BYSTANDER SALVATION

June 28, 2015

Mark 5:21-43

PRAYER

I like stories like our gospel reading where 2 people from opposite spectrum's of life shed light on the complexities of life.

All of us at various times of life have struggles that impact our us in various ways. None of us “have it all together” all the time.

In fact, I’ll bet that some of you sitting here this morning if pushed would admit you “do not have it all together” this morning. Some of you may have been arguing with your spouse and or children as you drove up to the door, and once entering, put on your church “Have It All Together” face, and smile… and encountering the first person you see saying, Good morning Joe or Sue, or whomever “How’s it going?” and you respond, “Just fine… How Are You?” All the while your gut is churning from the events of just a few minutes ago. The truth is… we don’t have it all together all the time… and its OK… this is the place for you because all of us are bystanders desperate for salvation and healing.

Today our bible story is about 2 people who don’t have it all together. We could say that they are bystanders in the sea of people surrounding Jesus.

The first person in our story…Jarius is a religious leader in the church (i.e. synagogue). That might make him a Pharisee… if this surprises you some Pharisee’s were open to what Jesus was saying… Nicodemus and Joseph of Aramethia to mention a couple. But… Jairus is a desperate man…. His daughter is dying.

I can understand his concern… there isn’t one of us here that would not do anything within our power to save our children. Jairus comes begging to Jesus for help in keeping his daughter alive. He has heard or perhaps has seen Jesus heal others and he pleads with Jesus to just touch his daughter so that she may live. Each of us can relate with Jairus as we’ve sat by a dying loved one hoping that somehow God would keep them alive.

The other person is a woman who has been experiencing a terrible medical issue… she has been bleeding uncontrollably for some 12 years without much relief. Doctors can’t seem to fix the problem and she’s in lots of pain from the bleeding and from the doctor’s unresponsive treatments. She is likely an outcast… undoubtedly an unclean woman in addition to her aliment, which makes her all that much more unclean. Some scholar’s think she may be a prostitute… no matter her place in society… she is desperate for healing. She see’s Jesus in the crowd and takes a risk to go to him… she believes if she just touches Jesus clothes this will make the difference and she’ll be made whole.

Both characters in our story are desperate for help.

Both are desperate for someone to do something to make the hurt go away.

Both are desperate for Jesus to touch them.

And both find healing in Jesus.

So… what might God be saying to us today?

First, let’s admit that none of us have it all together all the time. As I said earlier… this is OK… life can be complicated. Some of the complications are our own doing because of mistakes. Some are caused by others and out of our control. Some of life’s complications come as a result of no fault of our own, things just happen and we happen to be in the way… dumb luck. However… we do have a choice in life. And we will choose something.

We have a choice when we find ourselves here…. Jeff Manion in his book, “The Land Between” says, “We may choose to withdraw emotionally and silently into depression. We may choose seething rage… volcanic anger boiling just beneath the surface of our lives. We may choose retail therapy, numbing over our disappointments by stuffing an already full closet. We may allow revenge fantasies to consume our days… but one thing is true… we will choose something.” ( Jeff Manion, “The Land Between, Zondervan, 2010, Pg 54)

Which would you choose? We can choose bitterness or we could choose to take our disappointment and turn it into something good. We don’t always have it together, but I believe the faith community is the place where we gather together, as Luther would say, “Warts and All” to be touched by God and to receive forgiveness and grace.

Secondly, I’m wondering if the faith community can be a place for safe vulnerability. We tend to avoid at all cost vulnerability. We would rather have people see us as having it all together. We don’t want others to see us exposed, desperate, and vulnerable. The 2 people in our story throw that all out the window… they take the risk… they go for it. Looking at this from hindsight and 2000 yrs, we would say, “well of course” Jesus will heal them. These two people didn’t have our perspective… they saw Jesus as one of many healers, and they hoped Jesus would be the one who could bring healing to their predicament. I wonder if we looked at our faith community as a place of healing. Could we as parts of the body of Christ bring healing? Could those who are struggling come and be touched, loved, embraced with the love of God and find healing and hope? For those of us struggling, could we become a bit open to being vulnerable so that we as the body of Christ could touch you with God’s grace so healing could take place?

Thirdly, healing takes place when we are open to being touched. There is something about touching and healing and Marks Gospel talks frequently about touching, feeling, and proclaiming… so much so that they are intimately connected. Of course there are many people who are not touchy feely people, and there are those who expect healing to take place right now on the spot. We do get the impression from the gospel stories of Jesus’ healings that they took place immediately. I would caution us about having this perspective. Yes… Jesus healed on the spot, but sometimes… healing took place over time. We see this with Jairus… as he is told after he encounters Jesus that she died, yet she lived… Jesus said she was just sleeping. Also with Lazarus… being dead for some 4 days before being brought back to life. So… it might be with your healing… over time.

Let me be clear… there is appropriate touching and inappropriate touching and we need to maintain safe boundaries,

But, we can see the positive effects for the touch of holding ones hand while praying… the touch of a listening ear… the welcoming embrace of “I’m glad to see you today.” While our touch may not fully restore those who are suffering, it is a step towards the embrace of God’s healing and grace.

Closing:

I’d like to go back to Jeff Manion and “The Land Between” with his closing thoughts… “I do not wish tragedy on my friends, and on my better days, I do not wish it on my enemies. But I am utterly convinced that God has used our family’s tragedy with all its difficult transitions to shape the person I have become. Perhaps this is the benefit of hindsight and healing. After all, I am looking back now through the lens of a man past his mid-forties and not as a grieving seventh grader. And the hands of time have granted healing. I remember my loss from time to time, but it is not a heavy weight I bear daily.

God has been gracious. Something really awful happened to us, but God did not abandon us to sorrow. I hope with all my heart that I can trust God when new heartache crashes into our lives. I hope that God’s mercy in the past will give sustaining faith for the future.” (Jeff Manion, “The Land Between, Zondervan, 2010, Pg 197-199)

The Storms of Life

June 21, 2015                            

Mark 4:35-41

Prayer

Our story in Mark is much more than a weather event Jesus’ friends are experiencing. To be sure… their boat is being so swamped with water they are fearful for their very lives. In fact… I think they’re positively P.O.’d at Jesus and are screaming at him to do something. They’ve seen him do miraculous things after-all. But… Jesus is just laying in the back of the boat resting his eyes.

But They’re screaming… “Teacher don’t you care?”…. Jesus Don’t You Care?

I remember being out on Saginaw Bay one summer day on a buddies sailboat. The weather was fine when we left the dock, but quickly turned cloudy and very windy turning the 1-2 ft waves into 4-6 ft waves. The boat was being battered by the waves and the wind and I was more than a bit anxious… truth be told… I was very afraid we wouldn’t make it back. We did, but next time I checked the weather reports more intentionally after that.

For Jesus’ friends… they wake him… Jesus see’s their fear and quiets the storm. And now… I think they’re more fearful seeing Jesus do this than they are of the storm. I mean… how did he do that? They just witnessed Jesus doing something quite unbelievable… calming nature. No doubt… a miracle and at the very least a sign of something quite remarkable for sure. Not only were Jesus’ friends fearful of the elements of nature. Now… they’re fearful of being in the presence of the living God. And in their minds, no one else could have done what they’ve just witnessed.

Jesus’ friends just experienced something extraordinary, a miracle that left them speechless. For Mark… Jesus’ friends have seen Jesus do some remarkable things. Jesus has healed people, but they’ve seen people do this. There were faith healers in many towns… and it was not uncommon in Jesus’ day to see faith healers healing people.

However… this was much different… Jesus calmed a storm! Jesus did something that only God could do. And this is an all new experience for Jesus’ friends and they all experienced it and now it’s changed them… and that’s unsettling for them.

I share a story of when I did my clinical work at OSU. Essentially I was a chaplain for 10 weeks one summer. After a long day of being with, praying with, and offering hope to sick people. And being on call this night I received a page from the hospital that the family of a dying woman wanted a chaplain. I went to the ICU room and as the family gathered around the bed I stood at the foot of the bed as they shared their mother’s story. Nurses began disconnecting monitors and as we briefly left the room so the respirator could be removed. When we returned we gathered and I prayed.

It was the first time I had witnessed someone actually dying and as the heart monitor began its slow descent of the heart beat the family bowing their hears, some crying, some holding their mothers hands I looked up as I finished my prayer and saw what appeared to be a person standing at the head of the bead with their hands opened as to receive this woman. I looked around and said to myself… does anyone see what I am seeing? Does anybody see this?I began shaking in fear… is this Jesus or an angel, or …. I was experiencing something I had never experienced. It was a holy moment that changed my life.

The next day after we finished our rounds we (my colleagues) gathered to share what we experienced during the day with our supervisor. I dared not share what had happened the previous evening. No one would believe what I saw. They would certainly think I was crazy or nuts. I thought to myself… Lutherans don’t believe in such things. There’s no way I’m going to share this and I didn’t.

     

As I reflect on this I think I am just as fearful of what I experienced as were Jesus’ friends with their experience. This experienced changed me big time and it made a huge impact on my life. So… I have to believe it had to change Jesus’ friends too.

Leif Engler in his book “Peace Like a River” says, “Miracles bother people, like a sudden unknown pain.” He goes on to say, “People fear miracles because they fear being changed.”

Jesus asked his friends, “Why Are You Afraid?”

I don’t share my story very often. I know that may be silly but I think people will think I’m nuts. I believe that’s why Jesus’ friends are fearful as well… who’s going to believe this? And then there’s the notion that Christians aren’t suppose to be afraid of the disturbances of life because after-all we have God… right! That being Christian somehow makes us immune to such fears. If anything… there’s an extra heaping of struggle placed upon us.

Look at the incident in South Carolina this past week.

I can tell you It’s got me a bit worried…

This is why I think our story in Mark is so relevant for us today. Despite the storms in life Jesus seeks to change us. And this past week we as a nation have experienced a tragedy and something needs to change because these kinds of incidences are becoming much to frequent and devastating. The issues of racism, hate, killing, and the polarization of society need more than just be addressed. We need to do something about it. We’ve been talking about it for generations and yet we can’t talk about the issues. It seems we can’t talk to one another about anything these days. This must change. We must be changed.

The change we experience shouldn’t be in a fearful way, but in a way where we can encounter the living God. Our God is a God who cares about us and a Jesus who experiences our fearfulness and promises to calm the storms of life. Let’s not be afraid any longer.

I believe the storms of life change us for a life God is calling to.

It’s a life where we experience an amazing encounter of God.

It’s kind of like… between a reverential awe and holy terror.

I sort of felt this way during the 3 years it took to discern God’s call of my life into pastoral ministry… way cool ministry experiences and holy terror of making a mid-life change.

In Closing…

It seems to me… if our focus is on the storms surrounding us we will miss the miracle before us.

We will miss where God is at work in the world….

We will miss that God is calling us to the other side of the lake…

And we will miss what it means to imagine differently what it means to be people of faith.

The Growing Season

June 14, 2015                                        
Mark 4:26-29

Story: There’s a story of a crew of 12 park employees who got out of the truck and went up and down the parkway -- every 20 steps or so, six of them dug holes, and then the other six would immediately follow and fill the holes up with dirt again.

After about a half-hour of this, someone who was watching it all couldn't stand it any longer. He went up to one of the workers and asked: Would you mind telling me what you're doing? One of them replied: We're planting trees. The guys with the trees have the day off.

Prayer

Much of Chapter 4 of Mark’s gospel is a parable.

You ask… what is a parable?

It’s a story, often using objects or things designed to illustrate or teach some truth or lesson.

Example: A young boy was walking along the beach and was picking up baby turtles and putting them in the ocean. A older man saw what the boy was doing and said to the boy, “Why are you doing this? You can’t possibly make a difference.” The boy responded, “It makes a difference to this one!” Jesus often uses parables as a mirror to life in order for us to gain greater spiritual awareness.

In chapter 4 Jesus tells a story about a farmer scattering seeds.

Some of the seed was eaten by birds.

Some fell on rocky ground.

And some fell on good soil and took root.

Then Jesus explains the story to his friends and now we hear another seed story about the kingdom of God. You see… Jesus often starts his stories… “The kingdom of God is like…” And we often misunderstand what this is or what it means. In our parable today… Jesus is telling us God’s kingdom is like the soil the seed is planted in.

Over the past couple of months farmers have been preparing their fields and planting the seed. Preparing the ground is an important first step before planting. The ground must be tiled to be loosened… then fertilizer can be applied. Once the soil is loosened and fertilized then the seed can be planted. Then the farmer rests… or so it seems. Everything is done… nothing more to do but watch the plants grow. The rest is up to the seed… the weather… and time. Or we might say… “The rest is up to God.”

While the farmer makes the decisions about when and where and how much to plant in the kingdom it’s really up to God to grow the seed. This is where we find ourselves in the story today. We… the farmer… find ourselves in “The Growing Season.” This is the period of time in which the seed takes root… sprouts… and grows… but there is much more to the growing season than we think.

Now that the planting is done we often think the farmer work is done until harvest time. We’ve spent the Fall… Winter… and Spring  engaged in all kinds of activity. And often we think it’s time to take a break. Its summer after all… it’s time for vacations… picnics…and lazy summer days with a beer in our hand.

   

Well… a smart experienced farmer knows that summer is not a time to relax, but a time for cultivating and caring for the emerging plants, or the weeds take over. Sometimes we think… well it’s in God’s hands… so we’ll let God take care of things. In many ways… we in the church fall into this kind of thinking with our faith and church activities. And yes… God will take care of things… However… we also play a role in growing and caring for the kingdom. That being… we are to cultivate the field! We are to make sure the seed… then the plants… are nourished… pulling the weeds… making sure the plants are adequately watered and cared for as to assure the best possible harvest. You see… we play as an important role in growing the seed as does God.

Yes… not every seed sprouts… but the ones that do need nurturing and that’s our part of the growing season.

 The couple of things this story speaks to me is that we/ the church are not planting many seeds these days nor nurturing the one’s we’ve planted very well. I also think we in the church have grown complacent and comfortable with ourselves to the extent we’ve forgotten how to farm. We have relied too heavily on the professional pastor or hired church worker rather than getting our hands dirty. I believe our story today is inviting us to get our hands back into the soil of the kingdom of God.

So our purpose here is not to debate whether the church is or isn’t doing what it should be… Rather… it’s to hear and take confidence from Jesus’ parable which tells us to continue planting seeds of God’s love and to nurture the plants even if we’re not sure how it will all work out… so that one day the grain will appear.

The parable that follows our story is worth hearing in conclusion because it indicates that the yield from the scattered seed will be significant.

Jesus said… “With what can we compare the kingdom of God…? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown, is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it’s sown it grows to be the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make their nests in its shade.”

If we do our job by planting the seed and nurturing the plant, with confidence and anticipation that growth will happen, and the harvest will come. We need not worry about whether God will do God’s job!

"Spiritual Understanding"

May 31, 2015                                         
John 3:1-17

Story: One of the pillars of the congregation stopped by my office just before worship to tell me he'd been born again.

You've been what? I asked.

Yes… last week I visited my brother-in-law's church, the Running River of Life Tabernacle, and I don't know what it was, but something happened and I'm born again.

You can't be born again, you're a Lutheran. You are the chairman of the board of trustees. He was brimming with joy, but I was sulking. Why?

Because spiritual renewal is wonderful as long as it occurs within acceptable, usually mainline, channels and does not threaten my understanding of God.
-Richard Lischer, Acknowledgment, Christian Century, March 3, 1999, 245.

Prayer

Many of us are looking to deepen our spiritual understanding. We read books…. There are isles in books stores devoted to all things spiritual. We go on retreats…. We seclude ourselves… Just the other day I saw a FB post from Pam Laity of a picture of the lake at their cottage… I suggested a pastoral visit was needed.

People of all strips are so interested in spiritual matters Oprah made millions highlighting a segment on her show… “Caring for Your  Spirit.” I often hear from people that they’re “Spiritual But Not Religious.” Though you might think these are one in the same… they’re really 2 different things in the minds of many people. And… we sort of see this with our bible story from John today.

We see Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader, searching for some answers to his spiritual questions. Perhaps he thought he had the religious part of his life down-pat, then this Jesus comes onto the scene and now he has questions. He knew the scriptures….He knew and kept the Law. By all accounts he considered himself a spiritual man. Yet Jesus, brings all he knows about God and spiritual concerns into question. This Jesus intrigues him and Nicodemus is drawn to Jesus. He saw with his own eyes some of Jesus’ miracles. He even acknowledges Jesus must be from God, because he couldn’t do the things he is doing if he were not from God. Then Jesus throws him for a big loop… “You must be born from above” some translations say, “You must be born again”. Not only being baptized with water… but from the Spirit as well. Nicodemus doesn’t get it… yet he senses something more than all the religious understanding and religious gymnastics he is familiar with.

Searching for spirituality is nothing new. Since the beginning of creation humanity has been trying to understand and to be and become like god.

Eugene Peterson states “that current spirituality like that of the ancients has fostered 2 qualities Transcendence and Intimacy. 

          Transcendence: There must be more that extends beyond me.

          Intimacy: A sense that deep within me there is a core being that is inaccessible.

He continues, “This is why we long for Transcendence and Intimacy, but these elements suggest spirituality must be conceived as something we think up and must do. So… humans continue to exhaust themselves all the while missing the point.”

What Peterson is saying, is that people seeking to find spirituality often have the tendency to try and make God into something of their own design they find fashionable.

I would like to share 3 ways we can deepen true spirituality with God.

1. Consider Creation

Jesus describes things of the spirit as “Wind that Blows.” And… Jesus uses creation to describe the presence of God. For Example…“Look at the flowers of the field & the birds of the air.” Look around you… see the beauty… There’s something mysteriously spiritual about creation… not in a pantheistic way… but a transcendence way that’s beyond our grasp. People who’ve been to the Grand Canyon tell me that it’s one of the most spiritual experiences they’ve ever had.

In 2004 I was living in Florida when the state was crisscrossed with 4 Hurricanes. On the last one we decided to stay even though it was forecasted to come right at us. We lived in a condo on the shore of the Indian River across from the space center and at the peak of the storm just before it hit land, at mid-night, and just before we lost power, it was reported at the space center 100 mph winds. At that moment I decided to go out to the river and experience what 100 mph wind was like. It was pitch black and you couldn’t see a thing as I trying to stand amongst the wind. And for a moment the wind became a spiritual event for me. The Hebrew word for wind is “Ruach” meaning “breath of God.” In that moment I was experiencing the breath of God… the wind of the spirit. It was also a pretty dumb thing to do as well.

Think about it for a moment… when we’re out in creation we seem less anxious… more content… less in a hurry… the heart is more open to the awesomeness of God.

 

2. Grow in Relationship with Jesus

Vs 16… “God loved you & me so much he sent his son to make that love known.”

Theologian Mark Powell says, “When we understand our spirituality as a relationship with Jesus our spiritual lives are grounded in a reality external to ourselves.”

In this way…Jesus is a real person… not someone or thing we make up. Jesus actually walked the earth, ate, drank, slept, died… not someone or thing we dream. Jesus was raised from the dead.

When Apostle Paul says,

“As all die in Adam, all will be made alive “in Christ” 1Cor. 15:22

“If anyone is “in Christ” they are a new creation” 2Cor. 5:17

Jesus says this throughout the gospels… “Believe in me” “Stay connected to me” “Have faith in me” “Everyone who has faith in me.” When you are “in Christ” you are connecting to the core of the spiritual experience. When you are “in Christ” you “Love Jesus.”

Which takes us to the 3^rd way… 3. Love Jesus, Follow Jesus

There’s no coincidence that Jesus asks Peter 3 times…“Do You Love Me?”

Paul tells the Gal. 5:22… “to put on good habits to be Loving, Peaceful, Patient, Good to Others, Faithful, and Self-Controlled. Don’t be jealous or conceited or claim to be better than you are.” 

In the end… Paul says, “If you want to change… embrace the Spirit of God and place him in your heart.” When we love Jesus we naturally follow Jesus. We do this by consistently practicing being in Community Prayer… Worshiping…Learning… Serving… Being in Relationships… and Being Generous. When we consistently practice these we begin to follow Jesus and we deepen our spiritual understanding. Essentially… Jesus is telling Nic and his friends if you want spiritual understanding… Love Me… Follow Me!

Closing:

Many of us get God and Jesus… The Spirit however… well… the Spirit is a great mystery to most of us and it often leaves us wondering and skeptical. Much like it did for Nicodemus and Jesus’ friends. Jesus says Vs 15, “Everyone who has faith in the Son of Man will have eternal life.” Faith my friends… is the key to opening the door to spiritual understanding.