On the Way to Wonder

16 Now about the collection for the Lord’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. 2 On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. 3 Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem. 4 If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me.

1 Corinthians 16: 1-4

One of the favorite grumps about coming to church is that pastors are always asking for money.  Paul has finished his teachings in the first letter to the Corinthian believers and chapter 16 finishes with a few practicalities.  Paul is anticipating a visit with the Corinthians and believers around the Middle East at that point were a minority, persecuted and often facing all the practical problems people in duress experience today.  Paul suggests that when we meet at the beginning of the week, we set aside a portion of our money to help those less fortunate.  He does not mention this as some sort of legal need to keep God happy.  So where does it come from?

Leviticus 27:30 first mentions “tithing,” “‘A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord.”  By the letter to the Hebrews, tithing was beginning to be understood as an offering of 10% so many Christians use 10% as a rule of thumb to gage their “offering” to church.  This money helped cover the needs of the priestly clan, the Levites, who were not given land but were to care for the Temple.

It seems to me that whether we call it tithing, offering, love gift or coin offering, the principle is to remind us to have an attitude of gratitude.  It helps us remember that all comes from God and there are many others who have needs greater than ourselves.  Many prefer to give to charitable organizations or respond to social needs that are close to their hearts.  However we share our wealth, 

I’m guessing it will always feel like our personal “needs” are greater than our personal “haves”.  The challenge to see our “haves” as a “blessing” to be shared and not as a “right” to be hoarded will always be a tension we must navigate.

Lord, we know many live in dire situations and our little bit feels like a drop in the bucket of human need.  Help us to be generous and to share as your Spirit directs us.  May we not be guilty of self centeredness and selfishness.  Thank you for the many ways you bless us and may we remember our many non-monetary blessings!

First Reading: Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29

4The rabble among them had a strong craving; and the Israelites also wept again, and said, “If only we had meat to eat! 5We remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; 6but now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.”

 10Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, all at the entrances of their tents. Then the Lordbecame very angry, and Moses was displeased. 11So Moses said to the Lord, “Why have you treated your servant so badly? Why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? 12Did I conceive all this people? Did I give birth to them, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a sucking child, to the land that you promised on oath to their ancestors’? 13Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they come weeping to me and say, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ 14I am not able to carry all this people alone, for they are too heavy for me. 15If this is the way you are going to treat me, put me to death at once—if I have found favor in your sight—and do not let me see my misery.”

 16So the Lord said to Moses, “Gather for me seventy of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tent of meeting, and have them take their place there with you.”

 24So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord; and he gathered seventy elders of the people, and placed them all around the tent. 25Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders; and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do so again.

 26Two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the spirit rested on them; they were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. 27And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” 28And Joshua son of Nun, the assistant of Moses, one of his chosen men, said, “My lord Moses, stop them!” 29But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them!”

Psalm: Psalm 19:7-14

The commandment of the Lord gives light to the eyes. (Ps. 19:8)

 7The teaching of the Lord is perfect and revives the soul;

  the testimony of the Lord is sure and gives wisdom to the simple.

 8The statutes of the Lord are just and rejoice the heart;

  the commandment of the Lord is clear and gives light to the eyes.

 9The fear of the Lord is clean and endures forever;

  the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

 10More to be desired are they than gold, more than much fine gold,

  sweeter far than honey, than honey in the comb. 

 11By them also is your servant enlightened,

  and in keeping them there is great reward.

 12Who can detect one’s own offenses?

  Cleanse me from my secret faults.

 13Above all, keep your servant from presumptuous sins; let them not get dominion over me;

  then shall I be whole and sound, and innocent of a great offense.

 14Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight,

  O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.

Second Reading: James 5:13-20

13Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. 14Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. 17Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.

 19My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another, 20you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

Gospel: Mark 9:38-50

38John said to [Jesus], “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” 39But Jesus said, “Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. 40Whoever is not against us is for us. 41For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.

 42“If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. 43If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. 45And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell. 47And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, 48where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.

 49“For everyone will be salted with fire. 50Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

2021. CHILDREN’S SERMON:  I often go to Aesop’s tale, The Lion and the Mouse.  I love it.  A little mouse runs across a lion’s nose, disturbing his sleep.  The lion is going to eat it but the mouse pleads for mercy and promises to return the favor some day.  The lion frummmps, impossible.  Yet one day when the lion is caught in a net and roaring, the mouse comes with friends and chews through the ropes to free the lion.

      I’d like to ponder today the question, what offended that lion most?  Was it being disturbed from his nap?  Was it loosing his snack?  Was it the audacity of a small creature thinking it might help the king of the jungle? Or was it the humiliation of being rescued by the mouse?  What do you think?  What is hardest for you – a disturbance of schedule, a poor meal, an atrocious request, or humiliation?  Share with your neighbor.

Let us pray:  Lord may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my Rock and my Redeemer.

SERMON

Today’s Gospel text carries on from last week.  Jesus is trying to prepare the disciples for entering Jerusalem and all that they are about to experience.  The disciples’ minds are full of dreams of a Messiah who will restore the Jewish nation to its previous glory under King David and King Solomon. They anticipate that they will not have to be slaves and will no longer be distained by the governing Romans. They will follow Jesus who can feed the masses, who can heal the sick, and who is an outstanding teacher.  It all seemed so wonderful but Jesus knows that’s not how it works.  He is trying to prepare them for the ordeal they are about to go through.  There are good days and bad days and they are about to face a bad day.  Even we want happy-ever-after and we become irate like the lion when our dreams are disturbed and interrupted.  Believing in Jesus does not mean no problems.

Also, we read that for the third time that Jesus uses the example of a child. Children who have not been abused trust their parents, obey and follow even when they do not necessarily understand.  The disciple John introduces this text by asking Jesus about “someone” casting out demons in the name of Jesus but this “someone” was not part of their group.  He has been lectured about “greatness” but surely “power” is part of the Messiah dream.  Again Jesus talks about a child.  Greatness or power does not rest in our fantastic deeds done from being in the right party, belonging to the country in control, or going to the right church.  Greatness and power are a product of relationship, relationship with Jesus.  Jesus is helping us understand how the salt of our life is tested by fire —not because God is upset with us but because God is purifying us.  Salt is the only element that does not burn in fire.  It decomposes into its constituent elements under heat.  Trials refine us and trials are part of faith.

“for no one who does a deed of power in my name

 will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me.”

      When God works outside our boxes, our comfort zone is challenged.  When the mouse offers to help the lion, the lion laughs.  The lion cannot imagine help from a mouse. John could not imagine that these “others” were the good guys either.   John does the right thing.  He goes to Jesus.  Before we launch our critique, it is often important to pray and search Scripture, to seek the Lord’s mind on the matter.  We might ask ourselves, “Where is God’s hand in this scenario?”  God might not be leading the person on my path but he may be leading them on a path that works for that person.  First step, ask Jesus.  Jesus is predicting crucifixion and the disciples cannot absorb this information so they need to listen.

      Surprisingly Jesus defends the “wantabees.”  Jesus affirms that the mere act of drawing near to Jesus means the person is on the faith journey.  Let me say it again. Faith is not just a magic moment of confession and a spiritual high but it is a lifelong journey of drawing near to Christ and growing in relationship.  A five year old child does not express faith like an 85 year old who has gone through the trials of life.  Those “others” may not be doing faith like the disciples but they are on the right track and will grow in relationship to Christ.  This gives me hope for my children and grandchildren as they handle faith other than I would hope they would.  The mouse may not be a tasty meal but it might have a role in life the lion does not yet understand

      Jesus assures John that God sees everyone’s heart and rewards them so we need not be afraid if that other church is bigger, has a better choir, or seems more popular.  God sees us and works with us as we are.  The temptation of competition in ministry is always there and Jesus urges us not to be offended but to keep our relationship with him functioning and to continue doing the task he has laid before us.  I can hear Jesus saying – “Don’t worry, come to me, I care and I am working with you on what is best for you.“  Did I hear us say, “Thank you, Lord!”  When life goes differently than how we think it should be, it does not mean God is off course.  The crucifixion is not what the disciples are looking forward to but God is working out a future to bless all who call upon his name so they will have power to face evil.  That is real power.

 If any of you put a stumbling block

 before one of these little ones who believe in me,

      Jesus now gets to his point.  We will experience stumbling blocks to our faith.  He has just talked about how easy it is to be distracted by “the other” who seems more gifted, more powerful, more popular, more…. You name it.  Jesus puts a little child on his lap again.  Remember he did this last week also so it must be important. Perhaps we might first ask, why did Jesus choose a child?  On this journey of faith that we are on, some of us have been traveling for decades and been knocked around by life enough that our faith has developed some muscles.  We are not baby Christians anymore.  Others of us are more like little children.  Perhaps we have had to work so hard we have never been to a Bible study so we live on a spiritual starvation diet.  Our chronological age is not the same as our spiritual age or maturity.  Some of us are traveling through dark valleys while others of us are on a spiritual high and are in good spiritual shape.   In either case, if we are seasoned Christians or new Christians, we have lessons to learn like a child who wants to sit on Jesus’ lap.  The lion laughed to think the mouse could help him but little did he know….

      When we cause others to stumble in their faith, Jesus says it would be better for us to be drown.  Ouch, ouch, ouch.  If that doesn’t drive us to our knees, I don’t know what will.  Our news media majors on the problems facing our world today.  Seeing the splinter in the other’s eye is a major pass time in our culture.  When we find ourselves being critical of another, hurting another, and being a stumbling block to another, we need to kill those thoughts and actions right on the spot and tell Satan to get behind us.  Being a stumbling block for another’s faith is a problem worthy of death.  Lord! Guard us from causing others to stumble.

The last time I worked with this passage, I went to my l little old and small church with an 87 yr old interim.  He talked about the harshness of the passage, loosing hands, feet and eyes.  Then he reflected that we had just watched the paralympics.  He had his daughter who has Downe’s syndrome stand up and show us her gold medal from the race she had won.  We all cheered because we love her.  Point made.  Power is not being the most perfect with both our hands, both our feet and both our eyes.  Following Jesus even when we feel not whole, even when the world does not value us because of our limitations, even when we are disdained is important.  We follow like little children who love their parents and believe.

For everyone will be salted with fire.

      Jesus lists offenses that originate within ourselves and are acted out by our bodies.  Jesus names our hands, our feet, and our eyes.  Let me ask a few questions to reflect.  Are you a person who others feel they can trust – they’re in safe hands with you.  Or are you more prone to bite the hand that feeds you?   Our hands are instrumental in acting out the desires of our hearts and for bridging relationships with others.  Our feet take us to places  we know we would be best to avoid.  Do you drag your feet to help others or do you have itchy feet or are you someone who will help another to get back on their feet?  Our feet can be offending because they act out the desires of the heart. Do you require an eye for an eye in your relationships or are you more likely to see eye to eye with another and seek agreement? Eyes are a more obvious stumbling block.  They are the windows that allow lust to control our passions.  The eye is the portal that opens our hearts to problems and to others.   I love the greeting from Avatar, “I see you.”  Do you really see others?  All our senses can be sources of stumbling blocks for ourselves or potentially for hurting others.  The mouse heard the lion roar when it was in trouble.  The mouse used his little teeth to gnaw the rope.  The mouse’s heart was grateful for the mercy it received from the lion. Prayer may help us but I suspect spiritual discipline and spiritual muscles need to be grown.   Stumbling blocks are like fire purifying salt.  The end result can be moving away from God rather than moving towards him.

      Jesus closes our text today saying that we will all be salted by fire.  We will all be tempted and we all have the potential to be a stumbling block or temptation for another.  This sermon is not about someone else but a challenge to look at our own hearts and our own walk with Christ.  Are we on automatic pilot with our speed control working so we cruise in our faith or are we keeping our eyes on Christ and not on others?  It is possible for us to become numb to how we offend others as we dabble with sin. It is also possible to become numb to the sin that so easily entangles us.  Jesus says that it is then possible for salt to loose its saltiness.  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us that we are the salt of the earth.  We are designed to bring out flavor in others, to be agents for healing, and to be people that help preserve the life in others.  We are the salt.  May we not loose our saltiness!

      Our lion from the children’s sermon could have been offended that his sleep was disturbed but the tasty morsel begged for mercy.  His natural tendency was to eat the dude.  

      The lion’s pride could have been offended that a mere mouse could one day help him, the king of the jungle.  It hurts our pride to be compared to a child.  We all need to be growing and going to Jesus for the situations that confuse us.

      The lion’s humiliation at being caught, caught in sin, and needing help was hard for him.  It is hard for us to admit we need help.

      The mouse gnawed through the ropes and freed the lion.  The Holy Spirit and fellow Christians are there to help us.  God wants us to be free, to be at peace with him in his kingdom.  

      LET the people of God saying AMEN!

This week we finished 1 Corinthians 15.  Paul is winding down his letter.  He talks with the Corinthians and us about death but then goes on to talk about resurrection.  “After life”0 is an important aspect of all religions.  I remember in the 70s when the guitar was entering the church and Christian music was being written outside the hymn book.  One of our favorite songs was “I am the Resurrection by Ray Repp.  I loved it.  We made the whole alter rock!  May you listen and enjoy this flash from the past and this peak into the future.

CHORUS:

I am the resurrection and the life;

He who believes in me will never die.

I am the resurrection and the life;

He who believes in me will live a new life.

1. I have come to bring the truth;

I have come to bring you life;

If you (yes you), believe (I do), then you shall live.

2. In my word all men will come to know

It is love which makes the Spirit grow

If you (yes you), believe (I do), then you shall live.

3. Keep in mind the things that I have said

Remember me in the breaking of the bread

If you (yes you), believe (I do), then you shall live

I Am the Resurrection

 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

1 Corinthians 15:58, NIV

58 With all this going for us, my dear, dear friends, stand your ground. And don’t hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort.  1 Corinthians 15:58, The Message

Today was an exciting day here in Florida, Hurricane Helene has  been front news worthy for a couple days and especially this evening.  “Unsurvivable” winds and with waves bringing “devasting destruction” has been predicted for the Tallahassee area.  I live on the “dirty side” of the cone which I now know means the east side in central Florida.  I came home from a meeting to see the tree on the back far side of the house that was barely on the property toppled onto the neighbor’s new fence and roof.  This is all before the huricaine even reached land! Containers of water are on all our counter tops and we were warned to get our wash done and take baths before the storm…in case.  Have money cause if electricity goes out, gas pumps need cash.  News broadcasters are begging us to seriously prepare but out on the lake in front of my house a guy was wind surfing!!!

In my context here, today, I read these words at the close of chapter 15 of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians and his advice in the face of death.  “Stand Firm!!!”  Yesterday was sunny and calm and the news was calling to us to prepare.  In some ways Paul is doing the same thing.  It is so easy to be absorbed by the tasks of life and all it’s challenges but Paul reminds us that death is in the future for all of us and nothing done for the Master is a waste of time.

So what does standing firm look like to you?  Standing is certainly not lying down on the job. I doubt it is just watching life being lived out by others on TV, dreaming about who we might be.  It implies involvement.  It implies to me roots of relationship with God and others so we don’t get washed away when the wind blows. It implies preparedness and listening to our authorities.  Those are just a few ideas.

Let us pray for the many in the path of the storms of life whether they be environmental, political or social.  Lord, help us to stand firm and be consistent in our work for you.  Comfort the scared and grieving and all the helpers and caregivers at this time.  Lord have mercy!

It was sin that made death so frightening and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage, its destructive power. But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three—sin, guilt, death—are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God!

1 Corinthians 15: 56, The Message

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.(1 Corinthians 15:56, NRSV)

Perhaps some of you are old enough to remember the 7 Academy Award winning movie, “The Sting,” released in 1973.  Robert Redford and Paul Newman were two confidence men working together to deceive gang members in September 1936.  Who dun it to whom is not clear til the very end of the movie.  A more recent version, I think, was the Oceans 11 series, staring George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon.  Julia Robert’s was the female star.  This one is set in a Las Vegas slight of hand plot.  In both pictures the interplay of characters keep you guessing who the bad guys are and who exactly was going to win and how.

Apostle Paul, centuries earlier at the end of the first letter to the Corinthians , compares the interplay between sin, death, and law in a similar drama involving us and leaving us feeling guilty.  Humans were sentenced to death after the “garden of Eden” event.  The “law” explained how this all worked.  Our inability to love God and neighbor with our whole heart left us guilty no matter how hard we tried.  We are separated from God in this mortal life.  Only death, in a surprise twist, frees us from our mortality and allows us to enter eternity with God.  Jesus Christ, not George Clooney, is the lead character  and Paul says that this twist is in understanding death as a gift from God.  Satan tried to con us and convince us that we are lost but through faith in Christ we can be given eternal life.  Thank you, Lord, the good guys win and live “happily ever after.”  Praise God!

51-57 But let me tell you something wonderful, a mystery I’ll probably never fully understand. We’re not all going to die—but we are all going to be changed. You hear a blast to end all blasts from a trumpet, and in the time that you look up and blink your eyes—it’s over. On signal from that trumpet from heaven, the dead will be up and out of their graves, beyond the reach of death, never to die again. At the same moment and in the same way, we’ll all be changed. In the resurrection scheme of things, this has to happen: everything perishable taken off the shelves and replaced by the imperishable, this mortal replaced by the immortal. Then the saying will come true:

Death swallowed by triumphant Life!
Who got the last word, oh, Death?
Oh, Death, who’s afraid of you now?

1 Corinthians 15:51-57, The Message

When you think of a trumpet blast, what do you think of?  The first thing that came to my mind was taps.  Taps is the name for the trumpet or bugle song played at the end of the day to signal “lights out,” or is played at a funeral.  One version of its origin is that a Union  soldier in the Civil War found the tune in the pocket of his son killed fighting for the Confederate army.  It is also known as “Butterfield’s Lullaby”.  The story goes that General Butterfield had to bury a soldier.  They were too close to the Confederate line to shoot the customary three shots to honor a death and so he wrote this song of three notes.  We might know the words to the first verse but there were a couple other.

1.  Day is done, gone the sun,  From the lake, from the hills, from the sky;

 All is well, safely rest, God is nigh.

2,  Fading light, dims the sight,  And a star gems the sky, gleaming bright.

 From afar, drawing nigh, falls the night.

3.  Thanks and praise, for our days,  ‘Neath the sun, ‘neath the stars, neath the sky;

 As we go, this we know, God is nigh.

4.  Sun has set, shadows come, Time has fled, Scouts must go to their beds

 Always true to the promise that they made.

5.  While the light fades from sight,  And the stars gleaming rays softly send,

 To thy hands we our souls, Lord, commend.

Centuries before “Taps” was written, Paul writes about the sounding of the blast of a trumpet that will signal the end of day as we know it and will signal the honoring of the dead.  Let us spend time praying for the many caught in war zones in our world today or are being held as hostages.  Lord, have mercy!  Draw near to them in their hour of need.  Comfort their families.  We long for the day when fighting will cease, the dead will be honored and peace will reign. May death be swallowed by triumphant life!

35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” 36 How foolish!What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.37 When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38 But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39 Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another.  1 Corinthians 15:35-39

Paul has affirmed that after death comes resurrection.  So the natural next question is to ask what that will look like.  Will we be reincarnated into a bug if we led selfish lives or an angel if we were good?  I was surprised at a teacher’s meeting to hear a lady telling another about her beloved cat that had recently died and that she was sure it was now her guardian angel.  The table chirped in with their various ideas of whatever  “after death” might look like.  We know from the resurrection of Jesus that the disciples recognized him, could touch him, his body was not bound by time and space like ours, and he did eat with them.  Paul suggests that even as we might throw out a handful of unknown seeds into our garden, we may not be able to predict what type of flowers or vegetables will grow.  In the same way our bodies now are like those seeds and what they will become in eternity is mostly unknown.  

I find it interesting that the last sentence includes “life” or flesh as a broader category that may include our beloved pets, perhaps fish for those who love fishing, and birds for the bird watchers.  I love Tales of Narnia where Narnia includes talking animals and mythical creature like unicorns.  We just don’t know but we can believe and trust.  Heaven before the fall was a beautiful, purposeful and interesting place to be and I cannot imagine heaven to come will be any less.

So rather than haggle over that which we just don’t know, let’s have some fun thinking of the maybe’s through the acrostic of “trust”. Perhaps heaven will include T- turtles, trees, tulips, tenderness…

T is for ______

R is for ______

U is for _______

S is for _______

T is for _______ 

Thank you, Lord, that we can trust you for the unknown.  We see all the trees and flowers and know you love diversity.  We enjoy our friends and know you love community and laughter, and joy. We read your law and know you value people and do not want murder, greed, jealously or covetousness.  Lord, you are good and help us to remember that.

“There is a nice symmetry in this: Death initially came by a man, and resurrection from death came by a man. Everybody dies in Adam; everybody comes alive in Christ. But we have to wait our turn: Christ is first, then those with him at his Coming, the grand consummation when, after crushing the opposition, he hands over his kingdom to God the Father. He won’t let up until the last enemy is down—and the very last enemy  is death!”

 1 Corinthians 15:21-28, The Message

Paul is coming to the end of his first letter to the believers in Corinth, a thriving international city in the Roman Empire.  Many religions lived side by side.  Paul has been answering questions about problems facing the early church that had no seminaries, no denominational history, and no written scriptures.  He is writing a letter that will be incorporated into the New Testament for generations to follow – you and me.  He now talks about death and resurrection.  Even today we disagree about whether Jesus actually died and then rose again.  Paul talks about the resurrection of Christ as being central to Christianity.  Offering human or animal sacrifices was a common practice for atoning for sins.  We understand this concept.  We pay fines for speeding.  We put people in prison to “pay” for their misdeeds. We grieve over the public shootings in schools by some person upset about something that they feel they need to kill about.  Horrible.  We wring our hands and lament.  Vengeance and sacrifice makes sense.  What we struggle with is resurrection.

Paul points to the symmetry.  Adam and Eve sinned.  God said the penalty for their offense is death.  All people will face death.  I would argue that God never intended that we carry the weight of the tree of good and evil and death was a mercy to set us free as much as a punishment.  In any case, we all must die. But likewise, it is possible for all people to have eternal life and reenter the Garden of Eden and live in God’s kingdom by believing in Jesus.  One man, Adam, introduced death and one man, Jesus, introduces eternal life.

I love those apps that allow me to take a picture of a sick plant and then the app tells me if I need to trim, water, add sugar, or even garlic to the plant for it to regain health.  In the slide of the app, the plant resurrects and becomes all it was meant to be.  What picture comes to your mind when you think of resurrection?  Let us thank God that he knows if we need sugar water or garlic water or trimming.  There is hope for the future.  Thank you Lord that we do not have to live forever carrying burdens you never intended for us to carry.  Blessings.

First Reading: Jeremiah 11:18-20

 18 It was the Lord who made it known to me, and I knew; then you showed me their evil deeds.

 19But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter. And I did not know it was against me that they devised schemes, saying, “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name will no longer be remembered!”

 20But you, O Lord of hosts, who judge righteously, who try the heart and the mind, let me see your retribution upon them, for to you I have committed my cause.

 21Thus they reasoned, but they were led astray, for their wickedness blinded them,

 22and they did not know the secret purposes of God, nor hoped for the wages of holiness, nor discerned the prize for blameless souls.

Psalm: Psalm 54

God is my helper; it is the Lord who sustains my life. (Ps. 54:4)

 1Save me, O God, by your name; in your might, defend my cause.

 2Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth.

 3For strangers have risen up against me, and the ruthless have sought my life, those who have no regard for God.

 4Behold, God is my helper; it is the Lord who sustains my life. 

 5Render evil to those who spy on me; in your faithfulness, destroy them.

 6I will offer you a freewill sacrifice and praise your name, O Lord, for it is good.

 7For you have rescued me from every trouble, and my eye looks down on my enemies. 

Second Reading: James 3:13—4:3, 7-8a

13Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. 14But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. 15Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. 16For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. 17But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. 18And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.4:

 1Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? 2You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures. 7Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8aDraw near to God, and he will draw near to you.

Gospel: Mark 9:30-37

30[Jesus and the disciples went on] and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it;31for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.” 32But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.

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

CHILDREN’S SERMON: Six Blind Men and an Elephant.  We have looked at this tale before but it is worth review. We joke about the “elephant in the room” implying that there is an obvious problem or situation that no one wants to talk about.  The disciples have an elephant in the room in our text today.  Their Messiah is talking about dying.  But first the story.  Six blind men meet an elephant. One touches the nose and suggests an elephant is like a big snake.  One touches a leg and is sure the elephant is like a tree.  One touches its ear, one touches its tail, one touches the tusk and one touches the side of the elephant.  They each come up with a different idea of what an elephant is like.  One thinks it is a snake, or a tree, or a giant fan, or a rope, or a spear, and maybe even a wall.  If you were to describe an elephant, what would you liken it to?  If you were to describe Jesus in one word, what would you liken him to? 

Prayer:  Lord may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my Rock and my Redeemer.

SERMON

Last week Jesus asked his disciples a question. “Who do people say that I am?” The disciples replied John the Baptist, Elijah and then Peter answered “the Messiah.”  Peter had the right answer but he did not fully understand.  It makes me think of the six blind men and the elephant.  They each saw a part of the elephant through their own experience but they needed the vision of someone who could see the big picture to put the pieces together to truly see.  The disciples had seen Jesus call people back to God and call people to repentance like John the Baptist. Perhaps Jesus was a New Testament prophet.  Elijah was a famous Old Testament prophet who raised a dead son and called down fire from heaven on the burnt sacrifice better than the prophets of Baal.  Maybe Jesus was a prophet like Elijah.  The Jews were looking for a Messiah who would come and restore David’s kingdom and the glory of Solomon. Peter suggests that Jesus is this very Messiah that has been professied.  Jesus affirms Peter but Peter only partially understands.  Jesus in our text is seeking to teach the disciples and broaden their understanding of who the Messiah is.  Even we come to understand who God is through our experiences and so we come to scriptures today to grow our understanding.

So I think it is fair for us to first reflect on who we think Jesus is.  Turn to your neighbor and share how you might describe Jesus in one word.

“The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, 

and they will kill him, 

and three days after being killed, he will rise again.” 

Houston, we have a problem.  Jesus uses three verbs here that just do not compute with our understanding of God.  How can we betray Jesus?  How can Jesus be killed and be a Messiah? And how does Jesus rise?  I rather think that like Peter I might rebuke Jesus for saying such difficult words or like the disciples I would probably be quiet, afraid to ask a stupid question.

Betrayal can be define as accidentally or intentionally sharing information that places another in danger.  Perhaps we roll our eyes when someone shares their testimony and comment under our breath, “really??”  Then again we might choose silence and go with the crowd into activities that make us feel uncomfortable and that might compromise our principles.  We just don’t live with integrity with our beliefs.  Peter said he did not know Jesus when under pressure at the trial and Judas chose money.  Most of us have bowed to peer pressure and not lived our faith as transparently as we might.

To think of Jesus being killed confronts our understanding that God is eternal.  Death is the great unknown and every religion has some theory on what happens whether that be reincarnation, nirvana, purgatory, paradise or heaven. We talk about “End Times” and how we think history will unfold but these disciples did not have the New Testament, or the Revelation of John.  Jesus is trying to tell the disciples that he will be rejected, persecuted and killed.  That does not sound like a Messiah.  Jesus is telling us also that faith is not an automatic guarantee of happiness tomorrow. The journey of faith will include some rough days, perhaps disease, perhaps persecution and most likely death.  Again it is hard to ask God about this as answers involve revelations or information we may not have language to understand.  We are called to faith and trust, just like a small child embracing its parent.  And often we are afraid to ask questions and cling to our definition of the “elephant” as we think it is.

The third word Jesus uses is a promise that he will rise again.  As a chaplain I have talked with patients who had “out of body experiences” where they knew they had died and watched as medical people revived their bodies and called them back to life.  We meet experiences we just cannot give a scientific explanation for so we listen but mostly we have trouble interacting and we choose not to ask questions.  We read that Jesus rose and is active in our lives and we hear testimonies but resurrection still remains a mystery.

 Betrayal, death and resurrection are hard to explain and talk about.  I choose to use the language of journey.  Jesus walked through all the experiences that we will be called to endure to show us that nothing can separate us from the love of God.  Romans 8: 38 assures us, 

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Messiah is a title that is greater than an earthly king and speaks into a future whose form we are not sure about.

“What were you arguing about on the way?” 

Betrayal, death and resurrection are big words that are hard to grasp unless we have a context. Jesus turns to the disciples and asks them what they have been arguing about.  Jesus is not asking because he does not know but because he is pulling the disciples into awareness of what he is trying to explain.  They had been “arguing about” who would be greatest in the coming kingdom.  Not only had they not been listening but they had been arguing about who would be greatest.  Jesus being Messiah was not just about establishing Israel’s glory.  The road to greatness is not about power and all those things our world values. We are challenged today to think outside our boxes.  The six men had to pool their information and form a picture none of them could imagine.

What do we think about when we think about greatness.  The disciples were arguing about “who.”  They were thinking individualistically and they were thinking about themselves.  James and John wanted seats on Jesus’ right and left side.  They were focusing on people and not on God.  Even though they were of the first century they may of thought in terms of the TV series like American Idol where ordinary people are discovered who have great talents and abilities that set them out as “special.”  This last week many watched the Emmys and rejoiced or cried over which project was chosen for acclaim.  We relate “greatness” with acclaim and recognition of some sort.

We might stop and ponder what makes someone great in our thinking.  Is it financial expertise or military prowess or outstanding beauty of body.  We know the quagmires of these hierarchies that can crush our self esteem.  The disciples had poured their lives into following Jesus and the question, What’s in it for me?, certainly must have played around in their minds and possibly ours.

Jesus sits them down and says bluntly.  In order to be first, we must be willing to be last.  Perhaps we can kind of understand this. To win the Olympics, we must be willing to put in hours of practice and we must enter competitions where we could well loose and be last.  But Jesus continues.  We must be willing to be the servant of all.  Just like betrayal, death and resurrection are conversation stoppers, so is servanthood.  Humanly we want to be in a big successful church with good programs, a fantastic choir and a gifted preacher.  Jesus challenges us today to look beyond these values and ask ourselves what makes church a great experience for us today.  In the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5:18-20 Jesus challenged his audience like this:.

18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Greatness in the kingdom of heaven is not related to individual talents but to practicing the and teaching the commands of God.  These are commands that center around loving God with our whole heart, mind and strength and loving our neighbor as ourselves.  Love is not only possible for the rich or the talented or the powerful, but is possible for all.  Love is an attitude of gratitude to life that God gives us and to the people and situations God puts in our lives.  We love because God loves us first.

Whoever welcomes…

We have now come to a word we can understand, “welcome.”  Jesus puts a child in front of the disciples and likens the word Messiah to welcoming a child, not to welcoming Caesar.  That is really a mind boggling picture of Jesus’ Messiahship.  Jesus is our Savior, our Healer, our Teacher, our Leader, a model to follow, a Friend, a Brother.  He is all the things the six blind men thought about the elephant.  The blind men standing on the road could not see the elephant carrying people or pulling a load or colorfully decorated for a bridal procession.  The men could not see the elephant partnering with humans, faithfully serving those who needed its strength.  The six men did not grasp their relationship to the elephant.

Jesus becomes OUR Messiah when we step into relationship with him.  We Lutherans believe that is at baptism but others believe it is at the conversion moment.  The text tells us that when we welcome Jesus into our lives we are then welcoming God who revealed himself in the Old Testament in the Torah but who has now given us the big picture by incarnating in Jesus.  The big picture is a picture of serving even in the face of betrayal and killing.  The big picture is resurrection reality with a Messiah who defeats the evil of this world not by war but by servanthood.  Like our six blind men, we need the incarnation of God in Jesus to show us the elephant in the room that returns love for hate, who speaks truth and not betrays, and who rises with us above death.  That is a Messiah worthy of our worship and service.  That’s the big picture.

Let the people of God say, “Amen.”

“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.”  1 Corinthians 15: 10

We are starting to wind down to the end of the first letter to the Corinthians written by the apostle Paul.  He sums it up with the word “grace.”  He knew he had persecuted and been part of the death of early Christians.  It was God’s grace that rescued him.

Likewise, it is hard to talk about grace without thinking of the beloved hymn, Amazing Grace, by John Newton for a New Year’s Eve service in 1773.  It was published in 1779.  Newton was pressed into the Royal Navy and in a storm of the coast of Ireland, cried out for mercy and became a Christian.  After the navy he was involved in the Atlantic slave trade and like Paul was convinced he was wrong.  He turned to God and became a well known abolitionist-by the grace of God. 

This hymn tells the story of grace.  I chose this version of the hymn sung by Andrea Bocelli.  Please enjoy as you prepare your heart for worship tomorrow.

Blessings!

Andrea Bocelli Gives Stunning Performance of Amazing Grace! – Music Video

Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound). That sav’d a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,  Was blind, but now I see.

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,  And grace my fears reliev’d;
How precious did that grace appear. The hour I first believ’d!

Thro’ many dangers, toils, and snares,   I have already come;
‘Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,   And grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promis’d good to me,   His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be.  As long as life endures.

Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,   And mortal life shall cease;
I shall possess, within the veil,  A life of joy and peace.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,   The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who call’d me here below,  Will be forever mine.