St. Mark                                                                                                                                                                 Fr. Forrest Burgett

“Unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.”

(Ephesians  iv. 7)

Today, we are celebrating the martyrdom of St. Mark, the Evangelist.  There are many legends about St. Mark and if history were clear, we would probably find that the legends actually refer to more than one person.  For example, St. Mark is reputed to have started the Church at Alexandria, and became its first bishop, at about the same time he is reported to be recording Peter’s sermons in Rome.  The Mark whose life and martyrdom we are celebrating today is the one that wrote the earliest Gospel.  St. Mark’s Gospel is short, succinct and to the point.  It does not contain the nativity story as does St. Matthew.  It does not attempt to tell the most complete story as does St. Luke.  These three Gospels are called the synoptic Gospels because they all tell of Christ’s life from the same point of view.

You may wonder why we need three Gospels that all tell the story of Christ’s passion, crucifixion and resurrection.  Many of the stories are reported in more than one of the three synoptic Gospels.  There are a number of books detailing the similarities and differences in these three Gospels.  They are generally called, “Harmony of the Gospels”.  Our text today reminds us that each of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.  The early church understood that we all have something unique to contribute to the kingdom of God.  They recognized the different graces illustrated in each of these Gospels

St. Matthew wrote his Gospel in Aramaic, a Hebrew dialect and emphasized the relationship of Old Testament prophecies to the life and death of Jesus Christ.  His Gospel was written to have appeal particularly to Jews who understood the prophecies.  St. Luke wrote his Gospel in Greek and tells us in the first verse that his intent is to write the most complete story he could glean from all the eye-witnesses.  Luke emphasized the application of Jesus’ teachings to Greek and Gentile needs.  St. John’s Gospel is not one of the synoptic Gospels.  It shows the Christological development of the early church.  It declares most clearly the theological understanding of the early church.

St. Mark’s Gospel also has a unique perspective to contribute.  While St. Mark may, or may not, have known Jesus Christ personally, we believe he was involved in the early travels of Sts. Paul and Barnabus.  While with St. Peter in Rome, he compiled the teachings extracted from the sermons of St. Peter into the Gospel we know as St. Mark’s.  There is a very specific purpose behind St. Mark’s Gospel.

St. Mark begins his Gospel with the Baptism of Jesus.  There is no reference to Jesus’ life before he started his ministry.  St. Mark does not elaborate on Jesus’ activity after his resurrection and before his Ascension.  St. Mark focused his whole Gospel on Jesus’ passion, sacrifice and resurrection.  It was written in Rome where Christians were being persecuted and martyred.

Christians in Rome had an urgent need to understand why they must suffer persecution and martyrdom.  They could better make sense of their own lives by understanding Christ’s sacrifice for all of mankind.  Christians in Rome were not concerned with the prophets.  They may or may not have been Gentiles.  They were not interested in the most complete declaration of Christian history.  They were interested in how to live with the persecution unique to Rome.

It can be an interesting academic exercise to see how each Gospel brings something unique to the kingdom of God.  It is easy to see with a historical perspective.  It is not as easy to apply today’s text to what is happening today.  You have all heard me preach on the polarization of today’s society and how that absolutely prohibits any attempts at unity.  We see it in the political process.  We see it in the fast moving world of commerce.  We see it in our communities.  We even see it in our churches.

In his epistle to the Ephesians, Paul goes on to say, “And he gave some, apostles;  and some, prophets;  and some, evangelists;  and some, pastors and teachers;  for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:  till we all come in the unity of the faith.”  We are all familiar with this quote and agree with his statement intellectually.  But do we see it in the world around us?

We all have varying notions of the other expressions of our faith.  We have noticed differences and pinned the appropriate label on each expression that differs from our own.  The problem with our approach is that our opinions are defined by differences.  We either do not notice or do not acknowledge similarities.  Granted, the variety seems endless and a clear differentiation seems completely impossible.

We know that John Wesley, somewhat inadvertently, started the Methodist church to evangelize the unchurched outside the Anglican cities and universities.  We know that the Wesleyans separated from the Methodists to maintain their evangelical Christ-like discipline.  We know that the Nazarenes separated from the Wesleyans to preserve the initiative to build Christ-like disciples.  This is one simple example of how the diversity occurred.  Our question is how can we accept the differences and still work toward the unity Christ taught?

Paul tells us that some are given the gifts of the apostles, who are charged with preserving our faith unchanged.  Some are given gifts of prophecy and are particularly sensitive to the workings of the Holy Spirit.  Some are given gifts of witness and can evangelize the world.  Some are given gifts to provide pastoral comfort for those in need of spiritual peace.  Some are given gifts to teach the Word for the edifying of the Body of Christ.

I challenge you to look at our Christian brethren in the faith in a new light.  All of these brethren study the Bible extensively, but the results are quite diverse.   We could recognize that the Baptists do a better job as evangelists than we see among ourselves.  We could recognize that the Methodists are more accepting.  We could recognize that the Presbyterians are better preachers.  We could recognize that the Orthodox churches are more elaborate in ritual.  We could recognize that the Roman Catholic Church is more detailed in theology.  We should not forget our own contribution as well.  The Anglicans arguably have the most inspiring, edifying and comforting liturgy.

It has taken us two thousand years to build this diversity that is so embarrassing to the Christian faith.  We will not change it in our lifetime, but we can change our attitude.  We can see where the other expressions of Christianity excel in different parts of the Great Commission.  In many cases, these expressions exist because the “church” failed to include the particular emphasis desired by some faithful servants.

It is our challenge to look beyond our differences and begin to see the contribution each person and each expression of the church can make to the whole Body of Christ.  Remember Jesus’ words, “I am the vine, ye are the branches;  he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit;  for without me ye can do nothing.”  We are one part of the body of which Christ is the head.  What can we do to express the truth in love for the increase of that body?

“While we have time, let us do good unto all men;  and especially unto them that are of the household of faith.”

(Galatians  vi. 10.)