On Squealing Mics and Screaming Commentators

We had church gremlins in the sound system yesterday. The microphone had a deafening squeal every time I came within an arm’s length of the pulpit... where my notes were. I even tried standing beside the pulpit and glancing backwards over my shoulder at my notes—nope, squeal. Somehow the portable mic, the pulpit, the pulpit mic and who knows what else were causing a feedback conflagration to the point where no one was listening to the sermon and everyone was holding their ears and acting incredibly pained. Come to think of it, that is the way people always act when I’m preaching! So maybe it wasn’t the sound system.

Unfortunately, people were listening when I took a good-natured swipe and Glenn Beck and his dopey comment about leaving your church if the words “social justice” are mentioned anywhere the church website. (Good thing we don’t have a Google search box on our web page!). OK, I admit I’m not a fan of Glenn Beck… or Keith Olberman… or Bill O’Reilly… or Nancy Grace. Or anyone else that’s on TV that you have to pay for. The one good thing about having free over-the-air TV (besides saving $80 a month) is not having 24-hour a day news TV. (Of course, I also don’t have ESPN, but that’s another cross-eyed bear).

I think 24-hour news is about 23-and-a-half hours too much. Not that much important stuff happens in a day; to fill up 24-hours you have to have a lot of commentary and commentators. Bring back the good ol’ days where Walter Cronkite could tell us “that’s the way it was” in 30 minutes. And if you missed it, you had to wait until 11:00. And then at 11:30, Johnny Carson would make fun of the way it was.

There’s another reason I’m not a fan of Glenn Beck… or Keith Olberman… or Bill O’Reilly… or Nancy Grace. I don’t like to be YELLED AT. I don’t like people interrupted by the host YELLING at his guests before they say 10 words. I don’t like people calling people they disagree with names (what idiots) or impugning the motives of others (it’s a communist plot). There seems to be a complete lack of common courtesy or civility when dealing with issues.

That’s why I was drawn to an article in the news today on the “Civility Covenant” signed by Christians leaders from both the left and right. This “Civility Covenant’ is simply a pledge by Christian, despite their differences in theology and politics to “put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:31-32).

I thought that sounded refreshing-- Christians taking the lead in showing civility to one another even in areas where we disagree. Of course, then I read the quote where Chuck Colson said that this document apply to Glenn Beck and that whole thing because “we're talking about the conversation in the family of believers ... Glenn Beck is a Mormon.” O good grief. Back to the shouting!

When Wait Means Wait

How many times does this happen in the life of a parent and child. The child decides that he or she has to have something (usually in the check-out line at the store). The child asks and the parent says know. So the child asks again with renewed vigor and emphasis, “Please, please, please.” What the parent wants at that moment is peace, so their answer becomes, “Maybe later. We’ll see.” What does the children HEAR 9-times-out-of-10? “Yes.” What does the parent mean 9-times-out-of-10 ? No. The parent’s “maybe” can feel like either “yes” or “no.”

That is the problem we have when dealing with faith and prayer. We ask God for something—over and over and over. The desired answer doesn’t come, and we assume that God has said “No.” Well, He may have said “Wait… until you’re ready” or even “Wait… I have something even better down the line.” The problem is that “Wait” feels exactly like “No.”

Consider the example of Zechariah and Elizabeth in today’s reading from Luke 1. Here are people who “served God blamelessly” (v. 6) That is pretty good! The problem was that Zechariah and Elizabeth had no children in a culture in which childlessness was seen as a “disgrace” (v. 25). They had been praying for children, but God had told them “No.” But wait, God hadn’t told them “No” at all—he had told them to wait. But to them, God’s “Wait” felt just like “No.” But God had plans for Zechariah and Elizabeth; their long wait was for a purpose, a purpose they didn’t know about or understand. Their prayers were answered at the proper time… after God’s “Wait.” Elizabeth would hold the baby John in her arms and pay her pediatrician with her social security check.

It’s hard for us to wait upon the Lord (Isa 40:31). We get weary of waiting; we start to think that God has forgotten. His silence FEELS to us like He has completely forgotten us. “Wait” feels like “No.” Like Zechariah and Elizabeth, we can’t see or understand the purposes of God or how He is working in our lives. We live life from in the middle of the middle, and we can’t see the ending. We can’t know all of God’s purposes for us and in us, and so we just have to wait on Him. Some things can’t be rushed—can’t crack egg to rush a baby chick or peel a cocoon to hurry up the butterfly. You have to wait. We have to wait on God.

Even youths get tired and weary; even strong young men clumsily stumble. But those who wait for the Lord’s help find renewed strength; they rise up as if they had eagles’ wings, they run without growing weary, they walk without getting tired. (Isaiah 40:30-31, NET)

The End Is Just the Beginning

You know, it is possible that I spent too much time today on my Bible reading. What I meant is that it is possible that part of today’s New Testament reading wasn't really part of the Bible. Now, this may be shocking of you are reading exclusively from the KJV. But if you are reading from the NIV, NASB or any newer version, you will see a note in the margin ir a line under the text of verse 8 that says something like—

The most reliable early manuscripts and other ancient witnesses do not have Mark 16:9-20.

The two oldest and best Greek manuscripts don’t include Mark 16:9-20. Church fathers like
Eusebius and Jerome didn’t know the longer ending. Some experts see enough difference in the vocabulary and style of the section to wonder if it was written by the same writer. If you want to read further about this question, see the translation footnote of verse 9 in the NET Bible
(http://net.bible.org/verse.php?book=Mar&chapter=16&verse=9#).

I think that's probably right, although I won’t argue with someone who insists that Mark wrote the whole kit-and-caboodle, including the longer ending. Personally, I would just as soon skip all the questions in Bible class about handling snakes and drinking poison, but then that is just me. All the really important stuff is in Matthew, so I’m not sure we are sacrificing anything by admitting that Mark might not have written the longer ending… unless you really like snakes.

The problem we are left with is that Mark, if his book really ends with verse 8, ends very abruptly. I remember pouring hours into an old Atari video game called “Escape from Castle Wolfenstien.” There were endless puzzles to solve and guards to elude, and then finally I escaped and won… and the screen said “You have escaped. You won.” No bells, no whistles. How anticlimactic! And that is sort of the feeling you get if Mark ends, “Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid” (Mark 16:8). Maybe Mark, like Luke, was planning on writing a second volume and never got around to it? Come to think of it, Luke ends Acts rather abruptly as well.

Maybe Mark’s ending was sudden and abrupt on purpose. After all, Mark is pretty sudden and abrupt throughout the book. His favorite word is “immediately.” Immediately Jesus did this and immediately He did that until Peter confesses Him as the Christ. Then Jesus immediately predicts his coming death until that is exactly what happens. The angel then announces that Jesus is alive… and then the book ends without much of an ending.

Maybe that is the point. Jesus is alive and now you can write the ending of the story in your response and obedience to Him. Maybe that’s the whole point. It’s not really a question of how Mark ended the story of Jesus’ it’s really about how you will end His story in your life.

We Never Know...Really

Today’s reading from Mark 13 ends, “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: 'Watch!'” (Mark 13:35-37). Jesus contrasts the destruction of Jerusalem-- for which there would be signs-- with the end of the world-- which would have no warning signs. (See here for further discussion). The only way that we can be ready for the end of time is to live ready all the time.

There were a couple of sad remembers yesterday of just how true and important is Jesus’ reminder to “Watch.” Stories like this are both impossible (what are the chances) and too common (we read about them all the time).

• A 59 year-old man was driving down the interstate when a 3-foot diameter disk flew through his windshield and killed him. Authorities aren’t sure what this disk was, but there are tire marks that indicate that it was one the highway when hit by another car and thrown into the air. What are the chances?
  
  
• A 39 year-old man was jogging on the beach in Hilton Head, SC enjoying the view and listening to his iPod when a single engine plane crash landed on the beach and struck and killed him. He was doing what you are supposed to so—getting some exercise. He wasn’t running on a busy street but a deserted beach. What are the chances that a plane will just fall out of the sky and kill you?

Our hold on this life is always tenuous at best. We think we have plenty of time because we’ve always have had plenty of time. But one day time will run out—on us and on our world. We may have years or we may have minutes. If we want to be ready at the end, then we need to be ready all the time.

As a General Rule...

Camp Idlewild is in the market to hire one male and one female paid staff worker this summer, and it as my job to put together a paid staff application form to be posted on our website and mailed to area churches. Being a true conservative at heart (meaning I wanted to conserve work), I looked at some other camp application forms to get some ideas. I was a little surprised by the rules for paid staff workers at one Bible camp. Here are some of the rules workers are to follow BEFORE being hired by the camp--

• Regularly attend all the services and special meetings of your church.
• Attend all youth functions of your church.
• Do not listen to “Christian” rock or other forms of improper music.
• Never go to movie theaters.
• Do not watch TV programs.
• High school teens should not have a boyfriend or girlfriend.
• Abide by the all the teachings of the Bible in your personal life.

These are the rules that perspective camp workers must agree to follow BEFORE being hired by the camp. Once camp starts, there is another list that adds to these!

Isn't it interesting that the last rule is "abide by all the teachings of the Bible in your personal life." Wouldn’t that one be enough to make all the other rules unnecessary? And doesn’t that last rule admit that all the other rules are something added to the teachings of the Bible? OK, I know that you need special rules when working with young people at camp. It’s perfectly permissible for Christian teens to own a pocket knife— that is not perfectly OK at camp.

I don’t believe we need to encourage our young people to watch more TV or go to more movies. Personally, I think our kids (and their parents) would be better off if they listened to more Casting Crowns or Mercy Me (or Skillet or TobyMac) rather than the music they listen to now. Having guidelines (rules) for spiritual living are good and necessary… as long as we decide to follow them ourselves (rather than having them imposed from without) and don’t use them to judge the spirituality (or lack thereof) of other people. As we’ve been seeing in the Pharisees in our reading through the gospels, the ability to have rules without abusing rules is not easy… as a general rule.

What God Has Joined

Tony Toto of Allentown, PA., survived several attempts on his life by his wife Frances. Twice she arranged for assailants to beat him over the head with baseball bats. On another occasion, she put a tripwire across the basement stairs so that he fell down a flight of stairs. Finally, she just had him shot. Miraculously he survived each attempt. More miraculously, Tony never really blamed Frances. He visited her in prison each week. When she was paroled, she went back to Tony and they resumed their married life. Tony is quoted as saying, “I don’t understand why people break up over such silly little things.”

I don’t know if they lived happily ever after—no one has heard from ol’ Tony for some time! But many people don’t have such unconditional commitment to their marriage vows. This is especially true for Christians. A survey done by Barna Research Group several years ago (read an article reflecting on the study) suggests that Christians divorce at a rate higher than the national average. In fact, conservative denominations had the highest divorce rates (Independents and Baptists were the highest), much higher than atheists. We can choose to deny, ignore or explain away these numbers, but they do tend to indicate that when it comes to family values, Christians talk better than they walk.

It is pretty easy for us to know how God feels about divorce. He hates it (Mal 2:16). In our reading today (Mark 10:1-10), Jesus makes it plain that divorce was not God’s will for us from the beginning and that it was only permitted because of the stubbornness of human hearts. Jesus command on divorce is clear— “Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.” There are a lot of questions about the issues of divorce and remarriage that are difficult to answer. We serve a God of grace who reaches out to us in our brokenness. Sometimes the Humpty-Dumpty of our broken relationships cannot be repaired, restored or put back together by all the king’s horses and all the kings counselors. You can’t unscramble eggs. What God does with broken relationships is to redeem them.

There are a lot of hard questions in dealing with the issue of divorce and remarriage. I don’t have all the answers. (Well, I used to have all the answers; now I’m not even sure of all the right questions!). But if we want to know what God thinks about divorce, He’s against it. If it really matters to us what Jesus desires, then that is easy, “What God has joined together, let man not separate.” At some point we decided that God really wants us to be happy (as we define it) more than He wants us to be faithful (as He defines it).

The church must live within the tension of on the one hand preaching and teaching that God hates divorce and while on the other hand ministering God’s grace and forgiveness to those who are divorced. It seems to me that it is hard to do both. It also seems to me that if Christians really do have the same divorce rate as non-Christians as Barna suggests, then we aren’t doing something right!

Perhaps the key marriage text is one that we seldom connection with marriage. It is about a cross and our willingness to place ourselves on the cross with Jesus daily. It is the crucified life that allows us to overcome the selfishness and competitiveness that ultimately undermines marriage. If God is on the throne and we are on the cross, our marriage will be much better than if we insist on keeping his and her thrones.

The Strange Case of the Unknown Exorcist

Our reading for today (Mark 9: 38-41) is one of the strangest stories in Mark's gospel. OK, maybe not as strange as the young man in Mark 14:51-52 who is so intent on running away from the arrest of Jesus that he runs right out of his clothes! What's with that? But this one is pretty curious. We can call this story “The Strange Case of the Unknown Exorcist.”

The apostles had just tried and failed to cast out a demon from a young man (9:17-18). When Jesus joins them, they were arguing with the teachers of the law in front of a large crowd (9:14). Jesus Himself throws out the demon, and no one can argue with that. But the apostles continue to argue, this time over who is greatest. (It seems to me that James the Less was at a disadvantage in this discussion, but we're pretty sure Peter had some things to say!). The timing is interesting; they had failed miserably and now they are arguing over who is the greatest? Jesus tells them that true greatness in the kingdom of God is found in service to others, not in defending one’s status as compared to others. I remember hearing about a guy who was so humble that they awarded him a button that read "World's Humblest Man." He wore it proudly, so they took it away from him. If you are arguing about who is greatest in the kingdom of God, then it isn't you!

So the “The Strange Case of the Unknown Exorcist” is set against the backdrop of the apostles arguing over who is greatest in the kingdom of God. And the story makes more sense in that context--

“Teacher,” said John, “we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.” “Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us. I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward. (Mark 9:38–41)

The apostles were outraged because they saw someone casting out demons in Jesus name, and they issued an immediate cease and desist order? Why? Because this guy wasn’t one of them! They didn’t know him, and he wasn’t part of their group. Of course, there might have been a little jealousy here. After all, he was successfully casting out demons right after they had tried to cast out a demon and failed. The very idea! But not only does Jesus not rebuke the unknown exorcist, he rebuked the apostles. People who do the work of God are not against God. Jesus says, “Whoever is not against us is for us.” The fact was that even though the apostles didn’t know this guy, Jesus did. Judas kept the money for Jesus and the apostles (John 12:6); maybe Matthew (the tax guy) kept the books. But the only one who keeps the membership list of the disciples is Jesus Himself!

Many followers of Jesus after the first have thought that it was their job to keeping the membership roll of true disciples. Several years ago, we received a letter from a neighboring church that informed us that their men’s business meeting had voted and had decided that we weren’t a true church. A couple other churches set us letters that informed us that their men’s business meetings agree that we weren’t a true church. And you know what Jesus says, “I tell you that if two of your men’s business meetings agree about anything…” Gallons of ink has been spilt by one group of believers writing up and writing off another group for any number of theological errors and doctrinal missteps, real and imagined. So many Christians have been alienated from one another, and so many seekers have given up their search because self-appointed roll-keepers of the kingdom have strained gnats and swallowed camels, shutting the kingdom of haven in the faces of those who would enter (Matt 23:13).

What do you do when you see someone who is seeking to follow and serve Christ who is not part of your group and who has a different understandings of Biblical teachings that do you? Engage them in honest and open study? Sure. Try to understand why they believe what they believe? Sure. Share what you believe to be the teaching of the Bible? Of course. But even if we can’t come to complete agreement on Bible doctrine and practice, does that mean that I am to write them up and off? Jesus says, “Do not stop him…for whoever is not against us is for us.” Maybe we all need to get busy giving out cups of cold water in Jesus name and leave managing the membership records to Jesus. Actually, there is no “maybe” here. Get busy serving Jesus and leave those other servants that you don’t know alone!

Jesus is the Christ... So?

The confession of Peter to in Mark 8:29 is a little more abbreviated than in the more familiar and longer reading in Matthew (16:13-20). Mark has Peter answer, "You are the Christ” while Matthew adds “the Son of the Living God.” Luke has it “the Christ of God.” (Lk 9:20). In all three gospels, this confession is a huge turning point in the ministry of Jesus . From this point on, everything points to the cross. For example, in Luke Jesus discusses with Moses and Elijah what would find its fulfillment in Jerusalem (Lk 9:31) and then resolutely sets out (“set his face,” ESV) for Jerusalem (Lk 9:51). Everything else in the story points toward the appointment at the cross

All three of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) include something that surprises us (well, it surprises me) in the confession of Christ. Peter finally understands who Jesus is and confesses it aloud… and then (drum roll please), “Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.” What? The disciples finally get it and they aren't supposed to tell anyone? Why? Because although they know Jesus is Christ, they don’t know what it means for Jesus to be Christ! That is obvious because the VERY NEXT THING out of Peter’s mouth after “You are the Christ” is to rebuke Jesus for suggesting that business about the coming cross (Mark 16:32). Maybe that is why Jesus talks with Moses and Elijah about his coming ordeal; the disciples would let him talk about it!

The apostles thought Jesus as Messiah meant that they would rule with him from Jerusalem after driving the Roman occupation forces back into the Mediterranean. What it meant for Jesus to be Messiah was that “must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again” (Mark 8:31). What did Jesus being Christ mean for the apostles? It wasn’t what they expected—

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.

Would “Jesus is Lord” mean prosperity and power for the apostles? No, it meant suffering just as it did for Jesus. They didn’t understand what it meant for Jesus to be Christ… so Jesus instructed them to not tell anyone He was the Christ until they understood it themselves!

So... what does it mean for us that Jesus is Christ? It doesn’t mean that we will be “healthy, wealthy and wise.” It doesn’t mean that we’ll have all our dreams fulfilled and be successful and prosperous in all that we do.” That is evidently what many people think. Many ask, “Wouldn't God want his beloved children to prosper and have the very best of everything?” Well, that’s not what he wanted for His only begotten Son. That’s not what he promises here for those who will follow His Son. In fact, there is the allusion to the fact that some will be called to give up their lives for Jesus and the gospel.

Some don’t understand what it meant for Jesus to be Christ. And so they don’t understand what means to follow the Christ.

Messing with Traditions

You can really get into trouble by messing with traditions. I once preached a funeral at a small rural black Baptist church in North Carolina. The pastor had a previous commitment (I found out later he had gone fishing), and so I was in charge of the whole service. That meant a whole lot more of being in charge than I was used to—like standing by the casket in the receiving line to catch any mourners that might swoon. The problem was that no one told me about that tradition until one good sister all but hit the floor... with me standing there holding my Bible and looking confused. You can get in trouble by ignoring tradition.

Just ask Jesus. In our reading today in Mark 7, Jesus is accosted by some irate Pharisees who demanded to know why his disciples didn't wash their hands properly before eating. Were the disciples really eating with improperly washed hands? We don’t know. Jesus doesn't talk about hands; he talks about hearts.

Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.” (Mark 7:6-7)

The problem wasn't that the Pharisees devalued the Bible. They loved the Bible. You had to be able to quote the Bible in order to be a Pharisee—not from the Bible, the whole Bible! But they had traditional interpretations of the Bible that they valued as much. Their traditions had been elevated so high and accepted so universally that they were just as important as the Bible itself. Jesus dismisses their traditions as man-made rules

Jesus wants us to know that external rules, traditions, rituals and practices don’t make us holy or unholy (Mark 7:14-15). Rituals and traditions are by their very nature external and symbolic; they can point us to something important and holy, and so they can be very helpful. But tradition is never the point; ritual is never end in itself.

Jesus neither defends non-hand washing nor attacks the practice of washing. What he does is to condemn the use of external tradition as a way to judge faithfulness! This was all heady stuff in a religious tradition that saw tradition as more than tradition. Is it any wonder that the apostles were a bit confused? Jesus expects them to get it (Mk 7:18-19).

“Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him ‘unclean’? For it doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods “clean.”)

At the heart of the matter is the matter of the heart. God is looking for people that are so clever that they can figure out hidden Bible codes, translate them into the only faithful Bible practices and construct iron clad silly-gisms that condemns all the heretics and false teachers that don’t get it right. God is looking for people with hearts that are right with Him. Ultimately it doesn't matter how we wash our hands; we need to wash our hearts!

Do We Get It?

When you read Mark’s account of the miracle of Jesus walking on the water in Mark 6:45-51, you "immediately" (one of Mark’s favorite words) notice that some details from Matthew’s more familiar account are missing… and some details are added. Missing in Mark’s version is Peter getting out of the boat and walking on water to meet Jesus. It is traditionally believed that the source for Mark's primary material in his gospel was Peter. Eusebius quotes from Papias, “Mark having become the interpreter of Peter, wrote down accurately whatsoever he remembered.” So maybe Peter’s retelling of the story conveniently omitted the part where he is all wet? Who knows?

What struck me is the part that Mark included that Matthew doesn’t. Mark says that when the apostles saw Jesus walking on the water, they thought he was a ghost and cried out “because they all saw him and were terrified” (Mk 6:49). Jesus identifies himself, calms them down and climbs into the boat. The winds died down and the apostles were amazed. OK, that’s pretty much the same story we read in Matthew. But Mark throws in this little editorial comment, “They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened” (6:51-52). The apostles should have learned something from the feeding of the 5000. They should have learned something about Jesus and his power. But they didn’t.

And they would continue to struggle. In Mark 8, Jesus will repeat the miraculous feeding, this time of 4000 people (of course, this time he had 2 more loaves to work with). Right afterwards, he tells the apostles, “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod” (Mk 8:15). They think that Jesus is scolding them because forgot to bring food, except for one loaf of bread (Mk 8:14, 16). Jesus says (and I think we need to read this with something of an edge as in the NLT), “Why are you arguing about having no bread? Don’t you know or understand even yet? Are your hearts too hard to take it in? You have eyes—can’t you see? You have ears—can’t you hear? Don’t you remember anything at all?” They should have known something about Jesus by know, but they didn’t get it. They missed the point of the feeding stories.

Do we get it? Do we come even close to getting it? How many ways has God blessed us in our lives? In what ways has He met our physical and spiritual needs? What crises in our past has God either taken away or given us the strength to bear up under? What people has He put in your life to bless and enrich it… and to challenge and to stretch it? If God has such a track record in our lives of blessing and caring for us, then why do we get so terrified when the next crisis comes walking on the water. Why do we get so terrified? Haven’t we learned by now that God has the power to deal with whatever comes our way in life?

Like the apostles in the boat in Mark 6, we can become so terrified or distracted by issues and hardships that we forget who God is… and who we are. Oh, we of little faith!

You Feed Them

Mark 6 tells us about what must have been a seriously long and tiring day for Jesus and the apostles. John the Baptist had just been executed and the apostles had just returned from their first preaching tour. They all needed some time away from the crowds to grieve and unwind, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest" (6:31.)

But the relentless crowd beat Jesus and the apostles to their retreat site and the original retreat itinerary was quickly forgotten. Jesus had compassion on the people, and he taught them "many things" (6:34). It began to get late, and the apostles asked Jesus to send the people away so that they could find something to eat. The original plan was to get away from the crowd, and the apostles wanted to do just that. Jesus had other ideas. He says, “You give them something to eat!”

They must have looked at Jesus like He was crazy. What did he mean? There were thousands of people there; it would take more money than they had ever seen to feed those people a single meal. They didn’t have the resources. All they could find were five loaves and two fish. Jesus told the apostles, “You feed them.” Then he took that sack lunch and fed the entire mob… with food to spare.

Jesus told the apostles to do what sounded to be impossible. “You feed them.” That was impossible as long as they thought they had to do it alone! How many fish would Peter have to catch to feed that mob? How many taxes would Matthew have to collect? How many Romans would Simon the Zealot have to waylay? In their wildest dreams they could not scrape together enough to do what Jesus asked. So all they could do was depend on Jesus. And then they did the impossible. They did feed the crowd— Jesus multiplied the food and gave it to them to distribute (v. 41). When they relied upon Jesus, they were able to do the impossible.

Do you think that there may be an application in there somewhere for us? You see, Jesus has given us some rather impossible "You feed them" commands as well.

• He tells us to one just as He and the Father are one.
  
  
• He commands us to love our enemies.
  
  
• He tells us to take the gospel message to the world

All of those things are totally impossible… if we trust ourselves to do them. No amount of political savvy or public relations will allow us to achieve unity by ourselves. We can watch Oprah and sing "We Are the World" all day and we'll never learn to love our enemies. All the latest church growth strategies in the world will never allow us to spread the gospel on our own. But if we trust God and look to him, he can use us to do all of these things.

They Took Offence at Him

The classic western “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” has a line that is repeated several times throughout the movie. Butch and Sundance are on the run, and no matter what they do to get away (including jumping off a cliff), the posse is always following them in the distance. One or the other looks back over their shoulder and asks, “Who are those guys?”

We get that scene repeated in the story of Jesus as well. When Jesus calms the storm and saves the apostles, they ask, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” (Mark 4:41). When Jesus forgives the sinful woman who anoints his feet, the crowd asks, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” (Luke 8:25). And that is also the question that is asked when Jesus preached in his hometown for the first time in today’s reading from Mark 6:2-3—

When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. “Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

The homefolks at Nazareth aren't asking, "Who is this guy?" but "Who does this guy think he is" The hometown boy had gained a reputation all over the area as a miracle-worker and preacher, and when he finally comes home the home folks are amazed at him. But they aren’t amazed by his power and authority; they are amazed at his audacity. “How can he think he is anything so special? Why, we’ve known his family for years!” Remember the question that Nathanael asks when Phillip points him to Jesus, "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" (John 1:46). It appears the people at Nazareth agrees with him; they refuse to take Jesus seriously because they all knew him and his family.

I preach at a church in my hometown among people who knew me when I was a kid. There have been times that were awkward, but I always felt that the homefolks were extremely supportive and helpful. But here, Jesus’ hometown folks were so close to him and his family (everyone knew everyone in small these villages) that they could not take his message seriously. They were so dismissive that Jesus was “amazed at their lack of faith” (v. 6).

There is an old saying that warns “familiarity breeds contempt.” That is the danger for some of us with the gospel story. We too grew up with Jesus; we too have known him and his family (the church) all our lives. How easy it is for us to take for granted his presence and miss his power. We have heard and reheard the story of the God who left the thrown of heaven, lived among us as a man, died for us on the cross, rose again to conquer death, who gives us his spirit to live within us and who will one day come back to take us to be with him forever. If we are not careful, that story can become what it must never be—ordinary.

May we be amazed all over again by Christ Jesus the Lord.

Evangelism? Fat Chance!

Some things just don't make any sense. For example, "Why do we drive on a parkway and then park in the driveway?" Or how about "Why is the third hand on the watch called the second hand?" There are all kinds of similar mysteries that we have probably never really thought much about. For example...

• Why does "fat chance" and "slim chance" mean the same thing?
• When you go to a ball game, why do you sit in "the stands?"
• Why call it "after dark" when it really is "after light?"
• Doesn't "expecting the unexpected" make the unexpected expected?
• Why do "overlook" and "oversee" mean opposite things?
• Why is "phonics" not spelled the way it sounds?
• Why do we put suits in "garment bags" and garments in a "suitcase?"
• If “gospel” is "good news," why is it "bad news" when its time to share it?

Let's face it, evangelism has never been a favorite thing for most of us. We all recognize its importance, but most of us never have really warmed up to the task.

Maybe that's because we misunderstand the process. If we see evangelism as only (or primarily) knocking on strange doors, carrying projectors into stranger's homes or picking theological nits as we try to convince people that they are wrong and we are right, then our reticence to evangelize is understandable. But maybe Jesus gives us another model in Mark 5.

He has just healed a man filled with so many demons that he took the name "Legion." He was such an outcast that he lived among the tombs. He was so violent that he was chained; he was so powerful that he tore the chains apart. His life was miserable until he met Jesus. Jesus exorcised his demons and gave him back his life. In return, this man wanted to follow Jesus as a disciple. Instead, Jesus made him an evangelist. Jesus said, "Go home to your friends, and tell them what wonderful things the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been” (5:19, NLT). He was to do evangelism; he was to tell good news. That meant sharing with others all that God had done in his life.

All of us are not able to effectively go into people's homes and conduct formal classes any more than everyone can preach, teach classes or juggle! But we can all tell others in our own way our own story of the difference that God has made in our lives. Whatever else it may be, evangelism means that we live different lives and then share with others the difference that God has made in our lives.

On Staying Soft-Hearted

Fred Phelps and his travelling circus from Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka will be in our area Monday to preach their gospel of hate. These are the folks who travel around the country picketing the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan with signs like “Thank God for IED” and “God Hates Your Tears.” Their church website is godhatesfags.com and godhatesamerica.com. Now they have godhatestheworld.com. Now this friendly bunch is coming to our area to protest at some of our area public and private high schools. How lovely. At least they are staying over in Norfolk and Virginia Beach.

How in the world could a church that at least claims to follow God and the Bible do and say such horrible things? Well, they start with a bad theology, a hyper-Calvinism that says God loves only the elect. Jesus died only for the predestined, and therefore God hates everyone else. He only created most of us so that He would have something to burn in hell. Keep going with that idea, and the gospel does qucijly change from “For God so loved the world…” to “God hates everyone expect me and you, and I’m not so sure about you.”

Because they are so convinced that they are the elect ones (and everyone else is not), they simply aren’t open to any contrary message… like the gospel. Their theological system tells them who God is and what God hates, and their hearts are closed to any other truth. Once you have the whole truth, then you don’t have to spend time seeking the truth.

There could be a warning in there for the rest of us. In our reading for today from Mark 4, Jesus tells the familiar “Parable of the Sower.” Actually, we should call it the “Parable of the Soil” because that is what it is about. God’s word is the seed that falls into human hearts, but it’s ability to bear fruit depends on the condition of the soil of the heart--

• Some are hard-hearted. They are the pathway soil that is not open to the message of the kingdom, and they rejected the word completely.
  
  
• Some are shallow-hearted. They are the rocky soil where interest in truth is shallow and soon dies out for lack of roots.
  
  
• Some are mixed-hearted. They allowed their concerns for the things of the world to choke out their concern for God's word.
  
  
• Some are good-hearted. They receive and live by the gospel and allow it to influence their whole lives.

Phelps and his band of kooks have become so twisted by their hate that their hearts are hard and cannot be penetrated by the gospel of the God who is love. Hate can do that. So can arrogance. And these people seem to have both in abundance. Perhaps something will soften their hearts and allow the gospel to penetrate and bear fruit. If not, they will one day discover that what God hates is hate.

The challenge for us is to remain soft-hearted and open to the gospel of God's grace. If we ever get to the point where we think we've got all the truth, we may find ourselves getting twisted as well.

A House Divided

One of the characteristic markers of the ministry of Jesus in Mark’s gospel is his power to cast out evil spirits. I think phrase "cast out" sounds archaic, but that is used in newer versions like ESV and NLT. The NCV uses "force demons out." Some people would use the word "exorcize," but that leaves a faulty impression. "Exorcize" implies a ritual incantation’ it is defined as "to drive out an evil spirit from a person, place or thing, especially by an incantation or prayer." Jesus didn't do that; he simply told them to come out and they did. In fact, sometimes He didn't even tell them to come out; they saw him and left, pausing only to acknowledge him as the Song of God (Mark 3:11-12). The question that is often asked is "Do demons still possess people today?" All I know is that if we stay near to Jesus, we will stay safe!

What did Jesus enemies do when they saw Jesus exercising exorcisms (groan)? They already had decided that they would kill him (Mark 3:6). When faced with such obvious demonstrations of power, Jesus’ enemies had to say something. So they accused him of working for the other side, “And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, "He is possessed by Beelzebub! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons" (Mark 3:22). They had to come up with something, so they brought some experts down from the home office. But all they could come up with was saying that Jesus had demonic power, and he was using His demonic power to drive out demons! (Did any of them ever consider the fact that if Jesus did have demonic power, ticking him off would have been less than an intelligent thing to do? I guess they never saw the Exorcist!).

Jesus points out the rather obvious truth—Satan wouldn’t use power to defeat his own minions. No army succeeds by declaring war on itself! Jesus put it this way in Mark 3:24-26—

If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come.

OK, so Abraham Lincoln often gets credit for that line, which he quoted when running for the Senate in 1858. But the line is from Jesus. Satan would not threaten his own empire by casting out his own demons. No, Jesus had himself come to earth to destroy Satan's empire and rescue Satan’s victims. If Satan attacked himself like that… well, he would be acting just like the church! Doesn't the church on earth look like a house divided against itself? Doesn’t the church often look like a kingdom attacking itself as one faction, denomination or congregation attacks another? And what did Jesus saw about a house divided?

So Satan is smarter than God’s people! It’s time to cease all our in-house, intramural battling and fix our eyes on Jesus and follow His example. Churches don't have to be just alike to work together. And even when we can't work close together, we can at least avoid battling each other. When we stay close to Jesus, the demons get out of the way!

Power to Forgive / Power to Heal

Mark 2 (our daily reading today) begins the story of the opposition Jesus receives from Jewish leaders. In Mark 1, Jesus calls his first disciples, leaves the synagogue of Capernaum in awe, and has large crowds following him to the point where he could no longer travel about in the open (Mark 1:45). This lasts one chapter! In Mark 2, Jesus is noticed by the religious leaders, and they to mount a growing opposition. It all begins when Jesus heals a paralyzed man brought to him by friends that show both ingenuity and faith. The lower the man down on his mat from a hole in the roof where Jesus is teaching. Jesus sees their faith and says to the man, "Son, your sins are forgiven" (Mark 2:5).

The rabbis there immediately seize upon Jesus' words as blasphemy, "Who can forgive sins but God alone?" (Mark 2:7). But that is precisely the point Jesus is making through his miracles. The power he is showing is from God; the miracles he is performing point to God. He responds to their unspoken objection by pointing to the point of his miracles (Mark 2:9-12)

Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins....” He said to the paralytic, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

Jesus' power to heal proved that he also had the authority to forgive sins. The crowds could know that Jesus had authorize to forgive by the power he exerted over life's problems.

I wonder if we need the reverse proof! Most of us have no doubt that Jesus forgives sins. We are committed to the idea that cross is God's power to forgive every sin we will bring to the cross. And we believe heaven awaits all those who live under the cross. But are we as confident in Christ's power to deal with the struggles in our present lives? Does Christ have the power to help us live above our problems, weaknesses and hurts? Is the power of Christ today only spiritual and limited to eternal life after we die? Or does Christ continue to give us power through His Spirit to live confident and victorious and joyful lives now? Can Jesus deal with our sickness and pain, our broken relationships, our job difficulties, and our weakness in the face of temptation? If Jesus has the power to forgive sin (the greatest human problem), then he also has the power to overcome any human problem. If we trust Jesus for the next life, then we had better trust him for this one as well!

The Old, Old Story

If you went to the library at Harding University Graduate School of Religion in Memphis, you could find an impressively (and expensively) bound copy my master’s research project entitled “The Use of Computers by Preachers in Small Churches.” You’d have to go to Memphis—I don’t have a copy. The research paper contains leading edge, state-of-art research on the church’s use of computers... in the early 1980’s. In case you don’t remember, one of the great issues was the supplanting of WordStar by WordPerfect as the dominant word processing program. There is not one single page in that paper that would be helpful in the least today (except perhaps as comic relief).

The new quickly becomes old. That which is cutting-edge and relevant today is old and irrelevant tomorrow. Unfortunately, the church has proved this true. We stressed “restoring the New Testament church” which in many ways meant simply re-imagining it in the lens of the rationalism of current thinking (current in the early nineteenth century). Later we stressed making the church more user-friendly and contemporary. Very often when the church needs revitalizing, we turn to external forms and formats. We tweak our organizational charts, redesign our buildings and revamping our ministries. Sometimes that must be done, but it is never long before we need to start all over again,

What we need is less focus on the EXTERNAL things of the church and more focus on ETERNAL story upon which the church must forever stand. We return to the story today as we begin reading Mark’s gospel in our daily reading. Mark’s telling of the story is not dramatically different from Matthew’s, although there are nuances. Mark is more focused on action; his favorite word is “immediately” (NASB) or "straightway" (KJV) as he moves from one action story to another. Mark’s story is told differently than Matthew’s (or Luke’s or John’s), but it is the same story. And it is the story of the church.

The old, old story never gets old. Forms and formats do; customs that help today can distract tomorrow. What is fresh and contemporary can very quickly become the tradition that stagnates. The church that focuses on the past never moves forward; the church that focuses on the present has no stability or staying power for the future. John R. W. Stott quotes W. R. Inge, “If you marry the spirit of your own generation, you will be a widow in the next.” Indeed.

The key for the church is remaining committed to old, old story that remains forever new. Jesus. The God who became flesh and lived among us. To focus on Jesus is to remain as relevant as eternity. So in our daily reading, we start over with the story of Jesus in Mark’s gospel. May it never get old.

The Agony of the Cross

The highest grossing R-rated film of all time is Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. It wasn’t R-rated because of language—the whole movie was in Aramaic and Latin (with English subtitles). It was rated R because of the excessive violence— excessive because crucifixion was obsessive. The movie opens with the lone figure of Jesus in prayer Gethsemane gently rocking back and forth overcome with deep emotion. As the camera zooms in, we see that his face is covered in droplets of blood-tinted sweat. That picture comes from Luke 22:44--

And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

The Greek word for "anguish" is "agonia" from which we get "agonize." Jesus was in agony as he contemplated what would happen the next day. Here’s my question, “Why was Jesus in such agony?” Well, duh! He was about to die a horrible and painful death! He knew what would happen the next day.

But there is more to it. During the reign of Emperor Severus in the third century, a young woman from Alexandria named Potamiaena was condemned to die as a Christian. She underwent days of torture and abuse before eventually being burned alive by having boiling pitch poured over her body. And yet her faith and disposition while awaiting and enduring her horrible death led her jailer to Christ. This young girl and thousands like her faced martyrdom in horrible ways in the name of Christ with a calm faith and quiet acceptance.

So why did Jesus claw the ground in Gethsemane? I am not suggesting that we minimize the physical torture Jesus endured; it was every bit as horrible as we saw in Gibson’s movie. But how did so many martyrs face their own horrible deaths with quiet calm and serenity? What Jesus faced on the cross was more than just the pain of physical crucifixion. Jesus would carry our sin with Him on the cross. Jesus would feel the desolation of separation from God caused by our sin. That was the meaning of Jesus cry from the cross—“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.” Because of our sin, God said “No” to Christ's Gethsemane prayer for deliverance. Because of our sin, God allowed His son to die rejected and alone. The veil in the Temple was not the only thing rent when Christ died; the perfect unity between Father and Son was also rent, torn apart by the rebellion of our sin.

So here is the irony. Paul says, “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ” (2 Cor. 5:19). God was bringing us back to Himself through the cross, but in order for Him to do so, He had to abandon Jesus on the cross. God “made him who had no sin to be sin for us” (2 Cor 5:21). Because in that one moment in time Jesus became our sin, then in that one moment in time, God turned away from Him. In order for us to be reconciled, God rejected His Son. During those dark hours on the cross, Jesus was all alone. Why had God forsaken Him? It was because of our sin... and because of our salvation.

He Saved Others...

It had been too easy. They captured Jesus without a fight. They rushed him through their kangaroo court and had him quickly condemned by the Romans. Oh, sure, they had to manipulate Pilate a bit. Manipulating the crowds was even easier-- the same mob that shouted and worshiped him scarcely a week before had now cried, "Crucify him!" It had all been so easy. And now they were there to enjoy their day of victory.

So these leaders of the Jewish people-- priests, scribes and elders-- were there at the cross to watch this Jesus of Nazareth die. Their hearts were filled with no remorse and no guilt. They had nothing but bitter hatred and contempt for this man who had made their lives so miserable for the last three years. Now these important men who had used their important positions to mask their evil deeds gloated in their victory. And they shouted insults at the man who suffered on the cross.

It is hard ti even imagine the cruelty of that act. How could men who claimed to be religious leaders be so cold and cruel to insult a suffering, dying man. The churchmen and political leaders who manipulated evidence to condemn Joan of Arc openly wept and begged her forgiveness as she was burned at the stake. “We are undone,” one cried, “for we have murdered a saint.” But there is none of that here. There was no trace of regret or remorse expressed by the men who killed Jesus. Instead, they taunted him (Matthew 27:41-43, The Message)

The high priests, along with the religion scholars and leaders, were right there mixing it up with the rest of them, having a great time poking fun at him: “He saved others—he can’t save himself! King of Israel, is he? Then let him get down from that cross. We’ll all become believers then! He was so sure of God—well, let him rescue his ‘Son’ now—if he wants him! He did claim to be God’s Son, didn’t he?”

"Having a great time poking fun" at a tortured and dying man? .Not of one of them saw the horror of their deed. Not one of them noticed as the lips of the dying moved in prayer, “Father, forgive them; they don’t know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).

And not one of them knew how right they were! To save others, he could not save Himself! And so He died. And the gates of hell were torn off their hinges!

Are You a Peter or a Judas?

I’m trying to keep my reading from Matthew 26 straight—Judas betrayed Jesus and Peter denied Jesus. Right? Judas didn't really deny Jesus; he acknowledged him with a kiss (Matt 26:49). But Peter denied that he even knew Jesus... three times… with a curse (Matt 26:74). The stories of these two men sound virtually identical up to this point of the story.

• Both men spent over three years following Jesus and had the inside scoop on His teaching and miracles.
  
  
• Both men were warned by Jesus of their upcoming failure (Matt 26:25,34).
  
  
• Both men were very sorrowful when they realized what they had done (Matt 26:75, 27:4).

And Peter received the keys of the kingdom of God (Matt 16:18) and Judas would have been better off if he had never been born (Matt 26:24). OK, the two stories were very similar until we get to that last picky point.

Why such a dramatic divergence of stories? Was what Judas did really so much worse than what Peter did? Judas identified Jesus to his enemies, but even Jesus noted that this was a more a symbolic than a disastrous betrayal. Jesus told those who arrested Him “Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest me.” (Matt 26:55). His enemies knew who Jesus was, though perhaps the soldiers who arrested Him needed a positive ID. Couldn't some of the Pharisees have told them in advance, "Jesus will be the one with the halo?" What the soldiers really needed was someone (Judas) to tell them when Jesus was alone and could be taken in secret so the crowds could be manipulated. But they could have just followed him around!

Jesus could have been arrested without Judas, but Peter’s denial must have went straight to Jesus’ heart. Here was his friend who one minute proclaims “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you” (Matt 26:35). The next minute he is calling down curses on himself saying “I don’t know the man!” (Matt 26:74). How did Peter take an oath or call down curses? "I swear to Him, I don’t know Him!” That flip-flop was all in the same half-chapter!

Before we shake our heads at Peter’s flip-flop, we need to look back at our own flip-flops. Have you ever gotten in a difficult situation and acted as if you didn't know Jesus? Have you ever decided that it was easier to just go along to get along and let people believe that you aren't one of "those Christian-fanatic" types? Have you ever given a wink and a nod to some action that you know Jesus would not condone because it was easier than taking a stand? If you admit that this has EVER been you, then welcome to Peter’s world. If you say that you have NEVER done that… well, you’d probably lie about others things too!

Why was Peter forgiven and Judas not? OK, I’m assuming that Judas wasn’t forgiven, which isn’t my place to assume—though Jesus’ statement “would be better for him if he had not been born” sorta leaves an impression, right? What was so much worse about what Judas did and what Peter did… and what you and I have done? Judas GAVE UP and Peter GOT UP. Judas killed himself. Peter repented, accepted forgiveness and then on to live the faith he once denied. Giving in and giving up are not the same thing!

So… you gonna be a Peter or a Judas?