The Marks

The Marks

A sermon delivered by Rev. Peter T. Atkinson

September 10, 2017

at Bethany Presbyterian Church, Zuni, Virginia

Genesis 4: 8-16

Romans 12: 9-21

Let us pray,

Help us to see despite our eyes

Help us to think outside of our minds

Help us to be more than our lives   

For your eyes show the way

    Your mind knows the truth

    Your being is the life.

Amen.

Have you ever had to describe someone to someone else, trying to get them to remember that guy? You know, don’t you remember that guy from high school, the guy with the. . . and then you fill in the blank with what we call the distinguishing marks. What are the things that stand out about a person that makes them memorable or unique? What are those things? What are those things about Jesus? Have you ever thought about it? I took a class in seminary called Images of Jesus, and I’d like to do a variation of it sometime here, maybe in a Sunday School Class or in a night time workshop, because it’s cool to think about it sometimes. . . but in that class we looked at artistic representations of Jesus, paintings, poems, variations on the gospel stories, and then also movies. You think to yourself, how do we know that a picture is actually depicting Jesus, beard of course, sandals? Blue Eyes? What are the distinguishing marks of Jesus? Are they physical or is there something behind them? It was interesting in the class to see how renderings of Jesus changed over time and between cultures. We saw Jesus of a thousand different races, even a Chinese Jesus, some we wouldn’t necesarrily think at first were Jesus, but at the same time, it was obvious that they were depicting him at the same time. It was fascinating to think about.

But what I found most memorable was Jesus from the movies, the class made us think about actually how hard it is to depict Jesus in a film because how do you capture the dual nature of Christ visually? Right it’s difficult? If you make him too much God, then he doesn’t seem human, and if he is too human then he isn’t enough God, and often sometimes it borders on Blasphemous. . . think of some of the great movies about Jesus, like The Greatest Story Ever Told, or King of Kings, The Passion of the Christ, even Godspell or Jesus Christ Superstar. Think about the way that Jesus is depicted. What are some of the striking marks of his character? And what do they seem to show about the idea of Jesus they are trying to convey? Some of the older ones like “Greatest Story Ever Told” and “King of Kings” show Jesus kinda stiff, though at the same time radiant, talks slowly, very breathy, and there almost seems to be light coming from his face. . . It is as if they took the image of Jesus straight from a Renaissance Painting, and you can almost even see the halo. . . but the Jesus from Passion of the Christ and that latest Bible Miniseries, is softer gentler, more human, good looking, caring, and compassionate, sorrowful and earnest. . . less reverential and awe inspiring, but giving off at the same time a distinctive air. It is hard to depict Jesus on film. Perhaps my favorite is the depiction in Ben Hur, because you actually never see Jesus’ face, instead just the reaction of the people to him. . . the life that comes out, that trail of life we talked about as a characteristic of love. . . It makes you wonder about how people in Jesus’ own time came to know he was more than man but Christ, Messiah, Son of God. . . what were those distinguishing marks of Jesus?

To get closer to this idea of distinguishing marks lets look to the Bible. Distinguishing Marks is an important repeated idea, throughout, but especially in the Old Testament. Tribes, families, religions often had marks that distinguished them from others. We can think most notably of the ritual of circumcision. . . it was a mark and sign of the covenant between God and the Israelites all the way back to the time of Abraham. . . it showed that you were a part of the group, a part of the chosen people. . . but the Old Testament Narrative shows two other marks, because it seems that having a personal and individual relationship with God leaves its mark on you. . . to mention another movie, picture Moses in the 10 Commandments walking down the mountain having spoken to the burning bush, with his face gleaming and his beard now perfectly frosted. . . but that is extra biblical imagination. . . the two I want to talk about are Cain and Jacob, both stories in Genesis. . . let’s look at Cain first. This is Genesis 4:8-16

  Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him. ⁹ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” ¹⁰ And the Lord said, “What have you done? Listen; your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground! ¹¹ And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. ¹² When you till the ground, it will no longer yield to you its strength; you will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” ¹³ Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear! ¹⁴ Today you have driven me away from the soil, and I shall be hidden from your face; I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and anyone who meets me may kill me.” ¹⁵ Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! Whoever kills Cain will suffer a sevenfold vengeance.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, so that no one who came upon him would kill him. ¹⁶ Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

Notice how the details there are specific. . . “and the Lord put a mark on Cain, so that no one who came upon him would kill him. . . What would that mark look like? Do we sinners, sons and daughters of Cain as we are, bear that same mark?

And the next is Jacob, whose name means trickster, and he hasn’t been a good guy, cheating people, especially his brother, but then he has this encounter with the Lord. This is Genesis 32:22-31

²² The same night he got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. ²³ He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had. ²⁴ Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. ²⁵ When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. ²⁶ Then he said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” ²⁷ So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” ²⁸ Then the man said, “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.” ²⁹ Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. ³⁰ So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.” ³¹ The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.

Jacob would bear this mark his limp for the rest of his life. . . He had striven and wrestled with God, and it would change him. It changed his name, now Israel, he who has striven with God, and it changed his physical attributes, giving him a distinguishing mark. When we wrestle with God are we left humbled and marked as well?

I had these two markings in mind when I wrote the song Mark Me years ago. . . I’d like to take a moment to sing it for you, for lack of a better time. . .

Mark me, mark me in my sin,

Let me begin, to know your ways.

Mark me, mark me today,

Your protective ways,

Overcome my shame,

Mark me.

I have killed my brother,

But my punishment I cannot bear.

Can I wander this world alone?

Please Lord, hear my prayer.

Repeat Chorus

I have cheated my brother,

And have not lived an honest life.

I wrestle with you, O God.

I limp forever from this fight.

Repeat Chorus

Interesting that in that song I’m asking to be marked, not in my value, not in my accomplishments, not in my great deeds, to be remembered and monumentalized for all time of my greatness, but instead I am asking to be marked in my sin. . . it is a distinguishing mark in Christianity that we are sinners and are saved by Jesus Christ. Just like Cain and just like Jacob, it is not in our goodness, but in our shortcomings, our failings, our fall, that we are raised up. . . it is from our knees that we gain strength, in humble supplication. . . there for the mere asking. One of I think the most misread novels in American Literature is The Scarlet Letter. Mostly it may be because people don’t read past the first chapter. . . maybe it is because it is a high school standard, everyone is supposed to read it and have read it, but how many people actually do, or did? Just enough to pass the quiz perhaps. But in that first chapter, the heroine Hester Prynne has to wear the disgrace of the “A” for Adultery on her at all times, while she is pilloried, and shamed before the entire community, and then after. . . and I’ve seen it so many times too, the assignment that goes on, where the students have to wear some kind of confession on their clothes all day to feel how embarrassing and horrific it would have been to be marked like that. . . and shamed and ostracized, and that teaches that the Puritans are bad, that Christianity is judgmental, etc. zzzzz zzzzz. Sleeper. . . the real power of that story isn’t a rail against the harshness of the Puritan modes of punishments, like it is typically taught today, oh no. . . Hester is not the victim of the novel she is the heroine. . . and the mark that she must wear isn’t her shame but instead becomes the miracle of her salvation, because not only is she caught in her adultery, but it also leads to a pregnancy and a birth, the birth of her daughter, Pearl, and Pearl is a symbol of her redemption, not her pain. She grows stronger as the novel progresses, and Pearl, in such a great scene from the novel, can only see her mother if she is bearing the mark. . . she takes it off, and Pearl does not know where she has gone. . . there is great symbolism there, where she must acknowledge her sin to be saved in it. . . on the flipside the true tragic figure is the man in the adulterate affair, the Reverend Dimmesdale, he suffers in silence, unable to confess because he is too weak to suffer what may befall him if he should come clean. . . and he wastes away. Hester Prynne grows strong and is saved in her sin, bearing it openly on her chest, whereas his hidden sins eat him alive, until he is nothing left, dying of a shattered and broken heart. We should remember that the first result of the sin in the garden of Eden is that Adam and Eve feel shame and hide. . . and then they blame, they do not seek to stand openly in the place of judgement, and instead hide and turning away, and it just does not allow for true redemption to take place. . .  we have to bear our sins it seems.

For Jesus bears them for us. . . and Jesus is marked for them. Think about what the cross does to Jesus, think about how it even leaves his resurrected body marked, and it is by those very marks that he is known, at least it is so by Thomas. We all remember the story of Doubting Thomas, who says, unless I can see for myself, unless I can put my fingers through the holes in his hands, those places where he was marked, by the cross, while bearing our sins. . . Christ himself takes on the weight of our sins and is marked by them, distinguished by those marks. And it is said that there have been Saints blessed with the stigmata, those strange markings of Jesus on themselves, but most of us will not get that, so the question remains, how are we marked for Christ, what are the marks of Christ on us, what is the humble mark of our sin on us, how have we been left by our own wrestling with God? What are the marks of a Christian? How are we to be distinguished from others? It’s a big question? If we were to watch the news we might get one idea. We might get the notion that Christians are judgmental, small minded, science denying, Cretans, permasmiling hypocrites, fake and false at our core.  . . and we may not deserve that, though with all stereotypes there is a shred of truth, even if we don’t like to admit it. What do people in this community think of when they think of Bethany Presbyterian Church? How much of their impression is positive? What is negative? How can we build on the positive? How can we turn around the negative? Knowing, acknowledging, and bearing it all seems like a place to start. But the flipside too, is how can we double down on the positive things, it is about knowing them as well. How can we seek to make the distinguishing marks of this church become like the distinguishing marks of Christ, for we are to be his body in the world. We are the body of Christ? Perhaps it might be interesting to think of Bethany Church and our distinguishing marks, kinda like the Ben Hurr Jesus, how would we be known if you could only see us through our effect on the community around us? I’m not sure. . . But one thing is also important to remember, and that is we are not judged by the world, they are not the standard of our mission nor our success. Instead we look to the Lord, and his Word for our direction. 

Over the next bunch of weeks we will be thinking about this idea. I will be preaching from each line of the same text, and that text is delineated in my NRSV Bible as the Marks of a Christian. Paul is outlining what he thinks should be those distinguishing marks, and it is a very good list, a challenging list, and one that is a good place to begin discussion on how we measure up to some of them. Here is that list, this is Romans 12: 9-21 the Marks of a Christian. . .

⁹ Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; ¹⁰ love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. ¹¹ Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. ¹² Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. ¹³ Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. ¹⁷ Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. ¹⁸ If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. ¹⁹ Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” ²⁰ No, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.” ²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

You can see that there is a lot there to go through, and that the list is challenging and thorough. . . we will begin next week with “Let Love be Genuine.” Until then let us think to our distinguishing marks as Christians and as a Church, think about them, pray about them, and talk about them together. In his name we so dedicate our time, amen.