Mark My Words. "Who's in charge?"

Readings:  Psalm 124, Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22, James 5:13-20 , Mark 9:38-50
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, NY, September 26 2021

Church communities are fascinating institutions. Particularly Presbyterian ones.  Our structure includes a lot of checks and balances. We have processes we follow through and sometimes we find it hard to make decisions. I sometimes find myself saying, “Well, I'd like to help with that, I think it is a great idea, but we'd have to run it past, the such and such team, and it will need to be approved by Session.

Sometimes people presume that because you are the pastor, that you have total control over every single thing that happens in the church. That has never been the Presbyterian way! We strive for democracy and community and hesitate to give any one person (or even any group of people) total authority in deciding what the mission of our church should be. We believe that discerning the way the Holy Spirit is leading us should be a group effort. We try and allow God to be in charge of what we do in Jesus name.

That kind of questioning “Who’s in charge when it comes to what goes on in Jesus name?” is the same kind of questioning that our bible reading from Mark places before us. Here is the situation. The disciples have their heads full of questions. Questions about what sort of Messiah Jesus would turn out to be. Questions about what true greatness looked like.

John’s got all these question marks swirling around in his head, so he goes off for a walk on his own, to try and get focused. He turns a corner and encounters a group of people doing an exorcism for some poor tormented soul. John’s thinking, “I know about this stuff. Seen Jesus do it a few times.” He’s ready to offer his expert advice.

As he approaches, he hears them praying. They are praying, “Help this person, In Jesus name… help him…Lord, in the name of Jesus.” And the person is responding. They are looking calmer. Something good is happening here!

This makes Johns’ blood boil. Who do these people think they are? He didn’t recognize any of them and they didn’t seem to realize just how important he was! “I’m a disciple of Jesus don’t you know!” So John gives them a mouthful of bad advice and then heads off to find Jesus. Jesus would put them right. How dare they!

The reply John receives from Jesus totally confounds him. "Do not forbid them; for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon after to speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is for us.”

Do you see what is going on here? It is a control issue. John thinks he should be in control. He is not, so he calls on Jesus to control the situation. Jesus, in effect tells him that there was nothing to control… because God was already in control of the whole situation. In fact, Jesus sees possibilities where John could only problems! Jesus suggests that wherever loving service is being expressed then people are opening up for themselves a real possibility of encountering God’s love.

This was not something to get mad about but something to be glad about. “John, don’t you get it?” “He that is not against us is for us.” Anything other than outright opposition to the Kingdom was something that favored the growth of the Kingdom.

Such did nothing for John’s personal rewards account or enhance his reputation as being the greatest disciple whoever walked on the planet, but “John, do you see… it’s not about you…”, it is not even about Jesus… it’s about God’s will being done, about God’s love not just being spoken about but acted upon. “For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ, will by no means lose his reward.”

Who’s in charge? You know that very statement is all about issues of control. That’s what this passage is about. And you know what? I do not mind being in control when things go well. I don't mind taking the credit when something good happens. When I meet other pastors and they say, “How are things going?” I can say, “Pretty well actually, I” (meaning probably some of you) “just finished this project or took this action.” If I needed a resume, then I would welcome things that would look good on my resume.

I’d meet Saint Peter at the gates of glory, and he’d smile and say “C’mon on in Saint Adrian of Bridgehampton, here are the keys to your mansion... We are so pleased and privileged to have you grace heaven with your presence.”

You see I think that is what John was expecting from Jesus. That as he had rebuked those ignorant disciples for using Jesus name, Jesus was going to slap him on the back and say, “Good job. You can sit with me at supper tonight. I’ll reserve a special table just for us!”

Instead, Jesus turns the whole thing around and calls us to examine our own personal control issues. First off, he chastises John for the potential damage he had done to those who were taking their first steps in discovering the power of His name. To discourage those who were just starting out on the road of discipleship was a terrible thing. Verse 42: "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung round his neck and he were thrown into the sea."

It is a harsh picture, but a necessary one. It is important that we realize how damaging our proud and unfaithful actions can be to those who are just starting out to find faith. I have heard too many stories of folk who started to go to churches and then, when they tried to suggest something or sought to understand something, some “know it all” church member cut them down and belittled them so completely that they never came through the door again.

We can be so proud. So insensitive. So judgmental. So controlling of others and not in control of ourselves. Jesus then turns the spotlight on our darkness with a glaring intensity. “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell,”

When people look at this verse they invariably pick on the wrong things. Cutting off hands and feet, gouging out eyes, what kind of talk is that? We need to come at it from a different angle. It is a verse about sin and the avenues through which sin comes into our lives. Remember what has just happened? John is standing there before Jesus feeling as tiny as an ant at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. He thought he was doing right, and he was shown to have been doing everything wrong because of his misplaced pride.

Here’s Jesus saying, “John, if you want to control something, then work on controlling yourself.” Sin, in these verses, is attached to hands, feet and eyes. Hands, feet and eyes have to do with what we touch, where we travel and what we see.

Remember as a kid going shopping and your mum or dad would say, “You can look but don’t touch?” “But mum I want too”… crash… “I thought I told you!” Remember somebody said “Listen, you don’t want to go there. If you do there will be trouble!” and you went there and you got into trouble! You know how temptation gets at us. We look. We desire. We want it. We cannot live without it. Next minute we are in deeper than we can handle.

Another way of phrasing “Cut it Off” is to say, “Cut it Out.”  It is as though we are complaining to God that we have a problem with this or that sin and God tells us loud and clear “So don’t touch it, so don’t go there, so don’t look at that! So, don't do that! Cut it out!” Cut it out. Change the way you are doing things and you will not be in the situation that causes you to fall. Refocus. Redirect your path. Get some hands-on experience of something that causes you to be a positive influence rather than something that causes you to sin.

Better that than to be thrown into hell “Where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.”  Did you notice the worm in that verse? Or rather to whom the worm belongs? Listen again, verse 47, ‘their worm does not die’. Whose worm? The person who insists on carrying with their destructive habits and fails to deal with the sin that is eating them alive.

Sin is like a tape worm. It clings inside us. The more we feed it the more it grows. It ruins our appetite. It saps our vitality. It takes away our taste. It makes us sick and unable to function in the way we were created to. Tape worms are personal. They do not eat somebody else. If you want to get rid of them, you take care of it. You get it removed and you are careful to watch what you consume.

Jesus concludes His talk with a word of encouragement. “Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another." In the context of His conversation with John He is saying, “John you messed up, learn from your mistake. You are like salt in the world. You are, by your actions bringing my Kingdom to others. Do not lose that. Let me burn away what is bad, and let’s all move on… together… in peace… being who we are meant to be.

Who's in charge? Our Presbyterian system, with its checks and balances, seeks to ensure that God is in charge, seeks to allow God's Spirit to work through us as a community.

We try to recognize that everybody has something to offer and even if things are not being done in precisely the way we have always done them, if the name of Jesus is being honored, then we are on the right track!

Our calling as individuals, as the Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, as part of the a worldwide community of Presbyterian Churches (and churches of all denominations) is to lay our lives before Jesus Christ as a response to the tremendous love He has shown by laying down His life on the Cross, to seek daily to live as disciples of the Kingdom and seek to be a means of resurrection life to others,  all in Jesus name.

To God's name be all the glory. Amen.

The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.

Mark My Words. "What Sort of Messiah?"

 Readings: Psalm 125, James 2:1-17, Isaiah 50:4-9a, Mark 8:27-38
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, September 12 2021

One day Jesus and the disciples are walking down the road. He asks them "Who do the people say I am?" The disciples gave Him some of the answers that were floating around. "Some say you are John the Baptist. Others say you are Elijah or one of the prophets come back to life."

Jesus then makes the question real up close and personal. "What about you? Who do you say that I am?" There was probably a moment of silence as they waited for each other to speak. It is Peter - the bold one - who eventually responds, "You are the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One of God."

Jesus replies "Well done, you are absolutely right (and the way Matthew's gospel tells it He adds that this was something God had revealed to Peter.) But then comes an intriguing sting in the tale. Jesus says: "You’re right. But don't you dare tell anyone!" Why?

Why did He tell them not to tell anyone? You would think He would be saying "Spread the word, the Messiah has come." Instead, Jesus tells them, "Shush... keep it to yourself." It’s something the scholars call the "Messianic Secret."

Here’s one of the reasons. Although the disciples had started to recognize Jesus as the Messiah, they didn't really know what a Messiah was. “The Messiah is coming! The Messiah is coming! The Messiah is coming! Hold on. What’s a Messiah?”

Now according to some of the Jewish Rabbis of the time this was how the Messiah thing would work out. The world would get worse and worse, spiraling down into a moral and spiritual vacuum. When things could get no worse God would send Elijah to prepare the way of the Messiah.

 Then when God's Messiah arrived, he would be a great warrior king, with political clout and military might, who would physically crush his foes. He would unite the people in a great Armageddon battle against whoever oppressed God's people. Finally, he would take his throne in Jerusalem and rule Israel in peace and prosperity. It would be just like the "Good old days" when David was king, but better.

You can't blame the disciples for wanting that kind of Messiah. The Romans had occupied the country. Pagan ideas and culture were corrupting the people. Even the high priest was little more than a puppet in the control of a pagan power. The time was ripe for a heroic warrior Messiah to come and conquer the Romans and take his place on the throne of David.

But that was not the sort of Messiah that Jesus came to be. If people, especially the people closest to Him, thought He was that sort of Messiah it could be a disaster. Tell them that the Holy Conqueror prophesied from ancient times had come and they might go form an army and try to draft him as Supreme Commander. Hundreds or thousands could die, and Jesus true mission would never be revealed.

So Jesus explains to His disciples God's plan for the Messiah. "The Messiah must go through great suffering. Even the elders and religious authorities will reject Him. He will be killed and in three days rise again." 

This was, of course, a contradiction to everything the disciples expected. God's anointed king suffering and dying? No way Hosea! That was blasphemy. To suggest that God would allow pagan Gentiles to torture, mistreat, and even kill God’s all-powerful Messiah was just wrong. 

So, Peter rebuked Jesus. He does not suggest that Jesus was mistaken, Peter rebukes Jesus. Anyone growing up in a traditional Jewish society would be horrified to observe Peter taking such a tone with his teacher. Disciples just did not go around rebuking their teachers!

And how does Jesus react? Strongly! He calls Peter a mouthpiece of Satan. He wants Peter to know that, yes, He was the Messiah, and good on you Peter for recognizing that, but Jesus was not going to be the sort of Messiah that Peter had been expecting. 

The true Messiah’s mission involved suffering and death and resurrection. Peter was making a devilish suggestion in telling Jesus that He had no need to go to the cross. No Cross… no redemption, no forgiveness, no death to be conquered, no resurrection necessary.

Maybe Peters problem was that he defined victory in human terms not in God's terms. Jesus then gives them God's definition of victory. "If any want to be my followers let them take up their cross and follow me." Take up a cross? Only thieves and criminals took up a cross. The Bible says, "Cursed is the one who hangs on a tree." What could Jesus mean?

He continues, "For those who seek to save their life will lose it, yet those who lose their life for me and the Gospel will save it." This contradicted logic. If you want to save your life you should fight and even kill to preserve it. But here Jesus says the way to life is through death. "For what do you gain if you gain the whole world and lose your life?" This was turning everything upside down. It would take the disciples a long time to come to terms with this. 

The same applies to us. We are no more enlightened than they were. True life, says Jesus, isn't found in human achievement or personal gain. Neither is it found in political or military power. It is found instead in spiritual power, in relationships with each other and with God, in worship and in service and abandonment to the will of God.

Friends, why are we part of a church? I would suggest that one of the reasons we involve our lives in the church, is because we are people who really want to live and really want the best out of life for ourselves and for our families and friends.

It could even be that, like Peter, we have recognized that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of living God, but maybe we're not exactly sure what that means or how we should go about telling others. And though we believe that Jesus can give us eternal life, not just life in heaven after death, but abundant life in the here and now… these words, about the cost of following Him, seem difficult and troublesome.

Jesus says, "If you want to follow me you must take up a cross. Because if you try to hold on to life you will lose it, but if you surrender your life for me and the Gospel you will have true life. After all what good is it to gain the whole world and never really live."

In a "Pain killer culture", trying to understand where suffering fits in with God’s will is a tough cookie. Jesus challenges us to turn our thinking upside down. Through His miracles and works of healing, through His compassion for the crowds and for individuals it is clear that God takes no delight in human suffering.

Mother Teresa, that great missionary to the poor in India, used to instruct her novices, "To truly love, is to fight against evil. You cannot fight without receiving blows. You cannot help the suffering without suffering yourself."

In our materialistic, pain fearing world, people love to hear the voice of the miraculous Jesus. Witness the success of those who preach a gospel of instant prosperity or ceaseless blessing. People are not so sure they want to hear the word of the Cross. What sort of Messiah would call us to such a thing? The idea is no less shocking now as it was then.

But … listen… just as God’s Messiah was not the sort of Messiah that people expected… maybe abundant life is not about all the things people often think it is. Maybe "the good life" is not being materially well off or even comfortable. Maybe abundant living does not depend on being in good health or even on good terms with everyone.

So let us, we who confess Him as Lord in the early years of the twenty first century, ask ourselves, "What sort of Messiah?" The sort that tells us that anything goes, and we are not to worry about our sins, or our neighbors, or about injustice or poverty, but simply accept blessing after blessing from His hand? One who says, "Don't worry, be happy... live for ever and ever in a pain free, trouble-free world?"

Or are we to hear the voice of one who explained His mission to His disciples in terms that involved undeserved suffering, a cross, a resurrection and a promise of the empowering presence of His Holy Spirit to all who would come after Him. Who spoke of picking up on the pain, the shame and the rejection of others and placing it on our shoulders to help them carry it up a hill towards forgiveness?

One who saw prayer as an opening up of ourselves to God's will, rather than as an exercise to persuade God to do things our way. One who spoke of putting our self-interest aside, dying to ourselves and being prepared to live and die for one another. Do we want to hear the radical voice of a revolutionary Jesus or do we want a “Panacea Messiah” to solve all the world’s problems and tell us we don't have to get our hands dirty, because it will be all right in the end?

I read the gospels and I am challenged to believe that God's desire for this world is that it be a place of miracles and blessing and healing and hope. But I am also challenged to see that love is not simply an emotion. It is a weapon to destroy all that cheapens and lessens and takes away life. 

To enter the fight means not sitting back and letting God take care of everything, but actively wielding the weapon of love, which may mean putting ourselves in situations that can only be traveled through with faith and whose only hope is in the ability of God to turn hopeless situations, like Crosses, into places that sing with the joy of resurrection emptied tombs.

"What sort of Messiah?"
There is only one and His name is Jesus.
All others are simply pretenders and charlatans.
And the way to life is found in His call to service.
"If any want to become my followers,
Let them deny themselves
And take up their cross
And follow me".

May God help us, by God’s Holy Spirit,
 to be true disciples.
In Jesus name.
AMEN.

The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.

Mark My Words. "Touched by God"

Readings: Psalm 45:1-2, 6-9,  James 1:17-27, Isaiah 35:4-7, Mark 7:31-37
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, NY, September 5 2021

“Touched by God.” What does it mean to be “Touched by God”? Is it a moment of inspiration? Is it when a particular need is met? Is it a lifelong journey? Well.... yes... all of the above and a whole lot more. More importantly, what does it take for our lives to feel the influence and touch of God upon them?

Our gospel reading from Mark this morning gave us the story of a man suffering from a hearing defect that also gave him an inability to speak. Then his life is touched by Jesus and he is made whole. At the start the man is in a pitiful state.  He comes to Jesus, not of his own volition but is brought by his friends. They ask that Jesus lays His hands on the man. They seem convinced that to do so will result in some sort of blessing upon his life.

Here is one of the first things we need if we desire God to impact or lives. 

We need to trust that God has the ability to handle our situation

We run into problems in our Christian life because we see the intervention of God as a last resort, rather than our first port of call. We try everything else and then we pray about things. Prayer should come first because prayer is the listening side of our relationship with God.

What was this man's problem? He could not hear; he was unable to listen. Because he could not hear anything, he couldn't say anything. His speech was impaired. Unless we can nurture our faith through personal private prayer we become not "speech impaired" but "faith impaired."

In our prayers we are not always sure what to ask for. Right at the start of this account is a picture of how we can pray. Sometimes we do not have the assurance of faith to ask for direct healing or for a miracle. But we can always ask God to lay hold of the situations that troubles us. We can do that in the simple faith that God knows how to handle things.

When I watch a professional football game on the Television, I'm always impressed by the distance a professional can throw the ball. I'm even more impressed by the guy who manages to catch it at the other end. I've always been a useless catcher. If they gave "A" Grades for fumbling, I could win a scholarship with my skills. I can get hit by the ball on the nose, on the knee, I can flay my arms about and run in the general direction, do everything but catch the thing!

On the other hand, God is a great catcher. It does not matter how hard you throw your prayers, how off course they are, how out of position you are, when God hears your prayers, God doesn't fumble or stumble, but lays hands on the situation that is troubling you. "Ask" says the scripture, "You will receive."

Field your problems in God's direction and you will see some results. It may not be the result you expected, or even exactly what you asked for, but God will not let you down. The men who brought their friend to experience the touch of Jesus knew they could trust Him. That is why they came to Him.

But Jesus did not do anything right away other than withdraw far from the madding crowds and go off to some private place. You see that too is something important for our lives. 

A second thing this passage teaches us about seeking a touch of God, is that we have to make space in our lives to spend  personal time with God.

This man did not find his healing among the crowds or in the business of life. He had to withdraw and be alone with the Lord. He had a particular set of problems that needed to be dealt with in a specific way. It was important for Jesus to spend time alone with Him so that He could deal with him His way. There is an importance to being alone, having a quiet place, and a quiet time with Jesus. We are all unique creations of God. God does not deal with us all in exactly the same way.

Sometimes we try and solve our problems in another person’s way. We read a book about how “so and so” dealt with such or such a thing and think, "Yes, that's what I need to do, that's how I should be handling things." Oftentimes it's not. Because we are unique individuals, and our situations aren't those of someone else.

The insights of other people may be some help. I don't deny for one minute that we all have a great deal to learn from each other. But there are those times when we just need to get on our own with God and get our life sorted out. Maybe you recall that Old Testament story about Jacob wrestling with an angel.

Jacob is an inheritor of God's promises. He had a life that was on track, going places. But then he tries to cross a river and there is a man, described as an angel, who won't let him pass. He gets into a wrestling match with the angel. Somewhere in the middle of it, he realizes, that he is wrestling with God. His life had the ability to take on new possibilities and greater significance. But he's got to deal with his past and his problems before God can make that happen.

Until he had a very personal struggle with God, though he trusted in God, his faith was not his own. Yes, he knew of his father Isaac's faith. He had most definitely heard the stories of his grandfather Abraham's faith. But he was only living his faith vicariously through their faith; it had not been solidified in his life. It is only after this struggle that we read of God in Scripture being identified as the God of Abraham, Isaac AND Jacob.

It is the same for us. Our parents’ faith, our family’s faith, our friends faith, even our churches faith, won't take us where God wants us to go. We must make it our own. And that can be a struggle. It may leave us walking in a different way. And it takes place through personal time, one on one, with God.

If we desire lives that know God's touch, we need to trust that God can carry us through. We need to take the time for personal encounter with God. 

Thirdly, we need to be open to whatever God wants to do in and through our lives.

When Jesus prays for this man, he uses the words "Be opened"; in Aramaic; "Ephphatha" in Greek "Dianoigo" (pronounced: Dee-an-oy'-go). He doesn't say "Speak up" or "Be made whole" but "Be Opened," a phrase that could be used in a variety of situations. An old Scots translation translates this verse as "Be thou unbarred," using the imagery of a prison cell whose iron rods are removed to set the prisoner free. It could also mean to open your mind or to open your soul.

It sounds like one of those trendy expressions you hear on TV, "Free your mind." Jesus said it first. 'Ephphatha," "Be Opened.” But not open to anything, open to His touch, open to His love.

The way the man is healed is, well, different. Jesus puts his finger in the man’s ear, then spits on his hand and touches the man’s tongue with it. Saliva was regarded in days gone by as having some medicinal qualities. Still is. Have you ever noticed the way an animal will lick a wound or even a mom will spit on a handkerchief and wipe a child's face with it?

There was nothing magical about Jesus saliva any more than there is about mum saliva. But it meant something to the man who was being healed (just as it means something to a child) and through what was a very common action the man was touched by the love of God. We need to be open for God to act and move in whatever way God chooses!

In verse 34, before He heals the man, we read that Jesus sighed. Time after time He was confronted by people who had closed minds, who couldn't seem to see or hear or grasp the wonderful significance of who He was and how much and how deeply they were loved by His Father God.

Jesus sighed. In that sigh is contained the sigh of all people who feel "Ugh, it's just getting too much for me!" Good news. God knows how you feel. Jesus can help. Just open up and see what happens.

Such help is not anything we deserve. God comes to us in spite of who we are, not because of it. So often we are blind to the things that really matter in life, so useless in speaking out, so in need of a touch of God. Kind of like the man in our bible reading.

So remember what happened to Him. God met him right at his point of need. Why should He deal with us any differently if we come to God in humility and in faith? We have nothing to offer God but our broken lives. God will take whatever we can give. All God asks is that we get around to giving it.

I began this message by asking “What does it take for our lives to feel the influence and touch of God upon them?” This encounter Jesus has, with a man who needed healing, offers some great insights.

• We need to trust that God has the ability to handle our situation
• We have to make space in our lives to spend personal time with God.
• We need to be open to whatever God wants to do in and through our lives.

A wonderful place to know the touch of God is around the communion table. Many testify to this table being a special touching place for God to impact their lives. I am one of them. Food for the journey!

May we each, in our own unique way and within our own specific situations, be able to say that our lives have been touched by God. And, blessed as we are, may we, like the friends of the deaf and mute man, who bought him to Jesus, seek to be a people who bring a touch of God's love to others. To God be the Glory. Amen.

The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.