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The Demands of Discipleship

Title slide with photos of the two churches

Jeff Garrison
Mayberry & Bluemont Churches
Mark 10:32-45
November 3, 2024

Sermon taped at Mayberry Church on Friday, November 1, 2024

At the beginning of worship: 

I’ve struggled what to say today as we are on the cusp of a major election. Many, on both sides, say this is the most important election of our lives. The stakes are high. I’ve heard preachers, again on both sides, say their way is the only way you must vote to be a Christian. They can’t all be right, can they.

While I don’t want to deny the importance of what will happen on Tuesday (or has already happened as so many of us have voted already), we need to remember that our most important election involves God voting for us. That vote, as we’ll be reminded of in today’s scripture, was counted when Jesus ransomed his life for ours. Regardless of what happens on Tuesday, God remains with us.

As Christians, we live in this world and are called to be good citizens of it. We’re to work for the good of all.[1] However, we must never lose focus that our true home isn’t among worldly powers, but with our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. Furthermore, we must remember that even those with whom we disagree have been created in the image of God. Everyone has value. None of us have no right to devalue others with whom we disagree or dislike. Respect and character are important traits for us and our leaders.

“What would our Savior and Lord, the gentle and humble Jesus, want us to do?” That’s a decision you will have to decide. I have my convictions, which I have shared with some privately. But my calling is to point to Jesus Christ. That’s all I will do from the pulpit. The only other things I will do is remind you that your salvation isn’t built upon the choice you make on Tuesday. All candidates have flaws, some more than others. Only Jesus is perfect. Again, thankfully, our hope is in God’s election, not ours. 

Before reading the Scripture:

We’re back on our journey through Mark’s gospel. One of my professors in his commentary on Mark suggests the gospel is primarily a passion narrative with a very long introduction.[2] The passion has to do with Jesus’ suffering and death in Jerusalem. We’ve seen over the past two chapters Jesus dropping hints as to his upcoming suffering and death. The disciples struggle to understand. 

Our reading today, Jesus and the disciples are on the road to Jerusalem. He provides the third prediction of the passion. 

In our previous passage, Jesus reminded us of the Kingdom’s unusual economy. The first become last, and the last become first. Our passage ends with a saying which builds upon that message, one which Jesus places himself in the equation of the last being first. As Paul writes to the Philippians:

Jesus “didn’t regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave… humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.”[3]

Read Mark 10:32-45

Three strikes and you’re out. We won’t hear those words for a few months as the World Series ended this week with a Dodger’s win. By March, Spring Training will be in full swing and maybe you can catch a game and maybe the Pirates will play consistently better. 

Today, it’s the disciples who strike out. Three times they swing for the fence and fail to connect. Each strike was right after Jesus predicted his coming passion. It’s not something the disciples want to hear. 

Peter took the first swing when he challenged Jesus’ prediction of his suffering and death. This can’t happen to the Messiah, Peter insists. Jesus calls Peter Satan and tells him to get back in line. Peter is a follower, he’s not to be making the rules.[4]

The second time when Jesus shares with them about his upcoming passion, the disciples not understanding, argue about who’s the greatest. Jesus again sets them straight.[5]

In today’s text, it’s James and John who takes the strike. Amazing, isn’t it. Jesus tells the disciples all that’s going to happen once they reach Jerusalem, and the disciples are still worried over what they can get from following Jesus. 

Sadly, we’re also like that, I think. We look out for ourselves. The Jesus, whom we are called to follow, wants us to trust him and look out for others. Jesus, building on our text from two weeks ago, where he told the disciples about the last being first, places himself in his game. He came to serve, to give us life for the life of many.[6]

This all took place while Jesus and the disciples are on their way to Jerusalem. We’re given a picture of Jesus, out in front, leading the way, while those who followed him lag, afraid of what’s ahead. While the text doesn’t give us a number of those following Jesus, it sounds as if there are more than just the twelve, as Jesus must cull the twelve out from the crowd to teach. 

Jesus provides his third prediction of his death. When something is repeated three times, you should realize it’s important. It’s like the old saying, “Tell them what you want to say, tell them, and then tell them what you said.”  Jesus makes sure it’s clear. Here, in his third prediction, he provides more details. He’ll be betrayed to the religious leaders and sentenced to death, then handed over to the gentiles (the Romans) who will mockingly carry out the punishment. But, as Jesus has also reminded them, on the third day, he will rise. 

Jesus couldn’t have been clearer. He’s not raising an army and conquering Rome. He lays down his life for the world. This makes me shake my head at James and John. Afterwards, they ask Jesus for a favor. Perhaps they ask for the favor without telling Jesus what’s involved to trap Jesus. “Oh, I’ll do anything for you,” they hope Jesus will say. But Jesus is clever and asks what it they want.

We should note that James and John are in the inner core. They, along with Peter, were the three in attendance at the transfiguration.[7] So perhaps they think they have a right to be given key positions in the kingdom, even though they slight Peter. But they also don’t understand what Jesus’ glory will entail. Jesus tries to straighten them out, speaking of the cup or the baptism he’s to endure. Let’s pause to consider the meaning of the cup and baptism.

The cup—in the Old Testament—was something provided by God. It could be joy or prosperity (as in “my cup runneth over” in the 23rd Psalm). But, more often, cup means judgment as in Psalm 11, which speaks of the scorching winds as the cup of the wicked.[8] Jesus also refers to the cup as woe, when he prays in the garden before his arrest.[9] Jesus’ cup contains our sins.

As for baptism, it might be pointed out that Jesus has already been baptized as we’ve seen in the first chapter of Mark’s gospel. But baptism symbolizes both death and resurrection. Descending into the water suggests death; being lifted out of the water symbolizes resurrection. Paul makes this point in Romans; in a passage I recite at almost every funeral at which I officiate: 

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.[10]

It’s clear that the cup and baptism of which Jesus speaks has to do with his death and resurrection. Are James and John really willing to go through such? They say they are, but even then, Jesus can’t promise them the coveted seats because that’s not what his kingdom is about. 

As we might suspect, the remaining ten of the disciples are not very happy with James and John going behind their back to obtain special favors. Mark, however, doesn’t identity their problems with the two. After all, it’s quite possible they are upset that James and John got a jump start on them, for they all seem self-centered. They haven’t learned the key to the gospel any better than most people today. 

So, Jesus gathers the 12 back around him to discuss things out. He points out how the gentile rulers are tyrants over others. We’ve not changed too much, have we, considering the rhetoric of our current election. Nor has the world changed much if you consider how Putin can invade another country and have the blessing of the Russian Orthodox Church. Our world, and our nation, seems only to understand might and power. The virtues of service service and gentleness remain hidden. 

But in God’s kingdom, our values are turned on their head. What’s important is serving others. Jesus identities service with himself, the one willing to give his life to save us.  

The last verse in our passage helps us understand Jesus’ nature. The ramson for many doesn’t mean a limited number. According to one scholar, in “Semitic grammar the many normally stands for totality,” for all.[11] The phrase in the Orthodox communion liturgy rings out, “Jesus Christ gave his life “for the life of the world.”[12]Jesus’ willingness to pay the price opens all the world to God’s kingdom, to a new way of living and of being. 

This passage reminds us to be careful of our egos. We shouldn’t let the powers of the world tempt us or draw us away from our focus on the cross and the realization of all it entails. Jesus died that we might live. That’s the good news. And he calls us to be willing to put our own wellbeing behind that of others, so that his glory might be revealed. Are we up to it? Amen.

[1] See Romans 13 and Jeremiah 29:7.

[2] Douglas R. A. Hare, Westminster Bible Commentary: Mark (Louisville, KY: WJKP, 1996), 127.

[3] Philippians 2:6-7. 

[4] Mark 8:31-9:2. See https://fromarockyhillside.com/2024/08/25/who-do-you-say-that-i-am/

[5] Mark 9:30-37.  See https://fromarockyhillside.com/2024/09/22/welcoming-the-vulnerable/

[6] Mark 10:31. See https://fromarockyhillside.com/2024/10/20/with-god-all-things-are-possible/

[7] Mark 9:2-8. See https://fromarockyhillside.com/2024/09/01/the-transfiguration/

[8] James R. Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2002), 322-333. 

[9] Mark 14:36. See also Matthew 26:29 and Luke 22:42. 

[10] Romans 6:3-5, RSV. 

[11] Edwards, 327.

[12] See Alexander Schneemann, For the Life of the World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy (St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1975).  

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A Reformation Day Sermon

Title slide with photo of the two churches in which this sermon is to be preached.

Jeff Garrison
Reformation Day Sermon for Mayberry and Bluemont Churches[1]
Hebrews 4:14-5:10
October 27, 2024

I was to be on vacation this week, and an elder was going to read this sermon which I first preached on Skidaway Island in 2017. But things changed that required me to remain at home. Next week, God willing, I’ll return to working through the Gospel of Mark.

Sermon recorded on Friday, October 25, 2024

At the beginning of worship: 

Today is Reformation Sunday, when we look back at our glorious history… so let me begin with a cautionary note. Scripture warns us not to look back. It’s what turned Lot’s wife into a clump of salt. Jesus warns that one who puts his hands to the plow and then looks back is not fit to enter the kingdom.[2]

Of course, there are good reasons to look back. When the Jews look back at Passover, they don’t long for the past when they were slaves in Egypt. They remember God’s faithfulness. That’s the good reason to look back, for it does show us how God has led us to the present. We don’t look back with nostalgia, but with thankfulness. 

One of the questions which bothered Martin Luther and got the Reformation rolling was “How can I be saved?”  It sounds self-centered (how can I?), but the focus didn’t stay internal. Martin Luther’s study of the New Testament led him to have faith in a gracious God. The focus quickly moved from Marty’s concern with his soul to God as revealed in Jesus Christ. 

Today we’ll looking at one of the five themes (or solos) of the Reformation, “Christ Alone.” It is in Jesus Christ that we have hope; it is in him that we find salvation. And one day, before him, all will bow.[3] The others themes are faith alone, scripture alone, grace alone, and to God be the glory. 

Before reading the Scripture:

As today is Reformation Sunday, I am going to take a break from working through the Book of Mark and preach from Hebrews, on the theme of Christ Alone. 

One of the historical ways of looking at the role Christ plays in our lives and world is through his three-fold offices: Prophet, Priest and King.[4] As a prophet, Christ brings God’s word to us. As Priest, Christ stands between us and God Almighty. And as King, which is his eternal position, Jesus Christ rules over all creation. As prophet and priest, Jesus redeems the creation he rules. Today, as we consider Christ Alone, we’re look at the second office, that of the Priest. Of course, these three are co-mingled, so we can’t really consider one without the others. 

Now let me say a bit about the Book of Hebrews. As you may have remembered when I preached through this book in 2021, the best way to describe Hebrews is as a sermon (or a series of sermons).[5] These sermons were delivered by an unknown preacher addressing a tired and wore-out congregation. 

Many of those who listened or read this sermon wondered if following Jesus was worth it. Some of you may wonder the same thing. Perhaps, they think, they should go back to their former ways, as Jews or Pagans. Hebrews encourages the congregation to remain faithful and in doing so provides the most complex understanding of the nature of Christ. Who is this man and what does he have to do with us? Well, when we read Hebrews, we understand and are called to keep the faith and to trust in Jesus Christ, who came to bring us life.

 Read Hebrews 4:14-5:10 

The Hunger Games is set in a post-apocalyptic North America, in a dark future. (How many of you have seen the movie? Read the book?) 

Most people in this dystopian world live in fear and without hope. But those who reside in the capitol, live in luxury. Those in the twelve districts suffer and toil, making a rich life possible for those in those in power. Each year, there is a gladiator-like contest where twelve teenagers get to fight to the death in a televised reality program. Only one will survive and this one will live out their lives in luxury. The cruelty of this event serves as entertainment for those in the capitol. It also serves as a reminder to those in the districts of the capitol’s power and of their need to toe the line.

The movie begins with the selection of the participants for the 74thannual Hunger Games. Everyone listens as the names are called. There are shrieks and tears in District 12 when Primrose Everdeen, a sweet young child barely old enough to participate in the lottery, is chosen. But then there’s a cry from the crowd and her older sister, Katniss, who’s 16, steps forward and volunteers in her place. Katniss stands between the officials and her sister. She is a mediator, offering her own life to save her sister.[6]

In ancient Israel, at the temple, the high priest was the mediator. Just as Katniss stood between her sister and the soldiers of the capitol, the high priest stood between the people and God. It was too dangerous for an ordinary individual to go before God. It was risky enough for the high priest, who only stepped into the Holy of Holies once a year to bring forth the sin offerings of the people. But the priest took the risk to benefit the people.  

We have a great high priest, the author of Hebrews proclaims, Jesus Christ! Jesus has benefits as high priest that others did not have. He came from heaven and is the Son of God. However, he is also able to relate to us. Not only is he from heaven, but he has also lived as we live. He has experienced temptation. He knows the trials and tribulations (as well as the joy) of life on earth. 

When we bring our concerns to Christ, he understands. He’s not aloof. Jesus is not a leader who lives locked behind walls and gates with protection all around to keep people away. He’s not like the most wonderful Wizard of Oz hiding behind a façade. 

Jesus is like Katniss, who grew up in District 12 and knows the hardships of the people. The author of Hebrews wants us to understand two things: Jesus not only mediates our sins, but he can also relate to us and to our need.

The ending of the 4th chapter is a call for us to take our burdens to the high priest in prayer. To approach his throne of grace with boldness!  For us, this might not seem a big deal. But it is.

As one Biblical scholar sarcastically noted, contemporary Christians often “engage in prayer with all the casual nonchalance of ordering at a fast-food restaurant. ‘God, I would like this and that,’” we say, as if we had every right to speak to God in this manner. Furthermore, we say it “as if God had an obligation to fill the order.” “But true prayer is prefaced by awe.”[7]  Christians and Jews in the first century knew this. God is holy and dangerous. Jesus came to provide a safe access to God.

Jesus Christ is a high priest who came from heaven; this elevates him above all other high priest. So, there is reason for awe, yet Jesus is also approachable because he came down to our level.

As our passage moves into the 5th Chapter of Hebrews, we are given a job description of the High Priest and evidence that Jesus not only meets but exceeds the requirement. The high priest is chosen from mortals (Jesus was born of Mary). He can deal with the people’s wayward ways (although Jesus wasn’t sinful, he didn’t mind hanging out with those considered sinful). Finally, he must be called by God (again Jesus exceeds in this category). Jesus, who did not brag about being a high priest, had been chosen by God. The writer of Hebrews refers to a mysterious person in the Old Testament, a priest in whom Abraham met, Melchizedek.[8] Jesus is such a priest, an eternal priest. 

Starting in verse 7, we’re reminded of Jesus’ life, and how he prayed when he was on earth. On earth, he was submissive to God his Father, through whom he was made perfect and became the source of Salvation. So not only is Christ the priest, the one standing between us and God, he is also the sacrifice. He is the Lamb of God.[9] He pays the price for our sin and brings us back into relationship with God the Father.[10]  In other words, he’s the one who will, when our life on this earth is all over and done with, usher us into a homecoming unlike one we’ve ever known.  

When the Reformers shouted, “Christ Alone,” they were saying that there was no one else they trusted to stand between them and God. This is why most Protestant Churches did away with priestly offices. We have pastors and preachers and teachers. Our role is to point to Jesus Christ, the one who is the great high priest. Put your trust in him—approach his throne of grace with boldness—for in Christ alone we find salvation.  Let us pray:

Almighty God, we bow and shield our eyes for you are too awesome.  We thank you for coming as Jesus, for coming in a way we can understand and relate. Accept us as his followers and guide us as we strive to keep up with him as he leads us home to you.  Amen.  

[1] I preached this sermon first at Skidaway Island Presbyterian Church in October 2017, as part of a five part series on the “Solas” of the Reformation. 

[2] Genesis 19:26, Luke 9:62.  See M. Craig Barnes, Searching for Home: Spirituality for Restless Souls (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2003), 111.

[3] Romans 14:11, Philippians 2:10.

[4] See Westminster Larger Catechism, Questions 43-45. 

[5] For a different sermon on this passage, see https://fromarockyhillside.com/2021/01/31/jesus-the-high-priest/  

[6] My appreciation to Stan Mast for the idea of using “The Hunger Games” as an illustration.  See https://cepreaching.org/commentary/2015-10-05/hebrews-411-16/

[7] Long, 64.

[8] Genesis 14:17ff.  See also Psalm 110:4.

[9] See Revelation 5. 

[10] John 14:6..

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With God, All Things are Possible

Title slide with photos of Mayberry and Bluemont Churches

Jeff Garrison
Mayberry and Bluemont Churches
Mark 10:17-31
October 20, 2024

“With God, All Things are Possible.” Sermon recorded at Mayberry on Friday, October 18, 2024


At the beginning of worship:

One of my favorite C. S. Lewis books, which I have spoken about before, is The Great Divorce.[1] This isn’t a divorce between a man and woman, such as what Jesus discussed early in the 10thchapter of Mark.[2] Lewis divorces heaven and hell. In the 18thCentury, William Blake wrote the epic poem, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. Two centuries later, Lewis decided a divorce was in order. 

In the book, hell is a gray drab place. But from hell, there is a bus that takes the residents up above the clouds to the outskirts of heaven. And those who travel on the bus are free to make their way on to the glorious eternal city. But they must leave everything behind as they are clothed properly for heaven. In Lewis’ allegory, most of those who get to where they can see heaven are like the rich man in our gospel story today. They just can’t do it. The blinding light of glory reveals their hollowness. They want to hold on to what they have, including their self-esteem and dreams, grudges and hatred. If we want to follow Jesus, we must realize he places a demand on our entire lives.

Before the reading of scripture:

As I pointed out a few weeks ago, Jesus and the disciples are now on a journey to Jerusalem. And we know what will happen there. But there are still times for ministry, which often happens along the road, as we see in today’s passage. 

One of these times for ministry is a man often referred to as the rich young ruler. Mark only tells us he’s a man of wealth. Matthew tells us he’s young and Luke identifies him as a ruler.[3] Let’s hear the passage.

Read Mark 10:17-31

We like being in control. We want to manage everything, even our salvation. Yet, I suggest, that’s a dangerous idea. The Presbyterian and Reformed concept of election (or predestination) acknowledges not only God’s sovereignty, but that it’s much better to let God be in charge. We tend to screw things up. 

In our text, a man approaches Jesus. The man shows reverence toward Jesus, calling him “Good Teacher,” and asking what’s required for eternal life. At first, Jesus seems to play with the man. 

“Why do you call me good?” Jesus asks. In the first century, those who were serious about the commandments only reserved the adjective “Good” or “Great” for God, not for individuals.[4] And while Mark makes this case that Jesus is God, this hasn’t been revealed to this man.[5]

Jesus then recalls the commandments which have to do with our relationships with others: don’t murder, commit adultery, steal, lie, or cheat, and honor your parents.

And the man, without irony, readily admits he has obeyed these commandments since his youth. I say without irony because Jesus appears to accept his answer as the truth, and he loves the man. He wants the man as a disciple. Let’s have a baker’s dozen, 13 disciples. 

But there’s just one more thing Jesus says he needs to do… sell everything and follow him. 

I don’t know why Jesus didn’t ask him to double or even triple his tithe. Well, I do know the reason, but think how much his doubling his tithe would increase the pot of money available to the disciples for mission. But Jesus doesn’t want a fraction of us. Jesus wants our total devotion, and the man couldn’t do it. There was something else he loved more.

Reading behind the text, we can see how this rich man essentially asks, “how much more do I need to do.” In other words, he asks, “What’s the minimum for me to get into heaven?” He obeys the commandments out of self-interest, not the love of God.[6] That’s his problem. He looks out for himself. Even his love for God has to do with what is good for him.

Augustine of Hippo, the great theologian of the early church, suggested we either first love God or ourselves.[7] Obviously, this man loved himself. It’s our love of God which allows us to properly love ourselves and others.

The last we hear from the man are his footsteps as he sulks away with a heavy heart. A very rich man, he just couldn’t do what Jesus asked. 

Jesus turns to the disciples who have witnessed this encounter. He asks them twice if they understand how difficult it is to get into the kingdom of God… Eyes opened wide in response. They stand aghast, desiring reassurance, not barriers. 

Jesus then tells the infamous camel and the eye of a needle parable.

From what we know, none of the disciples were rich. But maybe they saw riches as a sign of God’s favor. Unfortunately, there are still some people like that today, proclaiming a prosperity gospel. But this story undercuts the idea that wealth equals God’s favor. 

What does this story mean to us? Can I get into heaven a little easier by not being too rich? Like maybe for a middle-class person, it’d be like a dog or cat getting through the eye of the needle.  

It shouldn’t take us long to conclude, we don’t stand a chance. That’s the point Jesus drives at. Eternal life isn’t anything we can do on our own.[8] So they ask, “Who has a chance for salvation?”

Jesus agrees that if we try to obtain salvation on our own, we’ll fail. But with God, everything is possible. 

Peter then reminds Jesus that he and the others have bet all they had on Jesus. 

Finally, Peter finds reassurance. Jesus says they’ll get it all back, many times more. But even here, Jesus doesn’t promise pie-in-the-sky. For he also acknowledges they’ll also be persecutions. This world in which we follow Jesus is not a utopia.[9] But the “bonus” at the end is the kingdom, eternal life. 

Jesus concludes this section with a reminder of how God’s economy works. This is a phrase we hear over and over in the synoptic gospels.[10] Many who are great, who are on the top in this world will end up last. And those on the bottom will be first. Do you want to be first or last now or later? It’s a paradox. 

Now, I want to go back to this camel going through an eye of a needle. I have vague memories of discussing this parable in a Junior High Sunday School class a few years ago. And I think we got it wrong. We discussed how molecules and atoms could be broken apart, slid through the needles’ eye, and reassembled. Obviously, we’d seen too much Star Trek. We were too serious to figure out how it was possible to get that camel through the eye as if our salvation depended on it. It doesn’t. 

What Jesus says is that trying to earn our own salvation is like a camel trying to get through the eye of a needle, not that we or God must get the camel through to obtain salvation. 

This is an example of Jesus using hyperbole for humor while making a serious point.[11] One way to make a joke is to take an idea and blow it out of portion. That’s what Jesus does here, as he drives home the idea of our dependence upon God. 

Just try to image how silly this word picture looks—a camel, one of the larger animals in that part of the world, compared to such a minute opening, one I’d have to put on my glasses to see. This is funny, in a “Far Side” kind of fashion. You probably never considered The Far Side as a source of theology, have you? You should. 

Sadly, instead of seeing humor in the parable, people look for loopholes. It’s been going on for a long time. Older texts speak of rope instead of camel. Obviously, the scribes could accept the absurdity. But you can’t thread a rope through a needle’s eye. And then there are those who, instead of a needle, point to a camel’s gate in Jerusalem. This was the gate where the beasts had to get on their knees to pass through. There’s just one problem. In Jesus’ day, there wasn’t a “Camel’s Gate” in Jerusalem. That gate came about roughly 900 years later.[12]

Consider the rich man of our story as an example. He can be any of us. Even the poor cling to our old dying world, to what they have, and are not willing to let go.[13] Just think about those who ignore warnings to get out of the way from a hurricane because they want to protect their stuff. 

In this passage, Jesus reminds us that the call to discipleship, which I hope you all answer, requires priority over all other allegiances. We must shed our old baggage. Yes, wealth is a danger, but only one of many dangers. Anything we place between us and God is spiritually dangerous. 

It’s not by chance that this story comes on the heels of Jesus telling the disciples they must come to the kingdom like a child. Children are totally dependent on their parents, on adults. We must trust Jesus just as a child trusts his or her parents. 

Think about children and how they laugh. They laugh at the silliest of things. We adults think we must be more serious. I wonder if, when Jesus said that if we want to enter the kingdom of God we must come like a child, he meant that we must come laughing at his joke like a child?[14] The great mid-20th Century Theologian Karl Barth suggests that “laughter is the closest thing to the grace of God.”[15] It’s something to ponder. 

So don’t worry about threading that needle. Instead, place your trust in God’s hands and follow his Son. This is the message of the church and the reason this congregation was established, 100 years ago. Things change, but our message remains the same. With God, all things are possible. It’s our job to continue to proclaim it. Amen

[1] C. S. Lewis, The Great Divorce (1945). 

[2] Mark 10:1-13. See https://fromarockyhillside.com/2024/10/06/jesus-and-divorce/   

[3] Matthew 19:16 and Luke 18:18. 

[4] James R. Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2002), 310.

[5] Mark’s early miracles from healing, raising the dead, controlling the weather, and driving out demons, along with his forgiving of sins,  builds to where an observer must acknowledge only God can do these things. 

[6] Morna D. Hooker, The Gospel According to Saint Mark (1991, Hendrickson Publishing, 1997), 242

[7] Han-Lven Kantzer Komile, “The Augustine Insights on the Law of Double Love” a lecture at the Theology Matter’s Conference, Providence Presbyterian Church, October 9, 2024. 

[8] Jesus challenges a false sense of security here.  See William L. Lane, The New International Commentary on the New Testament:  Gospel of Mark (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1971), 369.

[9] Edwards, 316.

[10] See also Matthew 19:30; 20:16; Luke 13:30. It is also found in the Epistle of Barnabas and the Gospel of Thomas. See Edwards, 217, n42. 

[11] Hooker, 243

[12] Edwards, 314.  The idea of a camel’s gate appears to have come about in the 9th Century.  

[13] Douglas R. A. Hare, Westminster Bible Companion: Mark (Louisville, KY: WJKP, 1996), 126.

[14] See Mark 10:14.  See also Matthew 19:14 and Luke 18:16.

[15] https://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/practices/features/view/20120

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Women Making a Difference: Two Memoirs

Title slide with photos of books reviewed

These two books provide examples of women making a difference in a changing world.  If interested in such books, check out a recent post in which I reviewed Beth Moore’s memoir, All My Knotted Up Life. 

Stephanie Stuckey, Unstuck: Rebirth of an American Icon 

Cover shot of "Unstuck"

(Dallas, TX: Matt Holt Books, 2024), 220 pages, some photos.  

Stuckey’s used to dot the highways of America, especially in the Southeast. As a kid, I remember passing them as we drove to Baltimore for my father’s company annual summer picnic. And then there were the long road trips we took to St. Louis and to Atlanta, passing Stuckey’s at many of the interstate exits. Of course, we seldom stopped. Instead, we  ate peanut butter or bologna sandwiches made from the cooler in the trailer my father pulled. But Stuckey’s, like Howard Johnson’s, was an icon of the road trip. 

I picked up this book after following Stephanie Stuckey on Twitter, a connection I made through a pecan farmerfrom Georgia. Her post focused on her road trips as she strove to rebuilt Stuckey’s, her family business. I have to admit a bit of envy as she able to spend a lot of time traveling and, like me, enjoys the backroads. 

After years of working as an attorney and a Democratic State Legislator in Georgia, Stephanie Stuckey decides to save her family’s business. Her grandfather had started Stuckey’s in the 1930s, with a $50 loan from his mother. The nation was in a depression, but “Big Daddy” went to work buying pecans from local farmers and selling them along with candies his wife made from the nut. He set up shop along the highways which ran to Florida.  World War II could have been a disaster with the decline in travel and rationing of gas and sugar, but he continued. He served truckers and soldiers. When the war was over and America returned to the roads, his business grew. Toward the end of his life, he sold the company for a fortune. 

Stuckey’s father, having learned from working at Stuckey’s, made his own mark on the travel scene. He started a company that established Dairy Queens along the interstates of America. He also spent a decade in congress, and Stuckey grew up in Washington, DC, traveling in the family’s station wagon back and forth to Georgia. Now in her 50s, having served as an attorney and running nonprofits, Stephanie Stuckey brought back the company which bears her family’s name. 

This book is more than just the story of Stuckey attempting to resurrect her family’s business. She provides a history of the company and her family’s involvement within the business. As a Southerner, she also deals with the issues of race, acknowledging the help her grandfather received from African Americans. While Stuckey’s was a southern business, it was never segregated. Stuckey’s even appeared in the “Green Books,” which told Black travelers safe places to eat and buy gas as they traveled across the Jim Crow South.  

This is a delightful read of a brave woman setting her own path in the world. 

Clare Frank, Burnt: A Memoir of Fighting Fire 

(Audible 2024) 11 hours and 43 minutes, narrated by the author.

I always shop the 2-for-1 sales on Audible. Generally, there is at least one book I’ve been wanting to read, and I will have to shop around for the second (free) book. That’s how I came across this book by Clare Frank. She’s the first (and so far, only) woman to serve as Chief of Cal Fire, the largest firefighting organization in the nation. Cal Fire handles large wildfires as well as providing fire protection in more urban parts of the state. 

Frank followed her brother into the fire service. She was only 17! Emancipated from her parents, she left her birthday blank on her application since the minimum age was 18. After doing well in her training, they offered her a seasonal position. From there, she rose up the ranks. Starting in 1982, just as women were beginning to become firefighters, she retired without ever having served under another woman. 

Her track is a little unusual. While working as a firefighter, she pieces together course work to obtain an associate degree. It takes her a longtime to finish her bachelor’s degree because of being deployed around the state. But she does. She also obtains a law degree, which becomes easier as she has infection in her feet after a fire along the Mexican border. She had to take a five-year break from firefighting because she couldn’t wear boots. When her feet recover, she resumes her career. With a law degree, she rises even higher in the ranks, leading the fight to recoup cost from utilities and others who have caused fires. 


The fire along the Mexican border is interesting. It’s the first time that the fire map only half covers the fire, as it was burning on both sides of the border. The fire also requires cooperation with the border patrol. Sadly, there were deaths within the fire of those trying to illegally enter the United States. 

I appreciated how Frank broke up her story. She jumps back and forth, from her last 22 months as chief of Fire Cal to her beginnings. This kept the book from being just a linear line of stories and built anticipation as she advanced through the ranks. Along the way, we learn about the tradition and the requirements of fire service. She tells of a few harrowing experiences, such a large multi-vehicle accident which killed several people and left one woman blind. This is one of the scenes she speaks of being engraved in her memory and she wonders about it being the last thing the woman saw before her world became blind. 

The stress which came from the horror sometimes experienced by first responders takes a toll on the relationships among firefighters. Many of the firefighters have gone through multiple divorces. The departments are not above scandal. She recalls wearing her dress uniform too many times at funerals for fellow firefighters. The last being a pilot of an air tanker which crashed around Yosemite a few months before she retired. Running such a large organization, she acknowledges that she had never met the pilot. Others she didn’t know also bothered her, such as the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots killed on a fire in Arizona. This was a bit personal for me as one of those firefighters was a member of my church’s youth group when I was in Utah. 

While Frank mostly focuses on her work in firefighting, she also provides background to her personal life, from growing up, to her husband and dogs. This helped humanize her for in much of the book she came across as a “bad ass” who got things done.  But there are things left out such as how she became interested in writing, which she speaks of perusing in retirement. Her talent with words comes through in this book. 

Her story within the book ends with her and her husband retiring to Genoa, Nevada, where they experience the other side of the fire as they had to evacuate their new home. Thankfully, they didn’t lose their home, but the experience gives her the opportunity to close with a warning about how fire, as a part of nature, will continue to be a challenge. 

I enjoyed this book and recommended it. 

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Jesus and divorce

Title slide showing Mayberry and Bluemont Churches in the fall

Jeff Garrison
Mayberry and Bluemont Churches
October 6, 2024
Mark 10:1-16

Sermon recorded at Bluemont on Friday, October 4, 2024

At the beginning of worship: 

We’ll begin this morning with an exercise. If able, stand up. I want you to greet those around you like this: “Good morning. My name is ________.  I’m a sinner. I’m a part of the problem. Thankfully, Jesus loves me and offers grace and forgiveness.” 

I had you do this exercise of admitting you’re a sinner and a part of the problem for a reason. It’s not to make you feel guilty, but to prepare you for the sermon. There are probably some of you here who don’t want to hear what I have to say. Because of my past, I’m not excited about preaching this sermon. But I committed myself to preaching through Mark’s gospel and here we are…  


Also, one thing setting Christianity apart from other faiths is our admittance that we’re a part of the problem. Only Jesus is sinless. The rest of us fall short, but because God is gracious, we have hope.[1] Ours is a faith of hope, not of casting blame on others for the problems in our lives and world. 

Before reading the Scripture:

There are a couple of things happening in the opening of Mark 10, which we’ll explore today. First, Jesus begins his journey toward Jerusalem. We’ve seen over the past few weeks Jesus twice tell the disciples that he’s heading to Jerusalem to die and to be raised from the dead.[2] The disciples don’t understand and are not overly receptive to what Jesus says.  

Next, Jesus teaches them about relationships. In verses 3 through 15, Jesus reminds us marriage is a blessing from God, and lifts children as a gift from God and worthy of his and our attention.   

Read Mark 10:1-16

Whenever someone tries to trick Jesus, we know to watch out. Jesus is quick and able to turn the table on those who use clever questions to discredit him. This happens here. Asking Jesus if it is lawful is essentially asking him if it is Biblical. The law was found in the Torah, in the opening books of our Old Testament.[3]

Divorce is addressed in the 24th chapter of Deuteronomy. The text speaks of a man giving his wife a certificate of divorce “because she does not please him because he has found something objectionable about her.” Obviously, at this time, there were no considerations given to women filing for divorce, only men. Since men taught the Torah, the law, it’s regrettable but understandable they interpreted things favorable to them. 

In Jesus’ day, there were several rabbinical schools of thought concerning marriage and divorce. Let me introduce three:

  1. The disciples of Shammai maintained a strict interpretation of the divorce law, emphasizing the objectionable clause and suggesting divorce could only be granted under the most serious circumstances, generally adultery. I think Jesus’ interpretation falls closest to this camp. 
  • A second interpretation was presented by Rabbi Hillel, one of the leading rabbis during the years right before Jesus’ coming. His followers were more liberal in their interpretation; emphasizing the idea of a woman not pleasing the man was reason enough for divorce. They suggested even minor indiscretions such as burning dinner could be grounds. Obviously, their interpretation failed to provide protection for a woman. But it got even worse.  
  • The followers of Rabbi Akibe suggested any reason could be used for a divorce, including finding a more attractive wife. In his thought, the woman doesn’t have to be at fault at all. The question asked by the Pharisees falls into this last interpretation of the law, “can a man divorce his wife for any reason.”[4]

Jesus asks them what Moses said and they quote from Deuteronomy 24: 1. Interestingly, Jesus exposes that this law doesn’t reflect God’s intention. Instead, God provided this law because of hardened hearts. 

Then Jesus recalls the account of creation from Genesis. There, the man and woman are created in the image of God as “male and female.”[5] Jesus affirms the God’s intention within God’s good creation. Men and women have been created to support of one another. 

Then Jesus moves to the second chapter of Genesis. There, marriage is interpreted in this manner, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife the two shall become one flesh.”[6] This is one place where I like the older translations better. The King James Version here reads that the man shall “cleave” to his wife. Cleaving implies an embrace or yoking together of two into one. Husband and wife work together as a team for common goals and ideals, both taking on a load and both encouraging the other. 

Finally, Jesus, tells his audience in verse 9, they must be careful not to separate what God has brought together.  

As we have seen before in Mark’s gospel, once Jesus and the disciples are back in the house where they were staying, the disciples ask for clarification.[7] Jesus interprets divorce and remarriage as adultery, whether done by the man or woman. In other words, divorce goes against God’s intention in creation. We should also remember that in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus equates lust with adultery of the heart, which forces most all of us to acknowledge our sinfulness and to depend upon God’s mercy.[8]

Afterwards, it appears Jesus and the disciples are back outside with the crowd, with people bringing children to Jesus. The disciples don’t like this. Remember how I told you a few weeks ago, children in the first century didn’t have the same status as today. Jesus, however, elevates children and encouraged the disciples to welcome them, for in doing so they welcome him and the one who sent him.[9]

It doesn’t appear the disciples learned their lesson about what Jesus taught there, for now they stop people from bringing their children to Jesus. Perhaps the disciples rationalize their decision on the ongoing “adult conversation” on divorce. Jesus, however, intervenes and demands the children be invited in, reminding them one more time that the kingdom belongs to the likes of them, the children.

Children, as an example of what it takes to be received into the kingdom is the perfect wrap up to the divorce question. Children are totally dependent on others, just as we are totally dependent on Jesus.

In this passage, we see that the Pharisees want Jesus to draw a line, to interpret the law in a strict manner. Jesus responds first by recalling God’s intention for marriage. He recalls God’s grand plan as an ideal. The Pharisees, whose minds are so caught up in the letter and interpretation of the law, are unable to see what our Savior says. 

So, what is Jesus’ position on divorce? It’s safe to say, he doesn’t like it. However, as we know, marriages often end in divorce. If Jesus were here in person right now, would he be throwing stones?[10] I don’t think so. I think he’d be compassionate yet broken hearted at the way we treat relationships.

However, I also think he would be totally against the idea that men should control women as property, as was the case in the first century. With his teachings on divorce, Jesus raises the position of women for the time. He abolishes the double standard which existed and makes a case against polygamy.[11]

You know, happy marriages don’t often make the headlines.” We hear more about unhappy marriages, but at the same time we all know of marriages which are solid. Such examples provide an example for us. The key is commitment; to be committed and devoted to one’s spouse. Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s always going to be easy. 

Another tidbit of wisdom I’ve learned is that if there are never any struggles within a marriage, there’s probably just a lot of indifference…” It’s the commitment which helps us move beyond the struggles.

This passage shows us our need of God’s grace. According to Jesus, divorce and remarriage is a sin. But then, all of us have sinned and we will all sin again. Being divorced isn’t going to bar us from salvation, but it also doesn’t mean we can take divorce lightly. It’s a serious decision, for marriage is from God and who are we, mere mortals, to break such a bond? Yet, if we have broken such bonds, we can still rejoice for redemption available for those who are willing to confess their sinfulness and depend upon the mercy of Jesus Christ.

In this passage, we learn God desires for us to be in relationships. Marriage is a holy relationship, in which God plays a role by bringing together the couple. And children, who are also God’s blessings to parents, are precious to the community. They show us how we should approach our faith. 

In closing, let me quote from Doug Hare, one of my professors, who addresses Jesus’ intention for marriage this way: 

With Jesus, we affirm the Creator’s intention that marriage remains a lifelong commitment despite its inevitable frustrations. We acknowledge that in a sinful world this ideal, despite our prayers for grace, may often fail to attain. The ideal remains our lodestar.[12]   

Lifelong companionship of one man and one woman is God’s plan for us. That’s our loadstar, the ideal to which we’re to strive. However, just because we fail doesn’t mean we’re doomed. For all our life is covered by our Savior compassion. Amen.

[1] Romans 3:21-25. 

[2] Mark 8:31-32 and Mark 9:30-32. See https://fromarockyhillside.com/2024/08/25/who-do-you-say-that-i-am/ and https://fromarockyhillside.com/2024/09/22/welcoming-the-vulnerable/

[3] Frederick Dale Bruner, The Churchbook: Matthew 13-28 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004), 249.

[4] This breakdown on views of divorce in 1st Century Palestine comes from Bruner, 249-250.

[5] Genesis 1:26-27.

[6] Genesis 2:24

[7] See Mark 4:10-11, 7:24, 9:28-29 and 33-35..

[8] Matthew 5:27-28

[9][9] Mark 9:37.  See https://fromarockyhillside.com/2024/09/22/welcoming-the-vulnerable/

[10] Death was the punishment for divorce and was carried out by stoning, but it appears to have been seldom carried out. See Leviticus 20:1, John 8ff, 2 Samuel 11ff. 

[11] Douglas R. A. Hare: Westminster Bible Commentary: Mark (Louisville, KY: WJKP, 1996), 120. 

[12]  Douglas R. A. Hare, Matthew: Interpretation, a Biblical Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1992), 223.

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Difficult Sayings of Jesus

Title slide with photo of two rock churches

I am supposed to be on vacation. The plan was to be in Pittsburgh, spending time at the Heinz museum, botanical gardens, the trolley museum in Washington, PA, Frank Lloyd Wright’s “Falling Waters,” and the Flight 93 monument. Hurricane Helene wasn’t in the plan. But that all changed. My replacement preacher for the morning lives along the New River, which is at a near record flood. She can’t leave her house and called me on Friday.

The storm changed tracks. We had high wind and lots of rain and the power was out for 36 hours, just coming back on yesterday evening. Many people are still without power. Thankfully, we’re all a lot better than those along the coast and in Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee. Our prayers go out for them.

So much for traveling. I sent word to JoAnn (the preacher who now lives on an inaccessible island), that I would pull out an old sermon and dust it off, since we weren’t going anywhere anyway… I first preached this sermon at First Presbyterian Church in Hastings, MI in 2006. Because of power failures, I do not have a video of the sermon, so you’ll just have to read it!

Jeff Garrison
Mayberry and Bluemont Churches
September 29, 2024
Mark 9:38-50

Comments at the beginning of worship:

Philip Gulley, a Quaker pastor, has a delightful book titled Front Porch Tales. In one story, tells about Doc Foster, a man in the town in which he was raised. Doc wasn’t a physician. He was the trash collector and the only black man in Gulley’s hometown.  

For a dollar a week, he pulled up at our curb in his pickup truck, climbed out, threw our trash in the back, and drove away.  If we forgot to set our trash out, he’d drive back to our barn and get it himself.  When he had a truck full, he’d drive out to the town dump on Twin Bridges Road, unload, wet his finger, and put it in the air; if the wind wasn’t blowing toward town, he’d commence to burning…  

Gulley goes on to tell of other “good deeds” done by Doc Foster such as helping college kids with their tuition so that there could be more teachers in the community.  He sums up Doc’s work this way:

When out-of-town visitors would compliment us on our town’s cleanliness, we would swell with pride as if we ourselves had swept up the trash the dogs had scattered. Doc did what all good people do—made the rest of us look better than we really were.[1]

I like Gulley’s definition of a good person, one who makes everyone else look better. That’s what we as Christians are to be about. 

Comments before reading the Scriptures:

We’re going to be looking at a couple of Jesus’ more difficult sayings this morning as we examine Mark 9:38-50.  Jesus has just intervened into the disciples’ dispute over just who was going to be greatest; remember Jesus was always saying that if they wanted to be great, they’d have to first become a servant. Then, holding a child, he tells them that in welcoming a child, they welcome him. It’s a message the disciples obviously have a hard time grasping, as we’ll see by what happens next.  

This is a difficult passage. It is the only passage in Mark’s gospel where Jesus mentions hellfire.[2] It’s important to note that hell isn’t for the unbeliever but the one who causes another to stumble. The passage appears to contain a patchwork of sayings, but the theme of the passage centers around humility and suffering demonstrated by word and deed.[3]

Read Mark 9:38-50

Twenty years ago, you may remember the shocking news out of Canyonlands National Park in Utah. A young solo hiker, Aron Ralston, whose arm had been trapped by a fallen boulder, saved himself by amputating his arm with his own pocketknife. He’d spent five days trapped in a three-foot slot canyon. With no hope of rescue and having run out of water; he felt he had no other option. Aron applied a tourniquet to this arm and performed the act. Then, with his good arm rigged up anchors and fixed a rope, he rappelled to the bottom of the canyon and hiked out. 

Aron was not the first to perform such drastic measures to survive. In 1993 a fisherman in Colorado cut off his leg at the knee after being trapped by two large boulders while fishing alone in a remote canyon stream. Yelling for hours, no one heard his cries. With the weather deteriorating, he used hemostats from his fishing kit. He closed the severed arteries and veins and crawled half a mile back to his truck.[4]  

Such incidents may cause us to wonder if we could do the same thing if in similar circumstances. Not long after Aron’s self-amputation, I was out visiting in Utah and went on an overnight backpack with Bruce, a friend through Ashdown Gorge Wilderness. My friend, an internal medicine physician, brought the topic up. Both of us have done a fair amount of solo hiking. “I don’t think I could do it,” Bruce said. I agreed, but then we both acknowledged such a position required drastic action. If you want to live, there may be no other choice.

And maybe that’s what Jesus is saying here. Sin, which leads to death, requires drastic action. Now I don’t think he means that we’re to cut off our hands or pluck out our eyes. After all, if you use such logic, that will mean that if your sin begins as a thought in your head, you should chop it off or at least sign up for a lobotomy. Obviously, Jesus’ intention isn’t to create a bunch of handicapped, self-mutilated Christians. That goes against Scripture’s teachings that our body is a temple in which we’re to invite God to dwell.[5]

Instead of taking this passage literally, we should figure out Jesus’ intention and what he’s trying to say.

Jesus uses outrageous examples to get his disciples attention and to force them to deal with their own sin and shortcomings. If we look at this passage, we’ll see Jesus extending charity to those considered “outsiders.” At the same time, he places a heavier burden on the “inside.”   Another way of getting at this comes from another of Jesus’ saying. Take the log out of your own eyes before you try to get a speck out of someone’s else’s.[6] Let me explain.

Our passage starts with the disciples trying to look good.  “Jesus,” John says, “we stopped this guy from using your name to expel demons. We knew he wasn’t one of us and he shouldn’t be doing that.” 

The disciples expect a pat on the back from Jesus. “Well done good and faithful servants,” they hope to hear, “you’ve saved my good name.” But that’s not what they hear. Instead, Jesus tells them not to stop the guy. The rationalization is that someone who does good in his name ain’t likely to start badmouthing him. “He’s an ally,” Jesus essentially says.

Then Jesus gives two examples. If someone gives you a cup of water in my name, you’ll know they’re on our side and that God will notice their good deed. But if you give a hard time to one of these believers, or as the more familiar translation has it, “if you put a stumbling block in front of a little one who believes in me,” it’d be better that a millstone be fashioned to your neck, and you be thrown into the sea. Such a dreadful experience might have been on the disciples’ minds, for we know that the Romans used millstones to drown their enemies.[7]

The resulting consequences of these two actions seem out of portion.  A cup of water gets a nod from God while tripping someone up (we’re not told that they fall, we’re just told that they are tripped) is so serious that we’d be better off dead.  Again, Jesus extends charity to those outside his inner circle while setting a tougher standard for those close to him.

Then Jesus gives a series of hyperbolic demands. These commands are outrageous. They’re given not as an absolute requirement, but to make a point that we need to be concerned with our sin. “If your hand or foot causes you trouble, cut it off.  If your eye distracts you, pluck it out.”  

In other words, sin requires serious attention. Don’t be worrying about who’s in and who’s out, Jesus says.  Don’t spend all your time worrying about the sins of others. Worry about yourself and what you can do to avoid sin. We can only change ourselves, we can’t change other folks, a lesson those of us who are married should have all learned by now, but the lesson doesn’t seem to sink in.  

Then Jesus closes this section reminding us that everyone will be going through the “refiner’s fire.” Take actions to preserve yourself and, interestingly, as verse 50 ends, “Preserve the peace.” Preserve yourself and preserve peace! And interesting way to end this set of troubling teachings, don’t you think?

Salt in the ancient world was one of the few preservatives available. Fire, on the other hand, as used by the prophets, purifies. The impurities burn away. Jesus says that we’ll be preserved, but our impurities (or sin) will be burned away. Jesus may have thought back on the temple sacrifice which required both salt and fire. Applying this to the disciples, the two symbolize the trials and cost of discipleship. [8]

There are two sides to this passage and if we consider both, we see that Jesus urges his followers to go easy on others and to be hard on ourselves. If we do that, we’ll avoid being hypocritical, a problem that all who strive to be religious are infected with at one point or another in our spiritual development. 

Let’s face it, churches must deal with hypocrisy. Sadly, you find it in our beloved rock churches. And every other church I know faces it. The problem extends, I believe, across the religious spectrum. When someone comes up with examples of hypocrisy in another church or even another religion, sometimes I want to laugh and ask, “Are we any better?”  

If we’re harder on ourselves than on others, we’ll less likely take a hypocritical stance. Then not only will we be humble, but the church will also look more like what it’s supposed to look like. In church, people should care for one another and strive, like old Doc Foster, to make others look good. 

Karl Barth, the great Swiss theologian, had a favorite story about a horseman who got lost in a snowstorm. Spurring his horse on, they galloped across a frozen lake.  Later, in the comfort and warmth and safety of a home, he learns of his fool-hearted actions, of how he ran across thin ice. The man breaks down in horror and fright. In a way, we’re like that. Only after we’re saved do we recognize our peril.[9]   

We should know the dangers. Maybe this is why Jesus presses harder on those close to him. We should know that sin leads to death, and that we’re all called to let our sins die on the cross as we accept God’s grace and love and forgiveness. 

So, when you sit down to examine sin, go harder on yourselves than on others. But in the end, remember that we have a Savior who died that we might live. That’s the good news. Amen.

[1] Philip Gulley, Front Porch Tales (HarperSanFrancisco, 2001), 31-33.

[2] Douglas R. A. Hare, Westminster Bible Companion: Mark (Louisville, KY: WJK, 1996), 116. Hare points out that there are other passages which speak of punishment (8:38), but only here does he speak of hel. 

[3] James R. Edwards, The Gospel of Mark (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2002), 282. 

[4] Information on these two stories from http://hike.mountainzone.com/2003/news/html/030502_amputate-arm.html.

[5] 1 Corinthians 6:19

[6] Matthew 7:3-5 and Luke 6:41-42.

[7] William L. Lane, The New International Commentary on the New Testament: The Gospel of Mark (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1974), 346.

[8] Edwards, 295-6

[9] Story told by Ralph Wood in Flannery O’Connor and the Christ-haunted South (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004), 152.

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President Nixon:  High School in 1974 and a new biography 

cover of book and campaign button for Nixon

I will first share a story from the spring of my junior year of high school, followed by a review of a new religious biography of Richard Nixon. This is my last planned post till October 6. I am on vacation and will be away some from the computer. From the looks of the weather, I picked a heck of a time to take a week off!,  

John T. Hoggard High School, Spring 1974

It all came to a head in Coach Fisher’s economics class. I took my seat in the class and when he saw me, he fumed. 

“You are not allowed in my class,” he yelled, staring at me.

“I’m not leaving,” I said. 

“Yes, you are,” he said, pushing desks with students sitting in them out of the way to get to me. 

Scared, I stayed in my seat, thinking that if he physically harmed me, which he could easily do, I’d have a class of witnesses for an ensuing lawsuit.

Standing over my desk, he ordered me out into the hallway. I had spent the past two weeks sitting in the hallway, working chess puzzles in a magazine. This started when I challenged one of his diatribes about Richard Nixon. Nixon was in the news a lot in the spring of 1974. 

The day before, at the end of the class, Coach Fisher told me I would fail his class because I had missed so much of it. I told him that I better not, because he was the reason I was missing his class. The class really had nothing to do with economics. Most of the 50 minutes was spent discussing basketball and other sports. What little had to do with economics was more about consumer spending than the relationship between price and demand or an understanding of macroeconomics. Fisher was a coach, who had been given a teaching position. 

I decided it was time to end my exclusion from class, so the next morning, I returned.

After a few moments of a standoff, I told Coach Fisher that if he wanted me out of the class, we could go together to Mr. Saus’ (the principal) office. His anger grew and he started to drag my chair outside. 

“Fine,” I said. “I will go to the principal’s office,” I said, getting up. He ordered me to sit in the chair outside his door, but I walked down the hall and turned toward the office. I expected him to follow, but he didn’t.  Mr. Saus wasn’t available, but I was sent into Mr. McLaurin’s office. He was an assistant principal. I told him my story. He listened and had me remain in his office while he disappeared for a few minutes. When he came back in, he told me to go back to class, that Mr. Fisher would let me back in. 

Fisher didn’t fail me for that six-week period. I passed the class with a decent grade without having to do anything because Fisher essentially ignored me for the rest of the semester. I just sat there. I would have to wait till college to grasp economics. 

 Richard Nixon was president during the formative years of my life. I was in the sixth grade when he was elected president in 1968. At the time, Nixon, to me, seemed to be the best choice. 

I would continue to support Nixon throughout my junior high and early high school years. Why, I’m not sure. Why did I believed him when he said he didn’t do anything wrong? This belief was strong enough to encourage me to speak up for Nixon in Coach Fisher’s class, which led to our encounter.  Later, after he resigned from the Presidency the summer after the above incident, I felt embarrassed. Some of that shame remains. How could I have been so naïve? 

There were two events that happened in high school which my mom always blamed on me losing all respect for authority. And they happened about the same time. The first was a wreck.  A young woman (she was 21) turned in front of me from the left-hand lane on Shipyard Boulevard. I hit her in the front quarter panel and both cars were totaled. Thankfully, my mom was seated right next to me and saw it all. I was knocked out and sent in an ambulance to the hospital.  The young city police officer, whom my mother witnessed flirting with the other driver after the accident, charged me with following to close. From the damage to her car, that was an impossibility. Thankfully, a neighbor who was a state highway patrolman, came to our aid and helped prove my innocence.  Click here for a sermon where I share more about the wreck.

I don’t think my mother even knew about the incident in Coach Fisher’s class.

The accident in which I was wrongfully charged occurred within a year of Nixon’s resignation. Mom was right. Both probably contributed to my cynicism when dealing with authority figures.  And Coach Fisher became the icing on that cake. 

Daniel Silliman, One Lost Soul: Richard Nixon’s Search for Salvation

 (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2024), 317 pages including an index, bibliography and notes on sources. 

One Lost Soul is a religious biography of our 37th President. Silliman begins with a brief overview of Nixon’s early life, after which he jumps from one critical injunction to another to show the role religion played in Nixon’s political career. These include Nixon’s anti-communism work as a young congressman, the run with Eisenhower as Vice President and his “Checkers Prayer,” the role of religion in the 1960 election, his holding “church” in the White House, the Vietnam War, his outreach to China, the Watergate Coverup, his resignation as President, and a bit about Nixon’s life after his presidency. 

Silliman’s theme is that Nixon spent his life, from childhood, with a desire to find acceptance and love. Such desire began in his father’s grocery story but continued throughout his life. His obsession led him to work hard. He believed in the “great man” theory of history and wanted to be such a man, as seen in his reaching out to China. He had a hard time accepting God’s love or the love others. On the night before his resignation, Henry Kissinger, the Secretary of State visited with him. On Nixon’s suggestion, the two men got on their knees and prayed. Nixon cried as he asked, “What have I done?”

Kissinger shared this moment with his staff members before Nixon called him to ask that he not tell anyone that he had cried. Kissinger later asked, “Can you imagine what this man would have been had somebody loved him?” 

I had always wondered about Nixon’s background as a Quaker. I still remember a Mad Magazine from the time with a cartoon-like article about religion. When they got to the section on Quakers, one panel said something like, “There are 100,000 Quakers in the United States. The next panel said that Quakers don’t believe in war. The third panel featured Nixon saying that he was a Quaker. The final panel read, “That makes 99,999. 

Silliman points out that California Quakerism differed from the East Coast variety in several manners. In some ways, it was more like a Methodist tradition, with focus on working out one salvation. Nixon saw military activity as a way toward peace, so instead of seeking a consciousness objector status during World War 2, he joined the navy. Even during Vietnam, Nixon maintained hope the bombings would bring the North to the negotiation table. While this upset many Quakers, the decentralized structure of the denomination meant that any church disciplinary actions would have to be taken by his home church in California. While Nixon continued to claim to be a Quaker, he had not been active in the church since a child. 

As President, Nixon created White House worship services. For these, he would import ministers to preach. Interestingly, Nixon maintain total control of the service down to the hymns. The services served a political purpose as Nixon often invited those to attend as favors. These services were Protestant, but on one occasion was led by a Jewish rabbi. 

Nixon could also be impulsive. In the middle of the night during the anti-war protests, he takes his valet (and some secret service agents) to the Lincoln Memorial. There, he talks to anti-war protestors who are camping out on the steps. He asks questions of them. When they depart, he expresses his hope their opposition to the war won’t turn into hate for the country. 

Silliman points out many good things Nixon did. Certainly, his work with China stands at the top. But he also refused to play the religious card against John Kennedy in the 1960 election. While it would have probably worked at the time, he didn’t feel it appropriate. He was also deeply concerned with Civil Rights, even though for political reasons, he refused to make a public statement on Martin Luther King’s arrest during the 1960 election. In 1968, he tried to play it both ways, reaching out to Strong Thurmond and other who supported segregation. This was the beginning of the Republican “southern strategy.”   

While this is a sad and tragic story, I can’t help but to have hope that at least Nixon had a conscious that bothered him. I didn’t come away from this book thinking he was a psychopath. There were times he had empathy for others and instead of thinking too highly of himself, he doubted his own self-worth. In a way, it was his lack of self-worth that made him so desperate to win and to prove himself.

This is a good book not just for understanding Nixon, but also understanding the difficult many people have in accepting grace. 

This biography is a part of the “Library of Religious Biography” series. I have read several others in the series including Aimee Semple McPerson: Everybody’s Sister, Billy Sunday and the Redemption of Urban America, and Harriet Beecher Stowe: A Spiritual Life.

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Welcoming the vulnerable

sermon. title cover

Jeff Garrison
Bluemont and Mayberry Church
September 22, 2024
Mark 9:30-37

Sermon taped at Mayberry on Friday, September 20, 2024

At the beginning of worship: 

Ever been caught by an embarrassing question? The type that, if answered honestly, is incriminating? 

In the ninth grade, I fell asleep one afternoon. It was after lunch and was warm in a building without air conditioned. In the middle of a dream, somewhere in the twilight zone, I heard the teacher call on me. This teacher knew the tricks. She asked her question first, then called my name. When I jumped to attention it was too late. “I don’t understand what you’re asking,” I replied, reaching for a reprieve. She was on to me. “Admit it, Mr. Garrison,” she said in an accusatory voice, “You were sleeping.” Yes madam, I’m sorry.” I tried to sound contrite. 

Have you ever been there? Put on a spot. Maybe your parents asked if you completed your homework before you went out to play. Or, with the blue lights flashing, a police officer asked how fast you were going. Of your boss asked if you’ve finished a job that should have completed hours earlier. We’ve all have had embarrassing questions. And it was no different for the disciples. 

But we shouldn’t forget, there may be embarrassing questions coming at the final judgment. Will we be asked about mistreating others who we perceive as different or below us? Or, will we be asked to justify snide remarks we made or an offensive meme we’re dropped onto social media? Such behavior should call forth not just confession, but also repentance. Jesus, as we’ll see today, has a higher expectation of us. 

Before the reading of Scripture: 

In our reading today, we hear for the second time Jesus predict his death and resurrection. There are three such predictions in Mark’s gospel. All three follow a predictable pattern. As soon as Jesus makes the prediction, the disciples go off on a tangent showing their lack of understanding. At the first prediction, Peter challenges Jesus’ idea of the Messiah suffering.[1] Here, all the disciples seem complicit. In the last prediction, James and John beg for an honored place.[2]

Read Mark 9:30-37

Jesus and his disciples head south, through Galilee, toward Capernaum. Along the dusty road, Jesus again talks about his upcoming passion—his betrayal, suffering, death, and resurrection. The confused disciples don’t know what to say. 

Imagine them walking, kicking up stones. Soon they change the conversation and focus on their dreams. This was their first mistake. They’re to be following Jesus, not their own goals. 

In their dreams, they see themselves in the limelight as Jesus takes his rightful place on the throne of David. They envision riding in chariots, wonderful homecomings, and standing beside Jesus in his glory. And then it hits them… not all of them could be in seated at Jesus’ right side. There could only be one prime minister, one foreign minister, and so on. 

Or maybe they ponder who will take over when Jesus travels. Who’ll be assigned as “vice-messiah’? Who will Jesus choose as his right-hand man? Who’s done the best work and thereby earned a place of honor? The disciples seem to have included a bunch of type A personalities, guys who believe in themselves. Or at least they believe in themselves when there are no challenges. After all, all of them are a bit shaky in their faith. Here, safe on the path, an argument ensues as they each advance accolades as to why they are so good. They all want to be king of the hill, or at least right next to King Jesus on his hill.

I wonder where Jesus was during this conversation. Perhaps he was walking behind, chuckling with amusements, as adults often do when listening to kids trying to outshine each other. Or maybe he was up ahead, leading the way and could hear the disturbance behind him. Wherever he was, he waits till they reached their destination before commenting. 

Arriving at Capernaum, they entered the house. If you remember, the house in Capernaum served as a home base for Jesus. This will be his last time we’re told of him being there.[3] Also, remember how in Mark, Jesus private teachings are often inside.[4] This way, the disciples are away from the public. It’s a good trait, for they won’t be embarrassed. Jesus asks about their argument. 

Silence. No one answers. Perhaps they fear Jesus’ wrath. Jesus, however, knows the details of their argument and proceeds to teach. 

“Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all,” he begins. Sounds familiar? It should, this is one of Jesus’ most favorite lines. With slight modification it appears six times in the synoptic gospels—that’s twice each—Matthew, Mark, and Luke.[5] Repetition, like this, implies importance.  

Certainly, we all know this teaching from Jesus, yet it’s one we probably ignore because we don’t know what to do with it. After all, shouldn’t we honor those who strive to be the best and not a servant? 

Most people don’t harbor desires of being a servant. Neither did the disciples. They wanted to be great. The Twelve weren’t interested in being a servant nor becoming a martyr, even though they’ll all get the chance to serve, and several ended up dying for Jesus. 

Jesus then employs an object lesson. He calls over a kid. Holding the child in his arms, he tells the disciples they must be able to welcome a child, for in doing so they welcome him, and by doing that they welcome the one who sent Jesus, our Father in heaven.

There is a different understanding of and appreciation for children in our society than there was in the first century. Children today aren’t only loved. They often become the focal point for the parents. They’re doted on. Think about it. If you have kids, what percentage of your conversations with your spouse focuses on your children. I bet it’s significant. The adage that children are to be seen and not heard went out the window generations ago. Today, we see and hear children. But it wasn’t that way in Jesus’ day.[6]

In the first century, children had a lesser role. They were seen as property, as slaves. Paul reminds us of this in Galatians.[7] I know some of us thought we were slaves when we had to mow the lawn, but that’s beside the point. 

In another way, children were the parent’s social security system. The reason to have a mess of kids was to have someone to look after you. Another reason was the infant mortality rate. One estimate is that ½ of the children died before they reached their 16th birthday. Such a statistic discouraged parents from becoming overly attached. If you had a bunch of kids, you can’t worry too much about the sick one…

Now, Jesus’ teachings here aren’t anything new. The Hebrew Scriptures contain similar concerns. They were to take special care of the widows, orphans, and foreigners—in other worlds, those who didn’t have the means to care for themselves.[8]

Somewhere I read that one good way to judge a nation, or a group of people, is by how they treat the lowest members of their society. If they are honored and cared for, it’s probably a good place to live. On the other hand, if the poor and defenseless find themselves trampled upon, it’s a society everyone will have to watch their backs. If we evaluated our nation by such standards, what grade would we receive?

Jesus models servanthood. He informs his disciples that, like him, they must be servants in the world. We must show hospitality to all, even to children who at the time would have had no status. Yet the disciples have a hard time understanding Jesus’ message. 

In the next chapter, we’ll see that children brought to Jesus were being sent away. Our Savior doubled down, telling the disciples that if they couldn’t be like a child, they couldn’t enter the kingdom.[9] In other words, the disciples must be childlike, a humbling proposition to a society where children were not afformed much protection. 

The disciples argued over who was the greatest and we, in our own way, may argue the same. But let’s be clear, striving to be our best doesn’t upset Jesus. It’s the concern with being the greatest, as if we’re in some kind of competition with others for the position of honor. Such competition of leads to a willingness to walk over others. It’ll get us in trouble. 

Such an attitude causes us to see the world not as a gift for all to enjoy but as something solely for our own profit. The book of James tells us such desires lead to conflicts and disputes.[10] Certainly, a few people excel in such an environment. Those who do are often bullies and become steamrollers. They make few real friends. But if we set our sights on being a faithful disciple, willing to serve others, we might surprise ourselves as we rise toward the top. 

Successful businesses know this. They focus on serving their customers. The customer comes first. Christians are to be no different. We’re called by God into the church to serve God’s customers, the people of the world. There’s a lot of hurting people out there, and they need to be loved, to feel important, and to know someone cares for them. 

The last point I’d like to make this morning is that being a servant doesn’t just apply to our personal lives. It also applies to the church. When we, as a Christian community, are hospitable, caring for folks and reaching out to others, we will become more attractive to the community. Hospitality is contagious and needed in our world today.

Have you fulfilled Jesus’ calling to be a servant. It’s not too late to start. Begin now. Look around. Find someone who needs a friend. Seek out people different from you, especially those others marginalize. Try to meet them. Greet them in a manner which they feel cared for. Advocate for their needs. 

Remember, our faith is based on relationships. Because of the relationship we have with God, showing us his love through his Son, we can respond by being in relationship with others. In doing so, we share and model our Father’s love. Amen.  

[1] Mark 8:27-33.  See also https://fromarockyhillside.com/2024/08/25/who-do-you-say-that-i-am/

[2] Mark 10:32-38.

[3] After this passage, Mark doesn’t even mention Galilee until after the resurrection. James R. Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2002), 283. 

[4] Edwards, 285. 

[5] Matthew 20:26-27, 23:11-12; Mark  9:35, 10:43-44; and Luke 9:48 and 22:26. 

[6] See Edwards, 287-288. 

[7] See Galatians 4:1. 

[8] See Deuteronomy 10:17-19, 14:29, 24:19-22, and 27:19. 

[9] Mark 10:13-16.

[10] James 4:1.

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Three Book Reviews

Title cover with covers of the three books reviewed

I’m reviewing three books. One a faith memoir, another a humorous travelogue, and one a classic work that has probably influenced our society more than we can image while also being a work few can claim to have read. There’s something here for everyone

Beth Moore, All My Knotted-Up Life: A Memoir

Book cover for "All My Knotted Up Life"

(Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale, 2023), 295 pages plus 8 pages of color prints. 

Beth Moore has been on my radar for at least twenty years. Women groups at churches I’ve served have used her Bible Study materials. Over the past eight years, I have witnessed from afar her challenges within the Southern Baptist and evangelical community as she boldly spoke out against Donald Trump after his remarks about grabbing women in private places were made public in 2016. And later, I watched from a distance as she both challenged the Southern Baptist for covering up sexual abuse of leaders within the denomination. Yet, while I have read some of her articles, I had not read any of her books until I picked up this memoir. I recommend it. 

This is an honest and can imagine how painful the book was to write. In a way, it’s more of an autobiography than a memoir. She tells stories from her childhood and admits how the family tried to hold on to respectability while harboring dark secrets. The darkest was her father’s unwanted touching. She also writes about how she was drawn into church and even the pastor who affirmed her going into ministry as a teenager. Starting out leading women’s ministry classes and acrobatics, she grew a business into a major organization. Coming from a Southern Baptist background, she always stayed with women’s ministry and avoided any leadership position which would undermine pastors (whom she assumed should be male).  

Moore: politics and leaving the Southern Baptist Church

Moore also avoided politics until Bill Clinton had his White House affair. This caused her to leave the Democratic Party for the Republican Party. In this manner, she followed the crowd as evangelical leaders across the county openly condemn Clinton. She expected the same response after the release of Trump’s Access Hollywood tapes. It shocked her that instead, many evangelical leaders circled the wagons around Trump. 

This memoir tells the story of her coming of age, her marriage, her relationship to her parents, the building of a ministry, and how she came to the decision to leave her the Southern Baptist Church. It was a hard break as she loved the denomination who had nurtured her. The book ends with her and her husband finding a new home within an Anglican Church. While there have been many knotted-up challenges in her life, through it all she always found solace and strength in her Savior, Jesus Christ. 

While there are troubling events described in this memoir, Moore’s writing is a pleasure to read. And amongst the pain, there is also laughter. The reader will meet a woman of faith and conviction.  

Tony Horwitz, One for the Road: An Outback Adventure 

Book cover for "One for the Road"

(1987, audible 2020).  

I picked up this book from an Audible Sale. Having read and enjoyed three of Horwitz’s books, I thought it would be something nice to listen and laugh while driving. Years ago, I had read Bill Bryson’s, From a Sunburnt County, and was thinking this book might further expand my knowledge of Australia, while providing humorist distractions.  It didn’t take long for me to realize the book I was listening to was written long before Bryson’s. 

Horwitz was a funny writer. The first book of his I read was Confederates in the Attic. I read most of that book on a cross-country flight. I kept trying, but without much success, to muffle my laughter. Everyone seated around me wanted to know what book I was reading! While this book provides many funny moments (along with a few crude jokes told my travel companions while he’s on the road), it’s not nearly as funny as his later works.  As I said, I thought this book was a newer book. After listening just a bit, I found myself googling Horwitz and discovered the book was his first, published in the late 1980s. His writing became tighter over time!  Sadly, I also learned that Horwitz had a massive heart attack and died in 2019. He was only 60 years old, just a little younger than me. 

First journey into the Outback

In this book, Horwitz has moved to Australia, his wife’s home. It’s in the mid-1980s and they both take positions with a newspaper in Sydney.  But Horwitz’s wanderlust doesn’t fade and after a year, he obtains permission from his editor to head out into the bush to see Australia. It’s 1986, and Haley’s Comet is big in the news. Obviously, the comet wasn’t any brighter in Australia than it was here in the states. But the place to see the comet was supposed to be Alice Springs, in the center of the continent. Horwitz sets off by hitch hiking (in the summer, no less). He’s later assigned an article on the conflict between natives and tourists at Ayer’s Rock (now known as Uluru). Renting a car, he drives over to the site and on this way back rolls the car. Luckily, he is bruised, but okay. He flies home, but a little later works out a deal for a month traveling and sets off again. 

A month in the Outback

Hitchhiking in Australia is a bit different. Instead of using one’s thumb, the hitch hiker sticks out a finger.  But it’s the same in that one must be careful. While he’s traveling there are reports of people killed by hitchhikers, which makes his attempt to get a ride even more difficult.  He travels across the country to Perth and then heads along the coast to Darwin. While he has been warned to avoid the Blacks (abiogenies), he finds them hospitable. In one case, they trust him enough to hand him the keys to their junker car along with a handful of bills and have him drive into town to buy beer! In places it was against the law to sell bear to abiogenies, and at other establishments, proprietors refuse to sell to them. 

It seems Horwitz’s travels focuses on drinking. In remote areas, people measure distance not by miles or kilometers, but the number of beers consumed. The amount of alcohol consumed while driving is frightening. And people also drink at home and in pubs. Darwin, at the time, had the highest beer consumption in the world, 58 gallons per person! In another town, the authorities tried to reduce drinking on Sundays by passing a law that a pub could only be open for five hours. So, the pubs came together and staggered their hours so that the day was covered. This created a weekly “pub crawl,” as folks went from one to another, every five hours. 

While traveling, Horwitz encounters those who work with livestock, in mining and oil exploration, fishermen (and he even spends a day fishing for crayfish) and pearl divers. In places he finds lots of prejudice against natives and immigrants, but in other places find people working together and getting along with one another. 

Passover in the Outback

One of the more interesting stories occurred in Broome, a town along the northwest coast. Horwitz, who describes himself as a secular Jew, realized Passover was coming up. Wanting to share the feast with other Jews, he asks around. No one knows of any Jews, but someone suggests he speak with the local Catholic priest. The priest points him to a Jewish government physician. Horwitz meets the physician, who invites him to his home for Passover. Later, when there is a day of remembering those who had died in wars, Horwitz attends. The priest gives the keynote speech and mentions his encounter with a wandering American Jew, which brought a smile to Horwitz. This story, told near the end of the book, allows Horwitz to reflect on his cultural background and his desire to wander.

Recommendations

I don’t think this book is up to the standard of Horwitz’s other books. In addition to Confederates in the Attic, I have also read A Long and Dangerous Journey and Spying on the South). However, I still enjoyed it and recommended it. It’s a great first book and in it one sees Horwitz’s potential to become a laugh-out-loud travel writer. The narrator for the Audible edition is one of Horwitz’s sons. 

St. Augustine, City of God 

Book cover for "City of God"

(427, Penguin Books, 2003 edition), 1097 pages, Audible translation narrated by David McCallion, 46 hours and 32 minutes, 2018. 

There is one reason why I am behind on my readings for 2024. I had set a goal of 48 books and am currently six books behind thanks to slogging through this classic. I’ve listened to it all and went back and reread interesting parts. Maybe I could count this as 22 books (as Augustine did) and then I’d have already exceeded my goal!  I had an old copy of this book from seminary, but it was abbreviated, with just the best parts, so I had to purchase a new copy. 

City of God is a classic. In it, we see Augustine’s keen knowledge of the world. He knows the myths and legends of the pagan gods, the history of the world up to his time, and is well versed in philosophy and science. He understands astronomy including how eclipses occur. While he discounts numerology as a tool for understanding scripture, he is knowledgeable on mathematics. He discusses botany and biology, including knowing of some animals who live super hot environments which he uses as support for his ideas on hell. And he has a great grasp of the history of the world and can parallel what occurred in the Bible to what was happening at the same time in Rome, Greece, or Persia. 

First half of the work

The first half of this massive work defends Christianity from the charge that Rome’s fall was due to Christians abandoning the pagan gods. Augustine spends 12 books showing how the pagan gods failed to protect other cities such as Troy. Augustine shows a keen knowledge of the pagan world in his defense. In this section of the book, he also advises Christians on how to act during such a tragedy in which many had committed suicide seeing it as preferable to torture and/or rape. Augustine encouraged his readers to trust in God even in the face of torture and death. 

Second half of the work

In the second half of the book, Augustine follows the development of the two cities. He links the earthly city to Cain, which is the city for reprobate. The early city is identified with Babylon and Rome. Working through the Scriptures, he makes a case for a parallel city planned by God for the faithful, the elect. In addition to showing the development of the two cities, he also parallels much of what happens in scripture to what was happening in the rest of the world during the same period. 

In this half of the work, Augustine shows his keen insight into the scriptures. While he acknowledges there is no mention of Christ in Old Testament, he lays out how Hebrew Scriptures points to Christ. It is in this section he also ties Hebrew history to the history of the larger world. Augustine makes a strong case against those who think they can predict Christ’s return. His writing on this subject makes it clear that there were many who seemed to think they knew God’s mind with their elaborate schemes plotting out the end of time. Not much has changed, has it? 

Conclusion of the work

The last chapters focus on the end of history. Augustine makes a case for hell but suggests life in hell would be preferable to total annihilation. He discusses the final judgment.  He also writes about the heavenly City of God coming in fulness but is reluctant to make to suggestions of what it might be like beyond what’s found in Scripture. 

Augustine seems to value the body and our experiences in this world. I was surprised when he addressed praying for our enemies. While he endorses such prayers, he suggests we should not pray for those spirits (demons) who have no bodies!  Augustine obviously writes from a patriarchy society, I didn’t find his writing to be anti-female, as I sometimes see him interpreted.

Conclusion

While at times this book seems to slog along, there is much to discover in it. I found myself realizing how my limited knowledge of Roman culture and history made it more difficult to fully appreciate Augustine’s insights. I don’t think the 21st Century can nurture another Augustine. Could you image today someone what could discuss history, theology, religion, along with advance astronomy, physics, biology with the brightest in these fields?  This work has greatly influenced Western Culture, from politics to theology. It inspired Martin Luther and John Calvin, two of the leading thinkers of the Protestant Reformation. It should be studied.

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Arguing to Cover Up the Problem

Sermon cover title showing two rock churches

Jeff Garrison
Bluemont & Mayberry Churches
September 15, 2024
Mark 9:14-29

Before reading the scripture:

We return to Mark this week. If you remember, from two weeks ago, we left Jesus along with three of the disciples—Peter, James, and John—as they headed down mountain in search for the rest of the disciples.[1]

In our passage today, we learn the remaining nine disciples weren’t slacking while Jesus and his core group were on the mountain. Instead, they did ministry, which involved healings and casting out demons. It also included arguing with the Scribes. Somethings never change. As Jesus arrives, the nine are in a heated argument. This passage contains one of the most touching expressions of human ability and faith, with the man with a possessed boy crying out, “I believe, help my unbelief.”

Shortly afterwards, Jesus performs his last exorcism in Mark.[2]

Read Mark 9:14-29

I wonder what everyone argued about. We’re not really told. Yet, everyone seems glad Jesus has arrived. “Overcome with awe,” we’re told. Perhaps, as Jesus and three of the disciples have just come down from the Mount of Transfiguration, a glow still surrounds his face. Or, more likely, they’re just glad he’s there so he can settle their differences.[3]

Jesus asks, “what’s going on.” He doesn’t get the answer we expect. I don’t know why the nine disciples who’d remained behind didn’t just lay it all out for Jesus. They could set have forth both sides of the argument and let Jesus settle the issue. Maybe they were embarrassed. 

Or, perhaps this is one of those all-too frequent occasions where the real issue is something different than what the argument was about. This happens all the time, especially in relationships. You argue about one thing when you are mad about something else.


What’s at issue here is a possessed boy driven into fits and driving his parents insane. The boy needs help. We’re told the disciples, the nine who were not with Jesus, tried to free the boy from the demon. They failed. Some scribes were also at this gathering and, we might assume, likewise, were unable to help the boy. 

I have an idea what this argument was all about. Since neither the disciples nor the scribes can heal the boy, they distract the crowd by debating theology. It keeps both sides from looking bad. They argued over the nature of God, which is an important topic I think we’ll all agree. But while they argue, this kid rolls on the ground foaming at the mouth. Compassion must trump even correct theology. 

We’ve all been created in God’s image and given a dose of compassion. However, it seems as if those gathered around this boy have lost theirs. I have a hunch why they suddenly get quiet when Jesus asks what’s up. They know Jesus will see through the fog and get to the real issue—a child in need.

While the disciples, scribes and the crowd remain silent, a man in the back speaks up. “I brought my son to your disciples. They couldn’t rid his body of the demon.” The silence of the crowd and the plea of the father focus us on the real issue. Jesus is incensed. “How much longer,” he shouts, “do I have to put up with you?” Jesus directs his anger at the disciples, in other words at the ones who should know better. And you know what, we’re a lot like the disciples. If we can’t fix something, we create a distraction and/or blame someone else. 

Jesus then asks them to bring the boy to him. When the demon inside his body sees Jesus, it goes berserk. Even demons believe and tremble, we’re told.[4] The demon throws the child into a violent fit. The healing stories of Jesus are always more than just a demonstration of brute power overcoming illness and evil. If Jesus only wanted to demonstrate his power, he would have just said, “Get gone, you bad demon,” and the freed boy would run home to his momma. Instead, Jesus uses this opportunity to teach. 

This passage also reminds us that sometimes, the worst seems to come just before the healing. Kind of like the coldest part of the night falls just before dawn. Here, the demon throws the boy into an even more violent episode knowing it will soon to be expelled. 

As the boy shakes uncontrollably, Jesus asks the father about how long the boy has been like this. The desperate father tells Jesus the boy has been like this since childhood. A demon has tried continually to destroy the boy by throwing him into the fire and into bodies of water. Evil always brings destruction and death. 

Mark is the short gospel; often brief on the details. Interestingly, here, Mark provides more details than the other two gospels which also have this story. Mark recalls the conversation between Jesus and the boy’s father.[5] We get a sense of the father’s desperation. “If you are able, do something,” the father pleads.

This request takes Jesus back. “If I am able?” he asks. “If I am able?  Sure, I’m able; all things are possible with faith.” I wonder if the man’s faith had been challenged by the disciples’ inability to help his son. After all, he had obviously heard about Jesus and the twelve and felt if he could just get his son to them, he’d be made well. But then, it didn’t happen. 

The man assumed the disciples had the powers of their master and is now down to his last straw.  “Maybe Jesus can help,” he thinks, “but maybe not. I better not set my hopes too high.” 

When Jesus tells him that all things are possible for one who believes, he cries out, “I believe, help my unbelief.” This is the climax of the passage. “I believe, help my unbelief.” It’s a cry of desperation. He believes because he has no other option.  

He believes, but he stills harbors doubts. If we are honest, most of us identify with the man’s feelings. We know Jesus is the answer, but we don’t want to trust him enough to throw on him all our concerns. 

“Consider the lilies of the field and birds of the air,”[6] Jesus tells us. We’re quick to remind Jesus that we are not flowers or birds, but people, human beings, Homo sapiens, the crown of creation. We are people with jobs and homes and mortgages and car payments and kids with whom we have a hard time relating. Like I said, we’re like this man. We believe, but only to a certain point. We believe, but not fully. Where we get in trouble is our desire to keep some control for ourselves.

“I believe; help my unbelief.” This is an honest statement of our human condition. The ability to say “I believe” comes the grace God gives us to seek him out. The cry, “help my unbelief,” is a prayer of confession that demonstrates to God our dependence upon him. To say, “I believe,” isn’t enough. We can all say, “I believe,” and still believe it is something we do by ourselves. We can say “I believe,” and believe were in control. But when we say, “Help my unbelief,” we admit our need and dependence upon God. 

“Prayer is faith turned to God,” one theologian says.[7] The boy’s father turns to the only one who can help. This story is not about the boy’s father getting his theology right or anything like that. It’s about him completely trusting the Lord of the Universe, the one also provides us with the faith we need for such trust.[8]

It’s difficult to admit; but we can’t do it alone. Here, as we’ve seen before in Mark, when Jesus gets the disciples alone inside a house, he clarifies things.[9] This type of demon can only be driven out by prayer, Jesus says. 

Oddly, Mark doesn’t spend as much time discussing prayer as the other gospels. But he wants his readers to know that strength lies in them trusting God, as seen through Jesus.[10] Overcoming the powers of evil is not something we do by ourselves. That’s why Jesus came, as we’ve seen earlier in Mark, to bind the “strong man.”[11] Only by depending upon God can we be truly successful, for only God can help us overcome to power of evil.  

This passage reminds us that we’re not God. We don’t run the company, and we’re not the CEO. Jesus is in control and we’re here to do his work. We depend on him and his power as we listen to the cries of those in pain. We listen and reach out with compassion and love, doing what we can to help and praying for help when needed. Amen.

[1] https://fromarockyhillside.com/2024/09/01/the-transfiguration/

[2] Douglas R. A. Hare, Westminster Bible Companion: Mark (Louisville: W/JKP, 1996), 109.

[3]Interestingly, the crowd is in awe before Jesus heals! See Morna D. Hooker, The Gospel According to Saint Mark (London: A & C Black, 1991, Hendrickson Publishing, 1997), 222-223. More likely they were in awe of Jesus’ past healings as the glow would have quickly faded and if not, why would Jesus want to keep the transfiguration a secret? See Mark 9:9 and James R. Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002), 276. 

[4] James 2:19

[5] Matthew 17:14-21 and Luke 9:37-43. 

[6] Matthew 6:25-28.

[7] W. Grundmann, as quoted in Edwards, 281. 

[8] See the sermon on this passage by Fleming Rutledge in Help My Unbelief: 20th Anniversary Edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2000), 9.  

[9] Mark 4:1-2, 10; 7:14, 28; 10:1, 10. See Edwards 281.

[10] Mark only speaks of prayer in three other places.  Mark 1:35, 6:46, and 14:32-39. See Edwards, 281. 

[11] Mark 3:27. See https://fromarockyhillside.com/2024/04/07/the-unpardonable-sin-baseball-doing-the-will-of-god/