Sermons & Meditations

Mark 10:35-45
Presented October 18, 2009, by J.D. Kline
The Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

Some years ago, while pastoring in my former congregation, I participated in a prayer retreat organized by a number of neighboring evangelical pastors. The goal was to deepen relationships across many of the dividing lines within the church of today—racial, theological, and denominational lines of division. It was a noble goal—this effort to chip away at the divisions among those who profess to be followers of Jesus. But as I pondered today’s Gospel lesson from Mark, chapter ten, I found myself recalling a song the retreat leaders invited us to sing with some frequency during that retreat, as we gathered in a circle for worship and sharing sessions. The song proclaimed that Jesus was a winner man, and kept repeating that single word: winner, winner, winner, winner, winner, winner; Jesus was a winner man.

I found myself troubled by that song while on retreat many years ago, and as it came to mind again while reflecting upon today’s Scripture text, I was troubled—and disturbed—all over again. Today’s lesson is one in which Jesus is urging us to express our partnership in the gospel by embracing a life of servanthood. “Whoever wishes to become great among you,” says Jesus, “must be your servant” (Mark 10:43). But the song, quite to the contrary, speaks not of servanthood, but of emerging victorious over others, coming out on top. Truth be told, the song seems far more descriptive of the American obsession with being number one, positioning ourselves above everyone else, than it is of the life and ministry of Jesus—a life and ministry that, from beginning to end, point us in a radically different direction than does our culture, so consumed with glamour and success, with victory and power over others. Indeed, Jesus proclaims a way of living that goes against the grain of much of what we have come to deem the natural order of things. Rather than blessing a life of coercive domination over others, Jesus calls us to the way of liberating love. Rather than top-down domination, Jesus invites us to a life of bottom-up service. Rather than the iron fist of vengeance, Jesus counsels a welcoming gesture of loving kindness, gentleness, forgiveness, and grace beyond measure.

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Mark 10:17-31
Presented October 11, 2009, by J.D. Kline
The Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Mitch Albom, most noted for his book Tuesdays with Morrie, has a new book, Have a Little Faith, in which he describes relationship with two faith leaders—his life-long rabbi, Albert Lewis, and an African-American pastor, Henry Covington. He includes a story from an early sermon of the rabbi’s—the story of a young girl who returned home from school, eager to show to her mother a drawing she had made in class. The little girl danced into the kitchen, where her mother was preparing dinner. “Mom, guess what?” she squealed, waving the drawing. Without looking up her mother questioned, “What?” “Guess what?” repeated the little girl, and again the mother, tending to the tasks at hand, asked, “What?” “Mom, you’re not listening.” “Sweetie, yes, I am,” the mother responded, but still not shifting her focus from the work she had been doing. “Mom,” answered her daughter, “you’re not listening with your eyes.”

Every time I encounter this morning’s Gospel lesson—the story of the one who approaches Jesus asking, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” I imagine Jesus listening to the man, not with ears alone, but with his eyes—and indeed, with his whole being. We all know them—don’t we?—those persons with the gift of really noticing us, actually looking into our eyes and grasping who we are. Jesus had that gift, and in this morning’s story, listens with his eyes to the one who comes seeking more than he can fully express.

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