Scripture:  Mark 10:46-52

The fad has long since faded away, but do you remember “magic eye” pictures?  These were a product of the 1990s which had brightly colored, bizarre, patterned picture.  Allegedly if you stared at it then you could see the hidden image underneath.   I have to say allegedly because I absolutely to this day cannot see those things.  Back in the day it was a frustrating experience when it seemed everyone but me could see the hidden horse or dinosaur.  People would often offer up a bunch of tips like “just cross your eyes” or “stare at one point” or “stare at nothing in particular”.  They would say it like this was the most obvious and easiest thing in the world, but no matter how hard I tried to follow their less than helpful advice I could not see what was so obvious for them. 

            You could tell me exactly what I am looking for, give me all the instructions on how to see it, I can stare at it until sunset.  There is no way I am ever seeing that hidden image.  For whatever reason my brain cannot parse out the visual cues it is seeing and put it all together to reveal the hidden image.  Magic Eyes were only around for a minute.  In 1994 they were all the rage, but in a couple of years pop-culture had largely moved on.   I know that I was not sad to see them go, because it honestly annoyed so much that I could not see them. 

            As annoying as not being able to see the Magic Eye images are to me, it was just a mild inconvenience.  Considering this morning’s scripture makes that abundantly clear.  Magic eyes are something that I cannot see, but that does not even begin to compare to the plight of Bartimaeus.  Bartimaeus knew that he was missing something important in his life, and he believed that Jesus could fix it.  In a similar way, we all have areas in our lives that Jesus can transform and make whole.   However, like me with those silly magic eye pictures we might not be able to see what is right in front of us.   We can be encouraged by this morning’s scripture because if Jesus has the power to make the blind to see, then Jesus has the power to help us see our own shortcomings we might not be aware of.  This means if Bartimaeus can be healed and made whole by faith, then so can we. 

In this morning’s story Bartimaeus asks Jesus for something that no one else can give him.   We do not know a lot about Bartimaeus.  The gospels of Matthew and Luke also contain a version of this story, but the gospel of Mark has more details including his name.   We do not know if he was born blind, lost his sight in an accident, or if he suffered from a degenerative condition that led to him being blind.  We do not know the details of his life, but if he was reduced to begging on the side of the road things were not going well.  We must realize that Bartimaeus did not have an easy life.  In the first century there was very little work that a blind man would be allowed to do.  Many in his community would have viewed his condition as a judgement from God due to sin.  We know this is the case because of a different incident regarding Jesus healing the blind that is recorded.  This meant that Bartimaeus would have been on the outskirts of his community.  He would have been known to many, but likely he was ignored at best and constantly judged at worst.  This meant that he was likely resigned to a solitary life of begging.  He had to scrap by on the begrudging kindness of strangers.   Every day he had to hope he would get enough money so that he could go to sleep at the end of the day without feeling hungry.   If he could only see, then he could live a very different life.  He would not be cut off and alone, he would be able to work and support himself, he would be able to be a blessing to himself and others.  

Of course, Bartimaeus wanted to see, so when he heard that Jesus of Nazareth, the miracle worker, was passing by he knew this was his chance.  We get a clue though, that Bartimaeus had more than just a passing familiarity with Jesus.   He knew that Jesus was more than just another holy man, more than just another traveling miracle worker.   Bartimaeus addresses him as “son of David.”   There is no mistake that this is a messianic title.  It is a title reserved for the one chosen by God to usher in God’s kingdom.  Bartimaeus was not just hedging his bets that this traveling rabbi could be the one who could heal him, he was declaring that he believed sight was possible because Jesus is God’s chosen one. 
I think there are a couple of important lessons we can learn from Bartimaeus.  First, I think it is important to focus on what Bartimaeus first asked Jesus.  Even though Bartimaeus probably wanted to see more than anything, even though sight would have vastly improved his life, and fulfilled many of his wishes, Bartimaeus does not shout out “Son of David, heal me!”   He says “Son of David, Have mercy on me!”    The concept of praying for mercy is not something we hear a lot about today, but perhaps we should.   One of the oldest Christian prayers, dating back to the very beginning, is Kyrie Elision: “Lord, have mercy.”    To ask for mercy is an acknowledgement that we have nothing to give.  Asking for mercy is asking for special privilege from a position of weakness.   To ask for mercy is a confession that we are not truly deserving, but we still greatly desire or need a special kindness given upon us.  To ask for mercy is the somewhat audacious request to ask for a gift; specifically, a gift that is given without strings attached and with the acknowledgement that it cannot be paid back.   When we ask God for mercy we should do so from a point of humbleness and reverence, as we acknowledge that God is the only one capable of granting that which we ask.       
 
            In an attempt to make faith more accessible, we sometimes make errors by oversimplifying.  We often simplify the act of prayer down to “We can ask God for what we need and because God loves us he will give it to us.”  There is a downside to simplifying prayer too much because when prayer is all about what God gives us, we treat God like some sort Cosmic Santa Claus, or worse a divine vending machine that we can always go to when we want to be happy.    It is true that God loves us a great deal, and that God answers prayers, but when we take “Lord have mercy on me a sinner” out of our prayer life something great is lost.  When there is a need we should take it to the Lord in prayer, but not because we deserve or expect God to answer our prayer.  We take it up in prayer because what we are in need of is God’s mercy.
  If mercy is humbly asking for a great gift, we have no chance of achieving on our own, then the opposite of mercy is entitlement.  Entitlement is when we believe we deserve something just because of who we are or what we are owed.   If seeking mercy is based in humility than entitlement is based in pride.   Bartimaeus could have easily felt that he was entitled to being healed.   He could have been bitter about living a lifetime with a disability he did not want; he could have demanded that he has paid his dues and it was his turn for something to go right. It would not be a stretch for him to believe he deserved to be healed after all that he had gone through.  Yet, that is not what he does.

 His request is not one based in entitlement it is based in hope and faith. Bartimaeus approaches the messiah by saying “Lord have mercy on me.”  Jesus, overflowing with grace and mercy, calls him over and asks how exactly he can do that.   This morning’s scripture should cause us to take a moment of self-reflection and ask ourselves some pointed questions.  When you pray, what is the attitude you approach God with?    Do you approach the throne saying “Lord have mercy on me” or do you approach God expecting him to give you what you feel entitled to?   Now clearly, none of us are going to God in prayer and verbally say, give me what I am entitled to, but this is not about the words we use, it is about the attitudes of our hearts.  In our relationship with God do we see ourselves as seeking mercy or demanding entitlements?   

When we approach prayer with an attitude of entitlement in our hearts then what we take to God is often a list of our wants.   However, if our attitude in prayer is Lord have mercy on me, then what we are seeking is not a vain list of wants- it is the very grace of God.  Bartimaeus asked first for mercy.  Jesus then followed up and asked, “what do you want me to do” and then he was able to say he wanted to see.  When we start with mercy, then the needs we end up asking God to meet our less based in our wants and more based in what we need to be restored, healed, and made whole. 
For Bartimaeus it was clear to him what he needed to be restored, healed, and made whole.   Perhaps it is a bit harder for us to answer that question, because we cannot see what we are missing.  If Bartimaeus suffered from a form of physical blindness perhaps we suffer from a form of spiritual blindness.   Perhaps our hearts can be hardened, so that we cannot see the needs all around us.  We miss the people God has put in our path, because we look just right past them.  Perhaps just like those stubborn Magic Eye pictures we cannot see what God has put right in front of us.

            Historically, this has been a problem in Christianity.  Even people who demonstrate righteousness and desire to follow God can have places where their hearts were hard and the missed a chance to love their neighbors right in front of them.  A good example of this is Martin Luther, the famous reformer and founder of the Lutheran Church.   Many consider him a righteous man, and the writings of Martin Luther were instrumental in John Wesley’s conversion.   Yet, Martin Luther was still imperfect.   Because he wrote several books on the subject, it is well documented that Luther was a very strong anti-Semite.  He advocated for the burning down of synagogues, expulsion, and even violence against Jewish people.   Even someone like Martin Luther allowed hate to blind him from seeing all of God’s people.   Lord have mercy.   

            It just is not Martin Luther; many people have a hardness in their heart and struggle to see certain people with compassion.   I have spent years working with teenagers in some capacity, and I have met my fair share of good Christian people with a spiritual blindness to young people.  It has hurt my heart to hear people I respect complain about “kids today.”  Too many people in too many pews are quick to dismiss young people as spending too much time on phones, not enough time outside, and being too entitled.  It bothers me deeply when I hear people who confess to follow Jesus belittle an entire generation of people younger than them as whiny snowflakes.   We cannot complain about a whole generation and then wonder why that generation wants little to do with churches today.  When we refuse to empathize with young people and when we do not communicate that they belong and there is a seat for them, then we miss that God loves these children just as they are.  We miss the fact that young people are not just the future of the church, they are the present of the church if we are willing to include them.  In too many churches instead of working to include people of all ages in age-appropriate ways in the work of God’s kingdoms, teenagers are either shoved out or hidden in the church basement.   Lord have mercy

            We can be so focused on ourselves and our own lives that we do not see the great need in the world today.  We are quick to get upset when the price of gas jumps up by 30 cents a gallon, but there is very little outrage over the fact that 273 million people do not have access to safe drinking water in the world or the fact that every minute of every day around the world 21 children under the age of five die from easily preventable causes.   Why, church, does our heart not break over this?   Imagine if all churches, collectively were as passionate about ending world hunger, as NFL fans were passionate about their favorite teams.   We would be able to end world hunger before the Colts make it back to the playoffs!   Lord have mercy.
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            In this morning’s scripture, Bartimaeus ask Jesus for mercy and in response Jesus heals him, gives him eyes to see, and Bartimaeus responds by following Jesus.  In the same way, when we seek mercy then we can be made whole.  We can be transformed to better be the person God intends us to be.   So may the prayer of our hearts be “Lord have mercy on me.”   May we seek the Lord’s mercy with an attitude of humbleness not entitlement.  May we have eyes to see, hearts to love, and hands to make a difference.   May we be a people who can testify to the almighty power, grace, and mercy of God by proclaiming “I once was blind, but now I see.   The Lord had mercy on me.”  
 

Scripture:  Mark 10: 35-45
               After twenty-one years of marriage I have learned that there are certain ways that Abigail and I think and interact with the world that are fundamentally different from each other.  For instance, she will occasionally like something so much like a movie or a restaurant and declare it her favorite.  By and large though she does not naturally rank things against other things of the same category.   Using pie as an example, she will take any given pie and either like it, think it is ok, or not like it.  It is possible to really like, really dislike it, or if she is not sure then “it’s different.”   This is not how I work at all, because I naturally evaluate and rank everything.  So using pie as an example, I can easily give you a top ten list of what I consider to be the best kind of pie (Since you are now curious it is Strawberry-Rhubarb as number one, followed closely by blueberry and pecan.  Apple, Boston Cream, chocolate chip, sugar cream, pumpkin, blackberry, and Cherry- in that order- round out the top ten).  I do not just arbitrarily rank things.  I tend to know what I like, and why I like it.  I feel like this would be a weird personality quirk, except for I am clearly not the only person who does this.  David Letterman made the top ten list into an art form, and since then a lot of people have found organizing our likes into list a helpful practice.  In our digital age this has become even more popular.  Many websites and YouTube channels are dedicated to making top lists for all kinds of things.   I naturally rand and put everything into a list and order.  While that might be a quirk today, in previous eras I think it might have been second nature to a lot of people. 
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            For most of human civilization it was the nature of humanity to rank people.  The idea of “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal” is a fairly new ideal, and it is one we still have not been able to fully live into yet.  For most of human history the default way of thinking is that everyone was not created equally, but that some people deserved a hire station in life.  This morning’s scripture gives us a glimpse of people thinking that way.   In this morning’s scripture James and John, the Son of Zebedee, shoot their shot.  They swing for the fences and try to secure for themselves a top spot in the kingdom of God.  They wanted to get themselves in at least the top 5 if not the top 3.  Jesus’ response shows that the kingdom of God did not work like any earthly kingdom.  Today that is still true, and to live as a citizen of God’s kingdom requires living like no one else. 

While I think we get the gist of James and John’s request, to sit at the left and right of Jesus when he comes into his glory, a little cultural context helps give a fuller understanding.   At a formal banquet in the first century, there was a very strict seating order.   Often at the head or center of the table would sit the person of honor.   If this was party thrown in honor of someone, they would sit there.  Otherwise, the seat would go to the most important person in the room.    This might be the host or depending on the event it could be a powerful official or ruler of some sort.   From this person, everyone else would fall in line.   The second most important or prestigious person would then sit to this person’s right, and the third most important or prestigious person would then be the left.   It would go back and forth like this from right to left filling the table.   Again, it was human nature of that era for everyone to rank each other.  It was baked into the culture, and everyone knew their place and they knew where they were in relation to everyone else.   Even if they did not understand what it truly meant, James and John believed that Jesus was the Messiah, and they believed that he would usher in a new kingdom.   They wanted to secure their position early.    By asking to sit at the left and right of Jesus they were essentially asking to be the second and third most important, respected, and powerful people in God’s eternal kingdom right after Jesus.

It was a bold and brazen move.  This is probably why when the other disciples heard about it the scripture records “they became indignant.”   There was probably a bunch of “just who do you think you are?”   and “someone’s a little too big for their britches” comments thrown around. 

At the same time though, we cannot really fault James and John.  After all they were only doing what some of us might have tried to do.   They were doing what we have all been taught to do.   We do not rank everyone in a strict social hierarchy anymore, but our culture in general celebrates winners.  By and large our culture sends messages that winning is everything and reaching the top is the most important thing we can do.  We want to be the MVP, we want to be #1, we want to be the king of the hill, and we want to be the person at the top of heap.   James and John were just being ambitious.  In most situations, we would applaud their move as one that shows a boldness that should be rewarded.  If the other ten disciples were being honest, they wanted the same thing.   They were not indignant because of the audacity of James and John’s request.  They were indignant because they got beat to the punch!  

   Seeking to be the first of greatest is the way of the world, and we know it.  Ambition is celebrated as a character virtue, those with wealth and power try to promote themselves as role models, and people run themselves ragged in an attempt to get a head.  A constant pressure to be viewed as winners or number one might be the way of the world, but it is not the way of Jesus.  Jesus flips the script.  He turns everything upside down.   Jesus points out that the way of the world during his time was the same way it is today.  People carve power and authority, and then they “lord that power over others.”     Jesus though offers a different way.   The world of Jesus day and the world of our day defines success by reaching the top, by having the most, and by being regarded as the best.   Jesus though redefines success.   Jesus tells us what success looks like in the kingdom of God.  Success is not based on how much you get, it is based on how much you give away; it is not based on what you earn, it is based on how you put others first.   Jesus is clear, we should not seek or measure success on the same terms the world uses. 

This is a point that gospel of Mark hammer again and again.  In chapter 9 the disciples are arguing about who is greatest and Jesus tells them “anyone who wants to be first must be the very last and a servant to all.”  Then at the beginning of Mark 10 Jesus lifts up the little children.  We looked at this scripture two weeks ago, and the reason why Jesus says the kingdom of God belongs to those like little children is to reinforce the idea that the kingdom of God inverts the worldly power structure.   This is then followed up with the scripture of the rich young ruler that we looked at last week, where Jesus confirms the rich and powerful cannot buy their way into heaven, that the way the world measures success is not how God measures success in the heavenly kingdom.   This small section of Mark find different ways to hit the same point.  As my college history professor, Dr. Parks, said, “If the teacher repeats the same thing more than once you need to pay attention and write it down.”  Hopefully we are paying attention, because in this morning’s scripture the theme that Mark’s gospel has been coming back to time and time again gets laid out in the bluntest way.   When James and John ask to be the top guys in the kingdom of God, Jesus responds by saying, “Instead whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.” 

This is the example that Jesus gave us.   If anyone could have achieved power, authority, and success by the measure of the world it was Jesus.  He had the ability to rise above his station and claim whatever seat at the table he would have wanted.  Being the very nature of God, he could have accomplished whatever he wanted, but Jesus was obedient to the point of death to serve others.   He put the needs of the world before his own on the cross for he “did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom of many.”

            This is an example we should follow, but our natural impulse is more likely to follow the example of James and John.  They sought the best and most powerful positions for themselves, because they were motivated by putting themselves first and getting the most for themselves.  The example Jesus gives though is one that is motivated by putting others first and it is motivated by love.  James and John assumed the kingdom of God would work like the way this world works.  They thought it was like a pie, where there was only so much to go around and so they wanted to ensure that they got the biggest piece.   In this morning’s scripture and throughout the middle of the gospel of Mark Jesus makes it clear that this is not how the kingdom of God works.  The kingdom of God is based in the love of God, and friends this love is an unlimited resource.  It is not like pie because there is more than enough to go around.  The love of God, the grace of Jesus Christ never gives up and never runs out.  Since there is grace enough for everyone, then instead of trying to get ours the best thing to do is share it with everyone. 

            The kingdom of God is one that is based in abundance, so we can consider others first because we know there is still room for us.  The way of this world is one that is based in scarcity and scrambling to get something before it is all gone.  In this morning’s mindset Jesus urges his disciples to live with a kingdom mindset of abundance in a world based around scarcity.   There is a modern-day example that I think shows us how we do that.

            While we may not have places of honor and rank everyone today, there are still some people who by nature of their office get a lot of difference.   There is a lot of pomp and circumstance that surrounds them, and they are treated as a step above most people.   A good example of one of these people is the Pope.   While is health makes it a lot harder for him to get around, Pope Francis caused more than a few headaches for Vatican officials early in his term as the head of the Catholic church.  Pope Francis got caught sneaking out of the Vatican.   He would leave the Vatican dressed as a regular priest in order to feed, pray with, and minister to the homeless of Rome.  Pope Francis would leave behind the trappings of palatial living to serve others.  He is arguably among the upper echelon of influential and powerful people in the world, but it was important to him to continue the practice of putting others first and serving them.  

            The example that Pope Francis gives is one that follows in the example of Jesus.  None of us are too important to put others first.   When we seek to follow Jesus we find that the place of honor is not to his left or right.  The place of honor of is not the one that gets in first place or the one that gets us the most power.  In the kingdom of God the place of honor is the one that serves others.   The place of honor is the one found where we put others first, because in the kingdom of God honor is not measured by what we can get for ourselves, it is measured by what we can share with others.   So may we not approach life as if there were a limited amount of pie and try to get the biggest piece for ourselves, but may we approach life so that we ensure there is always enough to go around for everyone.  May what motivates our actions be the abundance of the kingdom of God.  May we live like no one else, may we live like Jesus, may you live like a citizen of God’s kingdom.  May we seek the place of honor in God’s kingdom by continuing to see the needs and meet the needs of this community.   

Scripture: Mark 10:17-31

Mark Twain, who can always be counted on for a good quip, once said “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.”  If that was true in the 19th century when worldwide communication was a lot slower than it is now, then it is doubly true today.  Misinformation is certainly a problem today, but Mark Twain’s quote show that misinformation has always been a problem.  There might be a lot of misinformation and ill-informed conspiracy theories floating out there today, but history is full of misconceptions that have been accepted as truth.   For example, even to this day French dictator Napoleon Bonaparte is depicted as being short.   He was not though.  He was actually right at average height for the time, but British propaganda intentionally portrayed him as short.  This propaganda was so effective, that it still has influence two centuries later.

Then some misconceptions spread and propagate because the story is just too good not to repeat.  A good example of this that you might have heard is that famed physicist Albert Einstein once failed math while in school.  This is 100% not true.  In fact, this story started during Einstein’s lifetime, and he refuted it-pointing out in an interview he was doing advanced calculus at the age of fifteen.  This story originated from a Ripley’s Believe it or Not blurb.  It seems to be based off a half-truth that Einstein did fail an entrance exam for an elite French school.  However, this has more to do with the fact that Einstein took the exam two years earlier that was common, and the exam was in French-a language Einstein was not fluent in.  He scored high on the math portion of the test, but he did not get a high enough score on the parts that required reading and writing in French. The idea that arguably one of the smartest people in history struggled in school is a story we want to believe even if there is no truth to it.  However, because we want to believe what the story communicates it keeps getting shared.
 
This morning’s scripture is one that has a similar story that surrounds it.   In this story Jesus states, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”   There is a story that you might have heard that is told around this scripture.  The story goes that in Jerusalem there was a small and narrow gate referred to as the “eye of the needle”.  Due to the size of the gate it was difficult for a camel to get through, it required taking all of the bags off of the camel, getting the camel to kneel down, and scoot through the opening.  So, it is only with a level of intentionality, humility and guidance that a camel can pass through the eye of the needle. It is a good story, but it also likely not true.   

Archaeologists and biblical scholars feel fairly certain that there was never such a gate in Jerusalem.  Some historians have tried to trace down where this story originated, and it can be tracked all the way back to the 1200s in a work written by Thomas Aquinas.  Aquinas references that he got this from an English bishop, Anslem of Canterbury who died at the beginning of the 12th century.  This means that for around 900 years a story about a camel passing through a small gate has been shared even though it is not true.  This extra detail about the gate changes the teaching of Jesus from it is impossible for the rich to enter the kingdom of God, to it requires effort for the rich to enter the kingdom of God.   This story about the non-existent gates softens Jesus words.  Like the story about Einstein, this story keeps getting shared because we want to believe what it communicates about being wealthy and following Jesus.  However, when we do not hide behind a fake story about a too small gate then this scripture this scripture can cause us to reflect on just what we are willing to give up when it comes to following Jesus and it ultimately reminds us that with God all things are possible. 

Scriptures like this morning, show us that Jesus message is not one that can be molded or crafted to whatever makes us feel comfortable.  We get the message right away, that Jesus is going to be direct and to the point.  The man starts off by trying to get on Jesus’ good side by flattering him and calling him good teacher, but Jesus isn’t really having it.   The man then wants to know how to inherit eternal life, and when Jesus tells him to sell all his possessions and give it to the poor, the man gives up.   I think what is worth paying attention to here is verse 24.   When Jesus says it is hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of God, the bible records the disciples are amazed.   Why would they not be? 

We live in a world of economic disparity today.  This is even true in the United States where the top 10% of families hold 70% of the country’s wealth while the bottom 50% hold only 2.5%.   The economic disparity the disciples knew would have been worse.  The first century Roman world was very much a world of the haves and the have nots.    There was no real concept of the middle class.  There was the rich and there was everyone else.  The disciples were in the “everyone else” category.   They were amazed at Jesus’ words because they believed that nothing was impossible for the wealthy.    It had been their experience that money can buy anything.   Yet, here they were learning without a shadow of a doubt that money could not buy salvation.   Jesus makes it as clear as he can that salvation is not for sale by saying that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.  Jesus is not talking about a gate.  The camel was the largest creature in the Mideast and a needle the smallest opening.   The size disparity on display was 100% intentional here to illustrate the shear impossibility. 

               Verse 26 records “The disciples were even more amazed and said to each other, “who then can be saved?”   Again, the experience of the disciples is that the rich had the means to do whatever they wish.   They always have the resources to meet their needs and every want.   The disciples, who were poor and had internalized themselves as poor, were frightened at this point because they were thinking if a rich person cannot make it into the kingdom of God, what chance do I possibly have?    The answer that gave the disciples hope, and the answer that should feel us with great hope is found in verse 27 “Jesus looked at them and said ‘With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.’ “   The wealthy cannot enter the kingdom of God, because it not based on our own merit.  It does not matter how righteous we are or how much we spend, we cannot save ourselves.   Salvation is an act of God through Christ.   We cannot buy our way into the kingdom of God, because God has already paid our entry fee with the blood of Jesus.   What is impossible for us, is possible for God.  

               Entrance into the kingdom of God is not for sale.  It is only possible by the grace and mercy of God.  It is a free gift offered to all, but it is a gift that we have to take some responsibility for after we accept it.   Peter named this in this morning’s scripture when he spoke up and said, “We have left everything to follow you.”  Following Jesus is an all or nothing proposition.  We either accept the gift of forgiveness and eternal life, and let the gift be the primary motivator and thing that shapes us or we do not.   Either we are all in or we are not in.  We either are willing to give everything or we are willing to give nothing. 

The man who approached Jesus in this scripture claims that he has kept all the Ten Commandments, but the reason why he could not inherit eternal life is because he refused to give up his wealth.  He could not inherit the kingdom of God because when push came to shove his wealth more important to him than eternal life.   For many people wealth controls their life.   This is true for those who horde more wealth than anyone could spend in their lifetime, but it can also be true for those who are barely getting by.  For instance, there are people below the poverty line spending more money than they should on lottery tickets each week in hopes to strike it rich.  Having enough money to cover our needs and some of our wants is important.  Yet if we are not careful, we can think money is the cure for all that ails us, but money is a false god.   All things are not possible with enough wealth.  All things are only possible with God.  If wealth is our primary concern in life, then there is not space in our hearts for the kingdom of God to be our main motivation and desire.

               I do believe that there is wisdom to saving and not just living paycheck to paycheck, but there is also a point where wise saving can cross over into accumulating more for the sake of having more. We might try to pass off a desire to horde wealth as a virtue, but our views on money can often have selfish motivations.   We are concerned about making sure that no one gets what we think should be ours, and we look around to make sure we are always getting enough.   An obsession with wealth is always “me” centered and always about what I can get.   Jesus though told the man to give everything to the poor, because the kingdom of God is “other” centered.

Our wealth is just resource that God has blessed with.  If we are all in on following Jesus then we should be willing to be all in with all that we have.  Our wealth as large or as meager as it might be gives us a means to help ensure our neighbors have enough.  TV preachers are quick to talk about God providing financial blessings.  However, when I read the bible, especially scriptures like this one, I believe that wealth is not a blessing but a responsibility.  Our wealth is a resource that God has allowed us to have, and we have responsibility to be good stewards of those resources. 

John Wesley, found of the Methodist movement, gave us a radical example of how we do that.  He once famously preached: “Earn all you can, save all you can, give all you can.”  The middle statement, “save all you can” is perhaps the most misunderstood one today.  Wesley was not advocating for building up an emergency fund in a bank account, but was rather warning people against excess and taking more than they needed.  John Wesley took seriously the idea of earn all you can and give all you can.  For him this was not an abstract concept, but one that he lived out.  John Wesley was an extremely pragmatic individual.  Fairly early in his professional life calculated what he needed as a livable income, and he donated excess to charitable causes.   John Wesley was very wise in how he used, saved, and invested money so his means grew.   However, he continued to live off what he calculated as his livable income.  At the height of Wesley’s career he earned what would equate to 1.4 million in a year.    He lived on 2% of that and gave the rest a way.   He tithed 98% of his income!  He used the rest to fund orphanages, missions, hospitals, and other projects that shared the love of God.   In short he used the vast majority of his earthly wealth as a resource to better fulfill the mission that he (and we) are stewards of.   John Wesley was extremely efficient in doing this to the point, that when he died his worldly wealth consisted of a few odd and end coins and two silver spoons, he had given away the rest. 
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               Our specific context is different than it was for John Wesley.  Giving away 98% of our income may not be what is required of us, but this morning’s scripture should cause us to question, would we be willing?   Are we willing to be all in and give everything to follow Jesus?   For the rich man in this morning’s scripture his answer was “no” and he went away sad.   May our answer be yes.  May we stop seeing our wealth, no matter how great or meager it is, as something only for ourselves but may we see it as a resource to bless and help others.  May we be willing to put others first, and use our resources to meet great needs.  In doing so may we make disciples, transform the world, and help bring about the kingdom of God on this earth.

Scripture:  Mark 10:13-16

            One of the things I miss most from my younger days are lazy Saturdays.   Growing up my favorite cartoon to watch on Saturday mornings was the Real Ghostbusters.   After cartoons my brother and I mightsit side by side and play Super Mario Bros. on the Nintendo.   Later I might my favorite movie, which was (of course) Star Wars.  I actually did that so much I wore out the VHS tapes twice.  These are some of the childhood memories, that can create strong feelings of nostalgia.  We likely all have tons of similar memories.  However, I have noticed something about these things I have nostalgic feelings for.  A new Ghostbusters movie came out this year.  The newest Super Mario Bros. game is due out on the Nintendo Switch this November. I no longer need to wear out Star Wars movies by watching the same one over and over, because now there is a lot more Star Wars content, like the Acolyte TV series which came out a couple of months ago.  The TV shows, movies, and video games that I grew up did not get left in the past to be childhood memories, they are still being made today. 

Many of the things from my childhood can still be found in new forms, because companies and marketers have learned that nostalgia sales.   When new Star Wars Lego sets, like the Millennium Falcon, are released with a $850 price tag it is clear the market for that toy is not children.   Companies have learned that it is profitable to sell us back our childhood. Consumers over the age of 18 spent 1.5 billion dollars on toys for themselves in the first 1/3 of this year, and the adult demographic is now the most important demographic for the toy industry.  Adults seem to be willing to attempt to hold off the march of time by getting a hit of nostalgia by buying the things that brought them joy when they were younger.    
There is an irony at work here.  When we are children we often cannot wait to grow up and be treated like we are older, but once we grow up we chase and try to recapture the magic of childhood.  There are a lot of people willing to spend money to get that nostalgic rush, a reminder of simpler times, and a few moments of feeling like a kid again.  We grow old quicker than we think we will, and then we desperately want to grow young.  While we can not do this on an individual level, we can do it on a corporate level.  People can not grow younger, but churches certainly can.  This morning’s scripture gives us some important reminders about how we do it. 

            This morning’s scripture is a short little story in the ministry of Jesus.   Despite not having the drama of some of Jesus’ miracles or confrontations with religious leaders, or the depth of wisdom that the parables of Jesus are packed with there is still a lot to discover in the few verses we read this morning.  To understand this scripture and what it means for us today, I think we need to be able to answer two questions.  First, why were the disciples trying to keep the children away from Jesus?  Second, what does Jesus meant that the kingdom of God belongs to such as these? 
The culture that Jesus lived and ministered in, is one that is incredibly different than our culture today.  One of the fundamental ways that American culture of the 20th and 21st centuries is different, not just from the time of Jesus but from just about every previous century is how child centric our culture is.  Clearly parents in previous centuries valued and loved their children, but children did not get as much consideration as they do today.  For example, in a lot of families the weekly schedule is built around the practices and activities of the children above all else. This would have been mostly unheard of in most other times of human existence. Human society of previous centuries did not place the same level of emphasis on children that we see today. 

This was true in the first century as well.  Jesus, as a traveling rabbi, was considered a teacher of the Torah.  Learning from a rabbi was simply not the place of a child.  It was not for them.  This is why the disciples were shooing the children away.  They were following the tradition of the era.  By rebuking the children, they thought they were preserving the solemnity and importance of Jesus’ message.  In just about any other instance of this kind of interaction with a traveling rabbi, the actions of the disciples would have been viewed as correct.  Most rabbis of the time kept their message exclusive, it was only for those who it was meant for-and children were not on the list.

            However, Jesus was not like most other traveling rabbis.  At this point the disciples had not yet grasped that Jesus’ gospel was not exclusive it was fully inclusive.  Because by including children, Jesus by extension also included women who often were also excluded because they had to care for the children while the men learned.  The disciples were engaging in the time honored tradition of gate-keeping, of ensuring the purity of whatever is preserved for those they believe it is intended for.  However, Jesus radically broke from tradition by demanding that the little children should come to him. 

            Unfortunately, churches and Christians communities have historically found themselves more aligned with the disciples on this than with Jesus.  In a lot of places churches have a reputation of engaging in gate keeping.   Sometimes this gatekeeping is harsh and cruel.  It is intentionally excluding people because they do not look or act a certain way.  There are many people, too many people, with many painful stories of how gate-keeping has pushed them away from faith.  Fortunately, this type of gate keeping in churches is relatively rare.   Unfortunately, there is a much more common type of gate keeping that happens in churches.  Most church gate keeping takes place in a seven word phrase that gets used way too much in church circles:  We’ve never done it that way before.  
         
   Churches tend to be change-averse, and on average united Methodists are no different.  That is why the old joke is “how many Methodists does it take to change a light bulb?”   The answer is of course, “Change, what do you mean change? My grandmother donated that light bulb.”  Insisting to always do it the way it has been done, and to never do something new is a form of gatekeeping, because it orients the church inward.  It makes it so the way things are done caters to those who have been present the longest.  Protesting we’ve never done it that way before shuts down the possibilities of new ideas, new viewpoints, and new possibilities.  Ultimately, it shuts the gate on new people. 
 
          The disciples, in line with the culture of their time, tried to gatekeep and keep the children away from Jesus.  Unfortunately, the gatekeeping that happens in churches today can have a similar impact.  We can see this evidence in the demographics.  The median age of the US population is 35 but the median age of a United Methodist church member is 57.  All churches, including ours, will grow older by default.  Churches have to choose to grow young, and one of the first choices they have to make is not to gatekeep by resisting change at every turn.   In their landmark study about churches that are effective at consistently growing young by reaching and including young people, the Fuller Youth Institute discovered six strategies that are common in these faith communities.  

            In their book entitled Growing Young the researchers Kara Powell, Jake Mulder, and Brad Griffin identify one of these strategies of being the one that makes the greatest impact in growing young, and that is prioritizing young people.  It is not possible to prioritize young people and prioritize how we have always done it at the same time.  As the authors write in Growing Young this means prioritizing “young people everywhere.  Even when it means giving up preferences or shifting what in the past may have been considered nonnegotiable.  Even when it means relinquishing traditional authority and power in order to embrace the young.  Prioritizing teenagers and young adults as made the difference between ailing and thriving.”  In other words, one the most essential elements of growing young is we have to be willing to change and maybe even do things differently.  We must put ourselves and preferences between young people and Christ.  We must get out of the way and let the little children come to Jesus. 

​            If a church wants to grow young, if this church wants to grow young, then we must be willing to change.  However, before making changes to programming, structure, or anything like that I think a more fundamental component and possible change has to be in place.   This gets to the second question we need to consider which is why Jesus said the kingdom of God belongs to those like little children.   This morning’s scripture is not the first time that Jesus mentions the little children.  If we flip back just a few paragraphs in the gospel of Mark we find  In Mark 9:33-34 the Disciples had one again been arguing to themselves about who was greater.  Jesus once again tells them “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”   To further illustrate this point, Jesus picks up a child among them and said, “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me.”   It is in this morning’s scripture we learn the disciples had not yet quite learned the point, so Jesus reiterates it.      

            Again, in a first century, patriarchal culture that puts adult men at the top of the hierarchy, a child is the last person who would normally be welcomed.  In this culture, in an argument over who is greatest a child will always be the last picked.  Which is precisely why the kingdom of God belongs to those like little children.   A child in the first century could not earn a place of honor.  There is nothing that a child could do to be allowed pas the gatekeepers into the area they were not permitted.  For a child to gain the kind of access that Jesus granted them it was a gift, it was an exception, and it went against all of the rules.  Jesus said the kingdom belongs to the children, because the children were the lowest rank in the culture of his era.   The Kingdom belongs to children because the kingdom of heaven is not reserved for the greatest among us and it is not reserved for those who prove themselves.  It is a gift of God that is given to those undeserving because of God’s great love.  Our citizenship in God’s heavenly kingdom is a gift of grace through faith not through accomplishments. 

            The kingdom of heaven is a place that leads with grace.   It is characterized by radical acceptance, which means that if we take the message of Jesus seriously, churches should also be places known for the way in which they radically accept, include, and welcome everyone without exception.   I do not think it is a coincidence that the Growing Young research identified one of the six strategies for growing young is to take Jesus’ message seriously.   About this strategy the authors wrote, “According to our research, churches that communicate the gospel of Jesus as the centerpiece of God’s story are more likely to have young people with greater faith vibrancy and maturity.”   A love of God that forgives us, welcomes, and receives of us when we do not deserve it is the heart of the gospel of Jesus.  This should be the primary message that all churches, including us, need to communicate.  Our message should not be why certain people can not come.  We should let the people, all the people young or old, come to Jesus. Find the love of and forgiveness that only he can provide.   

            In this morning’s scripture the disciples were just doing things the way they have always been done.  Jesus signaled that he and the kingdom of God he proclaimed are different.   All are welcome- especially those who are being excluded.  Not only is everyone welcome, but Jesus communicates in this morning scripture, that we must be willing to change how things are done so that the gates of mercy and grace are flown wide open.  So may we not try to function as gatekeepers.  May we take the message of Jesus seriously and may we proclaim the unending love and amazing grace of God.   May we take this message so seriously, that in order to share the message with more people we prioritize young people everywhere and be willing to make changes if we need to.   May we let the children come, and in doing so may we grow young as a church and may we better reflect the kingdom of God here on earth.