To be a Christian, to be perfectly sane, is to appear in this world like you are crazy. That is, we will look and sound like Jesus.
In 2010, Martin Scorsese directed the film “Shutter Island,” in which Leonardo DiCaprio played a United States Marshall named Teddy Daniels. The movie takes place in 1954 on an island in Boston Harbor that housed a hospital for the criminally insane. The story opens with Daniels, the US Marshall, coming to the island to investigate a crime. In the course of his investigation, he begins noticing strange behavior among the doctors and the staff. He even senses that he, himself, might be in danger. As the movie progresses, Daniels finds himself desperately trying to get off the island, fearing for his own safety. One of the patients even warns him to run for his life. But then there is a twist [here is your spoiler alert]. As he tries harder and harder to solve the crime and as his suspicions about the doctors grow stronger and stronger, we learn that Teddy Daniels only thought he was a US Marshall. He was actually one of the patients.
To the one who is insane, it is the doctors who are crazy.
That movie came to mind as I read this week’s Gospel reading from Mark 3. Mark records a significant event which took place early in Jesus’ ministry. In Mark 1-2, we read about how Jesus was baptized in the Jordan and then tempted in the desert. We then hear how He preached, healed, and cast out demons. We read about the great crowds that began following Him. We also learn about how He called the twelve disciples. Then, in Mark 3, Jesus returns home, but things have changed. Now, after all He had been doing, crowds followed Him. In fact, the crowds were so big that His family could barely get to Him. When they did, how did they greet Him? “They went out to seize Him, for they were saying, ‘He is out of his mind’” (3:21).
To those who are insane, it is the doctor who is out of his mind.
It is hard to blame Jesus’ family. He was making a scene. He said He could forgive sins. He told the disciples He would make them fishers of men. He spoke directly to demons. He disregarded Old Testament laws. He claimed to be “Lord of the Sabbath.” It is the kind of stuff crazy people say.
It was not only Jesus’ family who thought He was out of His mind. The scribes came down from Jerusalem to investigate. They could not deny His miraculous works, they had seen them with their own eyes. So, they did not call Jesus a fake, but neither could they accept His claims. They concluded He must be possessed by the Devil. By the prince of demons, He casts out demons, they insisted.
To those who are crazy, it is the doctor who is insane, or, in this case, possessed by Satan.
One of the effects of sin in this world is it has made us collectively crazy. That is not an insult. By crazy I mean confused, disoriented, mixed up about reality. Our conception of God, the world, humankind, and the meaning of life, it is all distorted by sin. The serpent’s promise to make us wise turned out to be a lie. It had the reverse effect.
Our conception of God, the world, humankind, and the meaning of life, it is all distorted by sin.
If you saw “Shutter Island,” you know that the end leaves the viewer hanging. In the last scene, Teddy Daniels has a final conversation. It sounds like he is still crazy, still thinking he is a US Marshall. But then, in the very last line of the movie, he says something which seems completely normal, something profoundly insightful. With that, the viewer is left wondering, “Is he crazy, or is he saner than anyone else on the island?” Debates about the movie go on.
To be a Christian, to be perfectly sane, is to appear in this world like you are crazy. That is, we will look and sound like Jesus. And Jesus, the One who is the only true human and at the same time true God, often looks and sounds crazy to humankind, whose collective mind and perception of reality is hopelessly confused.
There are many ways in which a sermon might consider how Christians look crazy. It is best to reflect on the specific ways your congregation is tempted to conform to the “sanity” of this world (refer to Romans 12:1-12). As you choose which aspect of Jesus’ message and the Christian life to highlight, you have multiple options in the appointed readings. You might pick up on Jesus’ words toward the end of the Gospel reading, noting how Jesus relativizes the family by calling those who do His will His brother, sister, and mother (Mark 3:33-35). You could work in the epistle reading and highlight the Christian expectation of resurrection, which enables us to consider rightly our momentary and only temporary afflictions (2 Corinthians 4:13-18). Or you may want to draw on the language in the Psalm to emphasize how the promised forgiveness in Christ leads us both to hope in and to fear God (Psalm 130:3-5).
The bottom line is that you, as the preacher, can help your hearers learn something from those who thought Jesus was out of His mind. You can help them learn something about their own inability to think and perceive rightly. Even more, you can help them listen to the good news of the God-man who speaks the life-giving promise of the Gospel to those who remain confused and imprisoned by the insanity of the world.
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Additional Resources:
Craft of Preaching-Check out out 1517’s resources on Mark 3:20-35.
Concordia Theology-Various helps from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO to assist you in preaching Mark 3:20-35.
Text Week-A treasury of resources from various traditions to help you preach Mark 3:20-35.
Lectionary Kick-Start-Check out this fantastic podcast from Craft of Preaching authors Peter Nafzger and David Schmitt as they dig into the texts for this Sunday!
Lectionary Podcast-Dr. Peter Scaer of Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne, IN walks us through Mark 3:20-35.
