iConsume

Twentieth Sunday After Pentecost, Year B
October 14, 2012
Mark 10:17-31

Every so often, I hear someone talking about the so-called Prosperity Gospel.  For the uninitiated, it's a message that states that God wants us to be wealthy.  If you have faith in God, then God will bless you financially.

The Prosperity Gospel has it critics...a lot of them.  When I googled "prosperity gospel," I came up with a ton of links denouncing the theology.  It didn't matter if you were liberal or conservative, there was an outright disdain for this belief in "pennies from heaven."

Whenever I hear all the criticism, I feel a bit uncomfortable.  It's not that I agree with the prosperity gospel, it's just that I don't know if any of us is that innocent ourselves.  I mean, it might feel good to look down on those preachers who peddle this garbage, but at some point you realize that God is pointing at you as well.

The fact is, we are caught up in having things as well.  We might look with contempt at the prosperity preachers, but most of us live in nice houses with nice cars, listening to tunes on our iPod/iPhone/iPad/iWhatever.  To paraphrase that old pop song, "We're not that innocent."

This week we find Jesus encountering a young man who's done pretty well financially.  He's also someone that has tried to be a good religious person. Jesus tells him to follow the commandments, which the young guy has done.  "You still need to do one thing," Jesus said. "Sell all of your possessions and give it the poor."

We know how the story ends.  The young guy walks away perplexed.  That's when Jesus remarks about how hard it is for a rich man to enter heaven.

Theologian Matt Skinner tells us that we shouldn't try to soften the message that this gospel is getting at.  We are pretty good at trying to soften the blow.  Jesus isn't really calling us to give up everything, we say to ourselves.  But yes, God is calling us to do just that.  Jesus is calling us to be true disciples and give up everything to follow him.

Of course, we live in the real world.  Very few of us are going to give up our stuff and go and live in a yurt somewhere.

And yet, Jesus is still calling us to give up everything, give up our call to be prosperous and follow him.

I don't have an easy answer to this quandry.  I know that I am saved by grace through faith.  I know that I am love by God even though I fall short.  And yet, you and I are still called to give our whole selves to God, because that's exactly what God did through Jesus on the cross.

Go and be church.

  Dennis Sanders is the Associate Pastor at First Christian Church in Minneapolis.

Jesus Loves the Little Children...Yeah, Whatever.

Nineteenth Sunday After Pentecost, Year B
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Mark 10:2-16

As I prepared for this coming Sunday, I did a lot of reading concerning the gospel text.  Many megabytes were spent talking about the first half of the Mark text, which centers on divorce.  That makes sense, on one level.  We see many marriages that seem to break up, leaving the children is a not so good place.

When it comes to that second half of the text, the one about Jesus welcoming the children, well that one got the short shrift.  I didn't find anyone that did an exegesis of the this part of the reading, let alone really focus on what this passage is saying.  I think part of the reason that we do this is because we think we know this story.  We have seen many an image of Jesus seated with a bunch of kids around him ala a children's sermon.  What is there to question or learn from something so obvious?  Jesus liked children.  How sweet.

Look at this text again.  Parents are bringing their kids to Jesus hoping he would touch them.  We don't know why they are doing this, but for some reason it is vital that Jesus bless their children.  The disciples are a little preturbed that these little ones are bothering Jesus.  What happened next?  Jesus got angry. At the disciples.  Jesus tells the disciples that children are at the center of God's kingdom.  If we don't come to faith in God like a little child then we won't see the kingdom.

I've learned what it means to have a child-like faith from the children at the church where I serve.  They are not shy about sharing their thoughts on God and are great at applying the stories they hear to life in general. These kids ask questions. They share what they have learned.  The can be fearless. And they are vulnerable.  They are always open to learning.

The Pharisees were learned men and thought that faith was about how smart and how cunning you can be.  Jesus reminds us at the end of the passage that God is not interested in our smarts, but is interested in child-like hearts ready to learn, ready to be loved.

May it be so with us.


  Dennis Sanders is the Associate Pastor at First Christian Church in Minneapolis.

On Community

By Brian Kirk

Mark 9: 38-50

What to choose? What to choose? So much is going on in this piece of the lectionary that I think one would have to narrow it down to a portion of the passage. If there is a theme that might draw it all together, it could be the theme of "community."

In the opening text, we have the disciples reportedly coming to Jesus to tattle on some other folks who are healing in his name. Boring, in The People's New Testament Commentary, argues that this is a clearly post-Easter reference. The disciples' claim that this exorcist "was not following us" (rather than using "you" referring to Jesus) suggests a description of Mark's historical context and the struggle in the early Church over who has authority -- who is "in" and who is "out." The renegade exorcist likely then refers to other Christian groups who were acting independently. Interestingly, Jesus' reply seems to suggest that as long as they are doing his work, they are just as much a part of the community.

In fact, note how inclusive Mark is when he has Jesus say "Whoever is not against us is for us." There is a world of difference between this version of the saying and the one we find in Matthew which reads "Whoever is not for us is against us." They sound similar, but the meaning couldn't be more different when it comes to seeing those who don't practice/live/believe the way we do as either enemy or neighbor.

The next part of the text deals with care for the "little ones" and a string of unconnected sayings about getting rid of body parts that might cause one to stumble. The reference here to "little ones" is not likely about children but rather people who are new to the faith or who have little authority. It's clear that these vulnerable ones are to be cared for by the community. This theme is carried over in the reference to cutting off body parts, the "body" here likely a metaphor for the community of faith. We have a responsibility to care for each other (and to do away with those practices that harm or cause division). And if the community extends beyond our congregation and includes even those we consider outside our boundaries (e.g. the exorcist mentioned previously) then do we not also have a responsibility to the community of our neighborhood, our city, our country, and the world?

Finally, the reference to salt also connects with the theme of community. We are to have salt (a distinctiveness about ourselves) and yet still live in peace as community. A reminder, perhaps, that faith is not ultimately a personal and inward practice but a communal effort in which we add to the flavor of those gathered around us as we strive to live in peace with all God's children.

(Note: The James passage for this Sunday deals with many of these same themes of community and caring for one another.)