Mark 13:1-2

Mark 13:1-2 

English Standard Version

  A few years ago, when Notre Dame in Paris burned, I remember being in shock as I watched the steeple collapse.  I will never forget sitting in that sanctuary in 2003 and feeling a sense of the presence of God.  It was real in that place in a way I've never experienced in other churches.  The majesty and power of the building communicated in an incredible way.  

  The temple in Jerusalem was like that to the Jews in the first century, only moreso.  God could reside in the Holy of Holies, where even the high priest could only go once a year.  It was a building of power and presence.  

  And yet, Jesus said every stone would be thrown down.  It would not stand.  

  The people would have been shocked, understandably so.  But Jesus was pointing beyond a building -- the Kingdom of God doesn't have power trapped in a building, but it rests in a person, in Jesus Christ, and the loss of a building doesn't derail the power of the movement.  He's pointing away from buildings and to people.  A building is just a building -- what it enables is what matters, but it's replaceable.  The church that will stand forever -- that is comprised of people from every time and place, and that's what Jesus is focused on, and that's what we should be focused on.  We should be good stewards of our buildings, and use them as helpful tools for gathering and worship and for serving, but let us not confuse the building with the purpose.

Mark 12:41-44

Mark 12:41-44 

English Standard Version 

  We often think of giving as a purely personal decision.  What's always fascinated me about this passage is the idea of Jesus sitting down opposite the treasury and watching people put money into the offering box.  I try to imagine if I pulled up a chair during the offering and watched people put money into the plate -- I can imagine a number of people taking offense at this.  I have no interest in doing it, and I certainly don't think this is the primary behavior that Jesus is hoping I'll emulate, but it's interesting that not only does Jesus watch, but he then calls the disciples together and teaches based on what he observes.  We all know that we can learn a lot about what someone values based on where they spend their money.  Jesus is clearly able to deduce a lot about what we value based on how we give.

  May we spend and give like Jesus is watching, and may that drive us to be thoughtful and prayerful about how we invest our resources.

Mark 12:35-37

Mark 12:35-37

English Standard Version 

  It's interesting to me to see how many times Jesus is teaching in the temple.  It's tempting to think of him as a complete outsider, but he was clearly engaged with the Jewish leadership.  He spent a lot of time in the temple -- so he isn't one to cast out religion.  He came to reform everything, not to throw it all away.  He wanted the people to draw closer to God and closer to one another, and to ensure their religious practices weren't woodenly pulling them away from that goal.  It's easy for our practices to sometimes get in the way -- so Jesus comes to remind us why we have these practices, why we have rituals.  Rituals can be a gift, as long as we use them in such a way so that we're drawing closer to God.  

  I think if Jesus were here today, he'd spend a lot of time in various churches.  He wouldn't stand outside, but he'd go in, and reorient our practices, holding us accountable in all the right ways.  Jesus would embrace and challenge, always calling us to grow in faith.

Mark 12:28-34

Mark 12:28-34

English Standard Version 

  Imagine standing outside the greatest restaurant on earth and experiencing the aroma of all that great food, knowing that a feast is going on inside.  How satisfying is that?  

  Knowledge gets us close, but it's not all the way there.  The scribe agrees with Jesus that these are the true and greatest commandments, and Jesus tells him that he is not far from the Kingdom.  His knowledge has brought him near, he can perhaps peer beyond the wall and see inside... but only the experience of Jesus will carry him into the Kingdom.  To know with our heads is one thing, to experience with the heart is another -- it's the second step that completes.  We need both -- one without the other, I think, is incomplete.  

  So may we seek knowledge, but pair it with worship and service, where we experience what we learn and grow in faith and knowledge, drawing closer constantly to Christ.

Mark 12:18-27

Mark 12:18-27 

English Standard Version 

  I can't imagine that it feels great to hear Jesus Christ look at you and say 'you are quite wrong'.  But we need that sometimes, because we are.  We come at things from the wrong angle -- the Sadducees are trying to trap Jesus, trying to force him to debate them on their premise, so that they can shrink God down into something they can wrap their minds around, but Jesus is having none of it.  Jesus isn't focused on the technical question of how many angels fit on the head of a pin -- he's trying to direct our eyes to the glory of God, to the wonders of heaven, and to the community to which we are committed.  If we spend our time lost in debate on the minutiae, we miss the bigger picture.  When we start with the bigger picture, when we start with the immensity of the divine mystery and root ourselves in God's love for us, then, and only then, can we move into questions about the details, but always with an air of humility.  We don't know the full answers to every question about heaven -- we can ask them, but only when we come with humility, when we come with grace, when we come with the spirit of trusting God that all will be dealt with in love and grace.  It's ok to not get answers, as long as we let worship drive us and lead us.

Mark 12:13-17

Mark 12:13-17 

English Standard Version 

  Do you let wonder transform you?  

  Think back to things that have left you in wonder.  Is it the sound of a child laughing?  The beauty of a natural landscape?  A good book?  

  It's easy for us to get caught up in wonder and then quickly forget about it.  That's clearly what the Pharisees did.  They marveled at Jesus, but it didn't touch their hearts.  Their hearts were hard as ever, and ultimately, they simply saw Jesus as a threat, so while they marveled, that wasn't enough to change how they looked at him or the world.  They could only see opportunities to grab more power or threats to their power.  Wonder never changed them.

  If we read the Gospels and look for opportunities to wonder, we see them everywhere.  We see a King who spends time with the poor and outcasts, and yet he also can mix with the Pharisees, too.  He lets children come to him while also preaching in the synagogue.  He is a wonder, marvelous, and kind, and he has come to show you the width and breadth and depth of God's love.  It's marvelous, because he is marvelous, and if we sit back and contemplate how great it is, it will change our hearts, day by day.  

  

Mark 12:1-12

Mark 12:1-12 

English Standard Version 

  I know that I've said it before, but it continues to confuse me -- as society moves away from church and Christian-based ethics, where will we get our clarity of right and wrong from?  It society decides that there isn't a Creator and we're all here by random chance, then there's no grounding or uniting sense of right and wrong.  If we're random accidents in a random universe, then how can there be a sense of right and wrong?  

  However, Jesus knew otherwise -- he told this story knowing that the listeners would be outraged, because the tenants disrespect the landowner.  They've made an agreement, and yet they violate it brazenly, thinking they can seize for themselves what doesn't belong to them.  All the hearers would have been outraged, because it is so very wrong.  It goes against who we are as a society and how we live together, and punishment would've been demanded in such a case.  

  Jesus is drawing the parallel -- humans, who have been created in the image of God and live in God's good creation, have seized for themselves what rightfully belongs to God.  There is punishment owed.

  And yet, God steps in.  God receives the punishment and we receive the glory due to God's perfect Son in Jesus Christ.  It's a free gift.  This is the Gospel.  This is how we live, and this is what rules our life and guides our days and hearts -- that we have received much as a free gift from God, and as a result, we then live differently, as a people whose hearts are defined by gratitude.

Mark 11:27-33

Mark 11:27-33

English Standard Version 

  It takes a great deal of humility to admit that you don't know something.  It's far easier to pretend that you do know, to go along with the moment and hope no one asks you any questions.  

  The Pharisees don't say this out of humility -- they're struggling to figure out how to trap Jesus.  They're worried that they're not in charge, and they need to be the ultimate authority.  They're so cemented in their own certainty about being in charge that they're unwilling to submit to the authority of another. 

  Humility is the definition of accepting the authority of another.  It's admitting that you don't need to be in charge and in control.  It makes me think of Martin Luther, writing letters to his good friend Philip Melancthon, reminding him that he needed to cease to rule the world.  Let Jesus be Lord of all.  Every morning, let us submit to his authority and rule over our life.  Thy Will be Done, is the way the prayer goes.  It's quite possibly one of the hardest prayers we can pray, but it's one of the wisest, too, and will lead us deeper into communion with God.

Mark 11:20-26

Mark 11:20-25

English Standard Version 

  Ever notice those adds for nutritional supplements that promise the moon?  One simple pill a day that can cure baldness and fight fatigue and re-grow cartlidge -- I see them advertised constantly, as though we wouldn't all be lining up for them if they actually worked.  But we're always eager to grab for something that promises great things.

  Somehow, though, we discount the promises of prayer.  We'll try any medicine or get-rich-quick scheme or any other shortcut, but we hear the promises that God makes to us about prayer and we assume that it won't work or be reliable, so we skip that.  We don't offer it the same credence that we often do to other things that make great promises.

  Why do you suppose that is?  Part of it is that I think we often approach God like a vending machine in the sky.  We make a list of what we need for God to do for us, then wait for God to get results, which I don't think is in perfect keeping with the way our relationship is supposed to go with the God of the universe.  

  Remember how Jesus taught us to pray?  They will be done.  It's the hardest prayer in the world -- to set aside our own will and ask for God's will to take over.  But if we can pray that, day after day, we'll grow as disciples, and God has shown us what a small group of committed disciples can do.  They can change the world.  

Mark 11:15-19

Mark 11:15-19 

English Standard Version 

  I sometimes stop and wonder what Jesus would say to me if we had the chance to have dinner.  I like to think that it would be all affirmations and good news.  I also like to think calories eaten after midnight don't count.  I think both are probably incorrect.

  Jesus was confrontational.  He wasn't afraid to confront the Pharisees, and he wasn't afraid to go after the money-changers in the temple, either.  He called Peter 'Satan' when he was upset with him.  We have these images of Jesus as a meek and mild lamb, but he is also passionate and ferocious at appropriate times.  I believe he can still be affirming and loving, but he's not afraid to name the places in life where we need to change and grow.  I think I'd get called out for any number of faults -- not to belittle, but to help open my eyes to areas where I let sin and selfishness reign, and ways that I don't love God more than other things.  

  It's probably a helpful thought exercise -- imagine having lunch with Jesus.  Where would he comfort you?  How would you bask in his love?  And where would he challenge you?

Mark 11:12-14

Mark 11:12-14 

English Standard Version 

  Every time I read this, I feel sorry for the fig tree.  It wasn't the season for figs, and yet it gets cursed for not having any figs.  It's not the tree's fault, I want to yell!

  And yet, Jesus is the one who designed the fig tree.  He made it -- he would know that.  

  And the God who reacts graciously throughout Scripture, even when it's undeserved, would surely be willing to extend grace.  The disciples all abandon Jesus, and yet he welcomes them back after his death.  So surely, Jesus has good reasons for his actions, and if they are consistent with everything else I read in Scripture, those actions are rooted in grace and love, more than I can imagine.

  So when the world confuses me, and I don't understand what God is doing (or not doing), I try and remember that God consistently acts with grace and love, so the problem isn't with God -- it's that I don't have enough facts, or am simply not waiting long enough.  On a long enough arc, God is consistently loving and faithful and cannot act outside of that.

Mark 11:1-11

Mark 11:1-11 

English Standard Version 

 Can you hear those in power trembling?  Can you feel the ground shifting?  I'm sure they can.  They recognize that Jesus has come not just as a good teacher -- he's come to change things, and those in power never like change.  The people are gathering around him, and the leaders feel threatened.  They're afraid of losing what they have.

  It's interesting to hear people today talk about Jesus.  Many talk about him in such a way that they isolate his ministry to merely teaching and healing.  But Jesus was more than that -- if he had only been that, the Roman and Jewish leadership wouldn't have seen him as a threat.  They understood that Jesus wasn't just a teacher -- he'd come to fundamentally change the way we relate to power, the way we relate to one another, the way we practice religion.  

  If religion is just about power, then it's under threat.  But if religion is about genuinely pursuing selfless love and service of others, and chasing a relationship with God above all else, then that recognizes what Jesus is doing and chases it.  If we keep that vision of the ultimate reality, when people come from north and south and east and west and sit together under a tree to dine together... that's a beautiful vision that is worth investing our lives in.

Mark 10:46-52

Mark 10:46-52 

English Standard Version 

  There's so many times where I'm uncertain exactly what Jesus has in store for me.  I'm trying to think about the next step, or what a faithful response looks like in a certain situation, and I just get it wrong.

  I take great comfort in reading the Gospels, where the disciples are also consistently getting it wrong.  Here, a blind beggar is yelling for Jesus, but rather than invite him closer, as you'd think Jesus would want them to do, many are rebuking the beggar.  They don't want Jesus to be disturbed, but Jesus has come just for this purpose.  To be disturbed, so that he can demonstrate his mastery over sin and death.  He's come for this reason, and he will not be denied.  

  In the same way, he has come for you.  You are his prize, and he will not be denied!

Mark 10:41-45

Mark 10:41-45 

English Standard Version 

  From when we're young kids, we're taught to seek positions of power and authority.  That's the way the world works -- to try and climb to the top of the pyramid.  Sometimes, it's no matter what -- at any cost, try and rise above others. 

  Then the church shows up, and we tell people that the purpose of life isn't to accumulate power and privilege, but rather to seek to serve.  True greatness is found in service of others.  Jesus Christ, the single most powerful and wise person to have ever lived, washed the feet of others and didn't consider a single person beneath him.  Can you imagine a modern CEO doing that?  Or a political leader?  They'll occasionally pose with people for publicity sake, but they rarely have authentic hearts focused on serving others.  

  May we seek opportunities to serve, and in so doing, discover the true heartbeat of God's Kingdom.

Mark 10:35-40

Mark 10:35-40 

English Standard Version 

  This reminds me of Peter saying that he'll never abandon Jesus, right before he abandons Jesus.  James and John want to sit on either side of Jesus in heaven, but they don't understand what that comes with.  They want the glory, but not the sacrifice.  Jesus ascends to such a position because he's willing to pour himself out, offering his own life so that the breach between humans and God can be repaired.  This interaction shows that we can't truly comprehend the gap between ourselves and God -- we think we need to be just a little bit better, when in reality, we need complete transformation.

  It's a terribly hard thing to pray for God's will to be done, because sometimes God's will doesn't seem to align with our will.  But God's will is so much bigger, so much grander, so much better than our own.  May we entrust ourselves to God, setting aside personal ambition and desires for glory, and trust the God who is able and willing to give us impossibly more than we can ask or imagine.

  

Mark 10:32-34

Mark 10:32-34 

English Standard Version 

  Remember -- the disciples heard this, and yet when it happened, they fled out of fear.  The warnings of Jesus didn't give them courage, because they didn't really understand.  When the big thing happened, they still reacted poorly.

  Things happen on the road of life, things that you didn't plan for and aren't prepared for.  Things happen, and they quickly overwhelm you and leave you wondering how you'll get through them.  Things happen, and even though you think you ought to be ready to face them, you aren't.  Life can be hard.

  So take heart.  Like the disciples, there is much we don't understand.  Jesus tries to prepare us, but we miss a lot, because we're overwhelmed.  Jesus still calls us, still loves us, and still redeems us, thanks be to God!

Mark 10:23-31

Mark 10:23-31 

English Standard Version 

  Who can be saved?  

  That is the ultimate question, the one's we ask ourselves at 3 in the morning, the ones our souls cry out when we let the noise from the world diminish and give ourselves time to think.  This is the ultimate question, the only one that truly matters -- who will be saved?

  Jesus tells us that it is impossible for us to do on our own, but with God, all things are possible.  Which leads us to the next question, of who does God choose to save?

  For this answer, we look to Jesus and wonder what kind of Savior he is, and what we find is someone more gracious than we can imagine.  What we find is someone willing to offer salvation to those who are crucifying him.  We find someone willing to go to the lost and the lonely, to those on the outskirts of society and well outside traditional power structures.  We find a God willing to offer salvation to people not on their merit, but on his unconditional love.

  Who can be saved? 

  Thanks be to God that is dependent on God, not on us.