Author: Mark Mong

Psalm 71:14-18
¹⁴As for me, I will always have hope;
    I will praise you more and more.
¹⁵ My mouth will tell of your righteous deeds,
    of your saving acts all day long—
    though I know not how to relate them all.
¹⁶ I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, Sovereign Lord;
    I will proclaim your righteous deeds, yours alone.
¹⁷ Since my youth, God, you have taught me,
    and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.
¹⁸ Even when I am old and gray,
    do not forsake me, my God,
till I declare your power to the next generation,
    your mighty acts to all who are to come.

Philippians 3:12-16
¹² Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. ¹³ Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ Let those of us then who are mature be of the same mind; and if you think differently about anything, this too God will reveal to you. ¹⁶ Only let us hold fast to what we have attained.

Devotional
I have just finished a very long book, which at times was quite engaging and easy to read and at times was quite obtuse and difficult to work through.  But, having finished reading it, I felt a sense of joy and accomplishment at its completion.  I did it and now I can do something else.  I do not need to invest time and energy to the task of reading and processing the book, I am free to seek other engagements.

So too is with discipleship.  When we reach old age or perhaps even a sense of maturity, we tell ourselves that we are finished with our faith and responsibilities.  After all, we are bound to our homes, how can I work and worship with a community?  When we lose our ability to safely drive or even our ability to rise in the morning to attend worship, we get to the point when we tell ourselves, and God, that we are finished. 

I have reached the point in my old age when I can dispense with discipleship.  I just cannot work and worship any longer and I am done.  How can I help when I cannot walk any longer?  How can I contribute when I cannot get to church?  How can I care for another when I am bound to be cared for by someone else?  These are the thoughts and opinions of many who have reached the age in their lives when basic actions are challenging, let alone the challenges of following the commands of Jesus Christ.  I am finished because I just can’t anymore.

But many also have the opinion that once a mature or old age is reached, a person is no longer responsible to follow Jesus Christ.  I have done my part, I am done.  I have sacrificed for God up to this point, I will live for myself now.  I have served my time up till now, my time is now my own.  I am finished because I just don’t want to do it anymore, I want to do what I want.  Vacation here I come.  I am finished because I want to retire from working for the Kingdom. 

The dilemma with both these positions is that we remove ourselves from being under the authority of God.  Like the title of Ayn Rand’s book, we become Atlas who shrugs off his burden of holding up the sky.  We shrug off the authority of God to command us.  We remove ourselves from being ruled by God and we remove ourselves from the freedom God gives us.  We remove ourselves from the Kingdom of God, either because in our estimation we can’t work for the Kingdom anymore, or because we just don’t want to anymore.

The real dilemma is can we really shrug off God and God’s right to rule God’s creation?  Do we have the power to match God and force God to bow to our wills?  More importantly do we really want to shrug off God in our old age, since death, the last enemy, is closer than ever before?  Shouldn’t we want a closer walk with God, the closer we come to the valley of the shadow of death?  Can we and should we shrug off God and therefore our discipleship because we have finished with that, either because we must, or because we want to?

The answer is that no you can’t shrug off God, and no you don’t want to shrug off God.  In our old age we are closer to God in our discipleship than we were in our youth.  Now that the finish line is in sight, cling more to God than in your youth.  Your strength fails, but God’s strength increases.  Since the Lord of Life who calls you to follow lies not above you in heaven, but before you in time, then even in old age, the journey is not finished.  The journey is only finished, when you see Christ Jesus face to face, and until then, Paul has it correct, we do not shrug off God, nor want to, we want to press ever forward to answer the call of Christ until we meet Christ.

This means most concretely that until we are called home or until Christ returns, our responsibilities never cease, it is never finished.  Someone will certainly say to me then, well what can I do, when I can’t do much?  The answer is what ever you are commanded to by the call of Jesus Christ.  Do whatever that is, with the full ability and energy that you have, even if it means doing so from a house you can never leave and with the little energy and health you have.  Jesus knows your situation and tailors His command to that, but Jesus also gives you Himself to be able to fulfill it and to fulfill it gloriously.  We must simply bear the responsibility to obey the command with everything that we have, even if that everything is meager in our own estimation.

But it also means very concretely that we can never shrug off our responsibilities simply because we want a different life of leisure and relaxation.  We cannot retire from our discipleship responsibilities simply because we want to.  Jesus is still commanding as Lord and work for God’s Kingdom is commanded to be done.  I am not saying we should not take a Sabbath or a Jubilee or take moments for self-care.  We cannot care for others if we are empty and derelict ourselves.  I am saying we cannot permanently evade our responsibilities from and for Christ to create a retirement life of pleasure and purpose for ourselves.  We should not ever retire from our lives in and under Christ.

My friends, I have no doubt that at points in our lives we are forced to admit and adapt to the confines and difficulties of old age and/or maturity.  But the one change and adaptation we must never make is the conclusion that our work under Christ Jesus is ever over simply because we can’t contribute in our old age or we don’t want to in retirement.  Jesus is ever the approaching Lord who calls us to Himself.  If He still commands us, our only free and responsible choice is to obey with everything that we have and everything that we are.  Our only choice in old age or in youth or somewhere between them is to press forward to Christ, because Christ is calling us to Himself.  We cannot be forced to nor should ever choose to retire from following Jesus Christ.  Amen. 

¹Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. ² Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. ³ Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. ⁵ One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”  ⁷ “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” ⁸ Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” ⁹ At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

A football player was sitting in the examination room of the best orthopedic surgeon in the country after suffering his third major injury in three years.  The doctor asked him how committed he was to do what needed to be done for him to return to the football field, because he was going to need several months of rehabilitation after another major surgery.  Facing another long, painful, and grueling time of healing, he instead chose to retire rather than having to undergo the difficult time.  He had neither the will, nor the mental strength to bear another lengthy and difficult journey to healing.  He admitted to himself that he could not experience and persevere through another traumatic healing process and chose to reject the surgery and consequent therapy and retire from playing football. 

Like the doctor, Jesus asked the lame man lying next to the Pool of Bethsaida, do you want to be made well?  We are told the man was lame for 38 years, which is a very long and challenging time to be unable to walk, lacking the strength to do the most basic of movements.  But the question cuts to the quick, and cuts deeply into the man’s soul, do you really want to be made well?  He acknowledges the enormity of his suffering, but would he accept the opportunity to be rid of his weakness? 

What answer would you give to the same question?  Do you really want to be made well?  Perhaps we are not lame, or blind, or deaf, although we could be.  But we certainly are dealing with afflictions none the less.  Do you really want to be free from the alcohol or drugs?  Do you really want to be free from the mental illness you suffer under?  Do you really want to be free from your uncurable degenerative diseases?  Do you really want to be free from the Covid or Cancer?  Do you really want forgiveness for your guilt, do you really want courage for your fears and anxieties, do you really want peace for your anger?  Do you really want to be made well?

The man doesn’t answer the question, he instead complains why he is still lame, because he couldn’t get into the pool quick enough.  Legend around the pool of Bethsaida states that Angels periodically descend to the pool and stir the waters.  The first person into the pool after the stirring, is healed.  The man says to Jesus, I cannot get into the pool first to be healed and so I am stuck here.  Perhaps that is the reason so many of us are content and comfortable to be broken, injured and sick even though Jesus offers life and health.  Do you want to be made well?  No, we would rather be comfortable in the way we already are.  When facing the long and painful road to health, we choose the easy and comfortable status quo of our broken lives.  Instead of being motivated to pursue health and wholeness, we quit into the despair of the idea that is just the way things are and I need to accept that. 

But Jesus does not leave the lame man, nor us, in that broken routine of false security and false reassurance.  Jesus’ question and Jesus’ command gives freedom not only from the issues which threaten and spoil life and well-being, Jesus also gives freedom from the broken Spirit with no desire to ever become more whole.  Jesus gives strength of body and mind and soul to those dealing with broken bodies, broken minds, and broken Spirits.  Jesus give power into a powerless situation, to cure, to heal and to restore.  Life into situations of death is Jesus’ gift.

But Jesus not only commands freedom from injury and illness, but His command also demands obedience.  Stand up, take your mat, and walk.  This is the one thing the man knew he couldn’t do and yet he is commanded to do so.  What will happen, do I take the risk and fail, and nothing happens?  Jesus gives freedom to the man and to us, but he also demands obedience, he demands responsibility.  Jesus gives the power and life to us, but we have a responsibility to obey.  If we want freedom from drugs and alcohol, we need to be responsible and change our lifestyle and accept therapy and accountability for our illness.  If we want freedom from diabetes or heart disease, we need to be responsible and change our lifestyle with diet and exercise.  If we want freedom from guilt, we need to take responsibility and make restitution and be forgiven.  If we want freedom from fears, we must take responsibility and face the things that terrify us.  If we want freedom from anger, we must take responsibility and manage and heal the traumas that make us angry.  Jesus does give us freedom but also the responsibility to do the co-work of healing under the power and nurture of Grace. 

My friends, the good news of the gospel is that Jesus is the Lord and Giver of Life, which can give strength to lame, but also to us.  But just as we are given strength and freedom to live the resurrected life, we also bear the responsibility to co-participate in the healing process.  Will we retire into the ease and comfort of a broken life we are familiar with, or will we be motivated to enter the complete life which Jesus gives and calls us to share in.  God does give healing in Christ, but we must take responsibility for our healing and work with Christ in obedience.  Everything depends on your answer to the question, do you want to be made well?  In Christ be free, but also be responsible to do what it takes to be well. 

⁵In former generations this mystery was not made known to humankind, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: ⁶that is, the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.  Ephesians 3:5-6

I am not much of a follower of the British Royal Family.  I do not hang on every word or report that the media provides about who is upset with each other and who said what.  But I am fascinated by the supposed order of succession.  I am intrigued by who is next in line after the queen and then who is next in line after them.  Who is the queen’s heir and the next heir apparent?  Why does it fall through this line and not another?  What happens when one of the heirs rescinds their place and does not want to be heir at all? 

With all this talk and discussion about Britain’s heirs. perhaps then we can understand the meaning of the Epiphany of the Lord a little bit more, when the great revelation of God is that Gentiles have become fellow heirs of Israel.  Israel was God’s chosen people, a people he nurtured, protected, and established as a nation with a space and time in human history.  But the great secret which was hidden in former generations and now revealed by the Spirit is that Gentiles are now also fellow heirs of Israel.  Instead of Israel being the heir alone of God’s Kingdom, now Gentiles are included also.  Instead of the place of Israel falling to a single people much like the British Monarchy, Gentiles are now fellow heirs of Israel.

But an important point needs to be made, Gentile have become members of the same body, we have not excluded or replaced Israel all together.  We are together, we have not succeeded Israel and taken their place.  The text says members of the same body together, not alone in a new body.  Israel and Gentiles together is what the great plan and revelation of God discloses by the Spirit of Jesus Christ.  We have no room to conquer, destroy, or persecute those members of the same body.  To do so to the Jewish people would be akin to destroying ourselves.  To damage the Jews would be to destroy ourselves.  To eradicate the Hebrew people, is to work against the God’s work and therefore, the essence of sin and demonic in nature. 

But to be members of the same body is also to share in the promises God made to Israel.  The promises which the psalmist reminds us of in psalm 72.  That God will judge us with righteousness and the poor with justice.  That the mountains yield prosperity for the people in righteousness.  That God will defend the cause of the poor of the people, and give deliverance to the needy, and crush the oppressor.  Righteousness will flourish and peace will prosper.  While these were some of the promises, now that the Spirit adopts us as co-heirs, the promises also fall like rain upon us, whom God has chosen.  To live under God’s grace in freedom and responsibility: rightly and in perfect communion.

But the realm of these promises and the location of this fellowship and the place of our inheritance lies not in the world, or in ourselves, but rests solely in Christ Jesus.  The perfect foundation that cannot be eradicated by sin and death.  The perfect realm where no error or weakness can tarnish.  The unrivalled kingdom where no cosmic power, no demonic influence, no human scheme can erode or threaten to undo the work of God.  In Christ Jesus, God has secured his work and his promises against all enemies, chaos and nothingness that seek to destroy God’s creation.  And we can rest secure, not in the ease of our circumstances, the prosperity of our resources, the health of our communities, nor the absence of conflict, but we rest secure solely that we rest in Christ Jesus and therefore under Christ’s protection and rule.

But the means of that protection, lies through the work of the Gospel.  The gospel bears the responsibility to carry the human into the realm of Christ.  The gospel carries the power to transfer a person, even a Gentile person into the kingdom and oversight of Christ.  The gospel carries the burden to find and relocate a community of people from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of Light.  And for this responsibility, and in this power and under this burden, the gospel summons people to participate.  People like Paul, but more poignantly a community like us. 

Will we answer the gospel’s call?  Will we bear the responsibility to share this news?  Will we be instruments of this power?  Will we bear our burden of the gospel to make disciples and heirs of God?  May this Epiphany we bear our co-responsibilities with the gospel, may we be co-channels of God’s power, may we carry the co-burdens of the gospel.  May we be the children God has created and redeemed us to be fellow heirs, members of the same body, sharers in the promise, in Christ Jesus, by the gospel, and I would add to God’s glory, Amen. 

¹⁴ “‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah.
        ¹⁵ “‘In those days and at that time
                         I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line;
                         he will do what is just and right in the land.
        ¹⁶ In those days Judah will be saved
                         and Jerusalem will live in safety.
      This is the name by which it^[a] will be called:
                        The Lord Our Righteous Savior.’

The Snow is coming.  Nothing creates a sense of expectation like hearing those fabled words from a professional meteorologist or from a friend that watches the Weather Channel.  How much are we supposed to get?  Do I have enough groceries?  Will we have school?  Do I have gas for the snow blower?  Do we have to travel?  The excitement and trepidation build in our hearts and minds as we prepare for the Lake Effect to interrupt our routines and normalcy.  The concerns and the anxiety increase until the last snowflake has fallen, and the sun shines once again.

Just as it is with coming snow, so too is it with the coming days of God.  We also have a sense of expectation hearing the Word of God and its promises of future action.  ‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘that I will perform that good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.’  The promised action of God is coming, it is on the way, it is immanent, and we must prepare accordingly.  The excitement builds in our hearts and minds as we prepare not for a Nor’easter, but for the visit of God.  The status quo of our lives is disturbed and interrupted by the new thing that God is doing, the thing promised to Israel and Judah is almost here.

But what is that new thing that God promised and is almost here?  In those days and at that time I will cause to grow up to David a Branch of righteousness.  The new thing that God is doing and is almost here is the coming of a righteous King from the bloodline of David, the great King of the Hebrew people.  The name of that coming righteous King from the bloodline of David, heir to his family’s throne and ruler of his people is Jesus of Nazareth. 

But for us Americans and for us Gentiles, the new thing we should be expecting is that Jesus is not just King of Israel, but King of the entire world.  He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.  The King of Israel is in fact King of all creation; and his rule will not be one of tyranny and corruption, but He shall execute justice and rightness in the earth.  No longer a leader or politician seeking to force policies and compliance but a giver of liberty and freedom.  No longer a monarch or dictator seeking fortune on the backs of the masses of people, but a right ruler that lives to empower people to live the True life of loving God and each other.  This is what is coming and what we need to be expecting.

Can we think of any more needed forces in our world at this time that the freedom and security that Jesus can provide over all creation?  In those days Judah will be saved, And Jerusalem will dwell safely.  In Jeremiah’s time of invasion, exile and corruption, the hope offered by the prophet was the balm for the people of the land.  Freedom instead of occupation by the Babylonians.  Safety instead of Monarchial incompetence.  Do we not need the same?  Freedom instead of slavery to sin, death, and the fallen world.  Safety instead of pandemic anxieties, economic inflation, and nuclear intimidation.  This is what God through Jeremiah offers us, a righteous King with a righteous Kingdom.

We are reminded during this Advent Season that Jesus is coming, to execute Justice and Rightness in all creation.  This is the sunrise from heaven that break upon the darkness of our world: to illumine, to cleanse, to correct, and to give life.  Remember these days are surely coming and expect them with Hope.

¹ Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, ² “Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.” ³ But Jonah set out to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid his fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.

⁴ But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and such a mighty storm came upon the sea that the ship threatened to break up. ⁵ Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried to his god. They threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten it for them. Jonah, meanwhile, had gone down into the hold of the ship and had lain down, and was fast asleep. ⁶ The captain came and said to him, “What are you doing sound asleep? Get up, call on your god! Perhaps the god will spare us a thought so that we do not perish.”

⁷ The sailors[a] said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, so that we may know on whose account this calamity has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. ⁸ Then they said to him, “Tell us why this calamity has come upon us. What is your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” ⁹ “I am a Hebrew,” he replied. “I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” ¹⁰ Then the men were even more afraid, and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them so.

If you have attempted to drive through the harbor recently, you will come across the road construction at the intersection of West and Lake avenues.  On any given day, one road will be closed, or perhaps one lane is open on another road, and even on a third day, you could find no construction.  The constant changing of the road work, and the constant rerouting of traffic has resulted in many becoming frustrated and ultimately avoiding even driving through the area, choosing to take a detour elsewhere to avoid the problem intersection until the work is concluded.

Avoiding a difficult intersection and taking a detour is precisely what Jonah did after receiving his call to travel and preach in Nineveh.  Instead of taking responsibility, he avoids the responsibility and purchases a boat ticket going in the opposite direction.  God commands and appoints and calls Jonah to a task and instead of accepting responsibility and obeying that command freely, Jonah balks at the idea, avoids his appointment and flees to the city furthest away from Nineveh on a map.  He avoids the intersection; he avoids his responsibilities and goes elsewhere with no responsibilities whatever.

So too do we.  Like Jonah we avoid responsibility and take a detour to where there are either no responsibilities or one’s of our own creation.  God calls us to worship, and we do a little but not enough.  God calls us to pray, and we pray some, but not enough.  God calls us to study, and we do some, but not enough.  But perhaps the greatest avoidance we make comes in loving service of our neighbors.  God calls us to love each other, by serving our faith community but also the people outside our faith community.  We simply don’t.  We avoid that responsibility, because we want to be able to walk away, because we have a limited amount of time not spent working, and because we just simply want to do something else and have no desire to serve as a deacon, to volunteer building wheelchair ramps, to tutor or mentor a young person, to cook and serve food to the homeless.  God calls and we avoid an answer, we go to Tarshish: we go shopping, we go on vacation, or we watch our 3.5 hours of television a day.  We avoid our God-given responsibility.

But I am not talking about those people that are described as responsibility sponges.  They always say yes, they are always volun-told by others to serve, they are overworked and overburdened with responsibility.  They continue to soak up responsibility.  No, you have enough, and it may be responsible to say no.  But I also am not talking about those people that shouldn’t be responsible all together.  Those that are older and more vulnerable from a health perspective.  They have earned their time off and don’t need to put themselves in harm’s way or feel the compulsion to add something or contribute to the life of our congregation.  The responsible thing may also be to say no.  I am talking about those that are called by the Word and Spirit of God and choose to do nothing or barely anything, for fear of becoming obligated and unable to get out if things go bad, for fear of not having any free time, for being selfish and choosing to live your life for yourself instead of for God.  I am talking about those of us, that are called and don’t answer.  I am talking about the ones called by God and who avoid answering or choose to answer with a detour of their own creation.  I am talking about me and you.

When we look at the cross of Jesus Christ, we see complete and total dedication to God, at a willingness to give one’s life for God’s purposes.  We see perfect responsibility and that is not me, that is not us, and it certainly was not Jonah.  But God doesn’t avoid us, like we avoid God.  God still takes perfect responsibility towards us and as the man Jesus of Nazareth perfect responsibility instead of us.  God chased down Jonah, and God chases down us.  God keeps calling even when we have no answer, and even when we have a defiant answer, Jesus answers faithfully instead of us.  God chased Jonah and Jonah finally accepted his calling from God.  God is chasing us down and through the Word made Flesh and the Indwelling Spirit, we are forgiven and freed to choose responsibility instead of avoiding it all together.

My friends, none more than I, choose daily to avoid the callings and responsibilities God places on us.  But we all are loved and cared for by God, that God can transform us from defiant, selfish creatures into faithful, obedient children.  God changed Jonah.  Through Jesus and the Spirit, God can change us.  So where can you help with our congregation’s responsibilities?  If you already are, great you don’t need any more.  If taking responsibility means you put your life at risk, great you don’t need any more.  If you are not bearing any responsibilities or if you are doing the bare minimum and could be responsible for more, what calling from God are you avoiding and perhaps need to start accepting?  What more can you do?  Isn’t it time to start answering instead of avoiding?

³ While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

⁴ Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? ⁵ It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.

⁶ “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ⁷ The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. ⁸ She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. ⁹ Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

I am sure we all have heard under the auspice of entertainment news how celebrities lavish exorbitantly expensive presents on their kids for their birthdays and holidays.  Due to their possessing large quantities of resources, they can buy cars, houses, and boats for their children to enjoy.  While it always seems that they are buying far too expensive things for their kids, we also seem to hear about those that criticize them in their spending.  An actor buys an expensive car for a sixteen-year-old daughter, and a pundit complains about a better use for $100,000.  We have no shortage of far too expensive gift givers and no absence of people to complain about their spending.

In our text from Mark, we also have a very expensive gift, and no shortage of people to complain about it.  While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.  A woman was so moved by Jesus’ forgiveness of her sins, that she gave him a very expensive jar of ointment poured over his head.  Her gratitude at having her many sins washed away by Jesus’ grace and mercy, prompts her to pay back an attempt at an equal gift.  Many sins forgiven can only be repaid by a large gift of gratitude.  The forgiveness was so large due to her many sins, that only a large gift could symbolize her gratitude.

But her gift was also misunderstood and criticized.  Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.  We have no famine when it comes to critics, who attack how others spend their money.  The years wages could have helped a lot of people, was the argument and spending all of that to make Jesus smell nice was an irresponsible decision.  They were not concerned with gratitude or appreciation for Jesus, they were concerned with poor economics and faithful sociology.  Her profound self-offering in gratitude for Jesus’ forgiveness has been transformed into an affront to justice.  She should be cancelled for such a transgression.

But while everyone else was criticizing her motivations and decisions, Jesus comes to her defense.   “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”  The conclusion we could come to, was that Jesus was not interested in justice for the poor and their tending, which would be wrong, Jesus was.  But where the emphasis lies is how Jesus accepts the self-offerings of people which are grateful for his forgiveness.  Jesus is content to accept the gifts motivated by gratitude and thankfulness.  She did what she could, and Jesus appreciated her thank you gift.

We are all perhaps a bit too eager to criticize how others spend their money, and the poor choices the wealthy all seem to make.  But what perhaps the point of the story is not that we must force others into responsible choices, but we should look at our own self-offerings (if we have any to begin with) and test if they are truly gifts from gratitude, or some other motivation.  Perhaps we don’t even give back anything to God, and perhaps we don’t give back to God proportionate to what God has given to us.  No doubt we will never be able to give a gratitude gift equal to the grace given to us by God, but that is not an excuse to give little to nothing.  True gratitude and thankfulness are the proper response to the free gift of God given in the covenant of Jesus Christ.  What will you give back to God and is it enough? 

¹³ Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. ¹⁴ As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.  ¹⁵ While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. ¹⁶ When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”  ¹⁷ On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

In college, not every class was offered to every person.  In some cases, a student needed to take a prerequisite course in something before taking another.  A Biology student, as I was, needed to take the introductory courses in General Biology and General Chemistry before a student could take more advanced courses like Anatomy and Physiology.  Those courses were just not offered and available to everyone, one had to quality for them or meet certain conditions before offered to a student.  Until they were met, a student just could not take them.

But, while courses at the university might only be offered to some that were prepared or qualified, Jesus’ offer of the Forgiveness of Sins was offered to all people, including even people like Levi.  As a tax-collector, Levi was considered by most people not only to be immoral and unethical, by working for the Romans and against the Jewish people; Levi was also considered unreligious, by not following God’s Law and therefore against God.  His crimes were just reprehensible, and his actions were despicable in the eyes of the people.  But Jesus’ offer of forgiveness was not kept from Levi but offered deliberately to him.  Who more so than Levi needed his sins forgiven?  And Jesus’ love and offer of forgiveness was still open and available to him.

In our day and age, the tax-collectors and prostitutes bore the same stigma as perhaps today’s addicts and sexual predators do.  Not only are they considered to be those that broke the law and therefore felons, but they are traitors to our modern sensibilities and sinners against the Law of God and the law of Nature.  But, just as Jesus offered forgiveness to Levi, so too does Jesus offer forgiveness to everyone, including today’s Levi’s.  No sin can disqualify Jesus’ forgiveness, no amount of depravity can negate the power to make clean, and no wickedness can thwart the love of God which can make all things new.  Jesus’ forgiveness is still offered to all, and no ill deeds or inordinate desires can cancel that offer.

It was this offered and accepted forgiveness from Jesus that made Levi and all the other tax-collectors and sinners right and true.  So right and true that after Jesus was done with them, they were worthy of eating with Jesus at his table.  After Jesus’ work of forgiving, the newly forgiven and re-created saints were worthy of companionship with Jesus and his disciples.  They ate and drank and celebrated the joy of God’s Kingdom which made them whole and right.  This companionship with Jesus is the cause of the Pharisee’s offense.  It was the law that brings companionship with God, not the forgiveness of sins by Jesus.  Therefore, it should be the Pharisees that interact with God and here the despicable now interact with God.  And that offends.  The saints are the same as the sinners.

It also offends us.  It offends us when the rapists, the thieves, the addicts, and the pedophiles bear the same place as those of us who never committed those heinous acts.  True God’s forgiveness does fall on us, for which we are grateful, but God’s forgiveness also falls on our Levi’s.  Like the Pharisees that upsets us, because it means that in our world, we are same as them.  The sinners are the same as the saints and the saints are the same as the sinners; both are loved, both are offered forgiveness, both are pardoned by God.  God, it seems plays no favorites and gives no special treatment.  All are equally loved, equally forgiven, and equally blessed.  And no one is better than anyone else. 

But not everyone can handle that.  Today’s sinners are quick to accept that forgiveness, knowing and acknowledging of their need, while today’s Pharisees are slow to accept that forgiveness, because pride prevents them from seeing their need for help.  Jesus’ words still ring true, it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.  Those who see themselves as sin-sick run towards Jesus for forgiveness and become healthy, those who see themselves as healthy will condemn Jesus for forgiving unworthy people and become sin-sick.  The Levi’s are brought into the Kingdom of God through the work of Jesus and the Pharisees remove themselves from the Kingdom of God because pride prevents them from seeing themselves as needing help.

Which are you?  Jesus can forgive anyone, even the Levi’s of today.  But today’s Levi’s accept their need and accept the forgiveness of Jesus and enjoy the companionship of God.  The sin-sick are made well.  But today’s Pharisees see themselves as healthy and reject the forgiveness of Jesus.  The healthy are made sin-sick.  Never forget my friends, the non-religious accepted Jesus’ forgiveness and the religious could not handle or accept it.  Let us not make the same mistake.  Let us see ourselves as the sin-sick ones needing forgiveness, even if we are today’s Levi.  Let us never see ourselves as the healthy ones and the Levi’s as the sick ones.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.  Jesus’ forgiveness is offered to all; will you register for it?

Mark 6:45-52

⁴⁵ Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. ⁴⁶ After saying farewell to them, he went up on the mountain to pray.  ⁴⁷ When evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. ⁴⁸ When he saw that they were straining at the oars against an adverse wind, he came towards them early in the morning, walking on the sea. He intended to pass them by. ⁴⁹ But when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out; ⁵⁰ for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” ⁵¹ Then he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, ⁵² for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.

As a boy, I went on a three-day canoe trip in Southern Ohio.  The first two days were spent on a lazy jaunt down a local river with the third to be spent on the Ohio River.  As an impressionable young boy, I was dreadfully afraid of sinking in my canoe.  We had all of our belongings in our canoe and I was afraid of tipping over and losing all of my things on the bottom of the Ohio.  We never made it to the Ohio River though, as the second night some local drunks untied our canoes and sent them down river without us in them.  But that is another story. 

Just as I was afraid of my boat tipping over and/or sinking, so too were the disciples afraid of their boat sinking.  Having embarked in their boat in an attempt to cross the Sea of Galilee, the disciples find themselves being bombarded by both wind and waves.  Being threatened by the severe weather, the disciples fear for their lives.  Will they take on water and sink?  Will they tip over and drown?  Fear gripped the hearts of the disciples stronger than any rope or strap.

Are we also not afraid of sinking?  Maybe not a literal sinking, unless on a boat cruising down the Ohio River.  But maybe a sinking nonetheless.  Perhaps, your job is not providing enough means to live upon.  Perhaps, your family relationships are not as healthy as you would like.  Perhaps, your purpose in life is starting to decay.  Perhaps you are suffering a loss or change of some kind.  Whatever our life’s situation is are we not afraid of having all that we have and all that we are fall apart?  Are we not all afraid of sinking?

But, God has given us a balm for our fear.  God has given us a Word of Hope.  To the disciples floundering on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus speaks, Take heart, it is I, do not be afraid.  By walking on the water, Jesus not only terrified the disciples, who thought he was a ghost, but he also reassured the disciples, by having authority over the water and wind.  God reassures his people that he still does have authority over all things.  In plain terms, God says as Jesus Christ, relax, I got this. 

If God said this to the disciples floundering on the Sea of Galilee, does God not also say this to the disciples floundering wherever they are?  To all of us who are threatened by something, who are afraid, who are anxious, God speaks a Word of hope in Jesus Christ, by telling us, Take heart, it is I, do not be afraid.  We who are sinking are recipients of a Word of assurance from God telling us that even while we might be sinking, God has authority over the things in this world dragging us under. 

It seems then that is precisely when we are sinking and being dragged under, that we find ourselves being caught by the hand of Christ.  Not only caught by the one who has power and authority over all things, but caught by the one who has the love to bother reaching out for us in the first place.  In those moments of our sinking into the depths, we find ourselves being saved by the hand of God, the man Jesus Christ who loves us to the point of saving us. 

My brothers and sisters in Christ, if we possess such a Savior, with love to match his power.  Then let us be not disciples of little faith watching only the waves and the wind.  Let us become disciples of a greater faith watching only Christ.  Let us not sink into the depths of fear, but let us sink into the depths of Jesus Christ.  Let us choose more faith, and less fear.

Mark 4:26-29

²⁶He also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, ²⁷and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. ²⁸The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. ²⁹But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.”

We live in a technological world with wonders and blessings.  Whether we talk about the technology that refrigerates or cooks our food, or the technology that allows a wi-fi connection in our cars, or the technology that allows us to travel to Mars and Venus, we will in a world of tremendous blessings thanks to technology.  But do we as the users of that technology understand and comprehend how these things work?  Do we understand the properties of freon in our fridges or the thermodynamics in an air fryer?  Do we comprehend the infrared waves of a wireless connection or the physics behind interstellar travel?  We might partake of these technologies, but do we understand and know how they work?

So too is it with the Kingdom of God.  As those baptized into Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit we live in and enjoy the wonders and blessings of the Kingdom of God, but do we understand how and see the progress of that same Kingdom?  We do not understand the laws of statics and dynamics in physics, but we enjoy cars and planes.  We do not understand how the Kingdom of God grows and progresses, but we enjoy the wonders and blessings, nonetheless.

In the parable of the seed, the Sower sows the seed on the ground and then time would pass, the seed would grow, and he does not know how.  Many ministers and preachers over the years have preached the Word of God and this is most likely the idea behind the sowing of the seed.  But at the Word has been preached and heard, No one knows how that Word does its work or its result.  Some people respond to that Word, and some people are irritated and offended by that same Word.  That Word will change the lives of some that hear it and in the lives of others it will ricochet like a rubber ball on a hard surface. 

Perhaps the good news of the parable is that God alone activates and implements His own Kingdom.  The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head.  The progress and growth of the Kingdom lies alone in God’s purview as the earth alone produces the crop from the seed.  The Sower must watch and wait.  This can be good and bad.  The earth will always grow the seed, God will always grow the Kingdom.  No human must progress the Kingdom or advance the Kingdom, God alone bears the ability and the responsibility to advance the Kingdom.  And since God alone progress it, the Kingdom will always progress.

When it comes to the progress of the Kingdom, we as the citizens of God’s Kingdom have a two-fold problem: timing and control.  We want progress now, but God’s Kingdom progresses when God wants it.  God is patient and takes time to progress the Kingdom.  We are not patient, and we want it now and we want our progress in chunks not in tiny steps.  The other problem is control: we want our results and not God’s.  We want vengeance not justice.  We want favoritism, not free grace for all.  We want pride not humility.  We want prosperity not blessings.  We want… not gratitude that God gives.  Progress now, and my kingdom not God’s.

But perhaps the more sinister problem we face is not the temptation to play God and control the growth and progress of a kingdom not our own, but the temptation to see the world degenerating instead of progressing and to trip headlong into despair and despondency.  The famer does not know how the Kingdom grows, and when we cannot understand how God’s Kingdom can grow when our world is decaying, we despair.  The earth produces the crop, and when we see no results or progress without our senses and cannot hasten that growth despite our efforts, we lose heart.  The Kingdom cannot be seen to grow, and we cannot help it do so.  This happens and we lose hope. 

My friends, the good news of God’s Gospel is that even when we cannot see God’s invisible Kingdom and even when we cannot aid God’s Kingdom that seems to be deteriorating, we neither need to or can do anything about it.  God alone bears the responsibility and the capacity to not only progress the growth of God’s Kingdom when it does not look it is or to preserve His Kingdom, when it is taking on water.  And because the responsibility rests on God, His Kingdom will endure, and His Kingdom will be finished.  We may not know how, nor the ability must speed things up, but we can merely enjoy the blessings of having the Kingdom.  In plain words, we must learn to wait in faith, and hope in the Work and Nature of our God.  The Sower had to wait and to trust in the earth.  We must wait and trust in God. 

Ezekiel 37:1-14
¹The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. ²He led me all round them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. ³He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” ⁴Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. ⁵Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. ⁶I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord. ⁷So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. ⁸I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. ⁹Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” ¹⁰I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude. ¹¹Then he said to me, “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’ ¹²Therefore prophesy, and say to them, thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. ¹³And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. ¹⁴I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.”

My grass is starting to turn brown.  We are at that point, perhaps a little early in the season, where drought starts to happen and things that depend on the rain start to turn brown and dried up.  This is good news for having to mow grass, but perhaps not so good news for our water bills as we must daily water our gardens and fill our swimming pools.

This idea of being dried up and brown can also happen to us.  We can easily become dehydrated of our life and light, and even our fluids if the temperature is warm enough, through the difficulties and circumstances of our situations in life.  We can lose the passion for a full life.  We can lose the ambition to seize the day instead sitting in our easy chairs watching television.  We can lose our light and zest for the resurrected life by the increasing chaos of our society.  We can lose our faith for discipleship by the overwhelming changes to our life together.  The changes in our worship, the adjustments in our community, and the transitions in our families can easily dry us out and leave us without life, light, and love.

When this happens, we are exactly like Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dried bones, mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.  Our minds need no stretch of the imagination, to see ourselves like Israel as a people dried up from life, to perceive ourselves as a society where hope is lost, to identify ourselves as a people cut off completely from God and each other.  Perhaps the factor that consumes our motivations and energies is the pandemic, or perhaps the social upheaval, or even the poor economy, but we can relate to the valley of dry bones, because like them we are dried up and brown, hopeless, and despairing and isolated and insulated from those we love.  We are the dry bones.

Just as God spoke to them through Ezekiel so too it is with us.  Ezekiel spoke hope and life into their death, we could use some too.  I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live.  When our Spirits are at their driest and life is scarce and light and hope nonexistent, this is when the God who creates out of nothing breathes life in again.  When we are and have nothing, God is at God’s greatest, by filling us with the Spirit of Christ and the dead come to life.  Bones to Bones with tendons connecting, tissue surrounding organs, skin covering muscles and ultimately breath indwelling us, the dried up and brown, is renewed and restored to life.  A valley of bones through God’s Spirit became a valley of living people; a church of tired and lifeless walking dead, through the same Spirit of God become a community of living and loving people. 

Like Israel we also are not left in the valley of defeat.  The purpose of resurrecting God’s people. was so that they might have the place God has chosen for them, and I will place you on your own soil.  For Israel that soil was the promised land of Canaan, which Babylon had conquered. For us it might not be literal soil, perhaps it will be, but the soil to which God has chosen for us is the Kingdom of God.  The entire creation is now God’s soil and all of ground and water and sky is once again returned into and under the Power and Reign of God; to give each of us a place and a purpose in this world.  As God’s stewards, we have been given life to be responsible and care for that life before God, to bring God glory. 

That Glory to which we are destined for is a knowledge that Yahweh is God, and we are merely his creatures, then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.  We are not self-created, self-determined, or self-ruled, we are creatures in the hands of a Loving and Almighty Creator.  When we are brought back to life by the Breath of the Creator, the only conclusion we may have is that God alone creates; we did not bring ourselves back to life.  When we are given purpose and hope by the Election of the Creator, the only knowledge we may have is that God alone determines and chooses; we did not determine and choose our places.  When we are given discipleship and community by the Love of the Creator, the only attitude we may have is that God alone rules and sustains; we do not rule or sustain God.  God is Creator and we are created.

My friends, we can all experience and relate to the valley of bones and perhaps that metaphor best describes us right now.  But the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that God will put Jesus’ Spirit within us, and we will live and we will be given a place and position in God’s Kingdom.  Through Grace and Power God can turn us from a corpse pile to a living, and loving community.  God did it for Israel, God is doing and will continue to do it for his Church.  All for purpose that all might know that Yahweh is God and God is for us.  Let us begin our resurrection from dried up and hopeless bones, to living, and joyous disciples on their way to God’s Glory.  Amen.