Afraid to Ask

​18th Sunday after Pentecost – B (Proper 20)                                           LSB #’s 741:1-4, 728, 666
Text – Mark 9:32
 
But they did not understand the saying, & were afraid to ask Him. 
 
AFRAID TO ASK
 
 
In the Gospel of Mark, the first time that Jesus predicts His death, “…Peter took Him aside & began to rebuke Him.”  (Mark 8:32b ESV)    To which Jesus replies, “…Get behind me, Satan!  For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”  (Mark 8:33 ESV)   In today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus repeats the prediction of His death & resurrection. 
Then, Mark writes how the disciples of Jesus responded this time, “But they did not understand the saying, & were afraid to ask Him.”  (9:32 ESV)    Some of the instructors in the Navy liked to say, “There’s no such thing as a stupid question… until you asked one!”  At which point everyone laughed at your expense. 
The disciples did not understand & they were afraid to ask.  It sounds like a recipe for disaster.   Maybe you’ve been there.   I know I have.   I think the saying, “Pride comes before the fall” has something to do with it.   It’s not comfortable when we’re being laughed at, or making fools of ourselves in public. 
Another saying goes like this, “It’s better to keep your mouth shut & let people think you’re a fool than to open your mouth & prove it.”   That’s what the disciples were working with, but once they thought Jesus was out of earshot, they started making fools of themselves again.  Yes, they opened their mouths & began to argue about which of them was the greatest. 
As we ponder their struggles, we should consider what an impossible task it was to be a disciple of God.  Jesus never sinned – not once – in thought, word or deed.   In contrast, the 12 men He chose to follow Him sinned constantly.   This incident, where they made fools of themselves by arguing which of the 12 sinners is the greatest, was not a one off.   The four Gospels are filled with examples of their fear, their callousness, & their lack of understanding.  In order to demonstrate what true greatness is, Jesus “…took a child & put him in the midst of them, & taking him in His arms, He said to them, ‘Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, & whoever receives me, receives not me but Him who sent me.’”  (Mark 9:36-37 ESV) 
So what happens in the next chapter?  “And [the crowds] were bringing children to [Jesus] that He might touch them…”  Do you remember how the disciples reacted?  “… & the disciples rebuked them.”  (Mark 10:13 ESV)  
In the Gospel lesson today, Jesus said, “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me…”  (Mark 9:37 ESV)   Yet, the disciples end up trying to drive the children away.  They aren’t faking their lack of understanding.  They really have no clue what Jesus is about. 
As unflattering as that is it’s good news for you & me.   It reveals what kind of raw material Jesus is capable of working with, which is hugely important given the state of our nation’s culture.  En masse, Americans are abandoning churches for many different reasons, but a general opinion seems to be that the church is incompetent & irrelevant. 
Now, think about the disciples & how they portray themselves in the Gospels.  In the reading from Mark 9, Jesus predicts His death & resurrection – the whole purpose of His birth in Bethlehem.   However, the disciples do not understand & are afraid to ask. 
In writing the Gospels, the disciples portray themselves as incompetent & basically irrelevant.   Most importantly, they also show that Jesus is able to put them to good use in spite of that.   Salvation is God’s work, not ours, but Yahweh chooses to accomplish that through His Church.  It does not matter how incompetent nor how irrelevant The Church appears. 
As Jesus told His disciples, “Blessed are those who have not seen & yet have believed.”  (John 20:29b ESV)   When people look at The Church & conclude that it’s incompetent & irrelevant they’re basically saying, “I will not believe that God is there unless I see what I define as worthy of my time & effort.”   Does Jesus call us to live by sight?    Earlier in Mark, Jesus promised His disciples that “nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light.”  (4:22 ESV)  Until He reveals things, Jesus calls us to live by faith not by sight. 
Jesus’ promise, heard in the context of His parables & the beginning of His ministry in Galilee, raised hope on the part of the disciples.  They were anticipating a glorious revelation of the Messianic kingdom & were standing in awe as they witnessed Jesus casting out demons (1:21-28), healing the sick (1:29-34), ruling over wind & waves (4:35-41), even raising the dead (5:21-43). 
When the disciples heard Jesus predict His death a 2nd time, they lost sight of His promise that anything secret would come to light.   At this moment, Jesus was revealing things they’d rather not see: His death & resurrection (9:31); their quarreling over greatness (9:34); & the suffering servant nature of discipleship (9:35).  
Within this difficult & dangerous revelation, however, Jesus offers the truest hope that anyone could find.  In His death is true life, in irrelevance is greatness, & in receiving the least is the promise that we receive God Himself. 
In our nation, we clearly see where the ways of mankind lead.  God’s ways are opposed to the ways of humanity.  God’s gracious work is hidden in our lack of understanding & in the violent rejection Jesus receives from His creatures.   Our world’s fascination with spirituality tends to identify love with tolerance   & replace forgiveness of sin with acceptance of sin.  
Our Lord’s revelation, however, reveals the depth of the love of God.  Jesus does not tolerate sin nor accept it, rather He dies for it that those who kill may be forgiven, those who persecute may be loved, & those who live with superficial understandings of faith & discipleship may be awakened to the depths of love & life within God’s kingdom.   The human heart has not changed since The Fall.  Greatness is still measured in ways that turn people against one another, even in the church.  Our Lord, however, uses this Gospel text to lead us into the ways of God.  The search for greatness hidden in the sinful heart separates us from one another while the gift of greatness coming from the heart of God brings us closer to one another. 
Is our nation & our world a mess?   Is it going to hell in a handbasket?   There should be no doubt.   Jesus predicted that this world will come to an end by destruction, but already now, Jesus is working to create a new world by creating in you & in me a clean heart.  Each day He makes us whiter than snow in His sight.  One day we shall see as Jesus does. 
 For now, although The Church & we ourselves look incompetent & irrelevant, Jesus promises that He is working through us.  He worked through His disciples even when they did not understand & were afraid to ask.  The work of salvation belongs to God, but He is using us in ways we cannot comprehend, to bring His love into the lives of even the least of these. 
Our task is not to see, but to believe.  The Gospel reading is not simply about the lack of understanding among the 12 disciples.  The Gospel reading is also about you & me.  Jesus worked mightily through the Twelve even though it didn’t look like it.  Jesus is also working mightily through us no matter how terrible things appear in our nation or in our lives.  Amen.
 
 
                                                       
How firm a foundation, O saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!   What more can He say than to you He has said who unto the Savior for refuge have fled?    When through fiery trials your pathway will lie, My grace, all sufficient, will be your supply.   The flames will not hurt you; I only design your dross to consume & your gold to refine.  Amen.  LSB 728:1, 4.