Sermon Mark 3:20-35 Proper 5, Year B 7 June 2015

       Occasionally I find myself wondering what on earth the Gospel writers think of what we make of what they’ve written. I can imagine those who first wrote the story of Jesus – those first witnesses – wringing their hands or slapping their brows in amazement of what human beings make, or not, of their witness. Today’s Gospel from Mark is one of those times.
        What I think any of us do is one of two things. We’re shocked and amazed at what Jesus has to say about his family and who his family is, or we focus on one verse that speaks about an unforgivable sin. What we forget is how these stories speak to one another and relate to what we do and believe.
         In typical fashion for the Gospel of Mark, the author starts one story, interrupts it with what seems an aside, and then continues what he began. As a literary device, this “mash-up” of one quick seemingly unrelated story bracketed by the beginning and ending of another can be confusing. And, perhaps that’s is its purpose here: to confuse us enough to make us think about how Jesus might speak to us.
        The first part of the story deals with Jesus’ family planning to restrain him because they think he’s nuts. If you read the text carefully, it sounds like Jesus’ family is more concerned about their reputations, about people thinking Jesus might be crazy, than they are about Jesus being so besieged by a crowd that he and the disciples haven’t time to eat. They could have tried to bring him something to eat. But no, they were more concerned about what people thought and Jesus since he was related to them.
       What does that say about family relationships? Are we so concerned about how members of our family look to others that we forget how we might be able to help them? At this point in the story the Gospel writer clearly has Jesus’ family pictured as outsiders, not followers of Jesus, merely worried about their reputations by being associated with this crazy guy.
       The next thing that happens is the scribes who came down from Jerusalem, the center of scholarship, religion, and learning, decide Jesus has Beelzebul, the chief of the devils, within him, and therefore must be able to cast out demons because he is one himself. Jesus has a ready answer. The end of the answer is the first thing many people focus on in this reading. Jesus says, “Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin.”  Now what follows immediately after Jesus says this is: “for they had said, ‘He has an unclean spirit.’” 
  Now theologians and scholars, priests and pastors, and people like you and me have spent centuries worrying about what exactly constitutes “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.” Do I have an answer for you? No. Sorry. I do not.
       Here’s what I do know, however. Jesus is entangled in this battle of wits about whether or not he is doing the work of a demon or the work of God. And immediately after he is accused of doing the work of a demon, he comes out with this statement about blasphemy. I’m suggesting to you there is a connection. And that it is not simply one act, but an attitude of mind, and an attitude of heart, that makes blasphemy, or denying the presence of God becomes a way of life for some people.
Could you hold onto those two thoughts for a moment? First, that there is a connection between what Jesus says about family and what he says about denying the presence of God. Second, that there is an attitude of mind and heart that a person develops that denies the presence of God even when it is obvious.
       Because where Jesus ends up in this whole section from the Gospel is this. The end of this section has Jesus being told his mother and brothers and sisters are outside, asking for him. Here’s his answer: “’Who are my mother and my brothers?’ And looking at those who sat around him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.’” 
       I leave you to think about this today. Denying the presence of God, or claiming something other than God is responsible, is an attitude of mind and heart that builds up over time. When we do this, we need to remember what Jesus says about family. In Jesus’ family those who are members do the will of God to become his brother and sister and mother. Those who deny the presence and will of God are indefensible; they cast themselves away from Jesus by their attitude of mind and heart. Now which is it for you? Which is it for me?

The Rev. Nicolette Papanek
 ©2015