Walking on water (6:45–52)
• Fringe of his cloak heals (6:53–56)
• Clean and Unclean (7:1–23)
• Canaanite woman’s daughter (7:24–30)
• Deaf mute (7:31–37)
• Feeding the 4000 (8:1–9)
• No sign will be given (8:10–12)
• Beware of yeast (8:13-21)
• Healing with spit (8:22-26)
• Peter’s confession (8:27–30)
• Son of Man (8:31-33, 9:30-32, 10:33-34)
• Those who want to follow should pick up a cross (8:34-37)
• Return of the Son of Man (8:38-9:1,14:62)
• Transfiguration (9:2–13)
• Possessed boy (9:14-29)
• Teaching in Capernaum (9:33-50)

 Journey to Jerusalem

• Entering Judea (10:1)
• On divorce (10:2–12)
• The Little Children (10:13-16)
• Evangelical counsels (10:17–31)
• On the road to Jerusalem (10:32)
• Son of man came to serve (10:35–45)
• Blind Bartimaeus (10:46–52)

Events in Jerusalem

• Triumphal entry into Jerusalem (11:1–11)
• Cursing the fig tree (11:12–14,20-24)
• Temple incident (11:15–19,27-33)
• Prayer for forgiveness (11:25-26)
• The Wicked Husbandman (12:1–12)
• Render unto Caesar… (12:13–17)
• Resurrection of the Dead (12:18-27)
• Great Commandment (12:28–34)
• Teaching the crowd (12:35-40)
• Lesson of the widow’s mite (12:41-44)
• Olivet discourse (13)
• Plot to kill Jesus (14:1-2,10-11)
• Anointing (14:3–9)
• Last Supper (14:12–26)
• Peter’s denial (14:27-31,66-72)
• Arrest (14:32–52)
• Before the High Priest (14:53–65)
• Before Pilate (15:1–15)
• Crucifixion (15:16–41)
• Joseph of Arimathea (15:42–47)
• Empty tomb (16:1–8)
• The Longer Ending and Resurrection appearances (16:9-20)
• Great Commission (16:14–18)
• Ascension (16:19)

So now let’s go back to the introduction.

Luther Seminary professor emeritus Paul Berge points out that the first sentence of this gospel has no verb. He points out that this is probably Mark’s way of putting a title on his gospel. Keep in mind that Mark was written in Greek, with all capital letters, no punctuation, and no spaces between the words. This complicates things. You might not think it matters that much, but onsider this phrase:

GODISNOWHERE

What does it say? Does it say, “God is now here.”? Or does it say, “God is nowhere.”? You could have two completely opposite interpretations, depending on how you divide the words. We know there is interpretation going on in the very act of translation, but keep in mind there is also interpreting going on even before translation begins, in the dividing of the text into words, and then the words into sentences and paragraphs, and inserting punctuation. By the time we are looking at Nestle’s Greek text, it has already been divided into words, put in lower case letters and filled with punctuation.

Someone once asked in a Bible study if their deceased loved one was in heaven right now. A member of the study quoted Jesus’ words from the cross, “Truly I tell you today you will be with me in paradise.” Ah, but where do you put the comma? Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”? Or “Truly I tell you today, you will be with me in paradise.”? One indicates they’ll be in paradise today. In the other, Jesus is simply saying it today, that at some undefined time in the future they’ll be in paradise.

Enough of this tangent. The thief doesn’t even appear in Mark’s account. My point is that the gospel writer would not boldface and center his title giving a space in between. The missing verb clues us in that this is the title of his gospel:

The Beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God

This is just the beginning. Son of God, yes, but throughout most of Mark’s gospel, Jesus will be the Son of Man, a clear statement of the theology of the church from a very early gospel. Jesus is truly human, truly divine. “Son of God” only appears four times in this gospel, I believe (1:1, 3:11, 5:7 and 15:39). The last one I consider to be the climax of the gospel. In 1:1 the author clues us in that Jesus is the Son of God. The second two references are by unclean spirits. No human person in the narrative recognizes Jesus as the Son of God until the very end, and there it is a pagan. The Roman centurion at the cross, after witnessing, no overseeing the crucifixion of gentle, humble, innocent man – after seeing how he died – the Roman centurion is the one to confess who Jesus is: “Truly this man was the Son of God!” Not just king of the Jews, as the authorities had posted above his head, as a sign of his insurrection, but Son of God. Sorry to be a spoiler, but I’m banking on the assumption that you’ve all read this short gospel.

I strongly recommend, if you are teaching or preaching on this gospel this year, sit down and read it straight through from beginning to end in one sitting. One feels more clearly the scope and content of the gospel. This is how it was meant to be read anyway.

I better not close without a few words about John the Baptist. John was an ascetic, living a kind of monastic lifestyle. Jesus ate and drank with sinners. John preached a baptism of water, with repentance. He made it clear that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit. Read a power that goes beyond repentance and purity.

I like John because he points to Jesus. In the famous altarpiece painting by the German artist Matthias Grunewald at Isenheim of the crucifixion, John the Baptist is pseudo-surrealistically painted into the scene. He is, of course, dead, so this is a marvelous work of dialectical art. John points to Jesus with an over-sized finger. “Him.”

The preacher might consider ways in which our lives point to Christ. Do our ministries point to Christ? Or to us? Do they say, “See how wonderful we are?” or “See how wonderful Christ is?” How might we, like the moon, reflect the light of the sun? Luther said we are all “little Christs.” How might we, as a means of preparing for Christ’s coming, more fully reflect the glory of the gospel in the face of Christ, just as the glory of the law was reflected in the face of Moses?

Today was a touching day. Our air conditioning went out. I called the AC guy.

We’ve used Jack Gordon and Sons for over ten years. Here’s why.

In 2001 Felix Lamar lay dying. It was a dark and stormy night in June I think. It was pouring. It was late. It was me, Felix, his wife Margaret and a hospice nurse in their tiny home in the woods. These were the pre-GPS years, and their tiny house was so deep in the woods even EMS had trouble finding it.

Inside the house Felix was no longer communicating. The end was near. He was gasping. But we were all distracted, because water was pouring through the ceiling into the house. We had positioned pans under the drips, and had to keep and eye on them, emptying them regularly. I have no craftsmanship abilities whatsoever, but since I was the only conscious man in the house, I was appointed to look and see what could be done. Pastors have weird, eclectic jobs. I got a ladder and pushed up through a hatch in the ceiling. In the glow of the flashlight I could see that the roof was not leaking. The AC was. With a sigh, I came down the ladder and started calling.

It was a Sunday night. Everybody was closed. I got a few answering services, but no one would come out. After a long time and a lot of calls, as I was about to give up, we got a call back from Kirk Gordon, one of the sons in Jack Gordon and Sons. He said he’d come out. We were so relieved, and emotionally spent, we laughed, and cried. Kirk showed up not long thereafter.

He quickly identified the culprit. The AC drain was plugged, and the drip tray was overflowing. It didn’t take him long to fix things up and give the AC a once over. As he was working, he could see out of the corner of his eye the drama that was playing out that night in this house. Perhaps AC guys have eclectic jobs too. On his way out, I slipped him my card and told him to send the bill directly to the church. He shook his head and said, “Nah. There won’t be any bill.” And with that, he disappeared into the darkness and rain toward his truck.

Felix died that night, June 5, 2001. His wife Margaret and I shared coffee many mornings as she tried to decide if life was still worth living. She was born in 1917. They had been married over 60 years. Members of Grace Lutheran Church in Houston, then Grace Lutheran Church in Conroe. She lived long enough to see me become bishop. She received the news with joy and sadness. And then she died, having reached 90 and something.

I’ve used Jack Gordon and Sons since then. You can’t put a price on integrity. I’ve told many people this story over the years. I’ve recommended them every time. If you live up by Lake Conroe, give them a call.

So imagine my delight when Kirk Gordon pulled up into my driveway this afternoon, ten years later. We talked about that night. He remembers it, what was wrong with the AC, what was going on. The memories brought tears to my eyes, taking me back ten years — memories of Felix and Margaret long gone flashed back.

And then I cried again when he told me I needed a new evaporator coil.

Youth from Grace Conroe visit Margaret Lamar in her home.

Gospel of Mark  

Isaiah 64:1-9 

Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19
1 Corinthians 1:3-9

Mark 13:24-37 

This Sunday is Advent I, the first Sunday of the new church year. We say goodbye to a year of Matthew and move into a year of Mark with snatches of John.

I’d like to use this first post of the new church year to take a bird’s eye view of the second canonical gospel. I believe each gospel writer gives us a specific “lens” on Jesus and the gospel. Mark has a unique perspective.

Mark does not, however, have many unique stories. Of the 660 verses in Mark’s gospel, 600 are copied into to Matthew or Luke. Matthew and Luke have their own points to make of course, and use the stories differently than Mark.

I like to date the canonical gospels like so. These are approximations, but they help me make sense of things:

Mark: 70 A.D.

Matthew: 80 A.D.

Luke: 90 A.D.

John: 120 A.D.

John might be a bit earlier, but I favor the later dating personally. A small group of curmudgeons still argue for the priority of John, but scholarly consensus places the vocabulary and theology of John firmly in the second century.

We have no originals, only copies. Our earliest complete copy of any gospel is dated 150 A.D. Or later. Ironically, the oldest fragment we have is of John. It is a scrap about 2.5 x 3.5 inches discovered in the Egyptian market in 1920. It has a few Greek words from John 18:31-33. The words can barely be made out. On this oldest copy of a gospel, hauntingly, Pilate asks, “What is truth?”

The Gospel of Mark is an anonymous document. From the standpoint of internal evidence, we must admit we do not really know who the author is.  No copies of this gospel identify Mark as the author.

Externally though, there is plenty of support. Markan authorship was suggested beginning early in the 2nd century. The first person to suggest Mark was the author of this gospel was Papias in 130 A.D. Then it is mentioned by Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Origen, and Jerome. Papias says that Mark is writing down Peter’s recollections, though he says they are not in chronological order. Justin says basically the same, that Mark is writing Peter’s memoirs. This tradition of Markan authorship is plausible. There would be no motive to assign authorship to Mark. If they were going to make it up, they would have ascribed it to Peter directly, or one of the other apostles. As it turns out, there actually is a gospel assigned to Peter. More on that in a moment.

Matthew is not mentioned until Justin in 150 A.D. Irenaeus is the first to know all four of our canonical gospels. Helmut Koester (a student of Rudolph Bultmann), in his book, “From Jesus to the Gospels: Interpreting the New Testament in it’s Context,” one of my favorite reads from this past year, reminds us that the sayings of Jesus from Ignatius (110 A.D.), Papias (130 A.D.), Polycarp and Marcion (140 A.D.), and Justin Martyr (150 A.D.) are technically older than the canonical gospel quotes we have.

And then the apocryphal gospels complicate things even more. Here are some of the other gospels:

Gospel of Peter

Gospel of Thomas

Infancy Gospel of Thomas

Gospel of the Egyptians

Gospel of the Hebrews (Mentioned by Clement of Alexandria)

Secret Gospel of Mark

Gospel of the Nazoreans

Gospel of the Ebionites (Irenaeus says the Ebionites used Matthew)

Protevangelium Jacobi

Gospel of Mary (disc 1896, pub 1955, 2nd C. Fragmentary)

Gospel of Truth (quotes Matt.)

There are more. All in all we have about two dozen gospels. These above are those mentioned or quoted in the second century.

Koester ups the ante, stretching us: In The Gospel of Thomas 17, Jesus says, “I shall give you what no eye has seen and what no ear has heard and what no hand has touched and what has never occurred to the human mind.” Paul quotes this in 1 Corinthians 2:9, indicating to his readers that it is scripture. What is Paul quoting? Does Paul have Thomas? Is he quoting Thomas?  Does he have Q (a collection of Jesus’ sayings that we know existed but is now lost)? Are Thomas and Paul quoting from the same source (Q?)? Do they consider it Scripture with a capital “S”?

The Gospel of Thomas also has quotes strikingly familiar: “Come unto me, for my yoke is easy, and my lordship is mild, and you will find rest for yourselves.” (Gospel of Thomas 90) Since most scholars date Thomas before John, it appears John is either quoting Thomas’ gospel as authoritative, or more likely, they are both copying another source we no longer have.

A previously unknown gospel was discovered in 1935, Papyrus Egerton 2. It has sayings of Jesus that are similar to the canonical gospels but clearly not quoted from them. This gives us a window into the mysterious pre-canonical sources for Jesus’ sayings that Matthew, Luke and John seem also to be quoting. There may be more than one source. Koester calls them the “free sayings of Jesus.”

In my mind I have always thought of the gospel writers’ quoting Jesus as more authoritative than Paul’s quoting Jesus. Get this out of your head. Paul is temporally closer to the events than the gospel writers who are penning things decades later.

Matthew, Mark and Luke known by Polycarp and Papias in Asia minor and Greece. John is not mentioned until the end of the second century (Melito of Sardis). Irenaeus (also from Asia Minor) knows all 4 canonical gospels by the end of the second century. Justin knows and quotes the apocryphal gospels. Egypt knows John, Thomas, Egyptians, Hebrews, Secret Mark, Protevangelium Jacobi.

The Gospel of Thomas has been known to exist for centuries, because it was mentioned and quoted so often, but we had no copy until in 1945 some farmers discovered 13 Coptic books buried in an earthenware jar in Nag Hammadi, a town half way down the Nile in Egypt. Scholars cried to have the first (and still the only) complete copy of Thomas. After looking it over, scholars realized for the first time that we had fragments of Thomas all along. They were known as “Fragments of an unknown gospel.”

It will be fun to preach from Mark this year imagining that we are hearing Peter’s memoirs. If these are the recollections of the dying chief apostle, from where are they written? The popular view is Rome. Irenaeus says Mark is written in Rome, but some suggest this is guesswork on Irenaeus’ part, based on 1 Peter 5:13: ”Your sister church in Babylon, chosen with you, sends you greetings, and so does my son Mark.”

If Rome, why Greek and not Latin? The gospel reflects Palestinian concerns. Some scholars prefer Antioch for provenance. The date of 70 A.D. is preferred because Mark mentions events in the siege of Jerusalem (66-70 A.D.), most notably in Mark’s “Little Apocalypse” in chapter 13, from which we read this Sunday.

Mark 13:24 points to the end of the world and the messianic return, which Mark says will happen a short time after this destruction (the Temple). Josephus says the Temple was on fire during the final assault. The messiah will come “on the clouds” in this interval between the destruction of the Temple and the end of the world. Mark’s community is living in this short interval time. How long will this short internal be? When will the end come? Soon, is Mark’s response. Just like you know summer is just about here when the fig tree bears leaves, so you can know that since Jerusalem has been destroyed, it’s time for the second coming.

Apparently the interval is not as short as Mark thought. Nevertheless, Mark gave himself a loophole: No one really knows, not the angels, and not even the Son. From this, by the way, I read a lower christology in Mark.

The little apocalypse probably is a key to understanding Mark (and Peter’s? and Jesus’?) theology. He reflects the early church’s consensus that the end was comin in their lifetime. Mark thought so. So did Paul, by the way. Recall that Paul said, when Christ returns, the dead in Christ would rise first, and then “we who are still alive” would be second, meeting them in their air.

Advent was at its heart, a season to keep alive the messianic expectation. Stories abound about absentee landlords, who go away and are likely to return any moment. They tease out how that landlord will respond upon finding them goofing off, misbehaving, burying talents and generally not being “alert.” Advent was not originally preparation for celebrating Christ’s birth. In fact, the startling thing in reading the Church Father’s Advent sermons is there is little to no mention of Christmas. It’s about being ready for the second coming.

Still, whether preparing for Christmas or the second coming, the theme of preparing is clear. The preacher might reflect on how we prepare to meet Christ. Let’s Draft our obituaries. Ponder what you might like the speaker to say at your funeral. How you live now, the choices your are making right this minute are shaping that eulogy. My son and I watched a show this week in which Stephen Hawking assured us that the sun wasn’t schedule to do the things Mark describes for a few more million years.  Attending a funeral this week of someone who died too young, I was reminded that regardless of timing of the end of the world, we are, everyone one of us, only a short time from meeting our Maker. A few decades at the most. Probably less. Maybe today. You don’t know what hour, like a thief in the night. Are you ready?

http://www.chron.com/neighborhood/cyfair-news/article/Church-invites-local-families-2270851.php