bible

Love.

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PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

Though we need to weep your loss,
You dwell in that safe place in our hearts,
Where no storm or night or pain can reach you.

Your love was like the dawn
Brightening over our lives,
Awakening beneath the dark
A further adventure of color.

The sound of your voice
Found for us
A new music
That brightened everything.

Whatever you enfolded in your gaze
Quickened in the joy of its being,
You placed smiles like flowers
On the altar of the heart.
Your mind always sparkled
With wonder at things.

Though your days here were brief,
Your spirit was alive, awake, complete.

We look toward each other no longer
From the old distance of our names;
Now you dwell inside the rhythm of breath,
As close to us as we are to ourselves.

Though we cannot see you with outward eyes,
We know our soul’s gaze is upon your face,
Smiling back at us from within everything
To which we bring our best refinement.

Let us not look for you only in memory,
Where we would grow lonely without you.
You would want us to find you in presence,
Besides us when beauty brightens,
When kindness glows
And music echoes eternal tones.

When orchids brighten the earth,
Darkest winter has turned to spring;
May this dark grief flower with hope
In every heart that loves you.

May you continue to inspire us:

To enter each day with a generous heart.
To serve the call of courage and love
Until we see your beautiful face again
In that land where there is no more separation,
Where all tears will be wiped from our mind,
And where we will never lose you again.

By John O’Donohue

Mark 12:28-34

The First Commandment

28 One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30 you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘he is one, and besides him there is no other’; 33 and ‘to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,’ and ‘to love one’s neighbor as oneself,’—this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that no one dared to ask him any question.

While reading this passage the past week, I was reminded of a conversation that I had with a fellow pastor who worked for Vida Joven in Nicaragua.  We were talking about the concept of doing ministry in a certain way, we had a phrase for this way that probably comes from the business world:  “quality of excellence”.  This means that we want to do ministry at a high level, we want to do it well, pour in resources, and make it attractive.  There is some good to that, but it’s not what they strive for with Vida Joven in Nicaragua much anymore…they don’t have all the resources that we have in the states, so they strive for something better:  “beauty”.  It’s beautiful to see teenagers sitting on a hill at a camp sharing life, laughing and crying together.  It’s beautiful to see folks believing in each other and giving and receiving grace.

I believe that this beauty is demonstrated in this morning’s scripture passage.   Our passage in Mark 12:28-34 finds Jesus in the midst of four debates with Jewish religious leaders.  Jesus had been doing well, so the religious leaders were going to try a theological question, “Teacher, what’s the greatest commandment?”  This passage is also found in other gospel narratives.  They were asking a question with the intent of trapping Jesus, they wanted to put Jesus in some sort of religious box.

Jesus takes this question and gives a beautiful answer in two parts.  The first part is this:    “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30 you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 

These words have power and intimacy.  We are to love God with all we’ve got, everything.  God is not supposed to be number one our list, God is supposed to be everything on our list.  All of our lives are interpreted and have meaning through this love for God and God’s love for us.  God created us out of love.  In God’s very nature of being Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…the Trinity, there is deep relationship bonded by love that created us, saved us, and sustains us…this God loves us so much, and the love that God has for us and has placed within creation, believes in us and gives us the capacity to love others and love God.

Jesus also says that the Lord is ONE!  That’s powerful. God, three persons, one…and this same God is one with us.  We are bonded together into the Trinity!  

This love also gives us the ability to love ourselves and to see the beauty within ourselves.  We cannot truly love our neighbors until we begin to see how valuable we are within ourselves.  God created us good and in his image.  Read the first couple of chapters of Genesis, God is pouring himself into his creation, into us.  We are works of art.  Oftentimes we let circumstances and decisions in life diminish us.  As it says in John 10:10, there is a thief who comes to steal and destroy our lives, yet Jesus wants us to have life, abundant life.  

Yet, we were created for beauty and when we grow to understand the beauty that is our true selves and that God created and animates our very being, we can then begin to love God and to love our neighbors.

Of course, that begs the question then, who are our neighbors?  Well, everyone really.  The folks we live next door to, the folks on the other side of town, folks across the world really.  We are called to see everyone as being made in the image of God.  That can be hard sometimes, folks are different, have different tastes, cultures, personalities, mannerisms.  I get that we simply don’t get along with folks at times.  We have former friends or even family members who may have wounded us deeply.  Yet, God calls us to simply love, which requires a lot of hard work of self-reflection, cultivating our identity with God, and wisdom in how to deal with the persons around us.  We become true neighbors when we practice what the good Samaritan did by simply reaching out to those around us and loving them well.  

When we practice this, beauty happens!  We are able to see God’s Presence in amazing ways as we love our neighbor and experience God’s love and attempt to love God back!  God is glorified by us when we simply live in God’s glory for us in relationship with each other and with God!

So, where do we start doing this as a church?

  1. Know that God has placed you where you are in your neighborhood and church.  All that God needs for beautiful things to happen, for community transformation, is present in this room.  So often in church we talk in terms of scarcity, not enough money, not enough people, not enough vision, etc.  Yet, I believe in a God of abundance!  There is a universe of talent present right here in this room right now!  You are all beautiful people with so much to share and to learn and to grow!  It’s exciting!
  2. Practice gratitude.  Don’t create more programs or committees or look for the latest church growth technique.  Just look around, invite folks over for a shared meal, sit on the back porch or deck and share life together.  And be thankful for the folks around you.
  3. Listen to yourself honestly.  Don’t be afraid to look into the darkness of your own life.  You won’t be alone there, God is present everywhere.  Get a spiritual director that will listen to God with you.  Find others to hold your hand as you do this.  I have a spiritual director and a group of guys that meet regularly.  These guys know me and I know them.  We love each other well and they hold me up without trying to fix me.
  4. Listen to your neighborhood.  Get involved in the local school, ask local business leaders what they see or need, open the doors of the church to civic groups, meet for coffee with folks from other churches.  Don’t have an agenda other than building relationships and being curious about what God may be up to in your community.  Then, get behind what God is already doing and get into that sweet spot where God’s Spirit will carry you.  

Know that seeing beauty and being a part of the beauty of God’s relational and community work is simple, yet it’s also the hardest thing that we’ll ever do.  There is a lot of darkness in this world, we do have a lot of distractions.  Yet, God is with us and the time is now to be faithfully present with each other and with God and to be a part of God’s kingdom presence and transformation in our lives and communities.  

There is a growing conversation within Cincinnati that is globally connected to see communities transformed in simple, deep, and beautiful ways.  I also have to report how excited I am to be a part of this conversation in our Presbytery right now as we explore where God is at work in and through the church, not just for church numerical growth per se, but for community transformation.  Westwood First is in the middle of a sea-change within Cincy and really across the US and world!  Really!

So, friends, I’m looking forward to seeing more beauty in our neighborhood and in this church.  

My good friend Bart Campolo a few years ago summed up this Mark passage with this phrase:  “Love God.  Love others.  Nothing else matters.”  Friends, you are loved and you have loved.  May we continue on and grow deeper in our understanding of what it means to see beauty in each other, in ourselves, and in God’s vibe throughout our city.

See.

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“When our eyes are graced with wonder, the world reveals its wonders to us. There are people who see only dullness in the world and that is because their eyes have already been dulled. So much depends on how we look at things. The quality of our looking determines what we come to see.” 

― John O’Donohue, Beauty: The Invisible Embrace

“Take time to see the quiet miracles that

seek no attention” 

― John O’Donohue

To see eyes looking back at you,
as eyes should see you at last,

seeing you, as you always wanted to be seen,
seeing you, as you yourself
had always wanted to see the world.

— David Whyte

Mark 10:46-52

46 They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 Jesus stood still and said, “Call him here.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; get up, he is calling you.” 50 So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51 Then Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “My teacher,let me see again.” 52 Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.

When I was a kid, we used to take trips to Mammoth Cave in KY.   I remember a couple of the tours of the cave.  It was always fun to see the stalagtites and stalagmites coming from the floor and ceiling.  Of course, on every tour, at some point in the cave, the tour guide would have everyone stand in the center of a large cavern, and then turn off the lights.  Of course, it was disorienting, you couldn’t see a thing!  Not even your hand being put right in front of you.  

Years later, I would go spelunking, or cave exploring, in a few small caves.  Friends of mine would crawl through some places and we’d have headlamps.  If those headlamps went dead or we broke them, we had the benefit of having back-up lights or are friends to help us out.

Our main character in our gospel passage knows what it’s like to not be able to see in the dark.  Bartimaeus, or Bart, is a blind beggar.  In 1st century culture, if you are blind, you don’t have many options.  You are pushed aside, not useful to society, not productive, and forced to make a living by begging, by leading on the hospitality of others.

Now, Bartimaeus has a name, has an identity.  He’s the son of Timaeus.  He has had relationships, he is a part of a family.  But, his blindness has left him isolated, alone, left out.  Could you imagine the hurt that he felt, the desperation.  

We know from this passage that he hasn’t been blind all of his life, maybe he remembers what it’s like to see things or to experience the love of a family.  But, now he’s left to beg, without much of a future and no friends.  

When I was in a cave with family as a child or with friends later, I wasn’t alone in the dark.  I had others around me that I could lean in on.  Bartimeaus doesn’t have that luxury.

Put yourself in Bart’s shoes.

When Jesus comes walking down the road, leaving Jericho, surrounded by a large crowd.  Bartimaeus senses the excitement of the crowd, when he hears its Jesus, he shouts out, have mercy on me Son of David!  He’s using Son of David in order to get Jesus to notice that he’s connected to him, to show him mercy.  I have to admit, I respect Bart!  He had some moxie, he was desperate, but he was also filled with hope one last time.  

Well, the disciples have places to go, they don’t have time for this guy, they try to get him to quiet down, they cannot imagine that this moment is filled with meaning and drama, they are not thinking of possibilities, only convenience, the next meeting, and not wanting to be bothered…but Jesus hears him.  He calls Bart to him and asks, what do you want me to do?  Bart springs up, comes to him and says, my teacher, again an address of honor, help me to see again.  Jesus says that his faith has made him whole, that he is healed.  

His sight returns, and, he follows Jesus.

Friends, as I read the gospel lesson, I’m not sure who the blind persons were in this story.   Sure, Bart was physically blind, but the disciples had eyes to see, yet they couldn’t see the possibility of the moment.  They were with Jesus, identified with Jesus, but they were focused on their agenda and not the person right in front of them.  Maybe they were wowed by the large crowds and felt like the numbers were more important than the folks right in front of them, they looked to the crowds and not to the persons.

Folks in this story could not “see” one another!  Yet, Jesus saw them and saw the blind man…really saw them…and that enabled the blind man to not only have his physical sight, but to “see” Jesus.  Isn’t it a gift when we can be present with someone and they see us, they don’t see things on the surface, but the real in us!  What a gift!

The great Jewish scholar of the 20th century, Martin Buber, would say that we strive to live in an “I/Thou” relationship.  The “thou” is the divine within you and in others and all creation.  We slow down, meditate, contemplate, to cultivate a readiness to “see” the “thou” in ourselves and others.  Often we simply have an “I/It” relationship where we simply observe or objectify someone or something else.  And, that’s OK, but we strive for a deeper seeing.  

It’s also interesting to note that this man was spontaneous, he didn’t overthink the moment, he seized it.  In comparison, the disciples were filled with fear, silence, hesitation, opposition…they were contrarians to the man’s faithfulness.  

Friends, this is the kind of faith that God is calling us towards, the faith of Bartimaeus.  We are called to be in the moment, to seize it.  We have opportunities in our lives, daily, to live in hope and expectation.  God wants to deliver us out of the darkness and into the light.  Darkness, for a season, is a good thing…it may give us rest, perspective, and growth.  When seeds are planted in the ground, it is dark…with nourishment from the soil, water, etc. those seeds push through the resistance, grow strong and move towards the sun, towards light, which also gives growth to blossom.  God wants to restore our relationships, to restore our sense of community, to restore us…to blossom and be all that we were intended to be…  God wants us to “see” ourselves, to “see” others, and to know that God always sees us, the real us, and loves us!

And, God’s called us to notice the blind beggars, or those in our pews and in our neighborhoods that we often look over.  

It seems as a church, that we also are like the disciples in that we get caught up in the “busyness” of this upcoming season…and with change happening in our lives and in our congregation, it can be overwhelming.  But, know that you are not alone, you have friends around you to help you, you do not have to be fearful or hesitant, you can live faithfully in exuberance with a God who is calling YOU to write a new story for your church that can bring hope and healing to your neighbors, and to one another.  

May it be so.

Greatness.

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PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

You have traveled too fast over false ground;

Now your soul has come to take you back.

Take refuge in your senses, open up

To all the small miracles you rushed through.

Become inclined to watch the way of rain

When it falls slow and free.

Imitate the habit of twilight,

Taking time to open the well of color

That fostered the brightness of day.

Draw alongside the silence of stone

Until its calmness can claim you.

Be excessively gentle with yourself.

– JOHN O’DONOHUE

Mark 10:35-45

35 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 36 And he said to them, “What is it you want me to do for you?” 37 And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” 38 But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” 39 They replied, “We are able.” Then Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; 40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

41 When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. 42 So Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. 43 But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

We all have a desire at times to be great in something.  We would like to think that there is something out there that we can excel at.  I know for me that I sometimes have this achievement mindset.  It’s OK to be an achiever, to want to work towards a goal, to get things done, but sometimes that can cloud your thinking.

A good example of that is right before I got engaged to Debbie.  I was pumped that after so many years of wanting to see my relationship with Debbie move towards a goal, it was finally coming together.  I bought a ring and I had a vision of what our marriage could be like.  

I then got together with my friend Chuck Scott.  In a former life, I was on staff with Young Life, there are all sorts of thoughts about Young Life and I’ve continued to evolve.  But, for a season I was a Young Life church partner and thought I could do great things with it…and for a season, there was some amazing things that happened and I’m grateful.  All of life is gift!

Now, back to Chuck.  Chuck is a great guy, former NFL player, amazing family, and a national leader for Young Life.  He’s also someone whose opinion I highly appreciated and.  His dad, Charlie, was one of the original Young Life staff persons from the 1950’s and was one of my mentors.  I went to him to ask him about what he thought about me asking Debbie to marry him.  He thought very highly of Debbie, he tried to hire her in his Young Life area a couple of times, and I knew that he loved me as a friend.  

His response, wait…do you understand what you are getting into…he even said don’t get married to Debbie.  He tried to talk me out of it.  He said marriage was hard, that I wanted this so bad that I wasn’t thinking straight, I needed to count the cost, and that even though I had this friendship with Debbie for close to a decade, I needed to take a timeout and think and pray.  He was right in many ways, and he helped me to gain some perspective.

I still ended up asking Deb to marry me, and his dad, Charlie, co-officiated our wedding.  

Out of that season of life, there have been some moments of greatness, and some moments of darkness.  There have been failures, lots of them.  Yet, the relationship and growth I’ve received from Deb as a partner has been overwhelming.  Our story is still being written and I’m grateful as we continue to say “yes”.  

In much the same way, I had folks try to talk me out of going into the ministry.  I know that I had some personal visions that involved changing the world in big ways.  I wanted to see great things happen.  But, others cautioned me.  My dad even told me after I graduated from UK and told him that I was going into the ministry that I was making a mistake.  His exact first words:  “I just paid for 4 years of college for you to do what?”.  

Again, it may not have been the right wording or the right motivation, but it did cause me to ask some questions.

I still went into the ministry, obviously, as I stand here today.  And, again, out of that commitment, there have been some moments of greatness, and some moments of darkness.  There have been failures, lots of them.  Yet, the relationships that have been formed, my life and others lives have been changed…and the same is happening here at Westwood First in our lives together.  Our story is still being written and I’m grateful.  

As we jump into this passage, let’s remember that we are seeing the disciples live’s stories being written…Jesus is calling them away from a fantasy to something deeper, something better for them…Jesus is inviting them into the present moment, not for some pie-in-the-sky transactional relationship, but to let go of their desire to live into a narrative that want to create, a narrative that their culture may have conditioned them for, towards a narrative of loving themselves, others, and seeing that God wants them, and us, to grow into what Thomas Merton, the great catholic monk philosopher would say, our true Selves.  

Our gospel lesson tells us about the disciples having some wrong motivations for being followers of Jesus.  They are focused on this idea of being great and having special places.  They had waited for so long for a messiah and had high expectations, some fantasies.  James and John have some moxie and ask Jesus to sit on the right and left.  The other disciples are mad at them, but they are wondering the same thing.  

Jesus gives them a response, one he defers to the Father…really, he’s deferring to the community that he’s in of the Trinity.  A community of three in one that is so tight that things are created, saved, and sustained through deep, good relationship.  A relationship of yielding to one another…of emptying into one another…a circle that we, humanity and creation, are also a part of.  

And, he says if you want to be first, you’ve got to be last and the last will be first.  He flips the understanding that is in the world.  A world that we’ve created and where “winning” at all costs is most important.

Jesus welcomes their commitment, but asks some hard questions, are you willing to struggle, to experience hardship, to truly live into his baptism?  They are committed, the have experienced a call, but he’s causing them to pause and think deeply about that calling and commitment as my friends have done for me.  

Rob Bell, an author, speaker, and former pastor, shares this about our commitment and calling to live life as we live in Christ, really as fully alive humans:  

We are going to suffer.

And it is going to shape us.

Somehow.

We will become bitter or better, closed or open.

more ignorant or more aware. more or less tuned in to the thousands of gifts we are surrounded with every single moment of every single dry.

Jesus is inviting his disciples, his friends, into a life that isn’t defined by greatness in worldly standards.   He is calling them into a deeper, more beautiful life that is full and expansive.  

We are called to ask ourselves some of the same questions.  Are we willing to suffer, are we willing to die, and are we willing to live life to the fullest and experience resurrection in Jesus’ baptism that symbolizes the old life dying and the new life beginning?  Are we willing to live into that as persons and as people of faith gathered at Westwood First?  Are we willing to let go of all that we hold on to so tightly in order to experience the beauty of God’s Presence in our lives. 

St. Augustine wrote in City of God:  “God is always trying to give good things to us, but our hands are always too full to receive them.”  Jesus came to love and calls us into a life filled with meaning and goodness, but we have to let go of the things that we think bring greatness.  If we are willing to serve others and to live intentionally in Christ, then the story that is emerging out of Westwood First will be filled with hope for the world around us and in us…and we will see something greater happen than than our fantasies, especially as we live in the present moment, greater than we could have ever imagined.  May it be so!

Letting Go.

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Mark 10:17-31

The Rich Man

17 As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.’” 20 He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” 21 Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” 22 When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

23 Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”26 They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”

28 Peter began to say to him, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.”29 Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”

 As a kid, I wanted to do the right thing.  I found out early that if I say the right things, live the right way, do the right things, then I’d have some approval.  

That’s how I lived life pretty much.  I was a good kid.  

I was also raised in the church, so I thought that doing the right things and believing the right ways, pleased God.  

However, I also wanted to find a way to express myself, to gain the attention of others.  So, I grew my hair long, and played bagpipes.  But, still, did the things that I thought I should.  I kept the commandments so to speak.

My senior year, things started to fall apart inside of me…and outside of me.  I began to have deeper questions about life, relationships.  It came to a head on a Campus Life ski weekend.  I took a risk, shared with my adult leaders that I was struggling, I did all the right things but still felt lonely.  I was asking, in essence, what could I do to enter the kingdom of God, to be in God’s Presence, to feel God’s favor…because, I was doing the stuff, but not feeling approval.

My club leaders began to share with me that it was more about relationship.  That God’s Presence was there, but it couldn’t be earned, just lived in.  That relationship was filled with grace and love, that love and grace eventually began to have a transformative effect on me as I grew in my awareness of God’s Presence.  It also pulled me towards a calling to be and do who I am and what I do.  

Our gospel lesson this morning is similar.  The rich young ruler came to Jesus, asking what to do to enter the Kingdom of God.  He first calls Jesus “good”.  Jesus pushes back, and says why call me Good, only God is good…in essence, saying that goodness is about God and we live in that goodness.  

Jesus goes on to say, obey the commandments.  The young rich ruler, says that he has, since his youth.  Jesus looks at him with love the scripture says.  He loved this kid, not because of what he had done, but simply because of him being him.  Plus, the kid was honest.  Jesus then says that he lacks one thing, sell all that he had, give to the poor, and follow him.  A disciple could not have the distractions of patronage and financial obligations that came with being a man of wealth, they needed to be willing to be committed and setting aside all of the trappings of status and self importance.  Even though this young ruler was pious and devout, he was unwilling to surrender and allow God’s love to run its course in his life.

This was hard…it’s really hard to give up anything that we hold on to that we draw our identity from, wealth, our roles that we play, the persons that we project to be to others.  Yet, Jesus is telling him that true wealth, true identity, is measured by how well we love others and experience God through relationships, especially with those on the margins, those that are seeking community, yet have been left out.  

The rich young ruler leaves Jesus heartbroken, he can’t let go of what he has or who has become or perceives himself to be…the disciples are perplexed, they don’t know what to say, they focus on the material wealth and ask more questions.  Jesus says that it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle than to get into heaven.  It’s often said that Jesus is referring to merchants coming to a city gate at night.  They can’t get into a walled city then because the gates are closed, but there are smaller doors that the can get into called the “eye of the needle”.  They have to take everything off the camel, all of their goods, in order to enter.  Most scholars would say that’s not the case at all, Jesus is literally talking about a life size camel and a real needle.  It’s impossible.  

In essence, we can’t take “stuff” with us, material stuff or the personal baggage of image that we’ve created….and image that does not remind us that we are made in the image of God. We have to be willing to share our material stuff as well as our personal lives with others…in essence, to be willing to not hold on to stuff, to give it away, as well as to not hold on too tightly the realities that we’ve created, but to be willing to give ourselves away, to let God’s love probe deeper into our lives, and to be shaped by that love.  

When the disciples still question and ask, how can anyone get into God’s Presence, into heaven?  Jesus says that with God all things are possible.  What seems impossible with all that we know and understand, with God, there is possibility.  God wants to spark our imagination, give us hope, but it takes a commitment and a desire from us to risk everything.  

I believe that Jesus was telling this young man, just like my club leaders told me 40 years ago, let go of my desire to seek God’s approval by things that I have or do, but to know that I have God’s approval already, that God looks at me like Jesus does to the rich young ruler, with love.  My response is hopefully not to shy away, but to rise to the invitation to enter into trusting God with all that I have and to imagine the possibilities that God can open within me and outside of me.  

The disciples state that they’ve left everything to follow you Jesus.  Jesus responds that they will be rewarded with even more relationships and with eternal life…which starts now.

Friends, I find this to be so true.  Meister Eckhart says that we need to “let go”…he even takes it further and says that we need to “let go of letting go”.  As we do that, as we empty ourselves, we move from nothingness, being empty, to something, seeing life as a gift, and to everything, being filled with the Presence of God which is in all things and all people.  My goodness, I am blessed, you are blessed.  We have relationships!  Are we willing to walk into God’s vision for us as a church, as a community, and away from our visions of what church should be?  If we are willing, if we let go to follow Jesus’ way of love and relationship with others and with those on the margins, then we will experience God’s Presence, God’s kingdom in even more beautiful ways! 

One.

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PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

We seldom notice how each day is a holy place

Where the eucharist of the ordinary happens,

Transforming our broken fragments

Into an eternal continuity that keeps us.

Somewhere in us a dignity presides

That is more gracious than the smallness

That fuels us with fear and force,

A dignity that trusts the form a day takes. 

So at the end of this day, we give thanks

For being betrothed to the unknown

And for the secret work

Through which the mind of the day

And wisdom of the soul become one. 

– John O’Donohue

Mark 10:2-16

2 Some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3 He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.” 5 But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. 6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ 7 ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife,[a]8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

10 Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11 He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; 12 and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

13 People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. 14 But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. 15 Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” 16 And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.

Debbie and I have a unique story of how we moved towards marriage and how our marriage has turned out over the years.  Of course, everyone has a unique story in their lives as well.  It’s crazy at times though to think about it.  

Debbie and I met at the University of Kentucky.  We dated off and on, more off than on, actually.  But we did become great friends.  

Eventually, about 8-9 years after we first met, things changed between us and we had a growing sense that we’d be getting married. And, we did.  It’s been an adventure…and lots of misadventures, over the years…and, honestly, our story has had moments of wondering what we were thinking 27 years ago and even wondering where we are going.  It’s had some really hard things to walk through…as well as some really good things.  

In our gospel text, the folks questioning Jesus were not trying to be funny.  They were trying to put Jesus in a box with this question of marriage and divorce.  It was political given that the Jewish king, Herod, had just married his brother’s wife after she divorced him.  It really had much more to do with getting Jesus in trouble with the authorities than proving a moral argument.  

At the time, Mosaic law had allowed a woman or a man to divorce their spouse easily.  In a patriarchal society though, that would be tough on a woman, as they would generally not have a way to support themselves and their children, if they had any.  And, the man could initiate a divorce, but not the woman.

Plus, Jesus, as he often did, takes this discussion into a deeper place of understanding.  Marriage and divorce were defined radically different in the 1st century, and it is hard for us to put ourselves in the context of 2000 years ago, but we can get the trajectory of what Jesus is saying in this passage. That persons can be called together for a season and that everyone is of value, regardless of marital status.  And, he also takes Jewish law at the time and says that both persons are subject to their understanding of adultery.  Which, again, is different today than 2000 years ago.  The Bible has lots of different definitions of adultery, and we are not going to get into all of them today, but in Jewish understanding, it could be defined as idolatry…placing something that you want over your made in the image of God Self.  Let that sink in for a bit, God is calling us away from any attachment that divides us and keeps us away from the God who resides within us and around us…as scripture says elsewhere, God is a jealous God and wants us to be fully alive and whole…

And, also remember that in the Gospel of both Mark and Luke in other passages, Jesus states that there is no marriage in heaven…that it’s not necessary as we are in a deeper union, a deeper “oneness” if you will, will all people and creation.  

Jesus goes on to say that God pulls and shapes and molds folks together, and that what God calls together, we are to honor it.  Again, taking a deeper trajectory towards God’s desire for us to be one and to honor that there are seasons of life where we are called together.

God also gives us grace and calls things into being out of what may have felt like death.  Whether those of us here today are in a relationship or not, we have probably experienced a death in a relationship at some point, either metaphorically or physically.   And, again, it’s good to remember that no matter what our stories are, that in life, there is birth, death, and rebirth…resurrection of some sort.  There is a cycle of growth in our faith tradition that leads to wholeness no matter what our relationship status is.  

Jesus is speaking more to the matter of one’s heart, Moses, or Jewish Law, gave concessions for divorce because of a hardness of heart, and unwillingness to grow, to change, and to be in covenant relationships with one another.  

All of life is gift, and those that come and go in our lives are gifts…and, when we are with others, we know that those relationships can be sources of joy as well as hard and trying.  Yet, it’s still gift.  

Our gospel lesson goes on to share a story about children wanting to come to Jesus.  But, the disciples were on some sort of exclusive power play.  They didn’t want to be inconvenienced so they rebuked the children.  Jesus was indignant, mad, frustrated.  He in turn rebuked the disciples and told the children to come to him.  

As we’ve said today and in previous weeks, children were non-persons,  they were on the margins, yet Jesus says that the kingdom of God, God’s Presence, is with them!  Jesus is saying explicitly to his audience and to us today, if you want to enter the Kingdom, if you want to experience God’s Presence, you must welcome those on the margins.  And, we must be willing to identify with those on the margins.  Jesus is not giving some romantic notion that we must become like little children in all of their innocence, Jesus is saying we must be willing to have our identities shaped by those on the margins and our relationship with them.  We must be so committed to those on the margins, that we are one with them, that we are identified with them.  And, that we have a trust beyond circumstances that we’ve talked about…and that begins in being like children before we put on the egos that we created to make it in this world.  

This passage says so much to us as image bearers of God, we must be willing to stand with the homeless, the refugee, the immigrant, the foreigner, those who are different in any shape, color, orientation, or background from us.  Jesus has this object lesson with children to tell us throughout time, that God does not show favoritism and that God’s church, God’s body, must not as well.  God is calling us to be one with God’s self, and God’s self is one with all of humanity.  It’s fitting that we have this passage today on oneness with all, even those on the margins, those different from us, as we perform this sacred moment or sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, reminding us of the relational commitment that God has made to us in creating, saving, and sustaining us.  This same God who calls us into responding to that commitment to us by recognizing and  living in God’s oneness with us.  

Salt.

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Mark 9:38-50 

38 John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someonecasting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” 39 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. 40 Whoever is not against us is for us. 41 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. 

42 “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. 43 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. 45 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. 47 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,48 where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched. 

49 “For everyone will be salted with fire.  50 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.” 

As I was thinking about this conversation around our lectionary reading today, my friend Bruce Baker came to mind. Bruce, or “Bake” as we called him, was the executive director of a student ministry non-profit in Lexington many years ago. It was a ministry that I was involved with in high school, it had a huge impact on my life. The relationships that I formed with other students and with the adult leaders of this group helped to shape me in many ways growing up in Louisville. 

When I got to the University of Kentucky in Lexington, I was thrilled to learn that this group was starting up in Lexington and I met Bake.

I thought of Bake because of the title of today’s sermon: “Salty”. Bake was very salty! He was one of those persons that everyone simply loved to be around, he was the go-to guy in Lexington for faith leaders. At the time, he was in his late forties and really was an established presence in the Lexington community. He was everyone’s friend, yet also not afraid to mix things up a bit. 

He was the one who introduced me to the writings of Thomas Merton, the Abbey of Gethsenemi and the importance of Sabbath retreats and rest, and he was a Presbyterian Elder that greatly influenced me in my decision to become Presbyterian! 

Bake was also not afraid. He would joke about his willingness to do anything for a dollar. Which he backed up, repeatedly. There were numerous occasions where some of young folks at the time would dare Bake to do something incredibly outlandish, and to our astonishment, he’d do it. For instance, the time we dared him to climb the water wheel while in line for the Beast roller coaster in King’s Island. And, in front of hundreds of folks, he did. 

But, there were also many times where Bake would go more than the extra mile to support us and to reach out to kids in the projects of Lexington, as well as the wealthy kids in the suburbs that were so lonely. His example pushed me in so many ways. 

Bake would also work with anyone willing to love our community and kids. He modeled what it was like to bring different denominations together and faith communities for the common good. Plus, he was committed to Lexington. He had many of what I’d call the celebrity Christian leaders at the time, both conservative folks and progressive folks try to get him to come and work with them. Oftentimes for higher, guaranteed pay and a higher platform. Bake would have none of that, he may have been tempted, but he valued the relationships he had in Lexington too much. 

Bake modeled so much of what our gospel lessons are sharing. The disciples were trying to get Jesus to recognize how special they were when they tried to stop others from driving out demons. They wanted to be exclusive, in their own identity as disciples. Yet, Jesus shatters that image by saying that whoever is not against us for us, that we can’t be so prideful to think we can do this on our own, that we have to recognize that if someone offers to help us, or to give us a gift to refresh us that could encourage us, we should take it. 

Bake got that and didn’t position his ministry to be a siloed ministry. He worked with everyone. That sometimes didn’t help our “brand identity”, but it did help bring the community together. 

Bake had a way of focusing on the main thing: Jesus and Jesus’ love for others. I found this quote from an intentional Celtic community that highlights this way of living that fits well with our conversation this morning: 

“We can do worse than remember a principle which gives us a firm rock and leaves the maximum elasticity for our minds: the principle ‘Hold to Christ and for the rest be totally uncommitted’” – Herbert Butterfield 

Another example of this here in Westwood are all of the faith communities starting to work together, the conversations that have been started.  Definitely a salty group that sticks together.

It’s also interesting to think about Bake and his calling to teenagers in relation to this morning’s text. As we mentioned a couple of weeks ago, Jesus tells us to welcome all, especially those on the margins of society, those who are overlooked or looked down upon. Children in the 1st century we’re considered non-persons. Jesus is giving them recognition and this week’s text he continues with hard language about welcoming children and not causing them to stumble. 

With a background in in youth ministry from several lifetimes ago, I thought of this passage often…I did not want to cause anyone to stumble! But, this passage also says a lot about taking risks. It’s about being vulnerable and entering into friendships with those considered on the outside. The saying in this passage about cutting of your foot or gouging out an eye comes from a common saying in the first century, however, the original proverb said to cut out both eyes or hands! This is an attempt to say that it’s better to lose a part of you than all of who you are, and if you are not reaching out and loving those on the margins well, then you are missing the mark, you are sinning. And, again, as we talked about, sin is relational…it’s not only present in what you do or are, but what you do not do and who you are not. 

Who you are is a wonderful human made in God’s image called to live and love as Christ did and does…to be the body of Christ. The opposite of that is to deny God’s presence and working in your life, which leads to a sense of loss of identity, or hell. 

There are all sorts of theories on what “hell”…it’s not a word that’s really in Bible..if it’s anything, it’s an alternate reality. God never intended for there to be a hell. The true reality that God intended is heaven. Heaven is being in God’s Presence. That Presence is expansive, wide, and we can catch glimpses of it everywhere when are eyes are opened to that reality. CS Lewis talks about heaven in his classic fictional book The Great Divorce as being a place of endless wonder and hell being a small crack in heaven. Yet, we, humanity make that crack so much bigger as we settle for lives filled with dysfunction and lies about our true selves as God sees us. So often we live in a hell that we created. God’s love is amazing, it is so amazing that it is overwhelming and to some that’s wonderful, but to others that can be really scary. 

Donald Bloesch in his book The Last Things says this: “…hell is the incapacity to love even in the presence of love.” You see, the problem is not does God forgives us or love us, but can we forgive and love ourselves and others? We want to hide from God and his love for us behind our insecurities, our comfort, our wealth, our pride…whatever it is that we are holding on to that somehow gives us some false sense of security. We often do not want to be exposed to the light of God’s love that exposes everything for what it truly is, so we often prefer to live in darkness. pastedGraphic.png pastedGraphic_1.png 

Jesus reminds us that we are the salt of the earth. We, as Jesus followers, should be the folks that bring a spark or good seasoning to friendships, to others and to live in peace with each other as Jesus reminds us this morning. If we don’t, if we settle for bitterness, status quo, divisiveness, and remain in the silos of our own lives or churches, then we lose our worth, our salt. 

Jesus says that we will be salted with fire in this morning’s passage. It’s interesting, fire burns and it warms. It can bring life or turn it to ashes. Either way, it consumes us. The fire of Jesus’ love does consume us, but it brings us life. I want to be that person. 

My friend Bake, and many others over the years, have been that salt in my life. We can be that way with each other, and with the world around us. May we sprinkle that salt to all we encounter…including ourselves!

Welcome.

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Mark 9:30-37

30 They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; 31 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.” 32 But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.

33 Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” 34 But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. 35 He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” 36 Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”

I’m a runner.  Most of you know that, and I struggled this week on whether I should use a running metaphor today, but this applies.  My image as a runner was important to me.  I still like to run fast…at least as best as I can at 56!  Sometimes, I still have this image of myself really training hard and winning my age division at the Boston Marathon or something similar.  I don’t want to settle for being a good runner, I wanted to be a great runner.

I also imagined the same thing for the cross country team I used to coach.  I wanted them to go all the way to State every year.  Never happened as a team, but we did some individual runners to state and our girls team made regionals in a magical year.  

Yet, here’s the thing, running is a sport where you can’t hide.  All runners experience something similar, we are constantly humbled.  Most runners imagine winning, coming in first…but, obviously, that doesn’t happen all the time! 

In that sport, the only way you get better is by running daily, running workouts that make you suffer and experience some pain…not to the point of injury, but pain nonetheless.  It’s hard.  Yet, something emerges within, you begin to appreciate others, you experience a shared deep connection with other runners as you put yourself out there.  

You are also vulnerable after a race, extremely vulnerable.  After running the Boston Marathon in 2016 and being extremely humbled as I ran it injured and it only got worst.  When I crossed the line, I only wanted to call my daughter who I knew would understand as a runner…I cried when I started talking to her, and I don’t really cry that often.  

As a coach, I also had to remember that my words to my runners after a race have to be honest, authentic, and also encouraging.  Especially to my own kids ran for our team!

Many of those words after a race are themes that I’ve repeated often, yet so many times they are simply not heard, yet, after a race, after the suffering, they often are heard in a way that is much more meaningful and they are received in a way that is almost very innocent and pure.  Plus, honestly, I had some cred with these kids because they knew that I’m willing to suffer in races as well, they know that I know what they are experiencing, and that I was with them.

Running can be a great parallel to life, and to this morning’s gospel lesson.  

Jesus has been with his disciples, he wanted to simply teach his disciples something meaningful, so he went through Galilee in secret as it says.  He was teaching them that he would suffer, die, and be raised from the dead.  This was hard for them to hear and understand, but he kept on saying it, teaching it.  It was important to Jesus because he was called into this world as the representation of all humanity.  He was not only telling the disciples that he would suffer, die, and rise again, but that they would be participating in that suffering, death, and resurrection through him.  

The disciples were probably keenly interested in the new life part, the resurrection part, but in order to experience that resurrection, before we can truly understand what it means to live life as God intended, we have to experience suffering, we have to die.  This isn’t a cruel  joke on God’s part, it’s a reality that we, as created beings, don’t always see or experience life as beautiful as it was meant to be.  We have to go through experiences in life that push to ask some of the hard questions.

Yet, the disciples, like us, were not interested in the harder questions, they were asking the question:  which one of us is greater?  What is our image to God?  Where will we stand with God at the end of time?  What’s our status?

In the midst of those conversations, it seems like the disciples were focused on the resurrection part.  Which I get, don’t we all want to run to the ending of a story, we want to feel good and triumphant.  The passage even says that the disciples were afraid to ask Jesus what he meant.  Could that have been because they were afraid to confront the hard realities of suffering, of pain?  

So, they escape by arguing about who’s going to be greatest.  Or try to hide.  But, they are missing the mark and Jesus would not let them hide.  Jesus asked them what they were arguing about, they grew silent.  They knew that Jesus had caught them in a “sin”.  We don’t talk much about the word “sin”, but it is an archery term actually, it means missing the mark.  When you don’t hit the bullseye with an arrow.  

It in this context, sin is a relational term.  The disciples were missing the mark, they were focused on themselves, avoiding the hard questions, being distracted, rather than lifting each other up and loving well.

What does Jesus do?  Well, he doesn’t send down thunder on them, he doesn’t condemn them.  He does the opposite, he treats them with respect and simply calls them together, sits with them, and brings a child into their circle.  He encourages them to serve others, to be last, to put others before them.  

The example of a child is important to note.  Children in the first century were considered non-persons.  They were often slaves, they were of no value.  They were truly on the margins.  I tell my kids all of the time how amazing they are and how loved they are, but this wasn’t even close to the reality in Jesus’ time.

By doing this, by bringing in a child, Jesus is saying that children are the stand-in for himself, for the Son of God.  We should welcome children, those on the margins as we would God, the creator of the universe.  It’s not about becoming childish so we can enter the kingdom, it says much more about maturity, about being bigger than our selfishness or our protected self-image, our ego, and welcoming others in.

Friends, we are saved by God’s grace, all of us live in God’s love whether we recognize it or not.  In the PCUSA, we believe that God’s love, God’s salvation is freely given to us…no strings attached.  We can’t evoke God’s salvation, God gives it to us, all of us, even those who have felt left out.  

We are also called, as followers of Jesus, to live into this salvation with a sense of growth and maturity.  We are called to live resurrection lives and to live in the universal presence of Christ.  Maturity happens as we grow through experiences with ourselves and with others.  Oftentimes that growth happens when we enter into relationships with those who we may not normally associate with…God has so many friendships, so much growth, so much life, real life, waiting for each of us and for this church.  As we become welcoming in our lives personally and corporately as a church, we will experience growth and we will the experience the joy of our salvation.  

May we welcome life as it comes to us:  all of it, beauty, suffering, death, resurrection, the full embodied experience…even as we welcome others in our communities who walk through these doors or that we meet in the neighborhood, welcoming them as we would welcome Jesus. 

Declare.

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PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

“When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.”

– Rumi

“In out-of-the-way places of the heart, Where your thoughts never think to wander, This beginning has been quietly forming, Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

For a long time it has watched your desire, Feeling the emptiness growing inside you, Noticing how you willed yourself on,

Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

It watched you play with the seduction of safety And the gray promises that sameness whispered, Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent, Wondered would you always live like this.

Then the delight, when your courage kindled, And out you stepped onto new ground,

Your eyes young again with energy and dream, A path of plenitude opening before you.

Though your destination is not yet clear You can trust the promise of this opening; Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning That is at one with your life’s desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure;

Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk; Soon you will home in a new rhythm,

For your soul senses the world that awaits you.”

― John O’Donohue

Mark 8:27-38

Peter’s Declaration about Jesus

27 Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” 28 And they answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” 29 He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.”[a]30 And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.

Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

31 Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

34 He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel,[b] will save it. 36 For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37 Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38 Those who are ashamed of me and of my words[c] in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Sermon:

Bold question by Jesus in this morning’s text!  “Who do people say that I am?”  If someone were to ask that about you, what would you say?  Take a mental checklist of things to say…

If it were me, I’d first think of being a father, a spouse (most days if you ask Debbie I think), a pastor, a runner, a neighbor, etc.  

But, who are you really?  Who am I really?  I know that for me, those are roles that I play, sometimes well, sometimes not so well, but who I am, how I know myself and others, who really know me, are able to see me and I am able to see them at a deeper level.  And, at some point in our lives, we have to give up our images that are defined by our roles and ask the deeper question of “who are we?”

There is a South African Zulu greeting and response, “Sawa bona”.  When one is present with someone else, they would tell them, “I see you”, the response, “I am here.”  

It is a powerful statement of being present with someone else.  It also means that two folks have a deep sense of their own self because they are able to see others and to be present with others.  

In so many ways, I think that’s authentic friendship.  

We are seeing that in this morning’s gospel lesson from Mark.  Jesus is asking his disciples, who do people say that I am.  The disciples give a lot of descriptors, but only one, Peter, is able to see beyond the descriptors and to say that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, the promised one, the true friend of all peoples regardless of social status, of life situations, of their actions or sins.  

Jesus doesn’t want the word to get out just yet, he tells his disciples to let things unfold, to be patient.

Jesus then goes on to say that he would suffer.  Greatly.  Friendship with humanity, authentic friendship, comes at a cost.  In this case, this kind of life was going to lead Jesus into GREAT suffering, incredible shame, being exposed fully to the world…naked, scarred, broken.

And, something else, that he would go through all of this, but then rise again.  That, out of his suffering, his humiliation, his death exposed to the world, that he would rise again.  That no matter what he goes through, that love will win out and he will rise.  

He said this openly and the disciples, especially Peter, were stunned.  They thought of the descriptors, they wanted a deliverer, someone who can save them but without the pain and humiliation.  They wanted a triumphant God, a national hero that would solve their problems but without the hurt and scandal.

Jesus would have none of that…he gets mad and has a rather strong rebuke for Peter, “get behind me Satan”.  

You see, friends, even genuine friends, sometimes get a bit cloudy or hazy in what they see in one another.  In this case, Jesus is strongly telling Peter to wake up, to not hide behind some kind of hero type messiah, a nationalist messiah that would deliver Israel from the Roman occupation or make them a great nation again in the eyes of the world.  

No, Jesus was saying that to follow him, there something deeper going on.  He is saying that he has come to give life, to give Presence, to all of those suffering with humiliation, with brokenness, with pain, and even death.  And, not only experience that Presence in others, but deeply within ourselves.  That they can walk with him as he walks with them through the throes of life.  And, that they too will rise with him…but, they, along with him, will have to go through the hard stuff of life.  

They may even lose their lives.  Actually, they will lose their lives, in order to gain life.  Everything.

Friends, as I continue the journey of the past few years, and really my whole life, of reconciling within me the grief of loss, of brokenness, that even things that I may hold on to dearly are dying, that this is the process of life…and that the messiah, the true friend, is with me in that process and that I too am rising again in the midst of the shame and the suffering of death. 

Yet, it’s something that we all will experience.  And, we have a hope in resurrection because of Jesus.  But, let’s also remember that Jesus’ resurrected body still bears the scars of his humiliation.  And, yet, he overcame…and so will we, scars and all.  

And, you know what, that’s good news.  We have an earthy, really, honest faith that not only is with us in the hard stuff, as well as the good stuff, but a faith that is like yeast in the dough as it says in scripture that is causing new and beautiful things within us to grow.  

Emptying.

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Mark 6:30-34

30 The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. 31 He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32 And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. 33 Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. 34 As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.

Mark 6:53-56

53 When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored the boat. 54 When they got out of the boat, people at once recognized him,55 and rushed about that whole region and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. 56 And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.

These past few weeks have been very reflective as you could imagine.  My goodness!  So much going on in culture…so much information overload…it’s good to be aware…but lots to process.  And, in all of this, trying to remember who I am, who we are!  Phew!  I am looking forward to getting on an airplane tonight…I may just collapse for a bit…

Through it all, there’s a sense that I, along with many of us, are becoming more aware that we are moving towards being something more.  We are defying roles, labels, stereotypes,  in ourselves and in culture and becoming deeply connected in our humanity with one another.

This is why Jesus came.  Jesus embodied this sense of oneness.  He redefined “family” as more inclusive and closer than we could imagine.  He redefined religion to being more about relationship.  He redefined humanity as not belonging to different categories, clans, or whatever, but to abolish what divides and to bring us together.  

Our lectionary passage this morning in Ephesians that we didn’t read says just that…what’s more, it reminds us of the universal nature of Christ.  That Christ brings us together with one another and with those who have gone before us and after us.

As someone who officiates funerals, I often think about death, what’s next, what does it resurrection look like.  There are no certainties, but Scripture tells us that we are somehow connected in this life and in the next.  It is an eternal journey.

Jesus is calling us toward living life, real life, together.  He’s inviting us along on a journey, a lifelong journey.  A journey built on authenticity.

That’s why, in our gospel lesson, that so many folks wanted to be around Jesus.  He was vulnerable, honest, real.  More than words or the miracles, they believed in Jesus because Jesus believed in them.  He was a lover.  A lover of all people and things and lived it out.  Belief, love, trust, that can bring expansive growth where labels and dogma simply don’t matter anymore.  Where simply being around someone like Jesus can bring healing as people become more aware, more real, and more themselves.  

Throughout difference experiences in life, I began to see Jesus as a real human, someone who I can come to and believed in me, which enabled me to believe in him.  This Jesus who has a deep compassion for me and for others.  This Jesus who yearns for me and my community.  This love compelled me to come to the call of being a pastor…to have a passion for others to know themselves and this Jesus who loved so well and to know that they can be loved and have a sense of community, of relationship with others and with God.  

This same Jesus has been moving me towards this place of love my entire life, to places where our attachment to roles, definitions, boundaries, fall away and are all wrapped up into a deeper attachment to love and connection to all people and things and where wisdom springs forth.  

Our scripture this morning shows a Jesus that ALL can come to, no matter where they are in life.  Just like me in many ways, the folks in Israel at the time this passage was written were steeped in a religious culture, they knew the stories.  Yet, they were stuck in a cultural system over that took precedence over authentic relationship, they didn’t know that God was calling them into an intimate relationship with God and into a community of intimate relationships with others.  Jesus appears on the scene, Jesus, like some folks in our lives, demonstrated a love, a deep and authentic desire for relationship with others.  He also shared good news that God’s love was extended to everyone, not just those who were in synagogue or the temple every week, but everyone.  

Jesus calls us to BE someone better, love well, show justice, compassion and demonstrative action for the poor, for those on the margins of community, for those who have felt real persecution or oppression.  And, the way to experience that being was not to simply sit in church every week, but to know deeply the love that God showers upon you and to develop ways to understand that love just as you would invest in any friendship, spend time with God as you interact with your neighbors, family, friends.  

Our passage gives witness to people hungering for God, and feeling compelled to come to Jesus, to experience this love, and Jesus calls them into the desert, to slow down and contemplate what God has done for them.  I can also relate to that as God has called, and continue s to call me to places like the Abbey of Gethsemani in KY…or even literally the desert when we lived in SoCal when I was getting my Masters in Divinity to get away with him.  And, quite frankly, I’m looking forward to some time away in a place I have loved most of my life, Scotland, and to be alone, as well as catching up with lifelong friends and colleagues, and Debbie coming out at the end of my time there.

Jesus calls us, his church to do the same, to take time outs in our days and sometimes longer to experience relationship with him.  As we do this, as we our allowing ourselves to be alone with God, we may find this God deep within us, as well as in the silence of pulling away…as we empty ourselves of all of the distractions that we are used to.   In our scriptures, we see those following Jesus and that the crowds came because they were consumed by God’s love being emptied into them and that love was contagious.

The writer in Ephesians reminds us that we were once Gentiles, unbelievers, did not know God’s love.  Yet, God’s love came and was demonstrated to us through Jesus.  In Jesus, we are shown and told that we are one in our humanity.  Jesus abolished the felt need for the rules that were outside regulators of behavior, and gave us himself.  Jesus was and is the perfect humanist!  He wants us to be our truest selves.  

God’s story of love has power to change us, to inspire us, and like the disciples, to change the world. It is given freely to us by God’s Spirit, and we are called to come and be joined together, all of us, with Christ as our example and cornerstone.  

Friends, we have much to be thankful for, and much work to do of self, others, and God awareness.  May we know that this God is calling us towards divine union with God’s Self and everyone and everything, just as God is calling our neighbors, those who have been excluded by religious folk, all of humanity in Christ’s shared humanity with us. 

Power.

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Mark 6:1-13

The Rejection of Jesus at Nazareth

6 He left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. 2 On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! 3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. 4 Then Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.” 5 And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. 6 And he was amazed at their unbelief.

The Mission of the Twelve

Then he went about among the villages teaching. 7 He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8 He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; 9 but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. 10 He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. 11 If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” 12 So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. 13 They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

What a week.  Writing this sermon in the midst of this past week has some interesting pondering within me.  

With the funeral of Tom Klayer this past week and another one coming up for a non-church member, I’ve been thinking about my growing up and my parent’s death.  A few years my dad died in a car wreck and my mom of cancer just three years later.  

During those years, in between my parents’ deaths, I spent quite a bit of time in Louisville where I grew up, especially when my mom was sick and dying.  Being in my hometown at that time gave me some perspective, as it often does, of how I grew up.  People knew me in a certain way, and, it’s fascinating, it’s me, but it’s also over several lifetimes lived.  Even my mom had a vision of me that was not the full picture of who I was or who I was becoming.  Now, there was lots of love and oftentimes folks see a version of ourselves that we need to see as well, or be reminded of.  But, all of us have a sense of being in different places of understanding ourselves over the years, don’t we?

Jesus is not different from us, his hometown knew him as Mary and Joseph’s son.  He was a carpenter.  Galilee, during this season was apparently fairly prosperous, so he wasn’t a wandering carpenter, but had fairly stable employment.  We know from a few readings ago that some in his family wanted him to have some stability and not get out ahead of himself or others.  So, heading back to his hometown had Jesus thinking a lot I bet!

As we’ve read the past few Sundays and discussed, Jesus had been busy!  Calming storms, healing folks, performing miracles, raising people from the dead.  Starting a movement that was getting a lot of attention, both good and bad.  Showing radically inclusive love and inviting folks to think differently within the systems that they have lived in.  You know, just the ordinary Son of God kinds of things…

Yet, his hometown didn’t throw him a parade, didn’t welcome him with open arms, they were amazed, his sermon must have been intriguing at least…but, they were also amazed in the kind of incredulous kind of way.  Saying things like, “who does he think he is?”, “Where does his wisdom come from?”.  And, as if to say, we “know” him, “isn’t he the daughter of Mary, brother of of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon?”  Which is interesting, because later in scriptures, we know Mary stands with her son, and that at least two of his brothers become early church leaders.  

There’s also this theme of faith, or deeper trust, that we’ve talked about in the past.  It seems like Jesus is telling us that faith or trust is shared, it is something we have and that we have to exercise it, practice it, for it to grow or be useful.  

But, the people in Jesus’ hometown did not want to do that.  They wanted to stay comfortable and keep folk “in their place”.  He’s Mary’s son they say, not even mentioning his earthly dad.  The crowd may have been suggesting that Jesus was different, and maybe he really wasn’t Joseph’s kid…of course, if only they knew…or were willing to risk getting to know Jesus now.

For 30 years, Jesus had been someone, now he was growing into a very public, deeper version of himself, his “true self” as the monk Thomas Merton and others would say.

He tries to do some miracles there, but could only lay hands on a few sick people…and realized that the familiarity of who he had been was would not let folks see him, or his power of love.  He was amazed at their lack of faith.

Again, could it be that his hometown was looking for a heroic, triumphant, local kid makes good kind of story?  I think so.

But, Jesus was in the process of re-ordering so many things, he was moving things from the way it had been into a new imagination…an imagination that we are made in the image, or imagination, of God…This imagination would transform how we view one another, how we love, how we connect, and who’s included (everyone), and that God does not show favoritism but wants all of us to be in communion with one another, and with God.  That there is one allegiance in this world that matters, and that is to God.  And, in today’s world that we live in, we still, desperately, need that kind of Jesus imagination, don’t we?

God has been telling God’s people forever to be a witness to God’s love to the world, to the nations.  Instead, they became just like the other nations.  God’s power was shown as God giving God’s self to us, and that we are to follow in God’s example.  And, specifically, to follow in God’s example through Jesus.  Yet, we too, just like Israel, often forget and simply become just like others, living in a system and a culture without thinking much about how to make our lives and the lives of others more connected, more human as in the image of God that we were created.  

I love this quote from Richard Rohr on power:

“God has communicated in a million ways that “I am your power,” but we do not believe and trust what we cannot see or prove. Instead, we bow down to lesser kings (like institutions, nations, wars, ideologies, etc.) that we can see, even when they serve us quite poorly.” – Richard Rohr

Jesus has a message, this message that God’s presence, God’s kingdom, God’s reign, is with us and it supersedes all other earthly kingdoms, systems, governments, etc.  And, we can have a deeper trust, deeper than belief even, in that Presence.  A presence that will not let us go and is all around us and in us!

He calls his disciples, his closest disciples around him and sends them out to share this with others.

He tells them to go in twos, because we are relational and need each other.  None of us are superman or wonder woman on our own.  To only take a staff…not a bag, don’t take bread, and wear sandals, but don’t take an extra tunic.  To lean in on the first house that shows hospitality, don’t go to another house if it’s nicer, but stick with the first.  

Again, this past week, like all of the weeks we’ve had together at Westwood First, was a good reminder of so much, that relationships are important more than anything.  I have been welcomed into all sorts of conversations and life events in these past few months.  Visiting with folks at the church, on the phone, in nursing homes, retirement communities, coffeeshops, yes, breweries also, and in hospitals.  

Hospitals are supposed to be places of welcome, rest, relief, and healing.  Hospital comes from the word “hospitality”.  And, I remember that mom’s hospital was pretty good at that…as are many hospitals.

As Jesus followers, we are also places and people of welcome, of rest from a weary world, of grace and relief, and of healing.  Healing of ourselves, others, and living into the promises of God.  As we do that, we change, and others may as well.

But, some may not want that change or have the imagination for a new imagination.  They may not welcome us.  They may be thinking it’s the same story as so many other faith communities…one that says more about what we are against than who and what we are for…which is being for and with all of humanity.

Yet, Jesus says to shake the dust off of our feet and move on if we are not welcomed.  Now, this doesn’t mean that we give up on those who don’t welcome us.  I’ve heard it said that this actually a phrase that means to dust off the criticism that we receive and keep on walking the path that we have been given within a community of faith called to love the neighborhood in which we live.  

Friends, may we live into the faith that God has in us as God sends us out, together.  May we receive and give hospitality and share the good news that God is with us and loves us.  May we be the alternative, loving, authentic community within a world so desperately in need of people and places like that.  

And may we remember along the way that we are in communion with ourselves, others, and God as demonstrated in through Jesus.