Mark: Introduction

Spirituality for Ordinary Folks

The Christian life is just that; it is a life. It is not a life for specialists, although we have them all around us. Pastors, church officials (high and low), missionaries, musicians, educators, leaders of various kinds, monks, evangelists, authors, and the like, tend to make it appear as though those in "fall time service," have an edge on the rest of us. Very often we listen to the advice of these people, read their books, hear their tapes, and assume they know what they are talking about. While that can be helpful to our relationship with God, sometimes that assumption can be dangerous if we follow blindly!

But life with Christ or in Christ, as it is various described in St. Paul's writings, is a common life, meant not for the privileged alone but for every woman and man and every child who has understanding. A person may wear special garb and intone carefully crafted prayers, and I am not taking pot shots here, and yet have no more relationship with God, and maybe less, than a sincere uneducated person in the deepest "holler" in the mountains of West Virginia or Kentucky. St. Paul hinted as much in his letter to the Christians at Corinth when he wrote,

^20d Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹ For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. ²²For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, ²³ but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, ²⁴ but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵ For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength. ²⁶ Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. ²⁷ But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; ²⁸ God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, ²⁹ so that no one might boast in the presence of God. ³⁰ He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, ³¹ in order that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord." (1 Corinthians l:20d-31)

Paul's words come as comfort to many of us because we hear in them a ringing endorsement of what it means to be an ordinary human. A couple of my neighbors, who are electricians, were at our home checking out the power problems we had during the recent ice storm. Just as they began to tie off the main power lines in an attempt to avoid damage to the conduit at the house, it started raining like crazy, with hail mixed in for good measure. We all ran for the back door to get inside in order to keep from getting wetter than we were. In about a minute the rain abruptly stopped and we were able to go back to work, and kept at it until we were finished. One of my neighbors said, "You must have said a quick prayer to get the rain to stop." I told him I did not have any special connection with divine power. Then he said, with a grin, "You're human just like the rest of us, aren't you?"

This is what the quote from Paul says to me: People who seem to have no special connection with God are in fact God's creations and therefore His children. God knows each one of us by name and nature, and God watches over us and is eager for us to know that. Our Lord's Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7 was not addressed to religious leaders, theologians, and liturgists, but to the needy men and women, largely of peasant class, who flocked to Him as one who would do something for them. As has been pointed out repeatedly, the Twelve seemed all to have had quite ordinary lives before becoming followers of Jesus. The Lord, while appointing church leaders, seems to lean toward the poor and disadvantaged in His ministry. While no one has special access to Him, the needy always have access!

The Wesleyan awakening, led by some of the most educated minds in 18th century England, made its primary appeal to the poor, the sick, and the weak. John Wesley preached and lived a simple life, one that showed no preferential treatment to one group over another. What I am getting at here is that being a Christian is a life that can be lived by anyone who sincerely wants to/allow the Lord. We do not have to take seminary classes or know the original languages of the Bible to live Christian life to its fullest. The Holy Spirit has come in large part to energize you and me to faithful service to God produce joy in life, and give hope of eternal life.

How Does One Become Christian?

A Christian is a person who wants to have God "as the sole content of one's life" and looks to Jesus to make that happen. A Christian is a person who wants to be close to God, to turn away from whatever comes between oneself and God, to love God with all one's heart, and serve others in the best way one can. As I mentioned above, all this happens through the life and ministry of Jesus, through His cross and resurrection. He alone is the One who rescues us and makes our life worthwhile. He is the One who brings joy to us through the Spirit. To me, a Christian is a person who sincerely follows Jesus, that is, studies His teaching, does what He wants, and desires to cultivate an attitude of humility and peace (Philippians 2:5-9). This does not happen all at once, but like any other relationship, spirituality takes time to develop.

For the Wesleys, a living faith is about desire. If a person is married, that person desires to please her or his spouse, although that may not happen all the time. It is possible, however, for a person sincerely to want to live up to his or her marriage vows and to do everything possible to make that marriage work. God is considerably different from our spouse though, in that God is with us all the time, in every situation, knowing the deepest secrets of our hearts. To a Christian such knowledge is not threatening because God is love and works for us, to make us like His Son in every way possible.

Following Jesus is a wonderful and joyous relationship. We cannot see Him since He comes to us in the Spirit. So it is important for us to open ourselves to Him however we can m order to become spiritually sensitive. For example, there are many times in our lives when we think we are all alone and no one cares about us or understands us. A mature Christian recognizes these feelings as a need for God. The disciples of Jesus walked with Him and talked with Him, but after His ascension to the kingdom of God, the Spirit was sent to make it possible for us to continue to walk and talk with Him. It is very important to learn to pray and to think about God, and about what pleases God. We soon learn that our welfare is served best when God is at the heart of all we think and do.

Learning to Listen to God

Our lives are very complicated because our world is complicated. Science and technology have opened up the larger world, and even some aspects of the universe, so that we may often feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information we must process every day. In Medieval Europe a kingdom could change hands and people on the interior might not know it for months. But when we consider the role of television in our lives, as well as other forms of mass media, we sometimes feel like running for cover! Everything seems to change every thirty minutes! There is so much coming into our minds that we have difficulty concentrating on one thing for very long. Our brains are firing all the time and it takes a lot of will power and training to shut out the noise so we can fully concentrate on the person and will of God. It is no wonder that spiritual writers address the constant chatter inside our heads.

Christian monasteries tend to be situated in the country or on other remote sites. The reason for this is to help monks separate themselves as much as possible from competing calls for their attention. Some monasteries require monks to make a vow of stability, which means that they will not leave the confines of the monastery's property, even for family matters. That is how seriously they take the idea of separation from the world, not just because of sin but also because of other interests. Many people, including me, take retreats at monasteries in order to have a rather controlled environment for a short time so we can give special attention to spiritual reflection. As a father and grandfather (who loves his family!) I need some silence and even solitude for a while. I need time to remember what is my highest priority, or, perhaps better. Who is at the top of the list.

Most of us are not monks nor have the disposition to become one. But we are as serious in our relationship to God as is the most devout monk. Jesus does not require us to become monks but to become wholly His. It is my hope that we will be able to use Mark's Gospel in such a way/or the next thirteen weeks to grow in our sensitivity to God and deeper in our prayers. I think we can learn to read Mark's Gospel in a way that will help us grow in God, and in our love for God. As we go about our use of Mark's Gospel, we need to remember that God is with us all the time. What we want to is be more receptive to God, to be more aware of God, and to learn that we can relax in God. I have said it many times in our class on Sunday, we are as close to God at any moment (in our kitchen, our office, our car) as we are in the most elaborate church. It is not a matter of place. God is everywhere! It is a matter of sensitivity to God, and of being relaxed in our meditation and prayers.

Meditation and Spiritual Growth

What is meditation? Traditionally, Christians have thought of meditation as one of four steps or stages in prayer. On the one hand, prayer is natural, just as natural as interacting with someone you love. But interaction is not always easy. This means, on the other hand, that we need a little help in interacting with our spouses and children, to say nothing of our neighbors and superiors. I am quite sure we need some help in interacting with God. Jesus' disciples thought they did and so they asked Him to teach them to pray. What we know as "The Lord's Prayer" is the result of that request.

Well, what are these four stages or phases of prayer?

1. Writers suggest we take some unrushed time to read Scripture or a book on spiritual life. These sources often give us insights into ourselves or God and may even help us focus on an idea that is important to us. I have certain authors whose writings feed me with ideas and insights that help me think more deeply about God and others. So, first, do some spiritual reading. How long should you read? That will vary from time to time.

2. Spiritual reading leads to meditation. That is, we meditate on something when we let a thought grab us and we turn it over in our minds to see what it means and what it means to us. I try every day to read from the psalms. And, during this thirteen weeks, I will be reading every day from Mark's Gospel. I expect these texts to help me focus very tightly on an idea or a question or a teaching that will be important for my life. It doesn't seem to matter how many times I have read the passage at hand, I am encouraged to be reminded of the shape of faith and how I should respond to it. To meditate is to take something you have read and roll it over in your mind, asking questions, making applications; sensing what the text meant in the first century and what it might mean in the twenty-first century.

3. Meditation (serious reflection) leads to prayer, sort of talking it over with God and pausing to listen. Meditation enlarges your prayers by helping you think of things you might otherwise pass over, or never think about. You may find yourself praising God for some new insight or thanking Him for the comfort of His presence, or asking for help for yourself-or someone else. There are no limits here.

4. Spiritual writers often speak of a level of spiritual sensitivity they call contemplation or deep prayer. This is more a sense of God's presence or the desire for His presence, but without feeling you have to say anything. Your desire is your prayer, and God knows your desires and your mind. Maybe you have sensed what I am talking about while you were sitting in the quiet of the sanctuary at our church or in some other sacred place.

While the four phases of prayer listed above might not always develop in the way I suggest, it is clear that meditation is primarily concentration on a passage of sacred reading. Meditation is very active, using your mind to probe a passage and ask the kinds of questions that will enable you to sense the beauty and relevance of what you are reading. What if you get stumped on what you are reading? Well, for the purpose of prayer I suggest you tell God you do have a clue about what you have before you but you trust Him all the same. Then move on to another paragraph, another book, or another passage. Bring up your concern in the Fidelis Class and let us all wrestle with what seemed to you more like a wall than a door.

Meditating on Mark's Gospel

Biblical books, whether in the Old or New Testament, have to be read keeping two things in mind. First, these old books are historical writings. They have a particular past, designated audience, and sometimes teachings peculiar to their day and circumstance. This is true when we read anything historical, such as Shakespeare's plays or the letters of President Lincoln. We know when we read their writings that we are reading historical material that reflects another time. If you were to pick up a very early copy of "Life Magazine," the articles in that issue would address political, social, and religious concerns of that day. By reading it you would learn a great deal about how people thought then and what their values were. You would be reading it as part of history. The same thing is true of Mark's Gospel. His Gospel is now over two thousand years old. That's a long time. In our Sunday class I often treat a text historically, looking at what specific words meant, where certain places were, and the cultural conditioning behind references to events. Thus, we learn something about the first century and the power of the Gospel then. But we don't stop there.

Mark is not only a historical book; it is a modem book. That is. Mark's Gospel speaks to us just as it did to readers in the first century. Its teachings have a personal meaning as well as a historical one. Reading the Gospel we sense that God is speaking to us, just as God spoke to those who heard Jesus or Paul. We notice that the deep truths of the Gospel are meant for our lives in much the same way that they were meant for Christians in old Jerusalem or in Asia Minor. We sense a kinship with the early church and the apostles. We too are sitting at Jesus' feet with Mary, or witnessing the raising of Lazarus with the crowd, not as history but as a spiritual moment right now. As we look into the passage at hand we see connections between then and now. Maybe the connection is not always clear, but sometimes it is as clear as day.

Each Sunday, beginning today, I am going to pass out material for meditative reading that will be based on the text we studied in class. You will likely have read the Sunday School lesson book, attended the class session, and now want to spend some additional time actually meditating on the texts. I hope to help you do that, although I remind you, this process of meditation is part of our life of prayer, not just a little intellectual exercise. Try it for a week and see what happens. You may want to come back to the same passage several days in a row.. .or maybe not. Remember, spiritual reading or meditation can occur with Christian literature other than the Bible, though the Bible is what we will be using. I would also like for us to leam something of a method of approach to meditation as prayer, but not to be rigid or fixed on any one method. The main thing is openness to God.

One More Thing

There is one more very important point I need to make before we start. At the beginning of this introduction I said Christian faith is a life. This means it normally takes time to grow, sometimes a lot of time. After all, we are making a life commitment, aren't we? This is what our baptism means, that we are looking to God at every moment for grace to live and hope for the next life. Living Christ's way in the world requires patience and diligence. We must be willing to experience "lows" as well as "highs." After all, through all of our experiences, our desire is to relate to God, to trust Him, and to learn to wait for Him.

To live gracefully in Christ is necessary to both individual and social health. The Wesleyan tradition has affirmed consistently that were it not for the grace of God the human community would long ago have sunk into the depths of self-destruction. Even in spite of God's love for us, it seems like the world is bent on violence. We turn from God's love, especially as it is revealed in Jesus, and stumble because we lack both the insight and determination to live by commitment to Him. Sometimes the human family is driven by its leaders to acts of unreason and violence, and the human family often follows its leaders blindly. If there is to be "peace on earth" it certainly will come through God's grace or not at all. Therefore, to live as Christians is absolutely necessary to secure a common peace as well as a life of personal fulfillment. Only the Spirit of the Holy One of God can energize us to achieve the kind of global community that fosters life rather than death. A life of prayer is very important if we are to be the kind of people through whom God works His will.

The weekly meditations follow the Sunday class lessons. I hope that the Sunday lessons will spark interest in the teaching of the text and encourage you to want to probe its meaning on a personal level. It is important to realize that the thirteen Sunday lessons do not develop chronologically but topically. Hence, we will be studying from Mark 5 one Sunday, Mark 11 a couple of Sundays later, and Mark 7 even later. The first five lessons in this quarter deal with "Jesus' Early Ministry," the next three lessons with "Jesus' Crucifixion and Resurrection," and the final five lessons with "Jesus' Responses to Faith." (See the "Contents" page in the student book for a layout of the texts to be treated and when.) Since the daily meditations follow the Sunday lesson, rather than precede it, there will be daily meditations for twelve rather than thirteen weeks.

Meditations on a Sunday Text

The daily meditations will all follow the same general format, although you must feel free to adjust that format to suit your own needs. The meditations are reflections on the Sunday texts (printed in the student book), with suggested other readings from Mark's Gospel and other Scriptures. As you will see, only a portion of the Sunday text is printed for a daily meditation, with each day's passage being added to the previous day's until all the text is treated from Monday through Saturday. There is no Sunday meditation. The format of the daily meditations is as follows:

• Title and date of the meditation.
• Additional Scriptural readings suggested.
• A short reading enclosed in a box, for your encouragement.
• Text for meditation for the day (from the previous Sunday).
• Brief reflections on the passage.
• Questions the text raises for personal reflection.
• Suggestions for prayer.

I do not know how much time you have to give to these meditations; that is up to you. I do suggest that, if possible, you do them alone, in quiet, and unrushed. For many people the morning hours seem best for meditation. Remember, meditation requires an active use of your mind, probing, questioning, and thinking about the personal relevance of a passage. Undoubtedly your meditations will lead to prayer, during the meditation and afterward. If you have any problems, bring them up in Sunday class. You do not get discouraged eating; you should not become discouraged eating spiritual food either. Learn to wait for God; He will not be rushed. Seek to learn; be open to the Spirit; be careful about making demands; trust and do not become anxious. God is near; God is listening; God is responding.