Pastor's Ponderings: Meandering through Mark 46-52 bible study (June 18, 2024)

June 18, 2024:  Tuesday Bible Study on the Gospel of Mark 10: 46-52

Good morning to in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I hope that you have been remembering to read Psalm 130 at night before bed, and that upon rising in the morning, one of the first things you are doing is giving thanks for God for the joy that we all know in Jesus Christ. I hope that you had a wonderful day of giving thanks for your father, and if possible, that he was with you for the celebration, or that you celebrated your memories of Dad who has become one of God's triumphant servants in His heavenly kingdom. You might also be a person who had no loving relationship with your father, or your memories of him are not good and healthy. If that is the case, you can always celebrate the person who took on that role in your life. There is always a way to realize joy on a day like Father's Day because our Lord and Savior is also in that day with us.

Today we move on in chapter 10 of the Gospel of Mark and we are looking at verses 46-52. Today we find that Jesus and His Disciples are moving toward Jerusalem, with some degree of haste, because they are going there to celebrate the Passover. On their way, they, along with other pilgrims, are passing through Jericho. It's just a good walk of one day from there to Jerusalem.  The two cities are just twelve miles apart. In Jesus' time, and for this mandated celebration if you lived within 12 miles of the Temple, there were about 22,000 priests who would serve at the Temple caring for the thousands of pilgrims who would arrive there. The priests were divided into 26 groups to serve, but there may have been many in Jericho who had heard that this  upstart prophet would be passing through Jericho on His way to the Passover, and it seems that everyone was very curious, curious enough to line the streets of the city just to get a glimpse of Jesus passing through in the midst of the rest of those who were headed to Jerusalem.  When we realize the size of the pilgrim parade, and the numbers of people along the road, it is a real wonder that blind Bartimaeus would have any hope of being seen or heard in the din of so many who were out that day. However, when he hears that Jesus is walking past, he begins to yell and yell and yell to get His attention. Somehow his voice is heard by the Lord. Perhaps this happens because this is an opportunity for Jesus to confront all of the naysayers who are around him.  He will, by His Words, set Bartimaeus free from his blindness. This time, the Word of Jesus is met by the faith of this blind person. In his persistence Bartimaeus is called to come to Jesus. He flings off his loose garments and bounds out of the crowd to Jesus who asks him what he needs Jesus to do for him. I am certain that Jesus already knows, but for the sake of the thousands who are there along the street, and those who are pilgrims walking, there must be an answer to this question of this unclean blind person. Bartimaeus makes it short and to the point. "My prayer is that I might see again." Recognizing his faith, though it is offered with a faulty theology about who Jesus is, Jesus speaks to him, and his blindness is gone. How important it is to realize that we don't have to be right about everything theologically about Jesus, we need to have the faith that the Holy Spirit has nurtured in us and gifted to us.  Please note that Bartimaeus did not hesitate when Jesus called him. There was no, "Just give me a few minutes to get ready, then I will come to you."  When we hear the call of our Lord, our faith gift will call us to immediate action. I know that when Breonna, Kurt, and I received our calls to prepare for ordained ministry, our focus was to do everything necessary to move that call forward in our lives looking to the goal of our ordinations and God's call to serve the Gospel in the midst of His children in a church. For Bartimaeus there was no running home to show his family that he had been healed, he didn't circulate among the people journeying to Jerusalem.   There was only one priority in his life - He had to follow Jesus! We may not know how all of that became a part of the proclamation of Christ's Life, Death, and Resurrection, but we can be confident that the blind man of Jericho didn't quit!  His life was filled with gratitude for the healing that Christ had given him. What about us? We have all been healed of our sin by Christ's actions. I know that the church has become more gray than ever before, but we must remember that we are the living Christ on earth, and others who are younger than us need to see the example which we offer, of cherishing our Lord and His Living Presence with us every day as we live by His Word, loving God above all else, and loving our neighbors (that's everyone) as we love ourselves.

Thanks for being with me today - In Christ's Love, Pastor Kim

Pastor's Ponderings: Meandering through Mark 10:41-45 bible study (June 17, 2024)

June 17, 2024:  Monday Bible Study on the Gospel of Mark 10:41-45

Good morning and may Christ's Love for you bring you hope and strong faith from now on and forever.

In case you were not at church this past Sunday, I am going to give you a brief update of the bishop’s election at the Synod Assembly on Friday. The first ballot for the election for bishop required a 75% majority of legal ballots cast to be elected. (201 was the count needed for election.) The first ballot was announced just before the noon break. Bishop Deborah Hutterer was elected on the first ballot by a vote of 201! The assembly erupted in affirmation for her ministry. I must admit it was a very exciting experience. Please continue to remember in your prayers Kandice Kartchner and her wife Lisa, as well as Alexis who is with them and is working hard to support the financial needs of this family group. Prayers too for Jeff Hovelson, who is also suffering with cancer. His current regimen of treatment has reduced his tumors by 30% during these past six months. Please also keep me and Steve in your prayers as we are afflicted with prostate cancer. I thank God for your prayer support every day!

In our reading from Mark 10:41-45 we find ourselves in the midst of quite a difficult time for the disciples. James and John have clearly requested a position of authority and power over all of them after Jesus meets His demise in Jerusalem. This could be the act that breaks this group of disciples apart after Christ's death, and we shouldn't be surprised that this kind of thing would come up, but in His teaching, Jesus has an answer for them.  Once again, he tells the disciples a Truth that they must own if they really plan to make it after Jesus is gone. It is clear that they still understand the Messiah as that powerful mighty king of the Jews who will reign over them with earthly power and authority. But Jesus once again makes it clear that there is only true power in being the suffering servant who gives all He is to the world. A truly great leader must be humble of heart and look to how others may be cared for through sacrifice. That is certainly not what James and John were looking for. Greatness only comes through love and sacrifice and service to others. And greatness can only come with this very humble service. Many people who look at Jesus from outside of a relationship of the heart and head, see only the waste of such great power, but for you and me, as the faithful few, this power of love and sacrifice makes Jesus the greatest we will ever know and experience.  In our nation today one of the issues is that people, and some of them are a part of the Church of Christ, yet they are looking for the same thing that James and John were, Power through wealth and authority through turning our democracy into a theocracy, that is a nation governed by the religious right.  (conservatives and orthodox) These Christian Nationalists think and act just like James and John. But unlike James and John who have asked for more than is their due, the conservative church is hungry to continue this drive for all that power and authority might bring to them. The great question here is, "How can we do what Jesus suggests as the Truth of God for our lives of service with humility?"  It starts by listening to the Word, and hearing the words of love that Christ brings for the humility that we turn to in order to serve others. The whole Church suffers because of the greed and hunger for power over others that the Christian Nationalist are really looking for. The greatest weapon for authentic Christians is love. You really cannot love someone without being humble before them and on their behalf, showing Christ's Love for them through our words and actions too. Who do you want as your pastor, the pastoral model of authority by ruling even over the church council like only the pastor's word is any good, or do you want the pastor who shows by his or her gentle love through sacrifice and compassion that you are more important than they are?  If we really understand this relationship with Jesus, we must know that we come to Christ by the power of His compassionate will, and the gift of the Spirit, who has called us to accept and believe in the Savior. He is the servant of all people. Who is the car mechanic that you choose to let work on your car? Is it the bully in the car shop who acts like you are witless and takes advantage of you or is it the person who acts with compassion and is willing to go the extra mile? I use a certain shop because one day the lower rubber faring pulled off my bumper on the little Ford we drive. I pulled into the shop and the owner came out crawled under the front of the car, and hooked it back up, and did a temporary repair so I could still drive the car. Oh yes, his half hour of work to do this was free of charge! There is no doubt that this is my mechanic, and, indeed, we have Melody's car there today for some work. I trust this shop because of their willing hearts to serve others. We really do need to remember that the humble service of Jesus Christ is our model for our lives. Thank you for joining in this study this morning. We need to be the church who serves all people.

With Love in Christ, Pastor Kim

Pastor's Ponderings: Old Testament bible study on Nehemiah (June 13, 2024)

June 13, 2024:  Thursday Bible Study on the Old Testament book of Nehemiah

Good cloudy Thursday morning to you in the name, and by the power of the Spirit of our LORD.

None of us come into the new day without the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We may know that the new day holds difficult things with which we must be ready to deal, or, this new day may be filled with expected success after much hard work, or it may be a complete surprise filled with the unexpected, both difficult and joyful. This is kind of a lead-in to our study of Nehemiah for today.  The real message here is that regardless of the character of a particular day, it will all occur with the armor of the LORD surrounding us in every way, and we could never ask for anything greater to be with us. Please pray for the election of the new Grand Canyon Synod bishop at our Grand Canyon Assembly on Friday and Saturday. During assembly we will pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit to guide our deliberations and our final choice. More on Sunday at worship, and if you are not there, I will update you through the Monday morning Bible study on the Gospel of Mark.

Like us, Nehemiah was faced with uncertainty in his days as well. In this passage for today, we discover that the wall has been completed in Jerusalem, but the work that has been done, is pretty minimal. With regards to the protection that the wall provided, it would have been relatively easy to scale, in all likely hood it was less than 8 feet tall, and the gates, though completed, still did not have a door in them, so that every entry into Jerusalem would require that the entire gate would have to be opened.  However, in spite of all of this, the nations around Judah have heard that the Judahites have completed their building project, and now are definitely worried about the power that the people of Jerusalem will wield now that they have returned and completed this necessary work. But in the midst of this completion, there are those in the area of Jerusalem who are really unhappy with the work that has been done. Their businesses may suffer, and also the right that has existed for them to worship their own gods is likely to come to an end. So, they set about a plan to do away with Nehemiah by inviting him to a location halfway between Jerusalem and Samaria. It was distant from Nehemiah's community, and if he consented to this meeting place, it is more than likely that his enemies would have him killed there, and then blame it on bandits or Bedouins. It was obvious as Nehemiah discerned this situation that there were those who felt that to destroy him would be to bring any continuing advance in Jerusalem to a halt. Nehemiah did not go! In fact, he wrote to these enemies of his telling them that he would not participate due to their intended actions against him. So, Nehemiah was faced with those who had generationally objected to any resettlement, and even by his own people. Some communities just outright refused to be involved in the building of the wall and gates for the city, and they were Judahites. In many ways Nehemiah was surrounded by people who didn't want him there, nor did they want Jerusalem to rise up.  Already in Jerusalem there was a leader of the city who was from the line of David. His name was Jerubbabel. (Another possible name for a Taylor male child!  Just kidding.)  And it is clear that the people of Jerusalem had been keeping track of the heirs of Jerubbabel who might rise up to be king from the line of David. But a greater fear for some was that Nehemiah would work his way into being declared king by some prophet in the city. And that would have worked. In fact, his enemies were already trying to use one of their own prophets to destroy Nehemiah's credibility. One of the wonderful things that we learn about Nehemiah is that he knows how to be powerfully forceful, while at the same time, acting with kindness and compassion. He moves the Judahites to build the wall, and while it is happening, he makes certain that loans taken to support those who are working away from the farms or businesses will pay no interest. He also cares for those who are working, providing food and wine every evening at his own cost. God made a really wise choice to lead this rebuilding project. It was God over all things, but it may not have happened without the faith and skills of Nehemiah to negotiate with everyone for the project's success and protection.

It is good to be with you this morning.

With Love in Jesus Christ, Pastor Kim