Divine manifestations

JANUARY 26

`Follow Me'

Jonah 3:1-5, 10; Psalm 62:5-12; 1 Corinthians 7:29-31; Mark 1:14-20

One of the trickiest, stickiest problems-or seeming problems-with Paul is his belief that the return of Jesus, the end of the world, is imminent. It is right around the corner. Jesus will return tomorrow, next week, or next year. That belief shapes a host of Paul's instructions. In this week's epistle, Paul is at his most explicit. Time is short, this world in its present form is passing away, so those who mourn, be joyful; those who use worldly things, use them with detachment. But Paul wrote those words two millennia ago, and Jesus has not yet returned.

Are we to dismiss Paul's words on the grounds that his understanding of eschatology, his thinking about final things and the end times, was off by a few thousand years?

Perhaps there is another, roomier way to read Paul. Perhaps his insistance on living as though the end is near applies every bit as much to us today as to the Corinthians to whom he first drafted his words. Perhaps Paul never meant for us to worry about the calendar, to be concerned with which day of which month of which year Jesus would return in glory. Rather we can read Paul as urging his audience - both in Corinth and today - to live eschatologically, to cultivate a sense of detachment from our wordly concerns.

We get a hint of what that detachment might mean when we turn to the gospel reading, for Jesus, too, insists that the reign of God is at hand. Here in the first chapter of Mark we have the powerful story of Jesus calling his disciples, transforming fishermen into "fishers of men" and women. Simon and Andrew follow immediately; their first act of discipleship is to set aside their nets and put down the tools of their earthly trade.

Just as Paul speaks across the centuries, so too does Jesus, calling each of us to leave our nets, our families, and our boats and follow him.

FEBRUARY 2

The Communal Good

Deuteronomy 18:15-20; Psalm 111; I Corinthians 8:1-13; Mark 1:21-28

Scripture is thick with reminders about obedience and authority. Deuteronomy's discussion of prophets cuts to the heart of the matter. The people must adhere to the prophet's words, remembering that they come from God. (The rest of Hebrew scripture makes clear, of course, that this is precisely what Israel fails to do.) At the same time, the prophet must never forget that his authority, too, is the Lord. The prophet who prophecies falsely, claiming that God said something God did not say, will be put to death.

Mark makes clear that Jesus has a new authority"-not merely the authority of a rabbi (or teacher), but the authority of one who can exorcize demons. Even "evil spirits.-obey him" (Mark 1:27).

Authority encompasses more than the obedience of an individual believer to God; it's not just about me and my Lord Jesus. Like almost everything in the Christian life, there's a communal component. Paul, addressing that factious group of Corinthians, has plenty to say about communal responsibility.