I began writing this reflection, right after attending a local preachers meeting, where we discussed the role of preachers in the present context, when some church buildings have reopened for worship, whilst others are still closed. Personally, the take home message from this meeting was, in these changing times, how should we ‘reimagine preaching in our local churches?’ We have been doing ‘Church at the market place’ once a month, where we go two by two into the town centre, engaging in a conversation and listening to people’s stories, which for me has been deeply spiritual and empowering. In this kind of church, preaching is more about listening, rather than giving an exegetical study on a given text. In the light of the pandemic, attending church services by booking in a place, ‘reimagining preaching and the places of worship’ is immanent, for we are called to be creative in our faith, as our God in Jesus has been creative with the signs of the times. For Jesus, there is no one size fit for all kinds of spirituality. Jesus has been pioneering public theological ways of engaging in mission, for such engagements reflect that God is dynamic, always creative and relevant for each time and space.
The text from Mark 1:20-28, is a passage where Jesus goes into a synagogue on a Sabbath, preaches with authority, drives away an unclean spirit from a person, and amazes the congregation present there. However, as I reflect on this text, I find Jesus taking efforts in reimagining the place of worship by interrupting the norms and by offering creative ways of engaging in mission. To capture that reimagination as interruption, we need to understand the importance of synagogue in Jesus’ time.
One of the widely accepted theories for the origins of the synagogues are that they came into existence in the Babylonian exile as a replacement to the temple which was destroyed in 587BCE. Though it is unsubstantiated and over simplistic to put this theory as the origins of this complex institution called synagogue, it is certainly an amalgamation of three separate institutions, a prayer house, a study hall or school and a community centre. It is also important to recognise that synagogues differ from the temple in Jerusalem in at least three areas, in place, cult and personnel. In contrast to temple being built on a holy place, synagogues were built anywhere and everywhere, including in private homes, for they did not serve as cosmic centres. Secondly, in contrast to the cult of the temple which was based on sacrifice, synagogues' cult is bloodless, consisting of Torah study and prayer. Thirdly, synagogues were a lay led organisation, where the priests did not serve as mediators as in the temple, for Torah-learning and prayer were nurtured by every Jew. Allow me to share two things in our quest for reimagining our churches, where interruptions serve as a helpful hermeneutical lens.
1. God in Jesus trespasses the temple/synagogue tradition:
If synagogues contrasted from the temple in Jerusalem, we need to recognise that God in Jesus not only contrasted but also by-passed and even trespassed the understanding of temple and a synagogue in all the three crucial areas mentioned above. In terms of place - God in Jesus pitched his tent among the margins of the society, and therefore was born as a human and emptied to the point of being a slave. In terms of cult – God in Jesus became a victim in the hands of the Roman empire for his values of the Kingdom of God, where he was executed publicly as a criminal. In terms of personnel – God in Jesus, by being fully divine and fully human, reconciled humanity to God and became the way, the truth and the life. God in Jesus interrupts the transcendental image of God by being and becoming accessible and reachable to any with open arms in love. Jesus as a person is a temple of God, for that is the reason he said elsewhere that ‘the temple he had spoken was his body’ (John2:21). Jesus was offering himself as a sign for a reimagined temple or a place of worship. Our churches are called to be like Jesus busy in striving for the kingdom of God. We as followers of Christ are called to make ourselves, our bodies no matter however they are, they are the temples of God, and we are called to worship God in Spirit, and in truth. For that is the reason Paul in writing to the Corinthian Church mentions that our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit, which is from God, and not our own (I Corinthians 6:19-20.)
2. God in Jesus interrupts the pedagogy in the synagogue tradition:
As a Jewish Rabbi, Jesus on a Sabbath day went into a synagogue in Capernaum and taught with authority, with passion and zeal for God. The congregation were astounded, for he taught them as one having authority, not as the scribes (22v). Jesus firstly interrupts the traditional kind of teaching that was usually done by scribes, by teaching the Scriptures with authority, which I call a ‘pedagogy with a difference.’ As mentioned earlier, synagogues were places for prayer, study of Torah and for community gatherings. In this instance when Jesus was at this synagogue, teaching, Jesus interrupts his teaching session and recognises a man with an unclean spirit, and listens to his shouts. In such recognition and listening to some opposing voices, we notice the height of Jesus’ teaching with authority. His authority was exhibited in his ‘being interrupted’ by the opposing voice and in replying to him with words of healing. Thirdly, we notice that Jesus interrupts the synagogue tradition by being interrupted and by offering healing to that man with the unclean spirit on a Sabbath. Fourthly, Jesus interrupts the notion that people with unclean spirits as outcast people, and made his synagogue a place for all people, and all means all, an inclusive place, where interruptions are ok. Fifthly, Jesus’ reply to this man with unclean spirit, “Be silent and come out of him,” Jesus showed care to the person. Jesus wasn’t judgemental on this person with this spirit, rather loved him, with all the love possible. Sixthly, Jesus turned his synagogue into a place of wonder, interrupting from the routine and repetition of the same things being done every Saturday. At the healing of this person the entire congregation was filled with awe and surprise, and called his teaching, ‘a new teaching – with authority!’ (27v), a new pedagogy.
That local synagogue in Capernaum would have been on the headlines, for the new pedagogy that Jesus articulated and offered that place of worship to be an imaginative place of wonder, healing and inclusivity.
This text calls our churches, ministry, preaching, discipleship and mission engagements to reimagination, striving to seek a relevance for our times today. Let us not be complacent with the kind of work we do, repeating the same thing again and again, might not be the way forward. For a changing time, we need a reimagined church and ministry, interrupting the norm and striving to be radical and relevant. We are called to join with Jesus in interrupting the status quo, and offer creative mission engagements. When holiday hunger is on the rise in our context today, if we have to learn Jesus’ new pedagogy, we are called as a church on the one hand to feed the hungry and on the other hand call to accountability those that are the reason for the growth of hunger and food banks. By doing such a thing, we are radically reimagining as a church with a new pedagogy. Never underestimate the power of a local congregation. God in Jesus is capable of working with us in our vulnerabilities and powerlessness with small numbers, for God has not given up on us as a church. God is inviting us to be bold in reimagining our churches, interrupting routine, things which we have always done and is calling us to embark on the mission filled with wonder and awe. The question we need to ask is: how can we make our churches as spaces of wonder and love for all people, and again all means all?
May God grant God’s strength so that we as churches are reimagined, celebrating interruptions.
Raj Bharat Patta,
29th January 2021
Pic credit: https://www.azquotes.com/quote/1425646
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