Pass the Salt, Please

My initial problem preaching this text was deciding if it should be four sermons or one.  I decided that, although there would be benefit in taking a  closer look at each of the topics raised individually, looking at them all together would make better sense of Jesus' final words in this context.  Jesus said, "Salt is good. . . .  Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another"  (Mark 9:50). 

I don't normally use acrostics in my preaching but thought it might be a useful way to pull everything together in the text.  At lunch there was a family from church eating in a booth not far away from my party.  One of the teenage boys came over to talk with us.  They had tried to remember the four points of the acrostic but had missed the "A".  If two teenage boys could remember 3 of the 4 I consider that sermon a success! 

For those who are wondering the acrostic is for the word SALT:

Serve (even those considered least - Mark 9:33-37)
Accept (Christians who are different than you [or don't be judgmental] - Mark 9:38-41)
Love (the weak and new believers - Mark 9:42)
Tenacious Self-Denial

No one who heard the sermon will forget the "T" since it doesn't really fit.  Odd isn't' it, that when something seems like it doesn't really belong it is never forgotten.  Come to think of it . . . that's exactly what it means for us to be salt.  We stand out because we don't really fit in this world as it is.   But I love the last verse and how it envisions the kingdom that will soon cover the earth, "Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another."  The peaceable kingdom - that's where we all belong!

The Disciples' Most Embarrassing Moment

I want formulas; the Lord wants faith.  I want the world to work in such a way that if I do the right things the right consequences are automatic.  The Lord wants me to trust him to provide all that I need to accomplish his will in this world.  I want guarantees of painlessness, absence of suffering and constant happiness.  God wants me to accept his promises by faith even if my time here involves suffering and a cross. I wonder why God won't answer my prayers.  God wonders why I don't utilize prayer as a means of getting to know him better.

I want my faith to grow stronger so I confess my confusion, my selfishness, my pride and arrogance.  I confess that I no longer want to be in charge of my life; instead I want God to use me for his purposes regardless of who gets credit or glory.  I'm having trouble believing that God could do anything with such a pitiful excuse for faith but I hold my little mustard seed-sized faith up to him and say, "I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief."  God say, "Alright!  Now we're getting somewhere."

The End?  No, this is the Beginning!

Preview of Coming Attractions

How appropriate that after Jesus dropped the bombshell of his upcoming suffering and death on the disciples the inner circle (Peter, James, and John) was given a preview of Jesus' Glorious Appearing!  After Jesus sought to destroy the short-sighted dreams of the Twelve, they are more disillusioned than ever.  Even coming down from the Mountain of Transfiguration they have a discussion among themselves about "what 'rising from the dead' meant" (Mark 9:10).

Jesus has already explained that "rising from the dead" meant that first the Messiah would have to suffer, be rejected and die on the cross.  Self-denial in order to do the Father's will dominates the center section of Mark's Gospel.  Indeed, it must dominate the center section of our lives if we are to be included among those who truly follow Jesus.

But what exactly does it mean for our lives today?  I love the mountain top experiences but must realize that Jesus never stayed on the mountain.  His work was in the valley.  More specifically, in the words of the Psalmist, his work was in the valley of the shadow of death.  Am I willing to follow him on that road?

Some of my favorite passages describe the return of Jesus to his earth.  At that time will the renewal of all things.  It will indeed be a Glorious Appearing when Heaven and Earth are united eternally.  Let the image of the risen and glorified Christ fill your heart as you follow the self-denying, crucified Christ as he teaches us how to live today.

The Second Touch

I often walk away from sermons wondering what might resonate in people's hearts from the lesson.  Different things stick with different people.  For myself, it is the phrase "deny self".  What does it mean for me to "deny self" this week?

There are some things I need to do this week that I don't particularly want to do.  They involve people and my participation might help in some tangible ways.  Is sacrificing my own desires and doing what is best for others an example of denying self? 

I can serve others for the purpose of self-interest or self-advancement.  It's tempting for me to think, at times, that when I do some small act of kindness that God is fortunate to have me on his side.  It's easy for me to glory in my self-sacrificial service! 

Tomorrow I will participate once again in the weekly reading of the Gospel of Mark.  I will watch Jesus as he again demonstrates unbelievable power and demonstrates that he is indeed the Son of God.  I will then watch again as he lays that aside and is abused, rejected and brutally murdered.  He willingly gave himself for others.  How can I claim to be his follower if I am unwilling to do the same? 

Resurrection is the final note of triumph in the Gospel of Mark; but the emphasis of the book lies in the cross.  Resurrection is when God takes our self-emptying, self-denying lives and ushers in the kingdom of God.  We don't make it happen, we are simply the empty vessels God chooses to use.  This week, I want to continue to ask myself, "what does it mean for me to deny self"?

Worried About Bread or Watching For Leaven

After the sermon someone commented that they thought it was good that I had left the interpretation of leaven open so that each person could discover what what happening within their own heart.  Indeed, the success of any sermon is not what happens on Sunday, necessarily, but what happens in the days that follow.  I love it when people tell me, "I haven't been able to stop thinking about . . . . that was mentioned (or read) in the sermon."  When preparing a sermon I wrestle with a text and it's meaning which often causes me to wrestle with my own heart and soul as well.  Sundays it sometimes feels like I hand off my discoveries to the church so that they can let it roll around in their hearts for awhile.

The text I preached this past Sunday (Mark 8:1-21) is actually the end of the first section of the book.  Mark is bringing a conclusion to his teaching on the identity of Jesus and the failure of the Twelve to really understand. This story is built on the previous stories, especially the preceding ones where Jesus challenges the disciples to learn the difference between internals and externals; what truly makes a person clean or unclean.  The list he gave on that occasion would so well for someone searching their heart for leaven to clean out:

"For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, ²²greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly." (Mark 7:21-22)

When Jesus warned against the leaven of the Pharisees and that of Herod he at least had these in mind.  It would do us all well to pay particularly close attention to these things and clean them out of our hearts before they take root and spread their venomous evil.  After all, bread is no problem for Jesus - he can make as much as is needed.  Leaven, on the other hand, causes him all kinds of problems.  Let's prove the genuineness of our faith but keeping the leaven out of lives.

Jesus Is Doing Something New

I love Isaiah's pictures of the kingdom.  He gave us such wonderful word pictures which so graphically illustrated what God was going to do.  The one Mark seemed to be alluding to in this morning's sermon text was from Isaiah 35:5-6:

"Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.  then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy.  Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert."

Why couldn't the Twelve understand what God was doing through Jesus?  Why did they continue to miss the point?  Because they kept trying to squeeze God's kingdom into their own preconceived ideas. As Jesus will say later in the Gospel of Mark, they have eyes but cannot see and ears but cannot hear. 

I wonder if my eyes are truly open to see what God is doing.  Do you ever wonder about that? What is he wanting to show me that I keep refusing to look at?  Two things that keep me from looking are fear and pride.  I don't know where Jesus might take me so I am afraid.  I don't know what areas he might require me to change through repentance and so I am prideful.  These same two things keep churches from seeing the new thing God is doing among us.  We are afraid because who knows what he might call us to lose. (One man I heard of was told to sell everything he had and give to the poor!)  We are prideful so we refuse to acknowledge even the possibility that we might be wrong about something.

Which brings me back to the wonderful word pictures of Isaiah.  God wants to do something new in our generation.  The only question that remains is: Will we open our eyes and see what he is doing?

Is Jesus a Conservative or a Liberal?

Today's sermon will surely generate discussion for some time to come.  Calling attention to our need to reexamine our "oral tradition" concerning instrumental music and restrictions on women is no small matter.  It is as though there has been a large elephant in the room that everyone is aware of, but nobody wants to talk about.  Some will surely become very excited thinking that the church is about to change dramatically.  Many will be optimistic about this and many others depressed or even angry. However, calling attention to the elephant in the middle of the room is NOT advocating doing anything about it necessarily, except acknowledging its presence. Then we are in a position to talk about it and decide if the Lord desires us to make any changes, or to leave things as they are.  But for the sake of our teens and young adults especially, we must address the subjects!

Unfortunately, I fear that in the midst of highlighting these two areas in need of discussion we run the danger of missing the heart of Jesus' message; which is the heart!  There is no way we can preserve the unity of the Spirit if evil is coming out of our hearts.  The track record of churches talking about sensitive subjects is not good.  Because of this churches are reluctant to honestly examine controversial issues.  The problem is not in talking about difficult topics but in the arrogance and slanderous manner in which church folks conduct themselves.  If we will all repent of the evil that lives within our hearts we will surely be able to talk about any subject, no matter how controversial, and together discern the leading of God's Holy Spirit.  True followers of Christ would not have it any other way.