Category: Sermons

So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.”
Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

John 6:24-35

My sermon from the 11th Sunday after Pentecost (August 4, 2024) on John 6:24-35.

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Every vacation I go on comes with its own challenges, stresses, and headaches. There’s the large packing list I’ll diligently put together only to forget something important like shirts or socks. There’s the fun that comes trying to find parking at the airport and figuring out how to feed three kids who don’t all like the same things. Vacations are full of new experiences that bring great fun, joy, and a little stress. And the one thing that is practically guaranteed to happen every time I travel is that I won’t have any idea how to turn the hotel’s shower on. Bathtubs have been around for thousands of years and the first patent for a mechanical shower was issued in the mid 1700s. Indoor plumbing is a gift that has changed the world but there doesn’t seem to be any standard when it comes to which knob, button, or doohickey will send the water from the tub’s faucet into the shower. Often it’s a handle that needs to be turned in a specific way, a little button hidden in some secret compartment that needs to be pushed or, like it was in Colorado this week, a round circular knob on the underside of the faucet that needed to be turned and pulled out. Vacations are amazing yet can also be stressful even when things are going according to plan. But we, as a people, have decided to increase that stress by encouraging a bit of misunderstanding whenever we’re trying to get clean. Misunderstanding shows up on any journey that we take. And as we saw in today’s reading from the gospel according to John, misunderstanding is also what happens whenever we journey with our God.

So like I said last week, we’ll spend the rest of August hanging out in John’s version of the only miracle that appears in all four of the gospels. One of the many differences between John’s version and all the others is how much talking Jesus does. One of the hallmarks of the gospel according to John is how miracles, teachings, or sermons are often followed by a long back-and-forth between Jesus and whoever is around him. And that’s because, for John, these miracles – which is a word he never uses to describe what Jesus did – are never an end in themselves. Jesus’ work is a sign of what happens when God’s kingdom comes near. When God shows up, people are healed, fed, cherished, and drawn into life-giving relationships transforming them into something more. The miracle wasn’t how Jesus turned a boy’s lunch into a feast for 5,000 that only satisfied this current moment. The true miracle was the building of a connection showing how we always have a seat at Jesus’ table. This is why, I think, John’s Jesus did more than empower the disciples to feed those around him. Instead, Jesus took the time to feed everyone himself. He didn’t treat the people in the crowd as merely a showcase for what amazing things he could do. He treated people as people, inviting them to learn and grow while being sustained by the One who took the time to look them in the eye and know their entire story. After the crowd was fed, they didn’t necessarily understand what Jesus was up to but they sensed something was different. They recognized how Jesus was building a future for, and with, each of them. The crowd responded by wanting to crown Jesus as a king – revealing their misunderstanding of who Jesus chose to be. He wasn’t interested in wielding power over them; he wanted to connect with them so they could discover how abundance, rather than scarcity, was the life God wanted for us all. The crowd didn’t get it but Jesus didn’t let their lack of understanding diminish the love he had for them. And so, later on, when the crowd tracked him down after he went somewhere new, Jesus kept talking because not understanding what God is up to is one of the most human, and faithful things, we get to work through.

The crowd, like when we are standing before a shower that won’t turn on no matter how many calls to the front desk we make, wasn’t sure what Jesus was up to. But when he moved, they followed and had the courage to ask “how long” when they reached him. That might not have been the question we would ask if we ran into Jesus on the street but it does model, for us, how following Jesus doesn’t mean we can’t question Jesus when we’re with him. Now I’ll admit it seems a little odd to give you permission to question God since other stories and verses in our Bible are often interpreted to imply we shouldn’t. But I’ve often found that faith – which, in ancient Greek is the same word for trust – is shaped through the questions we share. Our relationships with each other and with our God are crafted and formed through a trust that doesn’t push aside our wonder. Rather, Jesus always keeps talking because God is big enough to hold whatever question we have. Jesus doesn’t build our faith and our trust merely through amazing feats of power. Instead, Jesus gives us his constant presence even when misunderstanding is all we have. Jesus didn’t give up on the crowd even though they didn’t fully get what God was up to. And in the relationship God already made with you in your baptism, God has already promised to never give up on you too. Jesus stuck around because sticking around is what God is all about. And we are invited to bring to God our questions, our worries, and even our doubts. We are allowed to be completely ourselves since whatever is stirring within our heart doesn’t mean we are far from our God. I know we sometimes assume that misunderstanding is why our sorrow, grief, and hurt linger more than we expect. But life is sometimes very full – and it isn’t understanding that will make our emotions melt away. Misunderstanding is, instead, simply what happens since we’re human – and pretending to know what we don’t know is often the easiest way to harm ourselves and others. The way through our misunderstanding isn’t to ignore our questions but to embrace them; to ask “when,” “what,” “why,” and even “how come.” And when we ask them, we’re invited to not only bring them to God through our worship and our prayers but also to one another. When we invest our time and energy in exploring our misunderstandings, long held thoughts that made us who we are are then transformed into something holy and true. And when these same questions are ones that cannot be answered, it’s perfectly okay to sit with them – surrounded by a community of faith, and a God, who will never let us go. Asking these kinds of questions might make us feel pretty awkward or leave us feeling vulnerable when those around us ask things we don’t have an answer to. But if Jesus was willing to engage with the questions and misunderstanding the crowd near the Sea of Galilee shared with him nearly 2000 years ago, he’s more than willing to sit with all our questions and misunderstanding too. When we find ourselves confused, unsure, with way too many “whys” and “how comes” and “wonderings” about what might be – we are then invited to cling to the answer we’ll hear Jesus keep giving: you are, even now, with your God and Jesus will feed, protect, and carry you through.

Amen.

After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.”

When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself. When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.

John 6:1-21

My sermon from the 11th Sunday after Pentecost (August 4, 2024) on John 6:24-35.

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I don’t follow every sport but when the Olympics kick off, my daily mood is dictated by how well team USA does in mixed doubles badminton, marathon race walking, and in the Women’s Kayak Four 500m canoe sprint. The Olympic games, at their best, transform our innate competitiveness into a collaborative spectacle where we raise each other up rather than teach one another down. And one way we do that is by how varied sports can be. Our attention is usually focused on the individual athletes themselves. But getting to the Olympics takes a lot more than simply doing really well at some national events. A recent news article in the Washington Post described, in detail, what some athletes need to do to make sure their gear makes it to the games. Unlike a swimmer or a sprinter who can pack their jersey in their carry-on luggage, a pole vaulter, an equestrian, and a paralympic wheelchair basketball player tend to carry a few more things. These athletes, who spent years training their bodies to do incredible things, sometimes spend roughly the same amount of time trying to get their gear to an international competition. Olympians tend to be more than simply amazing athletes; they’re also their own roadies, equipment managers, and travel agents. Standing on the Olympic stage is an incredible accomplishment; but it takes more than just winning a competition to make that future come about. 

Over the last few months, we’ve spent the majority of our time listening to Mark’s version of Jesus’ life and ministry. But starting today and through the end of August, we’ll spend most of our time in John, chapter six. This is the beginning of John’s version of the only miracle that appears in all four versions of Jesus’ life. And it starts with Jesus, his friends, and a large crowd, sitting on a mountain. We would expect, I think, for Jesus to head to Jerusalem since the festival of Passover was near. He chose, however, to stay on the road – inviting folks far and wide to discover what the kingdom of God was all about. Jesus, throughout his journeys, regularly drew religious leaders and those looking to grow in their spiritual life to him. But the vast majority of those who came to see Jesus simply hoped he could heal them. The crowd who came to see Jesus while he was sitting on that mountain top was not some anonymous mass of humanity looking for only one thing. It was, instead, a community of individual people who had their own stories, histories, and experiences. When Jesus looked up at them, he knew they were more than simply whatever it was that brought them to that place. They weren’t there to simply showcase the kind of healing he could do. They were real people who deserved to be cherished and known. In their worries, fears, and needs – Jesus recognized how they longed for a future where they could safely belong. He wasn’t interested in only their current moment; he wanted them to have what they needed to live into what they could be. He knew they would need words, encouragement, and their own gear to enter into the future that had already come. Jesus, then, became his own event planner, roadie, and equipment manager. He paid attention to what he and his friends had – and what the large crowd would need. Jesus didn’t just see them – he looked up to them – which is, quite frankly, a difficult thing to do when you’re already on-top of a mountain. Yet this looking up wasn’t merely a physical act – it was also a metaphorical one since looking up was what a student would do when they connected with the One who they wanted to learn from. Jesus didn’t just see the crowd; he wanted to connect with those within it too. And when they showed up, he invited them to assume the pose of every disciple by sitting down next to him. Their healing would matter but it wouldn’t be the end-all/be-all for what their future might be. And that’s because the One who was with them, the One who already saw them, and the One who would give them all that he had – including his words, his forgiveness, his body, and his blood – would now carry them into a different kind of future – one that will never end. 

Now having what we actually need to live into that future isn’t always easy to figure out. We know we at least need the basics – like food, shelter, safety, and a community who we can count on when things get hard. But we also need those more intangible things that let us be honest about who we truly are. We need the space, courage, and strength to confess we’re not always the hero we imagine ourselves to be. And our own selfishness,  self-centeredness, and sin can be a tool that distorts our own understanding of who our God truly is. We need more than simply a few words, a couple of teachings, and a verse taken out of context to live into whatever future might be. What we need are our own tools, gifts, and spiritual gear to transform our lives and our souls – Which is what God, in Jesus, does. It begins with a bit of water and words poured over us, claiming and including us in what God is already up to. These tools are then expanded as we grow into a community of faith who love and serve and remind ourselves that we are never finished in becoming who God calls us to be. We are fed through words and songs, scripture and good news, and the commitment we make to each other to not let this current moment be the only moment that shapes who we get to be. Our journey isn’t easy and it might feel as if the spiritual gear we carry isn’t big enough to face all that life might bring. And when that happens, we might doubt our faith, our strength, or even that we’re loved. But if an Olympian has to stuff two disassembled BMX bikes into suitcases to get them to Paris; if the kayakers have to rent boats that barely float because the one they stored in a nearby country over a year ago couldn’t, because of brand new custom regulations, cross over the border; and if a $7,500 specialized wheelchair for basketball has to fly over the ocean sandwiched between the luggage tourists packed for the flight, you – as you are right now – have all you need to be the beloved child of God you truly are. You are loved; you are valued; and, in your baptism, God proclaimed how you were necessary for God’s future to be made whole. And when that future feels scary or small or way too short – trust that the journey you are on isn’t only about today but includes the forever that God, in Jesus’ birth, Jesus’ death, and Jesus’ resurrection, has already begun. 

Amen. 

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

When they had crossed over [after the feeding of the 5,000 and walking on water], [Jesus and the disciples] came to land at Gennesaret and moored the boat. When they got out of the boat, people at once recognized him, and rushed about that whole region and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.

Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

My sermon from the 9th Sunday after Pentecost (July 21, 2024) on Mark 6:30-34, 53-56.

*****

So how do you feel when you’re interrupted? 

Being interrupted isn’t very fun. Sometimes when the interruption is small – like when a spammer calls our cell phone or we catch our kid rooting through our bag while we’re busying singing the opening hymn – we end up being annoyed but we get over it pretty quickly. Other interruptions, though, make us feel as if we don’t even matter. When I think about interruptions, I tend to remember all those times when someone spoke over me. It’s the type of interruption that not only disrupts our train of thought but unravels whatever I planned to do next. Our focus, our attention, and our energy is then diverted to what that other person decided was a priority over us. And while some of these interruptions aren’t really a big deal, they can leave us feeling overwhelmed especially when they happen over and over again. Being interrupted has a way of making us feel small and undervalued which is especially unnerving in our culture since people are taught how they’re allowed to interrupt anyone because they have certain gender, or presitage, or a big fancy bank account. When we’re interrupted, the feelings we feel linger and they can grow into a kind of resentment that will change how we interact with ourselves and with others. Learning how to process being interrupted is often harder than learning how to not interrupt others in the first place. And when we take a moment to look at how Jesus responded to all the interruptions that showed up in his earthly ministry, we notice that anger, frustration, and resentment are not the only things that can influence what we say and do.

Our reading today from the gospel according to Mark begins with the disciples being completely exhausted. Two weeks ago, we heard how Jesus sent them out, two by two, to bring grace and wholeness to others. Their journey required them to depend on the hospitality of strangers which, in itself, is pretty scary. And after meeting a bunch of new people, listening to their stories, and inviting them to experience the love God already had for them, they returned to Jesus full of all kinds of feelings. They were excited to share with him all they had done as well as express all the frustrations they experienced too. They need to process with Jesus and with one another all they had lived through. In other words, the disciples were looking to vent – to spiritually, mentally, and emotional decompress all they had experienced in the days and weeks since they last saw Jesus. And this need wasn’t something that they only saw themselves; Jesus recognized it too. So rather than sending them on another mission, Jesus became his own travel agent, organizing an all inclusive retreat where his friends could just get away from all. But when they finally arrived at the so-called deserted place, they ran into a crowd of people waiting for them. 

Now it’s kind of surprising how, in an era without social media and cellphones, everyone knew exactly where Jesus planned to be. Word had quickly spread and a crowd of desperate people, as well as their family and friends, gathered to meet him. The people there weren’t on their own version of a spiritual retreat. They were, instead, people with physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual needs. When they heard Jesus was heading to a place near them, they interrupted their lives because they needed someone who could interrupt whatever they were living through. The crowd waiting for Jesus and the disciples were the same kinds of people they had already met in towns, synagogues, and along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. And so I don’t think it’s too hard to imagine how Jesus’ friends felt when they looked out and saw all the stressful and exhausting work they had tried to leave behind. The disciples, I think, weren’t trying to be mean. They were simply tired. They needed to find a place where they could vent and be cared for too. But when they ended up at their vacation destination, it was interrupted by an incredible amount of human need. I imagine many of us, in our own way, know what it’s like when the break we need is interrupted by whatever real life brings. Even if that interruption is something small silly, when we’re exhausted, worn out, and overwhelmed by it all – a lot of grief, anger, and resentment comes out. It’s not difficult to realize how we would have acted in their situation and so we should give the disciples a pass for whatever they want to do. But instead of focusing on how the disciples reacted to this interruption, Mark choose to focus on how the One who would often go off on his own to pray; the One who could get mad; the One who was sometimes frustrated, sad, full of joy, and incredibly worn out; Mark invited to pay attention to what Jesus chose to do. He is the Son of God but he’s also pretty human too. He, along with the disciples, were tired and worn out in this so-called deserted place. But when his break was interrupted by the kinds of people he regularly met, Jesus, in the words of Pastor Joanna Harader, performed a miracle we often overlook.“In the midst of his own exhaustion,” Jesus responded to the crowd not with “exasperation but with compassion.” He recognized their pain, their suffering, and the hurt that had consumed their lives. And Jesus didn’t simply heal them; he taught them, included them, and in the story from the verses we don’t hear today – he fed them too. Jesus, in other words, simply loved them because his compassion recognized how they were already beloved children of God. 

Jesus’ decision to respond to interruptions with compassion rather than anger or frustration isn’t always easy to do. When we are tired, exhausted, and completely worn out – even listening to someone else feels impossible. Taking the time to recharge our body, our soul, and our mind is something we’re supposed to do. And if you need to vent, simply ask – and remember it’s okay to tell those around you that you really do need help. Jesus knows we can’t go through life on our own which is why he made sure to connect us to each other. We are called to not only take care of each other but to be a people who protect each other too. And when you need to recharge, we all have an obligation to not only tend to your spiritual needs but to your emotional, mental, and physical needs too. We are called to be compassionate with each other so that we can learn how to respond to every interruption with compassion too. Now there are some things that do more than simply interrupt the words coming out of our mouths. There are other kinds of interruptions that utterly upend and transform the lives we planned to live. Those interruption are literally life changing and we can become quickly overwhelmed by all we’re living through. And when that kind of interruption happens, I hope you can experience deep compassion for yourself and through others while you mourn and rage. You are not defined by the worst thing that has happened to you. You are a beloved child of God. And there’s nothing that can happen to you that will ever interrupt the eternal connection that God, through Jesus, has already made with you.

Amen. 

King Herod heard of [the disciples’ preaching], for Jesus’ name had become known. Some were saying, “John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him.” But others said, “It is Elijah.” And others said, “It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”
For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod had married her. For John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed; and yet he liked to listen to him. But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of Galilee. When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.” And he solemnly swore to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.” She went out and said to her mother, “What should I ask for?” She replied, “The head of John the baptizer.” Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.

Mark 6:14-29

My sermon from the 8th Sunday after Pentecost (July 14, 2024) on Mark 6:14-29.

*****

So this week was pretty busy for the Marvel cinematic universe. There’s been a lot of chatter over the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine movie as well as new trailers for the next Captain America movie and the first season of the show Agatha All Along. I’ll admit my nerd cred has dropped a bit since I haven’t been keeping up with Marvel like I used to. But it was fun to drink my morning coffee a few days ago and see what all the fans were talking about. One particular fan, though, wasn’t thrilled with some of the choices Marvel has made when it comes to their visual storytelling. This person took a few screenshots from the new trailers and the recent shows to show how they’re all filmed in the same way. Rather than using the entire rectangle that makes up the screen on our tvs, at movie theaters, or even on our phones to tell the story; everything has been condensed to the very middle of the screen. We no longer need to focus on the wider perspective to notice what might come next. All the action, the important visuals, and the emotions that make a show what it’s supposed to be – is at the center of it all. Marvel is doing this because they want to do more than simply show a story; they want other people to share it. And one of the best ways to do that is to have people craft their own videos on Instagram, TikTok, and other social media. The videos for those apps, however, are often square – limiting what can be seen. Marvel keeps everything in the center so that clips from the show are easier to share. On one level, that might make the story easier to follow along since we never have to turn our head. But if we’re not careful, we might not realize that what we see in the center isn’t the entirety of what that story is about. 

Mark is probably the version of Jesus’ life that works hardest to keep Jesus in every frame. It started its story when Jesus was already an adult and ended when Mary Magdalene and others fled from the tomb after discovering that his body was no longer there. It’s the other gospels that typically include events and stories where Jesus isn’t around – such as when an angel told Mary she was about to become pregnant. Mark, though, rarely does this and so when we find ourselves in a story where Jesus is out of the game, that’s an invitation for us to listen. This story, though, is pretty terrible – feeling like it fits better in a true crime podcast rather than in God’s holy words. It starts by introducing us to King Herod who was actually Herod Antipas, the son of the other King Herod we met when Jesus was a baby. Antipas, by the time Jesus’ ministry took place, had ruled over Galilee for decades after being installed as its governor by the Roman Empire. Antipas’ primary responsibility was to keep his overlords happy by providing the Romans with all the money and resources they wanted. This mandate gave Antipas a lot of leeway when it came to exercising power in his little region and so there was no one who would really complain if he threw a troublemaking preacher into prison. John had, over time, become a bit of a thorn in his side since he wasn’t a fan of how Antipas chose to use his power. Antipas’ recent marriage to his half-brother’s wife was just another act in a series of them that caused John to wonder why Antipas did what he did. Their confrontation grew and, as reported in Mark, it became something like a biblical version of the TV show Law and Order: SVU. There’s a lot of salacious details that easily grab our attention. But I wonder if there’s another detail, a little off to the side, that we should focus on instead. Mark, in general, doesn’t include many details in his writing since he wants us to move quickly from one thing to the next. Yet one detail that’s a bit easy to miss is one Mark kept repeating since he named, several times, Antipas’ fear. We’re told that he not only feared John but that he was also afraid of what others might think if he didn’t kill him. This wasn’t an attempt to reduce Antipas to some kind of easily manipulated person since he was a person who used power recklessly for his own self-preservation. It was, rather, Mark’s way of answering John’s question about what was at the center of all he said and did. To Mark, Antipas wasn’t merely an evil ruler that we can look at from the sidelines and be glad we’re not like him. Antipas was, rather, a coward who chose to let fear  – the fear of losing power, of losing control, and the fear of losing his reputation – as the central motivating power that shaped who he was. 

Now fear is a very human emotion that we don’t always name. It’s a word we might say when we’re being honest about why we don’t want to see a scary movie but one we won’t say when describing why we interact with some people differently than we do with others. Our culture, I think, doesn’t really know what to do with fear which is why we mask our fear with all kinds of insecurities, anxieties, conspiracies, and a hyper-fixation on violence as an answer to everything. Our inability to process fear in life giving ways is a bit strange since so much of our scripture identifies as an aspect of faith as having a robust fear of God. Yet we choose to make fear into a bad thing unless it’s something we can regularly wield over others. I wonder if one of the reasons why we struggle with fear is because we don’t know how to properly explore it. We don’t have the questions we need to be honest about what it means to be afraid. One of those questions that might be helpful was put together by Professor Marily Mcentyre who saw what Antipas was up to and wanted to ask him: “what are you protecting?” The answer to that question wouldn’t be what he thought he was protecting; it would be honest, authentic, and faithful so that he could see how his power, prestige, and vanity was what he cared for the most. He was a coward not because he was sometimes afraid; what made him a coward was his unwillingness to examine how fear was at the center of everything that made him who he was. And when we keep that part of his story central to what it’s about, it invites us to wonder what’s at the center of us too. If we took all the scenes of our life and put what mattered to us the most in the middle, would we really want to see what’s on that screen? Would we want to notice the hurt, anger, frustration, or fear that we acted out of while not even fully realizing how that was already there? It’s a scene that, if we’re honest, might scare us since we know how human we truly are. But it’s also why we were brought into the One who made us, our needs, our brokenness, and all our fears, the center of everything he said and did too. When you were baptized and gifted with faith, God didn’t choose you because you’ve never been afraid. Rather, Jesus claimed you so that you could discover how his life could be at the center of yours too. Our fears do not have to be the primary motivating force that defines how we act in our homes, schools, workplace, or even our nation. Rather, we can ask ourselves a more faithful question about what we’re called to protect. It’s a question that isn’t always easy to answer especially when there are those who are choosing violence to grow our fears rather than quell them. Yet it is a question we can live out by reflecting on the fullness of what Jesus did. It’s a way of life that doesn’t mean we’ll never be afraid. But it chooses to trust that even when we can’t see Jesus in the middle of it all, he is already here – with a divine love that each one of us can share. 

Amen. 

[Jesus] left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. Then Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.” And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. And he was amazed at their unbelief.
Then he went about among the villages teaching. He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

Mark 6:1-13

My sermon from the 7th Sunday after Pentecost (July 7, 2024) on Mark 6:1-13.

*****

Let’s imagine you knew a guest would be at your front door once worship was over today. It might be a friend, a family member, or someone using your spare room as an AirBnb. You knew you were going to church so you spent the last few days cleaning, scrubbing, and carefully putting away your collection of vintage Star Wars action figures. The mental checklist you put together to take care of your space is probably pretty long. Yet just making our space into what we want it to be isn’t the limit of what our welcome can actually look like. Sometimes to better understand what a guest might need, we need to reverse our perspective and think what it’s like to enter into a space we know for the very first time. We have to imagine ourselves as a guest who doesn’t really know which drawer the forks are kept in and that the handle for the toilet in the hallway bathroom needs to be jiggled to get the water to stop. Our homes and our lives are full of all kinds of quirks that we often ask our guests to embrace whenever they enter our space. And while these practices don’t really bother us, they’re not always easy to see – especially when we ask others to do them too. Being a guest and welcoming a guest can be a very humbling and scary event. Yet when we take the time to imagine ourselves as a guest while knowing we are already at home – we can find new ways to bless and serve those we might not fully know. 

Now the practice of being at home but imagining ourselves as a guest is almost like reading a story backwards. We begin at the end – the guest showing up – and read back into all that’s come before. It’s how we better recognize the quirks the guest might need to figure out while, at the same time, discovering a bit more of why we live the way we do. Starting at the end and reflecting on what came before is a process all over our Christian scriptures. Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John wrote their stories knowing that the Cross would come since they wrote their words down decades after that first Easter morning. Wondering what our future with Jesus is like while looking back at what has come is one of the ways we digest our faith. And this is a process that I think can help us reflect on today’s reading from the gospel according to Mark. When we start near the end, we notice the disciples who were about to enter into a future full of unknowns and fears. Jesus decided to send them out into communities they didn’t really know with instructions that were a bit specific. Unlike the guest who might show up to your home, Jesus’ friends would travel without a bag or money or even food for their journey. Their well-being would entirely depend on the hospitality of strangers. And while the culture for hospitality in Jesus’ day was much more extensive than our own, the disciples were probably a bit worried about what kind of welcome they would receive. They had, after all, saw how Jesus was welcomed by those who he grew up with. These neighbors, family members, and old friends had spent decades with Jesus and we’d expect them to at least listen to what he might have to say. But Mark shows us that the length of time we have with Jesus doesn’t always mean we’ll get who Jesus is. The disciples saw those who had played with Jesus in the marketplace as a kid, prayed with him when they worshiped together on the sabbath, and those who knew all the quirks that made Jesus’ home his home – wasn’t enough to clearly see who Jesus had become. The community didn’t pretend Jesus couldn’t do what the disciples had seen him do – such as heal the sick, cast out demons, and silence a storm. But there was something about Jesus – maybe a bit of wonder, disappointment and frustration he had left home, his family, and his responsibilities behind – that rendered those who knew Jesus the longest to not see who he truly was. Jesus was home but treated like an unwanted guest who should leave everyone alone. 

So it was a bit odd that Jesus, the unwanted guest, should then choose to send his disciples as guests into places they didn’t necessarily know. They would learn the quirks of all who they encountered. And while there, Jesus gave his disciples something to do. Jesus didn’t tell them to convert anyone or to take over anyone else’s culture or to act as if their relationship with God was better than God’s relationship with anyone else. Instead, in groups of two, he let them do what he did. He called them to listen, to invite, to proclaim, and to heal. These followers of Jesus would take the time to discover not only the quirks of the people they met but also their wants, their needs, and all that would make them whole. They would, as guests, speak into the pain and worry and fear and concerns that we never want any of our guests to know. Jesus had a habit of letting others know they are loved and he invited his friends to do exactly that by, in the words of Professor Matthew Skinner, “humbly… commit[ing] themselves to the well-being of” those around them. For the people around us who know us the longest, it’s not always easy to show what our soul needs. Often what we need is a guest who will meet us as we are to help us discover what we might become. Being that kind of guest, though, isn’t always easy since being welcomed leaves us vulnerable and in need. What would make this whole process easier would be if we were, instead of being guests, we were at home – surrounded by all that makes us who we are. And Jesus, I believe, knew this which is why he reminded the disciples about the home they already had with God. Jesus let them embrace the fullness of who they were with him by letting them be his body, his hands, and his feet in the world. Even when they were someplace new, what rooted them wasn’t where they had come from but who it was that claimed them as their own. Jesus had already granted them a home with their God which freed them to be the kind of guest who could bring healing and hope into the lives of everyone they meet. It’s a calling all who follow Jesus, all who are with Jesus, all who have been given a home in Jesus through the claim he has placed on all our lives – are given too. The homes we have are not simply the homes we’ve made or defined by the communities we are born into. Our homes are not limited to what we rent, what we buy, or what we pay taxes for. Our home is more than the place that holds all the quirks we require our guests to put up when they come to visit us. Instead, because of baptism, faith, grace, and the work Jesus did through the Cross and beyond, we are already at home in God. And since God is our home, we get to enter every home – including the ones we make throughout our lives – as a kind of spiritual guest that takes God’s quirks of mercy, forgiveness, and love and makes them real in the lives of everyone we meet. 

Amen.

When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea. Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet and begged him repeatedly, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.”
So he went with him. And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.” Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?” And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, ‘Who touched me?’” He looked all around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
While he was still speaking, some people came from the leader’s house to say, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?” But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. When he had entered, he said to them, “Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside, and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha cum,” which means, “Little girl, get up!” And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Mark 5:21-43

My sermon from the 6th Sunday after Pentecost (June 30, 2024) on Mark 5:21-43.

*****

Our reading today from the gospel according to Mark includes a story within a story which is Mark’s favorite way to showcase who Jesus is. Jesus rarely ever went from point A to point B according to plan because life always got in the way. So after returning from his journey across the Sea of Galilee, Jesus was met on the shore by a man named Jarius. At that time, though, Jesus was surrounded by a crowd full of people with their own requests and needs too. From what I can tell, there was no real effort to organize the process by which Jesus decided who received help and when. Instead, people showed up and what happened next could be pretty chaotic. Jairus’ own request was a bit much since it would require Jesus to get up and leave everyone else behind. He had to repeat it several times but, after a while, Jesus listened. The crowd around him was full of people who waited all day to receive some kind of healing. But before he could reach everyone, Jesus decided to move – and someone in the crowd chose to move too. An unnamed woman had, for the last twelve years, lived with hemorrhages her doctors couldn’t cure. Mark doesn’t go into details about what, exactly, her medical condition might be. It’s possible she had some kind of menstrual disorder or she had suffered some kind of injury during pregnancy. It’s also possible her condition was entirely treatable but since medical care tends to focus its research on the bodies of men from certain wealthy and privileged backgrounds, she ended up spending all she had to live a life with a pain that gradually grew worse. She suffered – and I imagine her faith, her identity, and her relationships with others – and with her God – suffered too. Now she was in the crowd because, at some point, she had heard about Jesus. What she heard, Mark doesn’t say. But it was enough to bring her to that place by the sea. She arrived there unknown and unseen, just one more person in the crowd. Yet when Jesus began to move, she moved too. She reached out, touched Jesus’ cloak, and the healing – from what we’re told – happened quickly. She knew immediately that something changed. And while coming to terms with a body that no longer worked the way it had, Jesus looked around and said: “who?” 

Now “who” is a pronoun in English that does a lot of work. It can point to an individual, a community, an entire people, a sci-fi time traveling time lord, and an English Rock Band all at the same time. That flexibility is why the word “who” can be sort of mystical when it shows up in certain songs, speeches, and poems. Yet the word “who” in the language of ancient Greek – the language the gospel according to Mark was written in – doesn’t have that same kind of flexibility. Ancient Greek, like many of the world’s languages, attaches grammatical gender to nouns and pronouns. What gender might apply to what word varies from language to language but we can roughly expect anywhere from two to four different genders being applied to things like chairs, mountains, or a cloud. When a group of mixed genders are together – say, a group of people – ancient Greek defaulted to the “male” version of the noun or pronoun even if there was only 1 dude in a group of 1000. Since Jesus was, at that moment, surrounded by all kinds of people seeking health and wholeness – we’d expect his “who” to be male and plural. Yet the who he uttered was very specific – a who that was feminine and singular. While he was on the move among a crowd full of religious leaders, disciples, men, women, seekers, believers, doubters, the old, the young, the healed, those in need of healing, and every other flavor of humanity drawn to Jesus – Jesus knew who had reached out to him. The people around Jesus were oblivious, even sort of shocked that Jesus would say what he said. But there was one person in the crowd who knew exactly what he was talking about. The unnamed woman realized that Jesus saw her and she took the chance to share with him everything that had happened over the last twelve years. Her hemorrhages had already been cured but her true healing began when Jesus used one little word to let her know she was never alone. And after publicly commending her, he named her daughter since she was – and always would be – a part of God’s holy family. 

Now the power of “who” does more than reveal Jesus’ power; it also serves as a corrective for our tendency to twist what Jesus meant when he said “your faith has made you well.” It’s a phrase used to blame others – or ourselves – when our prayers go unanswered. It’s a kind of blame we’re especially good at leveraging against those who we don’t like and it’s a blame we internalize since Jesus’ miracles in the Bible don’t always appear to us in the same way. Life has a habit of making us wonder why Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter but not our own parent or friend or spouse or even our own child. I’ll admit I don’t really have a good answer to that very hard question but I do know that the amount of faith you have doesn’t determine your grief, your sorrow, or your pain. Faith doesn’t always look like patience or kindness or goodness or something that is always quiet and stable. There’s also a different kind of faith – of trust – that we live through too. In the words of Rev. Brad Roth, “[that] faith… [is when we] reach out and take hold of Jesus however [we] can—not an arm or a fistful of robe but just the barest little knot of tassel on the corner of his cloak. This sort of faith isn’t entirely explainable—not because it’s ridiculous, an impossible abstraction, but because in faith we’re responding to an overture that we don’t entirely understand from a place that is often heaving and doing something strange in us. [At that moment], there’s no knowing Zen smile [across our face because] we don’t have it [all] together, and our stomachs are knotted up like a wet dish rag. [It’s a faith that knows we’ve been bleeding for years] but there he is [, right there,] in the crowd.” This kind of faith is “a stretching through to something, to someone;” a faith that lives out Mark 5:27 on [an] everlasting loop.” It’s a faith that hears Jesus, comes to Jesus, touches Jesus, reaches out – a faith that can hold every emotion, every sorrow, every joy, every tear, every question, every wonder, and every moment of desperation. It’s a faith that has done everything it’s supposed to do – and yet still wonders where God is. And while that isn’t the faith we often prefer, it is the faith that helps us – when we have nothing left – to just come. And when we do, we sometimes receive a word that reminds us how God already sees us; that God already knows what we’re going through; and that our God is living with us through whatever we’re going through. That is a part of Jesus’ promise – that even our worst moments won’t be the final moment that defines us. Rather, we are – through baptism and in faith – a part of God’s holy family and God’s love, God’s hope, and God’s peace is something we can trust – because it will carry us through today and into a more holy tomorrow. 

Amen.

On that day, when evening had come, [Jesus said to the disciples], “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

Mark 4:35-41

My sermon from the 5th Sunday after Pentecost (June 23, 2024) on Mark 4:35-41.

*****

So last October, my family and I welcomed a new dog, Pepper, into the household. She’s colored black and white, with the blue eyes of a Siberian Husky and the attitude of an Australian Cattle Dog. Pepper loves herding the 5 year old around the house and barking at the chipmunks she sees through our back windows. It’s been awhile since I’ve lived with a dog so it’s taken a little time to integrate Pepper into my life. But there are those living in my home who are still struggling with a roommate they didn’t ask for. Our two cats, Finn and Flotus, used to have full ownership over the house. But once this playful puppy moved in, their life became pretty small. They’re primarily staying on one side of the house, spending their days sitting high on a bookshelf or outside in their enclosed patio. When they take the time to nap in front of sunny windows, their rest is never restful. Their ears are always on alert, waiting to hear the click-clack-click of Pepper’s claws on the vinyl floor. These two little furballs spend their days in a constant stage of exhausting vigilance because a puppy-sized storm is always on the horizon. 

Finn and Flotus’ restless sleep pattern seems like something we can relate to since many of us know what it’s like to live in a constant stage of vigilance. Yet it’s a way of living that is different from simply trying to always be prepared or letting others twist our anxieties and our fears for their own personal, spiritual, or political gains. It’s more like what we experience when we take a child to a busy playground. We might spend that time talking to a friend, making a phone call, or even attempting to do some work. But our focus is always split because we’re trying to keep an eye on where our kid is. It’s the mental, physical, and spiritual energy we use to protect ourselves from that person we’re living with who might explode at any moment and to keep tabs on the elderly parent or spouse who needs all the care we can give. It’s a vigilance that, even during our most holy moments, can be utterly exhausting. Yet it’s often the cost that comes with the fact we care. We care about those who matter to us. We care about our loved ones’ health, happiness, and future. We stay vigilant, even when we are asleep, ready to respond to whatever storm might come. It’s a hard way to live but it is also one of the surest ways to show others that we care. 

Now the sea of Galilee isn’t really a sea; it’s more of a large lake – roughly 13 miles long and 8 miles wide. It has, for centuries, served as the economic lifeblood of the entire area. Its water is essential when it comes to irrigating the crops and vineyards dotting the countryside and within its waters were tons of fish that Peter, John, and others regularly caught. The sea is also rather shallow and is surrounded by hills. This creates a situation where large storms can brew up very quickly. The waves and wind generated by these storms would easily swamp the small fishing boats that Jesus and his friends used. And even though the weather seemed fine when Jesus, the disciples, and the crowd left to visit the other side, everyone knew how quickly things could sour. Everyone would need to stay vigilant since a new gust of wind or a small wave could signal trouble for the fleet of ships staffed by not only fishermen but also folks who were old, young, and in need of healing. Everyone knew the kind of danger they could be in. And yet the One who sent them into the boats was soon fast asleep. Jesus – the One who could cast out demons, cure the sick, and who showed how God’s kingdom always upsets the status quo – was acting a little strange since he didn’t seem ready to respond to whatever might come. And when the wind picked up, the waves grew large, and water poured into the boat – Jesus, at the stern of the boat, was literally asleep at the wheel. It’s during the middle of the storm when Jesus’ rest looks incredibly restful since he refused to be moved. And the fact that he doesn’t stir made the disciples wonder if they didn’t know Jesus like they thought they did. They watched him do incredible things and yet he didn’t seem to be, at that moment, paying attention to what was happening around him. He wasn’t being vigilant and so it seemed, to them, as if Jesus didn’t care. 

So the disciples, while their boat is filling with water, called Jesus out for not being who they expected him to be. The disciples didn’t ask for help. They didn’t ask to be saved. They didn’t ask him to calm the storm. All they did was ask him why he didn’t care. It’s a question that is, I think, one of the most human and faithful questions we can ask. When our heart breaks, when our strength fails, when our need to be vigilant has drained our soul dry – asking if our Jesus is asleep at the wheel is probably the most normal thing we can do. What we want and what we expect is a Jesus who will act; a Jesus who shows up; a Jesus who cares. What we desire and what we need is a God who notices our pain, our sorrow, our suffering, and who steps in to say that this isn’t what life is supposed to be. We want a Jesus whose ears are always turned up; a Jesus who is ready to respond; a Jesus who makes our faith real. And yet when Jesus did wake up, the power he showed wasn’t the power they expected. He didn’t just stop the storm; he stopped the waves and the wind. The calm he brought was a calm no one wanted since the current and their sails were now worthless. They were now completely at rest with no easy way to go back to what they were or forward to what they might be. All they had in that moment was themselves and Jesus – which is also exactly what they had when the storm raged around them just a few moments before. The disciples had been through a whirlwind of emotions, feelings, and experiences that required them to be vigilant, to respond, to question, and to worry. Their thoughts, their wondering, and even their faith went up and down like waves swamping boats in a storm. Yet through it all, Jesus was right there – with them. Jesus, before they got into the boat, didn’t tell those who followed them that their life would be without storms. He didn’t claim that we might be overwhelmed by the wind and waves of life that suddenly come. But what Jesus did promise was that, because of our baptism and through the gift of grace, he would carry us through. When our focus is split, when our minds are preoccupied, when our attention is divided by the mentally and physically draining care we are called to give – we are not living through this moment on our own. Jesus is also right there with us – a restful presence even though we cannot rest since a storm might be brewing on the horizon. Yet even when that storm comes, the Jesus who claims you is the same Jesus who will be with you – so that the tomorrow that comes is filled with peace, hope, and light. 

Amen.

[Jesus] also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.”
He also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”
With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.

Mark 4:26-34

My sermon from the 4th Sunday after Pentecost (June 16, 2024) on Mark 4:26-34.

**********

So last year, when my youngest transitioned out of daycare, they held a graduation ceremony for her and the forty other kids heading off to new schools. The event took place in a rented gymnasium that was filled to the brim with every parent, grandparents, and extended family member in the land. The four and five year olds were decked out in a mustard yellow graduation gown with a matching hat and tassel. The ceremony was incredibly elaborate and long; with all the kids singing over a dozen songs from memory. They worked really hard to showcase all they could do but something near the start of the ceremony didn’t go in the ways any of us expected. It began with the daycare’s director sharing a few words of welcome before inviting kids to process down the aisle on their own before taking their seats. Once everyone was settled, we were then invited to stand and recite the pledge of allegiance. The sound of metal chairs scraping the floor soon filled the space as everyone stood up and looked for the flag. And once we found it, there was a moment of silence as we waited for someone to kick the whole thing off. When it started, it took a few seconds before our voices came together to recite these words all at the same pace. But once the adults were done, we realized the kids were still speaking. They had memorized the pledge at the speed that worked best for them; yet us older folks, with louder voices, soon drowned them out as we raced to say it on our own. We were there to celebrate these kids moving into their new futures. And yet we began our time together by not even noticing our so-called One Voice failed to include all their voices too. 

Now one of the bits from today’s reading from the gospel according to Mark that I find really interesting is how we’re told that Jesus would often explain his stories to his disciples in private. These stories, known as parables, were used by Jesus to reveal a little bit of God’s imagination for our lives and our world. Yet these parables were often a bit absurd which is why people were often left scratching their heads. Having the opportunity to ask Jesus face-to-face what he meant was an amazing gift that the first followers of Jesus had access to. Jesus, it seems, wasn’t only in the business of sharing divine wisdom from above. He also held office hours. Jesus took the time to unpack any confusion the disciples might have. And that, combined with some other words and teachings within our Bible, seems to imply that understanding what Jesus said and did is a big part of faith. And while not every instance of Jesus’ office hours was recorded in our Bible, the fact that some parables were explained might make us imagine that those that weren’t should be easy to figure out. Jesus’ stories then become a kind of puzzle we’re supposed to figure out. For those with direct access to Jesus during his earthly ministry, we’d expect them to find those answers pretty fast. But for the rest of us, solving Jesus becomes the primary way we try to graduate out of our anxiety, fear, and confusion and into a more peaceful experience with our God. Jesus’ stories, then, are less about what God is up to and more a code that we feel we need to crack to finally discover our own place in God. 

But if that really was what Jesus’ stories were all about, then those first disciples failed every rest. Over and over and over again, Mark showed how their private access to Jesus never brought about full understanding. The education Jesus provided wasn’t enough for them to clearly see what God was up to. And that’s because, I think, Jesus’ stories were meant to be a code that had to be broken. Rather it was his way of letting them – and us – know how we are already a part of what God is doing in the world. Jesus’ stories are something we’re never meant to graduate from because they are designed to linger in our hearts and minds – especially during those moments when our understanding comes undone. Faith isn’t a puzzle we get to solve; it is, instead, a gift showing us how this current moment isn’t the only moment that defines who we get to be with God. Not fully understanding the nuances, details, and absurdities within the stories Jesus shared doesn’t mean we’re unfaithful, bad Christians, or people who really aren’t part of the body of Christ. Rather, we’re invited to just hold onto Jesus’s words so that we can move from understanding and into a trust that notices how our life is already wrapped up in the divine words, voice, and presence of God. You, in baptism and through faith, have been united with the One voice that has space for all. It’s a voice that is big enough to push through the ways we use our own voices to harm others while forgetting that some are even there. And it’s one of the ways God moves us to become our own kind of seed showing what happens when God’s kingdom comes near. 

Now I know living that out isn’t always easy especially when we don’t understand how we fit in the world. It would seem a bit more reasonable for God to let others – maybe a few religious professionals – make it their responsibility to show others how they have a place in God’s kingdom too. Yet if “understanding” God or fully recognizing how integrated our voice and God’s voice should become was the baseline needed to share God with others, then those first followers of Jesus would have remained silent, telling no one of what they had seen, heard, or experienced. God doesn’t only want those who always understand to let people know of the voice of love, grace, and hope God surrounds them with everyday. God has, instead, chosen you to be that voice and to listen for those voices that invite kids, adults, the young, and the old, about the Jesus who is already there for them. It’s a way of living in the world that I believe I’ve already seen our graduates, some who we’ll recognize later today, embody as they move into their new futures. But it’s also something we’ve also been blessed to see in two very specific ways by those who spent their own careers making sure the voice of their students wasn’t lost amongst the crowd. Those two faithful teachers – Jane Conboy and Craig Post – are, in their own way, graduating this month too. Jane has, for the last 39 years, taught French and Spanish at Pascack Hills High School  while Craig has spent 22 teaching science at Dumont High too. During their tenure, they did more than simply try to help students understand the information before them. They also, in their own ways, invited their students to grow into who they were meant to become. I’m sure that there were times when both Craig and Jane could describe, in detail, how specific lesson plans, office hours, and intentional effort made a difference in the lives of their students. But there were other moments when, out of nowhere, their students blossomed in ways even those kids didn’t expect. It wasn’t just their talents as teachers that changed their students’ lives; it was also how they chose to embrace and live into the grace God gives them everyday. We might not always fully understand what this Jesus thing is all about nor realize how we truly are an important part of what God is up to in our world. But we can trust that, no matter what, our God is with us. And when we recognize how God’s voice has already wrapped itself around all our voices with a love, mercy, and hope that will not end – that’s when our new future breaks through. 

Amen.

[Jesus went home] and the crowd came together again, so that [Jesus and the disciples] could not even eat. When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.” And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.” And he called them to him, and spoke to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.
“Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— for they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.”
Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.” And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

Mark 3:20-35

My sermon from the 3rd Sunday after Pentecost (June 9, 2024) on Mark 3:20-35.

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Earlier this week, I attended a “Mental Health First Aid” training here at the church. The two day event hosted by Meals on Wheels of North Jersey was to help us recognize and respond when people go through a mental health crisis. Nearly 1 in 5 adults, every year, will experience some kind of  mental health issue and youth and young adults are affected as well. Being mentally healthy doesn’t mean we’re always happy, comfortable, and secure. When we’re mentally well, we respond in ways that seem reasonable while living through joyous or difficult things.  If, for example, we do poorly on a test or we’re ghosted by someone we’re into – we’re supposed to get sad, angry, anxious, and more. Those are appropriate responses to something that is hard. But when these feelings linger for weeks at a time, impacting our ability to go to work, school, or take care of ourselves, we might be in the midst of a mental health crisis. Those attending the training were invited to learn how to respond well when a person they know starts to be a little different from who they knew them to be. And while doing that work can be hard, it’s also one of the primary ways we choose to be for each other – no matter what. 

What that care looks like, though, isn’t always easy to figure out since I’m not a mental health professional and God has not called me to diagnose the people around me. What we need is some kind of action plan we can follow when we don’t know what to do. And the training provided one – using the acronym “algee” – a l g e e – to imagine that care can look like. So the first thing we do is “Approach and Assess.” Rather than backing away when someone seems a bit different, we make sure it’s safe and then pay closer attention to whatever they’re going through. This assessment might even include doing the difficult thing of asking if our friend might be suicidal. While we assess, we move pretty quickly into the next stage of the acronym, L, by choosing to “listen non judgmentally.” It’s not helpful or our role to tell someone to calm down, man up, or to just get over it. We can, instead, let them know we’re concerned and we wonder how long they’ve been feeling this way. This kind of listening is hard because we often feel incredibly awkward while doing it. We don’t really know what to say and we might get upset when someone doesn’t accept the help we’re trying to give. Listening is a skill that is both exhausting and life-giving all at the same time. And while we do listen to the person who is suffering, we can move into the “G” of the acronym by giving them assurance that we’re with them and then share any information we might have. This kind giving can include the double “e” of encouraging them to seek appropriate professional help while also encouraging them to practice self-care since therapy, medication, and just taking a break doesn’t mean we’re not good enough or that we’ve somehow failed at life. This action plan isn’t meant to be linear since we often find ourselves listening, encouraging, assessing, listening, and encouraging over and over again. But it can help guide us through those situations when the people we care about aren’t who we expect them to be and this plan might even help us grow into who we can become too. 

I was thinking about the acronym “Algee” while noticing what happened to Jesus in our reading from the gospel according to Mark. Jesus, it seemed, was caught in the difficult situation of being challenged by many religious leaders as well as his own family all at the same time. Both were concerned with not only what Jesus was doing but also with whatever seemed to be happening within him. The leaders imagined that Jesus was, somehow, possessed by demons while even his mom thought he was completely out of his mind. Our notion of mental health is very different from what was commonly thought when Jesus’ walked the earth 2000 years ago. But I wonder if both of these groups thought Jesus needed an intervention because he wasn’t acting in ways they thought he should. Jesus’ own family and the scribes noticed how he kept talking to people he didn’t use to talk to in the past, while offering forgiveness in ways they didn’t expect, and he kept forming bonds with people he was supposed to exclude. Jesus kept talking about how the kingdom of God was near and yet the kingdom Jesus practiced didn’t have the boundaries they assumed it had. We should, I think, give Jesus’ family and the religious leaders the benefit of the doubt. They, I believe, were doing what they could do to live out God’s will. But when they were confronted by the life Jesus chose to live, they didn’t know what to say or do. And they soon fell into the trap we often fall into as well – expecting God, in the words of Professor C. Clifton Black, to abide by our own definitions of what the boundaries of God’s kingdom should be. We act, trust, and honestly believe that what we think is good, holy, and true match what God wants in our world. But Jesus often has a habit of showing how God’s boundaries are always much bigger than our own. This reality can be scary, challenging, and strange since we assume we know what God’s baseline alway is. Yet the baseline Jesus put into practice is always bigger since the kingdom Jesus lives out is a kingdom big enough to include us too. 

On the surface, Jesus’ family and the religious leaders didn’t really do a great job living into any kind of mental health first aid action plan. Jesus’ actions, teachings, and behaviors didn’t match what they considered normal and so their assessment led them to challenge rather than to listen. Jesus, in their mind, was dividing the community when it came to what God’s people were supposed to say and do. Yet much of Jesus’ ministry was about discovering how expansive God’s kingdom truly was. We, I think, often let our own notions of normal, holy, and healthy, get in the way of noticing what God is up to. We let the boundaries we define be the limit of what life can be rather than letting God show us what life can become. It’s an approach to living that we pretend includes us even though we are never as perfect, good, and loving as we demand others be. And we act as if these boundaries we put into place are the same boundaries God has already built even though Jesus’ love will always be more. This more isn’t only big enough to include the people we assume are with our God. It’s also a love big enough to include someone like you. You, through baptism and faith, have already been made part of what God is up to in the world. And while living into that truth can be hard, it is how God transforms us into who God imagines we can be. We won’t always get this kind of living right nor will we, while living through our own mental health issues, always be able to live into the kingdom God has already brought us into. But we can trust that when Jesus made us a part of His holy family, he meant it, and that he will be the One who will carry us through. 

Amen.