Worth Dying For

What is worth dying for? That's a good question to ask ourselves during Lent. After all, Jesus died for us on Good Friday. What are WE willing to die for? This sermon will make you think about that question.

“If anyone would come after me, that one must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Mark 8:34) That is one of the most difficult commands that Jesus gave us: “Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me.” It’s not just difficult to do; it’s difficult to understand. What did Jesus mean when he told us to take up our crosses? Surely he didn’t mean that we are to literally carry crosses around! But what is it that he wants us to do?

Over the years, that question has been answered in all kinds of ways. For example, some people have believed that when Jesus said this, he meant that we should suffer intentionally. Many devout Christians became convinced that through suffering, we could identify with Jesus’ own suffering on the cross; and some of them took that idea to the extreme. Some refused to wash for years at a time. They wore filthy rags and lived with matted, insect-infested hair. Others went without sleep for days or even weeks; and when they did sleep, they did so in the most uncomfortable places they could find – on beds of rocks or exposed to the elements of nature. Still others flogged or mutilated themselves. You may not realize it, but when we give up something that we enjoy during Lent, we’re following in their footsteps. We’re denying ourselves in small ways, and identifying with the suffering of Jesus.

Now, a little denial isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But I don’t think that Jesus ever meant for us to suffer just for the sake of suffering. After all, Jesus said, “I have come that [you] may have life, and have it in abundance!” (John 10:10) Denying oneself to the point of misery doesn’t seem to me to be the way to an abundant life! And in fact, in his next words, Jesus pointed to that abundant life. “Whoever wants to save his life will lose it,” he said, “but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.” (Mark 8:35) That’s a puzzling comment. We die by saving ourselves; and we live by dying. It’s a paradox. What did Jesus mean by that? Maybe we can make sense of Jesus’ words by examining what it meant in Jesus’ world to carry a cross. In the Roman Empire, anyone who was carrying a cross was on the way to be executed. A condemned criminal carried the wooden crossbeam to the place of his own crucifixion. Anyone who carried a cross was ready to die. Maybe Jesus meant we should be ready to die at any moment for the gospel. But what does it mean to die for the gospel? Well, what is worth dying for? The prophet Micah suggested an answer. He told us that God wants us to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. And in the end, that is the good news of the Gospel: that God loves us so much that he offers us both justice and mercy, and invites us to walk with Jesus every step of the way. Justice and mercy. Are those things worth dying for? Let’s consider that question by looking at justice and mercy one at a time.

Most people would agree that justice is worth dying for. Remember, for a moment, those brave men and women who worked for civil rights in the 1960s. Remember Medgar Evers, who set up local chapters of the NAACP in the Deep South, organized boycotts of discriminatory businesses, and was assassinated in 1963 at the age of 37. Remember James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner, three young men who were helping Blacks register to vote in Mississippi. They disappeared on the night of June 21, 1964; and they were later found murdered. Remember the peaceful marchers of Selma, Alabama on March 7, 1965. On that “Bloody Sunday,” those marchers were brutally attacked by police officers using tear gas and billy clubs. In fact, remember all the men and women who peacefully demonstrated and were attacked with fire hoses, tear gas, and police dogs because of their efforts to secure justice for all Americans! Yes, God calls us to be just. And Jesus follows in the footsteps of the prophets who proclaimed that unless there is justice for all, there is justice for none. Certainly justice is worth dying for.

But if we are ready to die for justice, then we also have to be ready to die for mercy. We all know what that looks like; and we admire those people who die in the cause of mercy. The Good Samaritan who stops to assist a stranded motorist and is herself hit and killed by an oncoming vehicle died in the cause of mercy. But when we agree that mercy is worth dying for, we have taken a step into territory that makes most people very uncomfortable. When we are ready to die in the cause of mercy, we give up our right to decide who is worthy of our sacrifice. Think about that for just a minute. In the cause of mercy, we must be ready to die for anyone. When a lifeguard sees a swimmer struggling in an ocean riptide, she doesn’t have the luxury to decide whether or not that person is admirable or not. In the cause of mercy, the lifeguard risks her life by going out into the water after that swimmer. It was Jesus himself who set the example of dying in the cause of mercy. When he died on the cross, he didn’t die just for the good folks. He died for all of us – good folks, bad folks, people who are worthy of our love, and folks who have earned our contempt. Like God’s love, mercy doesn’t pick and choose who is worthy of it.

A few weeks ago, I saw a performance of the opera “Dead Man Walking” at the Schuster Center in Dayton. Some of you may have seen the movie of the same name. It tells the story of Sister Helen Prejean, a Roman Catholic nun who has been the spiritual advisor to a number of prison inmates on death row. That opera brought the audience face to face with questions of good and evil, justice and mercy, suffering and revenge, life and death. In one scene, Sister Helen was trying to form a relationship with a condemned murderer who was facing his own execution. She expressed her compassion for him, and she bravely declared that she would stand with him throughout his prison ordeal. At that point, he looked her straight in the eye and asked, “Would you die for me?” That, friends, is the question that mercy asks all of us. “Would you die for me?” Are you ready to die for a sinner as well as for a saint? Are you ready to die for a condemned murderer as well as for your own child? Your answer to that question is your answer to Jesus’ question, “Are you ready to die for the sake of mercy?”

If we claim to be ready to follow Jesus, then we also have to be ready to carry a cross. And there are crosses enough for all of us. Some of those crosses are very small. You can carry a cross of that size and hide it in your pocket when the going gets tough. If that’s all you can do, that’s OK! It’s a starting point! Most crosses are medium sized, because I believe that most of us really are ready to die for something that we believe in strongly. Those crosses can be difficult to carry. But there are crosses that are even larger than that. Those are the ones that the martyrs carry every single day. Jesus himself carried the largest cross of all. He died in the cause of both justice and mercy – justice for those who had none; and mercy for those who needed it. And in the end, that’s all of us.

“If anyone would come after me, that one must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and for the sake of the gospel will save it.” It is only by being willing to die for the sake of justice and mercy that we find the abundant life that Jesus offers to all of us. It is only by being willing to die that we will truly live!

Like a Child

What did Jesus mean when he told his disciples that they would have to become like children to live in God's kingdom? It's a puzzling passage of scripture, but one that we might want to ponder as we begin the season of Lent.

We all started our lives as children. And in Jesus’ opinion, we should have stayed that way! (Mark 10:13-16) Now, Jesus never meant that we shouldn’t get older. We don’t have any choice about that, anyway. Not one of us remains a child forever like Peter Pan. But Jesus did mean that in some ways, children are more ready to receive the Kingdom of God than we older folks are. We’re too wise, too worldly, too sophisticated. In fact, those are the very behaviors that keep us on the outside. We adults often behave like visitors to Kings’ Island who spend the day just walking around the park. Children would never do that! When children visit an amusement park, they ride the rides, enjoy the shows, and indulge in corn dogs and ice cream! Why do we rejoice that we’re saved, accept God’s offer of citizenship in his kingdom, and then just stand on the outside and look in? There are blessings in there that God wants to give to us!

Here’s what I mean. In the Kingdom of God, we’re invited to be honest – honest with ourselves, honest with the people around us, and honest with God. But, let’s face it, being honest is threatening; so we try to fool people into believing that we’re better than we really are. We keep our problems to ourselves. We surround ourselves with “stuff” that makes us look good. We act as though we don’t need anybody’s help, and that we can get through life all by ourselves. But let’s face it, we mess things up on a regular basis; and because we do, all of us have secrets that we wouldn’t reveal for all the tea in China. But children are a lot more honest than adults are. With a child, what you see is what you get. Author Kathleen Norris tells of a little boy who was invited to write a poem. He titled his poem “The Monster Who Was Sorry.” “He began,” says Norris, “by admitting that he hates it when his father yells at him: his response in the poem is to throw his sister down the stairs, and then to wreck his room, and finally to wreck the whole town. The poem concludes, ‘Then I sit in my messy house and say to myself, “I shouldn’t have done all that.”’” (From Amazing Grace, 1998) Now that’s honesty. This little boy admitted the depth of his anger in a way that most adults would never think of doing; and because he did, he was able to move through his anger to repentance. In the Kingdom of God, we’re invited to be honest, not so that we can be judged and found wanting, but so that we can face our problems and move through them to a better place! “…the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”

Children aren’t invested in their own power, either. That’s because they don’t have any power! Children are little in a world made for big people, and they often feel lost and alone. They are laughed at for their foolishness, and criticized when they lack experience. They have no natural defenses; and they know all too well that they are dependent on others for everything that they need. But adults delude themselves into thinking that they are in control of their own lives. That’s why so many people drift away from the church when they grow up. They don’t think that they need God! After all, they went to college, and they have a good job, a Roth IRA, and investments in the stock market. They are ready for anything – or so they think! But when the doctor sits down across a big mahogany desk and says gravely, “I’m sorry. It’s cancer,” suddenly the job and the IRA and the stock investments don’t mean very much. We’re not in control of our own lives. We have to deal with all kinds of problems that we didn’t want and don’t deserve! But in the Kingdom of God, we can always rely on God to meet our needs. We may lose our jobs, and the stock market might tank; but God will walk beside us forever, giving us the strength to face whatever life throws at us. Trusting God like a child means knowing that whatever happens, God will be there for us. “…the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”

But maybe the most important thing about children is that they are open to new things! They have potential – loads of it – even though they often don’t realize it until years later. Children can be taught, because they don’t yet think that they know it all. In fact, adults tell them all the time that they really don’t know much of anything! And so, children absorb knowledge like a sponge. Adults, on the other hand, are pretty sure that they already know what makes the world go around. The trouble is that the world they know about isn’t the Kingdom of God. It’s our world, with its greed and its hate and its mixed-up priorities. If we adults want to fit into the Kingdom of God, we have to learn some new things. We have to learn that the most expensive things are sometimes the least important. We can drive a BMW, own a 30-room house, and have 7 figures in our bank account; but without love, none of it counts for a hill of beans. We have to learn that behind our skin color, religion, nationality, and ethnic background, we’re all the same. Children already know that. Put a random bunch of children in a room, and they’ll make friends with one another: black, white, Christian, Muslim, British, Russian, Israeli, or Palestinian. It’s the adults who eye each other with suspicion just because “those people” are different. And we need to learn that we have to die before we can really live. Yeah, that’s a hard one for both children and adults. But it’s the foundation of Jesus’ teaching; and if we aren’t open to at least consider it, we’ll never make it in the Kingdom of God. “Anyone who will not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it. …the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that we have to earn our way into God’s Kingdom by behaving like a child. We don’t need any Golden Ticket to get in. God’s Kingdom isn’t like Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory that only admits a few select people. On the contrary, we’re all invited to come into the Kingdom with no strings attached! Jesus has opened the door to everyone, everywhere, every time! But the truth is that most of us don’t want to come in. We would rather hang on to our greed, our prejudices, and our misplaced priorities; and none of those things have any place in God’s Kingdom. Only those with the heart of a child will run right in shouting, “Yay! What a neat place to be! And I get to stay here forever!”

During this season of Lent, maybe we could practice being like children again. Maybe we could try being honest with ourselves. Our lives aren’t what we want them to be. But with God’s help, that can change. Maybe we could face up to the fact that our lives are pretty much out of our control. But they aren’t out of God’s control. Maybe we could try one more time to turn our lives over to God. And maybe we could even admit that all the wisdom of the world has only led to war, famine, and suffering; and we could try some of Jesus’ wisdom, instead. “…the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” That’s us, folks. So let’s start living like children – like God’s children.

Here, There, and Everywhere

Where does Jesus have authority? Only in the church? Or maybe in some other places, too? This sermon considers where Jesus can "make things happen." You might be surprised where those places are.

Once upon a time, there were three… Three what? Well, I guess it depends on the story that I’m telling. It could be three little pigs. You remember them. They built houses in an attempt to escape from the Big Bad Wolf. Or it could be three bears – the ones who owned the “just right” bed that Goldilocks slept in. Or it could be the Three Billy Goats Gruff. If I remember right, they had an encounter with a troll under a bridge. It could even be three clergymen! We all know at least one joke about a minister, a priest, and a rabbi. Lots of stories involve three characters. This is especially true of folk stories, those tales that have been told over and over again around campfires and kitchen tables. Maybe the number three is easy to remember. But whatever the reason, sets of three show up in lots of stories: three little pigs, three chances to win the hand of a princess, three wishes granted by a genie.

The first healing story about Jesus in Mark’s gospel is a story like that. It has three parts to it; and last week; we heard the first part (Mark 1:21-28). You may remember it. While Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, he cast out a demon from a possessed man. With just a few words, he freed that man from bondage and transformed his life. That healing is the first of three that Mark tells us about in the first chapter of his gospel. And this week, you heard about the other two. One involved Simon Peter’s mother who was ill with a fever. We saw Jesus go to her bedside, take her hand, and help her out of bed. We saw the fever leave her immediately so that she was able to resume her duties as hostess (Mark 1:29-31). In the second, Jesus healed a man with leprosy (Mark 1:40-45). When the man begged Jesus for help, Jesus healed him – immediately. Because he did, Jesus got such a reputation that he couldn’t even go into town! So many people followed him the he had to stay in what Mark calls “lonely places.”

Three different people… three different healings… three different places. What is Mark trying to tell us in this story that has so many sets of three? Well, he might be telling us that women as well as men deserve to be healed. The second person who needs healing in this set of three is a woman, Simon Peter’s mother-in-law. Jesus heals her as quickly as he heals the two men. That was a bit radical in Jesus’ time. Men held all the power, while women were… expendable. In that society, women were like taxicabs. If you missed one, another one would always come along. But Jesus gave Simon Peter’s mother-in-law the same respect that he gave the two men. Mark might very well be telling us that all people, men and women, are valuable in Jesus’ eyes. Or Mark might be showing us that Jesus can take care of all kinds of problems that plague us. In the first story, he casts out a demon. In the second, he cures a fever. And in the third, he cleanses a leper. Those are very different kinds of activities: exorcism, healing, and cleansing. There seems to be nothing that Jesus cannot do – and that may be just the point that Mark is trying to make.

But there is another aspect to these stories that I find interesting. Did you notice where Jesus’ healings took place? The first was in a synagogue; the second was in a home; and the third was outside, in a “lonely place.” Here, there, and everywhere – that’s where Jesus has authority. His power to change us isn’t confined to the interior of our sanctuary. Jesus can transform lives any time and any place! But that’s no news. Even the children know that wherever we go, Jesus is there. We all know that Jesus can do anything that he wants to! Sure, we all know that – but do we believe it?

If we’re honest with ourselves, it’s hard to see Jesus’ work in the world. That work isn’t always obvious. Sometimes it’s even hard to believe that Jesus is working here in the church; and the church is where we expect Jesus to have the most authority. After all, he is the reason for the church’s existence! Every Sunday we celebrate the power that raised him from the tomb on Easter morning, and raised us to new life right along with him. But people in the church behave the very same way that people outside the church do; and that can be very disillusioning. Mary stops speaking to Martha because Martha brought the wrong dish to the potluck dinner. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are irritated because someone had the nerve to sit in “their” pew one Sunday morning. Peter has his knickers in a twist because the choir hasn’t sung his favorite song for six months! Now, I know that no one in our congregation would ever behave like that. But there are churches where this kind of thing happens all the time. So, where is Jesus? Can’t he do something to change things? Well, he can… and he frequently does. When a tragedy strikes Mary’s family and Martha is the first one to phone her with an offer of help, the two women not only resume their friendship, but their love for one another is stronger than ever. That’s the spirit of Jesus working – even in the church.

And how about our homes? Does Jesus have any authority there? Of course, he does! After all, Jesus specializes in repairing relationships. He not only restores bodies and transforms souls; he heals hearts, as well. And let’s face it, home is where we are the most often wounded. Ask any therapist. My guess is that most people need a therapist not because of the behavior of their boss at work, but because of the behavior of someone at home – a husband, a wife, a child, or a parent. Our close relationships have the most potential to hurt us because they have the most potential to bring us joy! And Jesus certainly knows what a good relationship is like. Jesus is in an eternal relationship of mutual love with the Father and with the Spirit – and Jesus wants us to have relationships like that, too! As we are being individually transformed into his image, Jesus offers to transform our relationships into the image of the love that Father, Son, and Spirit have for each other. Jesus has told us how to help him make that happen; but it takes some hard work on our part. If I remember correctly, Jesus said a few things about relationships. “Love others as you love yourself,” he tells us. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” “Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” And we all know what St. Paul said: “Love is patient and kind; it is not arrogant or rude; it protects, trusts, and hopes.” If Jesus has the authority to transform relationships outside our homes, he certainly has the authority to transform relationships inside our homes! He’s ready to help us if we’re ready to let him.

Jesus has authority even in the “lonely places” of our lives. We’re usually comfortable in church… and we’re usually comfortable in our homes… but all of us have lonely places in our lives where we’re not comfortable at all. We don’t talk much about those places. But we all have them. Sometimes on those nights when we just can’t sleep, and we lie miserably awake in bed, those lonely places bubble up in our minds; and it’s all we can do to shut out the images. Sometimes we can’t shut them out; they cling to us like SuperGlue. There are people who would give everything they own to get rid of their lonely places. I have them myself; and I won’t even guess what yours might be.

The theologian and author Frederick Buechner wrote about one of his own lonely places as he remembered the suicide of his father. “We didn’t talk about my father with each other; and we didn’t talk about him outside the family either, partly because suicide was looked on as something a little shabby and shameful in those days. My father had tried to keep it a secret himself by leaving a note to my mother in a place where only she would be likely to find it, and by saying … that there was something wrong with the Chevy’s exhaust system which he was going to see if he could fix. His suicide was a secret we tried to keep as best we could; and after a while, my father himself became such a secret.” (Telling Secrets) Dealing with the suicide of a loved one is a very, very lonely place.

But Jesus has authority even in those lonely places. We may be afraid to face the shadows and the wild animals and the demons that live there, but Jesus isn’t. If you ask him, Jesus will come and stay with you in your lonely place. Like a mother whose child is frightened by the boogie man under the bed, he will hold your hand, and shine a light into the darkness, and reassure you that nothing can hurt you while he is there. You might even find out that the lonely place isn’t nearly so lonely when Jesus is there with you. In the same book in which he confesses his father’s suicide (Telling Secrets), Fred Buechner ponders how members of Alcoholics Anonymous cope with living in their own lonely places. He writes that they are a varied bunch: men and women, young and old, educated and illiterate, Christian and Jew and atheist. But they have one thing in common. “They all believe that they cannot live fully human lives without each other and without what they call their Higher Power. They avoid using the word God because some of them do not believe in God. What they all do believe in, or are searching for, is a power higher than their own which will make them well. Through prayer and meditation, through seeking help from each other and from helpful books, they try to draw near any way they can to God or to whatever they call what they have instead of God.” These folks may not call their alcoholism a lonely place; and many of them don’t believe in God. But when their lives are transformed by their Higher Power – and I’ve seen it happen – I’m convinced that it’s Jesus at work. He is always ready to go into our lonely places with us and help us to face whatever terrors they hold.

It is indeed good news that Jesus can transform lives wherever he finds them – in church, at home, or in our frightening lonely places. He healed a demon-possessed man in the synagogue; he healed Peter’s mother-in-law in her home; and he healed a leper in a lonely place. Jesus has authority here, there, and everywhere!

So, now we know the end of the story that I started at the beginning of my sermon. Once upon a time there were three… places where Jesus had authority. And he still has authority in all of them today! Thanks be to God!

Information and Transformation

Why do people go to church? There are lots of reasons, but maybe the best one is to take advantage of the transformational power of God. Mark talks about this power in one of the first stories in his gospel. Read about it in this sermon, and then meditate on what might need to be transformed in your own life!

If I ask a group of people why they attend worship, I guarantee that I will get a lot of different answers. Some folks go to church to see their friends, and to be part of the fellowship there. They value the moral support that they receive among a Christian community. Others attend because “It’s the right thing to do.” For these people, going to church is simply part and parcel of what they do as Christians. Still others attend to learn about the Bible and about their faith. Education is important to these folks. I’m glad to get any of these responses! Fellowship and education are important for Christians; and worship should be a high priority in our faith lives. But there’s one reason that I don’t hear very often; and I suspect that it’s the most important one of all. “I go to church to become transformed into the person that God wants me to be.”

Do you think of worship as transformation; or is it only an opportunity for fellowship and learning? Certainly the people who heard Jesus teach in the synagogue experienced all three of those things. The gospel of Mark (1:21-28) tells us about a Sabbath that took place right after Jesus called his first disciples. While Jesus was in Capernaum, he taught in their synagogue. Now, typical Jewish teaching at that time was to consider what the scriptures might mean. And that’s a good thing to teach! We should all know, for example, what St. Paul means when he says that we are saved by God’s grace. But that kind of teaching emphasizes information. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Let’s face it, most people could stand to know a lot more about the Bible! But sooner or later, we’ll have all the information that we need. The question then becomes, what do we do with all that information? And that takes us into the realm of transformation. When we are transformed, we don’t just learn facts that fill our brains; we experience God’s power that can change our hearts and our lives! That’s what the synagogue worshippers experienced that day when Jesus was their teacher. Mark tells us that they were “amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority.” These days, an authority is someone who has a lot of information, someone who knows more than most people do. And those authorities are a dime a dozen! There are authorities on church growth, personal finance, psychology, art, and music. There are probably even authorities on authority! But a real authority is not so much someone who knows a lot; it’s someone who has the power to get things done!

Fred and I recently wanted to reserve a rental property at the Jersey shore for our annual family vacation there. We contacted a realtor who was very pleasant. He had all kinds of information for us. But he couldn’t seem to get us a booking. After we had hit our frustration level, we called another real estate agent. This second young man was equally pleasant, and he knew just as much as the first realtor did. But there was a big difference between the two of them. No more than 3 hours after we talked with the second realtor, he had booked a condo for us, and we had the rental agreement in our hands. Real authority isn’t just having lots of knowledge; it’s being able to get things done.

In Jesus’ day, the highest authorities in the Roman Empire were the emperor and the people he appointed. They could do whatever they liked! But most people had very little authority; and the Jewish community had almost none. They had to do what the Romans told them to do. When Jewish leaders taught in the synagogues, they could talk about what the scriptures said, but they didn’t have any power to change the lives of the people who listened to them. But Jesus was different. He had that authority! When Jesus taught in the synagogue that morning, he had the power to get something done! Before the worshippers left the synagogue that morning, they knew what that kind of power looked like! With just a few words, Jesus cast out a demon from a possessed man. Only a few moments before, that man had been making a ruckus during worship. Because Jesus had the authority of God – and the power of God – that man was loosed from the power of the demon and set free to live a life of peace! His life was changed forever. He was not just informed by Jesus’ teaching; he was transformed.

Now, you may be thinking that this is probably a quaint story from a time long ago when people thought that demons were real. Most people don’t believe in demons today. We wonder whether this unfortunate soul might have been suffering from a form of epilepsy, or maybe from Tourette’s Syndrome, a mental disorder that causes its sufferers to shriek and curse uncontrollably. And that might have been the case. Mark’s gospel was, after all, written nearly 35 years after Jesus’ earthly life. This story had been passed down in the Christian community over and over and over again. Who knows what the facts of that healing really were? But this story is true whether or not its history is exactly right. Its truth lies in the fact that Jesus has the power – the authority – to transform our lives by his words and by his actions.

It’s also true that we still have plenty of demons around that bother us today. Now, we usually don’t call them “demons.” But that’s what they are. They are conditions that take hold of us and imprison us as surely as the possessed man in the synagogue was imprisoned. Let me give you some examples of what I’m talking about, and see if you don’t agree that they deserve the title “demons.” Addiction. That addiction may be to alcohol, drugs, gambling, or the internet; but regardless of what the particular addiction may be, addicts are controlled by a disease that dictates their actions. Abuse. Victims of abuse, whether emotional or physical, are caught in a web of behaviors that they did not want to learn, and that they do not want to continue. But they don’t know any other response. And so they frequently become abusers themselves. Depression. Depression isn’t just “feeling blue;” it’s a disease that keeps its victims in pain and despair until many of them end their own lives in desperation. If these don’t deserve to be called “demons,” I’m not sure what does. And I’m sure that you can think of even more. But the good news is that Jesus has authority over all of them. Of course, Jesus is no longer here in the flesh to confront our demons face to face. Today, Jesus gives others the authority to cast out these demons. Doctors and nurses, psychologists and therapists, social workers and researchers – all these folks are partners in Jesus’ work of casting out demons from those who suffer from them.

But you may not be held captive by any of these things. Do you need to be transformed by Jesus? We all suffer from demons that may not be as dramatic as these big ones, but that are every bit as powerful. Some demons are very familiar to us. Do you recognize any on this list? Grief. Fear. Resentment. Prejudice. Anger. A negative self-image. Maybe one of these demons is working in your life right now. The good news is that Jesus has the authority to cast out all of these demons, too, and to transform us into the free people that God wants us to be! That’s what Jesus is all about, according to Mark. Jesus is the healer, the One who transforms our lives in ways that we can’t even imagine! And here in worship is where that can begin. As we come together as a community of faith, we hear about what Jesus has done in the past. That’s important information. But we are also reminded that Jesus can do the same things for us today. Jesus can change our lives for the better! And that’s transformation.

Did you realize that you can be a part of that? As we open ourselves to Jesus’ transforming authority, we are able to help to transform others! What do you think we’re doing when we listen compassionately to a friend, or take action on the part of someone who is oppressed, or share what we have with those in need? We’re sharing in Jesus’ authority, his ability to change things for the better, and helping to expand the Kingdom of God right here where we live! Heaven doesn’t start after we die. It starts here, in this life; and we are sharing in it when we help to cast out the demons who are keeping people captive! So when we gather with our community of faith, whether it’s on Sunday morning for worship, or on Tuesday evening for Bible study, or on Wednesday morning to join in the Mites’ fellowship, or in the fall to make peanut brittle, I hope that you don’t come expecting to just hear information. I hope that you come expecting transformation. And I hope that you come expecting to help Jesus transform others, too! Because that’s what the Kingdom of God is all about.

What's the Hurry?

"Immediately" is one of the most-used words in the gospel of Mark. Everyone seems to hurry in that text! Why would that be the case? I have a few suggestions in this sermon. Should we be in a hurry for something, too?

“The time has come, and the kingdom of God is right here! Repent, and believe the good news!” Those are the first words that we hear Jesus speak in the gospel of Mark. They are nothing less than an introduction to Mark’s entire gospel! In those words, Mark introduces three themes that he will weave together just like someone might knit together different colors of yarn into a scarf. First, we don’t have to wait any longer for the kingdom of God, because it’s right here right now (and that’s the good news!). Second, the time has come for us to leave the old to behind so that something new can take its place. And third, repentance is a vital part of our being able to fit into God’s kingdom. But Mark doesn’t explain all these things by talking about them. He doesn’t make us sit through long sermons like those we read in the gospel of John. No, in his gospel, Mark shows us God’s kingdom.

And he doesn’t waste any time in doing it. In the very next scene, Jesus begins to show us what the kingdom of God looks like. It’s a new community that won’t be made up of just the rich and famous. Donald Trump might be in it; but so will the guy who washes his car and the lady who cleans his bathroom. Regular people like you and me will be in the middle of it! And so Jesus calls four very ordinary men to be his first disciples: Peter, Andrew, James, and John. We all know what Jesus says to them: “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men!”

Now, Jesus isn’t just offering them a new job. This isn’t just one more task to work into their already busy schedule. If that were the case, I can imagine Peter asking, “When am I going to have time to fish for people? I already have more than I can handle fishing for fish!  A week from Tuesday, maybe I can do that. Let me check my calendar and get back to you.” No, on the contrary, Jesus is offering these men a whole new identity! They won’t be fish-fishers any more. Now they’re going to be people-fishers. In the kingdom of God, we don’t just have new jobs; we are completely new people!

Did you notice that all of the men Jesus calls respond to his offer? In fact, they hardly stop to think about it! They follow him “euthus.” That’s the Greek word for “immediately.” Mark loves that word “euthus”! In fact, he uses it over 40 times in his gospel. The other gospels don’t use it nearly that much. It only shows up seven times in Matthew’s gospel; three times in John’s gospel; and Luke only uses it once! But Mark uses it all the time. He likes the word “immediately” so much that he uses it an average of once every 16 verses throughout his gospel. Readers get tired of reading it, and so many Bibles don’t translate it the same way every time it appears. In some places, people do respond “immediately.” But in others, they respond “at once,” “without delay,” or “as soon as.” Sometimes, the translators even leave the word out all together! That wouldn’t make Mark happy at all. He uses “immediately” like an alarm clock ringing over and over again, urging us to take action! Mark doesn’t want us to just think about following Jesus; he wants us to do something about it right now!

But there seems to be a problem. In his very first words, Jesus calls us to “repent.” I don’t see anybody repenting in this scene. I see four men responding to an interesting offer that Jesus extends to them; but are they repenting? Actually, they are. To see it, though, we have to understand what “repentance” meant in Jesus’ day. In Jewish tradition, to “repent” didn’t necessarily mean to be sorry for something. The Hebrew word that means “to repent,” “shuv,” literally means to turn around. Repenting simply means changing your behavior. Now, when you do that, you’re frequently sorry for what you have done before. But repenting isn’t really about guilt and shame; it’s about changing. When Jesus calls us to repent, he doesn’t want us to put on sackcloth, sit in a pile of ashes, and beat our breasts in remorse. When Jesus calls us to repent, he wants us to change!

Did these four first disciples change? They sure did! When they walked after Jesus, they left behind a life that was familiar and comfortable, and they began a one that was new and uncertain. They didn’t know what they would be doing as people-fishers. They learn that, along with the reader, as they progress through Mark’s gospel. The only thing that they know when they respond to Jesus’ offer to follow is that their lives will never be the same again. We know that from what they left behind.

To begin with, Peter and Andrew left their nets behind. Now, those nets were the tools of their trade as fish-fishers. In Jesus’ day, fish weren’t caught with fishing poles, but with huge nets. No one could be a fish-fisher without a net. But as people-fishers, they wouldn’t need those nets anymore. They would need completely new tools! They would need compassion, humility, and courage. They wouldn’t be dragging in fish by force, but attracting people with love and mercy. Those nets were what they knew how to use, but they needed to leave them behind.

We see James and John leaving even more. First, they leave their father Zebedee. They leave behind their family and their tradition for something completely new! Now, there was nothing wrong with that tradition. It had raised them, nurtured them, and formed them into fine young men. But they left it behind when Jesus offered them something new; and they never even looked back. When the new arrives, we have to leave the old behind.

They left something else, too. They left their boats. I think that those boats represent more than just the tools of their trade as fish-fishers. Those boats are a symbol of the security that they had enjoyed. After all, their boats had kept them safe when they were catching fish on the Sea of Galilee. When the waters became choppy, those boats carried them safely to shore. They would have kept their boats in the best repair, just as we are careful to take care of our cars. By walking away from those boats, they walked away from the security of the life that they had always known.

When we look at the actions of these four men from the perspective of what they left behind – tradition, security, and the tools of their trade – it seems remarkable that they responded so quickly! They followed Jesus immediately! And they didn’t follow because of a glitzy sales pitch that Jesus gave them. He didn’t flash four tickets to the Super Bowl and a reservation at the local Hilton Hotel, and say, “This will be yours if you only follow me!” No, he simply said, “Follow me and I will make you people-fishers.” What was so attractive about that offer that those first disciples responded immediately?

Mark’s gospel doesn’t tell us, of course, but my own guess is that Jesus’ reputation had preceded him. They knew Jesus as the man who was talking about the kingdom of God. More than just talking about it, he was announcing that it was right here, right now! And everyone knew what the kingdom of God was going to be – a time when the hate and violence and brokenness of the world would disappear to be replaced by love and peace and healing. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that? And so, when Jesus offered these four fish-fishers an apprenticeship in people-fishing in the kingdom of God, maybe we shouldn’t be surprised that they followed him immediately.

Of course, Jesus had some education to do with them. In the first chapters of Mark’s gospel, he shows his disciples what the kingdom of God really looks like. We’ll get to that next week. In the meantime, it’s important to remember that Jesus is still offering us the very same thing that he offered his first disciples – an opportunity to be people-fishers in God’s kingdom. We know how they responded. Will we respond that way, too? Will we repent by immediately turning around and changing our ways? Will we leave our old nets behind and learn new tools of the trade? Will we move beyond the way that we’ve always done things and open ourselves to the guidance of the Spirit? Will we take a risk and follow Jesus into the uncharted territory of God’s kingdom? Are we ready to stop thinking about the kingdom and follow Jesus into it right away?

“The time has come! The kingdom of God is right here! Repent, and believe the good news!” Maybe we should follow Jesus – immediately!

Beginnings

This year, my sermons will concentrate on texts from the gospel of Mark. Mark begins not with Jesus' birth, but with his baptism. Why do you suppose that is? This sermon might give you an answer.

Some of you might wonder now and then (maybe when you can’t get to sleep at night) how I choose the scripture texts for my sermons. I don’t have one method that I use all the time; but for the most part, I preach from the lectionary. Now, some of you may not know what a lectionary is. A lectionary is just a list of scripture readings for each occasion of worship in the Christian year. The lectionary that I use – the Revised Common Lectionary – supplies four scripture readings for each worship service: an Old Testament reading, a text from Psalms, a New Testament reading, and a text from one of the gospels. My lectionary is on a three-year cycle. With respect to the gospels, all the readings are from Matthew in the first year (Year A). In the second year (Year B), the gospel texts are from Mark; and in the third year (Year C), Luke supplies the readings. The gospel of John appears mostly during Lent and after Easter of all three years.

Right now, we are in Year B of the lectionary cycle. That means that the gospel readings for this year will come mostly from the gospel of Mark. Now, I want to say just a word about Mark. If you ask a random sample of church-goers what their favorite gospel is, most people won’t respond with Mark. Mark just doesn’t have the pizzazz that the other gospels do! For example, Luke is chock-full of parables; Matthew gives us the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount; and John paints the beautiful picture of the Word made flesh! But Mark’s gospel isn’t really very distinctive. In addition, it is very short, with only 16 chapters. 6 of those chapters take place during Holy Week. That leaves only 10 chapters for Mark to tell us about all the rest of Jesus’ life! Besides, most of the material in Mark’s gospel is also in Matthew and in Luke. Many scholars believe that Luke and Matthew copied whole chunks of Mark when they were writing their own gospels.

So why do we even bother with the gospel of Mark? One very important reason is that it was the first gospel that was written. Mark wrote his gospel only about 35 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection, just as the apostles were dying of old age. The stories that they told about Jesus were in danger of dying right along with them. So Mark wrote his gospel in order to pass on the stories about Jesus to future generations of Christians. We certainly don’t want to lose the very first gospel that the early church used! But an even better reason to take Mark seriously is that Mark wrote his gospel to teach and encourage early Christians in their faith. It can do the very same thing for us, if we will let it. Its very structure is like the faith journey of a new believer in Jesus as the Messiah. In chapters 1 through 8 we are introduced to Jesus; and we watch him teach and heal and perform miracles. In chapter 9, we see him transfigured, and we realize that this man is more than just a miracle-worker. In chapters 9 and 10, we learn what we are called to do as Jesus prepares for his crucifixion and resurrection. In chapter 11, we watch him ride into Jerusalem and reject the religious establishment through cleansing the Temple; and we learn about the coming kingdom of God. And when the gospel ends with Jesus’ resurrection, we come face to face with the question “Will we tell anyone about what we have heard and seen?” We’re not that different from Mark’s original readers, are we? So during this year, we’re going to become very good friends with his gospel. We’re going to examine it, and we’re going to invite it to examine us. We might be surprised at what we’ll find there!

Like everything else, Mark’s gospel has a beginning. But it doesn’t begin where we expect it to. Mark doesn’t say anything at all about Jesus’ birth. He doesn’t tell us about angels or shepherds or Bethlehem or a star or the wise men. No, those stories are in Luke and Matthew. Instead, Mark begins his gospel with Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River. Now, Mark could have skipped all that and started with what is now verse 14 of the first chapter: “Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.” After all, that’s what Mark’s gospel is, God’s good news as shown in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But Mark started with Jesus’ baptism. Why would he have done that? What kind of beginning is baptism, anyway? Maybe it’s worth a look.

The simple answer is that baptism marks the beginning of a life in a community of faith. Baptism is the sacrament that celebrates a person’s entrance into a particular Christian community, as well as into the Christian church as a whole. That’s why the very first question that I ask anyone who wants to become a member of our congregation is “Have you been baptized?” Now, don’t misunderstand me. Anyone is welcome in this church, whether they have been baptized or not! But making a commitment to a church first requires a commitment to Jesus Christ. Baptism is the public sign of that commitment. But there’s more to baptism than just the first step to church membership. Baptism is a lot more than just learning a membership oath and a secret handshake so that you can join the Loyal Order of Water Buffalo. Anyone in the early church would have known that baptism isn’t just the start of life in a faith community; it’s the start of a completely new life! Mark’s description of Jesus’ baptism gives us a picture of what that new life looks like.

First off, God acknowledges us as his beloved children. When Jesus came up out of the waters of baptism, he heard a voice from heaven saying, “You are my Son, whom I love. I am so pleased with you!” God said that to Jesus; and he says it to each one of us, too. We tend to forget that. It’s easy to remember that we are God’s creations, made in the beginning with all the rest of the cosmos – grasshoppers and galaxies, salamanders and stars, planets and puppies. But because of the mess that we’ve made of things in our world, it’s easy to forget that we are also God’s children. Our baptism reminds us that we are not just creations of God, but children of God; and that, despite all the messes that we make of our lives and of the world around us, God is pleased with us.

Because our baptism means that we are God’s children, it also means that we are invited to live our lives in God’s presence. When Jesus was baptized, the heavens were “torn open,” and God’s presence was available to us in a new way. The same thing happens to us. The heavens are “torn open” at our baptism, too! When we are baptized, God is present with us in a new way. Our baptism reminds us that nothing – not sin, or mistakes, or limitations, or gender, or race, or creed, or color, or anything in all creation – can ever separate us from the presence of God.

And our baptism means that we are filled with the Spirit. Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean that we speak in tongues, or deliver prophecies, or have powers of healing. Some people do those things; and we know that they are the Spirit’s doing. But most of us don’t do anything special. We follow Jesus the best that we can, we try to love our neighbors as ourselves, and we show compassion to those who need it. Who do we think leads us in doing that? We couldn’t do any of those things without the guidance of the Holy Spirit who filled us at our baptism and continues to fill us throughout our lives! Just as the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus, it descends on us, too.

Do you remember your own baptism? If you don’t, then you were probably baptized when you were a baby, just like I was. I don’t remember wearing a white baptismal outfit, or my family proudly sitting in the front pew while the pastor took me in his arms and sprinkled a few drops of water on my head. But those of us who were baptized as babies are a powerful symbol of a reality that we must never forget: God accepts us as his children before we can respond to him! Even before we know our own names, God knows us and loves us and adopts us as his own. None of us have earned God’s love any more than a baby in a bassinet has earned the love of her mother! The good news is that in God’s kingdom, there’s plenty of love to go around.

And some of you do remember your own baptism. If you do, then you probably made the decision as an adult to join the great crowd of disciples who follow Jesus Christ. You remember the pastor putting water put on your head – or maybe even immersing you in a baptistery or in a local river (when hopefully, it wasn’t as cold as it is now)! If that’s the case, then you are a powerful symbol of another reality. Even though God accepts us before we know anything about Jesus, we have to make the decision to follow him for ourselves! God doesn’t force us to follow Jesus. He gives us a choice, and he respects what we eventually decide to do. Infant baptism and adult baptism are two different sides of one reality: that God loves us and accepts us no matter what; but that we have to respond to that love ourselves.

Whenever you were baptized, though, just as Jesus’ baptism was the beginning of his life of ministry, baptism is the beginning of a new life in Christ for us. Remember your baptism, children of God! Remember your baptism, and be glad! And as you remember, give thanks for the new life that fills you through the Spirit, and leads you ever closer to the presence of the Father who is well pleased with you!

Saving the Best for Last

This past Sunday was Epiphany Sunday, the day that we celebrate the visit of the Wise Men to the Christ Child. In our congregation, it is also the day that we share the Sacrament of Holy Communion for the first time in the New Year. My sermon focuses on gifts, both the gifts of the Wise Men and the gifts that God offers to us, especially the ones that don't seem to be on time. Did you receive a late (but right on time) gift this Christmas?

Every Christmas, there is one gift that arrives late. On the morning after Christmas, the doorbell rings, and the mail carrier hands you a box. The return address says that it’s from Aunt Susie. When you open that box, sure enough, it contains a package wrapped in red and green paper and tied with a silver bow – the kind made from that pretty curly ribbon. The gift card wishes you a very Merry Christmas! But it’s the 26^th of December, and Christmas was yesterday. So what’s the first thing that you think after seeing Aunt Susie’s gift? “Oh, what a shame that it didn’t get here in time for Christmas!” After all, all the other gifts have been opened already. This one seems out of place, a Johnny-come-lately to the party.

But there’s another possible response to Aunt Susie’s gift. What if, instead of lamenting its late arrival, we are thankful for the opportunity to celebrate Christmas for one more day? The fact that we opened all the other gifts on Christmas morning doesn’t mean that we have to stop celebrating the holiday. In fact, Aunt Susie’s gift might turn out to be the perfect gift, the very thing that you wanted! You know the old saying: It’s good to save the best for last.

Sometimes the gifts that arrive late turn out to be very good ones, indeed! The Wise Men seem to have begun the tradition of saving the best gifts until last. The Gospel of Matthew doesn’t tell us exactly when they arrived in Bethlehem, only that they had followed a star from their home in “the east.” Now, they didn’t begin their long journey to Bethlehem until the star appeared when the Christ Child was born. And after we allow time for them to prepare for that journey, we realize that they must not have arrived in Bethlehem until months after the Christ Child was born. They were certainly not in Bethlehem to sing “Silent Night” on Christmas Eve with Mary and Joseph! No, Jesus might have celebrated his first birthday before those Wise Men showed up at the front door with their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Talk about late Christmas gifts!

But even if they were late, their gifts were absolutely appropriate for the Child they were honoring. They brought gold for a king; frankincense for a priest; and myrrh for a sacrifice. I’m sure that Mary and Joseph received lots of lovely gifts on the Christmas that Jesus was born – baby towels and rattles, receiving blankets and cute little one-piece sleepers with pictures of sheep on them, maybe even a diaper tree – but all of those are gifts that any baby might receive. Gold and frankincense and myrrh are gifts that are perfectly suited for the Child who rules us, who shows us what acceptable worship looks like, and who sacrificed himself on our behalf. The gifts of the Wise Men might have been late, but they were the best.

Throughout history, God has given his people gifts, too. Creation itself was a gift! God didn’t have to make the universe; and God didn’t have to put us in it, or give us the capability to enjoy it. But God did both of those things. When we disobeyed God’s very first rules, God could have given us up as a bad job and abandoned us to work our own way out of the mess that we had made of things. But God didn’t do that; God stuck with us. And God promised that he would stay with us through thick and thin. God gave us the gifts of a covenant with Abraham, a land where the children of Israel could live in peace, and a law that guides us as we live together. God even gifted his people with kings like David and Solomon to lead his people, and prophets like Amos, Isaiah, and Jeremiah to guide them.

But the very best gift that God gave us – that gift was saved for the very last. The book of Hebrews talks about that gift as it begins: “In the past, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days, God has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things.” As awe-inspiring as God’s other gifts to us are, surely God saved the best for last when he came to us in the person of Jesus Christ.

Do you suppose that the Wise Men understood what they were doing when they offered gifts to the child Jesus? Did they realize that they were giving gifts to The Gift? As they knelt before him, do you suppose that they heard the faint echo of nails being pounded into a cross? Did they catch a whiff of incense from the heavenly temple, or see the glint of the sun reflected off a crown as Jesus took his place at God’s right hand? The three gifts of the Wise Men, after all, are only tokens of the honor that all of us owe to Jesus as our King, our Priest, and our Savior.

And here, as we prepare to share the Sacrament of Holy Communion at this table, we are invited to gather together and meet him once again. Here, at this table, he invites us not only to give him honor, but to receive the gifts that he offers to us – strength for living each day, guidance for the future, hope in days of difficulty, and joy in days of celebration. Here, at this table, he offers us eternal life in him and through him. Yes, indeed, God saved the best for last when he came to us as Jesus Christ. God saved the very best – for us.