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St. Mark’s Day
April 25, 2008
This morning we celebrate the Feast of Saint Mark. And, because we’re Episcopalians which necessarily means that we’re bright, inquisitive people, we learn the proper way to honor St. Mark by turning to impressive resource material. The Ashby Company of Erie, PA publishes an efficient liturgical calendar that lists every High Holy Day, every saint’s day, every church season and the “correct” reading for every day of the year. Every altar guild, every parish administrator, every clergy has at least one of these posted for immediate referral. The Church Publishing Company also comes to our aid with this small, but highly detailed text, Lesser Feasts and Fasts. You can tell it’s an important book. It comes with its own silk bookmark. Lesser Feasts and Fasts presents a brief biography, the proper prayer and the carefully selected Bible passages that relate to each saint. The lessons either address the saint’s ministry, theology or the spiritual gifts that God poured lavishly into his or her soul.
You see that our patron’s day is observed on the 25th of April or the Sunday closest to it. You see the proper color for the birthday feasts of the apostles and evangelists is red. If you opened Lesser Feasts and Fasts to the appropriate page, you would learn that St. Mark was a very young man when Jesus lived and he probably did not know our Lord well at all. Mark’s mother owned a house in Jerusalem and this may be the place where Jesus and the 12 disciples gathered for the Last Supper. After the resurrection, after Paul had his conversion experience on the road to Damascus, Mark and his cousin Barnabas joined Paul on his first missionary trip. But something happened and Mark turned back and went home. Whatever the reason was, Paul was not sympathetic and remained irritated with Mark for a long time. When Mark asked to go on the second trip, Paul said “No!” So, instead, Mark and Barnabas took the news about Jesus to Cyprus. Years later, Mark and Paul reconciled.
In between those years, Mark became a close friend to Peter. They traveled together, and Mark assisted the “Rock” of the church as he preached and organized congregations. As Peter aged, Mark worried that the knowledge and firsthand experience Peter had with Jesus might slip away undocumented. So, he began to take down all the events Peter described. Mark is the author of our first gospel account. He wrote the document in about 70 AD, 40 years after the crucifixion and resurrection. Mark’s work is the earliest written record on the life and ministry of Jesus Christ and it is also the shortest. Mark was writing for speed, clarity and essentials.
Our saint did not linger over descriptions, explanations or minute details. Mark wrote the core truths. He had a “just the facts” style and sensibility. Peter was a firsthand eyewitness and Mark recorded his testimony. Mark presented the account without nuanced speculation. Direct, clear and moving, these are the qualities of our namesake. In his 16 chapter gospel, Mark uses the word, “immediately” 48 times. “Fast” and “now” is how Mark understands the message of Jesus Christ. Jesus wants us moving, not pondering.
When we study the scripture passages pulled out to honor and describe Mark-the-evangelist, two things become clear. Mark was “marked” by God. The Father set him apart for the work of an evangelist, a proclaimer of God’s truth and purpose. God gave Mark the gift of the spirit to listen, record, inspire and encourage. From before he was born, God designated Mark as a truth teller, as a person who would draw other people’s hearts and minds to deeper knowledge and appreciation of the Lord, their God. Our passage from Ephesians reminds us what Mark meant to the world. “He gave gifts to his people. The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, all to equip the saints, (us) the people for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” With all his other personality traits, with all his other loves and interests, talents and skills, God made Mark to be a voice to lead us into deeper relationship with our creator, his son and his spirit. He made Mark as a clear, compelling messenger.
And the message Mark brings the world is summarized in the final words of his holy document. Jesus said, “Go.” “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation!”
“And they went out and proclaimed the good news everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by signs that accompanied what they said.”
God is always and ever intentional. Mark was selected specifically. The message he crafted was specific and deliberate. The naming of this church was specific and deliberate. As is our custom, the naming of a new congregation reflects Anglican essence. We consider, pray, and call upon the balance of our prized 3-legged stool - reason, tradition and scripture! On August 17, 1884, eleven residents and one priest wrote, “We whose names are hereunder written, desire to be known as the congregation of St. Mark’s Chapel; and we do hereby agree to be governed by the Constitution and Canons of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America and in the Diocese of North Carolina.”
“The name of St. Mark was chosen with reference to its being an off-spring of St. Peter’s Church, Charlotte. St. Mark having been in a special way associated with St. Peter.” Our forefathers thought they were making a convenient spiritual connection. They may not have realized that they were setting our destiny and living into God’s very real and particular plan for us!
Named as St. Mark’s, recorded as followers of Jesus Christ as understood by St. Mark the Evangelist, that writer of the 1st Gospel, we are sealed and set apart as proclaimers of the good news to the whole creation!!!
In coming here, in worshiping here, under this name and this symbol, the winged lion, we stake ourselves out as messengers of Good News. We say, we come to this community to be fed and instructed, encouraged and equipped and then we “go.” We move. We leave the peace and tranquility of this hill and we take the love and mercy and justice enacted by Jesus Christ out into the world. We become his heralds, his voice and hands and hearts in a broken, troubled world.
We say, Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. But, today, today, He is alive and well in me and I bring you his words and I show you his actions. Like our namesake directs, we carry a powerful message forward. We do so with grace and warmth, invitation, enthusiasm and gentleness.
We ask our friends to join us in worship and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the sharing of hot dogs. We sell old lamps and unused exercise equipment so any family can go with us on retreat. We adopt families and teachers and staff at a sometimes forgotten middle school so they are reminded that they are precious and beloved in the sight of God. We come together on a Saturday morning and bag 11,000 meals to send to malnourished children in Haiti. The good news of Jesus Christ is made real in the stomachs of hungry brothers and sisters.
We go just as our patron, the first evangelist directs. We could just send a check, but Mark tells us, “Jesus said to the apostles, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.’ Go and don’t leave anyone out! The world needs to see you and hear from you. The people of the world need to see the light of Christ shining through you. Go when and wherever you can. As Christ’s messengers, you will bring hope. You will bring care and concern. When people see you, they will know that they are not forgotten. They will know the words of Jesus are true. A blanket by mail keeps the body warm. A blanket brought by a disciple warms body and the soul. Presence is important.
We are presence people. We make ourselves available to folk who find their way to us. We make ourselves available to people in this community – our neighbors and those in need. We take the good news to people far away.
God named this body well. He fills us with His Spirit and He sends us out. We come together to draw strength from the body, but we’re wise enough to know our call is to go!
How wonderful to know and embrace our God-determined destiny! How wonderful to celebrate our soul’s mission with people commissioned just like us.
We give thanks for our namesake. We give thanks for one another and for the charge we’ve been given.
We wait. Really, we just pause briefly, to see where we’re being called to GO next.
Happy St. Mark’s Day!
Amen.
