Hosea 2:14-20 Mark 2:13-22 2 Corinthians 3:1-6
What are Christians known for in our communities and in our world today?
In the first through the third centuries, Christians were not popular, and their critics often attacked them for the ways that the Christian community went against the prevailing culture and community standards. Christians (and Jews) were seen as atheists because they did not participate in holy day celebrations at the temples of various gods and goddesses, they were accused of practicing cannibalism for the sharing of communion, they were mocked for their belief in resurrection, for following and worshiping a criminal who had been crucified, and other ways that folks just found to be odd, irregular, unusual, and rude. But as much as Christians were criticized and even persecuted, their critics recognized that there were things for which Christians were known and remembered, and most of those things, at least today, would be thought of as good things.
David Bentley Hart, in his book “The Story of Christianity,” lists the characteristics of Christians that were used by pagan critics to describe early followers of Jesus. Christians were described as sober, gentle, faithful to their spouses without exploitation or abuse, caring for the poor, willing to nurse the gravely ill, even at significant risk to themselves, such as during a time of plague, and the ability to exhibit virtues such as self-control and courage, which were thought to be impossible for anyone who was poor or who was not philosophically trained.
But even though Christianity’s critics may have grudgingly admitted that the movement had some positive points, and even though some of those we listed were presented as ridicule and not praise, Christians were still known, and often rejected, for the ways that their new religion made them break the rules of the culture and of the empire. But that shouldn’t surprise us when the founder of our movement, and the object of our worship, was, from the beginning, a ruler breaker. But before we get to that, let’s begin in the Old Testament book of Hosea in Hosea 2:14-20, where we hear God describing how he will win back a morally wandering Israel, and describe what he desires to provide for his people. God says…
14 “Therefore I am now going to allure her;
I will lead her into the wilderness
and speak tenderly to her.
15 There I will give her back her vineyards,
and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.
There she will respond as in the days of her youth,
as in the day she came up out of Egypt.
16 “In that day,” declares the Lord,
“you will call me ‘my husband’;
you will no longer call me ‘my master.’
17 I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips;
no longer will their names be invoked.
18 In that day I will make a covenant for them
with the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky
and the creatures that move along the ground.
Bow and sword and battle
I will abolish from the land,
so that all may lie down in safety.
19 I will betroth you to me forever;
I will betroth you in righteousness and justice,
in love and compassion.
20 I will betroth you in faithfulness,
and you will acknowledge the Lord.
The story of Hosea is one in which Israel goes astray from God in a spectacular way and, through Hosea’s marriage to an unfaithful lady of the evening, God describes Israel as a prostitute who has sold herself for foreign gods. But here, God declares that he is going to win his bride back. God intends to allure her, speak tenderly to her, give her back her vineyards, and give her hope. Once again, Israel will return to God and forget the idols of her past so that God can give her a life of righteousness, justice, compassion, faithfulness, and peace. But those are the things that God has always wanted for his people. The problem has never been with God, it has been with the unfaithfulness of his people. And that is what is at the heart of the rule breaking Jesus that we meet in Mark 2:13-22. When the culture of God’s people, or any culture, values other things more than the things of God, then people of faith are compelled to break the rules. And that’s what we see as Jesus meets the tax collector Levi, who we also know as the disciple Matthew:
13 Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. 14 As he walked along, he saw Levi, son of Alphaeus, sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.
15 While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?”
19 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. 20 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.
21 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. 22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”
Jesus, in defiance of custom and propriety, sits down to dinner with a roomful of outsiders and outcasts, people that the religious leaders believe to be contemptable sinners and therefore a contaminating influence on people of good character. Worse, sharing a meal was seen as an intimate act that was only done with family, friends, and people of quality. In addition, Jesus is accused of ignoring a traditional time of fasting when the religious leaders and even the followers of John the Baptist are observing that cultural tradition.
But Jesus responds to the accusations and criticisms of the Pharisees by reminding them that what is appropriate sometimes varies. No one would expect wedding guests to fast regardless of the tradition of the religious leaders and Jesus equates his presence among his disciples as qualifying for the same kind of exemption. The comparison of the wineskins is the same sort of thing. New wineskins, made of sheepskin, can stretch when the new wine in them begins to ferment, but old wineskins have already stretched, and using them for new wine would only cause them to burst. And so, again, Jesus is reminding everyone that we don’t always adhere to strict rules, but instead make judgements on what is appropriate for the occasion.
But why does that matter to us?
Even though we are the followers of Jesus, he is not physically with us, so why are we having a discussion of what is, and is not, culturally appropriate?
And, in addition to the story of the first century church with which we began, we gain some focus as we read Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth in 2 Corinthians 3:1-6 as Paul explains how the people around us view our actions. Paul says…
3:1 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. 3 You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
4 Such confidence we have through Christ before God. 5 Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 6 He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
Paul describes us, the people of the church and the followers of Jesus Christ, as individual letters, from Jesus, to our communities and to the people around us. Many people will never read a bible, but they will read the life that you live. You are a sign to the community that tells the story of Jesus and the story of our church, and in you, and in us, they will read the story of Jesus and find the truth about our faith the work that we do. Paul says that “the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” And by this, Paul explains to the people of the church, that the message of Jesus isn’t all about following a strict interpretation of a bunch of rules, but instead is about a life that is lived in love.
What God wants is a life of righteousness, justice, compassion, faithfulness, and peace but far too often, when unbelievers read the story of Jesus that Christians live out in their lives, what they see is anger, prejudice, greed, violence, arrogance, abuse, and the admiration of, if not a complete alliance with, worldly power.
When Jesus broke the rules of his culture, he broke them so that he could show love and compassion to others. When the Christians of the first century behaved strangely, and broke the rules of their culture, they still earned the respect of their critics because they were sober, gentle, faithful to their spouses, cared for the poor, nursed the gravely ill even at risk to themselves, and exhibited virtues such as self-control and courage.
And so, we return to the question with which we began. What are Christians known for in our communities and in our world today?
Every day, the people around you, people that may never read a bible or set foot in a church, will read a letter from Jesus in the life that you live.
Will they read a message of love and compassion?
Or will they find something else?
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*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio. Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you. Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org. These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.com . All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.comThe “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, In
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