Sermons

By this time next week, you’re going to be shaking your head and asking, “What’s wrong with the Gospel of Mark?”  Trust me on this.  Your going to hear me read the text and say, “What? That’s it?” Then, I will have to make sense of what you’ve just heard. 

In the meantime, though, this morning, don’t get ahead of yourself.  The good news is that the Gospel of Mark gets Palm Sunday exactly right. When you see how Mark brings Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem to life, you just might think he gets Easter right, too!

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Sometimes, in order to really see the present, we have to look into the past…

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Good news!  This morning’s service is “Magic Eye” drawing free.  I promise!  However, I do want you to bring the metaphor with you.  Sometimes, we see things but we have to keep looking to see what’s really there.  Sometimes, we hear but we have to keep listening.  Sometimes, there are meanings to things that are not immediately obvious.  Sometimes, what is “planted” in us are not seeds but bulbs and bulbs take time and the right conditions to grow.

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Last week, I had you look at ambiguous drawings.  The question we asked was, “What are we looking at here?”  I showed you how I could shape your expectations to the point where you would see musical notes on staff paper when, in fact, what you were looking at was cross country skiers.  We looked at another drawing. Some people saw a rabbit. Some a bird. Some immediately saw both.  We recognized that it’s possible to see different things and still be telling the truth.  We looked at a third drawing that many people had seen before, an image either of an old woman or a young woman, depending on your perspective.  Sometimes having someone near you who is experienced, they can help you see what you’d miss.

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I’ve been worried lately.  I want to share that worry today.  It’s not Russia or China or Iran or North Korea.  It’s not the Democratic Party or the Republican Party.  It’s not climate change or immigration or crime.  Nope. I’m worried about the confirmation bias that blocks us as a society at nearly every turn from being able to work together to deal with any of the challenges before us.

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Let’s begin with a few basic facts.  We have four Gospels:  Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  There were others but they didn’t make the “cut.”  Of these four Gospels, three—Matthew, Mark, and Luke— clearly share common source material.  The Gospel of John is much more philosophical and theological in nature and includes Jesus speaking much more explicitly about who he is—“the light of the world,” “the way, the truth, and the life,” “the vine and the branches.”  If you spend any time with the four Gospels, it is immediately obvious when you’re hearing John’s words.

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Last week, we connected to Jesus in his time in the wilderness by thinking about our own wilderness days, our life in the “land of no and not yet.”  We think we’re ready to begin a new chapter in our lives.  We think we’ve figured out what we were put here to do.  We know what’s next…except what is actually next is one giant lesson in patience.  It feels like a total waste of time.

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So, the classic way to preach about Jesus in the wilderness is clear.  Jesus is baptized.  Jesus goes into the wilderness.  For forty days and forty nights, he stays there and fasts.  During that time, “the tempter” comes and tempts Jesus—to turn stones into bread; to compromise his calling in order to get power; to demand proof of his own security.  Three times, Jesus resists temptation.   We look at ourselves and remember how easily tempted we can be, especially when we’re needy, and we think, “Oh man…good luck to us with this whole temptation thing…” Then, we fold our hands and bow our heads and pray, “Lead us not into temptation,” and somehow, we mean it just a little more. 

There’s a lot of value to considering temptation in our lives but that’s not where we are going this year.

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Here’s something to consider:  Jesus never baptized anyone.  Let me repeat that: Jesus never baptized anyone.  He preached.  He told parables.  He fed hungry people.  Somehow, he healed the sick.  He was a prophet who stood on the side of the overlooked and the ignored, who stared down those in power.  He walked on water, stilled storms, and turned plain old drinking water into some fine red wine.  However, the man never baptized a single soul.

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Let’s begin with a thought experiment.  You’re watching a football game on t.v.  The way a game is broadcast, you normally,  feel like you’re in the booth with the announcers. The fact that they know so many things makes you feel a little smarter.  After a while, you’re thinking right along with them through play choices and clock management and half time adjustments.  You laugh at their jokes and you’re sure they would laugh at yours if you were actually in the booth with them.

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If you grew up when I grew up, the name “Ron Popeil” should mean something to you.  Mr. Popeil was an American inventor in the tradition of Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell.  However, instead of the lightbulb or the telephone, Ron Popeil gave us the “Chop-O-Matic,” the “Veg-O-Matic,” the “Popeil Pocket Fisherman,” and “the smokeless ashtray,” among many other things.  He would show up on television at weird (a.k.a.—cheap) times on long infomercials.  That’s where I learned that Ron Popeil was an amazing salesman.  The man could sell anything to anyone.

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The first thing that I want to talk to you about this morning is the role of rituals in our lives.  I want to start in a really concrete place.  I want you to think about your own daily routines.  You have a way of waking up—an ordering of things: Do you wake to an alarm or do you not need one? Are you the first out of bed? Do you get dressed right away or do you hang out in your pajamas? Do you exercise early?  At what point do you caffeinate yourself?  How grumpy are you if the coffee isn’t ready?

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