Below the Surface

Pentecost | Mark 12:1-8 | End Times

Some of you may recall the story about when the Redeemer had the church retreat, and we all packed up to spend a day on an island.   We took a bus to the lake, and everybody got on the boat to head off to the island when, all of a sudden, someone remembered we left the drinks in Kent’s car.  We were a little distance from the shore, and Erik Sommers jumped out of the boat and ran across the water to the shore, then Millie jumped out to help Kent, and she ran across the water, and Caleb decided he too would help and jumped out of the boat to follow them and he immediately found himself waist deep in water.  T Williams reached down and pulled Caleb back in the boat and said to him, “You have to know where the rocks are.”   

In this morning’s gospel text, Jesus is teaching the disciples to look to where the rocks are.  Jesus is saying to his followers that to be true followers of the gospel, the good news he came to bring, you have to know where the rocks are; YOU HAVE TO LOOK BELOW THE SURFACE.   The focus of Mark’s gospel is Jesus and how he came as the Son of God to teach us to see the kingdom of God.  Jesus comes into a world where we have been seduced by power.  Jesus comes into a world where we have been oriented to look to people with power and knowledge.  Jesus comes into a world where we are trained to look at what is on the surface and think that this is what life is all about.  There are some great commercials out these days.  Help me out.  One commercial shows two men dreaming about fixing something and they are star-eyed in envy of one another.  There are similar commercial about men being starry-eyed about cars.  The commercials are cute but they reduce men to the image of little boys and their toys.  With women, the commercials are more serious and the pay is on body types and good looks.  We are bombarded with the picture of what we should be looking for in life and what we should look like.  In Mark’s gospel Jesus is saying don’t fall for the oky doke, look for the deeper meaning in life.  Look below the surface.   

In our lesson for today, Jesus is with his disciples, and they are leaving the temple.  Remember who the disciples were.  The disciples were simple people.  They came from the countryside.  They were fishermen and women who worked hard for a living.  The disciples were people who rarely spent time in the city.  You can imagine how it was for the disciples coming from a humble background and what it must have been like being in the big city and in the “temple.”  As Jesus and the disciples were walking out of the temple, one of the disciples looked up and began to ooh and awe as they looked at the temple.  Jesus warned the disciples not to get caught up in what was on the surface, and he told them these things would all pass away.  Jesus talks about war and destruction; he talks about earthquakes and floods.  Jesus reminds his followers to look below the surface to set their sights on the kingdom of God.

A couple of weeks ago, we had a sight visit from Wells Fargo.  Two years ago, we received a grant for the after-school program, and during the site visit, they became so impressed with the success of our program that they decided to invite our program to do a presentation at the Wells Fargo building downtown.  This was a big event for Wells Fargo because the national president of Wells Fargo was coming to Minneapolis, and they wanted to impress him.  Our children were the only ones on the program.  When the staff and the children arrived at the program, escorted by David Scherer, the Wells Fargo people escorted us to the back room and started telling us how they were running behind and that we were going to have to cut out the poems Lonna had the children prepare.   They rushed Julie and the three girls out to do the praise dance, and they were great.  Then teens went and danced to Hip Hop, and they were great.  Suddenly, the Wells Fargo people began to ask how long the poems were, and by the time Dave Scherer and Lonna said a few words, the Wells Fargo people were saying, “Take as long as you want.”  Lonna had seven of the children in the after-school program write a poem about who they are.  It was wonderful to hear the children confidently express who they are and what they value.  Maggie read her poem and discussed her identity as a child of God.  Among the employees attending the program was W's daughter. Harry Davis.  W. Harry Davis is the community leader after whom the school is named.  Another Wells Fargo, after the program, sought Maggie out to share her appreciation for Maggie sharing her identity as a child of God.  

When we left the Wells Fargo building downtown, I got a phone call from Lonna.  She wanted some directions in order to get back to the church.  If you have ever been to downtown Minneapolis, you know what it can be like in the midst of all the tall buildings and traffic you can get lost.  

I can imagine that when Jesus and the disciples were coming out of the temple and the disciple was looking in awe at the temple’s structure, he was trying to get his bearing.   To set him in the right direction and to help him not get lost, Jesus warns the disciples not to get lost in seeing their future in signs of power and success and to look below the surface.
     
I began my career in Washington, D.C., where I worked for a small non-profit related to a congregation, much like the relationship between Redeemer and Redeemer Center for Life.  First Trinity congregation in Washington, D.C., is surrounded by government buildings and ministers to people who are homeless, poor, and ex-offenders.  Washington, D.C., is a city that attracts powerful people.  Washington, D.C., is a city filled with impressive monuments built of stone, but the greatness as a nation is in the people whose lives are built on a reality that comes from below the surface.

This past week in Washington, D.C., our nation revealed a new monument to Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King.   The point is not that we now have a monument to Martin Luther King.  We celebrate the witness of someone who faced the reality of racism and the promotion of war in Viet Nam, and he chose to look below the surface.  

Below the surface is the reality of the cross and the invitation God extends to each of us to pick up the cross and follow Jesus.  Below the surface is the reality we received at our baptism when we were washed into our new identity as people of God and heirs to God’s kingdom.   

The challenge for us, people of God, is to know where the stones are.  The challenge is to see life through the reality of the cross, the reality into which we were baptized.  Life is about more than what we see on the surface.  Life is about more than money.  Life is about more than how many degrees we have or the kind of title we carry, doctor, lawyer, Mr. Mrs. Black, white, girl, boy, gay, straight, old, or young.  The kingdom of God is beneath the surface!    Racism, sexism, and exploitation of the poor are obvious; the solution and our true identity, people of God, are below the surface.    

This afternoon, we have the opportunity to witness our lives below the surface by joining with Council Member Don Samuels and people from across the city as they gather in vigil.  Another person was tragically killed in our community.   People will gather in vigil to remember a victim of violence and witness a reality that is below the surface, but because it is below the surface does not mean it is not real.  God is real.  The kingdom of God is real.  It is our witness to show to others where the stones are in order that they might reach their safe harbor.  Amen.