For the week of September 22 – 18th Sunday after Pentecost
Morning Prayer: O God, our teacher and guide, You draw us to Yourself and welcome us as beloved children. Help us to lay aside our envy and selfish ambition, that we may walk in Your ways of wisdom and understanding as servant of Your peace. Amen. (Lectionary Prayers)
Opening Hymn: #89 Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee
- Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love;
hearts unfold like flowers before Thee, opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; drive the dark of doubt away.
Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day! - All Thy works with joy surround Thee, earth and heaven reflect Thy rays,
stars and angels sing around Thee, center of unbroken praise.
Field and forest, vale and mountain, flowery meadow, flashing sea,
chanting bird and flowing fountain, call us to rejoice in Thee. - Thou art giving and forgiving, ever blessing, ever blest,
well-spring of the joy of living, ocean depth of happy rest!
Thou our Father, Christ our brother, all who live in love are Thine;
teach us how to love each other, lift us to the joy divine. - Mortals, join the mighty chorus which the morning stars began;
love divine is reigning o'er us, binding all within its span.
Ever singing, march we onward, victors in the midst of strife;
joyful music leads us sunward, in the triumph song of life.
Psalm 134
All you who serve the Lord: bless the Lord right now!
All you who minister in the Lord’s house at night: bless God!
Lift up your hands to the sanctuary
and bless the Lord!
May the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth,
bless you from Zion.
Prayers of Intercession: Thank You, Lord, for hearing our prayers for those dear to our hearts. We now pray as You have taught us: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us, not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Offering spotlight: A portion of your offering is given to Camp Victory to assist with their mission of providing outdoor camping experiences to kids who struggle with physical limitations, and also kids who have had family deaths and other circumstances. Thank you for giving.
Offering prayer: God of Love and Mercy, we bring these offerings with grateful hearts, honoring Your enduring guidance in our lives. Just as Wisdom works with willing hands and provides for those in need, may these gifts be used to nurture and uplift our community. Inspire us to follow Your teachings of kindness and generosity. Transform our contributions into acts of love and justice, spreading Your light in the world. May we always give credit to Your divine wisdom and grace. In Your holy name, we pray. Amen. (Discipleship Ministries)
Hymn of preparation: #384 Love Divine All Loves Excelling
- Love divine, all loves excelling, joy of heaven, to earth come down;
fix in us Thy humble dwelling; all Thy faithful mercies crown!
Jesus Thou art all compassion, pure, unbounded love Thou art;
visit us with Thy salvation; enter every trembling heart. - Breathe, O breathe Thy loving Spirit into every troubled breast!
Let us all in Thee inherit; let us find that second rest.
Take away our bent to sinning; Alpha and Omega be;
end of faith, as its beginning, set our hearts at liberty. - Come, Almighty to deliver, let us all Thy life receive;
suddenly return and never, nevermore Thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing, serve Thee as Thy hosts above,
pray and praise Thee without ceasing, glory in Thy perfect love. - Finish, then, Thy new creation; pure and spotless let us be.
Let us see Thy great salvation perfectly restored in Thee;
changed from glory into glory, till in heaven we take our place,
till we cast our crowns before Thee, lost in wonder, love, and praise.
Scripture: Mark 9:30-37
30 From there Jesus and His followers went through Galilee, but He didn’t want anyone to know it. 31 This was because He was teaching His disciples, “The Human One will be delivered into human hands. They will kill Him. Three days after He is killed He will rise up.” 32 But they didn’t understand this kind of talk, and they were afraid to ask Him.
33 They entered Capernaum. When they had come into a house, He asked them, “What were you arguing about during the journey?” 34 They didn’t respond, since on the way they had been debating with each other about who was the greatest. 35 He sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be least of all and the servant of all.” 36 Jesus reached for a little child, placed Him among the Twelve, and embraced Him. Then He said, 37 “Whoever welcomes one of these children in My name welcomes Me; and whoever welcomes Me isn’t actually welcoming Me but rather the one who sent Me.”
Message: Pastor Becky
Jesus’ face is set to Jerusalem. He and the disciples are making their way there, physically and for Jesus – He is preparing mentally to face Jerusalem. His sole focus is on the events to come. His crucifixion. His death. And His resurrection and ascension. We will still hear His teachings and witness some healings as we continue through the Gospel of Mark. But they will be different, they will be pointing us to the call of discipleship and what it means to be a disciple. Jesus is becoming more intense on His focus.
In this growing intensity, Jesus missed the underlying issue in the argument amongst His disciples. He didn’t acknowledge anything brewing under the surface concerning the relationships the disciples had with each other. He didn’t miss the debate, but there isn’t any clarity, as to what exactly started the debate. Jesus doesn’t say nor does Mark. The only answer we get is they were debating who was the greatest. The disciples were bickering. Who is the top disciple? Who is Jesus’s best friend? Who is the favorite?
If you have siblings, children, or close cousins, you know what this sounded like. They are whisper-shouting through clenched teeth, they are spotting expressive faces and pointing fingers. They are trying to get their points across, to plead their cases to each other. Yet all the while, they are trying to do this without Jesus noticing. They aren’t looking to bring wrath down on themselves, but they do want to assert their thoughts.
In the course of this week, other scriptures helped lead me to this morning’s message. The first is part of the Lectionary Epistle reading for today: James 4: 1-2a “What is the source of the conflict among you? What is the source of your disputes? Don’t they come from your cravings that are at war in your own lives? You long for something you don’t have, so you commit murder. You are jealous for something you can’t get, so you struggle and fight.”
The second pairing are from our Bible study: Matthew 15: 21-28 The story of the Canaanite woman and her demon possessed daughter, lighting up verse 24 “Jesus replied, ‘I’ve been sent only to the lost sheep, the people of Israel’” and Matthew 28:18-20 “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations…” This second pairing begins to flesh out where you start and how big the mission gets.
Which brings me back to Jesus’s response to the disciples in our Mark lesson today. Jesus sits them down and say whoever wants to be first must be least of all and the servant to all. He brings a child into their midst and says whoever welcomes one of these children in My name welcomes Me; and whoever welcomes Me, welcomes the One who sent Me. This is the perfect response for defining discipleship. Yet in order to develop into disciples, the rift between them needs to be addressed and mended. Jesus is focused on the big picture, but a fundamental building block has to be set.
They have their Jewish upbringing, a collective communal history with God. They have been observant of their heritage. They know about God, they have been with Jesus over this extended period of time. They have witnessed the healings and have heard His teachings. Yet, something is lacking and we have to go to the book of James to begin to work through the discontent within the disciples. James says something is missing, something they need. James knows what our inner cravings can do to cause us conflicts. We argue, we put down, we tear apart, we thwart, we belittle, dehumanize others to rob them of what it is we want but we don’t have.
By debating their status or rank within the group, could it be that they need to know they are loved by God? Would words of affirmation, love, or inclusion have not better spoken to them at that moment, then another lesson on sacrifice? We know that Jesus lifts Peter up as the rock Jesus will build His church upon and there is the disciple whom Jesus loved; what I really hope is that they were told they were loved. We don’t get that conversation, yet I can hope for them.
Jesus was focused on the mission to Jerusalem, to fulfill the scriptures and bring forth God’s plan of salvation. In His focus, He took His eyes off His disciples and missed their need. And I did too.
When I got here, I said I work under the assumption this congregation knows and has met Jesus. I’m not bringing Jesus here. I could see your long history which witnesses a relationship with Jesus. I meant it as an affirmation of all and everything you’ve done, are doing, and will do. I jumped straight into preaching love of God and neighbor, lifting and connecting to the community, and asking God to bless our work. I was focused on the big picture, but I skipped over the fundamentals of being sure you, individually, had the blessings of God. Making sure you know deep within yourselves that God loves you, Jesus loves you, and that I love you. Simply because you are a beloved child of God.
We can’t offer to others what we don’t possess ourselves. How can I expect you to love your neighbor, if I have not made certain that you know you are loved? Forgive me for looking too far ahead, moving forward without assessing your needs of affirmation, inclusion, and love. I realize now, and hopefully it isn’t too late, that all our mission and ministry can feel more like a chore or a duty if we don’t know deeply that we are each loved by God and by Jesus.
If you don’t hear anything else I say this morning – hear this – GOD LOVES YOU! JESUS LOVES YOU! This love has nothing to do with what you can do or have to offer, but simply is. It is God’s promise to us through Jesus Christ – “I will be at home among you and I will be their God” Exodus 29:1. Followed closely by with John 3:16-17 “ For God so loved the world, He sent His Son, so that everyone who believes in Him won’t perish but have eternal life. God didn’t send His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”
You are loved by God, and when you forget, I want you to look to the person to your right or left, the person in front of you or behind you and ask them to remind you. Maybe better yet, let us make this our greeting to each other, so we don’t get a chance to forget that God loves you, Jesus loves you, and we love each other. Amen.
Closing Hymn: #191 Jesus Loves Me
- Jesus loves me! This I know, for the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong; they are weak, but He is strong.
Refrain: Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! The Bible tells me so.
- Jesus loves me! This I know, as He loved so long ago,
Taking children on His knee, saying, “Let them come to me.”
- Jesus loves me still today, walking with me on my way,
Wanting as a friend to give light and love to all who live.
The blessing: May the Lord bless you and keep you and make His face shine upon you this week.
