Luke 21: 25-36

“Whither Will Thou Go?”

There are many books and movies that address the issue of the future of the world. Few target the immediate future. The Bible is the only book I know of that seeks to help us live day to day with an eye on the future. It gives guarantees, cautions, and assurances of tomorrow and the years after tomorrow. It should help us live better.

Yet even with the assurance of scripture I get really nervous if I am asked to do something I’ve never done before or go somewhere I’ve never been. It’s almost like I have a “nervous interlude” that suddenly makes me feel and act 5 years old again.

“I don’t know how to do that,” or “I don’t know how to get there,” or the “traffic is going to be really bad,” or “I’ll look pretty stupid not knowing how to do that” defense that comes to mind.

Are you with me on this, men? Or don’t you want to look like a wimp in front of the children? But that’s really what I’m talking about – safeguarding our ego and dignity by regressing to our childhood – sounds like it should work, right?

Remember that preachers are to present fruit and not flowers to their targets. So if I touch a little close to home today – I’m there to. I’m speaking for myself.

We know it’s not easy to overcome our human nature. Life is not easy. Life’s struggles sneak up on us. Billy Graham once said, “Man is both dust of the earth and breath of God.” I would agree and add, rarely both at the same time.

William Hazlitt wrote: “Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps; for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things are and what they ought to be.” Have you ever realized that sums it all up?

And that’s the crux of the biscuit: We always need to keep a firm perspective on the “ought to be” that Jesus tells us about. In doing so, we should learn to reduce our need to obsess on getting everything right and focus on being prepared for the promise of what is to come.

Jesus knew His disciples would struggle with discouragement and change in the days to come: Listen to Jesus talking to His disciples as they are preparing to enter Jerusalem prior to Palm Sunday:

“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory.

Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

Then he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place.”

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day catch you unexpectedly, like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth.

Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

After reading this passage my first thought was a simple one: Be prepared, having your eyes open, your feet on the path, and your heart and mind fixed on Jesus.

Forget Hollywood, forget Annapolis, forget D. C., let God manage current and future events – after all He created it and it’s His mess to clean up.

Otherwise we’ll be caught not expecting the world to end, caught focused on things we really have no effect on.

The danger we face is in complacency: Accepting the imperfection of human status quo as best there is and falling prey to its pale imitation of peace and hope.

We should not be engaged in any program, project, or endeavor that requires even a moment of hesitation at God’s invitation to enter His kingdom.

We need to love our future heavenly place so much that we have no reservations in beginning the trip. Tickets to eternity in heaven require an advance purchase!

While we love our family, our work, our homes, our community, how much more will we love the heavenly community? No pain, no suffering, pills, shots, therapies, treatments, clinics, glasses, anger, frustrations, or commutes. No time clocks, nasty customers, returned merchandise, endless telephone calls, no Starbucks, or Keurigs.

Do you realize there won’t be telephones, texting, web surfing, or cable in heaven? No Face-book, twitter, or Craigslist. There will be love, joy, enthusiasm, hope, and the end of disability. Friends and family will meet and greet us. We will be finally and truly home with perfect truth and justice.

I occasionally love to sit in public and watch people. I try to remember how we were 25 years ago before cell phones and the internet took over our society. Our communications systems were slower but I think we were more independent and individualistic. But there is one glaring change most people don’t see.

When a person sits down in the mall they are 75% more likely to pop that phone out and call, text, check e-mail, or surf the web. Personal, face-to-face interaction with others, particularly strangers, has dropped off. So has our relationship w/God.

In a world where communication across the globe is instantaneous we’ve stopped talking over the back fence, and people are more isolated. Distractions and busy schedules keep us from watching and preparing. Things that insulate us from further dealing with changes and things we don’t understand – things that force us to consider regressing back into childhood in ways we don’t see.

And we’ve stopped believing in faith and more in sensationalism. The reason no one is preaching preparation for Jesus second coming is that very few really believe it. Even among the most sincere believers, the Lord’s return is still more theoretical than real, and to think of Him coming soon takes a huge shift in behavior and attitude that few are willing to make.

I think we should all focus on two things to prepare for His coming. The first is to exercise our faith to make it stronger. We do this by walking by faith even if we aren’t currently experiencing difficulty.

Learn to rely on the Lord again as at the beginning of our walk with Him, not making any decisions without seeking His will. Pray without ceasing, pray about everything.

Study His word daily. Put Him back in charge of our lives. Start acting like we really expect Him to appear soon.

The second thing is to keep working to simplify our lives, getting rid of all the things that distract us from nurturing our relationship with Him. The old saying is true. We work to get things, and then we work because we have them.

These things divert both our time and our resources from “Kingdom activity” that would bless us and please Him. Let’s start extracting ourselves from the grip this world has on us and focus more on the next one. This one only has a few more years to run, but the next one lasts forever.

Doing these things would make our lives into an example for others that would probably bring more people to the Lord than any other evangelism programs could ever accomplish. Folks always respond better when they see that we actually believe what we’re telling them.

To put it the way Jesus would have if He was a 21^st century human: When God calls, don’t put Him on hold to check your e-mail.

Amen.

 

 

WHAT JUST HAPPENED?

Alexander Tyler wrote about the Athenian Empire nearly 2500 years ago:

“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse (generous gifts) from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by a dictatorship” “The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been two hundred years.”

There is not a single civilization that has ever escaped from or reversed this trend once the tipping point is reached. I believe that we have reached the tipping point.

The recent election results suggest we acknowledge that the culture of America will collapse. I believe this is consistent with the current administration’s plans and policies. The losers ran on building a stronger economy (which means you have to work), maintaining a stronger defense (which means you have to fight), and a return to traditional values and concern about the financial well-being of the next generation.

America just voted to reject these. The faithful church must now realize it is living in occupied territory among those who serve and honor other gods who are hostile to it.

What we have left is an ideology where “I am” the only one who really matters. If the government promises to give me what I want, then I really don’t care about anyone else. It ceases to be government and becomes “givernment.”

Every fabricated division in 21^st century politics is based on this premise. My needs come first! My interest group, racial identity, and preference must be protected. This, of course, is dramatically opposed to Judeo-Christian biblical values. But as we now know, America no longer lives by these values.

Does this suggest that we are now ready for the rise of the single world government?

“The Final Answer”

Mark 10: 17-27 (NRSV)

Have you ever imagined a world with no hypothetical situations?
Have you ever seen a toad on a toadstool?
How can there be self-help "groups"?
How do you get off a nonstop flight?
How do you write zero in Roman numerals?
If athletes get athlete's foot, do astronauts get mistletoe?
If peanut butter cookies are made from peanut butter, then what are Girl Scout  

         cookies made out of?
If space is a vacuum, who changes the bags?
If swimming is good for your shape, then why do the whales look the way they do?
If you jog backwards, will you gain weight?
Why do they call it 'chili' if it's hot?
Why do we sing "Take me out to the ball game," when we are already there?

Lastly, isn't Disney World a people trap operated by a mouse?

Have you ever asked a question you knew you didn’t want to hear the answer to? We usually follow-up the answer with the phrase: “I was afraid that was what you were going to say” or some such comment.

Life is full of questions we really don’t want answers for because if we knew the answer it would have some kind of hold on us. The scripture passage we’ll be reading today is one such question and answer.

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?”

Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 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.””

He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.”

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.” 

When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.  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!” 

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. 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.” 

They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”

The Greek word used for question here is syzēteō (sü-zā-te'-ō) and means to suggest the start of a discussion, a dispute, or exchange of ideas. It can be a friendly inquiry or a formal challenge.

This question to Jesus comes from someone who can be truly called a seeker; but what he is seeking is a way to inherit (in Greek klēronomeōn (klā-ro-no-me'-ō))

eternal life. The word he uses means to receive an allotted portion as one receives an inheritance as one's own or as a possession.

He is telling Jesus that God owes him eternal life for what he has done by his behavior.

Jesus’ reply talks about entering eternal life. The Greek word He uses, eiserchomai  (ās-e'r-kho-mī) means entrance into a condition of spiritual existence. We won’t inherit eternal life – we will be granted access to it.

Please don’t think Jesus’ was talking about “cash, riches, or wealth” in this passage. We have nothing that will buy a ticket to eternity.

Jesus is interested in you and your “Free-Will” commitment to Him. He wants you to understand that the gate to eternity only runs through His loving grace,

The problem with this young man seems to be his attitude towards the 'many possessions' -- that they were symbols of having been blessed by God, and thus he had earned the right to inherit a place in Heaven.

People that encounter Jesus time and time again in the Gospels want to insist that God's love is something that must be earned. Take, for example, today's lesson from Mark's Gospel, which tells the well known story of a man who seeks out Jesus and asks him the question, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

This story of Jesus' encounter with the man is found in three out of the four gospels, and each gospel writer reports the story in much the same way.

An unnamed person approaches Jesus and asks him what he needs to do to live forever. How does he go about earning God's love or in this case salvation for his soul?

After giving the person a brief review lesson on the Ten Commandments-do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your father and mother-the man tells Jesus that he has observed all these since his youth. He has, as I mentioned before, done all that he can to earn God's love.

Jesus tells him that he lacks only one thing. Go, sell what you have, give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come follow me.

The narrator tells us that when the man heard this he grew sad, and he went away because he had lots of possessions.

Now although the story appears to be the same in all three gospels, there is a critical difference between Mark's version and the accounts in Matthew and Luke. And it hinges on this concept of our Lord's love for this individual.

And Jesus looking at him, loved him-loved him-and said to him, you lack one thing, go sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and come and follow me.

As it says in Scripture, we did not choose God but God chose each of us. And it is the very essence of God's nature that he loves his creation and he loves all of us.

Jesus loved this unnamed and unknown man, even if our Lord told him things about himself that he did not want to hear.

The key to our story is that each individual has to decide whether to accept God's invitation, and this helps get me to my final point, and it is an aspect of the story that Matthew and Luke missed.

Our Gospel tells us the man who came to Jesus decided to reject the love that he had been offered. He was not ready to make the kind of changes that were necessary to follow our Lord and he turned away from God's love, sad and depressed.

However, if this man had been receptive to God's love, this divine love would have left no part of his life untouched or unchanged. And I suspect that is what ultimately frightened him away.

George MacDonald, a 19th-century preacher, put it this way when he wrote: "All that is not beautiful in the beloved, all that comes between and is not of love's kind, must be destroyed. And our God, our God is a consuming fire."

His point is that once we make the decision to leave behind what we think we love and follow Christ, that is when God begins to go to work on our lives.

For MacDonald, it is the essence of God's nature that it will destroy all that is not beautiful and refashion our lives to be ones of true holiness.

It is, as I said before, a gift freely given, but the man in our story wasn't ready to have this kind of love and ultimately resurrect his life. He was still, like so many of us today, trapped in a world of love that involved obligation and commercial transactions.

"What must we do to inherit eternal life? We must let go of all that we have and all that we do that gets in the way of seeing that there is nothing we can do to save ourselves."

Amen.

“THE PERFECTION OF GOD”

Mark 10: 2-16 (NRSV)

It’s better to marry than to stay single, a survey of 12,000 men aged 15-44, said. That was the finding of a recent study done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Sixty-six percent of men agreed with the statement, “It is better to get married than go through life single,” compared with only 51 percent of women.

In addition in the same study 76 percent of men and 72 percent of women in a similar study agreed that “it is more important for a man to spend a lot of time with his family than be successful at his career.”

90 percent of the married men in the survey said they would marry the same woman if given a chance to do it again.

The study involved 12,000 men and women, ages 15-44.

A man who sold Christmas trees, noticed a couple hunting a Christmas tree. Both wore clothes from the bottom of the bin of the Salvation Army store.

After bypassing trees that were too expensive, they found a Scotch pine that was OK on one side but pretty bare on the other. Then they picked up another tree that was not much better — full on one side, scraggly on the other. She whispered something, and he asked if $3 would be OK. The man figured both trees wouldn’t sell, so he agreed.

A few days later he was walking down the street and saw a beautiful tree in a neighborhood window.  It was thick and well rounded. He knocked on their door, and they told him how they had pushed the trees together where the branches were thin and tied the trunks together. The branches overlapped and formed a tree so thick you couldn’t see the wire. He described it as “a tiny forest of its own.”

“So that’s the secret,” he said. “You take two trees that aren’t perfect, have flaws, might even be homely, but that maybe nobody else would want. If you put them together just right, you can come up with something really beautiful.” Marriage!

Some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”He answered them, “What did Moses command you?”They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.”

But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

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

People where bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. 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. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.”

And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.

What each of us needs to take away from these verses is not the negative, but rather the affirmative: God created this world in simple perfection; everything has a purpose, place, and natural order to it. Marriage was a gift given to humanity from an extremely loving God to balance men and women out.

Marriage is the ideal and an example of covenant that God would like to make with each of us. Not only would He like us to be loyal and committed to marriage with each other He would have us relate to Him in the same way.

This was and is what His relationship to Israel was all about. He would be their God and they would be His people, His children. Yet Jewish history is full of infidelity and adultery as the Jews embrace the gods of the peoples they find around themselves as a country. It’s why God seems harsh in the OT – He wants Israel pure in relationship.

It’s why Jesus called the church “the Bride of Christ.” Marriage is God ordained.

The perfection of God is often marred because, as Jesus puts it in verse 5, “the hardness of human hearts.” God, through Moses, allowed the Jews to divorce, not because God desires it, but because humanity could not live without it.

The Book of Ezra’s central theme surrounds giving second chances to people who have disobeyed God and screwed up their marriages and covenant with Him. Through offering repentance and sincere changes of heart God offers second chances even in the area of marriage. Because of this we know there is hope for people who divorce or who are divorced. It is not an unforgiveable sin.

But not for those who flaunt it!

That’s what we need to understand: God gives us a perfect goal yet knows we’ll never achieve it, so He makes allowances for that. Divorce is not an unpardonable sin but is still pretty serious. Some of the disciples would deal with the question of divorce in their writings. We have these guidelines as well. But nowhere is it a death sentence.

Either way, marriage is not to be taken lightly or ended easily. I often wonder which human sin causes Jesus the most grief: Divorce or abortion?

The Apostle Paul, who was probably the most difficult Christian of all time to get along with, said this about marriage to the Corinthians: If you have passion then get married, but you don’t have to be married to please God.

I think most marriages and relationships end because of immaturity, lack of personal responsibility, and hardness of heart. These are the human traits that drive our culture. (How  do you explain Charlie Sheen, Linsey Lohan, and Paris Hilton?)

Our culture is obsessed on avoiding responsibility and thus distressing our lives: think about it. When stress at work gets to be too much, many executives are finding new ways to escape. Instead of retreating to the beach, to the mountains, or to a golf outing, many adults are, well, acting like kids.

At California’s Camp Get Away, an adult can participate in sing-alongs, water balloon fights, kickball, eat s’mores around the campfire, and sneak out of the cabin at night to toilet paper the cars and cabins of other campers.

Some adults opt for the increasingly popular Rock ’n’ Roll Fantasy Camps or go to Baseball camps to meet and play with celebrities and professional athletes.

A woman named Helen Oseen founded “The Ultimate Pajama Party,” a camp where older women can don their pajamas, pillow fight, and sit on the bed and share confidences late into the night. Oseen began the camp when she realized she worked a lot and didn’t save time for play in her life.

Christopher Noxon calls this trend “re-juv-e-nil-ing” in his book Rejuvenile: Kickball, Cartoons, Cupcakes, and the Reinvention of the American Grown-Up. A father of three in Los Angeles, Noxon said, “In a world where pressure and problems pile on nonstop, more grown-ups are seeking a vacation from their adult side.”

 

It shows in our ethics, morals, divorce rate, and aborted children.

Contrast this with Jesus’ call for each of us to “receive the kingdom of God as a little child.”

The world’s answer versus Jesus’ answer. Which will we choose?

Unlike “re-juv-e-niling” Jesus nurtures us to grow into Christian disciples who accept responsibility and strive to meet God’s commands and perfect order.  

This is how  hearts are softened from the desires of the flesh and how we learn to overcome sinful natures that pull us away from God everyday. We learn the responsibilities of the Kingdom.

Amen.

 

 

“A CHRISTIAN’S SALARY”

Mark 9: 38-50 (NRSV)

This is the only joke I could find and share about salt: Mother: Haven't you finished filling the salt shaker yet? Son: Not yet. It's really hard to get the salt through all those little holes!

Today we’re going to talk about salt.

In the Hebrew Bible, thirty-five verses mention salt, one of which is the story of Lot's wife, who was turned into a pillar of salt when she looked back at the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19: 26) as they were destroyed.

When the judge Abimelech destroyed the city of Shechem, he is said to have "sown salt on it," probably as a curse on anyone who would re-inhabit it (Judges 9: 45).  Salted ground grows no crops!

The Book of Job mentions salt as a condiment. "Can that which is unsavory be eaten without salt, or is there any taste in the white of an egg?" (Job 6: 6)

In the Christian New Testament, six verses mention salt. During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus refers to his followers as the "salt of the earth." The apostle Paul also encouraged Christians to "let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt" (Colossians 4: 6). The Gospel of Mark has several references as well.

Chloride and sodium ions, the two major components of salt, are needed by all living creatures. Salt is involved in regulating the fluid balance of the body.

The sodium ion is also used for electrical signaling in the nervous system. Because of its importance to survival, salt has often been considered a valuable commodity during human history.

The word salary originates from Latin: “salarium” which referred to the money paid to the Roman Army's soldiers for the purchase of salt, or as currency.

The word “salad” literally means "salted," and comes from the ancient Roman practice of salting leafy vegetables. Let’s hear our Gospel Lesson: Mark 9: 38-50:

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

“If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.

If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.

And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.

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

Matthew Henry said these verses are best summed up this way: "Without a Doubt, remorse of conscience and keen self-reflection are this never-dying worm. Surely it is beyond compare better to undergo all possible pain, hardship, and self-denial here, and to be happy for ever hereafter, than to enjoy all kinds of worldly pleasure for a season, and to be miserable forever." He suggests interpretation from an individual perspective.

I think Jesus went a little further than that! These verses are directed at community. I suggest a community perspective.

There are two keys to understanding this passage. Jesus begins this passage by talking about community.

The first key is related to the disciples’ reporting of finding others doing the work of Jesus. This passage has an interesting parallel recorded in the Book of Numbers, chapter 11, verses 26-29:

“However, two men, whose names were Eldad and Medad, had remained in the camp. They were listed among the elders, but did not go out to the Tent. Yet the Spirit also rested on them, and they prophesied in the camp. A young man ran and told Moses, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp."

Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses' aide since youth, spoke up and said, "Moses, my lord, stop them!" But Moses replied, "Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the LORD's people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!"

Jesus, just as Moses did, suggests tolerance for others who are doing God’s work someplace else or in the community around them. But Jesus also adds some conditions about community service in God’s Kingdom.

Listen closely church: Jesus tells His disciples to let those doing His work alone to receive their just reward but that those who are placing stumbling blocks in front of children and others must be stopped, must be cut off from fellowship and the nurture of the Kingdom. The reason: causing others to be cut off from God.

What did you just say preacher? Did you just say “Kick out the false teachers and those who do not hold to God’s word? Have no relationship with those who teach false doctrine such as gay marriage, ordaining homosexuals, forsaking the blessing of Israel, and upholding abortion?”

How do you get that preacher? Jesus’ punishments are designed to keep the “body of believers” pure at all cost.

By understanding that Jesus’ references to body parts being cut out in the text is actually a reference to the community and individuals in it who do not hold to the Christian community values and beliefs: Jesus is saying they must be cut off.

Self-mutilation was and continues to be forbidden in Judaism. Deuteronomy 14: 1, for example, says, “You are sons of the Lord your God, do not cut yourselves or make a bald spot on your head...” (HCSB)

If Jesus was speaking about self-mutilation to the disciples this teaching would have been very controversial, instead it is seemingly understood as a metaphor for those in the community (“the body”) of believers and not just the individual.

By using personal examples of body parts as relevant to the body of believers Jesus is driving home the idea of the damage that unbelievers and malefactors wreck on the mission and performance of the greater church body.  It blocks others from God.

Essentially Jesus is inviting religious communities to identify the self-constructed stumbling blocks that prevent success in serving God. In other words, we are to watch out for and prevent the subtle ways in which the larger church and the local church ends up sabotaging its own ministries.

The second key is exploring what the “never dying worm” means. It is translated from the Greek word “skōlēx,” and means having an unquenchable sense of guilt or remorse that does not go away. Jesus is saying that those who continue to sin without repentance and sincere change will forever suffer for the deeds of evil they have done.

A better translation of this passage shows us that Jesus actually repeats the phrase “Their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched,” three times (verses 44, 46, and 48). I don’t know about you but if Jesus warns me 3 times about something I’m going to listen!

This passage is telling us the importance of repentance and the dangers of causing others to be drawn away from Jesus and God. The penalty is a never-ending state of unending agony of regret, suffering, and loneliness.

It becomes our responsibility to ensure our community of believers maintain a faithful walk in following Christ.

But we started out talking about Salt didn’t we?

Salt represents all those things Jesus said and taught that nurtures and uplifts us.

Thank God Jesus tells us that we will be given a “salary of salt” that will nurture and grow us into people who will inherit the Kingdom of God and know what is right.

Friends we believe that a great deal of good can be done by people who realize they are not perfect, that their motives may not be completely pure, that their faith is not yet fully formed, but who submit their desires to Jesus Christ and put him in charge of their inward lives, and remain faithful to His teachings.

Amen.

 

 

Who’s the Boss? Mark 9: 30-37  (NRSV)

Sam walks into his boss’s office. “Sir, I’ll be straight with you, I know the economy isn’t great, but I have over three companies after me, and I would like to respectfully ask for a raise.” After a few minutes of haggling the boss finally agrees to a 5% raise, and Sam happily gets up to leave. ”By the way”, asks the boss as Sam is getting up, “which three companies are after you?” “The electric company, the water company, and the phone company,” Sam replied.

The Boss of a small company was complaining during a staff meeting that people didn’t respect him enough. Trying to change the attitude in the office he came in the next day with a sign for his door it said, “I am the boss.”One of the employees who did not appreciate the thought put a post-a-note on the sign that said “your wife wants her sign back”

The CEO of a large company was walking to the cafeteria along with two of his secretaries. Upon tripping on a bottle, a genie appeared and asked the threesome if they would like to each make a wish.  

The first secretary excitedly exclaimed, “I wish I was on a beach in a tropical island!” Immediately her wish was granted. The next secretary proclaimed, “I wish I was on a tour of France!” Immediately her wish too was granted. Being that it was now his turn to make a wish the CEO exclaimed “I want both of them back in their offices right after lunch!”

One last one: One evening a preschooler, Krystal, and her parents were sitting on the couch chatting. Krystal asked, " Daddy, you're the boss of the house, right?" Her father proudly replied, "Yes, I am the boss of the house." But Krystal added "Cause Mommy put you in charge, huh Daddy?"

They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.”

But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.

Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.

Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”

This is the second time Jesus has warned his followers of his coming passion and death. Imagine the stir it causes each time he does – the denial, the outcry, the promises to stop it, and so on.

How would you react if someone you were close to told you they were going to be put to death for something they believe in? (You’d watch them closely or suggest they get a screening for the booby hatch.)

I use to read these verses and wonder where the disciples got the topic/issue they were arguing amongst themselves until it hit me: they were either trying to figure out who was going to be the “boss” after Jesus dies, or what position to ask for when Jesus successfully comes into His kingdom.

Either way it is a job, they assume, that they must qualify for by being the “greatest” disciple. Holy smokes, not only is Jesus not dead yet, but he’s in the immediate vicinity, and they find out he’s heard them talking behind his back. Sounds like time for a “smack down!”

And deliver a smack down Jesus does. He tells them that leadership and places of honor in His kingdom are based on different criteria then what they understand. It is not leadership that is important but rather “follow ship,” that is, service to a greater ideal and care for others, and that God will always be the “big boss.”

 In using a child as an example of priority in hospitality Jesus is tweaking the Jewish social structure to get them to recognize their responsibility to the least of all people in their community as a conscious process. Children were valued and cared for in but they had a different status.

 

Jesus’ new teachings upped the status and prestige of children to a priority, and humanity in general. 

Alongside the value we place on gold (and money), we place freedom of choice to determine our own futures next, and God calls us to value others sometimes before ourselves.

At my house we have a running joke that Chylle started. She once said that Becky was in charge of making the decisions at our house. So now whenever a decision, choice, or suggestion is to be made, we usually drudge up some form of that joke in our conversations.

 As that once popular song goes, “Who is the boss of you?” Who makes your decisions? Are they made haphazardly or with purpose and commitment?

 Driving down a country road near Funkstown, I come to a very narrow bridge. In front of the bridge, a sign is posted: "YIELD." Seeing no oncoming cars, I continue across the bridge and on to my destination. On my way back, I come to the same one-lane bridge, now from the other direction. To my surprise, I see another YIELD sign posted. Curious, I thought, "I'm sure there was one posted on the other side."

When I reached the other side of the bridge I looked back. Sure enough, yield signs had been placed at both ends of the bridge. Drivers from both directions were requested to give right of way. It was a reasonable and gracious way of preventing a head-on collision.

When the Bible commands Christians to "be subject to one another" (Ephesians 5: 21) it is simply a reasonable and gracious command to let the other have the right of way and avoid interpersonal head-on collisions.

We learn to yield control to God and His values, His Kingdom.

In the summer of 1986, two ships collided in the Black Sea off the coast of Russia. Hundreds of passengers died as they were hurled into the icy waters below. News of the disaster was further darkened when an investigation revealed the cause of the accident.

It wasn't a technology problem like radar malfunction--or even thick fog. The cause was human stubbornness. Each captain was aware of the other ship's presence nearby. Both could have steered clear, but according to news reports, neither captain wanted to give way to the other. Each was too proud to yield first.

 By the time they came to their senses, it was too late.

In the midst of our dark and foggy times, all sorts of voices are shouting orders into the night, telling us what to do, how to adjust our lives.

On the sitcom “Malcom in the Middle” the theme song says, “You’re not the Boss of Me.” Well the truth is, Jesus does want to be the boss of you.

Jesus’ voice calls us through the tumult of our journey through life. “Choose my ways and follow me,” it says. “Allow me to be in control.” I don’t want to be your co-pilot – I want to be your pilot.

That voice happens to be the Light of the World, and we ignore it at our own peril.

Amen.

 

ARE WE REALLY IN TROUBLE?

This past week during my vacation I ran into 2 19-somethings who claimed to be members of the occupy movement. They told me they were voting for Obama because Romney was a "businessman."

Businessmen are bad because one of the characters of the movie "Wall Street" (Geeko?) was bad and thus all of them are are bad.

The upshot of this interaction (besides leaving a bad taste in my brain) is the delusional world most of these folks are living in -- given to them by others. We don't need to be labelled anything - and they think that categories define your life. Think of how governments classify things and people in order to handle them --- folks we in big trouble when our children classify themselves.

I didn't discuss politics with them but instead shared God's love and desire to have a relationship with them. Now I'll pray.

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Ronald Reagan said the 9 most terrifying words in the English language were:

"I'm from the government, and I'm here to help."

I disagree, the nine most frightening words I have ever heard are:

"I am Barack Obama, and I approve this message." Actually both campaigns are gyilty of this.

I know with certainty, all that follows will be blatant and unabashed lies. It will be an unapologetic attempt to portray the misery of these last 3 ½ years as success. It will be scarily simplistic, seeking to divide America along class lines. It will reek of racialism and bitterness and envy.

I will be diminished just by listening, and those who believe...those who believe, will surrender their humanity to the 'one,' and the world will be a poorer place for it.

And the saddest thing of all -- and the reason those words frighten me so, is that despite all that has happened, and all that looms on the horizon with this most disastrous of Presidents, when he says the words "I am Barack Obama, and I approve this message," many people will still believe what comes next.

11 years ago my wife and I were on the first airplane to leave Hagerstown after 9-11. We did it to express our confidence in our country and our desire to ensure the tryanny of terrorism would be overcome. Pause this week to remember those who died, those families that suffered, and how our lives have changed since this event. Renew your resolve to overcome the overt threats of those who would surplant our values, burn our cities, and destroy and subjugate our children.

Double-Disability

Mark 7: 31-37

I was on a plane when the pilot said, “We’ll be delayed for several minutes while we find a worker to sign off on a maintenance work request we assume was completed but not documented.” When I was in the Navy that type of “preventative maintenance” was a court martial offense!

But how about this airline experience: Taxiing down the tarmac, the jetliner abruptly stops, turns around, and returns to the gate. After an hour long wait, it finally takes off.

A concerned passenger asked the flight attendant, "What was the problem?""The pilot was bothered by a strange noise he heard in the engine," she explained."Oh, and it took a while to fix it?" said the passenger."Not exactly." replied the stewardess, "It just took us a while to find a deaf pilot."

A busy CEO named Harry is looking for a new assistant, but wants to hire someone who is sensitive about his deformity – he has no ears. Three men apply for the job, and Harry arranges to spend some time with each of them.

He calls the first man into his office and interviews him. The applicant does very well, but then Harry asks him if notices anything unusual about his appearance. Rather than be tactful and say no, the man says, ‘Yes. You have no ears.’ Harry gets upset and throws the man out.

The second man is called in and, the interview goes very well until Harry asks the same question. Again the man says ‘You have no ears.’ Harry throws him out.

The last man is invited in and the interview proceeds as before. Finally, Harry asks the question, ‘Do you notice anything unusual about my appearance?’ The man says, ‘Apart from the contact lenses, no.’ ‘That’s very observant,’ says Harry. ‘Not many people would notice I’m wearing contact lenses.’ ‘I didn’t,’ replies the man. ‘I saw the contact lens case on your desk and figured you couldn’t wear glasses without any ears.’

Understanding and dealing with disabilities is increasingly difficult in a politically correct and sensitive society. We have learned to walk on eggshells. Have you ever considered that Jesus came to address human disability:  (MARK 7: 31-37, NRSV)

Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis.

They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech: and they begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, Be opened.” 

And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.The Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it.

They were astounded beyond measure, saying, “He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.

What a great scripture passage this is! There are three things we need to see as we read this passage. First, Jesus deals with this man privately; secondly the man suffers from a disability that seems to speak as a metaphor of the human condition; and thirdly, Jesus is revealing a messianic nature that would become clear after his death.

The Greek work (mogililion) used here for “impediment in his speech” isn’t that he can’t speak but rather that there is a problem in how he speaks. The man is functionally deaf (may hear but isn’t listening) and has garbled speech – he is not deaf and dumb. That is why Jesus’ physical acts of healing are so important here.

First, Jesus could have proclaimed the man healed. Instead Jesus used touch and a sign to show this man he is being healed. Clearing the ears as if they were clogged can’t  be misinterpreted. Using saliva, which the Jews felt had healing properties, to release the man’s tongue for speech would be understood immediately by the man and any onlookers even though he took the man aside privately.

Second, it can be said that the human condition can be said to be one of hearing but not doing God’s Word and Work, and that our human nature manifests itself in the evil things we misspeak. Think about it for a moment:

We don’t know God and His ways. We don’t talk and speak truth about ourselves or God. We are figuratively deaf and have garbled speech. God sees us as disabled.

And we see ourselves like the CEO who doesn’t want anyone to point it out or tell us about it.We think we don’t need healing or restoration. How arrogant we are!

As to the third point, Jesus knows that people will not truly hear, understand, or see the messianic prophecy He has fulfilled until after His death. The prophecy pointed at here is from Isaiah 35: 5-6 (HCSB):

 "Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will sing for joy, for water will gush in the wilderness, and streams in the desert;”

This is one of the many messianic prophecies Jesus fulfilled.

Jesus isn’t afraid of this act of healing becoming public but rather is alluding to the reality that the time wasn’t ripe for these words and deeds to resonate as they would after His atoning sacrifice and death.

Now I know that someone with a physical disability may chide me for using this analogy – but friends I ask you, what greater disability is there to not have eternal life secured in God’s Kingdom? It is to remain as man was prior to his encounter with Jesus, living in sin.

 Ephphatha! Be opened! Few more beautiful words have been uttered in the history of mankind than these. When Jesus opened the ears and freed the tongue of the deaf and mute man he gave us a gift.

Symbolically, the opening of the man’s ears is like when the unbeliever hears the goodness of the Gospel for the first time. The loosening of the tongue is like excited lips that preach the Good News from hearts on fire.

When Jesus shared his power and love with the disabled man, he gave us a picture of his love for us and how he would best express it on his cross. The last verse says that Jesus has “done everything well” using the same words that used in the Book of Genesis to describe God during the creation story. Jesus has restored creation as God intended.

So there you have it: Jesus meets the needs of this man and changes his life forever by doing away with his double-disability, the double-disability of humanity.

But the real question this day is for you:

What type of disability do you need to overcome? What type of heart, mind, or soul disability do you have that keeps you from full participation in God’s Kingdom?

A very worried man went to his doctor. “Doctor, you have to help me; I’m dying,” he said. “Everything I touch hurts. I touch my head and it hurts. I touch my leg and it hurts. I touch my stomach and it hurts. I touch my chest and it hurts. You have to help me, Doc; everything hurts.”

The doctor gave him a complete examination. “I have good news and bad news for you,” he said. “The good news is you are not dying. The bad news is you have a broken finger.”

 

If we only view the world through the brokenness of our humanity of course we discover that everything is full of sin, decay, and death.

The cause of our suffering and pain in this world is simple: we need to fill our God sized hole that leaves us incomplete and full of pain and uneasy.

Jesus is ready and waiting for you. All you have to do is admit your disability and ask Him to walk daily with you. Amen.