July 18, 2021 – Pentecost +8B

“The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored the boat. When they got out of the boat, people at once recognized him, and rushed about that whole region and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.” Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

In our Gospel lesson today, Jesus is hearing the story of the disciples who have come back from being sent out in pairs to do the ministry of Jesus. Of course, there being sent out comes at the beginning of his ministry — and yet they have witnessed quite a bit while being with Jesus — even if just for a few weeks or months. In fact, this is some of what they have witnessed:

The healing of the Gerasene Demoniac

The raising of the daughter of Jairus

The stilling of the storm

The feeding of the 5000, which, by the way, is the part of our Gospel that the lectionary people left out.

And Jesus has been teaching them through different parables, like the parable of the mustard seed.

There has been plenty to turn the lives of the disciples “Inside Out”. But Jesus spent some time getting them ready, charging them up, giving them a pep talk before they were sent out. And when they came home, I believe they felt the same way many of us feel after a long day on the beach — “Stick a fork in me, I am done” —  and so were they.

And Jesus knew they were tired, so he takes them away so that they might get some much needed rest. They had been given so much power through the presence of the Holy Spirit, so much “Potential Energy” so to speak, that they spent it all on their ministry — and they were spent. Sort of the way many of us feel after a long day volunteering at the Food Bank, or serving a funeral luncheon. But this is what ministry can do to us all, church ministry I am talking about now — it can make us feel like we have been turned “Inside Out” — in need of rest — and respite.

It is here, in the church, where we live at the intersection of spiritual and physical needs — the intersection of saint and sinner — the intersection of insiders and outsiders. Those who come to us from the community — the ones who happen to come or those who have come because they have been invited — they come to the church hoping to receive the spiritual and physical things that they need — whether that is food, products, or words of love, mercy and Grace of Jesus Christ. Personally, those of us who come because this is where G-d calls us also know we can receive love, mercy and Grace — but we also come knowing we can share out of our abundance of blessings we have already received — share out of those resources with friends and strangers alike.

Pastor Dave

July 19, 2021 — A Study on the Book of Hebrews

“Therefore let us go on toward perfection, leaving behind the basic teaching about Christ, and not laying again the foundation: repentance from dead works and faith toward God,instruction about baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And we will do this, if God permits. For it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, since on their own they are crucifying again the Son of God and are holding him up to contempt.Ground that drinks up the rain falling on it repeatedly, and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God.But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and on the verge of being cursed; its end is to be burned over.” Hebrews 6:1-8

“Dave Branon puts it this way…

Few of us look in the mirror and come to the conclusion of Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Namath. During his heyday as a player, Namath wrote a book titled “I Can’t Wait Until Tomorrow … ‘Cause I Get Better-Looking Every Day.”

As egotistical as that title sounds, it can help us see how we as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ should view ourselves in the lifelong process of becoming like Him. Scripture tells us that to become more like Christ, we need to keep getting better every day. The development of Christlikeness is called sanctification. In God’s eyes we are sanctified, or “set apart” from the ungodly, and placed in God’s family. But sanctification is also the ongoing process in which we become more and more like our Savior as we allow the Holy Spirit to develop in us His characteristics. Our part is to “press on,” striving to reach spiritual maturity. Ask yourself this question: Am I better-looking spiritually than I was yesterday? It’s a good test of whether you are becoming more like Jesus.” (Dave Branon, Our Daily Bread, RBC Ministries)

What a question: Am I better looking spiritually today than I was yesterday? Are you? What strides have you made in your spiritual life, your spiritual understanding, your biblical literacy, and the sharing of your gifts with the church and others? We never can say we have achieved all we need to achieve when it comes to living the Christ-like-life. That kind of life is a journey – the journey ends when we die. We cannot retire from this life – we live into this life – from one day to the next, into eternity.

We are all made beautifully and wonderfully in G-d’s eyes. And since G-d already sees us as loved, children of G-d, we should seek to keep our spiritual—outer nature in the best possible shape. How? By exercising our spiritual muscles, running the race of faith, and eating and drinking the body and blood of Christ often.

Pastor Dave

July 17, 2021 — A Study on the Book of Hebrews

“About this we have much to say that is hard to explain, since you have become dull in understanding. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic elements of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food; for everyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is unskilled in the word of righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, for those whose faculties have been trained by practice to distinguish good from evil.” Hebrews 5:11-14

“Ray Stedman introduces this section writing that…

It has been quite evident thus far in Hebrews that the pastor’s heart of the author has been deeply troubled over the spiritual state of some of his readers. Twice he has warned them at some length that they are in danger of repeating the unbelief of the Israelites in the wilderness and failing, therefore, to enter into the spiritual rest which they had been promised. Once again he confronts them with their perilous state.

They are slow to learn, he declares, and because of this dullness, he has difficulty in explaining to them the extraordinary advantages of the Melchizedek priesthood of Jesus. If they had been growing as they should, they ought by now to be able to pass the great truths of the faith along to others. At best, they are spiritual infants who need to be taught over and over the elementary truths as a baby needs to be fed milk and is not ready for solid food. At worst, they are not Christians at all, but are like many of the Israelites in the wilderness. They also are in danger of failing to act in faith on the teaching they have received. (Ray Stedman, Hebrews 5:11-14, The Spiritual State of the Readers)

Oh how I believe that our people have become dull in understanding – and by people I mean Americans – and by dull I mean wandering in the wilderness of faithlessness without a working knowledge of even the basics of faith. Without a core of faith understanding, many people have nothing to fall back upon when their lives come apart. As such, there is an enormous gap between people (those who have no faith or little faith) and the G-d who created all things. As people of G-d, we need to return to the basics when it comes to teaching and living out the Gospel. We need to know the context of our communities, the influences of our families, and the troubles and distresses that they face – and then link our ministries to those needs. Once we begin to serve people in the name of Christ, then we can begin to teach them about the ways of Christ – his love for all, his grace for all, and his mercy for all. Since church is not the place to be on Sunday for most Americans, we need to stop waiting for them, and take the church into our communities.

Pastor Dave