Jesus Siblings

June 9, 2024 Mark 3:20-35 Jesus’ Siblings 3rd Sunday of Pentecost Year B Prelude Greeting Call to Worship Some of us come today with hearts weighed down with anxiety, fear, despair, and hurt. Together we cling to this truth: God’s steadfast love endures forever. Some of us come today with hearts that feel light with relief, joy, comfort, and gratitude. Together we cling to this truth: God’s steadfast love endures forever. Some of us come today not knowing what we think about God, confused and disappointed that the world God made is so full of evils of every kind. Together we cling to this truth: God’s steadfast love endures forever. Be with us, God, in all that we bring with us, as we gather to encounter your unchanging love. We come today to enter the dance of the Trinity who is immutable in love. Amen. Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, February 2024. Opening Prayer Lord, we come this day, having seen the miracles of everyday creation in our world. We have enjoyed both the bright sunshine and the gentle rains. We have marveled over the beauty of flowers and the complexity of your creation. Make our hearts ready to receive your word for us, that we may go forth from this place ready to joyfully serve you all of our days. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Song Sing Praise to God who Reigns Above UMH 126 Sermon for all Ages By Lois Parker Edstrom Object suggested: Map of Africa. Picture of the hippo and tortoise: We can learn a lot from animals. This is a heart-warming story that I would like to share with you: A baby hippopotamus, named Owen, was swept down a river and into the ocean when a tsunami struck and then was tossed back to shore by waves and landed on the coast of Kenya in Africa. Wildlife workers rescued him and took him to a shelter where he was adopted by a one hundred year old tortoise that acted as his mother. (Show picture.) Don’t they look happy together? Baby hippos like to be with and play with their mothers until they are about four years old. These two, the hippo and the tortoise, although very different from each other, are fast friends that eat, sleep and swim together. The tortoise likes being a mother and Owen likes his new mother. The two of them formed a family. How wonderful! What we can learn from this story is that close family members may come in many forms. Not all of us are blessed with families that include a mother, father, brothers, and sisters. Families are made of people who love and care for each other. We find friends, in our church and elsewhere, who are loving and caring. They make good family members. Jesus says, “For whoever does the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother” (3:35). Scripture quotations from the World English Bible Copyright 2011, Richard Niell Donovan Prayer for Transformation and New Life: Pastoral Leader: As we gather in worship, let us take this moment to consider our needs for transformation and forgiveness. I invite you to quietly reflect on our need for grace. (Allow a short moment of silence.) People: Dear God, the creator of all things based on love. You created us in your image of love and there have been times we have fallen short of that love, not only to you but to each other and all of creation. I ask for your forgiveness and from you, present today, my siblings, sisters and brothers in Christ. I thank you for the comforting strength and compassion of the Holy Spirit to do better in bringing love and grace and all I do. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Roberto Ochoa) Words of Grace (2 Corinthians 4:13) Pastoral Leader: “Just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture— “I believed, and so I spoke”—we also believe, and therefore we also speak” in the affirming knowledge that when we turn to God with our shortcomings, we are renewed in God’s Love by the grace of Christ. Amen. (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Roberto Ochoa) Scripture Mark 3:20-35 Sermon Jesus’ Siblings Sermon Opener – Looking a Little Bit Crazy - Mark 3:20-35 A photocopied sign was posted inside a church office. It was one of those humorous full-page slogans that people in different offices duplicate and pass among themselves. Most of us have seen this particular message, I suppose, but posted in a church office, the words took on a new meaning. There it was, taped to the cinder blocks behind a secretary's desk. The sign read, "You don't have to be crazy to work here, but it helps." At one level, why not put a sign like that in a church? Many churches are busy, hectic, confusing places. There are worship services to plan, educational programs to run, choirs to rehearse, fellowship dinners to organize, and outreach efforts to facilitate. There is a lot going on, and things can get frantic. The running joke in one church I know is that the staff keeps saying, "Next week it's going to get quiet," but the quiet week never comes. The work load can become a little bit crazy. On a deeper level, there is a great deal of truth to that sign. There is something strange about the church. We are not just another club or civic organization. The church's view of reality is increasingly out of phase from a lot of prevailing views. In the church, we do and say things that do not always make sense to people outside of this house... The church is a very busy place, there is always a lot going on, on the surface and underneath the surface. When you come to church there are a lot of personalities to deal with. Sometimes you may not be the crazy one, but you have to be comfortable with other people being crazy. And if that is not enough, you definitely have to be a little crazy to be willing to follow Jesus. Our scripture today in Mark explains why – Jesus has gathered the disciples as a group and he is ready to start his ministry and spread his message to his people. He is just getting started, but by this time, he has gained notoriety – people are talking about his teaching, preaching and healing. On the one hand they are impressed with his enthusiasm. With the profound truth in his words, they even celebrate all of the miracles they have witnessed – the man being able to see after years of being blind, the woman who had an issue for years and it went away. And that time that he saved that woman who was going to be stoned for adultery, his argument about judging her made a little sense. But on the other hand, sometimes he just stretched things way too far. Sometimes he took the tradition way out of context. Sometimes he would take everything sacred, and just turn it on its head. For instance, he claimed to be the son of God, nobody is the son of God, we are all the son of man. They prided themselves on seeking revenge on anyone who wronged them – and here this man was telling them to learn to forgive. Everyone knew that we were supposed to give God ten percent, and here this man was saying to give more if that what it takes to get the job done. Everyone knows to love your neighbor, but this man was telling us to love your enemies. Everything that we had been taught, this man took it too far – he must be crazy. That is why they called his mother and his siblings to come get him – he must be crazy. Interesting fact, the book of Mark never mentions the fact that Jesus had an earthly father. That might have been part of the problem in a culture where a father’s job was to teach the children moral behavior. But nevertheless, Jesus family still does not understand his message. When I went to Israel, I remember so many people saying- we don’t hate Jesus, and we are not against Christianity. The problem is, nothing that Jesus says makes sense to us. A lot of what he says is such an affront to our culture and tradition. No self respecting Hebrew would come up with those ideas. Except Jesus was a Hebrew, and he did. And it got him into a lot of trouble. Outside of Himself As some commentators have pointed out, it appears that it was particularly Jesus’ engagement with the demonic that was causing Mary and Jesus’ brothers to arch their eyebrows the sharpest. It all seemed a little bizarre to them. In verse 21 they say literally that they had to get him on home because Jesus was exeste, a word meaning to stand outside of yourself. Even today we may refer to a person who is an emotional wreck as being “beside himself” with grief. The idea is that someone has taken leave of his senses (or his senses have taken leave of him) and so what remains for the time being is a person whose emotions are unchecked and unregulated. This is the family’s assessment of Jesus. Apparently all Jesus’ talk about invisible kingdoms of God and the casting out of demons led members of his own family to the conclusion that Jesus was seeing things that no one else could see and the reason was simple: he was out of his ever-loving mind! And it does appear that it was especially Jesus’ emphasis on the demonic that yielded this opinion because no sooner does Jesus’ family accuse him of being mad, and the religious leaders chime in with their own verdict. Because they limit their comments to the demonic, it’s a good bet that it was this aspect of Jesus’ ministry that was generating the most discussion. In the opinion of the scribes, Jesus was himself a devil. If Jesus seemed to have inside information as to the goings-on in the demonic realm, the explanation was simple and obvious: pulling a page from the old “it takes one to know one” playbook, the religious leaders lambaste Jesus as being himself a demon incognito. It was a ridiculous thing to say, and finally completely foolish, too. Why would the devil be shooting himself in the foot? What kind of military commander blows up his own tanks? No, if Jesus seems to be plundering the realm of the devil, it’s because he had already bound and gagged the devil himself and so now his lesser hosts were easy targets for Jesus. Jesus did his work not because he had the power of the devil but because he had already demonstrated power over the devil. Scott Hoezee, Comments and Observations Have You Ever Tried to Discredit Someone? Isn’t there a tendency on our part to try to discredit the experience of others when we are intimidated by their experience? Think about it for a moment. Haven’t you ever felt threatened by a close friend, or even a family member, who moved to a new level of Christian commitment, and began to take his or her Christian discipleship more seriously? Maybe she began to talk more - to witness. You’ve not heard this sort of language before, not from a person like her, President of the Junior League or the Garden Club. She talks about “being born again” or about prayers being answered in such an explicit manner...and somehow, we feel threatened. Or, he decides he needs to deepen his involvement with Jesus, and so he goes to serve in the Salvation Army’s Soup Kitchen or to help build a home for a poor family. It's so out-of-character with this white-collar executive. He even talks about meeting Jesus in the poor whom he serves! And maybe he even begins to criticize the church for its self-serving attitude and low level of involvement in community issues - like homelessness, hunger, child abuse.... Both of them join a weekly prayer or Bible study group and they love to talk about how they see Jesus changing people's lives, and that’s just a bit much! That's taking this "Jesus thing" too far! You see, our religious neutrality, our middle of the road faith, is threatened “whenever someone we know well takes spiritual commitments seriously and refuses any longer to play hide-and—seek and touch-and-go with the living God.” (Carl F. H. Henry, Ibid, p. 149) So we try to discredit it all. “He’s beside himself”. Maxie Dunnam, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com __________________________________________ What is interesting, is those misunderstandings of what Jesus taught still exist today. You don’t have to be crazy to follow Jesus, but it sure helps. The craziness protects you against the criticism that other people give you. Ministry Everywhere Let me tell you about a man named Paige Patterson. Paige's style of ministry and even his theology may not exactly fit ours, but Paige cares about people. Paige ministered to troubled youth in ways that no one else did. He would go to places where youth were, like bars, nightclubs and the streets. At first the people in his church were in shock. This was a new experience and a new ministry for them. But soon they got over their shock and got on board and began a campus ministry to reach out to youth. And the youth responded positively: they liked having people from the church meet them where they were without getting obnoxious. One night Paige was asked to leave a nightclub because, the manager told him, he was running off his business. Paige says it was no big deal. Anyway, as he stepped out onto the front porch, Paige noticed a big man sitting there with a can of beer in his hand, who was a bouncer for the club. "Looks like it's been a rough night," Paige said casually. The big man nodded and said it indeed had been. "I don't want to offend you," Paige told him, "but if you died where you're sitting right now, would you be in heaven or hell?" The man instantly crushed the can he was holding, and beer shot everywhere. "I can't believe you asked that question," he said in disbelief. "I was just sitting here thinking how I was going to kill myself when I got home." "There's no reason to do that," Paige told him, "nothing's that bad." Then Paige began to witness to the man about his faith in Jesus Christ. He told the man that God still loved him. And the two men talked for the next thirty minutes. The next Sunday this man went to church and committed his life to Jesus Christ. Somehow I can see Jesus doing that kind of ministry if he were with us here physically today. Oh, not just in night clubs. But in offices and in living rooms and at Little League ball games - any place he could be with and get to know people. Jesus cares about people. That means he cares about you and me. Don't be put off by the formality of "church." Look beyond the robes and rituals. Look to a risen Savior who gave his life for only one purpose: people. King Duncan, Collected Sermons, When Jesus family comes to get him, he says something interesting – he says that only those who do the will of God are his real family. He calls those of us who follow him to remember to do the will of God, and to bring others into the family with us to do the same. Yesterday, I was watching the Tamron Hall show, and the theme of the show was those who dared to tell the truth and bare it all- was it really worth it. Her first guest was Jerrod Carmichael – who uses confessional comedy to challenge his family. In his hit show on HBO he likes to challenge his family. He is gay and his family are very conservative Christians, and he likes to say shocking things to embarrass them on camera to get their reactions. One episode was about his father’s infidelity. On another show – he asked his mom to accept him with calling him a sinner. His mom has not spoken to him since. The show caught my attention, because Tamron asked where the grace was in embarrassing his mother on national tv – and she pointed out that he was asking her for grace, but did he give her the same grace that he was asking for. Was he willing to understand her perspective the way he wanted her to understand him. Things have changed much, because I would think that this Jerrod’s mother must have felt a lot like Jesus mother did in Mark. Jesus wanted her to understand who he was, and his mother just wanted him to be normal and come back into the fold. Like Jerrod Carmichael, Jesus liked to used shock therapy to get people to see his point. Sometimes Jesus would say things that would challenge the most faithful of followers. Mark 29 is one of those sayings for me. Jesus talks about an unforgivable sin, the one sin that God will not forgive. But what is that sin. How do you offend the Holy Spirit? When I was a chaplain, I remember visiting a man, who was catholic, but had not gone to church in years. His sister had committed suicide and the priest refused to do her funeral because she has committed the unpardonable sin. Some say the unpardonable sin is being gay, some say it is using God’s name in vain, some say it is refusing to believe in God. Is there anything that we can do, that God does not forgive? If there is no on earth that understands us – does our creator still understand? Is there anyplace on earth where grace does not live. The good news is that grace is everywhere, God always understands, and there is always a road to God’s forgiveness. Some people say that if you have to ask what the unforgivable sin is, then you are not capable of commiting it. If you are willing to listen to God, then grace is always there. Some say that the unforgivable sin is asking for forgiveness, but not being willing to change, and continuing to do the same thing again even though you know it is wrong. And yet Jesus says that we should forgive again and again. God’s grace is available for repeat offenders. So what did Jesus mean when he speaks about the unforgivable sin? Was he just using shock therapy, or confessional comedy? I do not know. But I do think the his words are a reminder for who follow him that we need to put God first in everything that we do. That we should always seek grace in our lives. That we have to take seriously our place in the family of God. And that we Should always do God’s will. Training to Hear the Voice of God There is a positive message to be learned from these words of Jesus. The lesson is that we must keep ourselves alert to the way God is working in the world. Remember that those who were seeking to discredit Jesus were religious people. Their problem was that they just didn't expect God to be acting as Jesus said he was acting, so they missed the movement of God in their midst, and in fact, they called it evil. Today God may be speaking to us in causes that are unpopular, or in political events that cause us to feel threatened and insecure. The cries for justice and fairness in the world may come from quarters that we are not accustomed to listen to. We need to exercise diligence so that we don't miss the voice of God today just because it happens to be spoken by unfamiliar lips. I once sat in on a class my wife was taking in music appreciation. The instructor was asking the class members to listen for the recurring theme as it was passed from one instrument to another and was modified. I quickly lost it, but others in the class, who had benefited from their training, were able to keep track of the theme and even state which instrument was playing it. It is a law of life that we hear what we have trained ourselves to hear. What we must do is to train ourselves to listen for the voice of God in areas where we have not expected to hear it. We hear that voice only by attentive listening: by asking ourselves whether there is a valid message in those things which make us uncomfortable. Jesus spoke of an unforgivable sin, not because any act is unforgivable, but to warn us that our own hardness of heart can close the channels through which God's forgiveness flows and, as a consequence, leave us feeling alienated. Let us, therefore, affirm the good that is in others, so that our own hearts become generous and accepting of others, even as God is generous and accepting of us. David G. Rogne, Sermons for Sundays after Pentecost, CSS Publishing Company When we are able to find God in everything that we do, we also find grace. Grace is all that we need. Amen. Let us pray….. Song I’m going to Sing when the Spirit says Sing UMH 333 Prayers of the People (do not print) Great God, in you is more love than we can imagine and more grace than we can fathom. You have shown yourself in Jesus Christ as a God who meets us where we are and loves us as we are. We are glad for this day and grateful for your many gifts. You bring good things into our lives, more than we can name, more than we can number. You give us the bread of life, sustaining our souls and feeding our deepest hungers. You accompany us on our way. Thank you for your abundant faithfulness. p2 Our hearts are full with many things today. Disease and death and pain and sorrow are constantly among us. The journey through these days is marked by uncertainty and heartache. We are frequently overwhelmed by the needs around us and within us. Some need healing, some need encouragement, some need comfort, some need assurance, we all need hope. So we turn to you asking you to hear our prayers and grant what we need for the living of these days. We pray for our nation. We pray for renewed commitments to our common life. Refresh us in the values of your heart: justice, righteousness, compassion, mercy, peace. Help us to find a unity of purpose as citizens and neighbors. We pray for your church in places near and far. May the waters of your grace continually refresh and empower us to extend the love of Jesus to all people. We pray for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), for the clarity of our witness and the success of our mission. We pray for our congregation, for our life together, and for our efforts to follow in the way of Jesus. Hear us. Hold us. Heal us. Help us. Amen (John Wurster, Presbyterian Outlook) Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment In the early chapters of Mark’s Gospel we read of Jesus coming into his own clear identity, baptized and claimed as God’s beloved Son. He begins to heal, to teach, and to surround himself with his chosen disciples. At the end of chapter 3, Jesus makes clear he’s claiming this community of chosen individuals (those who do the will of God) as his family. As one part of the Body of Christ, this congregation becomes our family when we do the will of God, loving each other and those whom we serve. Week by week, we have opportunity to build up this faith family with our gifts of financial support, our shared talents, and our commitment of time. If Jesus were standing among us, I wonder if he would claim each of us? Would he claim this congregation? Would we be identified as “my brother, my sister, my mother”? Yearning to be claimed, let us share our gifts, our tithes and our offerings. Prayer of Thanksgiving Creator God, In the name of your beloved Son we’ve gathered to sing your praise, hear the words of scripture, and offer back a portion of our financial resources, our talent and our time. We’re eager to build up your Realm on earth as it is in heaven, so please accept our gifts and help us put them to best use. Such as we have, we give you, willingly! AMEN Disciples of Christ, Center for Faith and Giving) Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook Let us go from this place trusting that God is with us and for us in every place. May the grace of our Lord Jesus, the love of God, and the companionship of the Holy Spirit be with you and abide with you this day and forevermore. Amen. (John Wurster, Presbyterian Outlook) Community Time – Joys and Concerns Benediction Dear friends, we have been nourished and renewed this day, go out and share the kin-dom of God to all you encounter in the love of God who created us, God who redeemed us, and God who sustains us. Go in peace, sharing the Good News. Amen. (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Roberto Ochoa) Additional Illustrations Humor: Differences of Opinions Dr. Eugene Brice tells a delightful but disturbing story about a minister who returned to visit a church he had once served. He ran into Bill, who had been an elder and leader in the church, but who wasn't around anymore. The pastor asked, "Bill, what happened? You used to be there every time the doors opened." "Well, Pastor," said Bill, "a difference of opinion arose in the church. Some of us couldn't accept the final decision and we established a church of our own." "Is that where you worship now?" asked the pastor. "No," answered Bill, "we found that there, too, the people were not faithful and a small group of us began meeting in a rented hall at night." "Has that proven satisfactory?" asked the minister. "No, I can't say that it has," Bill responded. "Satan was active even in that fellowship, so my wife and I withdrew and began to worship on Sunday at home by ourselves." "Then at last you have found inner peace?" asked the pastor. "No, I'm afraid we haven't," said Bill. "Even my wife began to develop ideas I was not comfortable with, so now she worships in the northeast corner of the living room, and I am in the southwest." King Duncan, quoting Eugene Brice, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com John Power says this in a delightful way in his book, The Unoriginal Sinner and the Ice Cream God. In the form of a letter from a father to his teenage son, he writes, "Dear Son: Ever since the day you were born, I have made your life worth living. Make no mistake about it. I have done everything for you. And during all those years, just by being my son, you have made life worth living for me. I would have lived without you, but I would have never lived so well. Let's call it even. And if we see each other after today, let it be because we're friends, not family." (p. 243) Here's the bottom line: Jesus clearly defined the boundaries of parenthood when he asked the question, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" There could be no mistake about it, his relationship to God came first and foremost, and so must ours. Philip W. McLarty, Who Are My Mother and My Brothers? Johnny Cornflakes Comes to Dinner Timothy George says he never understood the radical nature of Jesus' ministry until it was driven home in a dramatic way. He was in his first year as pastor of the First Baptist Church in, Chelsea, Massachusetts. Chelsea, says George, is one of the most isolated, economically deprived, inner-city sections of greater Boston: there are 27,000 people crowded into less than two square miles. Chelsea is a receptacle for all kinds of dropouts - prostitutes, pimps, drug addicts, all the people who have not "made it" and probably never will. Every new minister to Chelsea at that time soon became acquainted with one of these drop-outs, an alcoholic known to everyone as Johnny Cornflakes because he often rummaged through the trash, looking through the cereal boxes or whatever to find a bit of food. George's church sometimes gave Johnny Cornflakes food and clothes and tried to see that he had a place to spend the night. One Sunday after church Timothy George and his wife held their first dinner party in Chelsea for out-of-town guests. They had worked very hard to make everything perfect: they had brought out their best linen and their finest dishes in order to make a good impression. But right in the middle of the main course the front door of the parsonage burst open. Into their dining room in all of his inebriated glory sauntered Johnny Cornflakes. Everyone was startled! Timothy later wrote that he suddenly knew what the Pharisees must have felt like. "Johnny Cornflakes was someone you'd hand a sandwich to at the back door, someone you'd deliver a CARE package to at the inner-city mission, but definitely not someone you would invite to a Sunday dinner! Yet," George continues, "this is exactly what Jesus did, he invited all the Johnny Cornflakes of Jerusalem to Sunday dinner with the best linen and the finest dishes." It was because of acts like these that Jesus' family, his mother and other family members, were concerned about him. They thought he was overdoing it a bit. They came to talk some sense into him, and possibly take him with them. We know how that worked out, don't we? King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com ou and I may differ on definitions of family and what constitutes family values, but we all know we can learn something indispensable from Jesus. He teaches us to put God first. When you fall back into the habit of loving flesh and blood more than God, don't worry too much. God is always at work redeeming and expanding our earth-bound loves to make them heaven-sent. Kristin Borsgard Wee, Sermons for Sundays after Pentecost (First Third): Do You Love Me?, CSS Publishing Company, Inc. A Harsh Statement Midway into this confrontation Jesus said a very harsh thing. What did he mean when he said, "Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin?" (Mark 3:28-29) One commentator, Halford E. Luccock, noted that this is one of the things he wishes Jesus had never said. Jesus' statement has produced hard emotional scars upon some sensitive persons. Not many months ago I had a conversation with a man who was deeply disturbed. He was emotionally sick. He needed professional counseling - much more than I could provide. What he continually talked about was his belief that he had committed that eternal sin, that unpardonable sin. He never shared what it was or what he believed it was. "I just can't speak it," he said. It was a thought that he had held since his youth, and for thinking that terrible thought he believed Jesus was condemning him eternally. The whole gospel message was - for him - focused on that single verse, that single eternal condemnation by Jesus. I worry about how such a phrase is taught to young people, to young lives just forming serious religious understandings. Biblical literalists, from their position of self-confidence, refer to it as if that single verse stands all by itself. That is known as "taking something out of context," or isolating one small part from the rest of a bigger picture. These words are simply a small part of the total confrontation that took place that day between Jesus and the Pharisees. Leonard H. Budd, The Spirit's Tether, CSS Publishing Company When A Clown Was Just Right A friend named Bill is a minister. He also has been accused of being a little bit nuts. Bill does workshops for churches on clowning. Not long ago, he was in a distant city, packing up after a workshop. The phone rang. Nobody was around. He answered. "Are you a minister?" somebody asked. "Yes, actually I am." "Come quickly," said the voice, "our child is dying of leukemia." Bill dropped everything. He ran out to his rental car and drove to the hospital. He parked the car, ran up the steps, through the double doors, and down the hall. Suddenly it hit him: he was still dressed as a clown, with a white face, red nose, orange hair, and green suspenders. He didn't have time to change. It was an emergency. He kept going. He found the room, knocked on the door, and entered the room where a young girl in a hospital bed lay surrounded by her family. "We called for a minister, not a clown," said the father. The child replied, "He's better than a minister. Can he stay?" No one dared to deny her request. Bill sat on the edge of the hospital bed. He sang songs. He told Bible stories. He cradled the little girl in his arms until the end. When the last moment came, she made a final request. "Would you come to my funeral?" So that's how it happened. On the third day, crazy Bill stood with white face, red nose, orange hair, and green suspenders. He never spoke a word, yet he led the people as they laughed, and cried, and remembered the little girl's life. A few people present thought it was wrong to have a clown at a funeral, much less lead the service. They murmured afterwards, "That minister is out of his mind! He's crazy!" By all the proper canons of pastoral protocol, they were probably correct. But there he stood, acting as if God's joyful power has already defeated death. Was he crazy? Who can say? All we know is that Bill heard Jesus say, "I am the resurrection and the life," and he acted accordingly. "You don't have to be crazy to work around here, but it helps." Likewise, you don't have to be out of your mind to do the work of Jesus Christ, even though a faithful life can provoke the world to think of you that way. Should evil conspire against you, listen closely. You may hear Christ say, "You're my brother -- you're my sister -- you're my family." William G. Carter, Water Won’t Quench the Fire, CSS Publishing Company Sermon Opener – When You Are Wrongly Criticized - Mark 3:20-35 by Leonard Sweet Anyone here like criticism? How do you respond to criticism? Does being criticized bring you down or fire you up? Do you want to hunker in your bunker or lob your own volley of vitriol back at your critics? Learning how to respond to criticism is a lifetime journey. That's because critics will be accompanying you from cradle to grave! In every election year there is no shortage of negative, critical remarks flying around the airwaves. Of course all politicians virtuously claim they hate "negative" ads. And, of course, every candidate uses them. The justification for both sides is "Negative ads work." Surveys allegedly show that those nasty, negative, often highly personal attacks are the most effective way of swaying public opinion. Negativity, bad-mouthing, accusatory honking profoundly changes the way we think and the way we act. In a Charlie Brown cartoon, little brother Linus, looking very forlorn, asks big sister Lucy, "Why are you always so anxious to criticize me?" Lucy, looking very self-righteous, replies, "I just think I have a knack for seeing other people's faults." Linus turns indignant. "What about your own faults?" he asks. "I have a knack for overlooking them," says Lucy. Unfortunately, those best at hurting and critiquing us are those closest to us. In today's gospel text Jesus is beset by critics. The first in line? His own family members… Are You Out of Your Mind? Have you ever accused someone of being out of their mind? Probably. We are not unaccustomed to making such a statement about people we know today. A friend of yours takes a bungee jump off a high tower, and you ask, "Has he gone out of his mind?" On a lark, another friend takes a sky diving lesson and jumps out of a perfectly good airplane, and you ask, "Has she gone out of her mind?" A person of modest income decides to purchase a house obviously beyond his means, and you ask, "Has he gone out of his mind?" There are lots of situations in which we might ask that question of someone we know, but we are shocked when someone asks that question of Jesus. In verse 21, we find the statement, "People were saying, 'He has gone out of his mind." Some people believe Jesus performed many miraculous deeds all of his life. They believe Jesus was so divine that everyone who knew him would be amazed at this perfect human being. I prefer to emphasize the humanity of Jesus and believe that the first miracle he ever performed was at the wedding in Cana. I believe he grew up as a normal boy. His brothers who lived with him just thought of him as a brother. They were surprised when he began preaching (my own brothers were in total SHOCK when I announced my intention to enter the ministry!). When they learned of some of the things he was saying, they wanted him to quit (ditto). They came as a group ready to seize him, get him away from the crowds, and have him deprogrammed (mine never went that far, but I'm almost certain they were tempted!). When they finally arrived, there was such a crowd that they could not get in to see him. They sent him a message, but he left them standing on the outside, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" He acknowledged no special ties or obligation to them. Mickey Anders, Was Jesus Out of His Mind? A Harsh Statement Midway into this confrontation Jesus said a very harsh thing. What did he mean when he said, "Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin?" (Mark 3:28-29) One commentator, Halford E. Luccock, noted that this is one of the things he wishes Jesus had never said. Jesus' statement has produced hard emotional scars upon some sensitive persons. Not many months ago I had a conversation with a man who was deeply disturbed. He was emotionally sick. He needed professional counseling - much more than I could provide. What he continually talked about was his belief that he had committed that eternal sin, that unpardonable sin. He never shared what it was or what he believed it was. "I just can't speak it," he said. It was a thought that he had held since his youth, and for thinking that terrible thought he believed Jesus was condemning him eternally. The whole gospel message was - for him - focused on that single verse, that single eternal condemnation by Jesus. I worry about how such a phrase is taught to young people, to young lives just forming serious religious understandings. Biblical literalists, from their position of self-confidence, refer to it as if that single verse stands all by itself. That is known as "taking something out of context," or isolating one small part from the rest of a bigger picture. These words are simply a small part of the total confrontation that took place that day between Jesus and the Pharisees. Leonard H. Budd, The Spirit's Tether, CSS Publishing Company ____________________________

Together like Family

June 6, 2021 Mark 3:20-35 Together like Family 2nd Sunday After Pentecost Year B Opening Song Welcome Call to Worship #2: L: Welcome to worship today! P: Thank you. We are glad to be here! L: Open your eyes and your hearts to God’s spirit. P: We open our lives to God’s word for us. L: Rejoice! For God is with us this day! P: Thanks be to God for God’s loving presence. AMEN. Opening Prayer Lord, we come this day, having seen the miracles of everyday creation in our world. We have enjoyed both the bright sunshine and the gentle rains. We have marveled over the beauty of flowers and the complexity of your creation. Make our hearts ready to receive your word for us, that we may go forth from this place ready to joyfully serve you all of our days. AMEN.. Stewardship Moment Moment for Stewardship In South America, Africa and Asia, hunters learn a very effective way to trap monkeys. The plan is deceptively simple: take a gourd, drill a hole just large enough for a monkey’s hand to pass through, add some weight to the gourd with sand or pebbles, place a nut or fresh fruit inside, put the gourd where a monkey will find it. Here’s what happens: the monkey reaches in the hole to get the food — but the hole is too small for the monkey’s hand to pass through while it’s holding the treat, and the gourd is too heavy for the creature to carry. Because the monkey will not let go of its prize, it becomes trapped. The animal gives up its freedom to hold on to a small piece of food. Sometimes we, humans, act much the same! Our offering is a weekly opportunity for us to move beyond holding tightly to our wealth/treasure, trapping ourselves with what can be seen. Good news! What we SEE is not all there is to God’s creation! Let’s open our hands to make our morning offering, knowing by sharing, we’ll find freedom! For in 2nd Corinthians, we hear “look not at what can be seen (temporary), but look at what cannot be seen (eternal)”. Prayer of Thanksgiving Loving God, you offer us so much! Thank you for modeling the eternal truth of abundance, even when we mostly see scarcity. Receive our gifts this day, freely given. Free the hands and hearts of those not yet able to give. Open us all to see beyond the compulsive grab-ability of what traps us in this present moment. Use these gifts, and use us, to find ways to share your Good News. AMEN Scripture Mark 3:20-35 Common English Bible Misunderstandings about Jesus 20 Jesus entered a house. A crowd gathered again so that it was impossible for him and his followers even to eat. 21 When his family heard what was happening, they came to take control of him. They were saying, “He’s out of his mind!” 22 The legal experts came down from Jerusalem. Over and over they charged, “He’s possessed by Beelzebul. He throws out demons with the authority of the ruler of demons.” 23 When Jesus called them together he spoke to them in a parable: “How can Satan throw Satan out? 24 A kingdom involved in civil war will collapse. 25 And a house torn apart by divisions will collapse. 26 If Satan rebels against himself and is divided, then he can’t endure. He’s done for. 27 No one gets into the house of a strong person and steals anything without first tying up the strong person. Only then can the house be burglarized. 28 I assure you that human beings will be forgiven for everything, for all sins and insults of every kind. 29 But whoever insults the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. That person is guilty of a sin with consequences that last forever.” 30 He said this because the legal experts were saying, “He’s possessed by an evil spirit.” 31 His mother and brothers arrived. They stood outside and sent word to him, calling for him. 32 A crowd was seated around him, and those sent to him said, “Look, your mother, brothers, and sisters are outside looking for you.” 33 He replied, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” 34 Looking around at those seated around him in a circle, he said, “Look, here are my mother and my brothers. 35 Whoever does God’s will is my brother, sister, and mother.” Sermon Together like family The Despair of Feeling Disowned by God One morning I was roused from sleep around 3 a.m. by the ringing of the telephone (that is almost always a bad thing for a minister!). The person on the other end of the line was distraught because, she said, she had committed the unforgivable sin. It is interesting to me that such calls often occur at such an hour, after the bars have closed. The woman went on to say that at some point in her life she had really been angry about something, and had said, "Damn the Holy Spirit." Now she was remorseful, but she knew that Jesus had said that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is unforgivable. Therefore, she was sure that there was no hope for her, either in this world or in the next. Her situation is certainly not unique. The eighteenth century poet, William Cowper, suffered recurrent attacks of insanity due to his belief that he had committed the unforgivable sin. After one such terrible bout he wrote: Damned below Judas; more abhorred than he was, Who for a few pence sold his holy Master! Twice-betrayed Jesus, me, the last delinquent, Deems the profanest. Man disavows, and Deity disowns me.... There, indeed, is despair -- the despair of one who feels disowned by God. David G. Rogne, Sermons for Sundays after Pentecost, CSS Publishing Company I would think that we have all been in that situation at some point in our lives. The point when we loose all hope in ourselves and think that we are at the point of no return. I think that we have all thought at one point in our lives that we have committed the unforgivable sin. Not only have I thought at times that I have done the unforgivable sin, when I was much younger I would mock the bible in my head, and intentionally mock God in my head just to see what would happen. Of course nothing happened. There are several places in the bible where Jesus talks about this unforgivable sin. Most of them are in Matthew. But Jesus seems mad enough here in Mark to strike back at those who have striked out against him. Jesus has just called all of his disciples together as the 12. He is wandering all along the countryside preaching what he calls the good news. And people are starting to listen to him and his crazy topsy turvy ideas. He is starting to experience some backlash for his success from two places. First from the religious leaders of the community, and then from his own family. His family is convinced that he has gone mad and it is their job to control him and to bring his home. The religious leaders take it one step further. They believe that not only has he gone mad, but that he must be possessed by the devil. What else would have him out in the streets disrespecting himself, his community and even God. This is what Jesus so mad – he has dedicated his whole life to going out and healing people and creating a future for him. He is not exercising demons, he is just making sure that the negativity of normal life does not take over and destroy people. After all – how can he be driving demons out of people if he was a demon himself. That accusation makes Jesus so mad – that he starts talking about the unforgivable sin. What is the unforgivable sin? In this case it is calling good evil, and calling evil good. In other words blaming the devil for what God has done. In the book of Matthew there are two unforgivable sins first is speaking against the holy spirit, saying that the holy spirit ois not effective, or important or even it is really from God. The second is suicide. I served as the chaplain of Edward Hospital in Naperville at one point. Part of my duties were to visit patients in their room. I visited one man and asked if he wanted me to pray with him. In the conversation he said that he used to attend church on a regular basis. Until his brother committed suicide and the priest told the family that there was no way that he could go to heaven. The man knew that his brother was not a bad person, and if his brother could not go to heaven, then there was no reason for him to go to church. 20 years later, he asked me if his brother was able to go to heaven. We talked about grace and the love of God. Is there anything that God does not understand about what is going on in our spirits? Is there anything that we can do in life that God will not forgive? I told the man that I believed that he his brother was in heaven, and that God had forgiven him. God’s grace applies to all people and to all situations. Just knowing that his brother was okay – seemed to bring some peace and healing to his soul. Not only was he able to heal his body, but we prayed – he said that he would probably return to church. God’s grace is sufficient. God forgives all sins. Sins that we are able to admit and to repent from. One of the Lucifer legends tells how one day a priest noticed in his congregation a magnificently handsome young man. After the service the young man stayed for confession. He confessed so many and such terrible sins that the priest’s hair stood on end. “You must have lived long to have done all that,” the priest said. “My name is Lucifer and I fell from heaven at the beginning of time,” said the young man. “Even so,” said the priest, “say that you are sorry, say that you repent and even you can be forgiven.” The young man looked at the priest for a moment and then turned and strode away. He would not and could not say it; and therefore he had to go on still desolate and still damned. There is only one condition of forgiveness and that is penitence The unforgivable sin is the sin that we are not willing to repent from. The one which we are not willing to accept the grace that God gives us freely. The book of Mark is very powerful. Mark has this gift of bringing up the naked truth about so many issues. Not only does he speak about unforgivable sins, but he also speaks about demons in our life, and he is not ashamed to address issues of mental health and the dynamics of family issues. In this scripture lesson, Jesus family is convinced that he has some mental challenges. Usually in Mark, when Mark talks about the presence of demons, the person involved seems to show symptoms of mental illness. Once again, in every case, when that person comes in contact with Jesus they are healed and able to go on with their lives. So how can someone with a mental illness actually cure someone else of mental illness – that does not make any sense – which is why Jesus was so angry. Another interesting thing about the book of Mark – in this story Jesus mother and brothers come to get him, but the dad is absent. Mark never one time mentions Joseph as Jesus father. Joseph is never mentioned at all. Jesus tells everyone that God is his father. When he leaves his family and the life they have planned for him as the first born son – he leaves it in order to follow the will of God. Put God First Some of us grew up watching the afternoon television program, Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. Others of us may be reluctant to admit that we sat down with our children and watched it, too. I think Mr. Rogers exemplified in a gentle way what Jesus was getting at. When Mr. Rogers changed into his sweater and took off his shoes, it was a biblical gesture of self-emptying humility and welcome to all of us in TV land. Then he sang the litany we loved to hear, "It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood, a beautiful day for a neighbor, would you be mine? Could you be mine?" Even Mr. McFeely, the postal carrier, went around from house to house making a neighborhood out of what would have been a bunch of separate houses divided by hedges and picket fences. The family values we saw in Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood were courtesy and kindness and curiosity. In one episode, Mr. Rogers took us to a sneaker factory where there was an assembly line of workers. He watched one woman working, and he wondered out loud if she ever thought about the people who would wear the shoes she made. The values of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood came right through that television screen into our family room. That woman making sneakers became my neighbor as well as the unknown people buying the shoes she made. You and I may differ on definitions of family and what constitutes family values, but we all know we can learn something indispensable from Jesus. He teaches us to put God first. When you fall back into the habit of loving flesh and blood more than God, don't worry too much. God is always at work redeeming and expanding our earth-bound loves to make them heaven-sent. Kristin Borsgard Wee, Sermons for Sundays after Pentecost (First Third): Do You Love Me?, CSS Publishing Company, Inc. Finally, when defending himself against the critics he speaks of binding the strongman in order to control him. Jesus binds our evil intentions, our sins, our hardened hearts. So that we can be free to live in God’s grace. Think What God Can Do with Our Sins M. H. Schubert shares the story about a group of fishermen in the Scottish highlands. They gathered for tea and discussed the day's catch. As a waitress set down a cup of tea, a hand accidently knocked it against the wall. It left an ugly stain. One of the guests got up, went to the wall, and began sketching around the stain with a crayon. What emerged was a stag with magnificent antlers. The man was Sir Edwin Landseer, England's foremost painter of animals. If an artist can transform an unsightly stain into a beautiful masterpiece, think what God can do with our sins. He absolves them and, in their place, refashions us toward full maturity. James Weekley, Tilted Haloes, CSS Publishing Company Our story starts with the unforgivable sin and it ends with grace, freedom, forgiveness, family and church. We worship a truly and graceful God. Amen. Prayer Lord, in this season of growth, open our hearts to grow in your love. Help us to truly trust in your creative process in our lives. We look around and we see the beauty of your world, the blossoming flowers and plants, the growth of children, the joy of celebrations of graduation and marriage, of receiving new life. And we also see the sadness and sorrow that has invaded the world when systems of injustice and hatred lay claim to people’s lives. Prepare us, O Lord, to become ambassadors of peace and hope. Help us to place our trust in you, so that when we are serving others, they may come to know your abiding love and power. Give us courage and great joy as we serve you. AMEN. Lord’s Prayer Song for Reflection They’ll know we are Christians by our Love TFWS 2223 - no need to print the words Invitation to communion (just print the title) A woman engaged in ministries with those experiencing homelessness in Atlanta, Georgia, continues to teach many who “just want to help”. She encourages the erstwhile “helpers” to come share time and conversation with those on the streets, rather than showing up at a corner, standing by a car trunk, tossing out sandwiches as tho’ offering bread crumbs to the birds. This woman helps others understand what’s more valuable: relationship, rather than charity. In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus and the disciples were in the midst of a crowd when Jesus’ mother, sisters and brothers appeared, seeking to “help” Jesus. However, when he was told of their arrival, Jesus looked at those pressing close to him, claiming “here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” When we come to this Table, we’re claimed in relationship to Jesus. Though we may not always know how best to live out that relationship, we continue to grow in our understanding of what it means to do God’s will as we pray, worship and seek to serve. Today you are invited to come to this feast, rejoicing in the relationship we have through baptism into Christ. May these gifts of bread and juice become for us the power to grow in knowing and living the will of God, for this week, in this place, with all those whom we encounter. Communion turn in your hymnal to page 13 Announcements Benediction Children’s Sermon Teachers or Parents: In this lesson Jesus explains that we are part of our family - and of God's larger family. Jesus tells us that whoever does the will of God is your brother and sister and mother. Give your child a large piece of paper. At the top write "My family." Have your child draw a picture of your own family. Then have him add his larger family to the picture. This larger family of God could include members of his Sunday school class and other church friends. This larger family could include persons of other races and from other countries. Certainly Jesus should be in the family drawing. Additional Illustrations Humor: Differences of Opinions Dr. Eugene Brice tells a delightful but disturbing story about a minister who returned to visit a church he had once served. He ran into Bill, who had been an elder and leader in the church, but who wasn't around anymore. The pastor asked, "Bill, what happened? You used to be there every time the doors opened." "Well, Pastor," said Bill, "a difference of opinion arose in the church. Some of us couldn't accept the final decision and we established a church of our own." "Is that where you worship now?" asked the pastor. "No," answered Bill, "we found that there, too, the people were not faithful and a small group of us began meeting in a rented hall at night." "Has that proven satisfactory?" asked the minister. "No, I can't say that it has," Bill responded. "Satan was active even in that fellowship, so my wife and I withdrew and began to worship on Sunday at home by ourselves." "Then at last you have found inner peace?" asked the pastor. "No, I'm afraid we haven't," said Bill. "Even my wife began to develop ideas I was not comfortable with, so now she worships in the northeast corner of the living room, and I am in the southwest." King Duncan, quoting Eugene Brice, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com Training to Hear the Voice of God There is a positive message to be learned from these words of Jesus. The lesson is that we must keep ourselves alert to the way God is working in the world. Remember that those who were seeking to discredit Jesus were religious people. Their problem was that they just didn't expect God to be acting as Jesus said he was acting, so they missed the movement of God in their midst, and in fact, they called it evil. Today God may be speaking to us in causes that are unpopular, or in political events that cause us to feel threatened and insecure. The cries for justice and fairness in the world may come from quarters that we are not accustomed to listen to. We need to exercise diligence so that we don't miss the voice of God today just because it happens to be spoken by unfamiliar lips. I once sat in on a class my wife was taking in music appreciation. The instructor was asking the class members to listen for the recurring theme as it was passed from one instrument to another and was modified. I quickly lost it, but others in the class, who had benefited from their training, were able to keep track of the theme and even state which instrument was playing it. It is a law of life that we hear what we have trained ourselves to hear. What we must do is to train ourselves to listen for the voice of God in areas where we have not expected to hear it. We hear that voice only by attentive listening: by asking ourselves whether there is a valid message in those things which make us uncomfortable. Jesus spoke of an unforgivable sin, not because any act is unforgivable, but to warn us that our own hardness of heart can close the channels through which God's forgiveness flows and, as a consequence, leave us feeling alienated. Let us, therefore, affirm the good that is in others, so that our own hearts become generous and accepting of others, even as God is generous and accepting of us. David G. Rogne, Sermons for Sundays after Pentecost, CSS Publishing Company When Perceptions Shift In Mark 3, those who try to turn the work of God into the work of the devil show by so doing that they are so far gone, so deeply enmeshed in a spiritually inverted reality, that there is no reaching them. Some of you will recall the dwarves as depicted by C.S. Lewis in the last book of the Narnia series. The dwarves had been brought by Aslan the Lion into the glories of the New Narnia, which stood for heaven or the kingdom of God. These stubborn dwarves sat smack in the middle of a sunlit meadow full of wildflowers and were being fed fruit and vegetables more exquisitely flavorful and fresh than anyone had ever before imagined was possible. Yet their minds were darkened, their hearts were cold. And so they were convinced they were sitting in the middle of a stinky old stable being fed moldy bread and cow manure. When one of the other characters asks Aslan what can be done for these hapless figures, the answer comes back that nothing can be done. When black becomes white and white becomes black, when evil is good and good is evil, people are gone. God can’t get through to them. The reason the unpardonable sin can never be forgiven is because it will never, ever be recognized as a sin. Even if God came to such people bearing the sweet fragrance of his grace, all these people would smell would be the stink of a rotting corpse. They won’t be forgiven because they cannot be forgiven and they cannot be forgiven because they have come to believe that the gospel’s elixir of life is strychnine: pure poison. Scott Hoezee, Comments and Observations Who Are My Mother and My Brothers? I sat in with the Morning Glory Circle Tuesday for refreshments. We got to talking about transferring to the Presbyterian Church from another denomination. One said when she joined the Presbyterian Church, her mother didn't speak to her for several weeks. Herloise said when she told her mother that she was going to join the Presbyterian Church when she and Jimmy got married, her mother said, "Well, you never were much of a Baptist anyway!" It happens all the time: A son chooses a different line of work instead of joining his father's business; a woman chooses to marry a man her parents don't approve of; couples decide to have children – or not to have children – over their parents' wishes; even deciding who you're going to vote for in the Presidential election can be a problem. Of course, there's no expiration date on parenthood – loving parents will always love their children – but there are boundaries. And to cross the line; that is, to hold on to the dependency of the parent-child relationship is to violate the parental role and thwart the growth and development of the child. As loving parents we have to cut the apron strings and insist that our children stand on their own two feet. We have to let go and entrust them to God: "He who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." This is the goal of healthy parenting – to enable our children to become the men and women God intends them to be, created not in our image, but in the image of God. John Power says this in a delightful way in his book, The Unoriginal Sinner and the Ice Cream God. In the form of a letter from a father to his teenage son, he writes, "Dear Son: Ever since the day you were born, I have made your life worth living. Make no mistake about it. I have done everything for you. And during all those years, just by being my son, you have made life worth living for me. I would have lived without you, but I would have never lived so well. Let's call it even. And if we see each other after today, let it be because we're friends, not family." (p. 243) Here's the bottom line: Jesus clearly defined the boundaries of parenthood when he asked the question, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" There could be no mistake about it, his relationship to God came first and foremost, and so must ours. Philip W. McLarty, Who Are My Mother and My Brothers? ____________________ ____________________________