I don't think I can do this....

October 7, 2018

If you were to think of your favorite Bible passages, odds are, the reading from Mark today wouldn’t make anyone’s list.  These familiar, yet uncomfortable words of Christ, talking about cutting off hands and feet, and plucking out eyes, because it would be better to enter heaven missing all of these things thank go to hell as a whole body?  I don’t know about you, but I’m quite attached to my eyes, and hands, and feet…and if they have to be removed, I’d much prefer a skilled surgeon and anesthesia over tearing and plucking.  So what are we to do with these words of Jesus?

I/We assume he doesn’t mean literal amputation...or at least we hope.  Everyone knows what amputation is…the removal of a body part.  Anyone that’s ever worked in healthcare has that one thing they won’t do…mine is amputation.  That’s a hard no-go for me.  I will loose it and that’s a promise. 

For me, I believe Christ chose this vivid, and even gruesome language to make a point…we have witnessed Him using that style in other Biblical passages.  I think we need to see what an offense these stumbling blocks actually are and what they are calling us to.  So, then, what is Christ requiring of us?

Gospel Lesson:
Mark 9:38-50

John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” But Jesus said, “Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us. For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.

“If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.

“For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

The sneaky deception of pride

September 23, 2018

From the Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes to today’s Gospel lesson, the Bible is very clear–to be truly great, you must be humble. This is one of the hardest calls to answer in our world that says we need to be self-sufficient, self-assured, and feel good about ourselves; a world obsessed with success and power.  Every day we see athletes seeking to set records, businessmen seeking higher positions, and laborers lusting after higher pay.  And don’t think anyone is immune to this pressure from our world driven by gain; as a preacher (especially a new preacher), I feel the pressure and need to constantly up my game.  I’ll confess that I want to be the best at what I do.  This drive isn’t necessarily a bad thing…there are many occasions in the Bible that encourage and instruct us to do our best.

But there is a danger in that pursuit. One writer says the higher up we find ourselves in terms of
power, influence, and wealth–the more vulnerable we are to pride, and the more prone we are to be blind to our spiritual needs and deficiencies. The quiet invasion of pride renders us useless to God and others, more than any other kind of sin. Pride manifests itself in subtle and lethal ways.

Gospel Lesson:

Mark 9:30-37

Jesus and his disciples passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.” But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.

Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”