Stumbling Blocks

Mark 9:38-50

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. If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea...Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.

What stumbling blocks have you encountered along life's way?  An illness, unemployment, unexpected death or loss, a lack of funds, no health insurance, a disgruntled family member?  The list is long and mighty of those things we might call stumbling blocks that keep us from staying on the divine path.

And when that happens, we are prone to throw our hands up in the air and say, "Forget it! This is just too hard!"  And often we do. But more often than not, we dig deep and find the resources to turn those stumbling blocks into character building fodder for the journey.

What happens sometimes that we are less aware of, though, is our own 'stumbling block' throwing.  Times when we throw stumbling blocks in someone else's journey, in the way of someone else's divine path. We do it for all kinds of crazy reasons.  Jealousy, anger, greed, frustration, disappointment, grief, pettiness, ambition. And when we do it, it is sin. I think, in fact, that is what most of the Bible would define as the purest example of sin... things thrown in the way that prevent people from being able to stay on the divine path.  And when we are the 'block casters', well, that is tragic. This scripture above says it is as if we tied a huge rock around our necks and hurled ourselves into the sea. The worst of the worst.

So, what do we do to improve our flaws of character? What do we do to prevent pettiness and anger and greed and ambition and 'stumbling block casting' in our lives?  Jesus ends this scripture by saying "Be at peace with one another." Realize the saltiness, the seasoning, that God has given you to flavor the earth and believe in it. When you believe in your own specialness, then you are more likely to offer peace to the earth.

We sing a song called  "Let There Be Peace On Earth" that most of us love. The best line in it of course is 'and let it begin with me.' It's how the song begins and ends. And it is how our lives should begin and end.  "Let There Be Peace On Earth and let it begin with ME."

What do you do that casts stumbling blocks on the paths of others?  What do you do when they are cast your direction? Think of all the things that you can do to create paths of peace instead. 

Comments? Email me or comment below.

Underlying Issues

James 3:13-4:3, 7-8; Mark 9:30-37

We all have them. Issues.  Stuff we leave unresolved or lying around somewhere in the corners of our minds that reaches out to get us when we least expect it. Baggage. Left unresolved or unattended for very long can lead to anger and resentment.

In the James passage, we read of what happens when we are unsatisfied with ourselves. We try to find happiness in nonspiritual ways and forget to seek that peace that comes from above. We get into conflicts and disputes and other wickedness because we submit to greed and worldly pleasures and not to God.

In the Mark passage, we read of the disciples arguing with themselves about who is the greatest.  Sounds almost like a presidential debate.  Ugh.  And Jesus says, very succinctly, that the one wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.

Going on, he says if you really want to 'get it,' you will learn that whoever welcomes a child, also welcomes him.  A child was thought of as little more than property. Bottom of the barrel in that society. And Jesus says we are to think of children as our most welcome of all. Which pretty much takes whatever we might want for ourselves out of the equation.

We have so much internal stuff we deal with, inside and outside the church.  We have those who 'want it done the way it always has been done;' we have those who 'have already done their fair share;' and we have those who 'would love to but can't commit to it' within our ranks.  We have those who get paid to do the work and those who would never dream of being paid to do the work.  And sometimes, all that creates a sort of tension, an awareness of a set of underlying issues, that needs addressing, mending, sorting, and maybe even re-creating.

How are the underlying issues in your own life affecting you today? How are the church's or society's underlying issues affecting you? When they do affect you, what do you do? Do you put your head in the sand? Do you walk away? Do you resolve to work out something that works for you? Do you resolve to follow your gut/God instinct no matter what?

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Peer Pressure

Mark 8:27-38

And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."

Peer Pressure is setting our mind on human things. It is falling prey to the human condition, the tendency to not follow our own gut/God instincts about what is right and doing something entirely different.  Or, in the words of a youth: "When someone tries to get you to do something just because they say everyone is doing it."

Notice the reality check there.  Not that everyone is doing it, but that the word on the street is the presumptive notion that everyone is doing it.  The spoken reality versus the actual reality.

When Jesus starts telling the disciples that he will suffer and die in the days to come, Peter gets angry and rebukes him.  Word on the street would indicate that 'saviors' don't get killed. Everyone knows that saviors do what everyone says they should do.  Behave the way a Messiah should behave.

And Jesus says, very sternly, "Satan get outta the way."  Aware that the master tempter is once again in place to make Peter and the others feel that if Jesus was really any kind of savior, he would do what word on the street proclaims of a Messiah.

When do we follow what the world tells us and what our gut tells us?  Preteens and teens are classically thought of when we hear the words peer pressure, but we all succumb to it on our own ways.  In our homes, in our lives, in our institutions, especially in our churches.

We have to do it the way the cool kids do it.  Or the way word on the street says it should be done.  I know as a pastor I often feel pressured to find the cool kid way to do things, or I feel pressured to do it the way we are expected to do it.. the way "they say" everyone is doing it.  And I fail to follow my gut/God instinct.

Peer pressure is actually a form of anger, in a way. We are trying to validate our choices by making others do the same as us.  Even when we aren't happy, necessarily, with the choices we have made. We might be angry that life isn't smooth sailing, so we pressure everyone else into getting on our ship of doom and poor choices.

What is at the root of peer pressure, or societal normalizing?  Why do we do it?  What does it mean to follow a Christ who bucked societal norms at every turn?

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Being a Mama Bear

Mark 7:24-37

What does it take to turn us into "mama bears?" What does it require someone to do to our child or someone we love before the 'claws' come out and we begin to lash out in protective anger? When is it ok to be a mama bear, and when is it better to keep ourselves out of it?

This month's sermon series is called "Anger Management." We are trying to decide when anger is appropriate, what kind of reaction we should have when we do get angry and how we can get better at  distinguishing between appropriate responses. Like when is it better to try responding with gentleness and kindness instead of clawing someone's eyes out....

A related idea to this is the phenomenon of 'helicopter parenting.'  I think I might be guilty of that. Trying to do so much for your kid that they don't have the chance to learn things for themselves. In terms of Anger Management, I think it would relate to being so involved in your kids' or grandkids' lives that you also end up fighting their battles for them.  When is too much simply too much?

The Syro-phoenician woman in today's text is crying out to Jesus to heal her daughter and he has apparently not paid her much attention. The corresponding Matthew scripture of this story even says he tells her he has come to the Israelites and not to her people.  Mark's version doesn't go that far, but clearly she has to get Jesus' attention.... and he says to let the children eat before the dogs.... implying that she fits in the second category and will likely not receive aid.

This story kinda makes you want to flash the bear claws, doesn't it? Makes you want to urge the woman to keep on... keep at Jesus until she gets her say. She does, and he responds, and her daughter is healed.

When is being a mama bear the appropriate response when we are advocating for the God's children? How does this differ from of "quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger" from last week's scripture? Can we heed that advice and still advocate for someone "in the moment" when that someone is being mistreated or ignored? Tough to know what to do.

Comments, thoughts, are always welcome.  Email me or comment below.

Speak Easy

James 1:17-27

You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger;  for your anger does not produce God's righteousness. Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.

A speakeasy is an establishment that illegally sells alcoholic beverages. They came into prominence during the Prohibition era of the 1920s. According to Wikipedia, though, the term 'speakeasy' might have gotten its start as early as 1888, when saloon owner Kate Hester refused to pay a fee increase from $50 to $500 for a saloon license. She continued to operate, as did others, illegally, but tried to keep the noise in the place down to avoid unwanted attention.  Wikipedia reports that when her customers got too rowdy, she would hush them by saying, "Speak easy, boys! Speak easy!"

What does it mean to speak easy?   The speaking easy I am referring to isn't a hushed silence in an illegal bar, but a kind of universally appealing thoughtfulness and mindfulness about what we say and do, which might take place in a bar, on a plane, at the dinner table, and in the church.  

In today's text, James suggests that it first begins with listening.  "Let everyone be quick to listen."  It is often my initial reaction in any situation to say something. Anything.  Mindless chatter.  I'm good at that. And it is rarely helpful.  What we should be doing first, says James, is listening.  And then when we do offer a comment it should be slowly offered. We should rid ourselves of bad and negative energies that often surround our thoughts and, instead, "welcome with meekness" the word "implanted" in us already. That word (that Spirit, that sense of the Divine) has the "power to save your souls," says James.

 James is trying to assist the early church, who, like us, was filled with misbehaving, misaligned, though well-meaning people. He is trying to diagnose sources of their malcontent and offer remedies or at least managed care.  Speak when it is well-meaning words you  aim to say.  Listen profoundly. 

We all know this is the case. My sermon and blog "Mouthwash" from a couple of weeks back addresses a similar topic.  Watch what you say, don't speak carelessly or harmfully. In that one we talked more about careless language. This one, I think, focuses more on 'intentional dialogue" in the world.

During the year of presidential campaigns and gotcha politics, it is hard to read pie-in-the sky words like James in Chapter 1 and not think, "Impossible."  But we know that as Christian people we must. And we know as people who are ambassadors in this area for Niwot UMC we have an obligation to  do it.

I invite you to consider your conversations, your dialogues (with yourself and others).  What are you doing right? What could you do better?  How does the church, at large, speak? 

Email me or comment below.

Rock and Roll Psalms, Part 2: Serenade

Psalm 84

In last Sunday's sermon, I talked about psalms and rock and roll having a message that was often subversive to the dominant culture and often hinting at social action. I mentioned that Walter Brueggemann, a Psalms scholar, saying we often just pick out the 'sunshine and light' psalms when we read from that book, and that we miss the full-bodied message of the Psalms when we do that. Rock and roll music is like that too, I suggested.

That being said, there are psalms that are designed to praise God. Designed to remind us and prompt us to let go of that which holds us and grasp on to the peace that God provides. Such is Psalm 84.  A psalm which reminds us of the sheer and utter joy we have just because we have a God who cares for us.

We needn't worry about our children or grandchildren as they spread their wings because God shelters, for example.  Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O LORD of hosts, my King and my God.  Happy are those who live in your house, ever singing your praise. Selah

We are assured good things if we walk as godly people, the psalm reminds us. Darkness may creep in, but with the right attitude, we are sure to feel God's goodness with us, even so.   For the LORD God is a sun and shield; he bestows favor and honor. No good thing does the LORD withhold from those who walk uprightly.

Sometimes the right song/psalm is a song that reminds you to praise. To look around you and give thanks for every good thing, large or small, that blesses your life. A roof over your head, the stars, the wind, the sun, time spent together.

In Serenade, the Steve Miller Band sings such words of praise. "Did you feel the wind as it blew all around? ... The sun comes up and it shines all around."

This Sunday is our kick off to the fall season at NUMC. We are combining our annual Feast of Beginnings kick off with our annual Summer Picnic.  We have much for which we can praise the Lord! Talented people of all ages, encouraging youth, vibrant children and an absolutely brilliant future ahead of us.

What are you thankful for at NUMC?  What brings you joy?  I'd love to hear from you. Email or comment below.

Peace.

Rock and Roll Psalms—Part 1: Handle With Care

Psalm 34: 9-14

On Fire, our beloved band, returns to us this week for a two-week engagement. And we are focusing on the outpouring of emotion found in the musical lyrics of both the Hebrew Bible's Psalms and soul-filled classic rock.

In Psalm 34 we read,  The young lions suffer want and hunger, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing... Which of you desires life, and covets many days to enjoy good? ... Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.

In "Handle With Care" we hear "I've been fobbed off and I've been fooled. I've been robbed and ridiculed. In day care centers and night schools. Handle me with care.... I'm so tired of being lonely. I still have some love to give. Won't you show me that you really care?"

Joining forces in this outpouring lyric of emotion,  we feel the longing of the psalmist and the lyricist to just be protected and loved.  The psalmist is convinced that trusting in God can keep the 'bad stuff' away, or at least make it bearable. The lyricist is sure that being with another human can keep the 'bad stuff' away, or at least make it bearable.

Such is life. We stand in the midst of an open field, or in the center of a crowded mall, and we cry out (either literally or just inside ourselves)... "Why do I feel so alone?"  And we long for that sense of purpose, that sense of belonging to someone else besides ourselves, that sense that someone cares for us so deeply that no matter what happens we know we are loved.

What songs or Psalms do you turn to in times of loneliness? What activities do you pursue when you need to 'get on with life'?  How do you handle times when the 'lonelies' or the 'dissatisfied doldrums' set in? What role does God or your faith play in all of this, either good or bad?

Email me or comment below. I am so looking forward to rockin' out with you and On Fire for the next couple of weeks.