Scripture Collage: Tradition and Innovation
By: Don Penner
1 – The good news of Jesus Christ is about something new that has come into the world.
2 – They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching – with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him” (1:27).
1 – A new teaching, a new power, a new authority. Something different from what the people had seen before.
2 – No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins (2:21-22).
1 – Jesus didn’t do things in quite the way they’d always been done. Especially when it came time to eat.
2 – Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and people came and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” (2:18).
1 – Who Jesus ate with caused some ripples too.
2 – When the scribes of the Pharisees saw who was around the table, they said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (2:16).
1 – And his pre-meal etiquette was also a departure.
2 – When the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. So they asked him: “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” (7:1-2, 5).
1 – Jesus had a knack for pushing the boundaries on rules that had been in place for a long time.
2 – One sabbath he was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?” (2:23-24).
1 – At times, Jesus lost patience with this tight hold on the way things have always been done.
2 – He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites… You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition!” (7:6, 8).
1 – He cast a vision for a less rigid interpretation of faithfulness to God, one oriented more to people than to rules.
2 – “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?” (3:4). “The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath” (2:27).
1 – And again:
2 – “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners” (2:17).
1 – One might presume that Jesus was an “out with the old, and in with the new” kind of guy. But his innovation had some pretty deep roots. He knew his scriptures.
2 – “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? He entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, and he gave some to his companions”
(2:25-26).
1 – And again:
2 – A scribe came near and asked Jesus, “Which commandment is the first of all?” Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these” (12:28 31).
1 – His people’s prophets were always on the tip of his tongue, even when he got a little angry:
2 – “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written – ‘This people honours me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines’” (7:6-7).
1 – In truth, the Jesus of this gospel has very few kind words for the leaders of his tradition – and they for him. But sometimes we get most frustrated with those we are closest to. There can be no innovation without the gifts of the tradition.
2 – On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, his disciples said to him, “Where do you want us to go and make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?” (14:12).
1 – And Jesus ate the meal of his ancestors, establishing through it a new covenant in the Kingdom of God.
2 – Have you not read this scripture: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes” (12:10-11).
Sermon
I grew up surrounded by fruit orchards in the beautiful land of the Niagara Peninsula, in a little place called Vineland Station just off the Queen Elizabeth Way, 14 kilometers west of St. Catharines. It was a wonderful adventuresome place to grow up! Back in the 1960s–early 70s, it was common for parents to send their kids outside to play without any adult supervision. For my friends and me, it was up to us to make our own fun. Much of the time we chose to go places on our bikes. We typically stayed within two kilometers of home, exploring creeks, woodlots, and road construction projects. Some of you may remember those were the years when motorcycle daredevil Evil Knievel was active. We tried to imitate him. We made ramps and jumped over things – one time it was our younger brothers whom we got to lie down in a row! If we weren’t riding our bikes, we were playing in our friend Mike Culp’s barn, climbing on the tractors and trucks, pretending to be speed racers. It all felt safe, because it was “just pretend!” Truth be told, the thought of actually driving scared me as a child. I remember vowing to my parents that I was never going to operate a motor vehicle.
Likely the accident we were in while looking for a relative in Vancouver had something to do with it. Though no one was hurt, the car that hit us smashed into the door I was sitting on the other side of, shaking me up quite a bit. Life went on, and my vow to never drive began to fade, especially after I started spending my summers working on the Culps’ fruit farm as an employee. My friend Mike taught me how to drive their tractors and trucks so that I could help getting the peaches, plums, and pears back to the barn at noon and at end-of-day. It wasn’t long before I fell in love with driving! During the summer of 1974, on my 16 th birthday, I had my mom take me into town where I wrote and passed the test to get my beginners’ permit.
That same week I began a Young Drivers of Canada course, and one month later I passed the Ministry of Transportation’s in-car driving test, getting my full license! That September, when school started, I tried out for the soccer team and made it. Practices ran after school, but there were no late buses, so finding a ride home was an issue. I decided to ask my parents if I could borrow the family car. We were a two-car family. Monday through Friday dad drove a small, secondhand Datsun to his factory job at General Motors in St. Catharines. That left the other car. It was a full-sized Chevy with a powerful 400 cubic inch V8 engine. It had a fair bit of get up and go! Would I be trusted with it? My parents bought this car brand new four years earlier. Usually, it stayed in the garage with the exception of those times Mom, who was a stay-at-home parent, used it to get us kids to doctor’s appointments and such. Most weeks, this car only got used on Sunday mornings for taking us to church. Some of you will remember that fifty years ago, Church was a pretty big deal when it came to looking your best. We all got dressed up like one does for a wedding. As a kid, I wore a suit and tie – just like my dad. Every Saturday, my chores involved polishing everyone’s shoes, and having a bath. I also helped dad wash, vacuum, and chammy dry the Chevy Caprice. It had to look good too. Given how dad fussed over the car, and how mom relied on it in case of an emergency, it was asking a lot if I could take it to school a couple times a week. Yet to my amazement, my parents said “yes.” I marvel at the privilege I was given, and their faith in me. Well, not many days later, driving home after soccer practice, I had three other fellas with me, giving them a ride home. It was exciting, driving with my friends in the car. Wanting to look cool, I tried to do a burnout at a traffic stop when the light turned green. When I floored the gas pedal, I barely got a “squawk” as the tires gripped more than they spun. My friends laughed. Feeling a little embarrassed, I decided I needed to try again.
At the next traffic light, I put the automatic transmission in neutral, revved the motor, and then dropped the gear shift into drive when the light turned green. Well, this time the tires squealed just fine, BUT, there was a hard jolt, and the sound of a “ping” rang out like a hammer being wacked on a block of steel. As the car got up to the city speed limit, a strong vibration could be felt through the floor. I started to feel sick. What was I going to tell my parents? How would they react? I was especially worried about what my father would say. Cars were his passion.
Both mom and dad were in the kitchen when I got home. I started out by telling them that something was wrong with the car, how it was now shaking, and that the shaking got worse the faster you went. Mom immediately began questioning me, trying to figure out if I had hit a curb, or bounced through a pothole, or runover something. Dad remained quiet. This was the typical way my parents behaved – Mom more vocal, dad much quieter. Mom’s reaction – asking so many questions – showed she had a lot invested in this conversation because in her eyes, this was “her car.” This was the vehicle she relied on to take us kids to appointments, and to run errands with when dad was at work. This car gave her a sense of control. Understandably, the thought of the Caprice being kaput created a lot of anxiety for her. Well, after 2-3 minutes of answering my mother’s many scenarios with “no, it wasn’t that,” dad’s body language indicated he was ready to speak. The room got really quiet. As you might imagine, my body language indicated a dark storm cloud of shame was pressing down on my head and shoulders, getting heavier by the second.
I had let my parents down! They had trusted me, but I did something foolish that didn’t honor their trust. You know, when you’re sixteen, you want so badly to be independent – your own person. You want your parents to respect you and treat you like an adult. Yet at that age, we still have this need to please our parents. We want them to be proud of us. We need their acceptance to help us become our own person. I think many would agree with me that during our teens we often feel squeezed by some pretty big expectations. On the one hand, we hear voices demanding perfection – be it in school, getting good grades, or in character, keeping up a good family name. On the other side, we hear voices poking holes in our self-esteem, calling us weak, telling us we’re never going to be good enough at anything. We may also hear voices taunting us, daring us to rebel, even break free of family ties. Like the troubled man in Mark chapter one, we know about “spirits” wrestling inside us, whispering, even shouting in our ear – spirits that demand, blame, and condemn. It’s not that hard to imagine the troubled man in the synagogue feeling caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one side, he faces the pressure to perform perfectly as taught by the teachers of the law who conveyed that nothing short of keeping all the rules will win God’s approval. On the other side, he’s listening to Jesus of Nazareth teach a different interpretation of salvation and how we are to live our lives. It appears Jesus’ version of what true righteousness looked like set off the troubled man, causing him to feel deeply frustrated, like all his efforts were at best a waste of time, and at worst, off-putting to God. He’s clearly upset. He doesn’t hear good news in the Lord’s teaching. If there was any good news in it, it’s drowned out by those spirits within, shaming him, guilting him. I wonder what specifically Jesus said that triggered him.
Mark doesn’t say. Maybe Jesus had been teaching on the topic of sin. Maybe his text was the story of Adam and Eve, specifically their choice to rely on themselves to gain eternal life by eating the fruit that would make them like God, such that they wouldn’t need God. Had Jesus equated the Pharisees’ emphasis on law-keeping WITH the sin of trying to be like God? I’m reminded here of the Rich Young Ruler in Mark chapter ten. Like him, many of us have been trying our whole lives to do everything right, yet we still struggle with a nagging sense that it’s not been enough. Indeed, the young man shares this same feeling, that there must be something more than keeping the Ten Commandments. I admire his courage to ask Jesus what else is required to inherit eternal life. I don’t know if I would want to know the answer. What if it’s something I don’t think I can do? Jesus answers by inviting the young man to walk away from being self-reliant, to become God-reliant. He invites him to give away all his wealth, so that he might know 100% the fullness of God’s faithfulness and provision. Jesus takes it to a whole other level, going beyond The Tradition which says that tithing will suffice: “Give 10%, keep 90%, and you’re good with God…. Peace, perfect peace!” Clearly, that formula is not working for the Young Man. He doesn’t have peace. Sadly, he walks away crestfallen. The disciples take note. If this successful and loveable fellah can’t make the choice, “Who then can be saved?” (Mark 10:26) Indeed, WHO?! Why does it have to be so hard??
Similarly frustrated, the man in the synagogue cries: “Why are you interfering with us?” “Have you come to destroy us?” That’s how it feels – like God has interrupted our lives in the person of Jesus, making salvation impossible. Forget the Apostle Paul’s talk about winning the race (1 Corinthians 9:24). There’s no way to even get across the finish line! Most times I cringe when someone makes a scene. But here I find myself applauding the courage of the troubled man.Unlike the rich young ruler who says nothing and walks away, this guy owns his feelingsof frustration, feelings likely tied to shame and guilt.He bears witness to the Holy One of God, in plain sight of everyone, that his life hasbecome a living hell.He acts out that the battle going on inside him is shredding his soul.He can’t do it anymore – live with the image of God as a stern and exacting Judge.He can’t handle feeling like no matter how much he tries, it’s never good enough.Worse, he can’t hear any good news in Jesus’ new teaching – only a call to give up more,in fact, EVERYTHING!Can you imagine the pressure – the condemning thought that there’s no hope for you?What we see here parallels what we read a little further on in Mark chapter nine where adesperate father seeks healing for a son who isn’t able to express himself verbally.It seems a similar evil spirit is at work, condemning the boy, driving him out ofdesperation to end it all, either by drowning, or burning himself in a fire.What can be done?
The disciples don’t know what to do.We can relate. We don’t know what to do either.Jesus comes on scene and rebukes the evil spirit, commanding it to leave the boy.We see the same thing happening in Mark chapter one.In a stern reprimanding voice, Jesus says to the spirit: “Be Quiet!”He interrupts the cycle of shaming.He breaks the loop of condemning thoughts.And it is enough to make a difference.People looking on remark how Jesus spoke with authority – the kind that comes fromexperience, where you know what you know because it’s been refined by fire – it’s beentested, proven, and purified.
Folks, Jesus knew life could be hell at times.But he also came to know the truth, that God’s method of operating is not to make thefires of hell hotter, but to be with us in the midst of them, delivering us through them.Surely one of Jesus’ favorite Bible stories had to be where God delivers Shadrach,Meshach and Abednego – three Jews living in exile in Babylon – from the fiery furnaceKing Nebuchadnezzar had thrown them into.Perhaps you remember this classic Sunday School story from the book of Daniel. There inchapter three the king orders the furnace to be heated 7 times hotter than usual beforethrowing the trio in – all because they wouldn’t bow down to worship his statue.The king looks into the furnace and sees them walking about untied and unharmed.He also sees a fourth person – someone he describes as “a son of the gods.”Shocked and disturbed, he orders the three to come out at once, and they do, with nohairs singed, no burn marks on their clothing, not even the smell of smoke.Friends, this is the image of God we should hold on to when life is hell.God with us – not against us.
Yes, Jesus personally knew life could be hell at times.Think about what he went through.He was born to parents who were familiar with a tradition built on shame and guilt.Joseph needed an angel to convince him to stay with Mary, and Mary needed threemonths living with Elizabeth to center her for what was to come.And not long after she proclaims her confidence that God was going to do great thingsthrough this birth, an elderly man at the temple prophesizes that trouble lies ahead forher son, adding that a sword will pierce her own heart too.It could not have been easy for Mary & Joseph to live with these mixed messages.Imagine, too, the impact of their worries as they flee with him to Egypt, where they liveas refugees – outsiders.And at some point, surely their curious child would learn that people wanted him dead.For how many years did he live fearing someone would find him and take his life? A friend of mine, Morio Ogasawara, recently preached a sermon at Shantz MennoniteChurch in which he pondered King Herod’s attempt to sweep up and destroy the One theMagi claimed would be the next King of the Jews.Morio suggested that many of the families who lost a son must have been Joseph’srelatives. Remember? Joseph had gone to Bethlehem to register for the census becausethat was his home town.God warns Joseph to take Mary and the child and flee to Egypt in order to protect Jesus,yet, who warns the others in Bethlehem who have newborn sons? No one!Did that eat away at Joseph’s mental health – a sense that he betrayed his own family?Did he suffer shame and guilt over that, such that it contributed to his early death?Morio also wondered if the death of the innocents not only affected Joseph, but Jesustoo, leaving him in a hell of “survivor’s guilt” He got to live, but the others didn’t.Sure, one could argue it wasn’t Jesus’ fault – after all, he was just a baby, a toddler whenHerod gave the command to slaughter the young boys.
But at some point, surely Jesus realized that they died because he was born.Those families weren’t warned, in order to protect his life.Morio asked: “Is that what kept Jesus so mindful of the children around him?”In Mark chapter nine, Jesus sets a little child in front of his disciples who are all jacked upabout being the greatest in the Kingdom of God.But Jesus tells them to drop their striving and learn to see these little ones, to welcomethem!Learn to see the little ones… surely a point painfully driven home by the little ones wholost their lives in Bethlehem, all because a king thought more of his crown.Is this why Jesus sweeps the little ones up into his arms, blessing them – to honor thelost babes of Bethlehem? Friends, Jesus’ life was not easy.He was familiar with hell on earth – with loss, disappointment, trauma, obstacles, poverty.Yet, my hunch is these experiences may well be the very reason he can speak with such authority, casting out evil spirits – telling them to be quiet and buzz off. We need people in our lives who can speak into the tempests of worry we find ourselves in – people who can see our humanity, our imperfections, and speak a word of quieting grace, especially in a situation where we don’t feel we deserve any. And we need to be those people too, speaking into the turmoil of others caught between a rock and a hard place.
Well, I left you hanging a ways back, at the point where my dad was about to speak regarding what had happened to the car while I was in charge of it. You want to know what he said? Just one short sentence, five words in total, spoken calmly. He said: “I was young once too.”
That was it.
Nothing more.
I don’t remember if it was the same day, or the next, but we took the car to the corner repair shop down the road. The mechanic found the problem. One of the universal joints connecting the transmission to the rear axle had broken one of its four posts, making the driveshaft wabble, causing the vibration. I remember the repair cost twenty dollars, but I don’t remember if I paid dad for it. I have a feeling he covered it – grace upon grace. I learned some years later from my dad’s youngest brother Dietrich, that dad had witnessed their father take a strip of their older brother Abe. Abe had taken a turn in the field too tightly with the horses, snapping off the wooden tongue of a piece of farm equipment being towed behind. The story goes that my Grandpa Penner got very upset with Abe. He had trusted his son to do better. They were dirt poor. Much of their farm equipment was held together with binder twine and wire. Surely Abe could have been more careful. Back then, the Tradition gave fathers a lot of authority. But what do fathers do when they feel powerless, caught between a rock and a hard place? It’s really hard to be innovative when all you feel is frustration and failure. I know from my own experience that you lose the ability to see your child standing before you. All you can see and hear are the spirits within riding you hard, destroying your hope. I don’t know the details of what happened in that field, only the outcome. Uncle Dietrich told me that Abe walked home, packed a bag, and that same day, left for good. He enlisted in the army, and went overseas as a soldier to fight in World War II. After the war, he didn’t go back to Manitoba. He settled in Ontario. He never married, but lived common law with a woman. There were no children… probably an intentional choice. Uncle Abe was in his 60s when he got cancer. He died soon after.
My dad never spoke about what happened in the field. I don’t know if he personally witnessed it, or just the aftermath. I do know it was hard on him to see his older brother leave – fearing he might never see him again. I wonder if the trauma my dad experienced in his youth spurred his choice to find another way to respond to my failure with the car. On that day, he chose to see me over the car. He chose his child over the modeling he grew up with. Patriarchy is still a tradition that affects us today – one that makes it so hard on men to own their humanity and limitations. In fact, the need to be perfect and in control affects us all. We all know something of the heat shame and guilt generate. We all have spirits that fight within, feeding our fear of failure. What if we could be to be more honest about the bind we find ourselves in? Can the Church be a safe place for naming those feelings of not being enough? Can the Church also be a safe place for telling stories where we were touched by grace in times of failure?
I love that the synagogue in Capernaum was the setting for this miracle of healing. Makes me hopeful the Church could be that setting too. What happened there was messy, but it left people marveling and amazed at the outcome. It left people freer to imagine something even greater than their Tradition. Thanks be to God! May it be so in our day too.
AMEN.