“Storm Care”

Rev Dennis Ryle 21/07/2024

Readings - Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

Turkish Proverb “The forest was shrinking but the trees kept voting for the axe, for the axe was clever and convinced the trees that because his handle was made of wood, he was one of them.”

Place alongside Mark’s observation about Jesus, he had compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he began to teach them many things.

Leadership at high levels is very much in focus. Appeals to and the feting of an intervening God are numerous right now.

The debate around the interface of religious faith and public life is escalating and a heightened sensitivity is abroad.

Lest one might think I’m alluding to the us presidential campaigns, my focus is closer to home.

Media uproar surrounding the defection of Fatima Payman to the cross benches over recognition of Palestine zeroed in on her religious affiliation, even though diverse points of view well support her rationale.

In the meantime, we learn that Speaker of the House of Representatives Milton Dick is set to appear alongside controversial religious figures at an event promoting the influence of conservative Christianity throughout Australia and the world. According to the promotion, the ROAR24 Leaders Summit, running in Brisbane across multiple days in early September, will aim to help attendees effect “immediate change and transformation in your family, church, business and society”, with Milton Dick listed as a keynote speaker.

As things warm up on the election cycle across the big pond, one cannot avoid hearing speeches and rhetoric sprinkled with biblical and messianic allusions.

It is hard to avoid. Religious faith has a whole-life application, as do political ideologies. It is difficult to separate them and so easy to manipulate them.

The cross-pollination and the porous boundaries of religious and political entities become more strident in striving for control in uncertain times.

But the separation of church and state in Australia has always been softened by a collaborative relationship since Reverend Samuel Marsden, the whipping magistrate who preached to the convicts on Sunday and flogged them on Monday.

Religious faith conjures favorable images for political candidates seeking influence.

“Politics will eventually be replaced by imagery.
The politician will be only too happy to abdicate
in favour of his image, because the image will
be much more powerful than he could ever be.” 

- Marshall McLuhan

Hence, is it any wonder that we who wish to engage with public life while supporting the integrity of our spiritual journey to compassionate Christlikeness feel like meat in a sandwich when it comes to faith and politics.

Here we have the makings of the sandwich – one slice of bread which is our political persuasion - another slice which is our spiritual identity. It tastes rather bland without the filling.

The challenge is to create the filling that will give the sandwich its delicious sumptuousness. The filling on its own is unmanageable. It is held together by the bread – one on each side and all together as one becomes palatable. Ideally, the sum of the components of bread and filling becomes greater than the whole.

There have been tries to keep the two slices separate without any filling. (Two kingdoms theory of the reformation).  There was once a state premier who taught Sunday School while, next day, crafting legislation that bore no resemblance to what his faith taught, because his tradition viewed them as entirely separate spheres.

It is also possible to eat the two slices together as if they are one in an entirely bland way. This has happened when religious institutions have sought the power of secular government and vice versa – most of human history.

But there is a way to craft our filling to bring both slices of bread together in nutritious wholeness that won’t leave us with indigestion.

Welcome to the Markan sandwich. 

You may have noticed, particularly during the last few weeks if you have been travelling through Mark’s gospel, the way in which his story telling is interrupted by another story.

After healing the demoniac at Gerasa and arriving back in home territory, Jesus and his party are accosted by Jairus, the synagogue leader, who petitions Jesus to come quickly to his house because his daughter is dying. Jesus sets off with Jairus but interrupts and stops his journey when he perceives a woman with a socially crippling disease has received healing from touching the hem of his cloak. The verbal exchange affirms the woman’s faith and her place in the community. Jesus then resumes his journey and raises Jairus' daughter.

Rich and prominent Jairus and his daughter are the slices of bread. The unknown and marginalised woman in the crowd is the filling in the sandwich.

From this account perhaps Mark is telling us something about how the breadth and height of Jesus’ appeal and influence does not prevent him from being accessible to all. The hint of resurrection seals it.

The filling however is the meaning – inclusion – no one is left out. The bread provides the setting, the context – it all belongs together.

The next Mark sandwich, like Subway, we first select the bread.  The Apostles are sent out on mission to replicate the works of Jesus, healing, teaching, preaching. They go out speedily to all the surrounding towns and villages and eventually return – together with Jesus they rejoice at the effectiveness of the growth of God’s realm amongst ordinary folk.  

But this account is interrupted with another story that Mark has selected as the filling. The intrigue of Herod’s fascination with John the Baptist, the engineering of the arrest and execution of the Baptiser, and Herod’s fear that it is all returning with the ministry of Jesus.

This bitter filling, again hinting at what is in store for Jesus own trial and crucifixion, adds nuance to the celebrations of Jesus and the apostles retuning from their mission.

Today’s reading gives us some slices of bread without the filling. They simply tell us that Jesus’ reputation has so spread throughout the land that Jesus and his companions can go nowhere without being recognised and swamped by crowds seeking help. But by now we are far enough into Mark’s telling that we know the storm clouds are growing. Even so “he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.”

The bread here is so compelling we wonder if we even need to know the missing verses in between. Massive compelling need that is nevertheless not so great that it swamps the great reservoir of grace, love, and compassion of which Jesus is capable. Yet it is enough to swamp us who look on and wonder how the world's ills can ever be met.

But consider the filling – two zingy ingredients – the feeding of the multitudes and a midnight Jesus walking a stormy sea to enter the boats of the apostles.  

It seems to suggest that in the stormiest times of the world’s need, the Christ of Mark’s gospel is always there to take what we offer to serve the hunger before us, to be present with us in the most overwhelming experiences of chaos and uncertainty. All wrapped and enveloped in the grace and compassion of a shepherding Other.

This is why aid workers and medical practitioners are relentless in serving those who languish in the wastelands of Gaza.

It informs many individuals who give their all in an often beleaguered health system, including aged care and NDIS.

There is an invitation here to all who consider themselves the meat in the sandwich of an impossible system and wonder how their spiritual journey can make a meaningful difference.

Transform the metaphor. Cease playing the victim of seeing oneself as a slice of beef between two slices of bland tasteless bread. Instead, salivate at being the delicious filling that gives flavour and excitement to whatever bread you are enhancing!

Prayers

O God, our loving Shepherd,

you come to us with the strength and love of a father,

and the tender mercies, patience, and protection of a loving mother.

We see you in the very living of our days,

Hear us, Lord,

as we lift to you our prayers for others and for ourselves.

We pray for those in need–those who hunger or are homeless.

We pray for those in pain—the abused, broken-hearted and lonely.

We pray for the sick in body and in mind, and for those who grieve.

For the life of this community and all those who put their trust in you

for all their todays and all their tomorrows,

we pray that your lovingkindness to the world would be offered

through our hands, our words, our deeds, our hearts.

Free us, Lord, as your own people,

to sing your praise in the work of our everyday lives.

In those comings and goings of our simple and complicated living,

make us instruments of your peace and grace

in weary days with weary people.

Bless our memories, O God,

that in our remembering we may partake

of the mystery that is eternal life in its fullness.

For we pray in the presence of your risen Christ,

our Lord and Savior. Amen.  

Hymn “As You Go To Serve Creation (4 verses) 87.87.D

As you go to serve Creation
bear the Word of God with you,
Word that brings forth light now dwelling
in your heart and shining through.
Do not merely say the words:
become the Word. Embody grace.
Be the living Word and give
the love of God a human face.

To the poor in spirit go, and
give them bread for which they long.
Nourish them for love and justice.
Feed their souls and make them strong.
Be the hearty bread that’s taken,
blest and broken day by day.
Be the bread of love made real,
bread that Jesus gives away.

Do not try to serve with only
your own passion to impart.
Let the love of God flow through you
from the Source, from Heaven’s Heart.
Pass along God’s deep forgiveness,
flowing freely from the Lord.
Be the wine of God’s great feast,
the wine so generously poured.

By the Spirit living in you,
be the hope you hope to preach;
be the peace you long to witness;
be the truth you want to teach.
Let your living be the Word
that words alone cannot convey.
Be the Word of love embodied;
be the flesh of Christ today.

Words: Steve Garnaas Holmes