September 29 2024 at Saint Peter the Apostle Church in Naples, FL

Numbers 11: 25-29 + Psalm 19 + James 5: 1-6 + Mark 9: 38-42, 45, 47-48

It’s easy to let our attention be drawn to John or Jesus in this scene. I suspect that many are preaching about them today speaking about a host of issues that may arise from this incident. Hospitality could be one of the issues since there seems to be a refusal on the part of the disciples to welcome this outsider. The issue of who is “in” and who is “out” would make a great sermon too. Cups of water given could be another theme. At the same time, digging into what this says to the early church for which Mark is writing may reveal a great deal about their challenge.

As you might have guessed by now, I’m not going there. After more than 50 years of praying and listening to this Gospel, I have worn out those themes. Weeks ago, as I began to study and listen once again, I began to think about the third person in this episode. He’s the one with no name. I’ve decided that I like this guy, and I like the way he works.

You may have noticed that there is no suggestion that his work casting out demons is a failure. John did not say that this man was “trying to cast out demons.” He was doing it successfully. So, I wonder what’s the problem here? Then I remember that just a few verses earlier, the disciples came to Jesus disappointed and frustrated because they had met failure in casting out a demon. It almost seems that they are a bit jealous of another’s success or that they are frustrated because someone can do what they cannot.

For me, this whole scene is a reminder that the work of Jesus Christ, the work of the church, the work of healing, forgiving, feeding, and caring for people troubled by all sorts of demons and evil is not just for the official, approved, or designated persons. It is not reserved for those with time to spare or those trained in some special way. 

There is no doubt that things done through all kinds of Church programs are beneficial. However, at the same time, we can often get so focused on the program that those who do not have the time for training, meetings or reports get ignored and discouraged. They may well have other responsibilities that go with raising a family, caring for a loved one, while working to put food on the table. When they are done with that, they are tired and do not have the energy for “Church Work.” Sometimes they may even feel as though they are not good disciples.

I would suggest that this Gospel might give us cause to re-think all of this and recognize what Jesus sees. The work and ministry of Jesus Christ and his Church can and even must continue within and without the official program or approval of the Church. I think of men and women working doing double shifts in hospitals. I think of daycare workers who wear themselves out caring for little children for more hours than the parents do. I think of our first responders who are there when we need them, of mechanics who keep our cars running so that we can be where we need to be. 

There are no boundaries when it comes to the need to continue the work of Jesus Christ. It takes no “religious vocation” to be forgiving, healing or kind. There is no “them” or “us” when it comes to charity and offering that cup of water. You don’t need a membership card to let people see the face of Christ and know the love God. I do know for sure that those who serve in the name of Jesus will be drawn into deeper friendship with him, and we can all do that.

September 22 2024 at Saint William Catholic Church in Naples, FL

Wisdom 2: 12, 17-20 + Psalm 54 + James 3: 16- 4:3 + Mark 9: 30-37

Jesus is slowly making his way toward Jerusalem. He knows what has happened to every prophet before him. Aware of the animosity and power of his opponents, he knows what is likely to come when they get to Jerusalem. He has left the safety of Galilee where his opponents have no power and moved into their territory. I think it is important to realize that Jesus Christ did not choose that cross. The choice he made was not to avoid it or fight it. Jesus did not want to die on a cross. His prayer after the last supper in that garden should make that clear to us. His Father did not want that either. But having set us free in this life, God does not use power to coerce or force us to do anything. God so loves the world that God will have nothing to do with coercion. God just makes the best of our mistakes and bad choices, and with love saves us sometimes in spite of ourselves.

So, here are the chosen twelve. They hear what Jesus says about what is to come. The first time he told them about it, Peter argued with him, and he got a scolding for it. So, it’s not surprising that this time, they all just keep quiet. Probably because they were beginning to understand what he was saying, they are afraid what it might mean for them. Their talk among themselves tells us what they were afraid of, giving up their ambition and dreams of glory.

Knowing their ambitions Jesus decides to redefine it. In place of ambition to rule others he substituted the ambition to serve others. For the ambition to have others do things for them, he substituted the ambition to do things for others. He did not tell them that they should not seek greatness. He simply showed them where true greatness was to be found not in being the master of others, but rather in being the servant of others, especially the weakest members of the community.

This tends to be a problem for us, because we sometimes define or evaluate people in terms of the job they do. If we learn that a person is a doctor, our estimation of the person soars. But if we learn that a person is mowing grass for a living, our estimation stays earthbound. It’s silly business because we know that there is something more important than the job, namely, the kind of human being behind the job.

The mistake the apostles made was to put the job, or the position, first. In their eyes, the greatest among them was the one who had the highest position still hanging on to their hope that Jesus would set up an earthly kingdom where they would be important and in charge. The message they get is that to earn the top spot, they had to go to the bottom. In order to be served, they would have to serve first. They would not be sitting on high thrones and soft cushions. They would be on their knees with a basin of water in one hand and towel in the other washing the feet of the little ones.

For all of us, it is not what I do but what I am that is important. We have to do things that we can be proud of. Feelings follow actions. Jesus tells us what they are. They are deeds of love and service. He set the example himself by never taking the easy way or avoiding the difficult way. He gave his life in the service of others. No one can go higher than that. He is the greatest in the Kingdom.

September 15 2024 at Saint Peter the Apostle Church in Naples, FL

Isaiah 50: 4-9 + Psalm 116 + James 2: 14-18 + Mark 8: 27-35

Mark has no pity when it comes to Peter, and I have always thought that the tradition suggesting that Peter is Mark’s primary source might well be true. Peter never seems to sugar-coat anything, and he has no trouble sharing his struggles with understanding, loyalty, and faith. He gets it wrong today as he often does. He has the right word, but the wrong definition. He says: “Christ,” but he has no idea what that means. It is much the same for all of us. We may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the anointed one, the Messiah and Savior, but we may be even more confused than Peter about what that actually means.

So, Mark sets this up at Caesarea Philippi. It was a circus of worship places and temples with altars set up to every concept of divinity from the gods of the Greeks to the god-head Caesar.  In that setting, Jesus asks the Twelve that question about what people are saying and what they have to say about his identity. Up to this point of Mark’s Gospel Jesus has been reluctant to have people believe in him because of miracles, and for the first time in this Gospel he speaks about dark things ahead, rejection, suffering, death and resurrection. These are all things the Twelve are unable to grasp.

Peter speaks up for everyone confessing his faith in Jesus as the Messiah using the word: Christos. In his mind this is the Messiah of victory and salvation. But when Jesus begins to speak of a Messiah who will suffer rejection and death, Peter objects. His objection is not hard to understand because we often do the same thing.

Everyone prefers a popular, happy, Jesus who heals and comforts. Peter wants to write a job description for Jesus, and we do too. Jesus gets fashioned according to a prosperity gospel that turns him into the dispenser of a comfortable, trouble-free life of prosperity, easy to like.

Jesus get fashioned according to a psychotherapeutic gospel who makes us feel good with kind of “I’m OK and You’re OK” so let’s just skip along avoiding challenges that might suggest I need help.

No matter, we cannot make Jesus be what we want and do what we want. We cannot have the kind of Savior who is going to pop up and fix everything that bothers us. That is, what I like to call, a new kind of idolatry. That is a false God of my own creation. The practice of fashioning a god that does what we want goes on all the time. I once read that John Calvin claimed that man’s nature, so to speak, is a perpetual factory of idols.

There is stern warning in this Gospel ordering disciples away from that kind of thinking because they will not understand what it means to confess Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, until they have stood beneath the cross. The temptation to look for someone of power; one who claims the earth, rules it with strength, and will drive off anything that frightens or hurts us is great and dangerous. It is always easier to believe in a distant God of power than in the Suffering Servant of Isaiah who cries out in pain on the crosses of the world and suffers in humanity. It’s easy to believe in Jesus when we feel good. It’s not so easy when he does not stop our hurt. 

The life of a disciple has both joy and sorrow. A life of joy with no sorrow becomes like the earth with only sunshine and no rain; a barren desert. Both suffering and joy, are always part of life for a real disciple.

September 8 2024 at Saint Peter the Apostle Church in Naples, FL

Isaiah 35: 4-7 + Psalm 146 + James 2: 1-5 + Mark 7: 31-37

The route Marks provides at the beginning of these verses would suggest that he knew nothing of that geography or that there was something wrong with his GPS. It would be like going to Baltimore via Seattle and Houston. For Mark, travel details are just a way of moving the story along. What matters is the destination. Jesus is out of his own neighborhood. He has gone to the other side of the tracks, so to speak. He is not now in friendly territory among his own kind. His compassion and healing presence are in no way limited to a select or privileged few. The inclusiveness of the Kingdom cannot be ignored or dismissed. 

The early church Mark writes for originally was struggling with the challenge of including people who were different, who spoke other languages, had other customs and different color skin. What Mark reveals here is just as important for us as it was for them, and we may not dismiss the Word of God and still claim our faith in Jesus who so easily ignores all borders and boundaries. He does not see them.

For those who first witnessed this event and for those who heard of it from them, their excitement is not hard to understand. As promised in the book of Isaiah, the Messiah’s arrival would be marked by the blind receiving their sight and the deaf being able to hear. What Jesus is doing fulfills this promise in a way that no one can miss. It’s no wonder people can’t stop proclaiming what he has done.

The whole point of these verses though is not the disability of that man, but the identity of Jesus as the Christ who heals and redeems bringing a new creation of mercy and wholeness. As the story goes on, more details reveal the human tenderness and compassion that leads Jesus to take this man away from the crowd. There is a suggestion of personal intimacy as Jesus he touches him, and by taking him away from the crowd Jesus saves him from embarrassment and the stares of onlookers. There is here a wonderful suggestion of respect for someone often avoided and ignored. Then with that, Mark describes a very real human emotion when he tells us that Jesus sighed. There is here a solidarity with human suffering that leads Jesus to sigh with distress and sadness. 

All of these details clarify the identity of Jesus Christ as God’s presence, giving us every reason to believe that God knows no limits or borders, and that God still looks with distress upon any of us who suffer and with compassion on anyone who has been pushed to the sidelines for whatever reason. That personal relationship nurtured in the privacy of one’s trust in Jesus will save, restore, and open our ears to the Good News we find in the Gospel and open our mouths to proclaim God’s love and mercy.