Tag Archives: Mark

Jesus is the Suffering Servant

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on June 7, 2015
Tags: , Mark   

A Kingdom Divided Against Itself — Rev. David J. Schreffler

June 7, 2015
Sunday

“If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.” Mark 3:24-27

“In Mark’s Gospel, Satan is always behind the opposition to Jesus regardless of who or what the vehicle may be. In this case, it is his own family and a delegation of scribes from Jerusalem.

Now Jesus makes clear, in the form of a parable, the scope of what he is doing in his freeing of the demon-possessed. Jesus is coming to plunder Satan’s household and bring about his end, not by division from within but by stealth and force from without. Jesus, who was stronger than John the Baptist (1:7), is stronger than the strong man Satan too. Jesus’ stealthy binding of the powers of evil ultimately undermines Satan so completely that even when he appears to have succeeded in destroying Jesus in the crucifixion, the very destruction of the Son issues not in defeat but in the mysterious victory of God.” June 10, 2012, Meda Stamper, from the “Working Preacher” website

We have to come to and accept the realization that the ways of evil and the devil are truly binding to a person, constricting them from the ways of Jesus — just as the ways of Jesus are truly binding to a person, constricting them from the ways of the devil. What the devil seeks to do is divide us, either as a congregation or as individuals, the devil hopes to divide our attentions — so that we are no longer completely focused on Christ. Every day we should pray that Christ fights the battle for us against the devil, so that our attention and our loyalties are not divided — that we are solely focused on the Christ-like life.

What ways do you use to stay focused on Christ each and every day? Luther threw an ink bottle (supposedly) at the Devil, striking the wall (and maybe the Devil). How do you fend off evil thoughts and the “smooth talk” of the Devil?

Pastor Dave

Unknown's avatar Rev. David J. Schreffler 4:44 am on April 9, 2015
Tags: , Mark   

Amnesia or Anamnesis? — Rev. David J. Schreffler

April 9, 2015

“Now when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast our seven demons. She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.” Mark 16:9ff

“The miracles that have already happened are, of course, as Scripture so often says, the first fruits of that cosmic summer which is presently coming on. Christ has risen, and so we shall rise. To be sure, it feels wintry enough still; but often in the very early Spring it feels like that. Two thousand years are only a day or two by this scale. A man really ought to say, “The Resurrection happened two thousand years ago” in the same spirit in which he says, “I saw a crocus yesterday.” C. S. Lewis (1898 – 1963) God in the Dock

There is a part of the communion service that we call the “Anamnesis”. The Anamnesis is the process during the Eucharist that we remember Christ – but not just in memorial. We remember as if Christ is present with us now and we can participate by entering into the Paschal Mystery. OK – some definitions. Eucharist is just a fancy name for Holy Communion. Paschal is the passion of Christ – the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is critical for our understanding of communion. You see, some theologies think Holy Communion is just a re-enactment of the Last Supper so it does not carry much weight in their practice – Christ is not present in the meal, so they do not participate in communion more than a few times a year. Others, like us Lutherans, believe that Christ is present in the meal, that Christ is “In Under and Through” the Bread and Wine – it is a Real Presence – and thus when we remember Christ (Anamnesis), we expect that Christ is present right then.

C. S. Lewis says, “A man really ought to say, “The Resurrection happened two thousand years ago” in the same spirit in which he says, “I saw a crocus yesterday.” In other words, yes Christ died two thousand years ago, but Christ is present with us right now – in the bread and wine of communion, wherever two or three gather in His name, in the words that we read and speak in the name of Jesus. And if we live as if Christ is present with us now, don’t you think that might change “how” we live? Do you believe that Christ is Risen? Then, live as if Christ is present in your life right now.

Pastor Dave