Trinity Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Sermons 

Title: "Don't Take Offense!" 

Text: Mark 6:1-13

Throughout the Great Depression, Berkeley and his imitators devised increasingly amazing dance performances on giant sound stages, usually ending with a camera shot from high above the stage, by which the audience could see intricately coordinated movements of dozens upon dozens of dancers.

Taking advantage of the talents of choreographers like Berkeley, producers and directors discovered that the flimsiest of plots would suffice for Hollywood musicals. In movie after movie, without any apparent motivation, young stars and starlets would break out in song and leap into dance routines. It was all great fun – and was perfect entertainment during an era when the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) had begun – in 1934 – to enforce the Production Code. More commonly known as the "Hays Code," the MPAA Production Code had been created in 1930 as a response to the demise of silent pictures and the rise of "talkies."

On the surface, the Hays Code appeared to be a well-reasoned approach to the possible misuse of movies in the public sphere. Here are its three General Principles

1. No picture shall be produced that will lower the moral standards of those who see it. Hence the sympathy of the audience should never be thrown to the side of crime, wrongdoing, evil or sin.

2. Correct standards of life, subject only to the requirements of drama and entertainment, shall be presented.

3. Law, natural or human, shall not be ridiculed, nor shall sympathy be created for its violation.

In that same year of 1934, the first of three Broadway-style movie musicals were produced and directed by George White. Known as George White’s Scandals, these movies were based on his successful musical revues and burlesque shows presented on Broadway during the 1920s. The 1934 version of The Scandals starred crooner Rudy Vallee and comedian Jimmy Durante, and saw the debut of young Alice Faye and her wonderful contralto voice. The success of The Scandals (1934) was so spectacular that a sequel was ordered up for the following year. The Scandals (1935) again starred Alice Faye in the primary singing role and was noteworthy for the movie debut of Eleanor Powell. A decade later, George White made his third and last Scandals, starring Joan Davis (later on "I Married Joan" on television, 1952-1955), and featuring Jack Haley and Margaret Hamilton (both famous from their roles in The Wizard of Oz [1939]).

The manifest function of George White’s Scandals and other Hollywood musicals was to entertain a weary nation. The Great Depression and then World War II had transformed America from a land of opportunity and optimism into a place of poverty and worry for millions of citizens. But The Scandals did much more than provide a couple of hours of entertainment in the sacred spaces of grandiose movie houses like The Pantages in Los Angeles or The Majestic here in Dallas.

The Scandals also pushed the limits on what we now call "contemporary community standards." Restricted by the Hays Code, these "standards" kept movie makers from dealing with many topics defined as too controversial for public viewing – not just in a single community but throughout the nation. For nearly thirty years, the movie industry self-regulated its members with an almost religious fervor.

Seen in historical perspective, the parallel between the MMPA and its Hays Code and first century Pharisees and their religious rules seems all too obvious.

And this brings us to our lectionary text for this morning – the first section of chapter 6 in Mark’s Gospel. The story is simple enough. Jesus and his disciples have returned to his home town, Nazareth. On a certain Sabbath, Jesus began to teach in the local synagogue, where many who heard him were astounded. Unfortunately, their response was not to praise him for his wisdom and for the "deeds of power . . . done by his hands."

Instead, they criticized both his profession and his heritage. First, they ridiculed him by commenting "Is not this the carpenter?" – which was another way of saying, "Who does he think he is? He is not an educated person. What can he know? And why should we listen to him here in our synagogue?"

As if that were not enough, they added the cutting remark "Is not this the son of Mary?" This was not an innocent comment about his genealogy. In first-century Jewish society, to ignore the name of one’s father was to suggest that a person was an illegitimate child who lacked rights of name and inheritance within his patrilineal family. Here, Jesus is not presented as "Joseph’s son" (cf. Luke 4:22), but is sneered at here as being "the son of Mary" – thus setting the stage for an even more powerful criticism.

Ultimately, the local people "took offense at him." It is worth a moment to consider this phrase, which is translated from one of my favorite Greek verbs -- σκανδαλίζω [skandalizō]. This verb is relatively rare in the New Testament, occurring only 29 times, with 26 of these in the Gospels. In the passive, which is the form used here in Mark 6:3, the verb can be translated as “to take offense,” but it also can mean that persons "do not come to faith or belief." This second meaning helps us to understand Jesus’ comment in verse 6, "And he was amazed at their unbelief" -- and why Jesus was able to do "no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them." Without faith and belief, healing was not possible – even for Jesus.

In the light of our enhanced understanding of what it meant to "take offense" in the first-century, we can reconsider Mark’s version of Jesus’ synagogue encounter with the people of his hometown. For a carpenter to read the scrolls was rare enough, but for him to go on to interpret the texts was too much for them. In his actions, Jesus was pushing the limits of their contemporary community standards, especially the rules of life upheld by the Pharisees.

Jesus’ message to the Jewish people was radical by the standards of their time and place. He charged them not only to love the Lord their God, but also to love their neighbors (Mark 12:30-31). He urged the wealthy to give their money to the poor (Mark 10:21). He condemned the powerful in both secular and sacred arenas, saying that "they devour widow’s houses" (Mark 12:40). And the people of Nazareth were only the first of many communities to be scandalized, to be without faith and belief, and to take offense.

Jesus’ message to us in our time and place is no less radical. We too should love the Lord our God and our neighbors as ourselves. We too should give our wealth to the poor. We too should cast a critical eye at the power elite, for they still devour people’s houses and permit the homeless to suffer to no good purpose.

Listen to Jesus’ message, taking seriously his commitment to the power of radical love as the pathway to justice for all. Don’t be trapped by the contemporary equivalents of the rules of the Pharisees or the Production Code of the Motion Picture Association of America. Don’t be scandalized. Don’t lose your faith and your belief. And above, don’t take offense. Amen.