When Wealth Gets in the Way of Relationship; Mark 10:17-31

 

Rev. George Miller

Feb 18, 2024

Mark 10: 17-31

 

As we journey with Jesus from the Jordan to Jerusalem, sea to mountain, you may have noticed something important- the restoration of relationships.

 

With virtually every demon cast out, every body that’s healed, there is a mention of returning to home, family, friends.

 

Which is so fitting as we celebrate Canadian Heritage Day which encourages family and friends to go out in their community to appreciate all the gifts of the earth, of artists, of architecture, parks, together.

 

Sure, you can see all these things by yourself, but it is so much better when you have somebody by your side to turn and talk to, be it in admiration for what’s before you or chisme about who’s around you.

 

Remember back in September when we were at the wedding in Cana with Jesus?

 

We discussed the importance of family and community in the Latin culture and how this sense of belonging to something greater than you is consistent in many cultures, especially in Biblical times.

 

You can’t reap the benefits of being part of something if you are kept apart.

 

So when Jesus heals someone he is doing more than bringing about wellness, he is empowering them to return to community life, to worship, to home, work, to those that love them.

 

The daughter of Jairus’ who gets to resume eating with her Mom and Dad.

 

The man in the graveyard who is encouraged to go home to his amigos, and travels through the Decapolis amazing people.

 

Peter’s mother-in-law gets to go back to being the family’s matriarch as she serves.

 

Each case we see how healing brings an opportunity to go out into the world and be a part of something greater.

 

But then we come to this very sad story about a man who has his chance for restoration, and leaves with deep grief and depression.

 

It is interesting to encounter this story about a person who appears to have it all.

 

The way we are told that Jesus looks at him with great love.  The verbal back and forth that shows what a great student this man is; the potential he has to be an amazing disciple.

 

Within the full spectrum of Mark’s narrative, this story seems to be something more than what our ears hear.

 

Is this a complete condemnation of wealth?

 

Or is this another story of a man who is demon possessed, of a person who is unwell and in needing of healing.

 

It almost feels as if this man doesn’t have money, but that the money has him.

 

Just as the man in the graveyard is tormented by demons, is it possible that this man is in his own kind of graveyard where he too is tormented?

 

The woman who was bleeding loses all her money to be made well; this guy has all the money but almost seems as if he has been bled out and is just as distressed as her.

 

Is Mark hinting that his wealth has not increased his life, but has actually held him back and overshadowed his life?

 

We don’t know much about this man or his money; how he earns it, chooses to use it, how he spends it, how he saves it. 

 

Did he inherit his wealth from Daddy?  Did he earn each cent by working hard and being frugal? 

 

Was he a greedy landlord or a benevolent employer?

 

Is it fair that Jesus gave him such a binary ultimatum?

 

This man came to Jesus with such an inquisitive question, yet he is given an either/or answer.

 

The man asks.  Jesus looks at him with great love, then says what are the hardest words for this particular man to hear.

 

And he walks away, alone.

 

He walks away grieving, sad, distressed, upset, nauseous.

 

This man has an encounter with Jesus and doesn’t end up transformed or healed.

 

He does not go and serve, he does not go into the Decapolis sharing the good news, he doesn’t join Mom and Dad at the dining room table.

 

Unlike the daughter, the graveyard man, the matriarch, this man leaves Jesus, and he leaves unrestored, he leaves alone.

 

This is such a sad sad story.

 

And I wonder- did Jesus have to be so black and white with him?

 

Could Jesus have asked “Tell me, how are you using your financial gifts?”  Could Jesus have engaged in a more insightful conversation?

 

What if this man had been like Abraham bartering with God?

 

What if the man said “Jesus, I hear you, but what if I give 20%” and see what Jesus says?

 

What if the man had said “What if I give 30% and start a food pantry, orphanage and school?”

 

Would Jesus have engaged him in that conversation?  Or would the answer still be the same?

 

This man who left alone and broken hearted, so sick with sadness because all that he has actually has him and he can’t let go.

 

This is a complex, complicated story, one that makes us think, and makes us ponder about our own relationship with God, with money, with those around us.

 

When told to sell it all how many of us would say “Yes”?

 

Thinking back to Christmas, do we allow money to make us like Ebenezer Scrooge in which we suffer with gruel and guilt, alone in our emptiness?

 

Does our relationship with money allow us to be part of change, act with compassion, care?

 

For this particular man at this particular moment, he was too possessed to be a part of something bigger than himself, so he walked away alone.

 

Wouldn’t we love to know more about his story, to discover what he did afterwards, if there was any kind of change, any kind of middle ground?

 

But for now we are left with this brutal lesson with this cold tale, and like the parables, we are left to ponder, to wonder, to look deep within ourselves.

 

And that is fitting for today, as we enter Lent, as we journey with Jesus to the Cross.

 

Knowing that every step, every moment may not be easy, may not feel good, but we do not have to be like this man, we do not have to be alone.

 

For in Jesus we have an experience that brings us into community, brings us to the table, empowers us to be part of something bigger than ourselves.

 

For we have each other, we have God, and we have Jesus to make this walk with.  For that we can say “Amen.”

Following the Beloved One; Mark 8:27-33; 9:2-8

 

Rev. George Miller

February 11, 2024

Mark 8:27-33; 9:2-8

 

Today we come to a pivotal moment.  Jesus reveals what is about to happen, where his ministry will lead and how he will endure great suffering and pain.

 

And the disciples do not get it.  How are they supposed to get it? 

 

Six days later Jesus takes three of them up a hill where a magnificent event occurs, and Peter doesn’t quite get the significance of what just happened.

 

Often, when sharing these readings in Bible Study, the people participating have so many questions.

 

Usually the number one question is “Why don’t the Disciples get it?”

 

The disciples were there to hear his teachings.  They were there to personally witness the healings.

 

In chapter 6 the disciples themselves go out in groups of two in which they preach, cast out demons and bring wellness to others.

 

How did they not get it?  Seeing Peter’s mother-in-law going from being sick to serving,

 

seeing the man in the graveyard go from self-harm to being well groomed,

 

watching a restored girl share a meal with her Mom and Dad.

 

After all the teachings, healings, the disciples just don’t seem to get it.  Why?

 

The demons got it.  A non-Jewish woman got it.  Those without sight and sound get it.

 

But not the Disciples.  Why don’t they get it?

 

…perhaps we are being too unkind and impatient with Peter and all the others.

 

After all, here we are 2,000 years later with a Bible full of their foibles and follies and we get to see the Big Picture as those who weren’t there.

 

At this point of the story, the disciples knew nothing about the Crucifixion or the Resurrection, they had no notion of Jesus being a Messiah who suffered.

 

They thought Jesus would be the Messiah who saves them from unfair taxation, foreign threat, and Roman rule.

 

They thought Jesus would whip society back into place, not be whipped by society.

 

The Disciples don’t get it, and we ask “Why?”

 

And maybe it is not about whether Peter and the disciples got it or not…but the point is that they followed…

 

They did not always get it, they did not always understand what Jesus was about, but they followed.

 

And maybe THAT is the point.  Maybe that’s what it is about. 

 

Maybe that is what Peter and John and all the rest are role modeling to us today.

 

Even when the Disciples did not fully understand, even when they didn’t always get the point, they still made the choice and they still followed Jesus.

 

They followed him among the shore, they followed him to private homes, to the graveyards, they followed him to where people have diseases and children die.

 

The disciples followed Jesus, and let’s be honest, Jesus was not easy to follow.

 

For one thing, Jesus and his style of healing was not always consistent.

 

He heals Peter’s Mother-in-Law by taking her hand, but the daughter of Jarius he says “Talitha cum.” 

 

Jesus heals a leper by touching him and saying “be made clean” but a woman with blood receives healing by touching his clothes.

 

Jesus heals a deaf and a blind man by using spit, but he offers healing to a leper by using his words.

 

The only thing consistent about Jesus and his form of ministry is his compassion.

 

His compassion for anyone, regardless if they are amongst the least of these or a family in power.

 

Jesus is consistent with his compassion for anyone seeking wellness, a better life, a new beginning, restoration, relationship.

 

Maybe, just maybe following Jesus has nothing to do with understanding, but it means-

 

to follow in faith, to follow with your heart, be it full or broken, in love or ostracized.

 

Maybe following Jesus without fully “getting it” is the point.

 

Following Jesus does not come with a guarantee, or the promise of consistency.

 

Following Jesus is not all hearts and roses, romance and dazzling clothes.

 

Following Jesus is to follow in faith, it is to follow in kindness, care, it is to follow in humility.

 

And who is this Jesus we follow? 

 

In Mark 9:7, God calls Jesus the Beloved One.

 

Which means that although we may not always understand, we may not always “get it”, we are following God’s Beloved One.

 

The One who called the working men and women, the menders and maligned.

 

We are following the Beloved One who cared about the children of leaders and the daughters of gentiles.

 

God’s Beloved is the one who cared for the deaf and blind, those living with disabilities and those with restless spirits.

 

Does following the Beloved One mean that you have to always understand?

 

No.

 

Does following the Beloved One mean that you have to be perfect?

 

No.

 

No one is perfect.  No place is perfect.  No government is perfect.  No church is perfect.

 

But in our imperfection, in our questions- are we still willing to follow?

 

In your imperfections, in your doubt will you follow?

 

Will you follow the Beloved One, and not just on the glorious mountaintop full of sunshine and glorious light.

 

Will you follow Jesus by the shore full of fishermen and farm folk?

 

Will you follow in the home, in the sickbed, the chores, the bills?

 

Will you follow in the graveyard, in the death and depression?

 

Maybe, Jesus is Ok with us not knowing or getting it all.

 

Maybe Jesus is Ok with us just…following, knowing that we want him to be our King,

 

that we want to be better citizens of his Kingdom,

 

we want to be better citizens of Heaven.

 

That we are willing to Follow Jesus with our imperfect hearts, our imperfect bodies, and to see him as our Beloved.

 

For that, we can say “Amen.”

Food Of Heaven; Meal of Restoration; Mark 5:21-43

 

Rev. George Miller

Feb 4, 2024

Mark 5:21-43

 

Anyone who came to church on Tuesday stepped into a sensory delight.

 

Sherrie was cooking in the kitchen and even before opening the front door, you could smell the homemade goodness and love she was putting into her Chicken Ala King.

 

Sherrie’s cooking not only warmed up the entire campus, but it smelt “warm” like a turkey on Thanksgiving or soup on a rainy day.

 

Warm not in temperature, but warm as in Mom and Abuela and GG.

 

Warm as in “welcome” and “sit down” and “let me make you a to-go plate covered with aluminum foil.”

 

Tuesday afternoon our entire church was warmed by the aroma of Sherrie’s cooking.

 

Why was she making a homemade meal?

 

To feed the people who were busy restoring our restrooms so they would have something to eat when they took their lunch break.

 

Bravo to Sherrie for doing this; she didn’t have to do so. 

 

When we hired these folk, and signed the contract, there was nothing that said “Emmanuel will supply a scrumptious, rib-sticking, soul smiling meal.”

 

We’re paying this company good money to fix our facilities; we did not have to provide a single thing.

 

Yet, that’s what Sherrie did- making sure the men had something to eat.  Sherrie embodied the Gospel of Mark.

 

She knew folk were working, she knew they’d be hungry; she made sure they had more than a sack lunch from home or a takeout meal.

 

Perhaps THAT is why the Fellowship Hall not only felt warm but smelled warm-

 

she was embodying the Kingdom of Heaven in a pure, fundamental, and most holy way.

 

What Sherrie did felt like a warm hug- because it was. She didn’t have to do it, but she did.

 

Food is so essential to our faith; food is so essential to our relationships.

 

Think of Ridge Area SDA who invites us to be the first to eat when they share a meal after worship.

 

Think of Fe, who happily shares dishes from the Philippines, watching as we enjoy them.

 

Ari’s family, who if you ever have the honor to eat with, will encourage you to try their lamb, their coquito, their meatless chicken legs, and watermelon Agua fresca all the way from Miami.

 

When we share food with others, we share ourselves.

 

When we eat the food of others, we are validating their personhood, their culture, their mothers, their ancestors, their heart.

 

Anytime anyone says “Come, eat,” they are saying “I like you,” “I trust you” and “I want to spend time with you.”

 

Skyline Chili from someone in Ohio.  Oxtails from someone in the South.  Arepas from someone in Columbia.

 

Food plays an important part in today’s reading, even if you may not notice it.

 

Jesus has come back after greeting the guy in the graveyard.  The crowds surround him.

 

He’s asked to heal a man’s daughter; a woman who’s bleeding touches his robe.

 

He’s dealing with life and death, death and life, all while regular folk try to have a piece of him.

 

He's surrounded by weeping and wailing, naysayers and laughers.

 

Just as he did with Peter, he goes into the home and personal space of a family in crisis.

 

He speaks words of life to their daughter, and she begins to walk.

 

The family is amazed.  They thought their child was dead; sure their daughter was gone.

 

But Jesus steps into their life, Jesus steps into their home, Jesus goes into their most private of places…

 

...and their family is restored.

 

The family receives the gift of new life, new possibilities, they receive the gift of a future.

 

And what does Jesus do?

 

Does he hand them an Emergency Room bill and say “That will be $390.  Would you like to set up monthly payments?”

 

Does he say “Now that I healed your child, your daughter is mine”?

 

Does Jesus says “I am Lord of All Creation, bow down and grovel at my feet”?

 

No. 

 

Jesus does none of these things, even though he could.

 

What does Jesus say after restoring this family?

 

He says “Give her something to eat.”

 

Wow.

 

Once again, in the Gospel of Mark, we see how even the most mundane of things becomes sacred and important to Jesus.

 

“Give her something to eat.”

 

Now why would Jesus say something like this?

 

Well first of all, the dead don’t eat.  So to have the little girl fed means that she is alive and with them.

 

Second, food is one way to say that you are welcome and you belong.  This could be Jesus’ way of saying “Welcome back to the land of the Living.”

 

Third, back then, there was no belief in heaven as we have today.  Back then, dead was dead.

 

And death was the ultimate separation. 

 

To say the little girl is dead means that she is no longer part of the family; it means their relationship is over.

 

 

Because she is brought back to life, Jesus has restored their relationship; he has restored their family.

 

Because their relationship has been restored, she gets to eat.  Mom and Dad and daughter get to sit at table and be one.

 

And that is beautiful.

 

When Jesus says “Give her something to eat” he is saying “Welcome her back” and “continue the relationship you have.”

 

And some ways, that’s what Communion is about.

 

Communion is not just about the Last Supper or a Holy Meal. 

 

Communion is about relationships.  It’s about the bonding we share when we come to the table.

 

When we participate in Communion it means that no matter what we’ve been through during the week, no matter what we are each going through, at that moment, we are bonded and we are united via food.

 

Communion reunites us after being separated for a week or a month or a crises like COVID.

 

Communion is a way we can be restored- I’ve seen people at odds with one another make amends after sharing the broken bread.

 

Communion means that we are ALIVE.  It means that we are still here. 

 

Communion means that we are free to experience the Kingdom of Heaven right here, right now.

 

Communion means that we get to live another day.

 

It means we are free to participate in the Kingdom of Heaven.

 

Coming to this table to be fed means that we are free to experience the Morning Savior, regardless of what we have been through or what we have done.

 

The food we are given today means that we are restored to experience the Savior of the Mundane, Savior of the Menders,

 

Savior of the Matriarchs, and Savior of the Children and Most Vulnerable.

 

Today’s reading reminds us that just as Jesus was present to the man in the cemetery, just as Jesus is present in the crowd,

 

Jesus is present in our pain, Jesus is present in our most intimate of moments.

 

And Jesus does what Jesus can to restore our wellness, restore out relationships, and ensure that we are fed, body, mind, and spirit.

 

Jesus is not just the Savior of Our Mornings, but he is also present in our meals, our needs, and our relationships.

 

For that, we can say “Amen.”