On the Way to Wonder

18 But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silas and Timothy—was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has always been “Yes.” 20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. 21 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22 set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 

(2 Corinthians 1:18-22, NIV)

Sometimes I feel like there is a backstory to verses I am reading and it does not quite make sense.  It seems that Paul and the Corinthians have had a misunderstanding about when he would visit and why.  The first letter by Paul to the Corinthians was very much dealing with issues dividing the group.  It sounds like Paul was going to visit but plans changed and now he is going to visit.  Perhaps he is being accused of double mindedness.  It sounds like he is trying to smooth ruffled feathers.  The specifics of the backstory are not as important as how we respond to disagreements with our friends.  How do we repair relationships when there are misunderstandings?  Good question.

Avoidance is one of my tactics.  If I don’t see the person, perhaps the other will cool off and we can get back to normal.  But I must admit there is an awkwardness between us for a while and that sneaking suspicion all is not right.  It seems that Paul has chosen to name the elephant in the room and explain himself.  His response to the Corinthians challenges us to consider whether our responses are duplicitous, a yes or no that is more like a maybe, or whether we are people of integrity.  Can people count on us to say what we mean and mean what we say?  That is a good challenge to pray about.

Paul adds a thought.  In Christ who can do all things, we can trust that if God says something will be so, it will.  God will keep his word and eventually we will see that he fulfills his promises with truth and integrity.  May we grow in our ability to be people of integrity who are true to our word.  And Lord, please have mercy on all the people recovering from Hurricane Helene and preparing for Hurricane Milton.Yes and No

18 But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silas and Timothy—was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has always been “Yes.” 20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. 21 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22 set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 

(2 Corinthians 1:18-22, NIV)

Sometimes I feel like there is a backstory to verses I am reading and it does not quite make sense.  It seems that Paul and the Corinthians have had a misunderstanding about when he would visit and why.  The first letter by Paul to the Corinthians was very much dealing with issues dividing the group.  It sounds like Paul was going to visit but plans changed and now he is going to visit.  Perhaps he is being accused of double mindedness.  It sounds like he is trying to smooth ruffled feathers.  The specifics of the backstory are not as important as how we respond to disagreements with our friends.  How do we repair relationships when there are misunderstandings?  Good question.

Avoidance is one of my tactics.  If I don’t see the person, perhaps the other will cool off and we can get back to normal.  But I must admit there is an awkwardness between us for a while and that sneaking suspicion all is not right.  It seems that Paul has chosen to name the elephant in the room and explain himself.  His response to the Corinthians challenges us to consider whether our responses are duplicitous, a yes or no that is more like a maybe, or whether we are people of integrity.  Can people count on us to say what we mean and mean what we say?  That is a good challenge to pray about.

Paul adds a thought.  In Christ who can do all things, we can trust that if God says something will be so, it will.  God will keep his word and eventually we will see that he fulfills his promises with truth and integrity.  May we grow in our ability to be people of integrity who are true to our word.  And Lord, please have mercy on all the people recovering from Hurricane Helene and preparing for Hurricane Milton.

8-11 We don’t want you in the dark, friends, about how hard it was when all this came down on us in Asia province. It was so bad we didn’t think we were going to make it. We felt like we’d been sent to death row, that it was all over for us. As it turned out, it was the best thing that could have happened. Instead of trusting in our own strength or wits to get out of it, we were forced to trust God totally—not a bad idea since he’s the God who raises the dead! And he did it, rescued us from certain doom. And he’ll do it again, rescuing us as many times as we need rescuing. You and your prayers are part of the rescue operation—I don’t want you in the dark about that either. I can see your faces even now, lifted in praise for God’s deliverance of us, a rescue in which your prayers played such a crucial part.  (2 Corinthians 1:8-11, The Message)

Have you ever had one of those days when you were just ready to curl up and die?  Some of the greats in the Bible had days like that!  Moses at one point told God that if God did not go with them then he best just kill Moses cause Moses could not go one step further without God.  Job when faced with the news of the death of his children and loss of his wealth, bemoans the day he was born.  He wails that he should never have been born.  The prophet Jonah sits on a hill to watch Nineveh be cursed and God let a vine grow.  A worm eats the vine and Jonah loses his shade. He moans that he wants to die if God is not going to curse the Ninevites.  The great apostle Paul had a day like that.  He felt abandoned and sent to death row.  He thought it was over. For many trudging through the valley of despair, suicide seems like the only option. 

At church yesterday a man shared that he was wanting to die as his business was failing, his marriage was struggling, and he had no money for Christmas presents for his kids.  His final resort was to turn to prayer.  The next day he left church and his car was full of wrapped presents for his kids.  He got home and there was another stack of presents. Paul says here that when we come to the end of ourselves, we are forced to turn to God and trust him.  Not all our stories end happy ever after nor have the endings we expected but we can be sure that God is watching, waiting, listening and ready to answer as he knows is best.  I’m facing another hurricane in Florida in 10 days.  Lord, have mercy on all who are struggling at the end of their rope.  We look to you!                                                                                                                                                         

 First Reading: Genesis 2:18-24  

¹⁸The Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” ¹⁹So out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. ²⁰The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. ²¹So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. ²²And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. ²³Then the man said,

 “This at last is bone of my bones

  and flesh of my flesh;

 this one shall be called Woman,

  for out of Man this one was taken.”

²⁴Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.

Psalm: Psalm 8

You crown us with glory and honor. (Ps. 8:5)

 ¹O Lord our Lord, how majestic is your name in ^| all the earth!—

 ²you whose glory is chanted above the heavens out of the mouths of infants and children; you have set up a fortress against your enemies, to silence the foe and avenger.

 ³When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars you have set ^| in their courses,

 ⁴what are mere mortals that you should be mindful of them, human beings that you should care for them?

 ⁵Yet you have made them little less than divine; with glory and honor you crown them.

 ⁶You have made them rule over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet:

 ⁷all ^| flocks and cattle, even the wild beasts of the field,

 ⁸the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, and whatever passes along the paths of the sea.

 ⁹O Lord our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Second Reading: Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12

 ¹Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, ²but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. ³He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, ⁴having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

 ^2:5Now God did not subject the coming world, about which we are speaking, to angels. ⁶But someone has testified somewhere,

 “What are human beings that you are mindful of them,

  or mortals, that you care for them?

 ⁷You have made them for a little while lower than the angels;

  you have crowned them with glory and honor,

  ⁸subjecting all things under their feet.”

Now in subjecting all things to them, God left nothing outside their control. As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to them,⁹but we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

 ¹⁰It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. ¹¹For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, ¹²saying,

 “I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters,

  in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.”

Gospel: Mark 10:2-16

²Some Pharisees came, and to test [Jesus] they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” ³He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” ⁴They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.” ⁵But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. ⁶But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ⁷‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, ⁸and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. ⁹Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

 ¹⁰Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. ¹¹He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; ¹²and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

 ¹³People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. ¹⁴But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. ¹⁵Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” ¹⁶And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.

CHILDREN’S SERMON:  “Two Men and a Bear” by Aesop

Two Men were traveling in company through a forest, when, all at once, a huge Bear crashed out of the brush near them.  One of the Men, thinking of his own safety, climbed a tree.  The other, unable to fight the savage beast alone, threw himself on the ground and lay still, as if he were dead. He had heard that a Bear will not touch a dead body.

It must have been true, for the Bear snuffed at the Man’s head awhile, and then, seeming to be satisfied that he was dead, walked away.

The Man in the tree climbed down.  “It looked just as if that Bear whispered in your ear,” he said. “What did he tell you?”  “He said,” answered the other, “that it was not at all wise to keep company with a fellow who would desert his friend in a moment of danger.”

Misfortune is the test of true friendship.

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

SERMON

Jesus now begins to travel south from northern Israel, the Galilean area, to “across the river” from Judea.  He is approaching Jerusalem.  He has been trying to prepare the disciples for what they are about to experience when they arrive there.  He will be betrayed, killed and rise again.  But they can only think about him finally becoming the promised Messiah and restoration of Israel to its former glory.   We are coming to the climax of Mark’s Gospel.  To us onlookers, it looks like somehow life is going along as normal.  The Pharisees, as usual, are testing Jesus with trick questions and the disciples, as usual, are doing crowd control.  

In the midst of the ordinary we are presented with two scenes to ponder today.  The issues are ordinary, divorce and noisey kids disrupting people, but Jesus’ response is noteworthy.  In scene one the Pharisees are questioning Jesus about divorce. In the second scene the disciples are trying to control the people bringing their children to Jesus for his blessing.  Divorce and care of single women and mothers was a touchy subject and still is a divisive subject that has probably touched all our lives.  It is a land mine to preach about as our feelings run so deep, feelings of betrayal, guilt, defeat and shame.  Divorce shatters a relationship, shatters dreams, and tears apart families and presents a quagmire of situations to navigate.

⁹Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

One of the ways Lutherans like to look at Scripture is to look through the lens of Law and Gospel.  The Pharisees were the guardians of the Law, meaning the Ten Commandments, and the hundreds of smaller laws that defined how they understood God’s meaning for the big ten.  The text says the Pharisees were trying to trick Jesus.  Perhaps they wanted Jesus to be so definitive like John the Baptist who publicly condemned Herod’s marriage to Herodias, Herod’s brother’s former wife that he became an enemy of the State.  John the Baptist was beheaded in that story. Perhaps  they wanted Jesus to disagree with Moses, a forefather upon which they based their laws.  One of the trick questions the people always asked us in Kenya was, “How many wives did Solomon have?”  The Kenyans practiced polygamy and they knew Christians took only one wife and so many denominations forced them to put away all but one wife to be an elder in the church.   Women, on the other hand, often asked in women’s meetings if family planning was a sin because they had had many children, almost bled to death at the last birth but knew if they stopped bearing children their husband would take another wife.  I have heard the lament “I now know what ‘til death do us part means’” as their husbands living in the cities certainly had AIDS and would bring it home to them.  Female and male identity is closely tied to the ability to produce children.  Divorce is just a thorny topic that skims across the top of male/female relationships.

Lest we think this is solely a sexual issue, though, focusing on married bedroom relationships, I think the question of divorce is a valid  question for singles also.  Singles can be trapped in tense committed relationships with parents or bosses or friends who are abusive, who have demanded more than the person can give as the other person in the relationship diminishes with disease or spends years in jail, or or or.  How long, Lord, do I have to live in this relationship?  I’m so tired?  It is so unfair!  Where do I find the energy to face tomorrow trapped like this? Last week we ended with Jesus saying we will all be salted with fire.  Navigating relationships affects all of us.  Breaking relationships hurts all of us.  For many, married or not, it is like walking through fire.

Jesus first directs the Pharisees to the Law.  What did Moses say?  As I ponder that question, I wonder if it is not like going to court and asking, “What is your side of the story?”  Everyone wanting divorce has a story to tell about what they are having to endure.  Every victim of divorce has a story.  Every family touched by divorce has a story. We use words like infidelity, abuse, or abandonment.  The relationship has broken down and is not working right and separation seems like the best solution to someone.  Hollywood and our musical crooners often paint marriage as “some enchanted evening.”  But we all know that is not true.  Relationships are work and they get all mixed up because of sin.  The Pharisees respond that Moses and the law allows divorce.  Men could walk away from a relationship under certain situations.

Jesus does not argue with them but changes the parameters.  Divorce is not just a legal question about who gets what.  Divorce is a moral dilemma involving the “hardening of a heart.”  Jesus takes the conversation back to creation. God saw that it was not good for man to be alone and he created woman to be a helpmate for man.  Please note that God did not make woman to bear man’s children, to be a sexual object for his satisfaction.  We are created to be companions, to work together on the projects of life.  That is easy to say and hard to do.  God’s Plan A is that we allow the fire of relationships to refine our salt.  

That is not an easy answer but let us remember that Jesus is talking about the Garden of Eden and before sin.  Our lives now are not God’s Plan A.  My mother taught me that it takes two to tango and that implies the pain of looking at the break and seeing how I contributed.  We know, though, that sometimes life breaks love.  Children get involved and choose to walk away from parents who are trying faithfully to love them. The other develops a disease that requires the soul wrenching decision about institutionalizing.  People make bad choices that destroy the potential for good results.  We cry.  It was never God’s intention that the child he gave us, the love he brought into our life, or the deep friendship should end in separation.  God wants us to be helpmates to others.

Jesus continues with God’s Plan B.  When Adam and Eve hardened their hearts to God’s plan and ate the forbidden fruit, God had them leave the Garden.  When Cain killed Abel, God had Cain chased away rather than forcing them to continue to live in a relationship that was destructive.  We call it death.  Death can be physical like at the end of our life or death can be social or psychological.  God through Moses allowed an exit but there will always be scars.  

Law is like a fence that protects us and warns us when we are in danger. The Law is couched in words of love, commitment and the heart’s desire of God to develop a nation of priests to bless all other nations.  As my husband would say, the Ten Commandments are more like guidelines of how to live a happy, productive life that blesses others.  God’s plan was not to draw lines between good guys and bad guys but a guideline of God’s desire for our relationships.  As we read today’s Old Testament text, God’s desire is that we do not experience aloneness, that we be productive and multiply, and experience the “good life.”  God’s Plan A is that we work together blessing each other.  God’s Plan A includes all.  But when Plan A fails, God is prepared with Plan B, the cross.  Plan B is for everyone, not just married people, because we all fail in loving as God loves.

So perhaps our first reflection today is to ask ourselves what is going on when we harden our hearts.  When I looked up “harness of heart” in a concordance, I was surprised to find it used only three times in the Bible, all in the New Testament, and only in two contexts.  Jesus talks about hardening our hearts in marriage, in our relationship with another.  The other context is to challenge us not to be like non-believers who live with hardness of heart, unable to access God.  Both situations are a hardness in relating to another.  When life does not go the way I want, often my tendency is to look around and place blame.  It seems to me that at the core of broken relationships is a tension involving my will versus the will of another or I am fighting with what I perceive to be the will of God.  In the ordinariness of life I am tested and must learn to run to God even as the little children crawled into Jesus’ lap.

Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.”  

          The second half of the text today switches to a tender scene where the disciples are discouraging parents from bringing small children to Jesus for a blessing.  Jesus becomes indignant and rebukes the disciples. Is this our third or fourth Sunday when Jesus puts before us the little child – the dependent, the vulnerable, the helpless, the “becoming.”  Do we need to read it again?  It is so familiar to many of us but it is a fantastic statement with great depth that should not be thought of as only Sunday School appropriate.  It is a statement of God’s love for all. Can we picture ourselves in this scene?

We use laws to divide, to assign guilt, blame and to find fault – we know that burden.  But Jesus opens his arms and says to let my sheep, young and old, guilty and not so guilty come to me.  All the weary and those carrying heavy burdens are invited into his presence like little children.  God’s heart is that all can approach him and not be left out and alone.

      A possible picture of faith is seeing ourselves as those small children, going to Jesus with our bumps and bruises, our failures, our crushed hopes and disappointed dreams, our feelings of rejection and unworthiness and all the separations and exclusion that life throws our way. We are folded into the arms of Jesus.  He’s not afraid of our scars.  

      The text today clearly rejects divorce that divides and excludes as not God’s Plan A but realistically acknowledges the need for Plan B, divorce, because we live in a fallen world.  I cannot get around that.  The picture of welcoming the children is the picture of inclusion where none are to be left on the fringes alone and second class.  God does not want us to be alone.  He even sends the Holy Spirit to be with us always, even today.

      So where does that leave us as we listen?  I think there is one more lesson to be pondered.  Those disciples questioned Jesus further about divorce and were the ones turning away the children.  God does not want divorce but wants us to come to him like little children but the truth is that we often act more like the disciples.  We create hierarchies of sin, in our minds thinking who are the worst sinners and which sins are more like mistakes that all people do.  We are human after all!  We demand of others standards that we ourselves cannot live up to.  Jesus becomes indignant when we do that.  The disciples were to allow the little ones to come to Jesus and not create false barriers.  It is a good reminder today in our mixed up world that is so polarized and so ready to assign who are the good guys and who the bad guys are.  That job is God’s.  Ours is to welcome.  God’s Plan A is that we not be alone but be with him.  Plan B, the cross, is there for when we fail.  In the ongoing ordinary challenges that face us each day and that will drive the crowds to yell “crucify him,” “we choose divorce,” Jesus will spread out his arms on the cross and say, “Father forgive them.”   He cares for us and welcomes all.  That is Gospel.

And the people of God said, AMEN, THANK YOU LORD!

The Psalm reading for tomorrow is Psalm 8.  This psalm is special to me as when I first attended Summer Institute of Linguistics at the University of Washington in the summer of 1975  andwas learning what Bible translation was all about, my future husband came by one evening.  He was memorizing Psalm 8 and together we learned this psalm that was being made popular through music by the group Maranatha.  May this blast from the past bless you and may you sink the teeth of your soul into it. 

Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory in the heavens.
2 Through the praise of children and infants
    you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
    to silence the foe and the avenger.

3 When I consider your heavens,
    the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
    which you have set in place,

4what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    human beings that you care for them?[c]

5 You have made them a little lower than the angels[e]
    and crowned them  with glory and honor.

6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
    you put everything under their] feet:

7 all flocks and herds,
    and the animals of the wild,

8 the birds in the sky,
    and the fish 

How Majestic Is Your Name

All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. We have plenty of hard times that come from following the Messiah, but no more so than the good times of his healing comfort—we get a full measure of that, too.  (2 Corinthians 1:3-5, The Message)

Paul makes an important point as he starts his second letter to the Corinthians.  Our hard times have a purpose.  I think it is similar to what we now call “paying forward,”   The guy in front of me in line at a store pays for my bill.   Paul does not seem to be saying hard times are about God punishing us for our sins nor that there is some secret lesson he is trying to teach us.  Hard times often result from laws of nature.  The people who were so affected by huricaine Helene were not bad people.  People who died from Covid were not bad people.  We live in a fallen world.   When I get drunk and loose control of my car, that is not God’s fault.  These verses say that God walks with us during our trials and comforts us.  We are never alone.  But also even as God comforts us, we can then turn around and comfort another going through a similar hard time.  I find it comforting that life is not just random events but there is a God who comforts me so that I can comfort others in their rough days.  Comfort…C is for ______, O is for _____, M is for _____, Fis for _____, O is for _____, and T is for _____.  Blessmg as you face the challenges of today.

1-2 I, Paul, have been sent on a special mission by the Messiah, Jesus, planned by God himself. I write this to God’s congregation in Corinth, and to believers all over Achaia province. May all the gifts and benefits that come from God our Father and the Master, Jesus Christ, be yours! Timothy, someone you know and trust, joins me in 1 this greeting. (2 Corinthians 1:1-2, The Message)

      Today we are going to start Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians.  The historical data on this book suggests that this might have actually been the fourth letter sent to the Corinthians but only two have survived.  Corinth was the fourth largest urban area about 45 miles southwest of Athens and a significant trading center in the Greek and Roman empires.  The dominant religion was worship of Aphrodite, having a temple with 1000 priestesses who worshipped by enacting fertility rituals.  We would consider that sexual imorality was a dominant presence in the city.  Paul introduces himself as a messenger sent by God, not self appointed..  He also says that Timothy joins him in the greetings. 

 We will read that there were other “teachers” who came from Jerusalem teaching a slightly different Gospel and Paul is speaking into this dilemma.  Paul wants the Corinthians to see the superiority of the Christian covenant over the old covenant of Judaism.  But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.  A theme we are going to see in this second letter is an emphasis on “God’s ability revealed through human inability.  The Gospel does not involve strong people doing great things for God, but rather teaches that God does great things through, and despite our afflictions or weaknesses.  See 2 Corinthians 2:4-6.

        The NIV translates Paul’s greeting in verse 2 of chapter 1 as “grace and peace”.  Those are two big words, two major themes in his letter.  Because of God’s grace to sinful humanity we can find peace with our creator through the coming of Jesus Christ and his work of reconciliation on the cross. Let’s just sit with the words “grace” and “peace.”  As we watch the TV and hear the reports of the many deaths from Hurricane Helene and the many opinions on the presidential election, let us pray for grace and peace  in the hearts of those affected.  Let’s pray for the grace and peace that comes from God, not from winning  and not from wealth but from knowing God walks with us through these days.  Blessings.

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.

24 My love to all of you in Christ Jesus. Amen.

1 Corinthians 16: 23-24

“XXXOOO” is shorthand for sending hugs and kisses at the end of a letter or email.  It is not as formal as “sincerely yours,” or “love.”  Paul has sent a letter to a small group of believers in Corinth, the fourth largest urban area in the Roman Empire.    They were not the state religion.  They did not have a Bible to read or pod casts to listen to.  They were dependent on letters being circulated around the Middle East and carried by trusted messengers.   In this first letter to the Corinthians, Paul opened with complements about how he saw God working in their lives.  He then went on to answer questions about issues facing the churches.  Even today we read this letter and know that the issues like marriage, law suits, and sexual immorality are still debated today.  So how does he close his letter?  He does not close with a stiff formal closing but warmly prays for grace for the people and then closes with love.  He does not send soap opera love but sends the love of the God of the universe.  That is a huge hug and a kiss deeper than our Xs and Os.

Closings are important.  Ponder how you close your emails today and maybe say a quick prayer for the recipient.  Blessings.

13 Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. 14 Do everything in love.  1 Corinthians 16:13-14

Paul is closing his first letter to the Corinthians. He gives the Corinthians his travel itinerary.  He hopes to visit them but not just a “passing visit”, after he visits Macedonia.  It seems he is writing from Ephesus.  He recommends Timothy and Apollos to them as worthy of hospitality.  Then he again warns them to guard their hearts and to stand firmly, be courageous and strong.

Think of a place or person you would like to visit.  What would be the purpose of your visit and what would you hope to happen?  If I were younger I might be willing to volunteer for a work team to go to the the hurricane Helene area to help with clean up.  I would think of taking supplies so I would not be a burden and taking tools to help with the work.  My agenda would be quite different if I were heading out on vacation to Disney World for vacation.  Then again if I were making a trip to visit family, my agenda would be different again.

Paul is visiting young Christian churches.  He wants to encourage and teach them.  His final advice is to do everything in love.  This is good advice for facing today.  Lord, whether we face a disaster, or a vacation, or friends, whatever our travel itinerary, may all I do come from a heart of love and not criticalness.  May I be courageous with my truth and strong in helping others.  Thank you for walking with me.

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!