On the Way to Wonder

Mark 13:1-37

We are walking through Holy Week with Jesus, tying his story to our story.  We know he is headed to the cross this Friday but his followers did not know this.  We know we are headed to death, hopefully not this Friday, but we do not really understand that either.  Chapter 13 of Mark is like a buffer zone between Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and the Maundy Thursday and Good Friday accounts.  The chapter focuses on Jesus and friends leaving the Temple and reflecting on its beauty.  Jesus uses this conversation to refocus his followers onto approaching catastrophic events.  The Temple will be destroyed.  They ask what the signs will be.  Jesus talks about false prophets claiming to be him that will arise.  He talks about geo-political symptoms and persecution.  It does not sound like the reign of the Messiah they were expecting.  How often do we think that God should be producing happy-ever-after in our life and yet really most likely we too will be going through rough times.  Jesus is telling us that these things must happen before we meet him.

He comforts his followers with the image of the fig tree putting forth young shoots that lets us know new life is coming.  Jesus gives his famous quote, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”  He comforts them that no one knows the exact time of the end of life.  Each day is a gift.  Jesus returns to the image of a man leaving on a journey but leaving his servants in charge but at an unknown time then returns.  

Jesus is returning, he has not forgotten us.  The chapter ends with the admonition to “watch!”  So now we have three words.  Mark opens his Gospel with John the Baptist identifying as “the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord.”  At Jesus’ baptism the Father speaks and says, “This is my son.”   At the transfiguration we were admonished by the voice speaking from the cloud to “Listen to him.”  And now we hear from Jesus, “Watch.”

We can argue about how end times will unfold and we can joke about hoping to die in our sleep or in our recliner but the truth is that we just don’t know the day, the time, or the hour.  The best we can do is “watch” and be aware of the significance of events happening around us.  Jesus’ story this week and our story go together.  We are not just looking back on history.  Let us pray for eyes that watch  — not the way we watch TV — but that we will be able to watch our spiritual journey with godly perspective, not just the beauty of life but also the significance of the events swirling around us.  Lord, help.

⁴¹ He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. ⁴² A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. ⁴³ Then he called his disciples and said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. ⁴⁴ For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.’

  Mark 12:41-44

Yesterday was Palm Sunday.  Jesus entered Jerusalem to the “Hosannas” of the crowds and people throwing branches on the ground before him.  The masses were expecting a Messiah to rescue them from those Romans, not a Savior who would rescue them for eternity.  Jesus will use this week to give his final teachings as he visits the Temple.

One of the lessons that he focused his followers on while visiting the Temple was directing their eyes to a box where people could give their donations.  It’s kind of like taking the offering at church.  In Kenya  they would have a “harambe.”  “Harambe” was the national motto started by Jomo Kenyatta.  It is Swahili for “let’s pull together.”  So if the car is stuck in the mud, all would get out and put their shoulders to the car and call out in rhythm, “harambe” and push the car.  If a child was going to university, all would gather at the farm and march forward giving money, chickens, eggs, whatever that would help push that child of the community forward.   The fun part then came when the leader would tell the people to look in their inside pockets and find that little extra.  Another round of giving happened.  Then the leader would call for the “noise” offering, the loose change in our pockets to be donated.

Jesus looked at the people giving to the Temple and saw a lady giving a “noise” offering, two small coins, all she had.  Jesus is pointing out that contributions that force us to dig deep into our pockets are just as significant as a publicly acknowledged big gift upfront.  As we come to Holy Week, our text challenges us to think about what we will contribute to our spiritual journey this week.  For many of us we have done the Sunday meeting where we meet friends, have fun services, and put in our weekly offering.  But will we dig into our pockets and take from our reserves?  Maybe we can’t make it to special services on Maundy Thursday or Good Friday but we can take extra time to pray or turn off the radio and decide to sing a praise.  Let us challenge ourselves to think creatively about how we can contribute creatively, beyond our normal habits to the growth of our soul and the growth of the church that supports us.  Blessings.  

Man of Sorrows | Reawaken Hymns | Official Lyric Video

First Reading: Isaiah 50:4-9a

 ⁴The Lord God has given me
  the tongue of a teacher,
 that I may know how to sustain
  the weary with a word.
 Morning by morning he wakens—
  wakens my ear
  to listen as those who are taught.
 ⁵The Lord God has opened my ear,
  and I was not rebellious,
  I did not turn backward.
 ⁶I gave my back to those who struck me,
  and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;
 I did not hide my face
  from insult and spitting.

 ⁷The Lord God helps me;
  therefore I have not been disgraced;
 therefore I have set my face like flint,
  and I know that I shall not be put to shame;
  ⁸he who vindicates me is near.
 Who will contend with me?
  Let us stand up together.
 Who are my adversaries?
  Let them confront me.
 ^9aIt is the Lord God who helps me;
  who will declare me guilty?

Psalm: Psalm 31:9-16

Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit. (Ps. 31:5)

 ⁹Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble;
  my eye is consumed with sorrow, and also my throat and my belly.
 ¹⁰For my life is wasted with grief, and my years with sighing;
  my strength fails me because of affliction, and my bones are consumed.
 ¹¹I am the scorn of all my enemies, a disgrace to my neighbors, a dismay to my acquaintances;
  when they see me in the street they avoid me.
 ¹²Like the dead I am forgotten, out of mind;
  I am as useless as a broken pot. 
 ¹³For I have heard the whispering of the crowd; fear is all around;
  they put their heads together against me; they plot to take my life.
 ¹⁴But as for me, I have trusted in you, O Lord.
  I have said, “You are my God.
 ¹⁵My times are in your hand;
  rescue me from the hand of my enemies, and from those ​who persecute me.
 ¹⁶Let your face shine upon your servant;
  save me in your steadfast love.” 

Second Reading: Philippians 2:5-11

⁵Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
 ⁶who, though he was in the form of God,
  did not regard equality with God
  as something to be exploited,
 ⁷but emptied himself,
  taking the form of a slave,
  being born in human likeness.
 And being found in human form,
  ⁸he humbled himself
  and became obedient to the point of death—
  even death on a cross.

 ⁹Therefore God also highly exalted him
  and gave him the name
  that is above every name,
 ¹⁰so that at the name of Jesus
  every knee should bend,
  in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
 ¹¹and every tongue should confess
  that Jesus Christ is Lord,
  to the glory of God the Father.

GOSPEL

Our Gospel reading is very long.  It tells the story of the Passion Week that we are entering today.  Between this Sunday, Palm Sunday, and next Sunday, Easter, we will celebrate Maundy Thursday – the initiation of our sacrament of communion. We will hear the new command to love one another.  We will sit in the Garden of Gethsemane and then watch the trial.  We will walk with Jesus to the cross and the tomb.  We will enter HISTORY, HIS-STORY that becomes OUR-STORY.  Please be seated as we enter into history:  His story and our story.

Gospel: Mark 14:1–15:47.

THE PASSION ACCORDING TO SAINT MARK

Mark 14:1-11  

NARRATOR: ​It was two days before the Passover and the festival of Unleavened Bread. The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him; for they said, 

CHIEF PRIEST: ​”Not during the festival, or there may be a riot among the people.”

NARRATOR: ​While he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on his head. But some were there who said to one another in anger, 

DISCIPLE: ​”Why was the ointment wasted in this way? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” 

NARRATOR: ​And they scolded her. 

JESUS:​ “Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has performed a good service for me. For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.

NARRATOR: ​Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. When they heard it, they were greatly pleased, and promised to give him money. So he began to look for an opportunity to betray him.

​(PAUSE) NARRATOR: HIS STORY. OUR STORY   

​CONGREGATION:  Like the woman, we want to kneel ​and honor you with our treasures, Lord.  But we ​​bring to this week our questions about our ​resources and how we can face tomorrow.

Mark 14: 12-31

NARRATOR: ​On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, his disciples said to him, 

DISCIPLE:​ “Where do you want us to go and make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?” 

NARRATOR: ​So he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 

JESUS:​ “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, `The Teacher asks, Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.” 

NARRATOR:​So the disciples set out and went to the city, and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal. 

When it was evening, he came with the twelve. And when they had taken their places and were eating, Jesus said

JESUS:​ “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” 

NARRATOR: ​They began to be distressed and to say to him one after another, 

DISCIPLE: ​”Surely, not I?” 

JESUS: ​”It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the bowl with me. For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.”

NARRATOR: ​While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, 

JESUS:​ “Take; this is my body.” 

NARRATOR: ​Then Jesus took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. He said to them, 

JESUS:​ “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly I tell you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

NARRATOR: ​When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. And Jesus said to them, 

JESUS: ​”You will all become deserters; for it is written, `I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.”   

PETER:​ “Even though all become deserters, I will not.”  

JESUS:​ “Truly I tell you, this day, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.”  

PETER: ​”Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you.” 

NARRATOR: ​And all of them said the same.

​(PAUSE): NARRATOR:  HIS-STORY OUR-STORY

​CONGREGATION:  Like Judas or Peter we fall short, ​betray you in search of profit or from fear of others.  ​We want to do right but we fail.

Mark 14:32-43.  

NARRATOR: ​They went to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, 

JESUS: ​”Sit here while I pray.” 

NARRATOR: ​He took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be distressed and agitated. And said to them, 

JESUS: ​”I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and keep awake.” 

NARRATOR: ​And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. He said, 

JESUS:​ “Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.” 

NARRATOR: ​He came and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, 

JESUS: ​”Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep awake one hour? Keep awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 

NARRATOR: ​And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. And once more he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to say to him. He came a third time and said to them, 

JESUS: ​”Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Enough! The hour has come; the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand.”

​(PAUSE)  NARRATOR:  HIS-STORY OUR-STORY

​CONGREGATION: We bring our exhaustion.  We ​want to pray and take all to you but we tire.  We want ​to trust but we too want our trials to pass.  Help us ​accept your will!

Mark 14: 44-52.

NARRATOR: ​Immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived; and with him there was a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders. Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, 

JUDAS:​ “The one I will kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.” 

NARRATOR: ​So when he came, he went up to him at once and said, 

JUDAS:​ “Rabbi!” 

NARRATOR: ​and kissed him. Then they laid hands on him and arrested him. But one of those who stood near drew his sword and struck the slave of the high priest, cutting off his ear. Then Jesus said to them, 

JESUS: ​”Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as though I were a bandit? Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not arrestme. But let the scriptures be fulfilled.” 

NARRATOR: ​All of them deserted him and fled.  A certain young man was following him, wearing nothing but a linen cloth. They caught hold of him, but he left the linen cloth and ran off naked.

​(PAUSE)  NARRATOR:  HIS-STORY : OUR-STORY

​CONGREGATION: Daily we can meet with you, Lord. ​Help us see clearly. Help us not flee naked in the ​crisis!

Mark 14:53-65. 

NARRATOR​: They took Jesus to the high priest; and all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes were assembled. Peter had followed him at a distance, rightinto the courtyard of the high priest; and he was sitting with the guards, warming himself at the fire. Now the chief priests and the whole council were looking for testimony against Jesus to put him to death; but they found none. For many gave false testimony against him, and their testimony did not agree. Some stood up and gave false testimony against him, saying, 

ACCUSER: ​”We heard him say, `I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.'” 

NARRATOR: ​But even on this point their testimony did not agree. Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, 

HIGH PRIEST: ​”Have you no answer? What is it that they testify against you?” 

NARRATOR: ​But he was silent and did not answer. Again the high priest asked him, 

HIGH PRIEST: ​”Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” 

JESUS: ​”I am; and `you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power,’ and `coming with the clouds of heaven.'”

NARRATOR: ​Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, 

HIGH PRIEST: ​”Why do we still need witnesses? You have heard his blasphemy! What is your decision?” 

NARRATOR: ​All of them condemned him as deserving death. Some began to spit on him, to blindfold him, and to strike him, saying to him, 

ACCUSER: ​”Prophesy!” 

NARRATOR: ​The guards also took him over and beat him.

​(PAUSE)  NARRATOR: HIS-STORY : OUR-STORY

​CONGREGATION:  We get caught up in the reports ​of politics and all the conflicting stories.  Help us ​find truth and not be judgmental.

Mark 14:66-72    (Place a tube of toothpaste on the altar.)

NARRATOR:  ​While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant-girls of the high priest came by. When she saw Peter warming himself, she stared at him and said, 

SERVANT GIRL:​ “You also were with Jesus, the man from Nazareth.” 

NARRATOR: ​But he denied it, saying, 

PETER:​ “I do not know or understand what you are talking about.” 

NARRATOR: ​And he went out into the forecourt. Then the cock crowed. And the servant-girl, on seeing him, began again to say to the bystanders, 

SERVANT GIRL: ​”This man is one of them.” 

NARRATOR: ​But again he denied it. Then after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, 

BYSTANDER: ​”Certainly you are one of them; for you are a Galilean.” 

NARRATOR: ​But he began to curse, and he swore an oath, 

PETER:​ “I do not know this man you are talking about.” 

NARRATOR: ​At that moment the cock crowed for the second time. Then Peter remembered that Jesus had said to him, 

JESUS: ​”Before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.” 

NARRATOR: ​And he broke down and wept.

​(PAUSE)  NARRATOR:  HIS-STORY : OUR-STORY

​CONGREGATION:  Lord, you know all.  Forgive the ​times I cave in and let fear control my mouth.

Mark 15: 1-15

NARRATOR: ​As soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. They bound Jesus, led him away, andhanded him over to Pilate. Pilate asked him, 

PILATE:​ “Are you the King of the Jews?”  

JESUS:​ “You say so.” 

NARRATOR: ​Then the chief priests accused him of many things. Pilate asked him again, 

PILATE: ​”Have you no answer? See how many charges they bring against you.” 

NARRATOR: ​But Jesus made no further reply, so that Pilate was amazed.

​Now at the festival he used to release a prisoner for them, anyone for whom they asked. Now a man called Barabbas was in prison with the rebels who had committed murder during the insurrection. So the crowd came and began to ask Pilate to do for them according to his custom. Then he answered them, 

PILATE:​ “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” 

NARRATOR: ​For he realized that it was out of jealousy that the chief priests had handed him over. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead. Pilate spoke to them again, 

PILATE:​ “Then what do you wish me to do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” 

NARRATOR: ​They shouted back, 

CONGREGATION: ​”Crucify him!” 

NARRATOR: ​Pilate asked them, 

PILATE:​ “Why, what evil has he done?” 

NARRATOR: ​But they shouted all the more, 

CONGREGATION: ​”Crucify him!” 

NARRATOR: ​So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.

​(PAUSE) NARRATOR:  HIS-STORY : OUR-STORY

​CONGREGATION:  Lord, we wash our hands but we ​need you to make our hearts clean.

Mark 15:16-33

NARRATOR:  ​Then the soldiers led him into the courtyard of the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters); and they called together the whole cohort. And they clothed him in a purple cloak; and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on him. And they began saluting him, 

SOLDIER:​ “Hail, King of the Jews!” 

NARRATOR:​They struck his head with a reed, spat upon him, and knelt down in homage to him. After mocking him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

NARRATOR​:  They compelled a passer-by, who was coming in from the country, to carry his cross; it was Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus. Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull). And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh; but he did not take it. And they crucified him, and divided his clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each should take. It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. The inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” And with him they crucified two bandits, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, 

BYSTANDER:​ “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!” 

NARRATOR: ​In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, 

CHIEF PRIEST: ​”He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe.” 

NARRATOR: ​Those who were crucified with him also taunted him.

​(Pause) NARRATOR: HIS-STORY : OUR-STORY.

​CONGREGATION: Lord forgive our judgmental ​attitudes that turns into mockery.

MARK 15:33-41

NARRATOR:  ​When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, 

JESUS: ​”Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” 

NARRATOR: ​which means, 

JESUS:​ “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 

NARRATOR: ​When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, 

BYSTANDER: ​”Listen, he is calling for Elijah.” 

NARRATOR: ​And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, 

BYSTANDER: ​”Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” 

NARRATOR: ​Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, 

CENTURION: ​”Truly this man was God’s Son!”

NARRATOR: ​There were also women looking on from a distance; among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. These used to follow him and provided for him when he was in Galilee; and there were many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem.

​(PAUSE) NARRATOR:  HIS-STORY : OUR-STORY.

​CONGREGATION: We stand at the foot of the cross ​as the wounded and as those who wound.  We bring ​our wounds to you.

MARK 15:42-47

NARRATOR:  ​When evening had come, and since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate wondered if he were already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he had been dead for some time. When he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the body to Joseph. Then Joseph bought a linen cloth, and taking down the body, wrapped it in the linen cloth, and laid it in a tomb that had been hewn out of the rock. He then rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where the body was laid.

NARRATOR:  Let us pray.  Thank you for making your story, our story to prove beyond a doubt that even in our brokenness nothing, not even suffering and death, can separate us from your love.  Death does not have the last word.  Sunday is coming.  Thank you, Lord.

Closing hymn – ‘The Old Rugged Cross’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUju31yqll4

Tomorrow we will celebrate Palm Sunday and the psalm reading is Psalm 31:9-16.   The psalm seems to fit in with the readings we have done this week in the gospel of Mark.  After Jesus  the experienced the triumphal entry we will celebrate tomorrow with people welcoming him as the coming Messiah, the mood changes.  The religious leaders are threatened by Jesus cleansing the Temple and by his teachings that seemed to be saying that the religious leaders had not been good tenants in God’s vineyard.  Different religious representatives come to Jesus with questions aimed at catching him in a contradiction.  Jesus finally turns the table on them and does some teaching, but the tension is growing.  We will travel with him this week as these events unfold.  Thursday we call Maundy Thursday because a new mandate, a new commandment, was given at the end of the Last Supper.  Friday is called Good Friday even though it is the day of crucifixion.  For those who go to the various services offered, we will experience the roots of our faith.  Psalm 31 below focuses on the struggles of life and the choice to trust God in the midst of the struggles.  A good entry to Holy Week.  

Psalm: Psalm 31:9-16

Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit. (Ps. 31:5)

 ⁹Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble;

  my eye is consumed with sorrow, and also my throat and my belly.

 ¹⁰For my life is wasted with grief, and my years with sighing;

  my strength fails me because of affliction, and my bones are consumed.

 ¹¹I am the scorn of all my enemies, a disgrace to my neighbors, a dismay to my acquaintances;

  when they see me in the street they avoid me.

 ¹²Like the dead I am forgotten, out of mind;

  I am as useless as a broken pot. 

 ¹³For I have heard the whispering of the crowd; fear is all around;

  they put their heads together against me; they plot to take my life.

 ¹⁴But as for me, I have trusted in you, O Lord.

  I have said, “You are my God.

 ¹⁵My times are in your hand;

  rescue me from the hand of my enemies, and from those who persecute me.

 ¹⁶Let your face shine upon your servant;

  save me in your steadfast love.” 

³⁸ As he taught, he said, ‘Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the market-places, ³⁹ and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honour at banquets! ⁴⁰ They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.’

Mark 12:38-40

Jesus has now started directing the conversation in Mark 12 after a series of teachings based on trick questions religious leaders have presented him.  Yesterday Jesus pointed out that religious leaders do not always understand everything.  We serve a God who works outside our  boxes.  We are often confronted with situations without clear answers for moving forward.  Jesus, who was welcomed by the crowds on Palm Sunday as he might be the expected Messiah, was a descendant of David – his son, but was also called “Lord” by David in a psalm written before Jesus was even born.  The Messiah would be human and divine!  Today he warns them that not all religious leaders are pure in their intentions.  Some of them like the glory of leadership but don’t really care about the people they are leading.  We suspect that in politics and in corporations.  Even hospitals send out surveys asking if we think they care about us.  Hmmmm.  I’m never sure if that is a measure of friendliness or true concern for me.

Jesus warns us, “Beware.”  I think of the road signs I have seen while driving that tell me to beware.  I was traveling in Scotland once and saw a sign, “Beware, sharp curves.”  I went around the curve and there was another sign, “You have been warned!”  We are warned about cow crossings, deer crossings, and children crossing.  We are warned about bad weather.  We are warned about economic trends through stock market reports daily.  Our horoscope is even a form of prediction of possible danger.

So what do people in Florida do when there is a hurricane warning?  We stock our shelves with nonperishable foods.  We store containers of water.  We gather cash in case electricity goes out and we buy candles.  Many flee the state.  We board up windows and we may even sleep over with a friend if we are widows or single.  Some of these preparations are good advice to help us discern good religious leaders from bad.  We store up Scripture so we don’t just blindly agree that all is said in a sermon.  We underline or memorize favorite passages that are a comfort to our souls.  We make playlists of encouraging songs on our devices.  And we like to fellowship with friends and chat about the Sunday sermon or a current Bible study series.  Perhaps another word for “beware” is to evaluate what we hear with our ears, see with our eyes, and touch with our hands.  As my mother would say, “Not all is gold that glitters.”  But as Jesus said, “beware.”  Blessings on your spiritual journey.

³⁵ While Jesus was teaching in the temple, he said, ‘How can the scribes say that the Messiah is the son of David? ³⁶ David himself, by the Holy Spirit, declared,

“The Lord said to my Lord,
‘Sit at my right hand,
    until I put your enemies under your feet.’”

³⁷ David himself calls him Lord; so how can he be his son?’ And the large crowd was listening to him with delight.

Mark 12:35-37

Jesus has come to Jerusalem in Passover week, been welcomed by the crowds, but offended the religious leaders.  We have been reading about a series of encounters between Jesus and representatives of various groups.  They pose trick questions trying to trip him up and justify their desire to get rid of him.  Jesus is just not acting like the Messiah they thought he was to be when they welcomed him on Palm Sunday.  He does not seem to be tackling those pesky Romans that make their lives miserable.  He is not restoring the Jews to the days of glory under king David and King Solomon.

Mark shares a very interesting exchange.  Jesus now turns to the leaders and asks them a question, quoting Psalm 110:1.  The people are looking for a Messiah who is to come from the genealogy of David hence will be considered a son of David.  But then David himself writes a psalm calling the Messiah, David’s Lord.  How can the Messiah be a “son of David” and David’s “lord”?  Humanly the Messiah is a descendent of David but divinely the Messiah is the Lord of David and so, Jesus is pointing out that the expectant Messiah is true God and true Man.

The religious leaders whom we think know many things, often are short sighted because God works outside our boxes.  God is the God of the impossible.  A virgin conceives, the blind see, the waves calm, and Jesus will die but live.  God is often working in ways we don’t see and we don’t understand.  I find that comforting.  Perhaps you are facing a situation in your life right now where God is challenging you to trust him with your own personal Romans and allow God to work out a solution.  Take a moment to pray and place the weight on your heart into Jesus’ hands.  Blessings.

³² Then the scribe said to him, ‘You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that “he is one, and besides him there is no other”; ³³ and “to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength”, and “to love one’s neighbour as oneself”,—this is much more important than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices.’  Mark 12:32

The religious authorities are lining up to ask Jesus trick questions to try to catch him in a heresy.  Now a teacher of the law comes and asks a question.  “What is the most important law or commandment?”  Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6, “⁴ Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.⁵ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.”  This is what Moses taught the Israelites when he came down from Sinai with the law.  The man affirms what Jesus has said but phrases the command in his own words showing he has understood and adds the second half of loving a neighbor as one’s self.  No tricks from this man and Jesus affirms him.

Matthew explains the scene a bit more, 

³⁶ ‘Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?’ ³⁷ He said to him, ‘“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” ³⁸ This is the greatest and first commandment. ³⁹ And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” ⁴⁰ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’

Many people can quote these verses and understand that since they have been good to family, friends, and neighbors, they have met the requirements of religion.  Being nice to our friends is one thing but loving God is another. Can you paraphrase loving God with heart, soul, and mind?  What three words would you use?  Blessings as you ponder.

“I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob”?

 ²⁷ He is God not of the dead, but of the living; you are quite wrong.’

Mark 12: 26-27

It seems this last week in Jerusalem, everyone in religious leadership is upset with Jesus and trying to trip him up with trick questions.  Yesterday it was the Pharisees and the Herodians trying to trick him about paying taxes.  Today it is the Sadducees.  They don’t even believe in the resurrection of the dead but they still come and ask a question.  A woman who has been handed from brother to brother, seven brothers, who have all died leaving her childless, to whom will she be married in the resurrection. That is a horrible question and from a woman’s point of view, I applaud the abrupt answer Jesus gives.  There is no consideration of the woman and what she might have experienced and she is treated as chattel.  Horrible.  We might call it a “living death.”

​Jesus is very direct:  “You are quite wrong.”  God is the God of life and hope.  It makes me think of the lines we draw in the sand and assign people we don’t like to one side and ourselves to the side of the good.  It is easy to see this in politics but there are many other subtle ways that we evaluate “who’s wife” or which category a person belongs in.  Beauty may be our criteria or wealth or talent or health or employment.  Those are easy targets but we have others.

God is looking for life.  We might ponder what that means to us today.  Do we look for the life and growing aspects of others or do we focus on failures?  Let us spend a moment asking the Holy Spirit to reveal the good, the life in someone we perhaps have trouble loving. Lord, help us to focus on life and not death!

MARK 12: 13-17

Jesus is in Jerusalem and it is the last week before the crucifixion.  The chief priests and teachers of the law are looking for ways to arrest him.  Jesus has upset Temple protocol by creating a scene in the Temple outer court.  “My father’s house is to be a house of prayer!”  Next he gives a parable indicating that the leaders have been poor farmers taking care of God’s vineyard.  They are irate and now they try to trap Jesus in a trick question. Some Pharisees and Herodians, that is a mixed group of leaders supporting the Herods, the political power, and those representing Temple law, come with a question.  “Should we pay the imperial taxes?”   

Sometimes we get ourselves all tangled up in either/or questions. I had twins and invariably they argued about a toy.  One claimed he had it first.  The other claimed their big brother had given it to him.  They were both right.  Last month I had to plan to pay IRS, pay the dentist for a crown, and my daughter wanted money.  Social Security had still not paid survivors benefits.  My stomach knotted.

Jesus knew his followers were going to have to face the tension of being caught between the demands of this world and the demands of the kingdom of God.  Jesus does not choose a “right answer” for this specific situation, but gives a principle to live by.  Taxes were paid with coins.  On one side was the face of Caesar and on the other was written perhaps something like, “In God we trust.”  Jesus, seeing their duplicity, responded, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”

Perhaps you are not caught in any situation right now.  It is always good to think about solutions in terms of what is required by the problem and what is required by our God.  Let us pray for our legal system, for the many caught in situations needing mercy and for the legal people who have to make decisions.  May they see beyond the immediate to the eternal!

First Reading: Jeremiah 31:31-34

³¹The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. ³²It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. ³³But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ³⁴No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

Psalm: Psalm 51:1-12

Create in me a clean heart, O God. (Ps. 51:10)

 ¹Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love;

  in your great compassion blot out my offenses.

 ²Wash me through and through from my wickedness,

  and cleanse me from my sin.

 ³For I know my offenses,

  and my sin is ever before me.

 ⁴Against you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight;

  so you are justified when you speak and right in your judgment. 

 ⁵Indeed, I was born steeped in wickedness,

  a sinner from my mother’s womb.

 ⁶Indeed, you delight in truth deep within me,

  and would have me know wisdom deep within.

 ⁷Remove my sins with hyssop, and I shall be clean;

  wash me, and I shall be purer than snow.

 ⁸Let me hear joy and gladness;

  that the body you have broken may rejoice. 

 ⁹Hide your face from my sins,

  and blot out all my wickedness.

 ¹⁰Create in me a clean heart, O God,

  and renew a right spirit within me.

 ¹¹Cast me not away from your presence,

  and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

 ¹²Restore to me the joy of your salvation

  and sustain me with your bountiful Spirit. 

Second Reading: Hebrews 5:5-10

⁵Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest, but was appointed by the one who said to him,

 “You are my Son,

  today I have begotten you”;

⁶as he says also in another place,

 “You are a priest forever,

  according to the order of Melchizedek.”

 ⁷In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. ⁸Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; ⁹and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, ¹⁰having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

Gospel: John 12:20-33

²⁰Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. ²¹They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” ²²Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. ²³Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. ²⁵Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.

 ²⁷“Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. ²⁸Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” ²⁹The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” ³⁰Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. ³¹Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. ³²And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” ³³He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.

CHILDREN’S SERMON — What do Joni Eareckson Tada, Helen Keller, Fanny Crosby and Ludwig Van Beethoven have in common?  They were all famous people who had  stories of loss they overcame to become famous artists.  Joni broke her neck and is a quadriplegic.  Helen Keller and Fanny Crosby became blind as children.  Even the great Beethoven struggled with deafness from his mid twenties til he died.  Today we will see a link between glory and the seeming impossibility imposed by death of a dream .

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

SERMON.         

The context of our Gospel today is Jerusalem and it actually takes place after the triumphal entry of next Sunday.  The time is Passover week and Jews from around the world have gathered at the Temple.  Jesus is not staying in Jerusalem but in Bethany a few miles away with his friends, Mary, Martha and Lazarus.  He is making excursions into Jerusalem until the crucifixion. Jesus is still trying to help us understand the importance and impact of his life. Interestingly Mark opens this text with Greeks, maybe Jews but maybe not, coming to the disciples.  “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”  Perhaps that is your cry today

 Wait!!!  Does this scene feel a bit familiar to you?  We are coming full-circle in this year’s accounts of the God who incarnated, lived among us as one of us, and went to the cross to die for us and show us that nothing can separate us from his love, not even death.  On January 6th we celebrated Epiphany when the wisemen from the East arrived in Jerusalem and asked King Herod, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?” The arrival of the wisemen that occurs near the start of every liturgical year elevated the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem to a universal story for all people. Today the Greeks who might be considered “wisemen from the East,” come looking for Jesus.  They seem to signal that what unfolds is also for all people.  Our text has taken on a global feel beyond the Jewish festival of Passover.  This is not a history lesson but God speaking to us.  

  Our New Testament reading also reminded us who Jesus was understood to be, “You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.”  Melchizedek was the high priest of God Most High who went out to meet Abraham when Abraham returned from rescuing Lot and families from raiders.  Melchizedek blessed Abraham before Moses was born and before the law was given on Sinai.  Melchizedek represents a priesthood that predates the Jewish priesthood begun with Aaron. Our text is what we would call “glocal” – global in scope and set in a local, identifiable history. 

We are coming to the climax of our Lenten journey and Jesus gives the Greeks and us another image to help us understand the significance of his incarnation.  Last week Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be born again and gave us the image of the wind, of light, and told us God so loved the world, he gave his Son so that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.  Even the Greeks, even we, can approach and come to Jesus. ”We are the “whoever’s. Our writer skips the question and goes to the point Jesus wants to make. Jesus responds to the Greeks with one of his frequent images of a sower planting seeds but this time he ties it to the glorification that is about to take place.  Jesus linked glory and death when he talked about the seed falling to the ground and dying to produce fruit.

 When we think of glory we think of honor, praise, and distinction.  We could think of the Olympics or the Oscars,  The people involved certainly give of themselves and work hard but there will be awards given to new people in the next round.  We might call it “event glory.”  I think there is another type of glory though that does not applaud the hard work of the individual or team but rather points to a God who enables the person or team to accomplish the impossible.  I’ll call that “eternal glory.”  The people in our children’s sermon overcame catastrophe to become models for many. They went from death to God’s glory.  Jesus on the cross goes from death to glory, glory that goes to God.  Lord, open my ears and help us to listen, understand and glorify you!

The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 

 truly, I tell you, 

unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies,

 it remains just a single grain; 

As I looked in the gospels, it seems there are three main parables about seeds that Jesus has told during his ministry.  The most familiar is about a sower throwing out his seeds and them landing on the hard soil of the path, or on rocky soil, or thorny soil, but hopefully on good soil.  One sower, one type of seed and four types of soil that we pondered. God sows his word, the seed, but what type of soil is our heart that listens and receives it?  The second parable is about a farmer who has his workers plant the seed but at night an enemy comes and plants weeds. We are faced with the dilemma of good and seemingly bad people in our lives.  Jesus admonishes us to withhold judgment and allow God to decide at the harvest.  The third parable is about the mustard seed.  We only need faith as small as a mustard seed.  The size of our faith is not the issue.  Power rests in God, not us.  These three parables use the image of a seed to talk about the Word of God and about our faith.  Today’s text, though, talks about a seed being sown and then dying in order to produce fruit.  We are being challenged to go deeper. God’s glory is made manifest in suffering and dying.  That is counter intuitive.

So let’s go back to our three parables about seeds.  In any type of soil, the seed must die to grow.  Some of us have hard difficult lives like living on the path.  Due to the circumstances of life we are born in families that are just plain dysfunctional and hurtful.  All of us have rocks and thorns, challenges and disappointments that can lead to a choking of our faith.  And the world tries to convince us that those rich people, living in big houses and seemingly blessed with talent, looks, and wealth have special access to God. The seed today represents the person in all four positions in life who must learn to die to self.  The way to fruitfulness, to glory, is through death for seeds no matter what type of soil they fall on.   All seeds, even the rich, must fall into the earth and die. Without death to self there is no glory.  However large our faith, it must still die to self and look to God for there to be glory to God.  However we are impacted by the bad guys, the weeds in our life, we must still die to self.  However great our faith, we must still die to self. We most likely are willing to admit that we all will die physically and can’t take our goods with us but how does death to self relate to God’s glory?

Let’s think for a moment.  There is the beauty of the wedding with the groom handsome, the bride beautiful, the guests applauding and the promises made.  We snap pictures and try to capture the moment.  We might even say, “That was glorious.” Let me call that “event glory.”  Hours of preparation have gone into getting to this “event.” Lives are impacted and changed but “eternal glory” may or may not be achieved.  As we sadly know, not all marriages last and the glory of the event must be lived in the grind of every day life.

  Having sat in an assisted living facility this last year with a declining spouse who is a shell of that person I married, I saw the other families faithfully traveling to visit and support their person who was declining.  I saw grandchildren visiting, facing the smells and the awkwardness of death.  That is a different kind of glory. It is not “event glory,” an accomplishment we point to and defines us, but it is more like “eternal glory,” the subtle glory of suffering, that does define us but more importantly defines God.  In the dying process, love somehow shines through the ugliness of death and the reality of who God is appears.  We reflect on a life hopefully well-lived and learn lessons.

I asked in the children’s sermon about the four people listed.  They all faced disabilities and became overcomers, models of the glory Jesus is talking about.  They and their friends died to self.  Joni Eareckson Tada dove into the Chesapeake Bay, breaking her neck and became a quadriplegic. She has become a singer, a writer, an artist, a renown speaker and founder of an organization to help others facing disabilities – in our generation.  She is a famous example of a seed that  fell to the ground and died to all those dreams of youth but in the process a new life emerged that impacted many.

The point I think Jesus is making in our text is that we all are seeds that must fall to the ground and will face choices about dying to self.  Our death may be our physical death that carries us into eternity but there are also many ways that we face death to self daily.  Jesus realized the Greeks and the crowds were coming to him looking for the glory of the wedding picture, event glory that gets rid of the Romans.  But he tells us today again that there is another type of glory that comes when we die to self and follow God’s way, even as he is choosing to do.  The nature of the glory can come from an “event” that fades with time, may be captured in a picture, and affects a few lives.  “Eternal glory” that will include physical death and that will challenge our wills, leads to God’s glory as we choose to follow.

²⁶Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.

Our text first challenged us about the nature of glory.  Glory may not be having the world applaud as we win the Olympics, as wonderful as that is.  Our wonderful memories of wonderful times, our “event glory,” fades with age.  “Eternal glory” comes when we die to self like a seed coming to life in hard, rocky, thorny or good soil.  It dies to self and in that process produces a plant that does not just live for a moment but bears fruit.  I had a tomato plant that came up in the cracks of our driveway in Nairobi.  I have laughed, loved, and been shown deep love by people in a famine relief camp.  People in dying situations the world would consider hopeless can live good lives in community.  Eternal glory, though, is glory plus ripple effect.  It may start with the seed, our life, but we have no idea all the consequences that will result or the people who will be impacted by our following Jesus.  Jesus’ death on the cross would look like failure to the Greeks and the world but how many have been changed by that event.  A whole kingdom that lasts for eternity will result in eternal glory to God.  That is a glocal definition of glory Jesus calls us to.  

Secondly Jesus redefines the source of glory.  In event glory, the wedding, the couple is applauded and perhaps there are lots of “likes” on FaceBook.  Eternal glory that comes from following Jesus and serving him will be honored by God, the Father.  The applauders are different and the focus is different.

Then a voice came from heaven, 

“I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”

We heard the “voice from heaven” at the baptism, at the transfiguration, and now we hear it again.  We have come full circle.  “This is my son with whom I am well pleased.” “This is my son, listen to him.” Now we hear,  “I have glorified it (God’s name), and I will glorify it (God’s name) again.

God is the source of power and his name will be glorified.  We are back at the Garden of Eden and the Evil One tempting Adam and Eve, and us, that if we eat the fruit of this world, we can be like God.  The truth is that this world can only offer “event glory.”  “Eternal glory” comes from God, focuses on God and is powered by God.  Eternal fruit can only grow as we die to self and turn our lives over to God.

Our text ends with Jesus realizing the choice he is making as he submits to the Father and the plan for eternity.  It is not an easy choice.  The voice from heaven speaks assurance.

What does Jesus want us to hear today? When we step from the kingdom of this world into the kingdom of heaven, we must redefine “glory.”   I think he is trying to say that in the kingdom of this world we are continually faced with death.  The wedding pictures fade.  After four year there is another Olympics and we will eventually age out.  Disease, death, poverty and betrayal will tarnish our event glories, our dreams of being the hero of our own stories.  Event glory lasts but for a time and does have a kind of ripple effect in the children we bear, the lives we touch and the good deeds we do that make this a better world.  But eternal glory, the glory that is only possible because God is enabling it, has an eternal ripple effect as we serve others, and ultimately is only possible because it is empowered by God and He will receive that glory. He is glorified and we bow before him as He is the source, the focus, and the power of true glory.  We do not need to be afraid of death because it does not have the last word.  But likewise, I am not the center of the universe and life is not about me.  The last word goes to God. His name be praised.

Let the people of God say, “AMEN.”  May it be so Lord.