Pastor's Ponderings: Meandering through Mark 2:1-12 bible study (September 5, 2023)

May the richest blessing of our Father in Heaven fill your lives today!

I pray that you had a wonderful Labor Day and were able to do the things that you desired to do. I hope that you were not at the Burning Man Festival outside of Reno, NV. I hope that you will join me in prayer for the drivers of our community. Every day as I bring the boys to school downtown, I am encountered by people driving who feel that traffic lights, speed limits, using turn signals, making legal left turns, holding a lane until by signal one can move to the lane next to them and so much more. I know that I am an older driver, but I am really a very conscientious driver who watches my speed, regards red lights as a signal to STOP! and so many other rules of the road. Since the pandemic year it has gotten really rough to drive anywhere. Please work to be a good driver, to be a blessing to other drivers around you, and to be forgiving of others who seem to not care about their own safety or ours.

Today we move on to chapter 2 of the Gospel of Mark bible study. Let's start by looking at the other three Gospels to see how this story appears or doesn't appear in them. In Matthew 9:1-8 we have a very similar story, though somewhat abbreviated. In Matthew the man is brought to Jesus, but not through the roof of His family's home. In Luke the story of the paralytic is nearly identical to Mark's. It is found in Luke 5:17-26. A similar story is found in John 5:1-9a. However, in John the ministry encounter with the paralytic takes place in Jerusalem at the Pool of Siloam. The emotion of this story is much like the other three Gospels. As you can see, John is often different in its content and approach to its parallels with the other Gospels. And, it is entirely possible that there were two occasions on which Jesus encountered a paralytic being cared for, at least in part, by relatives or friends in different places in Israel. According to Mark these four men were determined to get this paralytic to Jesus, the only one who had the power to affect a miracle of healing, so much so, that they tore into the flat roof of the house, where cross beams were three to four feet apart and filled with grasses, branches, and clay. The Bible doesn't tell us who got to repair that roof. That fact was unimportant to Christ's mission to reveal the true nature of God to the people of God in Israel. In this passage in Mark, we learn that the house of Jesus was probably pretty humble. In all likelihood its door opened right onto the street, so, once the house was filled with people, others filled the street in front of the house too. Have you ever been to a block party, or a concert in Reid Park? This mass of people came to Jesus to receive healing, but they got so much more than that. In Christ they discovered a person of hospitality and compassion, willing to welcome strangers into His home, and ready to take care of all who gathered around Him. We also discover that the burden of sin is greater than we might ever think, it not only affects the one against whom the sin is committed, but the sinner must carry the load of their own brokenness with them all day, every day. So, the nature of the Father that Jesus reveals to all who are gathered there is to offer the paralytic forgiveness, to share that God is no longer angry with the paralytic. Please know that in the culture of Jesus' time people saw illness as the result of sin. We see that most vividly in John's story of the man born blind. John 9:1-38. However, we see here too that sinfulness has burdened this paralytic, at the very least with the probable emotional issues linked to sin and health, but also the possibility that this man's health circumstances were related to his own understanding of his sin. Today we understand that such illnesses can be caused by deep psychosis. In other words, linked to the thinking of the time that his sin became such a burden that the man lost his mobility. In the face of all of this, the very next thing we learn about God from Jesus is that he desires and brings to reality forgiveness of sin. The historic understanding of the people of Israel about the nature of God is all about His anger, His readiness to judge, and even more frightening, his desire to punish. Jesus came to reveal the true nature of the Father in Heaven. The commentator, William Barclay, offers a wonderful way to see all of this. "Child, God is not angry with you. Come home, and don't be afraid." (The Prodigal Son) We all need to know this in our own lives too.

GOD FORGIVES!

Now there were Pharisees present in this group of people who had gathered to be healed. That makes really good sense since Jesus had just been touring area Synagogues. Like others, the leaders from those communities had come along with their people. What we encounter now is that hard heartedness that the religious leaders of Jesus's day had historically learned and who had an agenda of not moving from the God who was brutal and hard to please, to the One True God which Jesus revealed as loving and forgiving. Their argument was that only God could forgive sin. In that thinking they were losing sight of the Messiah, and who was walking in their midst, Jesus, the Son of the Most Holy High God. Like so many people today, the contemporaries of Jesus could not understand. As Jesus said, "They were the blind leading the blind." Knowing that this conversation was going on, Jesus asked the men of the law, which was easier, to forgive someone their sin, or to say to them to pick up their pallet and walk away home. And then Jesus said to the paralytic, take up your bed and walk out of here. The community was shocked, with surprise at Jesus teaching and His desire to heal. But it must also have been the very beginning of religious leaders being concerned about the power of Jesus, and His ability. After all, to follow Jesus would mean giving up their wealth and growing power. You and I must always remember that the choice to live in sin is pretty easy and self-serving, but the journey toward righteous, seeking to live according to the Grace which Christ lives, is not easy. Just something to think about.

I will be back with you on Monday, Sept 11, 2023, with the next section of Mark.

In Christ, Pastor Kim

Pastor's Ponderings: Meandering through Mark 1:40-45 bible study (August 29, 2023)

Dear Ones in Christ, on this day of record heat, please take good care of yourselves by remaining inside as much as is possible and staying hydrated throughout the day. Pray for all of the folks who have no opportunity to get into a protective setting due to their life circumstances. Please also pray for the people of Florida as they prepare to suffer the power of a strengthening hurricane, its winds and water surge. Give thanks for living in the desert. Yes, it is hot sometimes, but there are so many in our world who are suffering due to the climatological changes which we have all played a part in causing. May God have mercy and guide us to the necessary solutions to deal with this crisis, and may we have the heart and a willingness to turn things around. Remember that we have Gospel Music this Sunday on the third of September, and after service we will gather for a southern comfort food potluck lunch in the parish hall.

Today we are in the final verses of chapter one of the Gospel of Mark bible study. (40-45) The telling of this early ministry interaction of Jesus with a leper is also recorded in Matthew 8:1-4, and Luke 5:12-16. There is no comparable offering in the Gospel of John. This is a case where the source material in these three Gospels is nearly identical. Though Scholars are fairly certain that Mark was the first written, there is still uncertainty in scholarly circles about the possibility of Matthew having sourced Mark. Luke, written in a much later time, and written by a Gentile, was not considered as the source of this passage.

At the time of Jesus, leprosy was considered a communicable condition. So, an amazing thing in this passage is that Jesus reaches out and touches this person. Christ is not worried about his own safety, rather he is moved by His compassion for all of the suffering of those who are ill, suffering from the illness and from the lack of understanding in their own culture and people. It is important for us to note that Jesus does not say here that it was the faith of the leper which brought healing, yet it is very clear from the text that the leper trusted that only Jesus could bring him healing. At the beginning of the AIDS health crisis, I was an intern at St John's Lutheran, Des Moines, IA. On Wednesday evenings we held what was called Super Wednesday, a time for education, fellowship, food, and confirmation classes in the congregation. Gerry was a man in the congregation who worked the parish hall kitchen preparing food for many of these mid-week’s church gatherings. Gerry fell ill and was hospitalized for a long period of time at IA Methodist Hospital in Des Moines. Just an aside, we also had a Lutheran General Hospital in Des Moines. When I went to see Gerry in the hospital, he was in really rough condition. There was no acknowledged diagnosis for his illness, but later we all understood that he was suffering with an early case of AIDS. At the visit, I held Gerry's hand and we prayed for healing for this unknown enemy of Gerry's health. His comment to me was how thankful he was for my willingness to touch him hand to hand. He told me that no one would touch him skin to skin. Just like Jesus, it was my touch of love and hope that brought Gerry the greatest relief. Imagine the leper, no one would get near him, and yet here is this Galilean preacher and teacher, ready and willing to offer physical touch and healing for him. Both this passage and my personal experience with Gerry still bring tears to my eyes this morning. Jesus did something which no one was willing to do for fear of their own isolation from family, friends, work, and the faith community. In our communities today there are still too many who live without that loving touch of the people of Christ! I am not suggesting that this is an easy thing to do. Of course, it has its dangers for those of us who choose to do it. After all, is this not where are faith takes us as we journey in our lives with Jesus.

One of the next things that Jesus tells the healed leper to do is to go show himself to the priests, and to take the prescribed measures to show that he is truly healed. The prescription for proof was as follows:

Leviticus 14: Be examined by the priest. Two birds were taken, and one was killed over running water. In addition, one must use cedar, scarlet and hyssop. These three things and the live bird were dipped in the blood of the dead bird. After this the living bird was allowed to go free. The one previously infected by leprosy must wash himself, his clothing, and shave. After seven days the man would return to be re-examined by the priest. Then he was to shave his hair, his head, his eyebrows, after which two unblemished lambs were sacrificed, a ram and an ewe. Then three tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil and one log of oil. The restored leper was to be touched on the tip of the right ear with this mixture, and the right thumb, and the right big toe. Examined once again and cleared by the priests the leper would receive a certificate of health. I know that this seems really primitive, but we must remember that it came from the time of the wilderness wandering at the command of Moses.

In this passage we see Jesus accepting into his presence this unclean man who had broken Jewish law to even approach Jesus, or to talk to Him. In the face of this man's desperation Jesus offered Holy Compassion and love for his wholeness. For Jesus the leper was not unclean, he was one of God's children in need of help and healing.

We might think that there was no need for the leper who was healed to go through the routine which the law required, but Jesus knew that without the conventions of the law the man would never be accepted back into his community. Jesus knew the man needed to submit to these ancient rules for restoration. Christ came into all of these circumstances with compassion, power, and wisdom. We need this very same compassion, power, and wisdom in our interactions with the world of brokenness that surrounds us all. May God bless you this day and always with His Love.

In Christ, Pastor Kim

Pastor's Ponderings: Meandering through Mark 1:32-39 bible study (August 28, 2023)

Grace and Peace to you the children of the Holy One Most High, our God and Father in Heaven.

Good morning to you all. Please continue your prayers for the people of Maui, Hawaii.  We learned this last week that our member Kandice K lost two students to the fire.  Pray for their families and the staff of the school where these children were students this year.  You can make a contribution to the disaster relief fund of the ELCA which can be designated for aid to Maui.  The Church continues to be one of the most effective ways to get your gifts to those you desire to receive them.

Today we continue our journey through chapter one of the Gospel of Mark bible study.  In verses 32-34 we see the issues for those who are critically in need of care, especially on the Sabbath for the Jews.  Their Sabbath was from 6PM Friday evening until 6PM on Saturday evening.  You may wonder how they knew the exact time for the close of the Sabbath limitations since the sun sets at a variety of times depending on the time of the year.  For the Jews 6PM came when you could see three stars in the night sky.  Obviously, the times for the end of the Sabbath varied greatly.  But in our reading for today, that explains why Jesus found it necessary to open the doors of Peter's home at night.  At this time when people could get out to help their family, friends, and neighbors get to health care, they came to Jesus in droves, keeping him busy throughout the night.  The local word was out about the healing of the man in the synagogue earlier in the day, and now everyone was coming to receive this most amazing opportunity to have their illnesses or to have "demons" expunged from their lives.  There is such a presence of evil in the world of people.  All we have to do is to look at the photo of the young man whose life was filled with hatred for people of color in Jacksonville, FL.  What is it that fills such a person's heart and mind with hatred for people with whom he has never had interaction.  I am convinced that there is an evil that fills the void in some hearts when the goodness and grace of Jesus Christ is not present in any way.  We have seen it way to many times over the recent years of our lives.  Some of it is even done in the name of God!  The present evil in the world will use any thing to validate itself and its manifestation in the lives of people. (By the way, this is SIN.  We can never blame some outside force for the SINS that we commit.)  What we must remember is that Jesus brought into the lives of people of the community an opportunity to experience the fulness of God's Grace and Love for His children.  He fulfilled in His call God's desire to rebuild a righteous relationship with His people, and the people were starving for their faith to be fed with God's love through Jesus Christ.  So they came, and came, and came to Him to receive what no one else could give them.  Jesus healed at the synagogue, he healed in the privacy of Peter's home, and now in this passage he heals the masses of the village where He is.  Jesus was always ready to meet the need of anyone who He encountered.  He didn't help some and not others, because He knew in His omnipotence the ones who would come to faith and those who would quickly fall away from Him.  He healed all who came.  Jesus fully understood the universality of human need!  The beginning of the great tragedy was here already.  The people came to Jesus because of what He would do for them, not out of love for God's Only Begotten Son.  For you and me there is a mutuality in our relationship with Christ.  Living lives of thanksgiving comes from loving the Savior of the World.  We look to Christ not only for what we can receive, but for His guidance and Grace for what we can do to further the Kingdom which He brings to all of humankind, and indeed, all of God's creation.  The question remains, where did all of these who were healed with such miraculous Grace go?  They got what they wanted for the immediate moment of life, with no thought to how to receive every day the provision of Christ for living their lives.

In chapter one of Mark, verses 35-39, we can see the fulness of Christ's humanity.  In Him there is no endless energy, His faith needs replenishing too.  Jesus must have some moment in His continual building of His relationship with His Father in Heaven as he sets out to take His ministry of Light and Truth and Love into the world.  I think that we find it difficult to accept the fact that Jesus sometimes needed to get away for prayer to be re energized for the work which lay ahead of Him.  But here, very early in Mark's Gospel we see the first of what will be a number of such opportunities of which Christ avails Himself.  I know that there are times in my life when I need to have a break.  I really look forward to those times, perhaps vacation opportunities, but by their end I am energized and ready to come back with renewed zeal for God's call on my life to serve the Gospel.  In His humanity Jesus also got exhausted and needed some moments ( and that's all He usually got) for prayer and renewal of His resolve to carry on in His ministry.  We see in this passage how brief those moments were.  The disciples sought him to return him to Peter's home to continue healing the masses who were assembling there.  The purpose of prayer is not just for asking, but for renewing our strength to do the work that yet lies before us.  At 73 years I feel like I have so much more to do to fully answer God's call on my life to serve the Light and Truth, and Love of my Savior and your Savior.  This is still the task that excites me in my life.   I hope that we all remember the saying, "May the words of my mouth, and the actions of my life be pleasing in Your Sight O Lord!"  This is an every day kind of prayer which takes us to new opportunities  for Christ's work on earth.  This is what we see Jesus doing in this passage as He tells the disciples that it is now time for them to head off to other villages along Galilee to

1. preach and heal,

2. to minister to body and soul,

3. to unite the will of earth and heaven. 

This certainly sounds like a huge task, and it was.  You and I participate in these kinds of ministry goals by coming to worship, hearing the Word, and living our lives in ways that fulfill God's desire for abundant living, (Peanut Butter for the food pantry. CROP, and more).

In Wednesday's study we will discover what it is that God hopes for our love in the world. God bless and keep you. 

With Love in Christ,   Pastor Kim