The Gospel  of our Lord Jesus Christ According to Mark

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to Jesus and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”

And he said to them, “What is it you want me to do for you?” And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”

But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” They replied, “We are able.”

Then Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.

”When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John.
So Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.
For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:35-45 )

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Some time ago, I  came across a book by  Andrew M. Greeley called ‘White Smoke.’ Andrew, who died in 2013, was a Roman Catholic priest  with an insider’s  knowledge of that church. He wrote many best-selling novels, most of which touch on the church, but are as powerful and dramatic as any you might read.

The novel, ’White Smoke’, is, as you might expect from the title,  about the election of a pope.  The cardinals charged with electing a pope are locked away in conclave, and each day  they cast their ballots until a pope is elected. A two thirds majority plus one is required. The ballots are counted and then burned.

If black smoke rises from the chimney, (straw having been added to the paper ballots, to create the thicker smoke )  then no-one has been elected. When white smoke appears, then a pope has been chosen. 

The novel,  ‘White Smoke,’ published in 1996, is sub-titled ‘A novel about the next papal conclave.’ It was a  timely read,  as there was  daily  speculation about the health of the current pope in the news media at the time. 

The novel tells of behind-the-scenes scheming, horse-trading, politicking, and downright chicanery, as various groups sought to influence the cardinals.     

I thought about the book when I read today’s Gospel, in which Mark tells us John and James, asked Jesus for positions of influence.  

It’s astonishing, isn’t it,  that these two men were so ambitious?   It is true that they had been, along  with Peter, a part of Jesus’ inner circle.   In addition, they were a little better off than the others – their father had been wealthy enough to employ servants  – so perhaps they saw themselves as coming from a higher social strata than the other disciples, and consequently, were  more deserving.

Even so, it’s astonishing that they still haven’t understood Jesus. Just before this incident occurs, Jesus has told them quite openly, and simply, “Look here, all of you. We are going to Jerusalem and the Son of Man is going to be handed over to the chief priests and lawyers, and will be condemned to death. They will hand him over to the Gentiles, and they will make jest of him, spit on him, scourge him, and then they will kill him. And after three days he will rise again.” 

Like hello!!!   Weren’t you listening?

They just didn’t understand, did they? And I don’t blame them. It is a fantastic thing that is about to happen. Who could grasp it?

When they pose their question, Jesus tells  them,  ”You don’t know what you are asking. Are you able to drink from the cup that I must soon drink from, or be baptised as I must be baptised?”
Can you go through the same sort of experience that I am about to go through?

“Yes” they say.

Sure enough they will.

In the days to come they do go through experiences similar to those of their Master.   James was  beheaded by King Herod Agrippa, and though we are not told that John was martyred, he did suffer much for Christ. 

To their credit, they accepted the challenge of their Master, even though they were blind to what that challenge really was.

So James and John, regular human beings like you and me, were  concerned about their well-being. They were  ambitious.  But they were so  blind weren’t they?  

And yet, when tested, they were more than equal to the task.

The church, as Andrew Greeley’s novel sees it,  has within it, many of higher and lower rank who see the church  as a way to power and glory – earthly glory – rather than a means of bringing the love of Christ into the world.

If you read his novel, you will be horrified at the villainous stuff that goes on. You may think it cannot possibly be as bad as that, but Andrew assures us it can.  And is!

However, thank God,  there are cardinals and bishops and priests and lay people who do shine like Christ in this world.  Thank God there are those who with quiet faith and compassion and courage, embody the love of God,  worshipping, and praising and serving Him in sometimes quite awful circumstances.

Even in the depths and violence of war, their love, and courage shines through.

One such person, was a flyer in the Vietnam war, Captain Gerald L Coffee. He was shot down over the China Sea, February 3 1966 and he spent the next seven years in a variety of prison camps.

The years of the Vietnam War were confusing and troubled times for American foreign policy, and for those involved.  In fact, the seeming lack of a definite and legitimate purpose for being there made it worse for all the participants.

The effects of the trauma endured by some, last even  to  today.

Captain  Coffee said that the POW’s  who survived did so by a regimen of physical exercise, prayer, and stubborn communication with each other.

After days of torture on the Vietnamese version of the rack, he finally broke and signed the confession they demanded. Then he was thrown back into his cell to writhe in pain. Even worse was his guilt over having cracked. He was devastated, and alone. 

He didn’t even know if there were other Americans in his cell block. But then he heard a voice, shouting out,  “Man in cell number 6 with broken arm, can you hear me?”

It was Col. Robinson Risner. ”It’s safe to talk. Welcome to Heartbreak Hotel,” he said.

Coffee asked about his navigator. Had anything been heard? 

Col. Risner told him he had no news of the navigator, and went on to say,  “Gerry you must learn to communicate by tapping on the walls. It’s the only dependable link we have to each other.”

Risner had said, ‘we’ so there must be others. “Thank God I am back with the others, “ Coffee thought.

“ Have they tortured you, Jerry?” Risner asked.

“Yes” and I feel terrible that they got anything out of me.”

“Listen,” Risner said, “ Once they decide to break a man, they will do it. The important thing is how you come back. Just follow the code. Resist to the utmost of your ability. If they break you, just don’t stay broken. Lick your wounds and bounce back. Talk to anyone you can. Don’t get down on yourself.

” We need to take care of one another.”

Coffee would be punished for days at a time – stretched on the ropes – merely  for some  minor infraction. His buddy in the next cell would tap on the wall telling him to ‘hang tough’ and that he was praying for him.”

Coffee says, “Then when he was being punished, I would be tapping on the wall doing the same thing for him.”

Coffee says his friends and his faith helped him through.  Every Sunday, the senior officer in each cell block would pass the signal – church call – and every man stood up in his cell.

Then with a semblance of togetherness, they would all recite the Twenty-third Psalm. “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies, thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.”

Coffee says, ”I realised that despite being incarcerated in this terrible place, my cup did run over because someday, somehow, whenever, I would return home to my wife and kid in a beautiful and free country.”

One day he received a letter from his wife, telling him about his daughter Kim and his son Jerry. His eyes filled with tears when he realised that little Jerry, named after him, had been born after his imprisonment.

On Feb 3^rd 1973, the seventh anniversary of his capture, the peace treaty was signed, and he was freed.

What was wonderful to me in this story, is that  these men,  even though they couldn’t see each other,  shared each other’s pain, prayed  for, and with each other, and astoundingly, under those conditions, worshipped together.

They weren’t in a grand building. They had no beautiful music. There were no pews, no vestments, no candles. No committees.  No structure.

They embodied the true church.

Huddled and suffering as they were in those prison cells they lived as Jesus instructed us, by serving others.

Jesus  knows what it is like to suffer, and he suffers with us. He taps on the wall – if you like ‘on the wall of our heart’ – to assure us that he is there with us, and for us.  

And if Jesus, Son of God, lives alongside us as brother, not as Lord and Master, then how can we wish to lord it over others?   

The author of Hebrews tells us that Jesus was chosen by God as our High Priest. He accepted, not because he wanted the honor, but out of obedience to God.

He went to the cross out of obedience to God.

As members of the church – His body – we are also called  to obedience to God.    

Over the years leaders have risen, and fallen, flaring like  comets  across the night sky.  Their appeal was to the hearts of men and women, to their needs and desires.

“ Follow me and I will make you great,”  they said.

Jesus says, ‘Follow me and I will show you how to serve.”

“ The Son of Man himself did not come to be a slave master, but a slave who gave his life to save many.”

  The Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to Matthew           

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life^[a]?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow.

They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his

splendor was dressed like one of these.

If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

(Matthew 6:25-33)

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Ask a child what Christmas is for, and they will tell you, “For presents!”

Ask a child what Easter is for and they will tell you, “For chocolate eggs and bunnies.”

Ask an adult what Thanksgiving is for and they will tell you it is for turkey – or more exactly, to feast and spend time with family.

Not many will say that Thanksgiving is to remind us to give thanks to our God.

Those first immigrants, the people who began the tradition, knelt on the ground and gave thanks to God for a safe landing, and for the food they found provided for them in their new land.

We may too, say ‘Thanks,’ at Thanksgiving – we might say ‘Thank you,’ to someone who passes the stuffing, but I don’t think we take the time to actually thank  God for everything he has provided us throughout the year.

And I am not talking about saying Grace.  And  not for one day alone.  I  am talking about being thankful for everything in life.

In case you think what you have wasn’t given by God, consider how you got here. Were you born here?  Then you are lucky your parents weren’t living in some place like Angola, or East Timor.  You had nothing to do with the place you landed in.

Or did you arrive, as I did, with the huddled masses?  As they say.  Then you are lucky that you came from a place that was an approved place of origin.

I came and was treated very differently from those people who are trying to get here from the Middle East, or any other out of favor place.   And did I do anything to merit that treatment?  Not a thing.   I was white and reasonably healthy, and reasonably employable. But I had done nothing outstanding- nothing to earn that privilege.

But we are all doing alright, aren’t we? Thank you very much.

We just buckled down and got an education and a job and did it all ourselves.

I remember the hours I worked during the day and the hours I studied at night.  I worked hard for what I received.

I remember sending off  dozens of  resumes, and getting a job, and working my way up in the company.  I was quite creative and full of good ideas on how to increase net profit.  I was rewarded for that. 

I worked hard for what I had.  I did it myself. 

“When you have eaten your fill and have built fine houses and live in them, and your silver and gold has multiplied, then do not exalt yourself, forgetting the Lord your God. Do not say to yourself, ‘ My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me wealth’ but remember the Lord your God. “

We remember Him when we are down. When we have nothing.  When we are in danger.

Quick to remember, and quicker still to forget.

A platoon of soldiers was making its way across a field in newly liberated, but still dangerous territory.   Since they hadn’t seen the enemy for a long time, they were getting a bit careless. They weren’t being cautious. They were talking loudly, laughing, smoking, sauntering along, relaxed, when suddenly, shots rang out.

In the middle of that field, they were in an exposed position, with no natural defenses. All they could do was to throw themselves down and hug the ground.

This they did. In fact they almost burrowed into the ground, so scared were they.  

When your face is in the dirt and bullets are whizzing all around, and above you, you have no idea what is happening.  All you can do is lie there.

And pray.

Each man prayed, as fighting men pray, “Oh God what has happened.”  Or “God, get us out of this.”  Or “Holy Mother of God, save me.”

And so on.

The barrage of gunfire became more fierce, and each man prayed even more fervently for God’s help.

“For Pete’s sake God, where are you God ?”  Some dragged out prayers they hadn’t remembered since childhood, “Gentle Jesus meek and mild, pity me a little child………..”      “Oh God, I want to see my kids again. Help me!”

And it seemed like an eternity.  An eternity of hell.

The radio man was almost gibbering into the radio for help from HQ.

Then they became aware of a louder noise over the sound of gunfire. Helicopter gunships had arrived, and those machines of destruction roared over them and rained down  a  storm of fire upon the hidden enemy, those  who had pinned down the platoon,  killing some and driving off others.  Soon, the helicopters had done their deadly work and sped off.

Silence reigned.

Somewhere a bird resumed its call. The everyday noises of the countryside were heard.

One by one, the men raised themselves cautiously from the ground, ready to dive down into the earth again.  But there was no gunfire.  They then began checking themselves for wounds.  Then they looked to see who, if anyone, had been hurt.

Miraculously, no-one had been hit.

At a shouted command from the platoon sergeant, the men gathered up their equipment and began to move off.

All but one man.

They looked back, and saw this man kneeling, his eyes shut, his hands clasped together. his lips moving in prayer.

“Thank you Father, for delivering us this day,” he was saying.” Thank you Father for saving us.”

The others laughed, winked at each other and walked on.

Then Jesus asked, ‘Were not ten made clean? And the other nine, where are they? Was none found to return and give praise to God?”

Then he said to him, “ Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”

The soldier stood up, crossed himself, and followed his friends.

This Thanksgiving Day, when you look around your house, at the things God has given to make you comfortable, and you see your children, and their children, and you smell the turkey roasting in the oven, and you sit down and eat your fill:

Please ask yourself two things.

One, “ Have I really acknowledged the way that God my Father has loved and provided for me and for mine?”

And, “ Have I really given back to God in the proportion he has blessed me?”

And then eat and be merry, confident in the knowledge that your Father in Heaven has given you much and asks only in return that you give, as He has given you. 

“For God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in his good work.

“The one who gives sparingly will also receive sparingly. The one who gives bountifully, will also receive bountifully.”

Amen.

The Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to Mark

Some Pharisees came, and to test Jesus they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.” But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.  (Mark 10- 2-16)

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Moses Mendelssohn, the grandfather of the well-known German composer, was far from being handsome. He was rather short, and he had a grotesque hunchback.

One day he visited a merchant in Hamburg who had a lovely daughter named Frumtje. Moses fell hopelessly in love with her. But Frumtje was repulsed by his misshapen appearance.

When it came time for him to leave, Moses gathered up his courage and climbed the stairs to her room, to take one last opportunity to speak with her. He was stunned at her beauty, but saddened by her refusal to look at him.  After several attempts at conversation, Moses shyly asked, “Do you believe marriages are made in heaven?”

”Yes,” she answered, “And do you?”

“Yes, I do, “ he replied. “You see, in heaven, at the birth of each boy, the Lord announces which girl he will marry. When I was born, my future bride was pointed out to me. Then the Lord said, ‘But she will be humpbacked,’

“Right then and there I cried out, ‘Oh Lord, a humpbacked woman would be a tragedy. Please Lord, give me the hump and let her be beautiful.’”

Then Frumtje looked up into his eyes, as if stirred by some deep memory. She reached out and gave Mendelssohn her hand, and later became his devoted wife.

I wanted to bring you a warm-hearted story today, a story of love, love that sees inside a person, past superficiality, the sort of love we all hope that we have or will find, in our life partner. 

Like Moses in that story, we all have flaws in our appearance, and we hope we will meet someone who will love us for who we are, rather than for our looks.

Sometimes, we meet someone in whom we can see no flaws. They are just as beautiful as can be.  But inevitably  there may be things about our partner that we don’t know, and there are things about us that our partner won’t know. Not horrible things, although that has happened, but mostly I am thinking of the way we are;  the things that we bring to the relationship from our family of origin, or from other relationships.

We may be damaged inside in ways that affect the way we relate,  Sometimes these differences, faulty ways of relating, can be so severe an impediment to our relationship that our love gets frittered away, and we end up with a damaged relationship. 

Sometimes, with the proper attention, counseling, willingness to listen, and willingness to work things out, the relationship can be saved.

Sometimes it can’t. In fact, the ratio of divorce to marriage is one to two. Half of marriages result in divorce.

I am a parent, as many of you are. We love our children. If one of my children were in a damaged and damaging relationship, and if the couple had taken all avenues in an effort to make it work, and if my child were living in a situation where she or he could never find happiness, and they decided to end their relationship, I would find it hard to judge them. 

I want my children to live in relationships that allow them to grow and develop, to find happiness, and true partnership, and to achieve wholeness. 

I believe that our Heavenly Father wants the same for us His children. And I don’t believe that He condemns us for our failures. 

But how do we reconcile that with the words that Jesus spoke, as recorded in Mark’s Gospel?

First we have to look at the context.  And the time.

Pharisees asked Jesus about divorce. “Is it right for a man to divorce his wife?” 

The question of marriage and divorce was a hot issue at the time.  Maybe the Pharisees wanted to test Jesus. Maybe they wanted to place him in opposition to Herod, who had just divorced his wife. Maybe they really wished to know his opinion.

The Jews had an ideal of marriage. They thought that God would forgive almost any sin, except the sin of unchastity.  It was held that a Jew would die rather than commit idolatry, murder or adultery. ‘The very altar sheds tears when a man divorces the wife of his youth,’ it was said.

This was the ideal, but in actual practice, things were very different.  

The whole crux of this issue was that a woman just wasn’t  a partner in a marriage  –   she was  a thing.     A woman had no legal rights whatsoever. Her life was at the complete disposal of the male heir in the family.

A man could divorce his wife on almost any grounds, while there was precious little a woman could cite to divorce her husband.

And then again, a woman could be divorced against her will. A man could not.  

Then there were also real problems because of  various interpretations of the law, drawn from Deuteronomy 24.1. which says that a man can divorce his wife if he finds her in some ‘indecency.’

Interpretations of this ranged from saying that a woman must have committed adultery, to merely spoiling food, spinning wool in the street, talking to a strange man, and so on. One school of thought even held that if a man found a woman he thought was fairer than his wife, he could divorce her.

The upshot was that men divorced their wives for the most trivial reasons.

In this context, Jesus was condemning the use of a woman as a chattel. He was condemning the complete lack of compassion and kindness. He was condemning those who looked upon marriage as a temporary state, and one which could be gotten out of easily – if  you were a man. He was condemning the lack of  regard for the welfare of a wife, and their children.

In answering his questioners, Jesus went beyond the law, as laid down in Deuteronomy – back to Genesis in fact – for his view that marriage was a permanent bond that could never be broken by man’s laws or regulations.

But did Jesus mean that if a woman were sold by her family into a marriage where she was treated like property, dreadfully unhappy, her very personhood denied, that she should remain in that kind of bondage? I don’t think so.

We are all flawed human beings. We are going to make mistakes. In relationships, perhaps there is a greater potential to make mistakes than anywhere else.

As married couples we owe it to each other to try and solve problems. We owe it to each other to be understanding, and forgiving, and patient, and kind, and encouraging. But sometimes we fail. And despair is often the result.

I don’t believe that God wishes us to live in perpetual despair. 

Jesus cared for people. He was concerned at the way people used others.   He was concerned for the weakest and most vulnerable in society, and that included women.

He broke the rules of society by talking to women. He broke the rules of society by talking to those who were ostracized by the Hebrews.  You will remember he disregarded both those rules when he spoke to the Samaritan woman by the well.

Today we read about his care and compassion for children, another vulnerable group in society. It was the custom for mothers to bring their children to great rabbis, to ask for a blessing on them. Some mothers had brought their children for Jesus to bless.

The disciples, concerned for Jesus, and perhaps knowing the stress he must be under, as he was making his way to Jerusalem and the cross, tried to shoo the children away.    But Jesus, even in this time of great anxiety, and knowing what lay ahead, didn’t want anyone turned away.

Those who came seeking him would be received, and fed.

He tells his disciples to allow the children to come to him.

And he blesses them.

And he made a difference in the lives of those children.

We can do that.

I want to leave you with a story of someone who regularly makes a difference in the lives of others. 

Lee Shapiro is a retired judge. He is a genuinely loving guy. At some point in his career, Lee realised that love is the greatest power there is. He became a hugger. He was known as the hugging judge.

He created what he calls his Hugger Kit. It has in it, little red embroidered hearts, with a sticky back.  He exchanges them for hugs. He hugs at the drop of a hat.  He is often invited to conferences as the keynote speaker where  he shares his message of unconditional love.

At one of these conferences, the local news media challenged him saying, ”It’s easy to give out hugs in a conference where people know  about you. What about out in the real world?”

He took up the challenge. The cameras followed him as he went onto the streets of San Francisco. He first approached a woman walking by. He said, “Hi, I’m Lee Shapiro, the hugging judge. I’m giving out these hearts in exchange for a hug.”  “Sure,” she said.

That was too easy, so the TV commentator directed him to a lady parking attendant who was being given a hard time by a BMW owner. “You look like you could use a hug,” he said, and she accepted.

The television commentator threw down a final challenge.” Here comes the bus. San Francisco’s bus drivers are the toughest, crabbiest, meanest people in the whole town. Let’s see you hug this driver.”

As the bus pulled up, Lee said to the driver, “Hi I’m Lee Shapiro, the hugging judge. You must have one of the most challenging jobs in the world. I’m offering hugs today to lighten the load a little. Would you like one? “

The six foot two, 230 pounds driver got out of his seat, stepped down, and said…..”Why not?”

One day Lee’s  friend Nancy Johnson showed up dressed as a clown. She said, “Lee grab a handful of your hugger kits and let’s go out to the home for the disabled.”

They got there, and handed out balloons, and hats, and hugs, and little red hearts to the patients. Lee was definitely uncomfortable. He had never before hugged people who were terminally ill, severely retarded, or quadriplegic. It was quite a stretch for him. But after a while it became easier.  Lee and Nancy acquired  quite an entourage of doctors and nurses as they made their way through the wards.

Then they came to the last ward. In here were thirty-four of the worst cases Lee had ever seen. The feeling was so grim it took his heart away.

But, he and Nancy were committed to share their love and make a difference. They worked their way around the room, followed by the medical staff, all of whom were wearing little red hearts, and hats, and carrying balloons. 

Finally Lee came to the last person, Leonard. Leonard was wearing a white bib onto which he drooled. Lee looked at Leonard’s dribbling and flinched. “Let’s go Nancy,” he said, “There’s no way I can get through to that person.”

Nancy replied, “Come on Lee. He’s a fellow human being too, isn’t he?” and she placed a balloon hat on Leonard’s head.

Lee took one of his little red hearts and placed it on Leonard’s bib. He took a deep breath, leaned down and gave Leonard a hug.

Leonard suddenly began to squeal  – EEEEEEgggghhh. Some of the other patients started to bang things together. Lee turned to the staff for some sort of explanation, as Leonard continued to squeal  – EEEEEggggghhh.

He asked the head nurse, “What’s going on?”

“This is the first time in 23 years we have ever seen Leonard smile.”

It doesn’t take much to make a difference in someone’s life, does it?

Jesus affirmed the value of children when he told his disciples to allow them to come to him. And he blessed them.

He affirmed the value of women when he condemned those who divorced them for selfish and trivial reasons, treating them as commodities, instead of  beloved children of God.

In his death on the cross, Jesus showed us total and unselfish love.

 He didn’t judge any of us.

 He just died for us.

Amen 

The stories of Moses Mendelssohn, and Lee Shapiro, are to be found in Chicken Soup for the Soul, written and compiled by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, published by Health Communications, Florida.1993

The Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to Mark.

John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” But Jesus said, “Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us. For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.

“If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.

“For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”   (Mark 9:38-50 )

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Christians are expected to be salty.

Jesus uses the term ‘salted with fire.’  Before being offered as sacrifice, meat had to be salted. It was the law.  Fire is used here as a symbol of purification. Christians who have been tested, tried, held to the fire, are those who do great work for God.

Have you seen pictures of American marines in Iraq. They have been drilled and trained, and worked over, until they are lean, mean fighting machines. A marine who is overweight would be a contradiction in terms. 

Being a Christian doesn’t mean that you never have to face hardship, tragedy, or defeat.  God doesn’t want us to suffer, but coming through such testing, with the help of God, makes us better Christians. We have been drilled and trained, and worked over until we are – spirit-wise – also keen, mean fighting machines.

And we need to be, because Christians are supposed to make a difference in this world.

It was my duty to be the minister at the hospital memorial service.  There were about  twenty-five people there, all of whom  had lost a loved one in the past few months.  When I was talking to them, I talked about how when someone passes away, they are not just gone, like that, forever.  They are still a part of us. I said, “We leave a footprint in this world. ” 

I wonder how many of us Christians will, by the life we have led,  leave a footprint. 

I wonder if in time to come, people will know we were here.

And I wonder, if as individual Christians, we have made a difference in the world.

And I am not talking about being  famous.  I am not talking about everyone knowing that we may have made a difference. I wonder if there is anyone whose life has changed for the better because of something, some kind deed, some word spoken.

Because that’s what Christians do, They make a difference in the world. In the lives of other people.

Just as salt makes a difference in food.

Did you ever taste cooked cabbage which hasn’t been salted? 

What about a boiled egg?  A boiled egg is insipid until it has been salted.

Salt adds taste to food. Christians add spirit to life

One day, as  a woman was crossing a street at London station, an old man stopped her. He said, “Excuse me m’am, but I want to thank you.”

She looked at him and asked, “Thank me?”

He replied, “Yes’m. I used to be a ticket collector and whenever you went by you always gave me a cheerful smile and a good morning. I knew that smile must come from   inside   somewhere. Then one morning I saw a little Bible in your hand. So I bought one too, and I found Jesus.”

That lady was salty.

Salt makes things taste better. A Christian makes people feel better. Helps them to be better.

But there is something else that salt does.

These days we prevent food from going bad by freezing, or refrigerating it. But it wasn’t so long ago, that the only way to prevent meat from turning rotten, was to salt it.

Salt halts corruption.

Salt prevents things from going bad.

Right there , is another role for Christians in society. We are mingled in the general population as salt is mingled within food. We should be having an effect on society. We should be helping to stop corruption. Helping to make things better. Making sure that those who can’ t help themselves are taken care of.

We should be speaking up when we see things that are wrong. We should be informed about our politicians and should vote for those who are not beholden to special groups, but rather govern for the good of all.

We should be noticed – not because we ram our faith down the throats of people, but because we care for people, and we care for a just society.

‘Salt is good,’ Jesus says, but if it no longer tastes like salt, how can it be made salty again?’

In Palestine salt was derived from the evaporation of sea water,  and there would often be other minerals mixed in with the salt. It was possible for the white grainy crystals to look like salt, but not to have the taste of salt.  It was thought that was salt which had lost its saltiness. 

If we have lost the essence of what it means to be Christian, that is,  we  may look like Christians  but don’t act like Christians, then we have lost our saltiness.

This is a big world with lots of pressures.  It is hard to always do what we know is right.

Will Rogers knew this, He said, “Income tax has made more liars out of Americans than  –  golf –  has.”

We want to hang onto our money, even though God made our hands with fingers so that money could slip through.”

We stand by while others run down the church. We look the other way when friends commit petty larceny.  Anyone who has had a car repaired under their insurance policy, and has had work done that wasn’t caused by the accident, has committed petty larceny, and incidentally, is partly responsible for the high price of auto insurance today.

But it’s more than not doing wrong. It is more like being seen as someone who is faithful.

As a priest I have married a number of couples, and as part of what I do to prepare a couple for marriage, I talk about what it means to be a faithful husband or wife.

A faithful spouse is someone in whom you have faith. As simple as that.

You know they will do the right thing, act the right way, be what you expect them to be. Because they are faithful.

A Christian is also someone in whom you can have faith.  You know they can be trusted. They will do the right thing. They will be there for you.

Otherwise we will go through this world having made no difference, leaving no footprint, forgotten almost as soon as we are dropped into the ground.

How does it happen, that we lose our saltiness?   Is it because we get bored living life as a Christian?   Have we lost the spark that was once there? Do we even know why we call ourselves Christian?

And what is to be done  about it?

First thing to remember is that church is not here to entertain us.  It is a place where we go to be part of a community of other Christians and to share in praise and worship, and in its ministry.

Notice, it’s a place where we get involved and do stuff. It is a pro-active place, not a passive place.

It means being engaged, with the community. But being engaged with something means being a part of it. It means trying to find the treasure that is in the worship.

It also means educating oneself. Read books on faith. Don’t be afraid to be challenged. Be part of a Bible study group, or a prayer group, and if there isn’t one, ask for one.

Pray regularly, even when you don’t feel like it.

Look for ways to reach out. Ask a friend to come to the ladies’ or men’s dinner. Be concerned about people.

But you have to be sincere. You can’t fake it.

There was a knock at the door. The lady opened it and came face to face with a man who had a very sad countenance. He said, “I am sorry to disturb you, but I am collecting money for an unfortunate family in your neighborhood.”

He went on in a very sympathetic tone, “The husband is out of work, the kids are hungry, the utilities are soon to be cut off, and worst of all they are going to be kicked out of their home if they can’t raise the rent money by this afternoon.”

The woman replied with great concern, “I will be happy to help, but who are you?”

He replied, “I am the landlord.”

Being salty may require a re-think about our idea of what a Christian is, and should be doing, and if we aren’t  measuring up, the willingness to do something about it.,

Amen.