Sermon

The Cost and Price of Discipleship

by The Very Rev. Terry White, Dean

Two women are sitting next to each other on an airplane headed for Aberdeen. One, Diane, is a student from the Midwest, in her twenties, on her way to begin a long holiday after graduation.  The other woman is Bonnie-Jean, who is in her fifties, and is returning home to Scotland.

The younger woman Diane says to Bonnie-Jean, "Excuse me, but I couldn't help notice that beautiful diamond ring you're wearing. It's just incredible."

The older woman replies, "Thank you. This is the famous 'MacPherson Diamond' you know."

“ 'MacPherson Diamond' I've never heard of it."

"Oh yes, the 'MacPherson Diamond' is very famous.”

"Well," says the younger woman, "it really is beautiful. I would give anything to have a diamond like that."

"NO! Don't even say that!" exclaims Bonnie-Jean. "Believe me, darling, you do not want to own this diamond!"

"But why not?" asks Diane.

"Because there is a terrible curse attached to this diamond, that's why."

"A curse?" the younger woman asks.

"Yes, a curse. The terrible 'MacPherson Curse.' A curse so awful and horrible that I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy!"

Diane is beside herself with excitement.  "Well what kind of curse could possibly be so terrible?" she asks.

Looking cautiously over her shoulder, Bonnie-Jean lowers her voice so that Diane must lean in close. With terror in her eyes, and trembling in her voice, Bonnie-Jean says, “The curse of the MacPherson Diamond is this: Mr. MacPherson comes with it.”

On this Sunday of the Kirkin’ of the Tartan a warm welcome to the Brotherhood of St. Andrew, and a sincere apology to all Mr. MacPhersons!

My first view of the structure excited me, and as we moved closer I was positively giddy.  It was the week of Thanksgiving and seminary was on recess. I had flown to Chevy Chase, Maryland, to see my dearest friend from my childhood, who was driving me to the summit of Mt. St. Alban for my first visit to Washington National Cathedral.

The sky was a brilliant blue, the sun was shining brightly, setting the Indiana limestone ablaze, and as I approached the great West Door, I was speechless.  The size, the proportions, the beauty were staggering.  The scene enhanced all that a cathedral stands for, as a House of Prayer for all people.  It was inspiring and comforting, for surely God was there, and as I walked through the doors I knew that that this famous National Cathedral, baptized with the formal name of the Cathedral Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, was also mine in a very personal sense. Majestic and intimate and holy.

The disciples surely shared some of these feelings as they gazed at the Temple in Jerusalem. It was the Second Temple, recently expanded by Herod the Great, protecting the Holy of Holies, where the Bread of the Presence and the Altar of Incense resided. Beautiful beyond compare, unsurpassed as a marvel in stone.  No matter what the people endured at the hands of the Roman occupiers, God had no abandoned them. God’s house, in God’s city, would stand forever.

And as the disciples marvel, Jesus says the day will come when the stones are leveled.  He refers to the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord. The group moves through the city gate and the Kidron valley and pauses for a rest and perhaps a some teaching on the Mount of Olives. Jesus speaks of Last Things, and his followers are eager for more to be unveiled, the literal meaning of the greek root of our word apocalyptic.

But in fact Jesus says more about life between now and the Last Day: Beware that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name and say, `I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birthpangs."

Theologian Luke Timothy Johnson sees the scene this way:  Though Jesus makes a private prediction to his disciples that the Temple will be destroyed, it is the only charge made against him by the Sanhedrin at his trial. The Temple in Mark’s Gospel becomes a symbol for who is in and who is out.

In the Temple precincts the Sanhedrin questions Jesus’ authority, Pharisees try to trap him on the question of paying taxes to Caesar, and Sadducees challenge him on the concept of the resurrection. Jesus attacks the scribes who devour widows providing a stark contrast to the Gospel from last Sunday where the widow who puts two copper coins, all she has, into the poor fund of the Temple.

The Temple, then, symbolizes the struggle of what it means to be faithful, and the true danger of following that which is not of God. [The Writings of the New Testament, pg 176)]

This section of Mark is often called The Little Apocalypse, the Unveiling.  What is Jesus unveiling for his disciples?

First, Jesus offers two warnings to his easily impressed disciples. “Take heed that no one lead you astray.” “Take heed…when they bring you to trial.” There is suffering ahead for the community and for the disciples. They are warned not to let the suffering be an excuse to chase off after phony solutions and false messiahs (we might say quick fixes).

They are warned not to lose heart. There will be wars and rumors of wars. There will be stacked courtrooms, rigged trials, persecution for the church as there will be for the Messiah. The reader is warned that trouble comes to the world, and to those who follow the Way of Jesus.

But there is also a promise. “Do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say (when you are before the rulers), but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.” This rare promise of the Spirit in Mark’s gospel is given to those who suffer for their faith; who testify to their Lord. “The one who endures to the end will be saved.” There is a promise of help in our time of distress.

The disciples seemed to be impressed by the great stones of the Temple. What are our stones today?  What impresses us, what do we place faith in that can tumble down? The economy, a relationship, status?  When trials come, when suffering dominates, what have invested our souls in?

Elie Wiesel in his book Memoirs: All Rivers Lead to the Sea talks about his childhood in Eastern Europe and the suffering of the Jews even before the Nazis came. His rabbi used to say, “Abraham, the first of the patriarchs, was a better Jew than you. He was a thousand times better than all of us, but the Midrash tells us that he was cast into a burning furnace. So how do you expect to breeze through life without a scratch? Daniel was wiser than you and more pious, yet he was condemned to die in a lion’s den. And you dream of living your life without suffering?” (p.19)  http://jointhefeast.blogspot.com/2009/11/november-15-2009-mark-131-8-charlie.html

What is the cost of discipleship we are willing to bear?  What are we willing to endure rather than follow false messiahs, phony promises, easy answers.  Jesus says to us, he shouts to us and cheers us on with words of encouragement and hope. If you gain the whole world and forfeit your life’s soul, you have lost everything.  This is how the Church must live. Enduring all we must for the sake of being faithful to preach redemption, release, justice and peace, servanthood, and forgiveness.

The MacPherson Diamond carries a curse – Mr. MacPherson!  But there far worse curses.

We stay faithful through the ordeals, these are the birth pangs, Jesus says. There will be new life. Be hopeful. Be faithful. Set the Lord always before you, because he is at our right hand we shall not fall. 

© Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral