Lent 5 - Saturday - The Weekly Round-Up

This has been a bountiful week of interesting posts, editorials, and reflections gathered from around the globe. As you prepare for the Christian observance of Holy Week and Easter, I hope that these gleanings will assist you along the journey.

Best Editorial of the Week

Thomas Friedman, The New York Times

What the Middle East needs most from America today are modern schools and hard truths, and we haven’t found a way to offer either. Because Hanson is right: What ails the Middle East today truly is a toxic mix of tribalism, Shiite-Sunni sectarianism, fundamentalism and oil — oil that constantly tempts us to intervene or to prop up dictators.

For more, click here: A Festival of Lies

Best Religion Editorial

Frank Bruni, The Sunday New York Times

He hasn’t belonged to a church since college. “Religion too often demands belief in physical absurdities and anachronistic traditions despite all scientific evidence and moral progress,” he said. And in too many religious people he sees inconsistencies. They speak of life’s preciousness when railing against abortion but fail to acknowledge how they let other values override that concern when they support war, the death penalty or governments that do nothing for people in perilous need.

Click here for more: Rethinking His Religion

This One Will Make You Think

Jamelle Bouie, The Nation

…the shooting death of Trayvon Martin…did not so much raise questions as it confirmed suspicions: that we remain stratified or at best striated by race, that “innocent” is a relative term, that black male lives can end under capricious circumstances, and that justice is in the eye of the beholder—ideas that are as cynical as they are applicable. At this juncture, events in Sanford, Florida, suggest the benefit of the doubt in the shooting of a black teen-ager extends even to unauthorized, untrained, weapon-toting private citizens who pursue unarmed pedestrians.

Post Racial Delusion

The Jolly Old Church of England

Diarmaid MacCulloch, The Guardian

The Anglican Church can start afresh. The recent vote against the Anglican Covenant is hugely significant. But are the bishops ready to listen?

A Fresh Start?

Most Inspirational!

Colleen Walsh, The Harvard Gazette

In tune, without limits. Despite lacking a hand, violinist makes beautiful music ... and more

Musical Inspiration

Best Insight for the Future Church

Philip Clayton, Los Angeles Times

Not surprisingly, the increase in the unaffiliated comes at the expense of America's mainstream religions, which means that Christianity is taking the biggest hit. Mainstream Protestant churches have lost more than a third of their members since 1960. Evangelical churches are also feeling the pinch; Southern Baptists are hurting. Various surveys illuminate this trend: About 75% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 now consider themselves "spiritual but not religious."

The Rise of "The Nones."

Most Read Post at John 13:34 Blog This Week

Overcoming Fear

Always End with Children, Animals or People Having Fun

Dancing With the Stars (ABC via Youtube)

Sherri Shepherd Lights Up The Dance Floor


Love One Another - Brian

Lent 5 - Friday - Servant Leadership

Text: Mark 10:32-45 (see below)

Now we are nearing the heart of the matter, the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. Holy Week and Easter come every year about this time. Yet, each time it is different because we have arrived at a different place. What struck me last year in the story may not strike me this year. Perhaps Maundy Thursday will move me more than Good Friday. Maybe the simplified chant of a psalm at the Great Vigil will bring tears to my eyes instead of the glorious hymn “Jesus Christ is Risen Today” on Easter Day. Every year is different and yet it is the same.

The lesson for today speaks to me about servanthood. Jesus said, “Whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.” Those words are almost foreign to our world in which power and authority are glorified as something to be attained. James and John are lost in that myth with their request of Jesus: “We want a seat of authority. Give us some power, Jesus, so that we can have our say over others.”

The Master is once again a patient teacher. With little time remaining, Jesus offers a teaching about true greatness. His concept of leadership is one that embraces humility, it places others first, and it appears to have little room for personal agendas. What agenda does a slave have? Does this kind of leadership exist in today’s Church?

Obviously, Jesus’ example was not a “one shot deal” for if we read on in the New Testament there are stories and examples of this model of radical reformed leadership that transcend the principalities and powers of this world. The Book of Acts is a marvelous example of servant leadership. Such a model was a witness to Jesus and probably the best evangelism that was ever accomplished in Jesus’ Name. Not only did the early Church leaders replicate Jesus’ pattern of servant leadership but they trained others to do the same as we read in the Book of Ephesians, for example, or in 1 Peter.

We are nearing the end of Lent and ready to retell the story of our redemption. Jesus will be for us the true servant leader. The Master will become the slave and in so doing Jesus will transform everything that we thought to be true. Life is not about power. Life is not about authority. Life is not about being in control. Our power lies in our powerlessness, Our authority comes not from selfish ego but from God alone. Our witness does not come from being in control but being a servant to one another.

This year, Holy Week is different. This year the Gospel story is the same. This year, will the members of the Church finally appreciate and value the message and example of Jesus becoming a community of servant leaders?

Love One Another – Brian

We Must Serve Before We Can Lead

William Arthur Ward

"We must be silent before we can listen. We must listen before we can learn. We must learn before we can prepare. We must prepare before we can serve. We must serve before we can lead."

Source: Leadership . . . with a human touch.

Mark 10:32-45

They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them; they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, ‘See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the Gentiles; they will mock him, and spit upon him, and flog him, and kill him; and after three days he will rise again.’ James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, ‘Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.’ And he said to them, ‘What is it you want me to do for you?’ And they said to him, ‘Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.’ But Jesus said to them, ‘You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?’ They replied, ‘We are able.’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.’ When the ten heard this, the began to be angry with James and John. So Jesus called them and said to them, ‘You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’

Lent 5 - Thursday - Affluenza

Text: Mark 10:17-31 (see below)

‘How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!’

Watch the first 75 seconds of this video....



The woman on the examination table was given a diagnosis of her condition. Set this scene against the man who has fallen at Jesus’ feet in this portion of Mark 10 who does not know that he is even sick. Jesus is trying to reorder this man’s priorities and ours. Jesus is attempting to redirect this man’s desires and ours. Are we ready to receive the diagnosis?

Some historical background to this fascinating text. In the Jewish culture of Jesus’ day, material wealth was seen by many as a reflection or blessing of God’s favor. One discovers this concept when reading the Hebrew Scriptures for God seems to reward the faithful with much material goods: Abraham, Jacob, and Job, for example.

Here in this teaching moment, Jesus is saying in essence, “Wait a minute. Let’s rethink this theological belief that our culture has been carrying for generations.” Perhaps this is why the disciples are so amazed at their Master’s teaching (verse 24). Is Jesus raising a new theological question: Can the acquisition of material wealth and goods in fact hinder one’s ability to enter into the Kingdom of God?

I know that I say this all the time - but - this is radical stuff that Jesus is suggesting.

This man appears to have an advanced case of affluenza. The text states that he had many possessions or great wealth and yet he wanted it all: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” It reminds me of a quote attributed to either John D. Rockefeller or JP Morgan when asked what enough was. The reply: “Just a little more.”

The man addresses Jesus as “good teacher”, a form of greeting that is very rare in Jewish literature. It appears that this comment is a form of flattery intended to initiate a reciprocal response. Jesus will have none of it: “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.”

The Master then launches right into a recounting of the Ten Commandments. Here is a wonderful example of reading the text so many times that one can gloss over an important clue to understanding the whole narrative. Do you notice anything different about the list of Commandments that Jesus offers? One of the statutes that Jesus states is in fact not even included in the Decalogue: “Do not defraud.”

Where did that come from? Is Jesus slipping? Did he have an elderly moment? Or was he driving home a point to this guy about economic exploitation?

Vincent Taylor in his commentary on Mark’s Gospel writes: “In the Greek Bible the verb is appropriated to the act of keeping back the wages of a hireling, whereas in the Classical Greek it is used of refusing to return goods or money deposited with another for safe keeping…cf Exodus 21:10 and Deuteronomy 24:14” (The Gospel According to St. Mark, page 428). It now appears that there is a lot more going on in this story than first believed.

Obviously, the man missed Jesus’ point for he triumphantly declares that he has kept all of the Law from the time of his youth. Not being Jewish and not knowing the cultural writings we miss the amazing irony of such a statement. In the Talmud, it is said, that only Abraham, Moses and Aaron kept the whole of the Law. So, this man is placing himself in some very exalted company, wouldn’t you say?

Now, I believe Jesus has two choices which he can make. The first is basically to theologically “squash” this guy and his “chutzpah” at equating himself with the great patriarchs of Israel. But Jesus chooses another way, the way of compassion, the way of hope, the way of grace. Jesus, looking at this man, loved him.

Wow! Here is the only place in the Gospel of Mark where it actually says that Jesus loved somebody. Jesus is looking past the exploitation that this man has been involved in, past the actions of long ago, past the past! Jesus sees in him, as Jesus sees in all of us, the potential of now and the hope for a future.

There is so much more here. Look at the text, our Lord has just recited the Decalogue to this man. But Jesus goes further. He puts the Commandments into action by practicing the “great commandment”: love God, love your neighbor as much as you love yourself. The Gospel is alive and in full play at this moment. The Kingdom of God is at hand in this man’s life.

Jesus is very clear. He calls this man to discipleship: Go, Sell, Give, Follow. The first command we have seen before in just about all of Mark’s healing stories (is this a healing story?). The fourth command is related to the first and the second could be seen as a parallel. It is this third command that ultimately brings the scene to a dramatic close. Jesus makes the call that the man has to deal with his affluence once and for all by giving it away to the poor. “At this word”, the man goes away grieving for we learn that he had many possessions (or much property).

If you were the man in this story, what would you have done? Be honest, how attached are you to your material possessions and wealth?

Every Wednesday night, a group of men and women get together in Akron for an hour of fellowship and understanding. In this 12 Step group known as Debtor’s Anonymous we talk openly and honestly about the addiction that all of us struggle with when it comes to money and possessions. Like the man in this story from Mark’s Gospel, it is very easy to become so tied to our possessions and wealth that they become a god and idolatrous. To remain on such a path only leads to ruin, despair, disgrace and failure. I know this to be true in my own life. I know this to be true in listening to the stories of many of my friends and persons whom I have met at DA.

While I know all to well the gloom of my addiction, I also know the hope of resurrection and I am sure in the knowledge that Light triumphs over darkness. While my disease can never be cured, it can be stopped by a progressive personality change, by working the 12 Steps diligently, and by placing my life and faith in God (Higher Power). Over the course of the past twelve months I have come to understand that God can indeed restore me to sanity and is leading me to an abundant life. Thanks be to God!

I have always believed and hoped that the man in this story would come around eventually and embrace the Good News of the Gospel. For as members of my DA group have refused to give up on me, I refuse to give up on anybody. There is always hope. If the man was alive today (and he is in your community and in mine), I would offer him an invitation: “Come with me on a Wednesday night and experience a community where there is no judgment but honest conversation; no condemnation but hope and compassion; no despair but potential for new life.”

With God, all things are possible.

Love One Another – Brian

The Far Country

Meister Eckhart

God is at home. We are in the far country.

Source: Unknown

Mark 10:17-31

As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.” ’ He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.’ Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions. Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!’ And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, ‘Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’ They were greatly astounded and said to one another, ‘Then who can be saved?’ Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.’ Peter began to say to him, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed you.’ Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.’

Lent 5 - Wednesday - Suffering

Text: Mark 10:1-16 (see below)

sfmission.org

As Christians near Holy Week, the subject of suffering comes to the forefront of our daily reflections as we remember our Lord’s ministry of sacrifice, affliction and distress. Richard Rohr, A Franciscan priest, offers some fascinating and insightful reflections on the subject of memory and suffering. My thanks to a dear friend Dale Traven, who suggested Rohr’s daily devotions as a guide for my spiritual life. Here are two reflections that arrived in my email this week. Rohr writes:

“Suffering is the necessary deep feeling of the human situation. If we don’t feel pain, suffering, human failure, and weakness, we stand antiseptically apart from it, and remain numb and small. We can’t understand such things by thinking about them. The superficiality of much of our world is that it tries to buy its way out of the ordinary limits and pain of being human. Carl Jung called it “necessary suffering,” and I think he was right. Jesus did not numb himself or withhold himself from human pain, as we see even in his refusal of the numbing wine on the cross (Matthew 27:34). Some forms of suffering are necessary so that we know the human dilemma, so that we can even name our shadow self and confront it. Brothers and sisters, the irony is not that God should feel so fiercely; it’s that his creatures feel so feebly. If there is nothing in your life to cry about, if there is nothing in your life to yell about, you must be out of touch. We must all feel and know the immense pain of this global humanity. Then we are no longer isolated, but a true member of the universal Body of Christ. Then we know God not from the outside but from the inside!” (Adapted from Radical Grace: Daily Meditations, p. 209, day 218)

And:

“Memory is the basis for both pain and rejoicing: We cannot have one without the other, it seems. Do not be too quick to heal all of those bad memories, unless it means also feeling them deeply, which means to learn what they have to teach you. God calls us to suffer (read: “allow”) the whole of reality, to remember the good along with the bad. Perhaps that is the course of the journey toward new sight and new hope. Memory creates a readiness for salvation, an emptiness to receive love and a fullness to enjoy it. Strangely enough, it seems so much easier to remember the hurts, the failures and the rejections. It is much more common to gather our life energy around a hurt than a joy, for some sad reason. Remember the good things even more strongly than the bad, but learn from both. And most of all, as the prophet Baruch said, “Rejoice that you are remembered by God” (5:5), which is the Big Memory that can hold and receive all of the smaller ones.” (Adapted from Radical Grace: Daily Meditations, p. 26, day 25)

I trust these discerning words of Richard Rohr will stimulate your thinking for today and into next week as we once again pause to remember the Passion of our Lord.

Love One Another – Brian

One

H. A. Williams

I cannot see God because God is my eyes. I cannot hear God because God is my ears. I cannot walk to God because God is my feet. And if apparently I am alone and God is not there, that is because God will not separate his presence from my own.

Source: Tensions

Mark 10:1-16

Jesus left the Galilee and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan. And crowds again gathered around him; and, as was his custom, he again taught them. Some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?’ He answered them, ‘What did Moses command you?’ They said, ‘Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.’ But Jesus said to them, ‘Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. But from the beginning of creation, “God made them male and female.” “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.’ Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. He said to them, ‘Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.’ People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.’ And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.

Lent 5 - Tuesday - The Trophy: Kids Now ~ Kids Then

Text: Mark 9:33-37 (see below)

Children are venerated and idolized in American culture these days. From little things like bumper stickers on a car that read, “My son is an honor student at South Clemmens Elementary School”, to springtime graduations from kindergarten (something that to this day I do not understand). I was in a grocery store recently where I witnessed a mother negotiating with her daughter as if they were at some high level United Nations Security Council meeting. Honestly, it seems as if kids are the most important people in a room and their desires must be satisfied at the sake of all others.

We hold kids up so high that parents refuse to let them fail. For example, when my son, John, was a little tyke, he played on a community league basketball team that was absolutely horrible. The team went 1-12 that season.

About five games before the team finished its league play, one of the mothers came up to me and asked for ten dollars so that a trophy could be bought for each member of the team. “Trophy,” I said, startling the woman. “You must be kidding?! These kids don’t need a trophy, they need to practice!” I finished. From the look on the woman’s face, it was clear that I was in the wrong. Not wanting a scene, I quickly opened my wallet and produced a crisp ten dollar bill. Each team member got a trophy four weeks later and everybody was celebrated as a champion.

The real lesson came when my family was ready to move to Ohio. Kathy asked John what trophies he would like to take with him. Apparently, as she retells the story, he chose only one. It was the trophy that he won the following year when his league team actually won the playoffs and were crowned champions. That was the only trophy that meant something to him.

The shocking actions that Jesus takes by placing a child in the midst of twelve men cannot be appreciated by our generation for it is nearly impossible for us to believe that in antiquity children were nonentities. “Children should have been with the women, not hanging around a teacher and his students. To say that those who receive Jesus receive God does not constitute a problem. A person’s emissary was commonly understood to be like the one who sent him. But to insist that receiving a child might have some value for male disciples is almost inconceivable” (Mark, New Interpreters Bible, page 637).

“This example treats the child, who was socially invisible, as the stand-in for Jesus. It suggests that the greatness or desire to be ‘first’ being disputed among the disciples involved which one would be Jesus’ representative…. Jesus demands that the child be received ‘in my name’” (ibid., page 637).

It is absolutely scandalous that Jesus would use the example of a child to advance his understanding of the Kingdom of God. In addition, he does not use this example only once, but twice, later in chapter 10. The Master’s teaching flies in the face of the disciples’ debate about greatness and power. Jesus is going in one direction. The disciples are headed in the complete opposite.

The false self, ego, drives the person to want to be first, to be the greatest, to be recognized, and to have authority. But the false self is a lie. Jesus calls us to a deeper place – a place of truth – a place of life changing fellowship – where we welcome and embrace every person in the same manner.

This to me is the beauty of the 12 Step programs. Here I have learned that life is not about prestige and power. The journey is about accepting folks exactly where they are without judgment or discussion. The path less traveled is about being together in fellowship, listening to each, finding the way together, assisting with each other’s pain, and rejoicing in transformational recovery. I have found that 12 Step meetings are the closest example to what Robert Greenleaf called servant-leadership.  

Life’s real trophy is not made of silver and gold; but of welcoming, embracing, accepting and loving the little child amongst us.

Love One Another - Brian

Welcome Everyone Like A Child

Dan Clendenin

To welcome a child is to extend the simplest of acts to an individual that society normally dismisses as perhaps cute but ultimately insignificant, someone who entirely lacks any accomplishments, greatness, status, or pretensions. By extension, Jesus invites us to welcome every person in the same manner, without regard for external measures of their worldly importance, status, success or failure.

Source: journeywithjesus.net

Mark 9:33-37

Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house Jesus asked them, ‘What were you arguing about on the way?’ But the disciples were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. Jesus sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.’ Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.’

Lent 5 - Monday - Overcoming Fear

Text: Mark 9:30-41 (see below)

Jesus and his disciples are now heading south from Caesarea Philippi through the Galilee and on to Jerusalem. Over the course of the next 100 verses or so of Mark's account, Jesus will be doing a tremendous amount of individual teaching with the disciples. We will be reading all of those teachings and the disciples’ reactions over the course of the next week.

What strikes me in this first lesson is the disciples’ reaction to Jesus’ second prediction of his passion. In Chapter 8 Jesus said that the Son of Man would be killed. Now, here in Chapter 9 the verb has changed to “they will kill him.” The reaction from the disciples is one of great fear. They are afraid. The Twelve do not ask Jesus anything about what they cannot understand. For Mark, fear will play a tremendous role in the Passion narrative. Think about when the disciples scatter after Jesus has been arrested or when the women leave the tomb after the incredible announcement of resurrection. In both cases, the followers of Jesus flee because of their fear.

Fear is real. All of us have to deal with our fears at one time or another. Sometimes, fear will paralyze us. Other times, fear can be a great motivator. The question is how do I deal with my fears? How do you and I overcome our fears?

When I googled “overcoming fear”, 17 million hits came up in 0.38 seconds! Good gracious! Now I assure you that I did not spend the time to look at all 17 millions sites, but I did find some interesting information about handling our fears.

At positivityblog.com, Hendrik Edberg offers seven suggestions in overcoming fear. One of the seven points he makes is that our fears are often based on unhelpful interpretations. Edberg writes: “As humans we like to look for patterns. The problem is just that we often find negative and not so helpful patterns in our lives based on just one or two experiences; or by misjudging situations; or through some miscommunication. When you get too identified with your thoughts you’ll believe anything they tell you. A more helpful practice may be to not take your thoughts too seriously. A lot of the time they and your memory are pretty inaccurate. But this is a good thing too. Because it opens you up to re-examining old beliefs you have based on experiences you may have interpreted in not the most helpful way. It opens you up to try again and see what happens this time instead of staying stuck in thought, inaction and fear”

(positivityblog.com). Read more of Edberg’s post by clicking here.

At the Psychology Today website, you can spend literally hours understanding how to overcome your fear. Melanie A. Greenberg, PhD., writing in an article entitled, The Six Best Ways to Overcome Anxiety, suggests that “anxiety makes us feel threat is imminent yet most of the time what we worry about never happens. By recording our worries and how many came true, we can notice how much we overestimate the prospect of negative events.” In her second suggestion she writes: “Even if a bad event happened, we may still be able to handle it by using our coping skills and problem-solving abilities or by enlisting others to help. Although not pleasant, we could still survive encountering a spider, having a panic attack, or losing money. It's important to realize that very few things are the end of the world” (psychologytoday.com).

Recently, I was part of a discussion group which was asked to share with one another what was happening in their lives at the present moment. A young woman by the name of Michelle told the group that she had just been terminated from a job and that she was anxious about the future. With enough money put aside for only ninety days of living, you could hear the fear in her voice as she spoke about the difficulties of finding new employment.

But while she shared with us her fear, she also told us about her faith. Deeply connected with her Higher Power, Michelle believed that God had always been with her in the good and in the bad, on the mountaintop and in the valley. She described in vivid detail how in the past when she had lost a job, she felt the presence of the Spirit guiding her to a new understanding of herself and her vocation. Michelle said that in this present situation, she was turning her fears and anxieties over to God and trusting that all would be well.

Very few of the 17 million sites that I viewed gave any credit to God assisting us in overcoming our fears. Most of the suggestions were self-help, mind over matter. But what if you and I handed over that fear or anxiety that we are currently carrying at this very moment to God?

The Good News is that God can bear our fears and anxieties. Through prayer, God can assist us in handling the fear that we face. Saint Paul writing in his Letter to the Church at Philippi stated boldly: “Be anxious for nothing. But in everything by prayer and supplications with thanksgiving let your request be known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your heart and mind through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).

“Be anxious about nothing….. let your request be known to God….and God’s peace will guard your heart and mind.” These words were written by a man who probably had more moments of fear and anxiety over the course of his earthly ministry than most of us. But, Paul was free because he trusted in the grace and power of God.

The Bible is a tremendous source of strength for those who are living fearful or anxious lives. May I be humble enough to suggest that you find a Bible and open to the following texts:

Psalm 23:4

Isaiah 41:13

Exodus 14:13

Deuteronomy 31:6

2 Timothy 1:7

Psalm 27:1

Luke 1:30

Luke 2:10

Hebrews 13:6

John 14:27

What if the disciples in today’s lesson had turned that fear over to the power of God? Whatever your fear or anxiety, I pray that you will find the strength and courage to turn them over to God; that you will find wisdom and power from God in your prayer; and that the Words of Holy Scripture will guide and protect you this day.

Love One Another - Brian

Worry

A Swedish proverb

“Worry gives a small thing a big shadow.”

Source: www.positivityblog.com

Mark 9:30-41

They went on from there and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know it; for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, ‘The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.’ But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him. Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, ‘What were you arguing about on the way?’ But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.’ Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.’ John said to him, ‘Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.’ But Jesus said, ‘Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterwards to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us. For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.

Lent 5 - The Sunday Musical Offering - Beethoven's Violin Concerto

The Sunday Musical Offering today is in honor of my wife Kathy. She is a devoted fan of the violinist Joshua Bell and for very good reason. Joshua is the consummate performer - passionate, musical, and a confident virtuoso. As the New York Times wrote: "Mr. Bell does not stand in anyone's shadow." We had the opportunity to meet Joshua after a concert in Charlotte many years ago. I can still see the look in Kathy's eye when she finally met him. That was a great evening.

Below is the Violin Concerto, Third Movement (Rondo. Allegro), by Ludwig van Beethoven. Joshua Bell, violin, with the members of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra from a concert of June 7, 2005 at the
Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Japan. 

“Ludwig van Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61, was written in 1806. The work was premiered on 23 December 1806 in the Theater an der Wien in Vienna. Beethoven wrote the concerto for his colleague Franz Clement, a leading violinist of the day, who had earlier given him helpful advice on his opera Fidelio. The occasion was a benefit concert for Clement.

“It is believed that Beethoven finished the solo part so late that Clement had to sight-read part of his performance. Perhaps to express his annoyance, or to show what he could do when he had time to prepare, Clement is said to have interrupted the concerto between the first and second movements with a solo composition of his own, played on one string of the violin held upside down; however, other sources claim that he did play such a piece but only at the end of the program.

“The premiere was not a success, and the concerto was little performed in the following decades. The work was revived in 1844, well after Beethoven's death, with performances by the then 12-year-old violinist Joseph Joachim with the orchestra conducted by Felix Mendelssohn. Ever since, it has been one of the most important works of the violin concerto repertoire”(Wikipedia).

Love One Another - Brian

Lent 4 - Saturday - The Weekly Round-Up

A delightful Saturday in store for those of us lucky to be living in Northeast Ohio as The Community of Saint Peter's in Cleveland offers a Lenten Retreat entitled: “The Paradox of Emptiness”  

The write-up for the retreat said the following: "The Christian life readily embraces paradox.  The life and ministry of Jesus often introduced paradox into the situation.  Lent is the annual season of paradox.  The Lenten season invites Christians into the paradox of emptiness.  Accept the invitation.  Risk nothing!  Experience, explore, and endure this paradox and what do you get?  Plenty!  How can this be?  Come and find out."

The retreat will be led by Alan Kolp who holds the Moll Chair of Religious Studies at Baldwin-Wallace College. 9:30 am at Euclid and 71st Street.


Here is the weekly round-up of the most interesting thoughts and reflections that I found in the last seven days.


Is Elvis A Mormon?
Maureen Dowd, New York Times
"When he talked about his beliefs in his last presidential run, it sometimes provoked confusion, like this explanation to an Iowa radio host about the second coming of Christ: that Jesus would first appear in Jerusalem and then, “over the thousand years that follow, the millennium, he will reign from two places, the law will come from Missouri, and the other will be from Jerusalem.'”

Click for more here.

What Is It About That Number 40?

Sarah Robinson at AlterNet

"One hundred fifty years of research proves that shorter work hours actually raise productivity and profits -- and overtime destroys them. So why do we still do this?"

40 Hour Sanity

Art Matters

Karla Vasquez at Sojourners

"Time and experience has allowed me to say that art is indispensable. It is the key foundation of what it means to be human. With art we tell our stories, we share our pain, our triumphs, our history – with art we learn what it means to live and what it means to have been created by an artist. To save art classes from extinction is to save the need for humanity to create."

Click here.


Most Interesting Church Blog Of The Week
Scott R. Peath
"Clearly both Bass and Jones see some hope in the Emergent Church movement, which is attempting to reconfigure Christian community in ways that are more meaningful in a contemporary context. And this is all to the good. But I'm also always reminded of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's "religionless Christianity" when this subject comes up."


Against The Stream


The GOP Budget vs. Jesus of Nazareth
Washington Post
"The choice between the biblical values of “good news for the poor” as announced by Jesus, and the “good news for the rich” of GOP fiscal proposals should be an easy one for Christians across the spectrum from liberal to conservative. But it’s not, as is clear from many polls. Why not?"


Click here.


Best Biblical Study
John Dominic Crossan
"The vision of Jesus that changed Paul from a Pharisaic Jew to a Christian Jew happened, says Luke's Acts of the Apostles, on the road to Damascus. That event is so important that Luke records it three times for maximum emphasis: first, as it happens (9:1-19); next, as Paul tells it to the Roman officer in Jerusalem (22:3-21); and, finally, as Paul tells it to the Jewish king, Agrippa II at Caesarea Maritima (26:1-18). But that triple account, written around 50 years after Paul's death, has two major historical problems."

What Really Happened To Paul On The Road To Damascus?


Best Spiritual Practice - Just Say No!
Nadia Bolz-Weber
"I’ve had the weirdest thing happen recently.  People have thanked me for saying no to them. Let me explain:"


Learning To Say No


Best Learning For Folks In The Pew From Folks Who Do Not Attend Church (Make sure you read the comments section!)
Rachel Held Evans
"I left the church when I was twenty-seven. I am now thirty, and after trying unsuccessfully to start a house church, my husband and I are struggling to find a faith community in which we feel we belong. I’ve been reluctant to write about this search in the past, but it seems like such a common experience, I think it’s time to open up, especially now that I’ve had some time to process. But let’s begin with fifteen reasons why I left:"


15 Reasons Why I Left Church

Most Viewed Post On John 13:34 Blog This Week
The Church and The Arts

Click here.

Always End With Children or Animals
Late Night With David Letterman

Jack Hanna and David Letterman

Love One Another - Brian

Lent 4 - Friday - Listen To Him!

Text: Mark 9:2-13 (see below)

Mount Tabor, the traditional site for the setting of the Transfiguration sits in the southeast portion of the Jezreel Valley. Tabor means “navel of the earth.” The Mount rises sharply out of the gorgeous fertile valley. After ascending the mountain by switchbacks, you finally arrive at the summit in front of the magnificent basilica.

On my first visit to Tabor, after we had had time in the church, we were led to a quiet grove of pine trees far from the noise of the tourists, pilgrims and taxi cabs. There on a thicket of pine needles we were asked to be still for a lengthy period of time and to listen for the voice of God.

As I began to settle into my surroundings, a gentle breeze began to blow over the group. It was very comforting and brought a tremendous sense of peace to my heart. It was if the “ruach” of God was blowing over the members of the group – forging us – binding us – empowering us for what was to come over the course of the next fourteen days. As I listened to the voice of the Spirit on the Mount that September day in 1991, I heard God say, “Be open! Be ready to experience all that I am about to show you. Be open to receive. Be open to the message.”

What followed were two of the most incredible weeks of my life as I experienced the people, places, and especially the land of Israel/Palestine. Ever since that day, I have never read the Bible in the same way.

Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!’

Here in the waning days of Lent, how are your listening skills? Are you listening for the voice of God? Or are you letting everything else take precedence? Today is your opportunity to be still and to listen. Open your heart to hear the voice of the Spirit. Listen to Jesus, your Master and friend. You will be glad that you did.

Love One Another - Brian

God's Transfiguration of the World

Desmond Tutu

All over this magnificent world God calls us to extend His kingdom of shalom-peace and wholeness — of justice, of goodness, of compassion, of caring, of sharing, of laughter, of joy, of reconciliation. God is transfiguring the world right this very moment through us because God believes in us and because God loves us. What can separate us from the love of God? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. And as we share God's love with our brothers and sisters, God's other children, there is no tyrant who can resist us, no opposition that cannot be ended, no hunger that cannot be fed, no wound that cannot be healed, no hatred that cannot be turned into love, no dream that cannot be fulfilled.

Source: God Has a Dream

 

Mark 9:2-13

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, ‘Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!’ Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead could mean. Then they asked him, ‘Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?’ He said to them, ‘Elijah is indeed coming first to restore all things. How then is it written about the Son of Man, that he is to go through many sufferings and be treated with contempt? But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written about him.’

Lent 4 - Thursday - Here Begins The Terrors, Here Begins The Miracles

Text: Mark 8:27-9:1 (see below)

With the journey to Caesarea Philippi, the reader of Mark’s Gospel begins the second half of the narrative. The book began with the heralding of a “Way” (1:2) and the first half of the Gospel story ended with Jesus asking the disciples a question: “Do you not yet understand?”

The parallels with the second half of Mark’s account are remarkable. Again we are on our “way” with Jesus to Caesarea Philippi and the Master asks his disciples yet another question: “Who do you say that I am?”

As always when reading these stories, it is important to remember our location for that adds particular drama to the text. We are deep inside the territory under the rule of Philip the Tetrarch, son of Herod the Great. Caesarea Philippi was a major Hellenistic city, a seat of the Roman government, and the leaders of that city were even allowed to make their own coinage. In ancient times the area was called Paneas, after the Greek god Pan. Philip’s father, Herod, built a Temple in honor of Augustus near the grotto that was dedicated to Pan. The city was rebuilt by Philip in the year 14 CE and dedicated to the Caesar. The point of this brief history lesson is to make the case that Peter’s declaration that Jesus was the Messiah was loaded with dangerous political undertones.

“Who do you say that I am,” Jesus asks.

Can you, or I, give a comprehensive answer to the question that Jesus poses? Who is Jesus? What is he all about? What did his actions tell us about God? What did he believe? It seems to me that if you want to follow someone, be their disciple, you better know what they believe and why they believe it. Yes?

Peter has a moment of inspiration! “You are the Christ, the Messiah,” he boldly declares. Now, when we hear the term, “Messiah”, in today’s setting it kind of runs in one ear and out the other. Or perhaps you begin to hum a few bars of Handel’s oratorio. But back in the day of Jesus, this word had explosive meaning. Peter is not saying that Jesus was simply a prophet like Elijah or his cousin, John the Baptist. Jesus is for Peter a royal figure – greater than any earthly king - who would restore the fortunes of Israel. It was, in effect, time for the revolution to begin!

The next action in the scene has always puzzled me. Jesus tells Peter to be quiet. The Greek verb attributed to Jesus is the word epitimao which means “to rebuke.” It is the same verb that Mark uses when Jesus silences the demons or when he calms the sea. Peter is right in his declaration but it appears from Jesus’ reaction his timing is all off! Peter still has much to learn about “this” Messiah who will engage the principalities and powers of this world in a very different way.

“Jesus then began explaining things to them: ‘It is necessary that the Son of Man proceed to an ordeal of suffering, be tried and found guilty by the elders, high priests, and religion scholars, be killed, and after three days rise up alive.’ He said this simply and clearly so they couldn't miss it.”

The Master gets down to business and very simply tells his disciples about what is to happen to him. Notice the change in vocabulary. Jesus does not use the term ‘Messiah”; instead he refers to himself as the “Son of Man”. This title derives from the ancient prophecies found in the Book of Daniel. Again, it has tremendous political overtones associated with it. Chad Meyers in his commentary on Mark writes: “Mark is invoking Daniel, written under the pogroms of Antiochus Epiphanies IV two centuries earlier, as a manifesto of Jewish political resistance to imperial oppression of Hellenistic rulers” (Binding the Strong Man, page 243).

And notice that in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus is not going to go up against the likes of Herod Antipas or his brother Philip. The coalition of oppression is in fact the establishment in Jerusalem, the religious leaders – the elders, the high priests and the religious scholars. The real battle is not so much about the politics of an empire as it is about the politics of a religion.

Peter has heard enough! He cannot believe that the “Messiah” is going to have to suffer. This new understanding is beyond Peter’s grasp and perhaps something that he did not sign on for. Peter grabs Jesus, takes him aside and rebukes him in front of the others. Major no-no! Anyone who grew up in that society and came across this moment would know that a disciple never took such a tone with his Master. Jesus is swift in his response. For a second time in just a few moments, Peter is strongly admonished this time even being called, “Satan.”

Marie Dennis in her commentary on Mark states it this way: “What has poor Peter done to deserve such denunciation? The problem is that Peter remains loyal to the traditional Messianic script that affirms the ‘myth of redemptive violence,’ in which the hero prevails over the enemy through superior and ‘righteous’ force (see Wink, 1992; Bailie, 1995, Beck, 1996). With this oldest lie Satan rules history, as nations and peoples invoke God while they destroy their enemies through ‘just wars’ and crusades. Against this is pitted the Son of Man’s strategy of non-violence, which understands that the enemy is violence itself” (Say To This Mountain, page 102).

This bitter exchange between the two men exposes the great conflict that each one of us as disciples must face. Will we follow divine authority or will we follow human authority? There really is no middle ground here. It is one way or the other. This is why this passage is so radical and volatile. We have come, as the Phantom of the Opera, sings in the Act II of Lloyd Webber’s musical, “To the point of no return.” Each one of us must decide whose authority we shall stand under.

There is one more point I wish to make about this passage. It struck me when reading the translation from The Message – something I had never seen before. The text reads:

"Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat; I am. Don't run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self.”

Don’t run from suffering, embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how.

I am currently reading Elizabeth Lesser’s Broken Open ~ How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow. Published in 2005, Lesser shares with her readers the experiences she went through in overcoming a very painful divorce. She offers tools to help folks make the choice that everyone faces in times of challenge: Will we be broken down and defeated, or broken open and transformed? Lesser draws on the writings of the great spiritual masters and the psychological traditions in order to provide a base of support for the reader so that they may blossom into who they were meant to be.

In one chapter entitled, “Here Begins the Terrors, Here Begins the Miracles”, Lesser shares the story of a friend whose second child was born with brain damage and a life threatening epilepsy. This event was coupled with the mother being diagnosed with MS and her mother dying suddenly shortly thereafter. The suffering that this family went through was severe.

Yet, this young mother embraced her suffering. Yes, she raged when she needed to but she also shared in her story something else. She spoke about transforming the nightmare of her life into a “Phoenix Process” (a phrase Lesser likes to use often). Out of the ashes of great suffering and pain came new life, new transformations, and new thanksgivings for what was. She stated: “I am learning to hold health and sickness, weakness and strength, and even life and death side by side – two sides of the same coin. In fact, it is the acceptance of death that has finally allowed me to choose life. I am learning that it is never either or, but both, and more. Not life or death, but life and death, health and sickness, good and bad. Both, and something more. I am learning to love the human condition, to say a full and rousing yes to it all, to work with it, to choose it, just as it is, every day” (Broken Open, page 72).

It is in the suffering and in the ashes of the pain where the true miracles lie. In the last two years as I have experienced tremendous anguish and been put through a process that no one, or their family, should be allowed to have to go through – a true nightmare – I have found that as I have turned and faced the suffering, embracing it, learning from it, I have been transformed by the experience. Out of the ashes of past experiences and failures is rising a new and transformed being that I believe is the person I am truly meant to be.

The woman in the story was correct it is not about either/or but it is about embracing both good and bad, health and sickness, weakness and strength, life and death. Out of the ashes of Jesus’ suffering at the hands of the religious establishment has come a miracle that the world stills marvels at today. New life, resurrection, is available to all of us each and every day. Jesus said, “Follow me and I will show you how.”

Love One Another – Brian

Terrors and Miracles

The Grail Legend

Here is the Book of thy Descent,

Here begins the Book of the Holy Grail,

Here begins the terrors,

Here begins the miracles.

Source: Broken Open ~ How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow

 

Mark 8:27-9:1

Jesus and his disciples headed out for the villages around Caesarea Philippi. As they walked, he asked, "Who do the people say I am?" "Some say 'John the Baptizer,'" they said. "Others say 'Elijah.' Still others say 'one of the prophets.'" He then asked, "And you—what are you saying about me? Who am I?"

Peter gave the answer: "You are the Christ, the Messiah." Jesus warned them to keep it quiet, not to breathe a word of it to anyone. He then began explaining things to them: "It is necessary that the Son of Man proceed to an ordeal of suffering, be tried and found guilty by the elders, high priests, and religion scholars, be killed, and after three days rise up alive." He said this simply and clearly so they couldn't miss it.

But Peter grabbed him in protest. Turning and seeing his disciples wavering, wondering what to believe, Jesus confronted Peter. "Peter, get out of my way! Satan, get lost! You have no idea how God works." Calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, "Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat; I am. Don't run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? What could you ever trade your soul for? If any of you are embarrassed over me and the way I'm leading you when you get around your fickle and unfocused friends, know that you'll be an even greater embarrassment to the Son of Man when he arrives in all the splendor of God, his Father, with an army of the holy angels."

Then he drove it home by saying, "This isn't pie in the sky by and by. Some of you who are standing here are going to see it happen, see the kingdom of God arrive in full force."

Translation: The Message