“Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up.Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched; and since it had no root, it withered away.Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.” And he said, “Let anyone with ears to hear listen!” Mark 4:3-9

“Mark is hardly a cheerful optimist about the human capacity to fulfill the will of God. He knows well the weakness of the flesh, the deceitfulness of the heart, and the darkness of the mind. Nonetheless, the call to discipleship is given and repeated again and again. There is not the slightest hint in this Gospel that the requirements of God must be prudentially tailored or “realistically” limited because of human weakness. Rather, the demand for self-sacrificial discipleship is uncompromising. Just as the sower in Mark’s programmatic parable of the sower (4:3–9) sows seed indiscriminately on good soil and bad, so Mark’s call to discipleship is for anyone who has “ears to hear.” The seed may be wasted on many, but those who “hear the word and accept it” will in the end yield a rich harvest, “thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.” (Hays, Richard B. The Moral Vision of the New Testament (pp. 82-83). HarperOne. Kindle Edition.)

How are you doing being an Easter person? Here we are now twelve days into the Easter season, and have we already forgotten about the cross, the empty tomb and the risen Jesus who has been unleashed into the world? We have so many things to worry about right now – vaccinations, family, bills – it is easy to forget things like, well, your seven-word Gospel phrase to share with others. Of course I could take the argument of Richard Hays who talks about the human capacity to be distracted by the “..weakness of the flesh, the deceitfulness of the heart, and the darkness of the mind.” Perhaps this is at the “heart” of why we are distracted from the path of the cross – we become weak in heart, mind and body.

When we feel as if we have forgotten our calling as disciples, we can return to our seven-word phrases and use them as a mantra for our prayer life. The disciples received grace upon grace from Jesus due to their continued misunderstanding of who Jesus was and what he was teaching them. Though much of what Jesus is doing or saying to us may fall on thorny soil in our lives, there still is the good soil within each one of us where faith and good works will grow exponentially.

Pastor Dave

April 17, 2021 – Who?

“Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” ²⁴ And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵ It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” ²⁶ They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” ²⁷ Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.” Mark 10:23-27

“For example, in Mark 10:17–31, Jesus promulgates an astounding teaching about wealth. He tells a rich seeker after “eternal life” to sell all his possessions, give the money to the poor, and join the ranks of Jesus’ itinerant disciples. The man goes away “grieving, for he had many possessions.” This predictable response elicits from Jesus the entirely unpredictable remark that “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” In response to the disciples’ astonished query, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus offers an enigmatic response: “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.” The capacity to respond in obedience is a mysterious possibility granted by God…” (Hays, Richard B. The Moral Vision of the New Testament (p. 83). HarperOne. Kindle Edition.)

“Who then can be saved?” – it is the question that has haunted humanity (at least those who have suffered from some existential angst over the years) for thousands of years. Jesus seems to set the bar unbelievably high: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone…” No matter how you finish that sentence we are already defeated even before we began.

1. “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for me to grow hair on my head.”
2. “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for me to work my way into heaven.”

Point “A” is a truism in my life. So is point “B”. There is nothing you or I can do to work our way into heaven. Richard Hays states it this way: that even our “…capacity to respond in obedience is a gift granted by God.” Which is another truism for Lutherans. Our response in faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit working in each one of us. Which takes the responsibility out of our hands and puts it back into G-d’s hands. We cannot take the credit for our good works, but we also cannot take the blame. What we can do is turn to the Holy Spirit, in faith, and say “…not our will Lord but Your will be done in our lives.”

So you see, for mortals it is impossible. But for G-d – well, all things are possible.

Pastor Dave