Sunday Sermon, The Rev. Phillip Jackson: “The Wisdom of the Crowd”

Today’s Gospel is quintessentially Mark, preaches Father Phil, due to its intricate structure of a story within a story. In Mark 3, we see Jesus both dismiss his family and silence high religious officials who are accusing him of blasphemy. Mark uses both stories to contrast the insiders who fail to recognize “the liberating, freeing power of God at work" with the crowd of believers. The readings are 1 Samuel 8: 4-20, Psalm 138, 2 Corinthians 4: 13-5: 1, and Mark 3: 30b-35.