In Mark 10 Jesus gives an example of the ideal relationship: where someone leaves their parents and joint to another person. We don’t always live the ideal, but we know what it can look like.
Take time in relationships, don’t push things that probably won’t work. You want to find someone that fits in with you, that’s what God wants for you.
Throwing Bible verses around does not mean you know the Bible. To know the Bible means studying what the writers were trying to say 2000+ years ago. Only from there can we understand the message in today’s world.
When we know what was happening in the 1st century Palestine and before, we can start to understand Jesus’ teachings better, and most people will be pleasantly surprised to learn some of the negative passages might not be that negative after all.
The word ‘submit’ is misused by many on the rightwing of Christianity. Serving or submitting to others is a choice, not a role to place based on gender or ethnicity.
The scripture for Kids Korner and the Reflection for today is Mark 9:30-37. In that story Jesus tells his followers that the first must put themselves last, while the last will be first. When we choose to serve others, we make a difference and can see some of the new world God is creating.
But it has to be our choice. If we are in a position with no power, we do not have the ability to make a choice. Submitting or serving when we have no power can be exploitation.
Forgiveness is not a ‘one-and-done’ action, it’s something we have to return to again and again, depending on the level of hurt.
Think of forgiveness as doing exercises, curls or crunches: We would never do only one rep and think we were now in top shape. That’s how forgiveness works. It’s not about the other person, it’s about us and making sure we don’t hang on to bitterness which can rot our hearts and souls and makes us miserable people.
The scripture reference today is Matthew 18:21-35.
Jesus would have supported vaccines and a woman’s right to choose.
Too many people are using the Bible as a reason to deny the use of vaccines and a woman’s right to make choices about her body. This is the wrong use of the Bible.
How would Jesus deal with vaccines? He healed everyone who asked, using prayer, dust, even his own spit. If he had had vaccines, he would have used that too.
How would Jesus deal with abortion? Abortion was known at the time of Jesus and he said nothing about it, so it’s safe to accept that Jesus didn’t think he had the right to interfere with a woman’s choices.
If we really want to follow Jesus, we can’t just decide we don’t like something or someone and then throw the Bible around as the reason.
The church should be talking about sex with teenagers, more than simply “don’t do it”.
The word ‘values’ often comes with conservative assumptions, but the truth is all Christians have values. Mainline and liberal Christians should be using the word more frequently, and one place we can do that is taking about sex. It’s natural, it feel good, and you should do it with someone who genuinely cares about you. Sex just for the sake of sex is an empty experience, no matter who tells you otherwise.
Following Jesus means following love. Any group that tells you to dismiss others is not Jesus’ way.
Breaking away from the crowd is hard, especially when you are walking it alone. However, being a Christian often means just that. The good news is you aren’t really alone, it just takes some time to see the others walking with you.
Mark, Matthew, Luke, and Paul’s 1st letter to the Corinthians tells us how to bless and break the bread, and share the cup.
Depending on the churches we attend, the Lord’s Supper is called different things: Eucharist, Communion, Mass. This is the thickest dividing line between the Christian denominations today.
Roman Catholics and most Orthodox Christians believe in Transubstantiation: The bread and cup transforms into the body and blood of Christ. Also called Real Presence.
Anglicans and Lutherans and some Orthodox Christians believe in Consubstantiation: The bread and the cup stay the same, but when we consume them we are also consuming the spiritual body of Christ.
Presbyterians, United Churches, Baptists and many others believe in Memorial Feast: The bread and cup stay the same, we do this because Jesus asked us to do it, and the Holy Spirit is active in the community while we do this in memory of Jesus.
Jesus taught us to love one another, to love God above all else, and to love ourselves. That message is the same across all Gospels.
Mark was the first Gospel written around 60 CE. The format of Mark is like a Greek play where we are both spectator and participant, and in the end we are supposed to finish the story. Even though we know from the beginning about Jesus, the characters in the Gospel don’t and they try to stop him before something bad happens.
Matthew was written around 80 CE. It is the first Gospel in the Bible because it is the longest and considered the most beautiful. Matthew was writing for people with a strong Hebrew tradition so they could see Jesus fulfilling the promises of Moses and the prophets. Matthew was concerned with people making sure their own behaviour was what Jesus would want before they started sharing their faith with others.
Luke is the ‘social justice’ gospel, and written around 90 CE. People used to assume Luke was a doctor because there were so many healing stories in that Gospel, but now the writer of Luke is seen as an historian. Luke is more interested in the actions of faith, and there is almost always a man’s story and woman’s story together, showing that Jesus came for everyone.
John was written around 100 CE, and is different from the other Gospels in that the stories are episodes of Jesus ministry, not a continuum from the beginning to the end of Jesus’ ministry. It is considered the most theological Gospel. Unlike Matthew, Mark and Luke, the Jesus we meet in John knows exactly who he is and what he has to do.
Personal Piety means someone is only thinking about themselves and obsessing about their own getting into heaven. Jesus did not teach us to think only of ourselves.
Salvation happened once for everyone, with Resurrection. From that point on we were all asked to bring about God’s new kingdom for everyone, not obsess about whether we were worthy.
Focusing on personal salvation or Personal Piety, is a distraction. It keeps us from seeing the problems in the world that Jesus did ask us to care about and help solve.
The Barefoot Evangelist 