This weekend Mark's Gospel presents us with another (long but) intriguing passage: Mark 7:1-23. I would love to know some of your thoughts and impressions. I believe the questions we're asking are as important as any of the answers we find.
The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were “unclean,” that is, unwashed.
(The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.) Mark 7:1-4
So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with ‘unclean’ hands?” He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’ You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.” Mark 7:5-8
And he said to them: “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’ But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: ‘Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban’ (that is, a gift devoted to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.” Mark 7:9-13
Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a man can make him ‘unclean’ by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him ‘unclean.’” After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. Mark 7:14-17
“Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him ‘unclean’? For it doesn’t go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods “clean.”) He went on: “What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’ For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’” Mark 7:18-23
Comment below or email me (steve@rvcc.net)
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Friday, February 23, 2007
Worth Dying For
Just finished Rob Bell's newest book, "Sex God:Exploring the Endless Connections between Sexuality and Spirituality." The "Worth Dying For" chapter is worth the price of the book. This chapter is absolutely a prerequisite for anyone considering marriage. I'm thinking this IS my future source for counseling with engaged couples. I'd been thinking Bell couldn't top "Velvet Elvis", now, I'm thinking he just did.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Walking on Water
This weekend at Rver Valley Community Church, the journey through the Gospel of Mark continues with this passage:
"Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida,
while he dismissed the crowd. Mark 6:45
After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray. Mark 6:46
When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. Mark 6:47
He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, Mark 6:48
but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, Mark 6:49
because they all saw him and were terrified. ¶ Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” Mark 6:50 Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed,
Mark 6:51 for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.
When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. Mark 6:53
As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. Mark 6:54
They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. Mark 6:55
And wherever he went — into villages, towns or countryside — they placed the sick in the marketplaces.
They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed." Mark 6:56
What questions do have about this passage?
What strikes you as strange or unusual?
Comment...and I'll try to address your questions this Sunday
"Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida,
while he dismissed the crowd. Mark 6:45
After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray. Mark 6:46
When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. Mark 6:47
He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, Mark 6:48
but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, Mark 6:49
because they all saw him and were terrified. ¶ Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” Mark 6:50 Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed,
Mark 6:51 for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.
When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. Mark 6:53
As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. Mark 6:54
They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. Mark 6:55
And wherever he went — into villages, towns or countryside — they placed the sick in the marketplaces.
They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed." Mark 6:56
What questions do have about this passage?
What strikes you as strange or unusual?
Comment...and I'll try to address your questions this Sunday
A Prayer for Dante
While watching my son's first round sectional basketball game at SouthEastern High School last night...suddenly, a buzz of excitement washed through the crowded gymnasium. Curiously, it had nothing to do with the action on the court. No...heads were turning and much pointing and gawking were happening because...DANTE had arrived. That is Dante (pronounced DAN-tay) the senior basketball phenom for the #1 ranked Greenfield McClain Tigers. Dante is the STAR of a very good McClain team that is poised to bring basketball glory via a state championship to the Greenfield faithful. He has already made a verbal commitment to continue his basketball career at Xaiver University next season. Dante appeared to me to be quite gracious as he made his way to where his buddies were seated in the far corner of the gym. Young boys were mesmerized by this sighting of Ohio basketball royalty. Old men got up from their seats, shook his hand, and smiled for the camaras. (Meanwhile, there was a basketball game being played) Oh yeah, my son's team is winning. I was stunned by all the hoopla surrounding Dante's entrance; I still have not seen him do ANYTHING yet with a basketball. All he did last night was walk across the room.
In all fairness, it was a pretty good walk.
But, later, on the way home from the ballgame, I couldn't help thinking:
"For crying out loud...Dante is just a 17 year old KID!"
I can't imagine being 17 and walking into a gym full of people who all know who you are (or think they do)...though they've never actually met you. Pretty heady stuff.
How do you live up to those kind of expectations?
What's it like "under the microscope"?
How can you tell if these new "friends" are genuine or if they have their own agendas?
What if you don't feel like shaking hands and smiling today...does that make you a jerk?
Did I mention that Dante is 17? And that, by all appearances...looks like a pretty typical kid from a small midwestern town; except, apparantly...on the court, he can do MAGIC with the basketball.
So, anyway, in a perhaps strange way...Dante made me think of Jesus. Not quite the 33-34 year old Jesus dying on the Execution Stake or walking out of the Tomb. Not that one, yet. But more like the 30-31 year old Jesus...the one first challenging some fishermen to follow him, then later, casting out some demons and raising a few people from the dead. That's the one. The one in Mark's Gospel traveling from village to village, followed by the ever-growing crowds...with all the diverse expectations and motivations...and agendas.
It just seems like such a precarious place to be; all the 'neediness', the wide-eyed stares, slack jaws, and impatient requests.
It just seems like such a long way to potentially fall.
It must seem like someone---any one of them---is just waiting to nail you.
Meanwhile...Dante just keeps smiling.
In all fairness, it was a pretty good walk.
But, later, on the way home from the ballgame, I couldn't help thinking:
"For crying out loud...Dante is just a 17 year old KID!"
I can't imagine being 17 and walking into a gym full of people who all know who you are (or think they do)...though they've never actually met you. Pretty heady stuff.
How do you live up to those kind of expectations?
What's it like "under the microscope"?
How can you tell if these new "friends" are genuine or if they have their own agendas?
What if you don't feel like shaking hands and smiling today...does that make you a jerk?
Did I mention that Dante is 17? And that, by all appearances...looks like a pretty typical kid from a small midwestern town; except, apparantly...on the court, he can do MAGIC with the basketball.
So, anyway, in a perhaps strange way...Dante made me think of Jesus. Not quite the 33-34 year old Jesus dying on the Execution Stake or walking out of the Tomb. Not that one, yet. But more like the 30-31 year old Jesus...the one first challenging some fishermen to follow him, then later, casting out some demons and raising a few people from the dead. That's the one. The one in Mark's Gospel traveling from village to village, followed by the ever-growing crowds...with all the diverse expectations and motivations...and agendas.
It just seems like such a precarious place to be; all the 'neediness', the wide-eyed stares, slack jaws, and impatient requests.
It just seems like such a long way to potentially fall.
It must seem like someone---any one of them---is just waiting to nail you.
Meanwhile...Dante just keeps smiling.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
God Wears Lipstick
Arriving on my doorstep (surprise!) today, the long awaited follow-up to Velvet Elvis.
"Our first need is not for people to fix our problems. People who charge in and have all the answers and try to make things right without first joining us in our pain generally annoy us, or worse yet, they push us away. They have nothing to give us. The God that Jesus points us to is not a god who stands at a distance wringing his hands and saying, 'if only you'd listened to me.'
This is the God who holds out his hands and asks: 'Would you like to see the holes where the nails went? Would that help?
The Cross is where we present our wounds to God and say, 'Here, you take them.'"
-Rob Bell, Sex God
...and we shall keep reading...
"Our first need is not for people to fix our problems. People who charge in and have all the answers and try to make things right without first joining us in our pain generally annoy us, or worse yet, they push us away. They have nothing to give us. The God that Jesus points us to is not a god who stands at a distance wringing his hands and saying, 'if only you'd listened to me.'
This is the God who holds out his hands and asks: 'Would you like to see the holes where the nails went? Would that help?
The Cross is where we present our wounds to God and say, 'Here, you take them.'"
-Rob Bell, Sex God
...and we shall keep reading...
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
DeColores!
WOW !!! My Emmaus weekend was all that I thought it would be...and MORE. ....check it out HERE. One friend descibed a certain aspect of the weekend as "a brief glimpse of Heaven"...yes, indeed. And a 'longer view' of intentional community, repentance, forgiveness, and discipleship. Thanks to Alan Cook, Marty Ford, Mason Good, and my sponsor, Eli Ruggles, and quite a few others...for all their momentum and encouragement.
Thursday, February 8, 2007
Off to Emmaus
Waiting for my friend Eli to pick me up and deliver me to Trinity UMC in Chillicothe for Emmaus Walk weekend. Prayer for me (please) to have a significant encounter with Jesus...and my new friends I will meet. To my family: Jaki, Mason, Carter, and Landre---I love you and miss you. See you Sunday evening...
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Plan B
Jaki and I were holding FREE tickets to a concert in Columbus for tonight...but...1/2 foot of snow and sub-freezing temperatures persuaded us to stay home by the fire, eating peach pie with coffee. Oh well...
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