Losing In All Three Worlds

The Very Rev. Cynthia Kittredge and Dr. Steve Bishop laid down an almost unforgettable way of examining Holy Scripture during my first Bible class in seminary. They emphasized that three worlds exist when approaching a biblical text: the world behind the text, the world of the text, and the world in front of the text. The world behind the text refers to the world in which that passage was written. What were the writers thinking, believing, or even eating for dinner? The world of the text means the stand alone piece of literature. Is it poetry, a story, a recipe, a law, a prophecy, an instruction manual, or something else? Finally, the world in front of the text is the entirety of what the reader brings to that piece of scripture. What is going on in the news, in one’s life, and even what did one eat for breakfast? If one does not intentionally approach a piece of scripture these worlds can bleed into one another and one can inadvertently or maliciously co-opt God’s word to say some dangerous things. Or, at the very least one can miss the true depth of a passage. As we look at this coming Sunday’s Gospel, all three worlds cry out for attention—especially around the theme of giving up one's life.

Behind the text: The Gospel according to Mark is the shortest telling of the Good News of Jesus Christ. While we attribute it to John Mark (see Acts 12), modern scholars do not agree that he authored it alone. Context clues, namely the destruction of Jerusalem in chapter 13, a chaotic time filled with upheaval and loss, point to this being written before 66 CE, which would make it the earliest of the four Gospel accounts.

As to our specific text, the term messiah stands out as a particularly loaded one. At the time of writing, no standard set of criteria would have been agreed upon that depict the messiah—in much the same way as today it has multiple meanings. In other words, messiahship was a big blank canvas onto which people of the day would have flung their own personal hopes or dreams. One criteria though does seem almost universal when referring to the messiah and that is the ability to free God’s people. This leads us into the world of the text.

Of the text: When Peter identifies Jesus as the messiah, instead of John the Baptist, Elijah, or another prophet, he makes a bit of a leap. For while what Jesus had already done in Mark’s version of the story was fantastic, it did not line up with many people’s overarching definition of messiahship. There were many healers in the day—perhaps not as powerful as Jesus; however, a messiah was different.

At that point in Mark Jesus had begun to overturn the oppressive spiritual powers that held the People of God enslaved, but he had not yet made an impact on the political-religious power structure. Peter identifying that Jesus was the messiah would have been somewhat of a leap. Although Peter’s realization was profound and ahead of its time, we soon discover that Peter had his own beliefs about what it meant.

An important device to keep in mind within Mark’s storytelling finds its way into this section. Nothing in Mark happens in a vacuum—everything connects! Peter gets the answer correct, but misunderstands what true messiahship means. Jesus’ teaching about what the messiah must undergo flows from Peter’s proclamation and neatly folds into Jesus’ teaching about the ramifications of being a follower of the messiah.

Additionally the shift from specifically talking to the disciples about Peter’s misunderstanding of messiahship and broadening the audience to the larger crowds provides another layer to this story. As Jesus calls the crowds, he gives us one of the great paradoxical teachings of our Faith: “Those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life?” Jesus caps off the teaching referring to standing firm in one’s belief in him even in the face of persecution.

Right after this passage in the text, although six days later in actual time, Jesus will take Peter, James, and John up a high mountain to witness the Transfiguration. Many scholars put that mountaintop moment as the turning point in the story for when they come down they go to Jerusalem; however, as previously stated everything is connected in Mark’s storytelling. Without the difficult teaching on true discipleship, gaining life, and self-sacrifice the disciples and we might believe that following Jesus is only about mountaintop moments. This bit in Mark seemingly tells us that when we recognize the all-powerful messiah in our presence if we are to follow him it will not be about grandiose fanfare, privilege, or power. Rather, following Jesus the true messiah will require our lives whether we die for him or live for him. This fittingly enough brings us to the world in front of the text.

In front of the text: Our lectionary has done the preacher and the congregation no favors in laying out the last couple of Sundays. The Last Sunday of the Epiphany we were up on the mountain witnessing the Transfiguration. The First Sunday in Lent we jumped back to Jesus’ baptism and his being sent into the wilderness. Now we hop back to right before where we were on the Last Sunday of the Epiphany… come on! It feels a bit disjointed, but the preacher might be able to use it to her advantage. As the mountaintop moment may be fresh in the congregation’s mind, the preacher can then challenge the gathered body not to get stuck on the mountain. Of course, this theme and approaching loss more generally speaks to many elements of our current societal existence.

Many headlines today focus upon loss and suffering: another school shooting, another sexual assault, another political scandal, another environmental crisis, another explosion in the Middle East, and on and on and on. With all of the pain that scrolls along the bottom of our screens, pops up on our smart phones, or emanates from our car’s speakers we may feel maxed out on hardship, a sort of vicarious pain as we attempt to empathize with those around the world. If one’s heart feels calloused Jesus’ words about losing one's life may very well fall upon unsympathetic ears. So, a great challenge exists for the preacher this week.

Challenge: Approach this story, which touches upon lose in all three of the worlds surrounding the text, providing the congregation an opportunity for their hearts to be softened, their lives given up for Jesus’ sake, and the Good News of the Cross to be proclaimed. Jesus’ call to follow does not require one to intentionally seek suffering like some sort of masochist. However, standing up to the oppressive forces now just like long ago does require one’s life.