The following homily was
delivered by Father Johnson to mark the holy day of St. Mark the
Evangelist (for those homilies delivered on April 13 and April 20,
please scroll down):
In the fourteenth chapter of his
Gospel, Mark records the arrest of Jesus. Almost as an aside, in
verses fifty-one and fifty-two, Mark tells us of a young man who was
following with Jesus, wearing a linen cloth. As the followers of
Jesus scattered, one of those who had come to arrest Jesus and his
followers caught hold of the linen cloth he was wearing. The young
man escaped leaving his only clothing behind.
Why would I bring up this part of Mark’s Gospel as we celebrate the
feast of St. Mark? Mark recorded the event for a reason. It was not
his attempt at humor. At this moment in the narrative, there is no
room for humor. Almost every student of the New Testament agrees
that the young man appearing so briefly in the narrative at this
moment is the author himself. Mark added this detail to let his
readers know that he had been a part of the story. He had seen Jesus
with his own eyes. He had taken part in this pivotal moment of the
unfolding history of God’s redeeming work in the world. I think that
Mark wants us to understand that the Gospel that he wrote about is a
drama in which he had a part. He wants us to know that God invited
him to be there as an eyewitness to at least a part of the life of
Jesus, and so, could tell God’s story to us.
The events that Mark recounts in his Gospel are the climax of God’s
unfolding drama of the redemption of the world, and for some reason,
God invited this young man to play a role in that drama. I use the
word drama here very carefully. There is a difference between a
tragedy or comedy, and a drama. In a tragedy or a comedy, the events
lie outside of the control of the actors. The fates drive the story
from above, dictating the action from a safe distance. The outcome
depends entirely on the whim of whatever force is in control. Unlike
the tragedy or comedy, in a drama, the characters drive the action.
They are free to choose their actions, and their choices will have a
real effect on the how the story unfolds.
Like the young man in the garden, presumably Mark, we have been
invited to take a part in God’s drama of the redemption of the
world. Anyone who has the luxury to think for very long will
inevitably run up against the question, “What does all of this
mean?” Some have suggested that history is basically meaningless,
that we are a combination of atoms colliding randomly until
something happened to bring about life, and here we are to spend a
few decades until we die to make room for the next generation. The
young man in the garden resists such an interpretation of life. The
Gospel resists such an interpretation.
With that young man, we have been invited to participate in God’s
unfolding drama of redemption. Because it is a drama, and not a
comedy or tragedy, we have something to do with what happens. By His
grace, God has invited you to take a part. He has invited you to
freely participate in what He is doing in the world. Because of this
invitation, what you do, who you are matters not only today, but for
eternity. God has invited you to take a part that only you can take.
When we read Mark’s account of this young man in the garden, we
might be tempted to think that the part is very small. At the
moment, Mark found it not only a small part, but a part that he
would rather not play at all. Yet it was this part that was probably
the beginning of his journey toward telling us the rest of the story
of Jesus. Had he not taken his place in the garden, it would have
fallen to someone else to record these events, and we would have
lost something of Mark’s genius for moving the drama forward. When
we consider the part that we have been invited to play, too often we
think it is insignificant.
There were two birds sitting on a tree branch during a snow storm.
The older bird let out a sigh of relief as each snowflake landed.
When the younger bird asked why he was so relieved, the older bird
said he was relieved because the branch did not break under the
weight of the additional snowflake. The younger bird said, “That’s
insane. How much does a snowflake weigh?” The older bird said,
“Nothing, but once I was counting the snowflakes falling. I had
counted thousands, then one more fell, and the branch broke. It
weighed nothing, but it broke the branch.” Which snowflake broke the
branch? None of them did. All of them did. I suppose you could say
that we are all important snowflakes.
The problem is that too many people are waiting for an opportunity
to change the world, all the while missing the opportunity to change
their world. God’s Kingdom is not measured in numbers. It is not
measured in dollars. God’s Kingdom is measured in the transformation
of individual lives. It is measured in each voice that joins the
voices of angels and archangels and all the company of heaven in
singing the praises of our great redeemer.
The most amazing thing that happens when we take up our part in
God’s redeeming drama is that we discover what Mark discovered. The
story told in the Gospel according to Mark is not the story of a
young man who lost his shirt in a close scrape with the chief
priests and elders. The story that Mark tells is the story of Jesus
saving the world. If we discover our part in God’s redeeming drama,
we will discover that what we have discovered is that our drama
plays in God’s drama.
Too often, people have tried to fit God into the story of their
lives. God is relegated to making cameo appearances at important
moments, only to fade into the background until needed again. That
is the root of sin. As we move closer to the God who redeems us in
Christ, we will find that what is really happening is that God is
trying to tell His story through us. Indeed, we are all called to be
something like St. Mark. We are all called to witness the redeeming
work of Jesus Christ, and then to take up our part in God’s drama by
telling others what Jesus has done. Ask yourself today, what is God
doing in your life, in your world? Then ask how God is calling you
to be a part.
The following homily, based upon
John 10:1-10, was delivered by Father Johnson on Sunday, April 13,
2008:
The elders of Israel had asked
Jesus if he was the messiah. His response, as usual, was not what
they expected. He said that sheep of the true Shepherd could hear
the voice of the Shepherd. The question was not so much whether
Jesus is the messiah. The sheep gathering around him showed that He
was. The question was whether the elders were true sheep.
Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I
came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” Humanity has
faced the choice between the thief and the shepherd, between life
and death, over and over again. In the opening chapters of Genesis,
God gave every plant in the garden to humanity except one. God said,
“That one will bring death.” Then came the serpent, the thief, who
said, “You won’t die. Eat of that tree, and you’ll be like God.” The
choice was set before humanity, the thief or the shepherd, life or
death. We know the results. They chose the thief. Death and
destruction followed.
The people of Israel had spent forty years wandering in the
wilderness. They had seen the hand of the Lord deliver them. They
had eaten manna, the bread of angels. They drank water that flowed
from rocks. As they were about to enter the promised land, Moses
reviewed the law, the terms of their covenant with God. He concluded
by saying, “This day I have set before life and death, blessings and
curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live.” The
people all said that they wanted to choose life. They wanted to
follow their shepherd. They had not been in the land for long before
they began to choose to listen to the thief. They forgot about the
feasts of the Lord. They oppressed their neighbors. They worshiped
idols. Death and destruction followed.
When the elders of Israel asked Jesus to tell them if He was the
messiah, He responded by saying that the sheep must listen to the
voice of the shepherd. The thief had sent lesser thieves into
Israel. They were men who tried to supplant the shepherd. There were
revolutionaries leading the sheep to slaughter at the hands of the
gentile armies. There were Herod and his friends who were always
willing to slaughter the sheep for the sake of power and wealth.
There were the Pharisees ready to cast the sheep out of the
sheepfold if they did not look quite right. All who had come before
were thieves sent by the one thief who comes to steal and to kill
and to destroy.
Jesus, the shepherd, was very different. He did not use the people
of Israel for His own gain. Instead, He gave His life for their
sake. He did not cast the sheep out if they did not look right.
Instead He gathered them to Himself, bringing healing, forgiveness,
and love. Jesus called the people away from the thief, He called
them away from death. He called them to the way of eternal life.
Those who wanted to find life could find it through Him.
Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I
came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” The call of
the thief still competes with the voice of the Shepherd today. We
see his activity in unbridled consumerism. The ever increasing
appetite of humanity for material wealth leads to children working
in the worst conditions for pennies a day. The refusal to invest in
cleaner mechanisms of production and transportation has turned the
air of Beijing into a toxic cloud, and we are selling the future of
our grandchildren and great grandchildren for the sake of our
convenience.
The thief is still active today in the many cults of violence.
Religious leaders promise their people eternal bliss if they will
kill their enemies, even if it means that they too will die. In the
western world graphic depictions of murder are broadcast into the
living rooms of respectable people, and few choose to change the
channel. Societies are still ready to drive out those who do not
look quite right, and leave them to whatever malevolent person or
organization wants to use them for their gain.
The good news is that Jesus is still active calling His sheep. Jesus
calls us to leave behind the unbridled consumerism that is
destroying cultures and our environment. He is calling us to leave
behind the culture of violence, and to let love replace hatred and
forgiveness replace vengeance. Jesus is calling His church to
embrace those who have been cast out by society, and to call for
justice for those who are unable to speak for themselves. Jesus is
standing at the throne of God, interceding for his church, offering
forgiveness and healing to those who will seek it in Him.
A number of years ago, a friend that I used to climb with attempted
to climb Denali, the highest peak in North America. When he was at
the fourteen thousand foot camp, the weather reports for high wind
and blinding snow prompted his team and several others to turn back.
Only one team at the camp decided to continue the ascent to the next
camp at seventeen thousand feet. That team did not make it off the
mountain. As my friend described the team, it was apparent that they
were the team in the worst shape to make the climb. They were
coughing heavily, showing pulmonary edema, one of the symptoms of
altitude sickness. Yet it was that group that decided to push on.
The other teams told them not to go, but they went on. My friend
attributed their decision to hypoxia. At fourteen thousand feet,
there is less than two thirds of the oxygen that we enjoy near sea
level. Altitude sickness can have the same effect on judgment as
severe intoxication. Life and death choices become much more
difficult to make.
Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I
have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” If we
want to leave behind the thief who would destroy us, we must listen
to the voice of the shepherd. We will be scattered and lost until we
are willing to hear His voice. Like the teams of climbers at the
fourteen thousand foot camp on Denali, we are faced with a choice
between life and death. If you look at the results of those who have
chosen to follow other ways, you can see that they bring destruction
and death into the world. The problem is that sometimes we suffer
from something like the hypoxia of high altitude and we do not judge
rightly. If you want to be able to make the right choice, if you
want to be able to hear the voice of the shepherd over the voice of
the thief, you have to have enough air. In this case, the air that
you have to have is time spent in the presence of God. The sheep
know the voice of the shepherd as a result of the time they have
spent in His presence. Tune out the destructive voices and listen to
His voice. Read the scriptures or some book based in scripture.
Spend time each day in prayer. It does not need to be an hour of
quiet contemplation. In fact it might be better to take a few
moments here and there to speak openly to God. Finally, be present
for worship. The shepherd speaks to His flock gathered together in
His name.
Every day, we are faced with the choice between the thief and the
shepherd. Our decision will depend on us hearing His voice. Do not
allow yourself to suffer from the hypoxia of a culture that tells
you that you do not have time to spend in the presence of the
shepherd. If you want a more abundant life, a deeper life, eternal
life, spend time in His presence and listen to His voice.
A selection of Father RJ's
homilies are archived on this site. To read them,
click here.
