Bible Text: Mark 6: 30-34, 53-56 | Preacher: Rev. Jenn Geddes
Along with Archaeology I have an undergraduate degree in a discipline which at the time was called Religion in Culture. It all started when I took two electives one called “love and it’s myths” and the other called “evil and it’s symbols.” In this program, would you believe that I took an entire course on the Church of Elvis? And another course just on crime shows as the new confessional box? I even took a course on the religious experience of a sports fan. It was education at its best. I have to admit that I enjoyed not only the comparative religion aspect of things but also comparing the experiences embedded in North American culture with religious experiences. There was often talk about how media, celebrity, and fandom were at a very basic level superficial replacements for church and faith practice. I particularly enjoyed the study of celebrity culture and this was before we had reality tv celebrities who are famous just for being infamous. It is generally believed that the first movie star was Florence Lawrence. She appeared in over 300 films just over a ten year period from 1910 to the mid-1920s. Interestingly enough Florence was born in that great, Hollywood of the North city of Hamilton, Ontario. However, as has been the case for many celebrities she died tragically at the age of 48 and was buried in an unmarked grave until 1991 when an anonymous donor paid for her name to be placed on the marker. Scholars often believe that celebrity culture started in Europe with print media and famous opera singers but that it has grown since the beginning of film media in North America and the creation of talk shows. However, it is clear from our Gospel reading that celebrity culture has always existed in some form or another. The variations of term celebrity, used to be restricted for royalty and or religious leaders. In fact the word comes from the Latin word, celebritas which means honoured. The problem of course with most celebrity culture is that they never get a break. They have to be “on” all the time. Even the disciples are challenged by this reality in our Scripture reading
We have two passages this week that at first don’t seem all that related but both share a common message. Both passages develop Mark’s central theme of the coming of the kingdom of God through Jesus and help us define Jesus’ identity but also these passages demonstrate the nature of that kingdom and our role as disciples within it. While these two Gospel passages book end miracle and healing stories it is these short lessons that teach us about Jesus’ and our identity within the community of God.
Last week the disciples were sent off to perform their own miracles, ministry and preaching. They have returned to Jesus to tell him all about their adventures but Jesus also notices that they are in need of a break. In fact, some of them have been so busy that they haven’t even found time to have a meal. They are in need of a respite and so Jesus invites them to come away to a deserted place and be by themselves and find rest. After all the kingdom of God is a place where people may rest the weary souls. In our first Gospel section, however, as they approach what they expect to be a quiet shore they find it crowded by people wanting to catch a glimpse. As they cross the Sea they do not find the rest that Jesus prescribes but rather find many people who not only recognize but hurry toward them as they approach.
Seeing this crowd rushing towards them Jesus has compassion and Mark says it was compassion because they were like sheep without a shepherd. This author describes the crowd with a familiar expression, portraying the people as vulnerable, at risk in a desolate environment and needing sustenance and direction. The passage clearly implies that Jesus functions as this crowd’s shepherd, symbolizing the care and leadership he promises, by extension, to us. The image of Jesus as the Shepherd is familiar to us and would have been familiar for the Hebrew people as God is often referred to as the Great Shepherd but also because God often appoints people to be leaders as a shepherd leads a flock of sheep. When Jesus is called a shepherd it is not only demonstrating that he can serve as a leader to the community but that like God, he has the divine gifts to be a shepherd to those who are lost. The author of Mark uses this image to expose Jesus’ identity but also to describe the Kingdom. That the Kingdom of God is a place where those who are lost are found, those who are wandering find a destination, those who are scattered are brought together in one place and all of them are lead by the divine shepherd, Jesus. While the disciples are in need of rest, the crowds are in need of salvation. Theologian Elizabeth Webb says, “The crowds that follow and gather around Jesus, the healings and casting out of demons, the miraculous feedings are all signs that the Son of God is shepherding the people into God’s kingdom.”
For Jesus- through his gifts he is able to pay attention to the needs of the people. It doesn’t say the disciples began to teach and heal, but we all know from last week that they have been given the authority to do so. But this is important, when we are unable to find the energy, the words, the time, turn to Jesus, because it is through him that those things are made possible and our energy is restored, our words are given wisdom, and our time is given objectives.
The second section, like the first, demonstrates much about Jesus’ identity and the kingdom of God. Elizabeth Webb calls it the Kingdom Economy. Like our first reading Jesus and his disciples show up on a shore to discover that people are there and recognize them at once. In our translation it says “that wherever he went, into the villages or cities or farms they laid the sick in the marketplaces.” The Greek word for marketplace is agora and it really refers to a public space in which legal hearings, elections and debates took place, as well as the expected buying and selling of goods. The marketplace was understood as the political and commercial centre of the city- perhaps a better translation for us would be that people were brought downtown to see Jesus or people were placed in the city square, or people came to the edge of town surrounded by all the big box stores. The point being that Jesus healed, preached and taught in central locations- accessible to all.
But also, Webb continues “by doing this healing to the most vulnerable in the most public space, Jesus is subverting the economy of this world through the very inauguration of God’s kingdom economy.” Basically while the marketplace of the world is based on the rich, on that one percent, the Kingdom of God is occupied by the least, by the vulnerable, by those in need of healing. It is those people who inhabit the kingdom that not only Christ serves but the church should serve. This passage reminds us of a world so in need of God’s help that it cannot afford to give Jesus a day off.
I would argue that one of the reasons why there is so much brokenness is because we are so distracted by a superficial celebrity culture. But let us re-appropriate that word that it is those who deserve honour who are called celebrities. The overarching gospel message insists that Jesus meets our greatest need by authentically identifying with our human brokenness- there is no better person that deserves honour and it that regard no one deserves celebrity status more then Jesus Christ. Amen