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Sermonette: St. Mark the Evangelist
Wednesday, 28 April 2021 08:01 pmAs preached at the midweek outdoor Eucharist at St. Thomas' Episcopal Church in Glassboro, NJ on the evening of Wednesday, April 28, 2021.
Isaiah 52:7-10
Psalm 2:1-13
Ephesians 4:7-8,11-16
Mark 1:1-15
St. Mark’s Gospel is many Christians’ favorite gospel. They are attracted to its brevity, its ability to get right to the point, its terse pacing. It is the first-century equivalent of a page-turner.
Now, my own tastes have always run towards the more verbose gospels: the comprehensive narrative of St. Luke, the theological reflections of St. John. But in these midweek sermons, I try to emulate St. Mark.
In our epistle reading today, St. Paul writes that the gift has been given to some that they should be apostles; to some, prophets; to some, evangelists; to some, pastors and teachers. But we should not interpret that as saying that the charism of evangelism was just given to four men two thousand years ago. John the Baptizer preached the good news of the forgiveness of sins before Jesus' ministry had even begun. The author or authors of the book we know as the book of the prophet Isaiah preached the good news of the Messiah, of the suffering servant, of God's Chosen One to bring justification to God's people--centuries before the birth of one Jesus of Nazareth, son of Mary. And of course, the first disciples to profess the Resurrection were women.
It is the calling of every generation to find new ways to profess the Good News of Jesus Christ in ways that are resonant to their culture and meaningful in their place and time. Some have been gifted with the charism of evangelization in special measure, but we are all called to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ in our particular way. Part of our baptismal covenant is the promise to “proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ”.
What we should take most from the evangelists in general, and St. Mark in particular, is that the Gospel, the evangelion, is good news. In his typical get-to-the-point fashion, St. Mark tells us this in the first sentence of his Gospel: “Here begins the good news of Jesus Christ.”
"How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news," writes (deutero-)Isaiah. We profess the Good News of Jesus Christ, not only because Jesus commanded us to make disciples from the people of every nation (although surely that is sufficient reason), but because it’s human nature to share good news. It’s such a natural impulse that there are several places in St. Mark’s Gospel where Jesus has to explicitly tell his listeners not to share it, because it wasn’t yet the proper time for it to become publicly known.
I’m dressed casually today because I took the day off work for a doctor’s appointment, where we discussed the fact that--thanks be to God--I successfully lowered my A1C levels over the last three months from 7.8 to 6.2. Father Todd already knew this because I told him and J------- on Monday evening. I told my entire Bible study on Tuesday evening. I told my coworkers while we were in the office on Monday morning. I told my parents on Saturday when I first got the results. When we receive good news, we want to tell other people about it. And what does it say of us if we are more willing to tell others about our medical conditions than about our Lord and Savior?
When we have a particularly good piece of news, for example that of a marriage engagement or the addition to a family of a child through pregnancy or adoption, we might even plan a party or a celebratory dinner. And that’s why we are gathered together this evening, to celebrate the Lord’s Supper.
And so in that spirit of celebration, of joy, of expectation, we raise our voices to join the chorus of the evangelists, the saints and apostles, and the entire host of heaven, as we say:
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Amen.
Isaiah 52:7-10
Psalm 2:1-13
Ephesians 4:7-8,11-16
Mark 1:1-15
St. Mark’s Gospel is many Christians’ favorite gospel. They are attracted to its brevity, its ability to get right to the point, its terse pacing. It is the first-century equivalent of a page-turner.
Now, my own tastes have always run towards the more verbose gospels: the comprehensive narrative of St. Luke, the theological reflections of St. John. But in these midweek sermons, I try to emulate St. Mark.
In our epistle reading today, St. Paul writes that the gift has been given to some that they should be apostles; to some, prophets; to some, evangelists; to some, pastors and teachers. But we should not interpret that as saying that the charism of evangelism was just given to four men two thousand years ago. John the Baptizer preached the good news of the forgiveness of sins before Jesus' ministry had even begun. The author or authors of the book we know as the book of the prophet Isaiah preached the good news of the Messiah, of the suffering servant, of God's Chosen One to bring justification to God's people--centuries before the birth of one Jesus of Nazareth, son of Mary. And of course, the first disciples to profess the Resurrection were women.
It is the calling of every generation to find new ways to profess the Good News of Jesus Christ in ways that are resonant to their culture and meaningful in their place and time. Some have been gifted with the charism of evangelization in special measure, but we are all called to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ in our particular way. Part of our baptismal covenant is the promise to “proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ”.
What we should take most from the evangelists in general, and St. Mark in particular, is that the Gospel, the evangelion, is good news. In his typical get-to-the-point fashion, St. Mark tells us this in the first sentence of his Gospel: “Here begins the good news of Jesus Christ.”
"How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news," writes (deutero-)Isaiah. We profess the Good News of Jesus Christ, not only because Jesus commanded us to make disciples from the people of every nation (although surely that is sufficient reason), but because it’s human nature to share good news. It’s such a natural impulse that there are several places in St. Mark’s Gospel where Jesus has to explicitly tell his listeners not to share it, because it wasn’t yet the proper time for it to become publicly known.
I’m dressed casually today because I took the day off work for a doctor’s appointment, where we discussed the fact that--thanks be to God--I successfully lowered my A1C levels over the last three months from 7.8 to 6.2. Father Todd already knew this because I told him and J------- on Monday evening. I told my entire Bible study on Tuesday evening. I told my coworkers while we were in the office on Monday morning. I told my parents on Saturday when I first got the results. When we receive good news, we want to tell other people about it. And what does it say of us if we are more willing to tell others about our medical conditions than about our Lord and Savior?
When we have a particularly good piece of news, for example that of a marriage engagement or the addition to a family of a child through pregnancy or adoption, we might even plan a party or a celebratory dinner. And that’s why we are gathered together this evening, to celebrate the Lord’s Supper.
And so in that spirit of celebration, of joy, of expectation, we raise our voices to join the chorus of the evangelists, the saints and apostles, and the entire host of heaven, as we say:
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Amen.