Pastor's Ponderings: Meandering through Mark 5:35-43 bible study (January 8, 2024)

January 8, 2024

Monday Bible Study on the Gospel Mark 5:35-43

"Do not fear, only believe."

Good morning and may Christ's Blessings and Love fill your life in this new year.

A reminder that American Evangelical Lutheran Church will be 74 years old on January 26 of this year.  We are small but faithful and mighty for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I am asking you to continue your prayers for peace in the middle east and for the Ukraine in their war with Russia.  So many are suffering as the innocents of these wars.  I am praying for the safety of all who are without resources to change their places to live while the war rages around them, and for the strength of hope to grow in their lives while the world still hesitates on how all of the rest of us should be involved in petitioning and working for peace.  Please continue to offer prayers of encouragement for Kandice Kartchner and her wife Lisa as Kandice continues to seek treatments that will be successful in reducing her cancer's advance in her body.

Today we are taking a look at the Jewish approach to grief as the ruler of the synagogue seeks Christ's assistance, which was intervened in Mark by other people seeking Christ's healing at the same time, but eventually Jesus is able to depart with this man and head off to his home to see the man’s daughter who is critically ill and near death.  Christ and the man are followed by masses of people who continue to seek Christ's teaching, and His healing touch.  When they arrive at the scene, the grieving has already started, because the daughter of this man has died.  It is good for us to note that Jesus does not stop his journey to the man's house, instead he is persistent in heading to the man's home.  One thing to note here is that this ruler of the synagogue has a quite different view of the value of this girl child than we might expect.  He has been willing to humble himself and set aside what he might believe about this itinerant preacher and comes to beg for Jesus to come to help his daughter.  In this culture, daughters were definitely less valued than sons.  Considering how Jesus generally felt about children and their faith, we should not be surprised that his choice would be to help this man out. 

Jesus and the ruler of the synagogue arrive at the leader's home to the typical grieving that surrounded the death of a family member.  I am going to take some time to cover what that might mean in terms of practices and "requirements" of the faith community.  Remember, this community sees death as an END.  There was wailing.  In fact, there were professional mourners who set up that wailing at the home so that everyone in the area would know that there was a death.  In addition to the family's grieving, the mourners would tear their clothing, and pull out their hair.  Family members were "required" to wear torn clothing for a month, but after a few weeks it could be loosely repaired, but the tears must remain obvious for the remainder of the month, when repairs to the clothing would then be serviceable for daily use.  Family members were not to wear shoes or sandals of any kind for that following month.  They were also to place ashes on their heads and on their exposed skin as a sign of how genuine their grief really was.  If you were a family member, your torn clothes were to be torn on the left side, but if a general mourner, they were to be torn on the right side.  Men would wear bare skin from their chest to their navel, while women were to reverse the clothing so that the tears were worn on the back, making certain that they were not exposed and naked.  Food was a whole other issue.  No meat and eating eggs that were salted and covered in ash.  Family members could not work, nor their servants, and one must stay in the community, not traveling, or bearing any kind of commodities.  Mourners were not allowed to read the Law or the Prophets, except for Job, Jeremiah, or Lamentations, which of course were the least hopeful of all the Jewish texts.  And there is the crux of this, there is no reason for hope in any of the grieving that is done.  There is a completely out of control sense about this grieving which, in and of itself, speaks to the sense of death as the ultimate end.

When Jesus arrives in the midst of this mayhem of grief, He is calm and determined to gain access to the body of the Ruler of the Synagogue's daughter.  He takes certain ones of His Disciples, and the parents and leaves the others with their grieving behind.  He simply says in Aramaic, “Talitha Cumi”.  This simple phrase, which with Christ has the full power of God, says "Maid! Arise!"  There is, of course, the excitement of the parents, but Jesus simply says with confidence that now would be a good time to offer the child food.  Now we have to wonder… Jesus says, “Don't tell anyone what has happened.”  The reason for this is that He really does not want to give the authorities any more reasons for bringing Him to trial.  We can only imagine the offered explanation when the girl, along with her parents, comes out of the house.  Jesus knows what will come.  In our passages for Wednesday, we are told that Jesus leaves for His own home and community along Galilee. 

The mourners were filled with despair.  They believe that there is nothing that can be done to undo this horrible situation of the girl’s death.  "Don't bother the Teacher.” Jesus says instead, "Don't be afraid. Only believe."  Here is the reality of the hope that is ours in Jesus Christ.  The worst enemy that we all face has been defeated by Jesus.  Death no longer holds us in any way.  We are to receive the very same resurrection as the Lord.  This is God's love for all of us.  I may not be ready to be done, feeling like I have more to do in my faith journey, but when my end arrives, I know that I will be in the care of the LORD who loves me because I am His.

This Wednesday, we will continue with Mark 6. Grace and Peace be with you.

In Christ, Pastor Kim

Pastor's Ponderings: Old Testament bible study on Ezra 5:6-17 (December 21, 2023)

Old Testament book of Ezra

Thursday morning Bible Study on the OT Book of Ezra 5:6-17

Good morning, my dear friends. 

May the quiet of that night so long ago in Bethlehem, when God gave His Son to this broken world, give you moments of wonder and joy in all of the busyness of this season.  Today please pray for the victims of war for safety, their hunger issues, health, and so much more that you and I take for granted every day.  The same is true for the safety of those in Iceland right now who are faced with the loss of their homes and community to the new volcano which began erupting a few days ago.  Also pray for the northern East Coast of our nation, as the people who live there recover from devastating rains.  In this season of celebration and partying, I pray that you will find in your travels that every person who you meet will treasure your life, just as you treasure them.  Reminder that there will be no Bible Studies for the next two weeks.

This passage is mostly about revealing the people's story, and the difference that exists between sharing that complete story within the community of the Judahites, and a totally different thing when challenged to reveal the truths of the Judahite's story to those outsiders, the people beyond the river, or even the current King of Persia.  Both Ezra and Nehemiah write in a way that is helpful and complete for the Judahites, but it seems clear that if they wrote so that others outside of the community of the faithful people of God their writing would take a very different shape.  It would not be important for King Darius to try to understand the reason behind why the Judahites had been exiles in Persia other than the fact that they were a rebellious people who refused to give in to the demands of their conquerors.  But the whole story is less about that, and completely about the fact that they had angered their "Great God", and had lost their land and place to His judgement, and that the Persians were simply God's tool for that exile to take place.  Without explanation, some 100 + years before the time of Ezra, the Persian King had once again been the unknowing tool of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and had even sent the Judahites back to Jerusalem with the promise of all of the money necessary for the rebuilding of the city, and the restoration of the vessels of worship which were worth a great deal of money in the treasury of Persia, though one must imagine that after their conquering of many smaller nations, the Persian treasury was loaded with the prizes of war and tribute.  For you and me is is important that we acknowledge that God works in ways which may well be beyond our imagination.  Accepting God's love in Jesus Christ means that, as a result, we are always to be prepared to be surprised by the in-breaking action of the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer of Life.  God's elect, the Judahites, had no idea that they might be rescued by their God to return to rebuild Jerusalem, and that their captors would bear the costs for the whole project.  I have to tell you, in this time of waning membership numbers in the Church, we must remember that the Church is God's, and God will act to bring this broken world back to the communities of faith.  I know in the core of my being, that seeking to live with God first in my life, and treating everyone with Grace, not the limiting grace which I can muster, but the greatest Grace, the Grace of God's Love for us, faith will prosper by His Hand and Christ's Church will be restored.  I may not live long enough to see that day come to fruition, but I will continue to work as a servant of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with all of the confidence of Christ's gift of faith that His Church will come back into the hearts of God's children, and She will be with the people of God forever. 

Just a note ---- Remember those leaders who wanted to bring the reconstruction to a halt?  In the passage we will do as we come back together in the new year, those leaders are met with direction they did not want to hear.

Merry Christmas to you all, the Birthday of the Savior is nearly upon us.

In His Grace, Pastor Kim Taylor

Pastor’s Ponderings: Meandering through Mark 5:25-34 bible study (December 19, 2023)

Tuesday Morning Bible Study on the Gospel of Mark 5:25-34

Peace and the Goodwill of Jesus Christ be with you every day. 

As we approach the celebration of Christmas, it sounds like the desert may well be in the midst of our first real winter storm with real rain.  I hope that you will not let this change in our weather keep you from celebrating Christmas at church with your family and friends.  I hope to see many of you this Sunday, December 24.  We have a short chapel style worship with many hymns at 10AM as we finish out Advent four, and then during the service transition to Christmas music.  At 7PM, we have our candlelight service with several specials and Christmas carols that are all of our favorites.  With us, the whole Church around the world will be in the midst of the very same celebration which will be filled with Joy and Love.  I usually watch the High Holy Mass of the Vatican on Christmas Eve late, or sometimes it even comes on after midnight.  It gives me an opportunity to worship again, and from the comfort of my recliner!

A reminder that I will be away from the office for two weeks after both Christmas and New Year's.  I will be at all Worship services during those two weeks.  So, please don't stay away just because you think that I may not be there.

Today, we are taking a bit longer piece of Mark in chapter 5.  Before us we have the passage which is about the woman who has had a critical health issue of bleeding.  She has found no help in all of the traditional, and yes, probably in the non-traditional treatment for this health crisis.  She is another person who has cast personal humility and risk aside as she has trusted that just reaching out to touch Christ's robe will be enough to heal her.  And, just by her touch of His clothing, she is healed.   However, we know that this would not go unnoticed by Jesus, yet His disciples tell Jesus that there are so many people pressing around Him to get in to see Him that it is impossible to tell who touched His clothing.  Feeling that Jesus would be enraged by her action, which one might expect from anyone else, when He says that He knows what has happened, and has felt His power go out of Him, she comes forward to confess what she has done.  We must remember her place in this world and culture.  Notice that we hear nothing from Mark about her having a husband, and no matter how much money she may have been able to access, she has now found that nothing else worked, Jesus becomes her last act of desperation.  If only... I might be healed.   But Jesus is not angry, instead he sees an opportunity to speak about the power of real faith, and blesses her with wholeness and health for the remainder of her life.  The gift of Christ's presence and power always keeps on giving in ways that we could never hope for, or expect.

The types of cures which the woman would have been given included the following, and some of those were really just superstition.  Some were tonics and astringents, another included carrying the ashes of an ostrich egg in a linen cloth, or carrying corn that has been found in the dung of a she ass.  But perhaps the greatest issue for her was (Leviticus 15:24-27) that she was considered unclean, and therefore as unapproachable by her community.  So, Jesus not only heals her illness, but sets her free in the midst of her community to live openly again.  In this time physicians were not always thought very highly of.  One rabbi wrote that they would definitely end up in Gehenna. (that was the always burning garbage dump outside of Jerusalem's walls)  

This passage tells us something about Jesus which we may not have realized.  Even though Jesus seems to have endless energy to do the LORD'S Work, we discover here that with each healing, power moves out of Him to the person being healed.  In every touch Jesus gave something of Himself.  If we hope to be change agents in the world, that is true of us as well.  We must give something of ourselves when we are working in the Kingdom of God, offering to others what we ourselves have come to know surrounded by God's Love for us.

As we might expect in the Gospel of Mark, the disciples are portrayed by Mark as being less than creative and understanding.  Rather than asking the crowd who had done this, and offering that person an opportunity to be in the presence of Jesus, they instead just easily told Him that there were too many people to know who had done it.  They used common sense when the circumstances of where they found themselves, surrounded by people miraculously being healed again and again, should have called on their own hearts to be more encouraging and filled with joy in these times of unexpected happenings that were so positive, understanding with imaginative insight that right now in their lives any thing was possible.

This writing also tells us that the woman has come in terror to confess her action of touching the "rabbi", but once she has confessed what she has done, the terror and fear over how she believed Jesus would respond, were turned instead to joy and comfort.  If we think that Jesus doesn't already know everything about our need to confess and find relief in Him, then we are more foolish than we ever need to be.  There is no one else who understand like Jesus, and coming to Him, though sometimes difficult, will lift the yoke and burden that we carry in guilt. 

For you who are my sisters and brothers in Christ, Merry Christmas. For those who are Jewish, prayers that the Lights of the Menorah have filled their lives with hope and love. For those who are Muslim, May Allah hold you in his care and peace in this time of our national holidays. And for you who are still searching and struggling to come to Christ, may your journey be blessed with discovery.

But, for you all,

Happy Holidays,   

Pastor Kim Taylor