The Greatest Among Us

September 22, 2024 Mark 9:30-37 18th Sunday after Pentecost The Greatest Among Us Year B Prelude Greeting Call to Worship L: Jesus calls us to servant ministry. P: We must be willing to help others, not counting the cost or rewards. L: Pretense, disharmony, greed have no place in discipleship. P: Serving God means receiving each person as though they were a beloved child. L: Lord, help us to truly become your disciples. P: Create in us hearts for ministries of compassion and kindness. AMEN. ( United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Opening Prayer Lord, be with us this day, helping us to put our priorities in order; so that we may faithfully serve you by serving your people. Heal our spirits. Enable us to follow your ways all the days of our lives. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Song Jesu Jesus UMH 432 A Sermon for all Ages Good morning, boys and girls. What's one of the biggest, strongest animals on earth? It's got a great big body, and thick legs, and tough skin, and a really, really long nose. Do you know what animal I'm talking about? That's right, it's an elephant. Elephants are one of the biggest, strongest animals on earth. They weigh thousands of pounds, and they can eat over one hundred pounds of food a day. Can you believe that? And elephants are so strong that they can knock over trees, or turn over a car with their long noses. But did you know that elephants are really gentle animals too? Elephants take care of one another. If one elephant gets sick, others will stay with it to protect it until it gets better again. Bigger elephants always stay around the baby elephants to keep them safe until the baby elephant is big enough to take care of itself. Elephants may be big and strong, but they can be loving too. Our Bible story today is about the disciples, the men who followed Jesus around and helped Him with His work. One day, the disciples started arguing over who was the best disciple. Who was the biggest, who was the strongest, who was the most important? But Jesus told them to stop arguing. Jesus didn't care who was the biggest, or the strongest, or the most important. Instead, Jesus wanted to know who was the most loving, the most gentle, the most caring. Those are the things that are important to Jesus. Jesus doesn't care if we're big or we're little, if we're rich or we're poor, if we're white or we're black. Jesus only cares if we love other people and do nice things for other people. Dynamic Preaching, Collected Sermons, by King Duncan Affirmation of faith (from A Brief Statement of Faith) In a broken and fearful world the Spirit gives us courage to pray without ceasing, to witness among all peoples to Christ as Lord and Savior, to unmask idolatries in Church and culture, to hear the voices of peoples long silenced, and to work with others for justice, freedom, and peace. In gratitude to God, empowered by the Spirit, we strive to serve Christ in our daily tasks and to live holy and joyful lives, even as we watch for God’s new heaven and new earth, praying, “Come, Lord Jesus!” With believers in every time and place, we rejoice that nothing in life or in death can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Amen. Passing of the Peace Jesus came to bring peace among us. Let us sow the seeds for peace in our world by sharing the peace of Christ with one another, stranger and friend alike. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Rebecca Gaudino) Scripture Mark 9:30-37 Sermon The Greatest Among Us Today I invite you to listen to the lessons of Chapter 9. I will tell you 3 seemingly unrelated stories, each with a lesson of their own. They each have their own lesson related to Jesus lesson. The scripture begins, Jesus was on his way – his way to Jerusalem to be crucified. It started in chapter 7, and will continue to the end of the gospel lesson in November. Now that the disciples know who the messiah is, he is telling them that the messiah must suffer. This is not a time of hope and resurrection. But a time of suffering, of facing tough times, of dark days of finding faith in the everyday struggle of life. Jesus us preparing his friends and us – what it means to be disciples. What is means to follow Jesus to the Cross. The virtues for today – service and humility. First off – Jesus loves the little children. In the midst of his discipleship lessons, jesus always brings in the children. In church we are reminded that children are an important part of who we are. We have to make sure that the children are included in what we do. Including the children are important part of our discipleship journey. Children are the hope of the future. But sometimes in the church it can be hard to connect to the younger generation, they don’t always see life the same way we do. Dealing with them does not always turn out the way we expect. The Turtle Picnic A turtle family went on a picnic. They had prepared seven years for their outing. The family left home, searching for a suitable place. During the second year of their journey, they found it. For about six months they cleared the area, unpacked the picnic basket, and completed the arrangements. They discovered, however, that they had forgotten the salt. A picnic without salt would be a disaster, they all agreed. After a lengthy discussion, the youngest turtle was chosen to retrieve the salt at home. Although he was the fastest of the slow-moving turtles, the little turtle whined, cried, and wobbled in his shell. He agreed to go on only one condition: that no one would eat until he returned. The family consented and the little turtle left. Three years passed—and the little turtle had not returned. Five years. Six years. Then in the seventh year of his absence, the eldest turtle could no longer contain his hunger. He announced that he was going to eat and began to unwrap a sandwich. At that point, the little turtle suddenly popped out from behind a tree shouting, “SEE! I knew you wouldn’t wait! Now, I’m not going to get the salt.” Where to Take It from Here… Some of us, like that little turtle, don’t trust anyone or give anyone the benefit of the doubt. We waste away our whole lives waiting for Jesus loves the little children, and sometime so do we. Young people can challenge us, but they teach us valuable lessons about being family, especially being the family of God. Jesus will bring children into his discipleship lesson a few more times. But you have to know that in Jesus day, children were not anything special, they were not the hope of the future. They represented people with no power or control. Children were to be seen and not heard. People really didn’t care about children’s feelings, they were to work along side of adults, with no thanks and no acknowgement. Jesus uses children as the ultimate object lesson on service and humility. In God’s kingdom everything is flipped. The greatest among us must be like a child- a humble servant. The Measure of Greatness - Mark 9:30-37 Some years ago St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City was seeking a new president. Over one hundred candidates applied for the position. The search committee narrowed the list to five eminently qualified persons. Then somebody came up with a brilliant idea: let's send a person to the institutions where each of the five finalists is currently employed, and let's interview the janitor at each place, asking him what he thinks of the man seeking to be our president. This was done and a janitor gave such a glowing appraisal of William MacElvaney that he was selected President of St. Paul's School of Theology. Somebody on that search committee understood, in a flash of genius, that those who live close to Christ become so secure in his love that they no longer relate to other people according to rank or power or money or prestige. They treat janitors and governors with equal dignity. They regard everybody as a VIP. Children seem to do this intuitively; adult Christians have to relearn it. It is a telling little piece of scripture in verse 32: "But they did not understand." That's a picture that can be hung in the halls of the museum of mankind. When confronted by true greatness, we simply do not see it… The president was picked based on his service and his humility. The janitor would have a similar status as the children. Jesus loves the little children. Jesus is patient and kind and understanding with them. Jesus also has to be kind and understanding with the disciples – who often act like children. In the scripture they are arguing amongst themselves, but refuse to tell Jesus what they are arguing about. They all want to be number one, because number one gets to sit closest to Jesus. Jesus reminds them that the greatest is the one who is able to serve and remain humble. In the God’s world, the first is last and the last is first. Everything is turned upside down. Even today we still struggle with what that means. – to strive to be humble and to put others first and to serve. The way up- is always to look down. The Way Up Is Down! - Mark 9:30-37 There once was a palace servant who longed for more than anything else in life to be a knight. He yearned to represent his king and vowed within himself that if he ever had a chance to be a knight he would serve his king as the noblest knight who ever lived. His dream came true. His great day came. At his knighthood ceremony, the former servant, now a knight, made a special oath within himself. He vowed that from that day forward he would bow his knees and lift his arms in homage to no one but his king. As a knight, he was assigned to guard a remote city on the edge of the kingdom. On the day he took up his duties standing at attention in full armor at the city gate, an elderly peasant woman passed by on her way to the market. In a rickety cart, she carried some vegetables she had grown and hoped to sell. As she passed the knight, her rickety old vegetable cart hit a bump on the road and turned over. Potatoes, onions, carrots, and peas spilled everywhere. The peasant woman scurried to get them all back in her cart to no avail. She looked toward the knight in hopes he would help her but already he had forgotten what it was to be a servant. The knight stood there, unmoved, holding his pose. He would not bend to help her. He just stood at attention keeping his vow to never again bow his knees or lift his arms in homage to anyone but his king. Years passed, and one day an elderly one-legged man hobbled by on his old crutch. Directly in front of the knight, the old man's crutch finally gave out and broke in two. "Sir knight," the old one-legged man begged, "please reach down and help me to get up again." The knight, unmoved by the old man's predicament, made no response. He held his pose proudly and remembered he had vowed that he would neither stoop nor lift a hand to help anyone but his king. Decades passed, and the knight grew older. One day his granddaughter came by and said, "Papa, pick me up and take me to the fair." But, even for his own granddaughter the knight would not stoop, for within himself he had made a vow to bow only to his king. Finally, the day came for the king to come. This was the day for which the knight had longed since the day of his knighthood. As the king approached to inspect him, the knight stood proudly and stiffly at attention. As he did, the king noticed a tear rolling down the proud knight's cheek. "You are one of my noblest knights," said the king, "why are you crying?" "Your majesty," the knight replied, "I took a vow that I would bow and lift my arms in homage to you alone, but now that you are here I am an old man unable to keep my vow any more. The years of standing here stiffly at attention, waiting for you to come, have taken their toll. The joints of my armor are rusted and I can no longer lift my arms or bend my knees." The wise king replied, "Perhaps if you had knelt to help all those people who passed by you, and lifted your arms to reach out to all the people who asked for your help, you would have been able to keep your vow to pay me homage today." Jesus Christ says, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all" (v. 35)… Discipleship is about service and humility. It is about how we live out those virtues in our everyday life. It is about practicing those virtues in everything that we do. It is making a commitment to follow Jesus in every situation, with every person. Following Jesus to the cross is the only way to see the hope of the resurrection. When we live as the children of God- we become the hope for the future. What is Hope? There is a theologian named Victor Havel who defined hope in this way. "Hope," he said, "Is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense regardless of how it turns out." I believe that part of what that means is that hope looks to the intrinsic value of people and of whatever we do. Hope determines the worthwhile-ness of someone or something at the very beginning, so that outcomes become secondary to that person, or that project’s very existence. Edmund L. Hoener, Jr., Losing Place Discipleship, service, humility, hope. Let us pray….. Song Are You Able UMH 530 Prayer God, how amazed we are at the solutions Jesus offers to his disciples when they question their importance to him and his kingdom. They want to know if they will receive the great rewards, if they will be recognized and praised for their accomplishments or at least their efforts. We are still so much like those early disciples. We want you to know how hard we work. We want to be praised and recognized for our efforts and successes. And we want you to pass over our failures as though they were inconsequential. When Jesus was confronted with their fears and concerns, he responded that they should be ready for service rather than adulation, And then he placed a small child in their midst; a child with no guile, no pretense. “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me, welcomes not me but the One who sent me.” Help us to reach out to others, not with thought of importance or gain, but in love and compassion; truly caring for each one we meet. When we have done this, we will have truly give our hearts and our service to our Lord. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment Invitation to the Offering (Proverbs 31:20, Mark 9, James 3) (just print the title) The writer of Proverbs teaches that God’s Wisdom is present and active in our lives in this way: “She opens her hand to the poor, / and reaches out her hands to the needy.” Jesus lived this wisdom in his life, and called his disciples to this same generosity. Let us give out of this same generous wisdom—a wisdom that seeks a presence and purpose in our lives on behalf of all. Offering Prayer (James 3) You are the generous one, full of mercy and goodness for your creation. Send your wisdom with these gifts, that they may reach those who need your love and welcome. Bring about a harvest of goodness through these gifts sown in peace. Amen. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Rebecca Gaudino) Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook Go forth into the world in peace. Be of good courage. Hold fast to what is good. Render to no one evil for evil. Strengthen the fainthearted, support the weak, help the afflicted. Honor all people. Love and serve the Lord, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit nourish you, animate you and lead you — this day and forever more. (Episcopal Book of Common Worship) Community Time – Joys and Concerns Benediction Go in confidence and peace, joyfully serving the Lord who walks with you. Bring hope to the hopeless, joy to those who sorrow, peace to the afflicted. Be true witnesses to the love of God through Jesus Christ. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Additional Illustrations Teaching The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. William A. Ward Carry Someone with You There was a tribe of Indians who lived a long time ago in the state of Mississippi. They lived next to a very swift and dangerous river. The current was so strong that if somebody happened to fall in or stumbled into it they could be swept away downstream. One day the tribe was attacked by a hostile group of settlers. They found themselves with their backs against the river. They were greatly outnumbered and their only chance for escape was to cross the rushing river. They huddled together and those who were strong picked up the weak and put them on their shoulders; the little children, the sick, the old and the infirm, those who were ill or wounded were carried on the backs of those who were strongest. They waded out into the river, and to their surprise they discovered that the weight on their shoulders carrying the least and the lowest helped them to keep their footing and to make it safely across the river. Jesus is trying to teach the disciples an object lesson about greatness, about servanthood, about leadership. He is saying to them and to us, "Have you lost the childlike joy and love and faith that once were yours?" He is also saying to them and to us, "If you want to walk on secure ground in this world it helps to carry someone with you." King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com Good Enough to Teach Years ago, after a celebrated international career on the stage, the world-famous violinist Jascha Heifetz became a professor of music at UCLA. When someone asked him why he had left the glamour of performing to become a teacher, Heifetz answered, "Violin-playing is a perishable art. It must be passed on; otherwise it is lost." Then he went on to say, "I remember my old violin professor in Russia. He said that (if I worked hard enough) someday I would be good enough to teach." From a speech by William Graves, editor of National Geographic magazine, Speaker's Idea File The Disciples' Culture Shock In the summer of 1971 I had gone to Munich to study German. It was my first time in "the Fatherland," and I suppose I had half expected to find blond, blue-eyed kids yodeling on street corners, or adults heading to work in Lederhosen humming Beethoven’s 9th. Instead, blaring from every Italian Pizza Parlor, every Turkish shish kabob stall or ubiquitous McDonald’s was the 1971 Lynn Anderson hit song, "I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rose garden." Some of you may even remember the words: it was a rather banal ditty, uttering the commonplace wisdom that sunshine and rain are part of every life. But hearing this American hit song in Munich played havoc with my expectations. In fact, it was such a culture shock that the memory remains vivid even today, three decades later. Two millennia later Mark’s Gospel continues to recall the culture shock the apostles had when the cost of discipleship finally dawned on them; when their expectations of the reign of God came face-to-face with hard-nosed reality; when fascination and enthusiasm with this Jesus began to be transformed into self-sacrificing commitment. Father George Griener _________________ A Biblically Illiterate America Pollster George Gallup Jr. has long referred to America as a "nation of biblical illiterates." Only four in 10 Americans know that Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount. A majority of citizens cannot name the four Gospels of the New Testament. Only three in 10 teenagers know why Easter is celebrated. Two-thirds of Americans believe there are few, if any, absolute principles to direct human behavior. A poll by the Barna Research Group suggested that religious illiteracy has increased. For example, three out of four Americans (and nearly half of "born-again" Christians) believe the Bible teaches that "God helps those who help themselves." George Barna argues that self-reliance is not only not scriptural, but that it contradicts revelation. Only God determines a person's destiny, the pollster notes. To believe otherwise "exposes our false theological cornerstone - that we are the center of things, that it is up to us to determine our destiny, and that God is merely our assistant ..." A similar number of born-again Christians deny the existence of the Holy Spirit and Satan. One in five denies Jesus' physical resurrection and believes he was a sinner. Earlier surveys of mainline Protestants revealed that barely half of Lutherans, Methodists, and Presbyterians believe in the devil, but 56 percent of Lutherans and 49 percent of Methodists believe in UFOs. One-third of Methodists and Presbyterians have faith in astrology. While nearly three-fourths of all Americans believe in hell, hardly any believe it to be their likely destination in eternity. This Barna poll is intended to help Christian pastors and groups focus their ministries. The sheer number of "errant theological positions" among believers underscores "the magnitude of the challenge facing churches today," Barna notes. University of Wisconsin historian Thomas Reeves indicts popular religious belief and service. "Christianity in modern America is, in large part, innocuous," he writes. "It tends to be easy, upbeat, convenient, and compatible. It does not require self-sacrifice, discipline, humility, an otherworldly outlook, a zeal for souls, a fear as well as love of God. There is little guilt and no punishment, and the payoff in heaven is virtually certain." Former Secretary of Education William Bennett concludes that "We have become the kind of society that civilized countries used to send missionaries to." These are harsh judgments. Perhaps we have been so busy pursuing the American Dream of the good life that we have neglected to nurture the faith on which the Dream is founded. If so, our only fault is inattention. If at the millennium our common faith has faltered, or has shriveled for lack of nourishment, or has been supplanted by sentimentality, at least we have not succumbed to cynicism. Faith has not been lost, only misplaced. As a people, we can retrieve it together. David Yount, "Beggaring Belief," September 04, 2000, Scripps Howard News Service. _________________ The Difficulty of Dealing with Death Russell Anderson tells a story about the time his father was nearing the end of his earthly life. He had finally realized the gravity of his situation. "I got some bad news," he said. "What's that?" Russell responded. "I'm not going to make it," he retorted. Summoning my store of knowledge from my Clinical Pastoral Education course and years of dealing with sickness and death, I asked, "How do you feel about that, Dad?" My father, who was always loathe to reveal too much of his feelings, shot back: "How do you feel about it?" (He had turned the question on me, asking me how I felt about my own death). I remained mute. My first thought was, "But, Dad, I'm not dying, you are." On a deeper level I knew that he was right, I too was dying. I needed to deal with my death as well as his own. Yet I wanted to deny that the shadow of my own death was looming ever larger. The reaction of Russell Anderson is about the same reaction that all of us have when reminded of our own mortality. And it was the same reaction as the disciples in our text for today. They did not know how to deal with Jesus' death or with their own. Denial had set in. Russell Anderson, Lectionary Preaching Workbook, Series V, Cycle B, CSS Publishing, p. 294 people to live up to our poor expectations of them—and they always do. We can be thankful that God doesn’t treat us that way. He accepts us just the way we are. He believes in us. He cheers us on. He thinks the best of us. He is proud of us. When we mess up, he forgives and forgets, and gives us another opportunity to do good. That’s how God treats us, and that’s how we are to treat others. Let’s not think the worst of each other. Let’s expect the best.

Those not against Jesus are for us

September 26, 2021 Mark 9:38-50 18th Sunday After Pentecost Proper 21 Year B Whoever isn’t against us is for us Opening Song Welcome - Theme of Worship – God is always on our side Call to Worship Jesus is on our side! Come and rejoice. Are you suffering? Come and find peace. Are you joyful? Come and sing. Do you need healing? Come and pray. Jesus is on our side! Come and rejoice. Stewardship Moment Invitation to Give In keeping with our theme – God is always on our side. Anthony DeStefano wrote an interesting book entitled – 10 prayers that God will always says yes to. – no matter who you are or what your situation is. Some of those prayers – God show me that you are present, God use me an your instrument, forgive me, help me through suffering, give me courage, give me peace, lead me to my destiny – I took a special interest to #3 on the list – God outdo me in generosity. No matter how much we give, God always gives more. That is one of the amazing lessons about stewardship. DeStefano says that when we deal with money – we are always led into holiness., we are always led to God in our lives and more importantly the promises of God in the bible. God always provides, God provides for us so that we can provide for others, When we do our small part – we can see the amazing things that God can do. God is the provider of all that we have. That is why stewardship is so important to our faith. It is us making a habit of giving our small part – and praying that prayer that God will outdo us in generosity. When we come into the presence of God, we always have an opportunity to give to God. One way of us being able to see that God is always on your side – is to see how God blesses the church and our lives. DeStefano says that God refuses to be upstaged when it comes to blessings. Whether you are joining us online or in person there are many ways for us to give – put it in the offering plate behind the baptismal font, give online, mail it in. Any way is a blessing and God will bless our efforts. Thank you to those who give in support of the ministries of the church. Let us pray this prayer together Today, we have the opportunity to make a gift “in the name of the Lord”. What we bring to share is not just payment to keep the lights on, or pay the minister. What we bring is an offering because we’ve gathered in the presence (name) of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. In gratitude, we now offer our gifts, our financial support, demonstrating our desire to live and stay in God’s presence. Prayer of Thanksgiving God, we offer these gifts that they may be used to declare your presence in all the earth. Receive them, and receive us as your beloved sons and daughters, eager to work alongside you in building your Realm on earth. We pray “in the name of the Lord”, AMEN Passing the Peace of Christ (Esther 7 & 9, Psalm 124, Mark 9) When we are rescued from danger and trouble, we know the peace of Jesus Christ. When we are welcomed into the reign of God, we know the peace of Jesus Christ. As those who are rescued and welcomed, let us greet one another with signs of the peace of Christ. Scripture Mark 9:38-50 Common English Bible Recognize your allies 38 John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone throwing demons out in your name, and we tried to stop him because he wasn’t following us.” 39 Jesus replied, “Don’t stop him. No one who does powerful acts in my name can quickly turn around and curse me. 40 Whoever isn’t against us is for us. 41 I assure you that whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will certainly be rewarded. 42 “As for whoever causes these little ones who believe in me to trip and fall into sin, it would be better for them to have a huge stone hung around their necks and to be thrown into the lake. 43 If your hand causes you to fall into sin, chop it off. It’s better for you to enter into life crippled than to go away with two hands into the fire of hell, which can’t be put out.[a] 45 If your foot causes you to fall into sin, chop it off. It’s better for you to enter life lame than to be thrown into hell with two feet.[b] 47 If your eye causes you to fall into sin, tear it out. It’s better for you to enter God’s kingdom with one eye than to be thrown into hell with two. 48 That’s a place where worms don’t die and the fire never goes out.[c] 49 Everyone will be salted with fire. 50 Salt is good; but if salt loses its saltiness, how will it become salty again? Maintain salt among yourselves and keep peace with each other.” Sermon Whoever is not against us is for us and our friend I have to admit that I have been dreading this Sunday all week – How am I going to get through this sermon? Why did I even choose this scripture in the first place? Some Sunday’s are fun and easy – communion Sunday, baptism Sunday, Sunday’s when the scripture is something that everyone has heard of. And then there are Sunday’s like this, when Jesus says something that makes no sense, and I have to stand up in front of you all and defend Jesus, even though I don’t agree or understand him myself. This is almost as bad as the scripture was about John the Baptist and my colleague gave a children’s sermon on cutting people’s heads off. Today is gouge your eye out Sunday. In the gospel lesson Jesus tells us to cut off our hands and feet and to gouge out our eyes. He also talks about casting our demons. Jesus is serious, he means it. Jesus is serious about the moral consequences of sin. Jesus is serious about our discipleship. This is Jesus’ call to self discipline and an encouragement for us to take arms against the temptations in our life. I did intentionally choose this scripture because if we put his words into context, his message is a saving grace for us. Mark is just chock full of important lessons. This is the end of Chapter as Jesus is telling us that the way in which we treat children will be the way God judges us in heaven. The three points that I want to make today – as the church we must always leave the door open for new people, we have to live as examples for all who seek Jesus in our doors, and that in order to be live free in God, we have to be willing to let go of all of the things that is holding us down. The disciples have been following Jesus and hanging on his every word. Jesus sends them out to heal people and to tell the good news. They have special training, and are disciples of the best rabbi of all. And they run into some people who do that same thing, but did not have the same training. They are not disciples – when they tell Jesus he says one of the most important lines in the whole new testament – whoever is not against u sis for us – it is okay for them to do the Lord’s work. Coming together as the church is important. We need our community in order to be better Christians. We all need that group of people to pray together, to sing together, to celebrate together, to cry together. The church is a wonderful place. But lets all admit it, the church can also be a horrible place – we can get a little clickish, we can develop a club mentality, and we are prone to become exclusive. Exclusive: The Ugliest Word A journalist once asked Carl Sandburg, "What is the ugliest word in the English language?" After a few minutes Sandburg replied, "Exclusive." The ugliness of exclusive depends upon whether we are among the included or the excluded. We pride ourselves on being members of exclusive clubs, living in exclusive neighborhoods, dining at exclusive restaurants, vacationing at exclusive resorts, belonging to exclusive churches. Being an insider carries with it a sense of pride and security. Most of us, however, have been excluded often enough to agree that exclusive is an ugly word. When we are among the marginalized, the rejected, the pushed-aside or the left-out, it hurts! The conflict in the early church centered on the question of who is in and who is out. Are gentiles to be included? Peter and Paul debated that one until Peter had a dream and concluded that "God shows no partiality" (Acts 10:34). The Book of Acts is the story of God's grace through the Holy Spirit, pushing the early church out to the margins and breaking down the barriers among the people. Judging people by whether or not they are "one of us" thwarts God's reign of justice, generosity and joy. The disciples missed the power and victory of God's liberating presence in the man casting out demons. Their assumption that only those "following us" could cast out demons blinded them to God's presence in another. Rather than being grateful that demons were cast out, they were upset that the healing was done through someone outside their group. Bishop Kenneth Carder, “Unexclusive Gospel,” article in The Christian Century, 1997. It is good to point out that Jesus said anyone not against us is for us, he didn’t says that anyone not for us is against us. the lesson for us is to treasure our sense of community as a church focused on our mission, but to be tolerant of what is new, different and outside. The Fellowship of the Bearers of Cold Water An old man named Calvin had lived a good life as a farmer for years. One day an evangelist came to the community, and, in the course of his stay, visited Calvin and asked him what denomination he was. Calvin answered the question like this: "When my grain gets ready for selling, after I've harvested it and packaged it, I can take it to town by any one of three roads ” the river road, the dirt road, or the highway. But when I get my grain to town and go to the buyer to sell him what I have, he never looks at me and asks, ˜Calvin, which road did you take to get your grain to town?' What he does do is ask me if my grain is any good." Friend, is your grain good - the grain of your discipleship? That's all that really matters. When we get to Heaven we will probably find some (Roman Catholics) and some (Baptists) and some (Presbyterians). And they'll be just as surprised to see us as we will to see them. But we will all belong to just one fellowship. Let's call it the Fellowship of the Bearers of Cold Water. We will all be people who have lived out our discipleship through acts of kindness to others. King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com The second lesson, be an example for the world outside of our community. There are people who won’t set foot in a church, but they are watching us as an example of what it means to be the people of God. they look at our behavior and not only judge us, but they also judge God. Jesus lesson to the disciples is how important it is to be an example at all times. Speaking of highways. Changing the Signs William Barclay, a British theologian, tells the following story in his commentary on this Biblical text. He told a story about someone changing signs. That is, at an intersection of the road, one sign would point to the city of Seattle and another sign would point to the city of Tacoma. And the boy wondered to himself: How many people could I send down the wrong road if I changed the signs? Your very life is a sign post with a sign on it. Are you sending people down the wrong road or the right road? Edward F. Markquart, Millstones Are there ways that you lead people to sin? Jesus tells us not to do that. He is so serious because he wants us to see that our moral behavior matters. Our discipleship matters. We all have to be examples, not just the pastor, but all of us. What are the ways that we are able to transform darkness into light? The third lesson – this is the crazy one – cut off your hands and feet and gouge out your eye if you call it so sin. It seems a little harsh until you are reminded of the story of Captain Ahab. – we all remember the story of Moby Dick. Captain Ahab is the person who makes it his life mission to hunt and kill the great white whale. On a whaling trip the white wail destroyed the ship and caused the captain to lose his leg. After the loss of his limb, he was so filled with revenge and hatred, he couldn’t think of anything else. He was difficult to be around because he was do evil. He carried that negativity around with him wherever he went. It was that revenge that eventually killed him. The whale once again destroyed his ship, killed him and all of the crew except one person. Had he not been so filled with hatred and grief, he may have survived. Jesus lesson, let all of that revenge and hatred go. If it causes you to sin and do stupid things – it is better to just let it go. We don’t have to gouge our eye out, just let it go. Learning to let go of our negative feelings allows us to see heaven more clearly. Let go of our exclusivity, lack of discipline and grief. They Are Not Suggestions! I used to wish that Ted Koppel would run for president. Sometimes he seemed to make more sense than all of the politicians put together. You knew him as the popular moderator of ABC’s “Nightline” program. In a speech at Duke University when his daughter was graduating, he said this: “We have actually convinced ourselves that slogans will save us. Shoot up if you must, but use a clean needle. Enjoy sex whenever and with whomever you wish, but wear a condom. No! The answer is no. Not because it isn’t cool or smart or because you might end up in jail or dying in an AIDS ward, but because it’s wrong, because we have spent 5,000 years as a race of rational human beings, trying to drag ourselves out of the primeval slime by searching for truth and moral absolutes. In its purest form, truth is not a polite tap on the shoulder. It is a howling reproach. What Moses brought down from Mount Sinai were not the Ten Suggestions.” Right on! Jesus, in our Scripture of the morning, is not giving us a tiny tap on the shoulder. He is giving us a howling reproach. Donald B. Strobe, Collected Words, www.Sermons.com little Deeds John Killinger, in a sermon entitled, The Great Importance of Little Deeds, concluded by saying, "It's an exciting thought that when we die and come into the presence of God and all its fullness, it will not be our major achievements that speak for us, 'He was president of a bank. She was the first woman senator from her state. He was the author of 22 books,' but the small apparently inconsequential things that we long ago forgot. 'He mowed my lawn when I was sick. She cared for my child when I went to the market. He sent me flowers when I needed them most. She washed and mended my socks.' These are the little things that hold the world together. They are the small stones that comprise the great cathedrals where God is worshipped. They shall be remembered," says Killinger, "like stars in the crown of the saints." The world desperately needs to see our love in action. Of what value is our faith if our love isn't stronger: our love for one another and our love for the world? Our love needs to be big enough to take in the whole world. King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com Let us pray…… Prayer Lord, you want us to be “salt”, to add savor to your world. We cannot be bland witnesses to your love, only working when it’s convenient for us or doing work that is incomplete. If we lose our “saltiness”, it cannot be regained. Give us courage and joy in our service to you. Help us to be people who clear the pathways to service rather than those who place roadblocks and “potholes” in which people can stumble. Many are called to serve You, O Lord. Help us to be people who work willingly with others, not demanding that our way is the only way, but rejoicing in a new approach to ministry. Give us confidence and joy in all that we do, for we offer our lives Song They Will Know we are Christians by our Love TFWS 2223 Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook God has created all things. God has rescued us from sin and suffering. Let us go forth, seeking to be on God’s side. Jesus Christ finds us when we wander far from God. Let us go forth, seeking to be on God’s side. The Holy Spirit empowers us to welcome all into the reign of God’s love. Let us go forth, seeking to be on God’s side, bringing the love of Christ everywhere we go. Community Time Benediction Go in peace to serve the Lord. Remember the healing love that has taken place in your life.. Be open to all the wonders and opportunities that God puts before you. Go in peace. AMEN. Children’s Sermon Object: a saltshaker with salt in it. Boys and girls, what's your favorite flavor? (Be prepared for a variety of responses.) One of God's good gifts to us is the gift of taste. We can tell the difference between sweet and sour, bland and sharp, chocolate and vanilla, and all the other good flavors that come to us in our food. Have you ever eaten food that didn't seem to have any flavor? I have. The food may be perfectly good, but we don't like to eat it because it doesn't taste like anything. Even though it may be good for our bodies, if we can't get any taste out of it, we may just stop eating it altogether. Then we lose the good part. One of the flavors we can add to food that seems to need some is salt. I have some here with me today. We know that you can use too much salt on something if you are not careful. If you use too much salt, it makes your food taste terrible. It could even make you sick. But just the right amount of salt can make things taste better. God wants our lives to be something like salt. Salt can make a difference and improve the flavor of your food. When we do God's work and help other people to know about God's love, we are like salt. We are helping to make somebody else's life different, and to give it some flavor. We don't want to become so noisy about God that people get tired of hearing about him. That would be like putting on too much salt. Then a good thing could begin to taste like a bad thing. But we can do just the right thing when we get a chance. We can share God's love just when people need it. That's like putting salt on your food. Here is a shaker of salt. If you will hold out your hand, the palm side up, I will shake a little salt on everybody's hand. Then you can taste it. It will remind you of how good salt can be as a flavor in our lives. And it can remind us what we can be like for other people. CSS Publishing, Lima, Ohio, , by CSS Additional Illustrations Gouge-Your-Eye-Out Sunday – Mark 9:38-50 There are a couple of Sundays I'd just as soon not preach. One is Trinity Sunday, the Sunday immediately following Pentecost. I've heard more than one priest say that the reason most of us want an assistant or a deacon is so that we can assign them the task of trying to explain how it is we believe in one God, in three persons, and so on. Clergy dislike of preaching on Trinity Sunday is pretty widespread. So-called, Stewardship Sunday is another. It feels to me like I'm singing for my supper. After all, besides the mortgage what costs a church the most? Clergy salaries. Plus, I can guarantee you that regardless of how many guests a church has had in the weeks leading up to Stewardship Sunday, there will be several that day and it will be the greeter's job to assure them that we don't talk about money every Sunday. So I tread carefully on those Sundays. By the way, that Sunday is coming up in a couple of weeks. Beware! There are others but let me get right to the point. The most dreaded Sunday, for me is today, the day that one of our parishioners so pointedly calls: Gouge-Your-Eye-Out Sunday. The other day we were discussing which Sunday would be best for a kind of invite-a-friend-to-church Sunday, and she said, any Sunday except Gouge-Your-Eye-Out Sunday. She understood why I'd prefer not to preach today. But, as I've said many times before when difficult readings come up, I don't pick them. Some bunches of people many years ago arranged the series of Sunday readings we call the lectionary and this just happens to be the day they picked for cut-your-hand-off, cut-your-foot-off, gouge-your-eye-out Sunday. So, these are the cards we've been dealt, let's see where they take us this morning. I think it's safe to say that Jesus is serious about sin. To put it mildly, he stressed that sin was a bad idea. To put it bluntly, he thought that it would be better for us to go through life without one or more appendages than to sin, and especially, to cause someone who believes in him to sin. That, I believe, is a given. Jesus hated sin. I also think it's safe to say that most and maybe all those who have read and studied this passage understand that Jesus was not expecting anyone to take it literally.... Escaping the Rat Traps A fellow by the name of Ed Peterman tells a story from his childhood, when he grew up on a farm in Preble County Ohio. His family discovered they had some rats in the barn, so his parents got some traps. One night they baited them with cheese, and set them out around the barn. The next morning young Ed went out to see if they had caught anything. The first traps he examined were empty. When he came to the last trap, he saw something strange. The trap had been sprung, and while there was no rat in it, he noticed that it did hold the severed leg of a rat. He ran to tell his parents about this unexpected finding. They followed him back to the barn. When they got to the trap with the rat's leg in it, his parents just nodded and smiled knowingly. "What happened?" Ed asked them. "Tell me what happened!" So they told him. The trap had caught the rat by the leg. The rat knew that its life was at risk, so it chewed off its own leg to escape. "That's the way rats are," his father said. "Better to go on living with only three legs, than to die with all four." Ed just stood there for a while, marveling at the courage it took for the rat to choose to survive by chewing its leg off and leaving it behind. It makes one wonder whether we would have the courage to do what the rat did. If you were caught in a life-threatening situation one day, would you be able to cut part of yourself off and leave it behind in order to go on living? That's one of those things we never truly know, unless and until we actually faced that situation. Would I be able to surrender a hand or a leg, a memory or a grudge, an obsession or a long-held opinion, if my life were at stake? Or would I cling desperately to the futile memory of how things have always been before, and so bring about my own death? Jan Campbell All Good Things Are Sacred “The genius of the gospel is its seed of self-criticism or self-reformation. Each generation of Christians, like the Pharisees, is tempted to make sacred its programs and freeze its routines. Jesus showed us that humanly created structures aren't sacred. There are no sacred places, organizations, times, objects, doctrines or social positions, except in the sense that all good things are finally sacred.” Donald B. Kraybill, The Upside-Down Kingdom olerance on the Bridge Here is good one about tolerance: A man who was walking across a bridge and came upon another man standing right on the edge, about to plunge to his death. The first man shouted "Stop! Are you a Christian?" "Yes, as a matter of fact I am." "Well so am I. Are you Catholic or Protestant?" "I'm Protestant," "Well so am I. Are you Episcopal or Baptist?" "I'm Baptist." "Wow... I am too. Are you Southern Baptist or American Baptist? "I'm Southern Baptist," "Me too, that's amazing! Are you original Southern Baptist or Southern Baptist reformed?" "I'm Southern Baptist reformed." "I can't believe it, so am I." But tell me are you Reformed Southern Baptist of the reformation of 1879, or reformed Southern Baptist of the Reformation of 1915?" He answered, "Reformed Baptist, reformation of 1915.” To which the first man said, "Die you heretic," and he pushed him off the bridge. Traditional Humor: Concrete Demonstrations There is a time honored story about a pastor who was supposedly a great lover of children. One day he looked at the sidewalk leading up to his house that had been freshly poured. Some youngsters were playing in it and leaving footprints in the fresh cement. He rushed out and yelled at the children. Someone said to him; "Well pastor, we thought you liked children." He said, "Yes, I love them in the abstract but not in the concrete." The world is looking for concrete demonstrations of Christian love in action. King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com