July 6, 2003
Mark 6:1-13
2 Corinthians 12:2-10
Several things need to be kept in mind as one seeks meaning from Gospels such as that of Mark. Even though Mark is generally regarded to have been the first Gospel written, it was not written until many years (perhaps thirty-five) after the death of Jesus. In the meantime the disciples had struggled to make sense of the crucifixion and also found themselves as an infant church in competition with other religions which professed leadership that had a god as one parent, could perform miracles, and had risen from the dead. Some of the competitive religions were known as "Miracle Religions". Given the time between the ministry of Jesus and recorded memories of it, one can easily understand how such memories were recorded with an ancient world-view "spin" and a bold proclamation that Jesus could do as much or more than leaders of other religions. The locals would "buy" none of this because of familiarity with him and his family. Jesus was thus forced to expand the geographic area of his ministry to other villages by utilizing the committment and skills of his followers. As is often the case, "need is the mother of invention" and it occurred to Jesus that he could accomplish more by training his closest friends to go throughout the country doing what he was doing. He thus multiplied the quantity of his contacts through carefully trained co-workers.
Today, most people rely more on the work of God through a slow process of learning brought about by compounding knowledge, experimentation, and experience, than on instantaneous intervention by God. The results of relying on "process" and "partnership with God" bring about more needed results than does the hope for a miracle. For this reason growth demands that there be a gradual but sure shift from believing God works in relation to an ancient view of the world to an understanding that much of Gods work is done in a manner harmonious with our contemporary and growing understanding of the world. Furthermore it is increasingly clear that human beings can be partners with God in accomplishments of eternal value.
The testimony of the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Church at Corinth, supports the idea of partnership with God on the personal level of Paul. It does so with an interpretation by Paul that is harmonious with the general view of the world of his day. Most of us believe that world functions more nearly as we understand it than as they did. Interpreting our relationship with God to be as important as Pauls was to him is thus very reasonable even though we see ourselves working with God in ways that are quite natural and, except for those happenings we cannot yet explain, void of the instantaneous miracle.