Running with Mark 54
Day Fifty-Four – February 20, 2020
Read:
This is an interesting miracle story. This is the only time in all the gospels in which Jesus’ attempt to heal someone was not immediately effective.
Did you catch that in the story? The first time Jesus touched the man, putting saliva on his eyes, that the man’s vision was restored, but not perfect. The man says he can see people, but they look like trees walking around. Jesus lays his hands on him again and this time his sight was restored.
What do you make of the two times? Was Jesus’ miracle ineffective the first time? Was it incomplete? Is there a meaning behind the partial healing the first time?
Some scholars think that the two-stage healing was intentional to show that the vision of the disciples is still incomplete. Even though he has been telling them who he is and that he must suffer and die, they do not yet fully understand. They are still unclear about the kind of Messiah Jesus will be and what the kingdom of God on earth looks like. Like the blind man, the disciples need a second touch.
I think we are a lot like the blind man and the disciples. We need a second touch by Jesus. God will teach me a lesson that I don’t quite understand, and then God will expand on it. This can lead to an “aha” moment, when I finally catch on (and I’m oh so glad that God is patient with slow learners like me!).
Can you think of a time in your life when it took you awhile to learn a new skill like driving a car, riding a bike, learning to knit? Why would we assume that our faith would be different than that learning process? We want faith to be instantaneous and for us to immediately know and understand God. I think faith is much more like a two-step process, or a hundred-step process.
What lessons are you learning during this season of your life? How is God reinforcing and expanding on those lessons so that you truly understand?
Music:
Make Me A Captive Lord – by George Matheson
1)Make me a captive Lord and then I shall be free
Force me to render up my sword and I shall conqueror be
I sink in life’s alarms when by myself I stand
Imprison me within Thine arms and strong shall be my hand
2) My heart is weak and poor until its master find
It has no spring of action sure. It varies with the wind
It cannot freely move till Thou has wrought its chain
Enslave it with Thy matchless love and deathless it shall reign
3) My power is faint and low till I have learned to serve
It wants the needed fire to glow. It wants the breeze to nerve
It cannot drive the world until itself be driven
Its flag can only be unfurled when Thou shalt breathe from heaven
4) My will is not my own till Thou hast made it Thine
If it would reach a monarch’s throne it must its crown resign
It only stands unbent amid the clashing strife
When on Thy bosom it has leant and found in Thee its life
Prayer Focus:
Talk with God about what you learning, and what you want to learn.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Karen Bruins
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Running with Mark 53
Day Fifty-Three – February 19, 2020
Read:
Mark 8:14-21 New Revised Standard Version
The disciples had forgotten to bring any bread and had only one loaf of bread in the boat.
I also wonder if Jesus meant that the thinking and the attitudes of the Pharisees and Herod are like bad yeast that can get into us. Bad yeast can slowly dissolve our values and beliefs. Bad yeast can make us hard hearted. Bad yeast can make us judgmental.
Music:
Prayer Focus:
Take a few moments today to eat a piece of bread. Savor each bite. Ask God to be as real to you as that slice of bread.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Karen Bruins
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Running with Mark 52
Day Fifty-Two – February 18, 2020
Read:
I asked Siri on my Iphone, “Is God real?” Siri replied, “It’s all a mystery”. I wondered if Alexa, my smart speaker, might indeed be smarter. “Alexa, is God real?”. She said, “People all have their own views on religion.”
It feels like that’s what the Pharisees are doing with Jesus. “Give us a sign Jesus. Show us you are real.” They (and we often) look for a God they can codify, define, dissect and observe under a microscope, a God who will fit neatly in a box.
I like what Blaise Pascal said, “Faith is different from proof; the latter is human, the former is a gift from God.” I think he is right. Faith is a gift from God. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” says Hebrews 11:1.
What if, for today, we focused not on proof of God, but in trust of God?
Author Brennan Manning, in his book Ruthless Trust writes:
Ruthless trust is an unerring sense, way deep down, that beneath the surface agitation, boredom, and insecurity of life, it’s gonna be all right. Ill winds may blow, more character defects may surface, sickness may visit, and friends will surely die; but a stubborn, irrefutable certainty persists that God is with us and loves us in our struggle to be faithful. A nonrational, absolutely true intuition perdures that there is something unfathomably big in the universe, something that points to Someone who is filled with peace and power, love and undreamed-of creativity – Someone who inevitably will reconcile all things in himself.”[1]
Maybe all we can do is keep walking down the road, trusting in God.
- “In the absence of any other proof, the thumb alone would convince me of God’s existence.” Isaac Newton
Music:
Herod’s Song from Jesus Christ Superstar
Prayer Focus:
Trusting in God
Grace and peace,
Pastor Karen Bruins
[1] Manning, Brennan. Ruthless Trust: the Ragamuffins Path to God. New York: HarperCollins e-books, 2010. p.180
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Running With Mark 51
Day Fifty-One – February 17, 2020
Read:
Mark 8:1-10 New Revised Standard Version
This story is also found in Matthew 15:32-39.
Another day, another miraculous feeding, this time of 4000, with seven baskets of food left over.
The feeding of the 4000 is important because of where it took place. The feeding of the 5000 took place near Bethsaida, on the north side of the Sea of Galilee. This is the Jewish side. The feeding of the 4000 took place near Decapolis on the south side of the Sea of Galilee. This was the Gentile side.
In the feeding of the 5000, there were twelve baskets of food leftover. Twelve represented the twelve tribes of Israel. In the feeding of the 4000, there were seven baskets leftover. In Judaism seven is the number of “completeness” or perfection. In the creation poem found in Genesis, God creates the world in seven days.
I’m hungry .
Have you ever known hunger? Not the, “I haven’t had a snack since breakfast and it’s 11:00 am hunger”. Have you experienced that deep hunger that makes it hard to concentrate? A hunger that can leave you without energy?
Spend a little time learning about food scarcity in Minnesota. Here are a few websites:
http://www.hungersolutions.org/
https://www.2harvest.org/our-impact/hunger-facts/
https://www.thesheridanstory.org
https://www.joyceuptownfoodshelf.org/
How are you being led to help fight hunger and food insecurity in Minnesota?
Music:
I Am the Bread of Life – Notre Dame Folk Choir
Let Us Be Bread – sung by children
Prayer Focus:
- Those who are hungry
Grace and peace,
Pastor Karen Bruins
[1] http://www.hungersolutions.org/data-posts/2017-usda-food-insecurity-data/
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Running with Mark 50
Day Fifty – February 16, 2020
Read:
Mark 7:1-23 New Revised Standard Version
Check out this video clip. Address the Mess
I’m sure there are lots of us who have garages that are so full of stuff there is no room for a car. The thought of cleaning out all of the junk can be so overwhelming that we just close the door.
Do you have a junk drawer? Do you know everything that is in it?
The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus. They observed that some of his disciples did not wash their hands and were eating with “unclean” hands. This isn’t a story about hygiene. There was no understanding of germs back then. The handwashing they are talking about was a ceremonial one. It involved just a small bit of water poured onto the hands.
Jesus receives their criticism and responds by quoting Isaiah, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” His critique is that they are doing what looks “right” on the outside, but not paying attention to what is going on inside. They are like the stuffed-to-the-rafters-garage or the overflowing junk drawer. From the outside everything looks neat and clean, but inside it’s a mess.
Jesus tells them that have let go of the commands of God and are holding onto the traditions of people instead. That can sure happen in people and in churches. We can hang on so tightly to our traditions, that we forget why we do them or what the meaning behind them originally was. An older friend of mine grew up in a family where she was not allowed to dance, but she was allowed to do square dancing, which they referred to as “social games”. Did you grow up with religious rules and traditions?
Lots of religions have traditions about alcohol, or eating pork, or gambling, etc.
- Why do you think those traditions were begun?
- What is the meaning behind them?
- How do we know when a tradition has become an idol?
- How do we know when to let go of a religious tradition?
- Are there any traditions at Lake Harriet UMC that have become idols?
- Do a gut check. What kind of junk is going on inside of you?
Prayer of Confession
God of Sarah and Abraham, God of Rebecca and Isaac,
God of Rachel and Jacob, Heavenly Parent of Jesus the Christ,
we come before you to confess that our world and our lives are like that special night long ago when there was no room.
We have rejected your life because our home space is full of unnecessary furnishings, and so we are cluttered and confused.
We have rejected your love by filling our heart space with thoughts and feelings that have no room in your inn.
We have rejected your Son by living in church space that is confined and shortsighted.
We have rejected each other because we had no room in our lives for anyone else but ourselves.
Hear us, we ask, and fill us full of room for you, your Son, your Spirit and all the world’s people.
Words of Assurance
Do not be afraid, God says, for I am sending you to do my work.
Do not be afraid, God says, go forth and serve. Feed the hungry, house the homeless, heal the sick, and visit the lonely.
Do not be afraid, God says, for I am always with you.
Music:
Come Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy
Prayer Focus:
Grace and peace,
Pastor Karen Bruins
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Running with Mark 49
Day Forty-Nine – February 15, 2020
Read:
Mark 7:31-37 New Revised Standard Version
Ephphatha – be opened
Our son Michael is 25, almost 26 now. When he was in kindergarten we discovered he was having hearing difficulties. At first we chalked it up to ear infections and hoped it would resolve, but it did not. So we began a journey that many of you have taken, of working with an audiologist and an ENT doctor. Michael’s hearing loss is caused by both a conductive issue (bone problem) and a neurological problem. He has had some surgery on his “bad” ear. When he was in elementary school the audiologist discovered that he had a hole in his “good” ear drum. It was surgically repaired, and sadly a hole remained. Michael needed yet another surgery.
Michael has always had a good sense of humor about his hearing loss. We would joke that he was the only teenager who could truthfully say, “Mom, I didn’t hear you tell me to take out the trash!”. He was always given a choice of what color his ear mold would be for his hearing aid. When he was young he always chose wild colors, or school colors and proudly showed them off.
Technology changed with each new set of hearing aids he received. This photo was taken on the day he received new hearing aids. I remember him making sounds “ssss”, “ffff”, “ppppp”. He would say to me, “Can you heart that?” He was hearing those sounds for the first time. I hadn’t understood what he was missing. He also received a wireless FM unit that allowed him to hear his ipod through his hearing aid, and also hear phone calls. He was talking to his dad on the way home from the audiologist. He kept saying, “Dad, I can hear you on the phone for the first time in my bad ear.” Ephphatha – be opened. Technology allowed Michael’s ears to be opened and it was miraculous for us.
In the story from Mark the man is unable to hear and his speech is difficult to understand, which makes sense because it’s hard to know how to make the word “sounds” when you cannot hear them. After Jesus heals him, the people can’t help but tell the story of the miracle, even after Jesus tells them not to tell.
Ephphata – be opened.
Our hard-of-hearing-ness isn’t always a physical issue. Sometimes we are hard of hearing because we are just too busy. We may be caught up in our own lives and miss the opportunity to really listen to another. There are so many people who are lonely and aching for someone to spend time with them and listen to their stories.
Ephphata – be opened.
Sometimes our ears are closed to the message God has for us. Some are so bound up in shame, that they cannot hear God’s message of love and grace. Some are so prideful that they miss the call to repentance and humility. There could be a sin, usually an unconfessed sin, that we want to cling to, a sin we want to keep committing. When this happens, we plug our ears with our fingers like a little child trying to ignore their parents.
Ephphata – be opened.
This could be a powerful prayer. Ephphata – be opened. Open my ears to hear your voice O God. Open my heart to feel your love. Open my mind to the new things you would teach me. Open my hands to the ways you are calling me to serve. Open my feet to walk the road of discipleship.
This week, challenge yourself to be more of a listener than a talker. Allow others to speak first. Don’t jump in quickly when there is a moment of silence. Allow those who are more introverted to speak without being rushed or talked over. Consider going out of your way to spend time with someone who may be lonely and need a friend. Pray that you would be opened!
Music:
Speak to Me (from the Color Purple) sung by the Argentina Gospel Choir
Prayer Focus:
Ephphatha – be opened.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Karen Bruins
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Running With Mark 48
Day Forty-Eight – February 14, 2020
Read:
Mark 7:24-30 New Revised Standard Version
There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free,
there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus”.
Galatians 3:28
- Tyre was a major city. In this city God answered Elijah’s prayer to heal a woman’s child (1 Kings 17:9-24). Jesus is in this Gentile city, trying to go unnoticed, but of course he is spotted right away. There was no time off for Jesus.
- This story is really more about politics than it is about healing. Pay attention to the descriptors used about the woman.
- Syrophoenician woman – Mark calls her a Syrophoenician. Matthew calls her a Canaanite. It refers to her political background. She was Greek. The Greeks were the ruling class in the republics of Tyre and Sidon.
- Children’s Food/Children’s Bread – The Greeks of Tyre and Sidon did well economically, even as those who lived outside of the city suffered.
- Some scholars suggest that, in a sense, she belonged to a class that had been taking bread that Jews and Gentiles in the outlying region could have used to feed their children.
- Dogs – is a reference to Gentiles. It was a harsh insult, but keep in mind that Gentiles had equally harsh and uncomplimentary slang names for the Jews.
- Jesus however, was not degrading the woman when he used this term. His is trying to explain to her God’s plan to present God’s message first to the Jews. Jesus wants the Jewish people to see that their long-awaited deliverer, their messiah has come. This was his primary task.
- Jesus had just been teaching about cleanness and uncleanness. The old ideas about who was “clean” or “unclean” were no longer important.
- In healing the woman’s daughter, Jesus is living out that he is the Messiah, not just for the Jews, but for the whole world.
- Her differing faith, her differing politics, her differing identity do not keep her from approaching Jesus in faith. She presses on, willing to kneel at the feet of Jesus, even if others from her “group” would disapprove.
- This is another miracle where Jesus does not have to touch, or even be physically present with the ill person.
Imagine that this scene took place today. Who might the Syrophoenician woman be? Might she be a Muslim? A person of another race or culture? The people of Jesus’ own faith tradition did not recognize him as Messiah, yet she did. How do you suppose that is?
What does it mean to you that Jesus’ message is for all people, not just those who are like you? Do you think Jesus already understood that his mission was for more than just the Jewish people? Or did this event change his thinking? Does it make a difference to you either way?
What does Galatians 3:28 mean to you? What would the world be like without the divisions of Jew/Greek, Slave/Free, Male/Female? For we are all one in Christ Jesus. How would you re-write this verse for today?
Music:
Prayer Focus:
Unity
Grace and peace,
Pastor Karen Bruins
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Running With Mark 47
Day Forty-Seven – February 13, 2020
Read:
Mark 6:53-56 New Revised Standard Version
The Sea of Galilee was also called Lake of Gennesaret.
This section of Scripture reminds us that it is impossible for Jesus to go anywhere and not be recognized. Jesus gets out of the boat and people start rushing to reach him. People from the whole region came to Jesus, carrying people on mats, so that he might heal them. Word must have spread about the healing of the woman with the bleeding, because now they are asking to touch Jesus, or even touch the fringe of his cloak.
It is interesting that there are no physical descriptions of what Jesus looked like in any of the gospels. We have no idea if he was tall or short. Did he have any unusual features like a big nose or scars on his body? Think of the disciples Peter, Andrew, James and John, who met him while they were working their fishing boats. They had never seen him before. Now people on the plains near Gennesaret recognize him, without having met him.
For today use your imagination. How do you see Jesus?
Pinterest – Jesus Around the World The Pinterest link shows lots of images of Jesus from around the world. Check it out. Which images do you resonate with? Why?
Music:
Some Children See HIm – Six Pence version
Some Children See Him Lily White – James Taylor
Prayer Focus:
Use your imagination in prayer. Picture Jesus sitting across the table from you. What does he look like? What is his facial expression? What would you say to him? What do you suppose he would say to you?
Grace and peace,
Pastor Karen Bruins
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Running With Mark 46
Day Forty-Six – February 12, 2020
Read:
Mark 6:45-52 New Revised Standard Version
This familiar story comes immediately after the feeding of the 5000. “Immediately” (there’s that familiar word in Mark again), they get in a boat and head across the Sea of Galilee to Bethsaida. Bethsaida was a fishing village. It literally means “House of Fishing” in Hebrew.
After they arrived in Bethsaida, Jesus went up on the mountain to pray. Jesus continues to model, for the disciples and for us, the need for prayer. While Jesus is praying, the disciples head back out on the Sea of Galilee to do some fishing.
Jesus spent much time in Bethsaida. Peter, Andrew and Philip were all from Bethsaida. Even though he performed many miracles there, the village was cursed for their lack of faith. (Mark 6:51-53, Mark 8:1-26, Luke 10:13-15)
A storm popped up and the disciples were straining against the wind and the waves. Suddenly Jesus appears to them, walking across the water. Did you notice this sentence? He intended to pass them by. (Mark 6:48). Why do you think he intended to walk past them?
The disciples see him and think he is a ghost. They are terrified. Jesus tells them not to be afraid and then climbs into the boat with them. The wind stopped.
“And they were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves,
but their hearts were hardened.” Mark 6:51-52
Can you imagine being one of the disciples? You see Jesus performing miracles, feeding crowds, calming the sea, even walking on water. Mark says that they did not understand about the loaves and now their hearts were hardened. For the remainder of Mark, this theme of the people not understanding, and having hardened hearts, will be repeated over and over again.
- What kind of storms (thunderstorms, personal storms, spiritual storms, health storms) cause you to panic?
- Why do you think the disciples “did not understand the loaves”?
- In the midst of your storm, can you hear Jesus saying, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” (Mark 6:50) If you can’t hear him, why do you think that is?
- It is one thing to not understand Jesus’, he was after all performing miracles, and turning the social conventions upside down. We get why this was confusing. But why do you think their hearts were hardened?
- How can you tell when your heart is becoming hardened against someone? I think of people with whom we have strong disagreement during this political season. It is very easy for my heart to become hardened against them. I need to guard against this.
Has your heart ever been hardened toward God?
Read these words of hope from Ezekiel 36:26 A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
Music:
Whole Heart (Hold Me Now) by Hillsong
Prayer Focus:
Pray to have a soft and pliable heart that God will touch.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Karen Bruins
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Running With Mark 42
Day Forty-Two – February 8, 2020
Read:
Luke 17:10-20 New Revised Standard Version
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn Drawings and illustrations, 1655
What would you do if you knew you were going to die?
I think I would like to spend as much time with my family as possible. I’d love to be in the mountains with them, reveling in God’s creation.
During his 3 years of ministry, Jesus knew what the outcome would be. He knew he would lose his life for loving the world as he did.
The gospel writer Luke often uses this phrase: “he set his face” to go to Jerusalem. (Luke 9:51, Luke 9:53). Jesus visibly and consciously chooses to walk the path that was ahead of him.
“On the way to Jerusalem” (v. 11a). Earlier Luke introduced Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem with these words: “When the days drew near for (Jesus) to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem” (9:51). Jerusalem, of course, is where Jesus will die in accord with God’s plan. Luke reminds us periodically that Jesus is on this journey (9:53; 13:22; 17:11; 18:31; 19:11), which will end when he arrives at Jerusalem in 19:28. With each reminder of Jerusalem, we who know the rest of the story see the cross looming in the distance.[1]
Yet, even though he knows what is ahead of him, Jesus is still fully in the present, preaching, teaching and healing. On the way to Jerusalem, he heals ten lepers of their disease. Only one returns to say, “thank you”. Yet Jesus pressed on.
In many ways Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. reminds me of Jesus having his face set to Jerusalem. Dr. King’s face was set toward the vision of civil rights and dignity for all. Dr. King was also a pacifist and spoke out strongly against the war in Vietnam.
King said this of his belief in non-violent, pacifism:
“True pacifism,” or “nonviolent resistance,” is “a courageous confrontation of evil by the power of love” (King, Stride, 80).
Dr. King had been the recipient of hateful messages and death threats toward himself and his family. He had endured wrongful, shameful treatment. He had witnessed his fellow civil rights activists being beaten, attacked with firehoses and billy clubs. Many of us would have stopped. We would have retreated home. We would abandon the cause, not because we no longer believed in it, but because we were afraid for our lives. Yet, Dr. King, like Jesus heading toward Jerusalem, chose to press on.
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered a powerful message that has come to be known as “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop”. To watch the video, click on this link:
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr – I’ve Been to the Mountaintop
He preached it on April 3, 1968, the day before he would be assassinated. In his sermon, he said this:
Now, it doesn’t matter, now. It really doesn’t matter what happens now. I left Atlanta this morning, and as we got started on the plane, there were six of us. The pilot said over the public address system, “We are sorry for the delay, but we have Dr. Martin Luther King on the plane. And to be sure that all of the bags were checked, and to be sure that nothing would be wrong with on the plane, we had to check out everything carefully. And we’ve had the plane protected and guarded all night.”
And then I got into Memphis. And some began to say the threats or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers?
Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter with me now, because I’ve been to the mountaintop.
And I don’t mind.
Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!
And so I’m happy, tonight.
I’m not worried about anything.
I’m not fearing any man!
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!!
How are you engaged in works of justice?
Have you paused to thank God for your life?
Music:
Prayer Focus:
Pray that you, like Jesus and Dr. King, will be “a courageous confrontation of evil by the power of love”
Grace and peace,
Pastor Karen Bruins
[1] https://sermonwriter.com/biblical-commentary/new-testament-luke-1711-19/
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