Date: June 28, 2009
Scripture: Mark 5:21-43
Being human means to be touched by people around us. We touch things and things touch us. That is one way we know we belong. Touch also defines us from our earliest moments. After birth, touch is the most important need of the child, and those who do not receive touch can die from its lack. In short, touch helps us learn that we are alive.
In today’s gospel story we hear about two women who desperately needed to be touched, and brought back to life – one literally and another figuratively. These two women are in crisis. We don't know their names, only their needs: both outsiders to begin with because of blood and death. Neither a bleeding woman nor a dead girl should be touched, at the risk of conveying their uncleanness to others.
The first nameless and needy woman is barely a woman, just twelve years old and ready to begin her adult life. However, an unknown illness has struck her down, driving her father to extremes in his desperate search for help. Jesus had other plans but has dropped everything and gone with the father in distress.
Jesus’ mission is interrupted by a silent woman with a hemorrhage-simply hoping for one healing touch. No doubt that this is upsetting the synagogue leader who is in a rush to get Jesus to his home. A flow of blood for twelve years would exhaust any person. Not to mention the discomfort and the feeling of isolation that comes with the taboos around it. And yet Jesus ignores the taboo for the sake of relationship. He lets himself be sidetracked from hurrying to the synagogue leader's home long enough to find the person who has reached out to him with a touch that is intentional.
The crowd wanted to get near a celebrity, but this woman was reaching for her life. Jesus felt her weariness and her hope. But, for Jesus the most important thing in that moment is to face the person who has touched him, to encounter her as a human being and not just as an anonymous touch. There was no way that he could simply walk away. He stays in touch.
It was during this delay that the synagogue leader got the bad news that his daughter was already dead. Jesus is no longer needed. Jesus doesn't seem to be concerned. Unlike the noisy, dramatic, terrifying storm of last week, it must have been a tender scene. Instead of raising his hand to command the sea to calm down, he reaches down to touch the little girl to rise up and live. Once again, he stays in touch. With his touch he brought these two women back to life-literally and figuratively.
Whether we like it or not we all live on a small planet that puts us into bumping distance of each other: we touch at our home, at the mall, and in our church. Sometimes we touch people accidentally and from a very young age we are taught to respect another person’s space. Unfortunately, this can be seen as an invitation to step away from other people and isolate ourselves. When we do accidentally touch, it feels wrong. But, accidental touch only reminds us we are here and connected to one another in this place.
Sometimes touch can leave painful memories. The moment a touch endangers or controls others, it becomes one-sided abusive touch. Unfortunately, harmful touch is often experienced in some of the places where we should feel most at ease: at home, or at church.
Be in touch with yourself, and with those around you. Whether or not you are comfortable touching others and having them touch you, make an effort to feel a part of the faith community. Rather than sitting as far away as possible, ask someone if you may join them. Or start more slowly by making eye contact with other worshippers. Smile and introduce yourself to at least one person each week. Who knows what could happen!
There is a lot of power in our touch and sometimes our own touch has the ability to bring healing. Remember what Jesus did in the story? It’s easy to touch others when we reach out in love.
Amen
Monday, June 29, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
“As-Is”
Date: June 21, 2009
Scripture: Mark 4:35-41
When was the last time you bought something “As-Is?” Happy with your purchase? “As-Is," as they say in the used-car business, can be a euphemism for somebody else's troubles. Often called a "unique, fixer-upper opportunity" in the home-sales industry, an "as-is" home is being offered warts and all. What you see is what you get. What you don't see is what you get, too.
In our scripture reading, Jesus’ is also being offered “As-Is” to his disciples. He invites them to go with him to the "other side" of the Sea of Galilee. As is so often the case when the disciples are sailing with Jesus, there is a great storm. The boat becomes swamped. The disciples are understandably terrified. One tend to forget that apart from the qualified fishermen, the Jews were not really seafaring people; they left that to their Phoenician neighbors to the north. For them the sea was also a symbol of the dark power of evil, threatening to destroy them.
And where is Jesus? Asleep! He is curled up nicely on his cushion, even though his disciples fear for their lives. The irony is, that in spite of the powerful things they have already seen Jesus do, they are certain that they are heading for destruction.
Instead of trusting Jesus, they "feared a great fear." I find it interesting that this phrase appears only here and in the book of Jonah. There is no doubt in my mind that this story recalls the story of Jonah, who also slept through a violent storm and was also awakened by a panicked crew of sailors. Instead of doing what God told him, Jonah was sailing away in the wrong direction; a great storm arose, which was only calmed when the sailors threw him overboard.
Maybe this is exactly Mark’s point! Jesus isn’t Jonah: Jonah was running away from God’s command. Jesus is doing exactly what God wants. So the disciples don’t have to throw him overboard. God’s kingdom was at hand. It wasn’t like the people thought it would be, or would like it to be, but this is the real thing. This is the Jesus “As-Is.”
Although Jesus invites them to sail, Mark says the disciples took Jesus out into the boat that night "Just as he was." The only problem is that they were not ready for the Jesus “Just as he was.” He was not what they determined he should be. The disciples were angry: doesn’t he care that the boat is about to go to the bottom and take them with it? That is why they wake Jesus demanding, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” Jesus arises, rebukes the wind and the waves and then he reverses the question, putting them on the spot: "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?"
Jesus is more than our errand boy, yet he is often presented as if he is just another helpful means of getting whatever we think we need or want:
q Are you sad? Come to Jesus and he will make you happy.
q Trouble with your children? Come to Jesus and he'll fix that.
q Addicted? Lonely? Confused? Come to Jesus. He loves you so much that he will get busy for you!
In the end, the disciples stayed in the boat with Jesus, as he is. And maybe when all is said and done, that is true faith. Sometimes Jesus leads us into calm, peaceful waters. And sometimes he invites us to sail with him into the storm. The storms will continue to terrify us, for we are fragile, frightened creatures. But, faith is letting Jesus sleep on the cushion amid our own storms. Faith is having the same sort of calmness as Jesus in the storm.
Are you willing to worship, to love, and to serve God as God is rather than as you would have God to be?
Scripture: Mark 4:35-41
When was the last time you bought something “As-Is?” Happy with your purchase? “As-Is," as they say in the used-car business, can be a euphemism for somebody else's troubles. Often called a "unique, fixer-upper opportunity" in the home-sales industry, an "as-is" home is being offered warts and all. What you see is what you get. What you don't see is what you get, too.
In our scripture reading, Jesus’ is also being offered “As-Is” to his disciples. He invites them to go with him to the "other side" of the Sea of Galilee. As is so often the case when the disciples are sailing with Jesus, there is a great storm. The boat becomes swamped. The disciples are understandably terrified. One tend to forget that apart from the qualified fishermen, the Jews were not really seafaring people; they left that to their Phoenician neighbors to the north. For them the sea was also a symbol of the dark power of evil, threatening to destroy them.
And where is Jesus? Asleep! He is curled up nicely on his cushion, even though his disciples fear for their lives. The irony is, that in spite of the powerful things they have already seen Jesus do, they are certain that they are heading for destruction.
Instead of trusting Jesus, they "feared a great fear." I find it interesting that this phrase appears only here and in the book of Jonah. There is no doubt in my mind that this story recalls the story of Jonah, who also slept through a violent storm and was also awakened by a panicked crew of sailors. Instead of doing what God told him, Jonah was sailing away in the wrong direction; a great storm arose, which was only calmed when the sailors threw him overboard.
Maybe this is exactly Mark’s point! Jesus isn’t Jonah: Jonah was running away from God’s command. Jesus is doing exactly what God wants. So the disciples don’t have to throw him overboard. God’s kingdom was at hand. It wasn’t like the people thought it would be, or would like it to be, but this is the real thing. This is the Jesus “As-Is.”
Although Jesus invites them to sail, Mark says the disciples took Jesus out into the boat that night "Just as he was." The only problem is that they were not ready for the Jesus “Just as he was.” He was not what they determined he should be. The disciples were angry: doesn’t he care that the boat is about to go to the bottom and take them with it? That is why they wake Jesus demanding, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” Jesus arises, rebukes the wind and the waves and then he reverses the question, putting them on the spot: "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?"
Jesus is more than our errand boy, yet he is often presented as if he is just another helpful means of getting whatever we think we need or want:
q Are you sad? Come to Jesus and he will make you happy.
q Trouble with your children? Come to Jesus and he'll fix that.
q Addicted? Lonely? Confused? Come to Jesus. He loves you so much that he will get busy for you!
In the end, the disciples stayed in the boat with Jesus, as he is. And maybe when all is said and done, that is true faith. Sometimes Jesus leads us into calm, peaceful waters. And sometimes he invites us to sail with him into the storm. The storms will continue to terrify us, for we are fragile, frightened creatures. But, faith is letting Jesus sleep on the cushion amid our own storms. Faith is having the same sort of calmness as Jesus in the storm.
Are you willing to worship, to love, and to serve God as God is rather than as you would have God to be?
Monday, June 15, 2009
Germination
Date: June 14, 2009
Scripture: Mark 4:26-34
I’ve read a fascinating article in the Christian Science Monitor about a seed bank in England that stores currently 1.5 billion seeds of 25,000 different species. Of course I’m talking about plants. It’s an underground bunker that is kept at –4 F to slow down their metabolism.
Most fascinating was that they were able to germinate seeds that are more than 200 years old. They believe that some seeds may last a thousand years under ideal conditions. I’ve always been intrigued by the mystery of the germination process. That something can lay dormant for an extensive period of time and then suddenly just come to life is simply amazing!
Seeds are small, buried and often overlooked, but what power lies within them! In our Gospel reading Jesus compares the kingdom of God with the mysterious, hidden way of a seed's growth. He says that the seed does its own thing, unnoticed in the earth. Eventually the stalk appears, the ear of corn, and the swelling corn inside the ear. Then comes the harvest.
It is easy to spot the obvious meaning of the story, but it is the deeper meaning that the disciples had a problem with. Mark says that Jesus explained everything to them in private. It’s not that Jesus was deliberately difficult, but his message was so volatile that this was his only way he could say it.
For us to find it we have to start with the end of the parable. “In goes the sickle at once, because harvest has arrived.” This is a quotation from the book Joel that is all about the coming “Day of the Lord.” The moment in time when God will change Israel’s fate. It is this Day that the people were waiting for centuries. Jesus is telling his disciples that this moment is indeed coming, but it won’t look like what they were expecting.
The first part of this parable help to explains this. It is an apparent innocent description of how the seed starts to germinate and grow. The farmer goes to bed and gets up, goes to bed and gets up, night and day. Interestingly, the seed is doing what the man is doing. It is sleeping in the soil and then getting up.
Interestingly, the word for “get up” is one of the words that are also used for the resurrection. For the people of Israel the resurrection wasn’t about life after death. It was about how God would dramatically bring back Israel’s fortune. The parable here then is about that even though Jesus’ ministry in Galilee doesn’t look like the sort of movement people were expecting, it was indeed the time for God’s long-promised harvest.
This is where the second parable comes in. Jesus asks: What shall we say God’s kingdom is like? Jesus says, that God’s kingdom is like a mustard seed. The mustard seed is the smallest at the start, but it grows into a large shrub. And in the end the birds of the air make their nest in its shade. Jesus is saying: this is a small beginning of a ministry that will eventually offer shade to the world.
There is so much around us today that can bring our spirit down. Not just our health care system. We see war and hatred, prejudice and injustice, hunger and violence, just the everyday grind that can wring the life out of us. But, we should never lose hope. We are only in a state of germination. God is in control, no matter how things look, the day will come that our shoots will break through to the surface.
It is difficult to know the ways of God, often not noticed by us, yet God will continue to surprise us by bringing something great out of something small. The tiny little seed grows into the mustard shrub, strong enough to offer shelter and the stuff of life for those who need to find a home. Can you be the mustard seed that grows and provides shelter and refuge to all the people of God?
Are you ready to germinate?
Amen
Scripture: Mark 4:26-34
I’ve read a fascinating article in the Christian Science Monitor about a seed bank in England that stores currently 1.5 billion seeds of 25,000 different species. Of course I’m talking about plants. It’s an underground bunker that is kept at –4 F to slow down their metabolism.
Most fascinating was that they were able to germinate seeds that are more than 200 years old. They believe that some seeds may last a thousand years under ideal conditions. I’ve always been intrigued by the mystery of the germination process. That something can lay dormant for an extensive period of time and then suddenly just come to life is simply amazing!
Seeds are small, buried and often overlooked, but what power lies within them! In our Gospel reading Jesus compares the kingdom of God with the mysterious, hidden way of a seed's growth. He says that the seed does its own thing, unnoticed in the earth. Eventually the stalk appears, the ear of corn, and the swelling corn inside the ear. Then comes the harvest.
It is easy to spot the obvious meaning of the story, but it is the deeper meaning that the disciples had a problem with. Mark says that Jesus explained everything to them in private. It’s not that Jesus was deliberately difficult, but his message was so volatile that this was his only way he could say it.
For us to find it we have to start with the end of the parable. “In goes the sickle at once, because harvest has arrived.” This is a quotation from the book Joel that is all about the coming “Day of the Lord.” The moment in time when God will change Israel’s fate. It is this Day that the people were waiting for centuries. Jesus is telling his disciples that this moment is indeed coming, but it won’t look like what they were expecting.
The first part of this parable help to explains this. It is an apparent innocent description of how the seed starts to germinate and grow. The farmer goes to bed and gets up, goes to bed and gets up, night and day. Interestingly, the seed is doing what the man is doing. It is sleeping in the soil and then getting up.
Interestingly, the word for “get up” is one of the words that are also used for the resurrection. For the people of Israel the resurrection wasn’t about life after death. It was about how God would dramatically bring back Israel’s fortune. The parable here then is about that even though Jesus’ ministry in Galilee doesn’t look like the sort of movement people were expecting, it was indeed the time for God’s long-promised harvest.
This is where the second parable comes in. Jesus asks: What shall we say God’s kingdom is like? Jesus says, that God’s kingdom is like a mustard seed. The mustard seed is the smallest at the start, but it grows into a large shrub. And in the end the birds of the air make their nest in its shade. Jesus is saying: this is a small beginning of a ministry that will eventually offer shade to the world.
There is so much around us today that can bring our spirit down. Not just our health care system. We see war and hatred, prejudice and injustice, hunger and violence, just the everyday grind that can wring the life out of us. But, we should never lose hope. We are only in a state of germination. God is in control, no matter how things look, the day will come that our shoots will break through to the surface.
It is difficult to know the ways of God, often not noticed by us, yet God will continue to surprise us by bringing something great out of something small. The tiny little seed grows into the mustard shrub, strong enough to offer shelter and the stuff of life for those who need to find a home. Can you be the mustard seed that grows and provides shelter and refuge to all the people of God?
Are you ready to germinate?
Amen
Monday, June 1, 2009
Lost in Translation
Date: May 31, 2009
Scripture: Acts 2:1-21
There is a story about a Mexican bank robber by the name of Jorge Rodriguez, who operated along the Texas border. He was so successful that the Texas Rangers put extra rangers along the Rio Grande to try and stop him. Late one afternoon, one of the Rangers saw Jorge slipping across the river, and trailed him as he returned to his home village. He watched as Jorge mingled with the people in the town square and then went into his favorite cantina to relax. The Ranger slipped in and then with a pistol to the thief's head he said, "I know who you are, Jorge, and I have come to get back all the money that you have stolen from the banks in Texas. Unless you give it to me, I am going to blow your brains out."
There was one problem, however. Jorge did not speak English and the Ranger did not know any Spanish. But about that time a little Mexican came up and said, "I am bilingual. Do you want me to act as translator?" The Ranger nodded, and he proceeded to put the words of the Ranger into terms that Jorge could understand. Nervously, Jorge answered back: "Tell the Ranger that I have not spent a cent of the money. If he will go to the town well, face north and count down five stones, he will find a loose one there. Pull it out and all the money is behind there. Please tell him quickly. " The little translator got a sad look on his face and said to the Ranger in perfect English, "Jorge Rodriguez is a brave man. He says he is ready to die." There is a slight difference between translation and interpretation, isn’t it?
Isn’t it remarkable, when you consider all of the language groups that were present in Jerusalem on that day of Pentecost 2,000 years ago, that enough about Jesus got through to the crowd that 3,000 people accepted the gospel on the spot?
The reading from Acts sounds like it could be the roll call at a session of the United Nations: “Parthians, Elamites, Medes, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs ….” And there were no translators ready ... well, none except the Holy Spirit.
The wonder of it all rumbled through the crowd: “Come on… are these who are speaking not Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own language?” So the first public miracle that Pentecost day was instant translation.
Translation alone, however, was not enough, for the scripture tells us, “All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’” The miracle of translating the words from the Galilean tongue into the language spoken by the hearers enabled the crowd to recognize the words of the disciples, but not to comprehend what those words meant. You need a language specialist who not only can translate words, but also can interpret their meaning.
On that first Pentecost, Peter was the interpreter who answered the crowd’s question about the meaning of the translation. He addressed the people and told them about Jesus. The communication miracle of Pentecost happened because the Holy Spirit translated and Peter interpreted. Both translation and interpretation are still necessary to the spread the good news about God!
Translation is the work of putting faith into plain language for us to understand, “What does the text say?” Thousands of books, Web sites, Christian education classes and sermons do that. They explain what the Christian story is: what we believe, how to read the Bible, and what is expected in the way of behavior and so forth.
But there is still the need for interpreters. That’s because there are always people who say, “Look, I understand what Christianity teaches, but so what? Interpreters are people who are convinced about the value of Christ in their life, and can therefore answer the “What does the text mean?” question from personal experience. This doesn’t demand that you have a convincing speech ready. But one of the most powerful interpretation methods is simply talking about your own experience and telling why your contact with Christ has made a difference.
Although both are very important, there is a slight difference between translation and interpretation. For one, it made the difference whether Jorge Rodriguez lived or died. (Confirmation Class names…) today you are officially sworn in as interpreters. Interpreting to other your personal commitment to God has a greater impact than any written sermon. Simply because nobody can deny your personal experience. Not just as a translator, but as an interpreter of faith, you can make the difference in whether or not other people step toward God.
Go now and interpret the message of God’s love to the world.
Amen
Scripture: Acts 2:1-21
There is a story about a Mexican bank robber by the name of Jorge Rodriguez, who operated along the Texas border. He was so successful that the Texas Rangers put extra rangers along the Rio Grande to try and stop him. Late one afternoon, one of the Rangers saw Jorge slipping across the river, and trailed him as he returned to his home village. He watched as Jorge mingled with the people in the town square and then went into his favorite cantina to relax. The Ranger slipped in and then with a pistol to the thief's head he said, "I know who you are, Jorge, and I have come to get back all the money that you have stolen from the banks in Texas. Unless you give it to me, I am going to blow your brains out."
There was one problem, however. Jorge did not speak English and the Ranger did not know any Spanish. But about that time a little Mexican came up and said, "I am bilingual. Do you want me to act as translator?" The Ranger nodded, and he proceeded to put the words of the Ranger into terms that Jorge could understand. Nervously, Jorge answered back: "Tell the Ranger that I have not spent a cent of the money. If he will go to the town well, face north and count down five stones, he will find a loose one there. Pull it out and all the money is behind there. Please tell him quickly. " The little translator got a sad look on his face and said to the Ranger in perfect English, "Jorge Rodriguez is a brave man. He says he is ready to die." There is a slight difference between translation and interpretation, isn’t it?
Isn’t it remarkable, when you consider all of the language groups that were present in Jerusalem on that day of Pentecost 2,000 years ago, that enough about Jesus got through to the crowd that 3,000 people accepted the gospel on the spot?
The reading from Acts sounds like it could be the roll call at a session of the United Nations: “Parthians, Elamites, Medes, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs ….” And there were no translators ready ... well, none except the Holy Spirit.
The wonder of it all rumbled through the crowd: “Come on… are these who are speaking not Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own language?” So the first public miracle that Pentecost day was instant translation.
Translation alone, however, was not enough, for the scripture tells us, “All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’” The miracle of translating the words from the Galilean tongue into the language spoken by the hearers enabled the crowd to recognize the words of the disciples, but not to comprehend what those words meant. You need a language specialist who not only can translate words, but also can interpret their meaning.
On that first Pentecost, Peter was the interpreter who answered the crowd’s question about the meaning of the translation. He addressed the people and told them about Jesus. The communication miracle of Pentecost happened because the Holy Spirit translated and Peter interpreted. Both translation and interpretation are still necessary to the spread the good news about God!
Translation is the work of putting faith into plain language for us to understand, “What does the text say?” Thousands of books, Web sites, Christian education classes and sermons do that. They explain what the Christian story is: what we believe, how to read the Bible, and what is expected in the way of behavior and so forth.
But there is still the need for interpreters. That’s because there are always people who say, “Look, I understand what Christianity teaches, but so what? Interpreters are people who are convinced about the value of Christ in their life, and can therefore answer the “What does the text mean?” question from personal experience. This doesn’t demand that you have a convincing speech ready. But one of the most powerful interpretation methods is simply talking about your own experience and telling why your contact with Christ has made a difference.
Although both are very important, there is a slight difference between translation and interpretation. For one, it made the difference whether Jorge Rodriguez lived or died. (Confirmation Class names…) today you are officially sworn in as interpreters. Interpreting to other your personal commitment to God has a greater impact than any written sermon. Simply because nobody can deny your personal experience. Not just as a translator, but as an interpreter of faith, you can make the difference in whether or not other people step toward God.
Go now and interpret the message of God’s love to the world.
Amen
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