And he said to them, “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.” – Mark 9:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 18, 2017): Mark 9

On October 25, 1989, the Soviet Union exchanged the “Brezhnev Doctrine” for the “Sinatra Doctrine.” Under the terms of the “Brezhnev Doctrine,” the Soviet Union and the other Warsaw Pact nations, all of whom were under direct Soviet control, were required to fight against any threats in the member states against the Socialist ideal. If there was a rebellion against Socialist doctrine, then the Soviet Union had the right to send in its troops and restore Socialist order in the offending nation. The “Brezhnev Doctrine” was used as Soviet soldiers moved into Hungary to crush the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and justified the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968.

But in October 1989, with the introduction of the “Sinatra Doctrine,” all of that changed. The “Sinatra Doctrine,” jokingly named after singer Frank Sinatra and his popular song “My Way,” allowed the Warsaw Pact countries to do things “their way.” No longer would the Soviet Union step in to boost up floundering socialist regimes. The nations had to find their own way forward.

On October 25, 1989, the change introduced by the “Sinatra Doctrine” was theoretical. A change in philosophy had been made, but no one was sure of the practical results. But we didn’t have to wait long to find out what was going to happen as a result of the philosophical revolution inside the Soviet Union. East Germany needed the Soviet Union to bolster its Communist Party and keep Communism the law of the land in the country. Once they realized that no help was coming, the communist government of East Germany, as well as the governments of Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and, a short time later, Romania, were all removed from power in their respective nations. The Cold War was finally over. Real change had come to Eastern Europe.

We trip up over words like those used by Jesus in Mark 9:1. These words appear to be standalone instructions that Mark has placed here. It would be incorrect to try to connect the words with those that have gone before or those that come after. But the message is that the Kingdom of God is on its way and that the time frame is short. For us, reading the words on our side of the crucifixion and resurrection, we think of the return of Jesus and the all that the End Times people seem to be warning us is just around the corner. But apparently, that is not what Jesus is speaking of with these words. No one is still alive among the group who first heard Jesus speak the words. So what was Jesus saying?

The most natural solution is that Jesus was not talking about his second coming, but the end of his first coming. Jesus would die and be resurrected, and then, on the day that the Holy Spirit was poured out on his followers, the Kingdom of God would come with power. Everything would change, but it would only be a theoretical change. We would finally have the ability to engage this world with the power of God, but only if we wanted to engage it that way. Like the coming of the “Sinatra Doctrine,” life could continue the way that it always had, we could continue to fight the world on our own, hanging on every law, or we could walk through the door and be change agents in the world.

The decision was up to us. It still is.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Matthew 18