We are studying the Gospel of Mark and have encouraged folks to read the whole Gospel in one sitting. If you do this you may notice a tone of urgency about the writing. Frederick Buechner in his book “Peculiar Treasures” says this about Mark’s gospel:
He was a man in a hurry, out of breath, with no time to lose because that’s how the people were he was writing for too. The authorities were out for their blood, and they were on the run. At any moment of day or night a knock might come at the door, and from there to getting thrown to the lions or set fire to as living torches at one of NerO’s evening entertainments took no time at all. So he leaves a lot out, it’s amazing how much….But even in the midst of his great haste, Mark stops and looks at Jesus, sees him better than any of the others do. When Jesus naps in a boat, it’s in the stern he does it, with a pillow under his head (4:38). The others don’t say that. And the grass was green when he fed the five thousand on hardly enough to feed five (6:39), not dry grass, crackling and brown. He got up “a great while before day” to go pray by himself (1:35), not at nine, not after a hot breakfast, and he was sitting down “opposite the treasury” when he saw the old lady drop her two cents in the collection box (12:41)….You can say they make no difference, such details as these which the others skip, or you can say they make all the difference.
Consider your own life. When are you urgent and when are you not?
What is it that you long to accomplish so desperately that it leaves you breathless?
How deep is your passion? For what? For whom? How might you convey, with urgency, your passion this week?
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