Rector's Reflection—14 Pentecost, Proper 18
September 6, 2009

Remember back in school (without fail, those days that you hadn't quite gotten around to the reading assignment) when the teacher uttered those dreaded words, "Okay, class. Take out a piece of paper..." Something in your gut had warned you about this. You'd meant to finish that last chapter...

Well, surprise! "Okay, class. Take out a piece of paper..." (It's been a long time since I've had the occasion to say that, but there's still a thrill in remembering the color draining from the faces of my Latin students—but I digress.)

First question: what do Matthew 16:20, Matthew 17:9, Mark 8:30, Mark 9:9, Luke 5:14, Luke 8:56, and Luke 9:21 have in common with Mark 7:36 that we just heard?

Time's up. Here are those texts:

Matthew 16:20	Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.
Matthew 17:9	And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, "Tell no one the vision, until the Son of man is raised from the dead."
Mark 8:30	And he charged them to tell no one about him.
Mark 9:9	And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of man should have risen from the dead.
Luke 5:14	And he charged him to tell no one; but "go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, for a proof to the people."
Luke 8:56	And her parents were amazed; but he charged them to tell no one what had happened.
Luke 9:21	But he charged and commanded them to tell this to no one.
Mark 7:36	And he charged them to tell no one; but the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it.

I have always been fascinated with these passages. These admonishments come on the heels of some pretty spectacular stuff—transfiguration stories, Peter 'getting it', cleansing a leper, raising the dead, and today's restoration of hearing to a deaf man. In the case of the healing miracles, I'm thinking that inquiring people will want to know. Weren't you covered in sores this morning? Weren't you deaf this morning? Wasn't she dead this morning? But they're not supposed to tell... not supposed to tell the best news they'd ever had?

There's something ironic—at least for me—about these "don't tell" encounters. Theologians and biblical scholars for generations have sought to explain them, and their explanations run from banal to fascinating to bizarre. But whatever Jesus' reasons for requesting anonymity, in general the people couldn't contain themselves. The word about the Word got out.

I think at this time in our church life we are faced with the opposite problem. We have the same good news to tell and yet there is a reluctance to spread that news. It seems that in many quarters the one commandment that people have chosen to follow is the one not to tell. Jesus may have asked for silence during his lifetime, but remember after his resurrection he gave the Great Commission to "go make disciples." It was time then to spread the Good News. It is time now to spread the Good News. At a time when Christianity is under attack—or at the very least undervalued—this is no time to go and tell no one. This is the time to go and tell everyone.

Last Modified: August 24, 2010
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