March 20, 2011
Pastor Gary Hagen
Week 2 -- “Marked”
Rob Poulos is a walking piece of literature. He has tattooed on his left wrist which reads, "B-A- C-K-period." It looks as though it was lifted from the end of sentence. And it was. A few years ago, Poulos joined a
worldwide effort to help author Shelley Jackson tell her story on people’s bodies. Appropriately titled Skin, the
“book” has 2,095 words. Each person bears on his or her body just one word.
“It’s not that everything I do has to be tricked out with gimmicks and games,” the author said. “I’m just interested in exploring the range of what a text can do.” Rob Poulos heard about it in a literature class at the
University of Missouri-Kansas City. He said, “I always told myself that if I got a tattoo, it had better be important.”
At last count, Shelley Jackson was still looking for 400 people to bear her final 400 words. Just think, you
could contact her after worship, offer some human real estate, and be part of an incredibly unique publication!
How many of you are ready to line up for a one-word tattoo?
Just as I thought. And to be honest, I would not be all that eager get such a tattoo, either, regardless of its
literary significant.
The prophet Isaiah also wants people to be marked with one word. He writes in our text, “This one will
write upon his hand, leyahweh, which means, ‘Belonging to the LORD.’” But not all of the Judean exiles in
Babylon lined up. Some weren’t so interested in being marked by their Maker.
Because, you see, there was another text in town. One of the ancient near eastern’s most dominant narratives in the sixth century BC was the Babylonian creation epic called the Enuma Elish. The Enuma Elish celebrates Marduk’s defeat over Tiamat. He cut her in two and built the universe out of her remains. Read during
the annual Akitu festival, the feast reached its pinnacle with the acclamation, in Akkadian, Marduka ma surru-which means, “Marduk is King!”
Connected to the pomp and pageantry of Babylonian religion was the empire’s program of changing
people’s names. Just ask Hannaniah, Mishael, and Azariah. Or maybe, if you have had little ones around, you
know them by their Veggietales names of Rack, Shack, and Benny. But in Daniel 1:7 the empire changes their
names to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The goal? Mark the Judeans with a new name that will entice
them into worshiping Marduk. And so some of the Judean exiles were slow to line up to be marked “belonging
to the LORD”--Babylon seemed to offer so much more!
The dominant narrative of our day is peddled by using the young and the beautiful who guarantee we
can be young and beautiful, just like them... if we use certain products, own certain things, and vacation at
certain places.
Their text is hammered into our heads at an alarming rate. On a typical day in America, from the time
we open the morning paper (or log on to Yahoo News), until we finally doze off in front of the evening news,
we will encounter more than 2,000 advertising images. And these images portray over and over again the
dominant American narrative--“You can buy happiness!”
In league with the pomp and pageantry of American consumerism is the enemy’s program of changing
our names. His goal? Mark us with a new name that will entice us into seeking ultimate fulfillment in things.
Though we are deemed beloved through water and the Word, Satan renames us cheap, insignificant, and
worthless. Though we are deemed washed and cleansed in the name of Jesus, he whispers to us, “Guilty as
charged. Why fight it?” Though we are designated as “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a
people belonging to God,” the Liar whispers in our ear, “It’s fiction, fantasy, it’s all a figment of your imagination and dreams. This is all there is. And you better busy getting all you can while you can.”
Put together, the dominate narrative and the dominant devil create in us a slowness to be part of a
counter text, “belonging to the LORD.”
“Besides,” we reason, “to stand out in the crowd would be most uncomfortable. And furthermore,” we
continue, trying to convince ourselves, “I can have it both ways. I can have the best of both worlds. I can vigorously pursue to the American dream and claim its promises of prosperity while, at the same time, profess
the name of Jesus and follow his lead.” The problem is, of course, they have a way of getting in each other's
way.
Enter Isaiah 40-55, where the prophet takes dead aim at the empire. In 40:12 he maintains that Babylon and all the nations are only a drop in a bucket, while in 40:23 Isaiah dares to write that the empire’s leaders are empty and their god Marduk amounts to little more than dust in the wind. Then the clincher, his oracle
against Babylon in Isaiah 47, which includes these words, “Sit in silence, go into darkness, Daughter Babylon;
no longer will you be called the queen of the kingdoms.”
And the counter narrative in Isaiah 40-55 is just getting revved up! “Comfort, comfort my people, says
your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her warfare has been completed … Forget
the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, Yahweh is doing a renewed event! … How beautiful on the
mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God is King!’” And, taking another shot against Babylon and every other seductive and satanic lie, Isaiah maintains, “The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our
God will stand forever.”
All of this, and so much more, to the end that we line up, each one, and “write upon our hand” not “Belonging to Babylon,” but “Belonging to the LORD.”
You see, our God has always told his story on people’s bodies. In Genesis 4 he marks Cain. And in
Genesis 17 he gives Abraham and his offspring the covenant mark of circumcision. Deuteronomy 6 describes
people tying Yahweh’s words on their hands and binding them on their foreheads. While in Ezekiel 9 God
commands a man with a writing kit saying, “Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in this city.”
And it all points to the most awesome story ever told on human flesh. Isaiah describes the body with
these words. “His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human
likeness … Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not … We all,
like sheep, have gone astray. And Yahweh has laid upon him the iniquity of our sin.” One spear, three nails,
and a crown of thorns left their marks.
And so people began lining up to be marked. Paul puts it this way in Galatians 6:17, “I bear on my body
the marks of Jesus.” Eyes marked with tenderness and kindness, a mind marked with toughness and truth,
and a mouth marked with Jesus and joy.
To be a part of this counter-cultural narrative all we need to take on is one word, leyahweh in Hebrew;
in English, “belonging to the LORD.” How does that happen? Recall the water, remember the Word, and forever cherish this liturgical rite. “Receive the sign of the holy cross, both upon your forehead and upon your
heart to mark you as one redeemed by Christ the crucified.” In the name of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
By Reed Lessing. ©2011 by Creative Communications for the Parish, 1564 Fencorp Dr., Fenton, MO
63026. 800-325-9414. creativecommunications.com. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA.
Hymns:
"Glory Be to Jesus" #433
"On My Heart Imprint Your Image" #422
"Christ, the Life of All the Living" #420
"Your Table I Approach" #628 (Communion hymn - not printed)
"Let Us Ever Walk with Jesus" #685
Scripture readings:
Old Testament - Isaiah 44:1-5
Epistle - 1 Peter 2:4-12
Gospel - John 17:1-26
Psalm 98 will be read responsively.
Psalm 98
P: Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things;
C: His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.
P: The Lord has made his salvation known,
C: And revealed his righteousness to the nations.
P: He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to the house of Israel;
C: All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
P: Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth,
C: Burst into jubilant song with music;
P: Make music to the Lord with harp, with the harp and the sound of singing,
C: With trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn –
shout for joy before the Lord, the King.
P: Let the sea resound, and everything in it,
C: The world, and all who live in it.
P: Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy;
C: Let them sing before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth.
P: He will judge the world in righteousness and the people with equity.