BORIS JOHNSON SAYS FERAL UPPER CLASS DAMAGES SOCIETY

This blog provides a meditation on the daily readings of the Episcopal Church along with a headline from world news

Philippians 1:12-30

12 I want you to know, beloved, that what has happened to me has actually helped to spread the gospel, 13so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to everyone else that my imprisonment is for Christ; 14and most of the brothers and sisters, having been made confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, dare to speak the word with greater boldness and without fear.

15 Some proclaim Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill. 16These proclaim Christ out of love, knowing that I have been put here for the defence of the gospel; 17the others proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but intending to increase my suffering in my imprisonment. 18What does it matter? Just this, that Christ is proclaimed in every way, whether out of false motives or true; and in that I rejoice.

Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, 19for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will result in my deliverance. 20It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be put to shame in any way, but that by my speaking with all boldness, Christ will be exalted now as always in my body, whether by life or by death. 21For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. 22If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labour for me; and I do not know which I prefer. 23I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better; 24but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you. 25Since I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in faith, 26so that I may share abundantly in your boasting in Christ Jesus when I come to you again.

a journey beyond us

Sometimes it’s difficult for sinful people like me not to suspect Paul of an unattractive kind of grandstanding. Does he really “rejoice” in imprisonment? Is it really true that “living is Christ and dying is gain?” Or is he laying it on thick to impress his converts in Philippi? The other possibility is that he’s a genuine saint who has travelled so far beyond me, that I won’t altogether understand him. That’s not so say he’d got rid of every unpleasant aspect of his character, but it is to recognise a towering moral achievement. Our egalitarian culture is against this kind of recognition, we’re all on the same level. That’s not been my experience: I’ve been shaken by the goodness of some people I’ve met over the years. Paul’s combination of moral courage, capacity for friendship, penetrating intellect and shrewd leadership is very rare. I think we can trust what he writes.

 Mark 16:1-20

16When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3They had been saying to one another, ‘Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?’ 4When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. 5As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. 6But he said to them, ‘Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. 7But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.’ 8So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

Jesus in Galilee (Rouault)

The early church thought the ending of Mark had been lost so they imported various additions and placed them after v.8. Today many scholars think that Mark intended his gospel to end this way, on the threshold of the light. Of course Mark had heard the stories of the resurrection witnesses. His job was to communicate their faith to a new generation. His solution is radical: they, like the first disciples, have to keep a rendezvous with the risen Jesus. “He is going ahead of you to Galilee” where his ministry will begin again in the ministry of his disciples. Mark sends his readers off to meet the Lord, not in someone else’s story but in their own, as they like Peter, accept liberating forgiveness, and are able to announce on their own responsibility, “the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God”, the words with which Mark began his book. “There you will see him” has three meanings

1. In the place where you live
2. In the place where the gospel met you
3. In the place where your ministry begins

That’s knowledge of the resurrection and it’s more solid than any amount of hocus-pocus with vanishing corpses. I believe I shall be raised from death while my present body moulders in the ground. I believe the same of Jesus. As Paul says, “there is an earthly body and a  heavenly body.”