Author: jgarrison

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The Plot Against Jesus

Blog title slide with a photo of a cross with purple shroud hanging on rock wall of a church

Jeff Garrison
Bluemont and Mayberry Churches
March 10, 2024
Mark 3:1-6

Sermon recorded at Bluemont on Friday, March 8, 2024

At the beginning of worship:

In the opening part of his book, Losing Our Religion, which I reviewed in my blog this past week, Russell Moore talks coming of age in the church during the 1980s. He was told not to “conform to the pattern of the world,” except, it seemed to him when “the world’ was the remnant outpost of the Confederate States of America.” 

The cynical side of Moore wondered “if the gospel was just a way to mobilize voters for party bosses or to fund prostitutes and cocaine for preachers on television.” Remember all those scandals in the 80s? Thankfully, with the help of the writings of C. S. Lewis, Moore recovered from his cynicism and saw a different side to the church. This church “spans heaven and earth, time and eternity, awesome as an army with banners.”[1]

Twain and rascals in the ministry

There have always been reasons to be cynical about religion. In a newspaper article in the Virginia City, Nevada’s Territorial Enterprise, a young Mark Twain noted that “a man’s profession has little to do with his moral character.” He went on to say, “If we had as many preachers as lawyers, you would find it mixed as to which occupation could muster the most rascals.”[2]

The production of “rascals” among the religious elite is nothing new. It was going on during Jesus’ time. We must capture a vision of the church such as the one by C. S. Lewis, with its banners flying throughout history. Yes, the church will often disappoint us, but our Savior, Jesus Christ, remains faithful and still uses the church, as broken as we often are, to fulfill his mission in the world. There’s good news in this.  

Before reading the scriptures:

Throughout the second chapter of Mark’s gospel, Jesus’ popularity has grown as has the opposition toward him. It reaches a climax in the beginning of chapter three.[3] Jesus is back in the synagogue on the Sabbath. We’re not told where, but perhaps he’s still in Capernaum. Again, Jesus faces a dilemma. Does he heal a man on the Sabbath? Or is there something else going on here?

Sabbath laws

The Sabbath laws by the time of Jesus were complex. If someone was in immediate need of medical attention, it could be provided. First aid was okay. You could prevent a wound from becoming worse. But you were not allowed to heal. You could stop bleeding because the person might bleed to death. If life was in danger, you could act. Otherwise, the Sabbath was to be upheld. You were not even allowed to set a broken bone. That had to wait because it was not considered life-threatening.[4]

The Conflict

In our story this morning, there’s a man with a withered hand. People look at Jesus, wondering what he’ll do.  Of course, Jesus takes pity on the man and acts. This leads to another conflict with the Pharisees.

The Pharisees see Jesus as such a threat, they are now willing to join forces with their enemies to defeat Jesus! Religious extremism often leads to violence. When someone thinks they are “doing God’s work,” it is easy to justify any means to obtain the desired end. Of course, if God is truly Almighty, God doesn’t need us to compromise our morals to save his reputation. God can take care of himself. 

Read Mark 3:1-6

Our passage today ends Mark’s rapid-fire telling of stories of Jesus in action. Since the first chapter, we have heard only a little of Jesus’ teachings, and most of that we saw last week, at the end of the second chapter where Jesus answered the challenges of the Pharisees. Instead, we have seen Jesus as a man of action. He cast out demons, heals many people including a leper and paralyzed man. Mark has one more story. 

Man with a withered hand: Was Jesus set up?

Again, Jesus is in the synagogue and it’s on the Sabbath. A man appears with a withered hand. I almost wonder if the man was there on the Sabbath as bait, to tempt Jesus to act. Mark creates tension in the story as he speaks of everyone watching to see what Jesus does.  Otherwise, the man might hide his hand from the crowd and from Jesus. But we know nothing of his thoughts. 

Jesus, of course, understands this is a trap. In our last vignette of Jesus, we heard him teach the propose of the Sabbath, while claiming himself to be lord over the day. The Sabbath was made for humanity, not the other way around, Jesus said. The tension in the synagogue is tense. What will Jesus do?

Jesus’ questions

Jesus begins by inviting the man with a withered hand forward. “What kind of action suits the Sabbath best,” Jesus asks.  “Doing good or evil?”[5] Should we save or kill? 

1st Century Sabbath Laws

As I pointed out, from a strict understanding of the Sabbath, healing this man goes against tradition. He could be healed on the next day, and no harm would be done. The man isn’t in a life-or-death situation. Certainly, his hand diminishes his life, making it harder from him to earn a living, but people do get along with only one hand all the time. Yet, I’m sure the man would appreciate his hand healed as early as possible. 

Another question to ponder is if Jesus is really breaking the Sabbath here. While he heals the man, he doesn’t do anything. He doesn’t mix up any herbs or makes some kind of ointment. He doesn’t even massage the hand. Jesus just asks the man to reach out and as he does, his hand is healed. Perhaps, the real anger at Jesus isn’t for breaking the Sabbath but drawing out the hypocrisy of the Pharisees.[6]


Jesus’ anger at hardened hearts

Jesus’ questions remain unanswered. He becomes angry because he realizes how hard their hearts have become. They care nothing about the man, only about trapping Jesus in a compromised position in which they can show he has violated one of their laws. It grieves Jesus for people to be so uncaring. But Jesus also has compassion and invites the man to stretch out his hand and as he does, it’s healed. 

Plot against Jesus

The Pharisees have now seen or perhaps heard enough. They go out and conspire with the supporters of Herod on ways to kill Jesus. From here on out, Mark has Jesus walk in the shadow of the cross. 

Pharisees and Herodians: An Unholy Alliance

Let me say a few things about this unholy alliance. First, the Pharisees supposedly hated all that wasn’t pure, especially a Greek culture brought into Palestine by Roman occupiers. They wanted a Messiah to sit on David’s throne and who would thumb his nose toward Rome. 

While there is some question as to exactly who the Herodians were, it’s obvious they were supporters of the half-Jewish king, Herod the Greek, along with the puppet kings and rulers in the following generations. The Herod dynasty, while nominally Jewish, made peace with Rome. After all, they owed their rule to the Empire. This was totally against the Pharisees, who were strictly kosher. They avoided anyone who had anything to with gentiles.[7]

What causes someone to violate their own principals? What causes someone to think winning is so important that any means can be used to achieve victory? Jesus’ death and resurrection shows us that might does not make right. As Paul tells the Corinthians, God uses the weak and the foolish to show the impotency of human power.[8] When the Pharisees finally got their wish and had Jesus crucified, they quickly learned the mistake they’d made. The risen Jesus proved far more powerful than the rabbi from Galilee. But that’s getting ahead of our story.

Who’s the one violating the Sabbath?

The second irony to the Pharisee’s plan, if we take Mark literally, is that they are the ones breaking the Sabbath. They go out and immediately plan for Jesus’ demise. Notice that word, immediately, one of Mark’s favorite terms. We can imagine them leaving the synagogue in a huff and meeting in the parking lot as they talk over what to do.[9]  So much for the sanctity of the Sabbath, using the day to plan a murder.

The Pharisees show the human tendency toward hypocrisy. They portray themselves as so pure but are willing to do what it takes to gain what will become a short-term victory. And, almost unaware of their actions, they break their own laws. They lack integrity. They lack character.  And we should admit that on occasion, we join their club. After all, none of us are perfect. But we should be careful and when we fail to live up to our calling, be willing to confess and to repent of our sin. For our hope is not in our victory, but in Jesus’ victory. Our hope is grounded, not in this life, but in the life to come by the one who shows us the way. 

It’s always easier to point out someone else’s sin

The Pharisees found it easy to point out what they saw as Jesus’ shortcomings. We’re the same way. It’s easy to point out the sins of others. But we must remember that Jesus accepts us as we are and invites us to follow him. Doing so means we must, as he taught in the Sermon on the Mount, cleanse our own eyes before we go trying to clean someone else’s eyes.[10] We need to search our own hearts and find out where we’ve been hypocritical, and then confess our failures to God as we trust in God’s mercy as shown in Jesus Christ. Amen. 

[1] Russell Moore, Losing Our Religion, (Sentinel/Penguin Random House, 2023), 32-33.

[2] I found this quote was found in Henry Nash Smith, ed., Mark Twain of the Enterprise: Newspaper Articles and Other Documents, 1862-1864 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1964), 60. It is quoted in my article, “Of Humor, Death, and Ministers: The Comstock of Mark Twain,” Nevada Historical Society Quarterly,#38,3  (Fall 1995), 199.

[3] Morna D. Hooker, The Gospel According to Saint Mark  (1991, Hendrickson Publishers, 1997), 105. 

[4] James R. Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2002), 98-99. 

[5] I am using the words here from The Message translation. 

[6] Douglas R. A. Hare, Westminster Bible Companion: Mark (Louisville, KY: W/JKP, 1996), 44.

[7] Edwards, 101-102. 

[8] 1 Corinthians 1:25. 

[9] Hooker, 108. 

[10] Matthew 7:1-5. 

Cross with a purple shroud on the rock wall of Bluemont Presbyterian Church
The Lenten Cross. on Bluemont Church
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Losing Our Religion

Title slide with photo of book and a rock church in West Virginia

Russell Moore, Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America (Sentinel/Penguin Random House, 2023), 256 pages, no illustrations and (sadly) no index.

I have followed Russell Moore from a distance for the past decade, finding him a voice of compassion and reason within the Southern Baptist Convention. It was sad to watch as he was pushed out of his leadership role. But I rejoiced when he became the editor-in-chief for Christianity Today. After the publication of this book, it quickly rose to the top of my to-be-read pile. I appreciate the grace Moore displayed in these pages, even as he deals with those who see him as an enemy.  

Moore acknowledges his book title is a riff off the hit song of the same name by the band, REM. But then, as he notes, we’re not called to a religion. We’re called into a relationship with Jesus Christ. We confess him publicly as Lord and Savior and strive to follow him in our lives. 

This book is part memoir. The author describes his experience in the Baptist tradition, starting when he walked down to the altar to commit his life to Christ. He noted that at such an early age, he had no idea as to where his commitment would lead. He told about those who called for Bill Clinton’s head after his affair within the White House. The leaders of the church took the moral high road with Clinton. However, many of the same leaders fell under the spell of Donald Trump. He recounted his battles within the Southern Baptist Convention after he refused to endorse Trump, a man he felt morally unfit to be President. 

A personal note: I don’t think preachers and religious leaders should endorse any candidate. But this is not a hard and fast rule. When candidates behavior and rhetoric are an affront to the values of our faith, we should speak up. Think of the Old Testament prophets. Furthermore, when candidates attempt to misled the faithful, as “wolves in sheep clothing, we have an obligation to challenge and to protect the faithful. Moore has been especially good at remaining focused on Jesus while challenging such dangerous ideology.

Moore did not hold back his opinion, especially after the events of January 6, 2021. He took offense at those who stormed the capital with signs reading, “Jesus Saves.” He noted the religious aspect behind the failed insurrection, which included the “Jericho March” that brought a religious theme with the same falsehood about the election before the riot.. Moore acknowledges that many faithful pastors found themselves blindsided when they spoke out against such misuse of the Christian faith. Reading this book, I continually kept going back to the Sunday after January 6. I recalled three people getting in my face that Sunday, before I could leave the chancel, upset that I had challenged the blasphemy of those using Jesus’ name in a riot. Click here to read my sermon from that day.

With additional issues such as sex abuse coverup within the leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention, Moore exposes an evangelical church enthralled with human power. He acknowledges that Christian leaders are always sinful, and the church has always dealt with the problem of hypocrites. But because the evangelical church appears to have sold out to power politics, he questions the church true allegiance. Is it to Jesus?

In five detailed chapters, Moore speaks of the church losing its credibility, authority, identity, integrity, and stability. He engages in many of the topics battered around in church circles these days including deconstructionism, tribalism, the cultural wars, hypocrisy, and nostalgia for what we fear to have lost. We can gleam much from Moore’s insights. He offers suggestions on how we can grow as Christians in each area. While Moore vision of the church he loves has grown larger than just the Baptist denomination of his youth, he does long for the church to experience a Baptist-like revival. But he also warns the church not to attempt to come up with its own program to revive American evangelicalism. To do so, the church would risk “reviving” the wrong thing and miss out on God’s true revival. 

Moore uses himself as an example of one growing in the faith. In the early years of this century, he attacked fellow Baptist Beth Moore (no relationship even though he joked about her being his mom) for her stance of women in leadership. He has since become a friend of hers and acknowledges his earlier defense of male leadership is not the major issue of scripture as he once thought. 

In addition to appreciating his insights, I realized many of the same authors influenced Moore and as well of me. Two of these include the poet David Wythe along with Wendell Berry. Moore tells a favorite story of mine from Berry’s Jayber Crow, in which Troy questions radical teachings which turn out to come from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. I have used this story in several sermons including this one from April 2022. 

I recommend this book. The prophets of today, who raise questions about our allegiances, are no different than those in Biblical times. While Moore may not end up like Jeremiah, in a cistern, he has had his share of battles. Yet he remains gracious to others, including those with whom he disagrees, all while striving to be faithful to his Savior. Having committed himself to Christ, he realizes our hope is not in human power. Our hope is in God, who revealed his power in the weakness of the cross. (See 1 Corinthians 1:18-19). 

Let me leave you with a quote: “Christian nationalism is a prosperity gospel for nation-states, a liberation theology for white people.” (page 117)

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Jesus and the Law Concerning Fasting and the Sabbath

Title Slide with photo of Lake Superior shoreline

Jeff Garrison
Mayberry & Bluemont Churches
March 3, 2024
Mark 2:18-28

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

At the beginning of worship:

What is the purpose behind laws? 

Some people consider laws a burden on personal freedom. After all, why can’t I drive at 90 miles-an-hour. I’m a good driver. Who’s to be harmed? Of course, if we get beyond our narcissism, we know such behavior can harm innocent people. So, we have laws which set boundaries and forbid dangerous behavior. Ultimately, I suggest, laws protects others and benefits society. If we truly looked out for others, there would be little need for laws. But we tend to think of what we want and forget about how we might impact others. So, laws become necessary. 

God provides us laws. Think of the 10 Commandments as boundaries. If we get outside the boundary, we can cause harm to ourselves and to others. But inside it, we can enjoy life fully. 

Sadly, sometimes we get so hung up on the law itself, that we worship it more than God. Or we use it as a weapon to push agendas which have nothing to do with the original purpose behind the law. We’re going to see this in today’s sermon.

Before reading the Scripture:

As we’ve begun working our way through Mark’s gospel, we have seen a parallel track of events happening. On the positive side, people are excited by what they hear from Jesus. They are in awe of his power, as he heals the sick and frees people of their demonic possession. Words get around. Jesus can’t go anywhere without a crowd gathering. 

But as the crowds grows, so does the opposition to Jesus’ ministry. At first, it was evil spirits or demons. Then came the scribes and, as we saw last week, the Pharisees.  Next Sunday, we’ll end this section of Mark’s gospel with the Pharisees willing to make a pack with evil, to do away with Jesus.[1] Of course, they won’t accomplish this goal until much later. But the seeds are sown which will lead to Jesus’ crucifixion. 

Another thing we’ll hear in today’s reading is what Jesus teaches. In previous encounters, we’re told Jesus taught. Mark, however, hasn’t yet provided details.[2] Instead, we have seen Jesus’ power. But now Mark, in his proclamation of Jesus Christ as the Messiah, tells us some of what Jesus taught. Jesus uses parables and stories and draws on the Old Testament to convey his message. 

I’m combining two stories today. They parallel each other so they kind of go together. While I could preach on each passage separately, if I did that for every passage, I won’t get through Mark during 2024!

Read Mark 2:18-28

Our text begins with Mark informing us that John the Baptist, like Jesus, had disciples. These disciples, like John, live the life of a religious ascetic. They avoid the pleasures of life. From what we find in the other gospels, they abstained from alcoholic drinks and only ate what we necessary to sustain life. 

In Luke’s gospel, we read of Jesus saying: 

“For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon’; the Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’[3] 

In our text for this morning and from the one I just read; we see Jesus in a Catch-22 position.[4] He faced a paradox and can’t win. Of course, Jesus was no glutton or drunkard, but neither was he a religious ascetic like John and his disciples. Jesus just can’t please those in powerful positions. By the way, this is by design. By having such silly no-win games, those in power can maintain control. 

Many of the Pharisees fasted twice a week. They want to be seen as being good, over and above everyone else. Two things we should note here. 

First, Jewish law only required a yearly fast, on the Day of Atonement. Other fasts could be called such as during times of calamity, but nowhere does the law require the frequent fasts as called for by the Pharisees.[5]

Second, regularly and frequent fasting seems to have been a requirement made up by the Pharisees to display their spirituality. They wanted others to see their holiness. Jesus addresses this in the Sermon on the Mount, telling them they have received their rewards as he encourages his followers to pray and fast privately. Jesus is not against fasting, but he is against pride.  And perhaps there is nothing more dangerous than religious pride. When we think we’re right, we can be fooled into ignoring the obvious. 

Jesus then uses three analogies to make his point. The first is a wedding. No one would think of fasting at a wedding feast. In those day, these celebrations would go for a week with lots of food, drink, and entertainment. Those invited were to enjoy the party. While Jesus doesn’t say he’s the bridegroom in this text, it’s implied. He’ll use this analogy again in a parable found in Matthew’s gospel, as he speaks of his return.[6] Later, the risen Christ will be seen as the bridegroom to the church.[7]  

While Jesus is with the disciples, they need to enjoy his company. Then Jesus hints at what will later happen. There will come a time that the disciples will fast, after he’s gone. Of course, those present would not have known what we know, that Jesus will be crucified. 

The second and third parables deal with common household examples. You don’t sew on an unshrunk fabric on old cloth, for it will shrink and tear again. Nor do you put new wine in old wineskin, for the fermentation process will cause it to swell and will break the skins. Jesus is doing something new.  He launches a new paradigm which require new cloth, new wineskins. 

Our next story deals with the Sabbath. As with fasting, the Sabbath laws been added to over the years so that they have become a burden to the people. The disciples were out walking and went through a grainfield. Hungry, they pulled off some of the seed to eat. This was allowed in Jesus law. You could eat from a neighbor’s field; you just couldn’t put the sickle to it or harvest it. But since fast food restaurants didn’t exist, taking a handful of grain was allowed. But that’s not the problem raised. The problem is the taking of grain on the Sabbath.[8]

Jesus responds by recalling a story from the time of David about how he and his men ate bread that had been set aside for the priest. Even in the Old Testament, you were allowed to do certain things of the Sabbath for the safety of others including animals. But the Pharisees, to drive a wedge between Jesus and his followers, accuse them of breaking the Sabbath laws. 

Jesus ends his response with a reminder of the Sabbath’s purpose. It was made for us; we’re not made for it. Again, as I said earlier about good laws, they’re for our wellbeing.  How can we take care of ourselves and others? When the law becomes a way to show or to prove our holiness, we’ve got it wrong.

Last Sunday, I spoke about how Christians should have joy in our lives. Unnecessary laws help those in power maintain their power, while stripping us of joy. As followers of Jesus, we’re to be guided by two laws: loving God and loving others.[9] When we impose additional religious laws arbitrarily, we’re no better than the morality police of Iran, running around imposing their strict interpretation of the Koran. 

The Christian faith is not about rules, it’s about a relationship with God through the Son. And that relationship leads to other relationships as we accept God’s grace and extend such grace to others. 

While the law is important, for it helps us to see our sinfulness and guides us as we strive for godliness,[10] it should never overshadow grace. Mark wants us to understand that Jesus is doing something new. And we should rejoice. Amen. 

[1] Mark 3:1-6.

[2] See Mark 1:21-22, 2:2, 13. I’ve address the lack of detail as to Jesus’ teachings in these sermons: https://fromarockyhillside.com/2024/01/21/jesus-in-the-synagogue/ and https://fromarockyhillside.com/2024/02/18/good-friends/

[3] Luke 7:33-34. A parallel passage is found in Matthew 11:18-19. 

[4] Catch 22 comes from Joseph Heller’s World War 2 novel by the same name. The “catch” was that if you were crazy you didn’t have to go into combat. But, if you knew that combat was crazy, it meant you weren’t crazy, so there was no way out. See https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/catch-22

[5] James R. Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2002), 88.

[6] Matthew 25:1-10.

[7] We see this in Revelation. In 18:23, we hear of the bride and the bridegroom (church and savior) being withdrawn from “Babylon” (which represents Rome). In chapter 21:2, we read of a cosmic wedding. See Douglas R. A. Hare, Westminster Bible Companion: Mark (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1996), 41. 

[8] See Deuteronomy 23:25 and Morna D. Hooker, The Gospel According to Saint Mark (1991, Hendrickson, 1997), 102-103. 

[9] Mark 12:29-31. 

[10] The Reformed Tradition traditional speaks of three uses of the law: 1. To bring us into a realization of our sin, 2. To help us strive for godliness, and 3. To create fear in ootherhearts to restrain bad behavior. 

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My Church Youth Group in High School and my first canoe

title slide for blog post. Photo is of me and my brother canoeing on Town Creek in the late 1970s

Buck and Nancy advised Cape Fear Presbyterian Church’s youth group during my senior high years. Buck, after a stint as a Marine Corps officer in Vietnam, taught high school biology. Nancy taught elementary school. Young and full of energy, they helped form a small but tight-knit group. One of my fond memories was spending a weekend painting the youth room. The cinder block walls were painted, each block a different color: green, blue, and yellow. These ran in diagonal strips up the walls. Then we outlined each block, painting the mortar black. When done, we had created a psychedelic show piece. It was very 70s!  By the time I graduated from college, the youth who were then in the group had painted over our masterpiece.

But the best highlight of my time with our youth group was spending a weekend at Camp Kirkwood, a Presbyterian camp between Burgaw and Wallace, North Carolina. These trips also included a day-long canoe trip on the Black River. By my junior year in high school, I was paddling my own canoe!

The water was high and fast that late winter day in 1973, on our first river trip. When we reached a bend in the river, water continue to flow straight, cutting through the swampy side of the river. This made it difficult to navigate by canoe as the water attempted to push the boats out of the main channel and into the swamps. We struggled and paddled hard, especially at the bends and in the shoots through blow downs, where the force of water threatened to push us into trees that had fallen into the river. Buck and Nancy paddled up and down the line of canoes, offering suggestions and encouragement, trying to keep everyone together and dry.  

Paddling and fishing on the Black River, 1975 (photo by Donald McKenzie)

Most of the canoes had two paddlers, but a couple of boats had three. One of these was a boat with Marge and Rosa in the bow and stern with Billy sitting on the floor in the middle. Billy always marched to his own drum. At one point, Buck was yelling for everyone to stop. Billy, thinking he would be helpful, reached up and grabbed a branch of a tree to hold the boat.  His choice of branches wasn’t the best. He picked a rotted one, that broke off and fell across the canoe. Luckily, they didn’t capsize. Seeing this large branch straddle the canoe, like out-riggers, gave us all a laugh.  

At lunch, on a high bluff overlooking a bend in the river, clouds began to come in and the temperature cooled. Buck hurried us on, saying we might be getting some rain. But it never did rain that day and by mid-afternoon, we were pulling our canoes out and loading them on the trailer for the trip back to Camp Kirkwood.

This was my first river canoe trip. I’d paddled a canoe on a lake at scout camp, but there was something about the river where every bend held new possibilities. The Black River gets its name from the dark water that’s stained by the tannin acid from the cypress which grow in the swamps around the river. Although I didn’t know it at the time, we’d canoed through swamps that contained some of the oldest trees in the Eastern United States. One tree there is over 2400 years old.  But that didn’t matter, I was hooked. 

Not long after this trip, I began working at Wilson’s Supermarket (for the tread of my time at Wilson’s start with this post). I immediately started looking at canoes and saving some money. My dad suggested that before buying a new canoe I try to find a used one. We placed an ad in the classified section of the Star News. It was a simple advertisement, “Wanted: A Canoe” and included our phone number.  A few days later, while at school, a man from Southport called and left me a message.  I called him back. A day or two later, my father drove me over to look at his Grumman Canoe.  

The man was moving and needed to sell it and offered it to me for $60. At this time, a new would have cost me nearly $350. I brought it and we tied it to the top of my father’s car and drove home, stopping along the way to buy paddles and life jackets. 

Coming off the Waccamaw River (early 1980s)

Over the next ten years, I got more than my money’s worth out of the canoe. That $60 investment was the best I’ve ever made as it provided me over a decade of explorations all over North Carolina, and into Tennessee and Virginia. But mostly I used it to paddle the black water swamps of Eastern North Carolina. In addition to the Black River, I paddled the upper part of the Northeast Cape Fear River, the South River, Colly Creek, the Waccamaw River, Town Creek, Lockwood Folly, Holly Shelter Creek, among others.   

I was heartbroken in 1985. I came home from the National Jamboree of the Boy Scouts of America to discover that during my absence, someone stole my canoe. It had it out behind the garage but had unlocked it to mow. I forgot to lock it back, so the thieves didn’t even have to bring bolt cutters. Thanks to the “replacement cost rider” on my insurance (along with a decade of high inflation) I was paid significantly more than what I’d originally paid for the canoe. I upgraded to a Mad River Explorer, the canoe I still have and which has been in waters all over the United States and deep into Canada.  

Paddling on Town Creek with my younger brother

The Haw River (another story about my canoe)

Blue Hole Canoes (along with other stories of my canoeing)

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Jesus, a Friend to All

Title slide with photo of waves breaking on Lake Superior

Jeff Garrison
Mayberry & Bluemont Churches
February 25, 2024
Mark 2:13-17

At the beginning of worship:

Religion often gets a bad rap. People see us as dour and lacking fun. Remember Billy Joel’s 1977 hit, “Only the Good Die Young?” The song is upbeat, but the lyrics are a little disturbing as he describes a boy trying to lure a “good Catholic Girl.” Part of the lyrics go: 

You’ve got a nice white dress and a party on your confirmation 
You’ve got a brand-new soul, and a cross of gold 
But, Virginia, they didn’t give you quite enough information 
You didn’t count on me 
When you were countin’ on your rosary,


Of course, teenage romance has little to do with the joy of life. We’ve all been there and it’s as much about heartache as about joy. Real joy, the joy we find in Christ, can be present in good times and bad. Billy Joel got it wrong. It’s not about momentary pleasure, such as making it with a girl. Real joy, real happiness, comes from knowing God our Creator knows and accepts us, flaws and all. In Jesus’ life and ministry, he showed such love as he enjoyed the company of people, including those often excluded from society. 

Before reading the scriptures:

Last week, the passage we explored ended with Jesus scolding the scribes who thought his forgiveness of sin was blasphemous. While they were chastised, the crowd was amazed with Jesus. He provided a paralyzed man the ability to walk. As we can imagine, Jesus’ fame continued to grow. 

In our text today, Jesus goes out by the sea, by which the city of Capernaum sat. Perhaps Jesus is still trying to get away by himself for some reflection and prayer, but if that’s the case, it wasn’t going to happen. As we’ve seen in other places, a crowd gathers around him. 

In a passage that echoes Jesus’ call of the fisherman,[1] Jesus calls Levi, a tax collector to follow him. 

Think of Levi more as a customs agent than an IRS agent. The first century IRS agents would have been a Roman citizen, not a Jew.[2] However, Jews were employed locally to levies custom duties. 

Capernaum, on the borderland to other providences, was a site for traveling merchants to pay their tariffs. Or, he could have been taking a toll on the fish brought into the city. There is evidence for such tolls also being collected during the first century.[3] If that’s the case, Levi would have known the fishermen whom Jesus had called. 

Regardless as to Levi position, he worked for the occupiers and engaged with the gentiles. Therefore, he was despised by those who considered themselves upright Jews. 

Let me point out something else. While Jesus calls Levi to be a disciple, his name does not appear in Mark’s list of the 12 disciples later in his gospel. However, Levi was “son of Alphaeus. Perhaps he changed his name, as later we find the list of disciples included a “James, son of Alphaeus.”[4]

The other option is Levi remained in the larger group of disciples that followed Jesus. Using a baseball analogy from the end of spring training, Levi didn’t make the cut for the majors. He remained in the minor leagues. We don’t know what happened, but that’s okay, for this story has a deeper meaning.


After calling Levi, Jesus attends a banquet with many such people who were social outcasts. Jesus, in our text, pushes the boundaries of his day to spread God’s extravagant love. We also continue to see opposition to Jesus grow.

Read Mark 2:13-17

Perhaps the Presbyterian Church’s greatest gift to the larger church is the opening question of the Westminster Catechism. In the patriarchal language of the 17th Century, the question is asked, “What is the chief end of man?”  The answer, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.” 

I love this answer. It’s beautiful. The focus is on God, as it should be. But our role is one of praise and joy. Sadly, not all our ancestor’s lived up to this worthy goal.

The critic H. L. Mencken defined the Puritan movement, one of the strands that make up the Reformed Tradition, as “The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.”[5]

But that’s not the way it’s supposed to be. We are to be gracious and loving. And if we desire godliness, should take our clue from the Almighty and be slow to anger and abounding in mercy and love.[6]

In today’s passage, we see through Jesus’ actions a display for how God loves the world and those who in it. Jesus calls an outsider, a tax collector, one who was seen as a traitor to his people. And like the fishermen earlier, Levi leaves behind his lucrative business and follows Jesus.  

Jesus doesn’t do this in a vacuum. He doesn’t slip into Levi’s home in the darkness of night to convince him to sign up as a disciple. Instead, he calls Levi in front of the crowd of people. Jesus wants the crowd to see the radical nature of his ministry, one that reaches out to those normally shunned by society. 

The gospel proclaimed by Jesus and told by Mark shows compassion to those who on the sidelines. It destroys the human tendency to separate people into groups of “good and bad.” As a Christian, we believe as Paul says, “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory” and that those who “call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”[7]

Last week I told you about reading Russell Moore’s book, Losing Our Religion. In a section of the book where he speaks of Christians losing our identity, he has some harsh words about the misappropriation of “Spiritual Warfare” by those who think they are fighting a culture war. We must be careful when we equate human beings with demons, Moore insists.  Metaphors like “rats,” “insects,” and “animals” to describe those who we perceive as enemies damage the gospel’s message. Essentially Moore calls for us to love others, not demonizing them.[8]

Jesus demonstrates to the crowd his love for the other by calling Levi. Perhaps Levi was as overjoyed as another tax collector, Zacchaeus, for he throws a big party.[9] Again, this notion that as Christians we are not to have fun isn’t found in Scripture. We can imagine Levi with all his friends in a great party. Sinners and tax collectors are present, we’re told. 

And notice that this isn’t just a meal. Perhaps it even foreshadows the Messianic Banquet at the end of history. Everyone reclines, which implies a closer gathering. They are not just taking care of body needs by eating but are enjoying each other’s company.[10]This immediately raises the hair on the back of the necks of the Pharisees. This is Mark’s first introduction of this important faction within first century Judaism. 

The Scribes of the Pharisees (some ancient manuscripts say Scribes and Pharisees[11]) question Jesus’ righteousness. After all, why would a righteous person, one who ritually clean, sit down and enjoy a dinner party with those who are unclean, who are sinners. 

Furthermore, if you look closely at the text, you’ll see that they don’t take their concerns to Jesus. Instead, they go to his disciples. This classic triangulation, going behind one’s back to cause a rift is alien to the gospel.[12] God wants to bring people together and they’re doing their best to break them apart. 

Jesus overhears what they’re saying and responds with a proverb that both rings true but is also somewhat of a backhanded slap. “If you’re well, you don’t need a physician, but if you’re sick, you do. And I’ve come not for the righteous, but for the sinners.” Of course, if we’re honest, we know none of us are truly righteous. We’re all sinners. Only Jesus was perfect.[13] His quip here maybe implies something different. Let me paraphrase Jesus’ words: “If you think you’re righteous, you won’t see a need for me in your life. But if you know you’re sick, if you know you’re a sinner, I’ll be a breath of fresh air, I’ll be the good news.”

When we compare the Jesus of the gospels to the churches and Christians of today, what do we see? “Jesus gained a reputation as a lover of sinners, Philip Yancey wrote, “a reputation his followers are in danger of losing.[14] Sadly, we’re often more like the Pharisee’s than Jesus. 

When I was a pastor in Michigan, The Olde Town Tavern, a bar and grill had a seedy reputation. It had been in the community for years. For the first several years there, I never step foot inside. But one day Ken, one of our saints who has since gone home to be with Jesus, suggested we go there for a burger. I immediately learned what I had been missing. They had the best burgers in town! And the folks were fun to be with. For the rest of my time in Michigan, I was a regular. 

Shortly after enjoying this burger, the fact I had been seen in the tavern came up in a Session meeting. I wondered where this conversation was going. But cutting the conversation off was an older Elder in the church. He told a story about one of my predecessors, the beloved “Rev. Sharpe.” Sharpe served the church from the mid-1920s until his death in 1958. He was also known to often go and sit at the bar and talk with the patrons. 

Friends, we must not forget those whom others shun. As followers of Jesus, we are not the judge. As Jesus shows, we’re to relate to those on the outside as we do to those on the inside, as friends.[15] Amen. 

[1] Mark 1:16.  For my sermon on this passage, go to https://fromarockyhillside.com/2024/01/14/you-catch-em-hell-clean-em-jesus-begins-his-ministry/

[2] James R. Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 2002), 82; William L. Lane, The Gospel of Mark (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1974), 101

[3]. Lane, 102; Edwards, 83.

[4] Mark 3:18. 

[5]  H.L. Mencken, A Mencken Chrestomathy see https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/34745-puritanism-the-haunting-fear-that-someone-somewhere-may-be-happy

[6] See Psalm 86:15, 103:8, 105:8 among others. 

[7] Romans 3:23 and 10:13. 

[8] Russell Moore, Losing our Religion, An Altar Call for Evangelical America (Sentinel: A division of Penguin/Random House, 2023), 131-134. 

[9] Luke 19:1-10.

[10] Edwards, 85.

[11] See footnote in the NRSV for this verse.

[12] On triangulation see https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-triangulation-in-psychology-5120617

[13] Hebrews 4:15.

[14] Philip Yancey, What’s So Amazing About Grace? (Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 1997), 158. 

[15]  Moore, 189. The Bible calls us to be “well thought of by outsiders” (1 Timothy 3:7 and 1 Peter 2:12), 189.  

waves on Lake Superior
Waves after a storm on Lake Superior (July 2012)

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Harrison Scott Key

book covers for Harrison Scott Key's three books

Meeting the author

Roughly nine years ago, I attended a reading by a local author at the Book Lady’s Bookstore in Savannah, Georgia.  I heard about the reading through Facebook. The book sounded interesting. At the appointed time, I left the slow life of the island for the hustle of the city and the struggle for parking places.  Upon entering the bookstore, I was excited to see a stack of yellow paperbacks with deer antlers stacked by the register.  “Hot dang,” I said to no one in particular, “Patrick McManus has a new book out.”  

Then I saw the author’s name, Harrison Scott Key: the dude doing the reading…  The air left my sails. Who was he? Key’s book utilized the same color scheme as had McManus. The antlers had me all excited..  

Then the reading started.  Harrison began by handing out PBRs. (That’s Pabst Blue Ribbon, in case you don’t know, the cheap beer from college days that’s now back in fashion).  Harrison wasn’t taking any chances with his audience.  Lubing us up, he soon had us laughing.  By the time he was half way through the reading, I knew I would be buying his book.  I thoroughly enjoyed it, pushing aside two other books that I was reading. His book was as good those written by McManus .

A few years later, I was at the party for Key’s second book reveal. It was held in the gardens at the Ships of the Seas museum in Savannah. He had definitely outgrown the “Book Lady Bookstore” as there were several hundred in attendance including Key’s three daughters. Not only did he sign my book, one of his daughters drew me a picture on the title page. Since I no longer live near Savannah, I was unable to be at his last book kickoff. It’s also his only book that’s not signed! Below, in addition to reviewing Key’s recent book, I included reviews of his first two books which I posted in earlier blogs.

Harrison Scott Key, How to Stay Married: The Most Insane Love Story Ever Told 

(New York: Avid Reader Press, a division of Simon and Schuster, 2023), 307 pages, no images. 

I finished the book a month ago and spent a lot of time thinking about it. How to Stay Married is an incredibly honest book. Key is honest about his desire to remain married despite his wife Lauren’s infidelity. He’s honest about mistakes he made. And he’s honest about his wife’s baggage. As for the latter, I might offer one more suggestion to Key, if he wants to stay married long-term, “Don’t write the book!” But it’s too late for that advice and Key has given us his story in a way that shows how messy our lives can be.

How to Stay Married can be very painful. It hits at places I’ve been in my life. It forced me to realize I haven’t always done everything, I should do to make the best out of relationships. Yet, the book is very funny. Key is a modern-day Mark Twain (and some of his insights into the Old Testament are very Twainesque). It’s an insightful book into human relationships, the church, scripture, and how our families influence our lives.

The Key’s move to Savannah when Harrison accepted a position at Savannah College of Art and Design. In time, they have three daughters, become active in Independent Presbyterian Church, and live in a quaint and comfortable home in a pleasant neighborhood. They become friends with neighbors and their children play with other kids. Unsuspectingly, Chad and Lauren have an affair. Chad is married and the father to some of the neighborhood kids. Both families have (or had) cookouts together. Key, who changes the names of key actors in the story, portrays this man in a comically plain manner. He wonders what his wife ever saw in such a boring ordinary person. 

Lauren wants out. Harrison wants them to work on their marriage and fears what will happen to their children.

Harrison seeks help from the pastor of his church, whom he names “Hairshirt.” He tells him his situation, in the hope to learn how he offer suggestions to save his marriage.  The pastor, not hearing Harrison’s plea, says his wife will have to confess and repent or be excommunication. This shocks Harrison, who imagines pitchforks being brought out. He wants to reconcile with his wife, not a witch trial. The pastor is from the Presbyterian Church in America, a very conservative branch of Presbyterianism. Harrison names him “Hairshirt” (think of those strict ascetic self-flagellating medieval monks). Afterwards, they leave the church and find a new church home.  In addition to encourage the reader to fight for a marriage, the book could also be used as an example of how not to provide pastoral care. 

While Harrison is estranged (at first just moving to separate rooms and later his wife moving to an apartment), he reads the Bible and provides interesting commentary on it. He spends time searching his and his wife’s past. His wife was from a broken home. Her father, also a Presbyterian Church in America pastor, abandoned his wife when Lauren was a child. Further turmoil came from their marriage. With Lauren’s mother dying of cancer, they move up their date in the hope she’d be able to be present. But she dies before the wedding. Their marriage begins in a rocky manner, but eventually things leveled out, or so he thought. 

Later in the story, after Lauren moves out, she realizes what she’s throwing away. She calls Harrison, who rushes over to her apartment and packs up her stuff. They also find places Lauren can live to keep Chad from seeking her out. By the book’s end, Harrison and Lauren are slowly rebuilding their marriage. 

As I said earlier, this is an insightful and extremely honest book. We see all sides of the main characters, good and bad. At times, I thought Harrison’s character was overly virtuous, but I had to admire the effort he made to save the covenant of his marriage. Thinking back 40 years, I wondered what would have happened had I been so determined. Harrison reminds us that marriage is often difficult and requires work. It would have been easy for him to have thrown in the towel and found someone else. While tempted, but he stood fasted and remained open for reconciliation because he loved his wife and wanted the best for his children. 

I am glad I read this book and recommend it to others. 

Harrison Scott Key, The World’s Largest Man: a memoir 

(New York: Harper, 2015), 336 pages plus 15 bonus pages including an essay by the author on memoirs along with additional information about the author.

The World’s Largest Man is about Key’s father and his own quest to become a father.  When Key was a child in elementary school, his father moved the family from Memphis, where you went to church to learn about the dangers of premarital sex). They moved to Mississipp

\i (where you went to church to engage in such sex).  (19).  According to Key, Mississippi is where crazy people believe what can’t be shot should be baptized (16), and children often learn child-birth before long division. (37) Here, Key was taught the ways of the woods.  

One early adventure was dove hunting at daybreak in which he realized that problem with the proverb about the early rising bird getting the worm.  They also get murdered. (32) Some readers may be offended by Key’s frankness concerning sex. In a few occasions he hints at the involvement of livestock.  I wasn’t overly shocked as I once had a boss from Mississippi named Ron. One night after a few beers where he told us about a boy from his school…  I’ve been through Mississippi, but Ron’s stories had always reminded me there was no need to linger.  Key has reminded me again of the wisdom of passing through and keeping your windows rolled up.   

Key keeps the humorous zingers coming as he tells about deer hunting, fighting at school, his first love, football and baseball.  He also shares about his father’s tough discipline and his mother’s love.  At times, as the reader, I felt contempt for his father. And then, at other times, I couldn’t help but admire him.  Key’s old man went out of his way to help children. He continued coaching little league baseball and football long after his boys had grown up and moved on.  Key always felt he was not living up to his father’s standards (something most boys feel, or at least I did).  

After high school, there is a gap and Key picks up his story when he is in grad school and is married.  He worries what his new bride will think of his family and there are some funny episodes around her first visits to Mississippi for holidays.  Once they have children, he sees another side of his father.   His old man loves grandchildren.  Eventually, Key is able to encourage his parents to move to Savannah where he is a professor at SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design).  A month later, his father dies of a heart attack.  

In the second part of the book, we see Key’s struggling to be a man and protecting his wife and three daughters.  Having grown up around guns, he marries a woman who wasn’t a “gun person. He leaves his guns with his parents.  One night, he arms himself with a serrated kitchen knife to check out a possible bad guy.  As Key says, “it would have come in handy had he come across an angry Bundt cake.”  (273)  After his father drops off his old shotgun and they experience a break-in, he obtains shells for the shotgun.  But then, he realizes it was a foolish idea, He adds motion sensor lights outside of his house and an alarm system.  

The last part of the book may not carry the humor of the earlier part of the book, but it has an honest feel as Key struggles to learn what it means to be good husband and a good father.  There is a tenderness to how he writes about his family and his aging father.   Key recalls the old truism from the country that things can kill you can also make you feel alive (238), but a few pages later he acknowledges that what really makes us alive is love. (246).  This is a book written in love, which is why I recommend it.  McManus has some good competition as does other Mississippi writers such as Willie Morris.  

I also liked the supplemental information provided at the end of the book.  These include tips about writing about one’s family, an essay on memoirs (a term Key detests), more biographical information, and his top ten list of funny writers of which I’ve only read four (Charles Portis, Douglas Adams, Flannery O’Connor and Mark Twain).   Key acknowledge at the front of the book that he had changed many of the names (since most of them have guns).

Harrison Scott Key, Congratulations, Who Are You Again? A Memoir

(New York: Harpers, 2018) , 347 pages including five appendices and no illustrations except an ink figure of a dog drawn by Beetle, the author’s daughter, while I waited for him to sign my book.

 Over the years I have enjoyed reading memoirs by authors as I learn how they approach the craft and gleam advice for myself. Annie Dillard’s The Writing Life, Eudora Welty,’s One’s Writer’s Beginning, Robert Laxalt’s, Travels with My Royal: A Memoir of the Writing Life, and Dee Brown’s When the Century was Young are books that come to mind.

I’ve also read many “how-to” books by authors who tell us how to approach the craft. Without looking at my shelf, I can recall Stephen King, “On Writing; William Zinsser, On Writing Well; Ray Bradbury, Zen and the Art of Writing; and John McPhee, Draft #4. All these authors of memoirs and how-to books have an impressive list of publications under their belt when they sat down to give advice on writing. Harrison Scott Key decided he’d write his how-to memoir immediately following the publication of his first book. But then, his first book won the Thurber Prize.

 I enjoyed reading Congratulations, Who Are You Again? even though I am not sure I would have called this a memoir. I’m not sure what it is.

Part of the book reads like a “how-to” manual for becoming famous and having a best seller. Another part of the book is the author’s quest to find discover his life’s purpose as he charges through much of his 20s and 30s like Don Quixote. Part of this books appears to be a sure-fire way to receive a summons to divorce court. Another part of this book is  Mr. Key’s depository for lists. And just in case you didn’t have your fill of lists within the text, Key fills his appendices with lists. What is it about all these lists? I was wondering why he didn’t include a grocery list, but concluded that maybe his wife, out of gratitude for now having more than one toilet in the house, has volunteered to shop for the family.

My hunch is that Mr Key’s lists are actually passwords. What a better way to keep them close at hand than to have a book he can pull off his shelf and quickly recall his password for Facebook or Twitter or maybe even First Chatham Bank. And, one final “what is it…” What is it about depressed people and pelicans? Key speaks of his interest in these “freakish and ungainly” birds while depressed. Personally, I find pelicans graceful. A former professor of mine, Donald McCullough, while dealing with depression, published a book titled The Wisdom of Pelicans. Like my former professor, I find pelicans graceful, not freakish. I’m not sure what’s wrong with Mr. Key. Maybe I should give up watching pelican’s fish, but that sounds too depressing.

That said, this is a funny book. And writing a funny book is one of Mr. Key’s life goals. He’s now achieved this goal twice, first with The World’s Largest Man, and now with Congratulations. Although Key acknowledges his indebtedness to a host of authors, he never mentioned the fabulous 1940 movie, “Sullivan’s Travels,” staring Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake. In “Sullivan’s Travels,” McCrea plays a movie producer who wants to make a movie about the seriousness of the Great Depression in order to move people to respond in compassion. But after a misfortune, he has an epiphany and realizes people also need to laugh. Sullivan learns this wisdom after at the end of the film. Key comes this conclusion on page 49. 

 My third complaint about Key’s writing (my first complaint was his lists, my second was his rude remarks about pelicans) is his overuse of misdirects. Key describes the great things that follow his things such as being published. Following such good news, Key rambles on about all the invitations to TV and radio shows to make an appearance. He seems to have a healthy crush on NPR’s Terry Gross. Others ask him to give keynote speeches. He’s also mugged by admirers on Savannah’s streets.

Just when the reader is about to believe there is a god who awards hard work, the reader is redirected into what really happened. Usually nothing. The exception is an actual mugging on Savannah’s streets. Actually, Key never wrote about being mugged, but it could happen. These redirects were funny the first 57 times this reader fell for this comic technique, but the 58th time was just too much. As I was coming to the end of the book, I thought that if there was one more redirect, I’d rip the book apart and toss it out the window. Thankfully, being near the end, I was reading lists and it’s pretty hard to redirect a reader from a grocery to a household chore list. I never knew lists could be funny.

  Complaints aside, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and laughed a lot. My biggest take-away from Mr. Key is that writing is like giving birth. I’ve heard that before, but Key attaches his unique twist that refreshes this platitude: “Writing is like giving birth, and it is, it is just like giving birth, in the Middle Ages, when all the babies died.” (114). Writing is hard work, and such hard work in this case produces a book that the reader can easily read and enjoy.

 And one final comment for clarification.  I am not the minister who accosted Keys in a restaurant asking to be included in his next book. Such a request is foolish for if Keys says the things he does about his wife and children, whom he obviously adores, what would he say about a coveting minister. Of course, the minister did find himself in the book, only he’s not identified. 

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Good Friends

title slide with photo of Kure Beach, NC

Jeff Garrison
Mayberry and Bluemont Churches
February 18, 2024
Mark 2:1-12

At the beginning of worship:

Last Sunday, I spoke about atonement. In our story from Mark’s gospel, we see that Jesus essentially trades places with the leper. I suggested this foreshadows what Jesus does for us on the cross. There, Jesus pays the price for our sin. 

However, we must be careful and not attempt to bind God in our own ideas. Yes, Jesus trades places with us to atone for our sin. But whether such substitution atonement for our sin is required can be debated.[1]

Ultimately, we must confess, the forgiveness of sins is something only God can do. And how God achieves forgiveness for us is up to God. We’ll see another way one is forgiven in today’s scripture passage. Jesus forgives a man without him asking for forgiveness, and long before his crucifixion.[2]

And forgiving sins gets Jesus in trouble. Upsetting the apple cart will cause that, and Jesus certainly did his share of upsetting the proverbial apple cart with the religious folks of his day. We should always be careful and remember that God is in charge. 

Before reading the Scriptures:

Let me recap the last couple of Sundays. Two weeks ago, we saw Jesus leave Capernaum so he could preach in the towns and synagogues of Galilee. Then, last week, we saw how he healed a leper when he was out on this mission. We don’t know how many towns and synagogues Jesus visited. We’re only told about this healing. It made Jesus so popular that he was unable to continue going into the towns because of the crowds. So, he begins to teach in the countryside and allow people to come to him. That’s all we learn about this mission. 

As we begin the second chapter, we learn that Jesus has returned to Capernaum. But, of course, the crowds find him, which is our stetting for the story today. 

Furthermore, we now are informed of opposition to Jesus’ work. Jesus came to proclaim that the kingdom of God has come near.[3] By proclaiming God’s kingdom, Jesus implies that this world doesn’t belong to Satan or evil powers, but to God. And we’ve seen how the minions of evil, spirits, and demons, challenged Jesus. Now we’ll see the attack coming from the scribes, the religious leaders of the day. 

Read Mark 2:1-12

Jesus returns to where his ministry began, Capernaum. I get a sense from the text that he may have been tired from his Galilee wanderings, and he retreats to his home. But it doesn’t take long for the word to get out that the hero has returned. Again, as we’ve seen, people flock to see Jesus and he resumes teaching. The room fills with people. People block the door, and we can imagine fill the yard around the house in the hopes to listen in through the windows This crowd reminds us that there were no fire marshals in the first century to regulate how many people could safely gather in one spot. 

Again, as we’ve seen before,[4] Mark leaves off the details about what Jesus said. The story instead illustrates something else. Mark shows how the opposition to Jesus grew. While Jesus heals a man, the story goes deeper than Jesus just being a Great Healer.

A group of people bring a paralyzed friend in the hope Jesus can help. We’re not told who they are or how they are related to one another. We only know they are on a mission. And their mission, the healing of their friend, demonstrates their faith. 

As they arrive, I’m sure, they’re overwhelmed. There are so many people who have gathered around the home in which Jesus is teaching that there is no way to get their friened inside. But these are determined friends. 

Palestinian homes at this time often had steps on the outside that led up to the roof terrace. Back then, space was a premium and it was economical to have the steps outside. The roof was an important part of the home in an arid climate. Especially in the morning and in the evening, when the sun wasn’t intense, people would hang out up there. It was a place to eat dinner and dry clothes and watch the sunset. These roofs were supported by beams, topped with reeds and limbs, and then covered of clay.[5]

These determined friends, noticing the empty roof, take their friend up the steps. They dig through this roof and four of them, each holding onto a corner of the man’s mat, lowers the man down to Jesus. It’s quite comical, I think. With the digging and commotion, it’s a wonder Jesus continued to teach. 

Imagine the dirt and reeds falling. Jesus and those around him brush twigs and sand from their hair. And then, descending as if in an elevator, the paralytic drops before Jesus. The friends of this man set things up in a way in which Jesus must act. There’s no way he can ignore the unnamed man. 

The faith and determination of this man and his friends impress Jesus. He says something that at first seems out of character. “Child, your sins are forgiven.” By calling the man a child or son, I don’t think Jesus meant that he was a kid. It was more endearing term which implies that, like a child, he’s totally dependent on others.[6]

But what about his sins. We read this situation and immediately think, he doesn’t need forgiveness, he needs healing. (Of course, we all need healing). But there was a belief at the time, supported within the Hebrew scriptures, that illness was often related to sin.[7]

If you think about it, sometimes someone can be so ashamed by what they’ve done that the shame incapacitates the person.[8]Now, they may still be able to walk, but they have a hard time functioning in society. Shame, which results from sin (unless one is a psychopath and without a conscience[9]), can be destructive. However, the man in the story appears to have many friends, which makes me lean toward thinking his illness comes not just from shame. 

We are not privy to the cause of this man’s illness. In a way, this story is not about the man healed nor his friends. It’s an encounter with the scribes. Jesus plants a clue as to his identity, but they are too blind to see.

Jesus, by forgiving sins, raised the eyebrows of the scribes, the religious leaders of the day. This was blasphemy, they think. Only God can forgive sin. And they’re right.

If we think about what Mark does in his gospel, he makes the case that Jesus is God. Jesus’ power is divine. He dominates evil spirits, heals diseases, controls the weather, and rises from the grave.

Knowing the scribes think that Jesus’ blasphemy deserves a good stoning,[10] Jesus decides to have some fun. He confronts their thoughts and the condition of their hearts. Then he asks a question that seems simple, but it’s not. “What’s easiest, saying your sins are forgiven or commanding the man to stand up and walk?” The first, the forgiveness of sins, implies the power of God. Unless you’re God, to pull that off is impossible. Furthermore, how can it be demonstrated? We don’t know the condition of the heart of another person. 

But the latter, telling a man to pick up his mat and take it home, can be observed. So, Jesus, to demonstrate his power (he’s the Son of Man), orders the man to pick up mat and take it home. And he does. Interestingly, as I pointed out earlier, neither inflicted man nor his friends say anything. They essentially serve as a prop to make a point to the scribes. While Jesus is impressed by their faith, from that point out, this is a story of conflict between our Lord and the scribes. 

As I’ve said, the scribes are right. Only God can forgive sins, but they are unable to see the divinity of Christ. I think Mark tells this story so that we might accept Jesus’ divinity. Jesus has the power to heal us, to forgive our sin, and to offer us life everlasting. Are we going to be like the scribes, who judged Jesus in their hearts? Or will we be like those present who were amazed and glorified God?

We must be careful in our judgements. I’ve been reading Russell Moore’s Losing our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America. He writes about how the religious leaders of his day decided the way for them to protect their position of authority was to make an alliance with those they hated, Imperial Rome. Summing up this thought, he warns of the danger of atheism in the church, with the most destructive form of atheism being those which think they believe in God.[11] Sadly, some people may proclaim faith, but their faith is in themselves. 

Were the scribes protecting God (who doesn’t need protection) or protecting their own power? Jesus, I think, exposes their atheism. They believe, not in God, but in themselves. 

What might we take from this passage? Certainly, we should see the divine nature of Jesus. We’re called to worship Jesus as Lord and Savior and God. We’re called to follow him and to place his interest above our own. 

Next, we also might take a lesson from our unnamed disciples in the story who brought the man to Jesus. Who might we help bring someone to Jesus? First, as we see in this story, discipleship is a group effort. Second, we need not to be deterred by obstacles (such as the crowded home). If we make the effort, as we see in today’s text, Jesus just might reward our faith by responding. Amen. 

[1] There are several theories of atonement. Gustad Aulen, Christus Victor (1931) outlines three main theories (Ramson, Substitution, and Moral Persuasion) and then presents a modified form on Ramson (Christ the Victor). 

[2] Brian K. Blount, Go Preach! Mark’s Kingdom Message and the Black Church Today (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1998), 174. 

[3] Mark 1:15.

[4] See Mark 1:21ff or my sermon on the text:  https://fromarockyhillside.com/2024/01/21/jesus-in-the-synagogue/

[5] James R. Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2002), 74-75. 

[6] Douglas R. A. Hare, Westminster Bible Companion: Mark (Louisville, Westminster/John Knox Press, 1996), 36.

[7] Cf. II Chronicles 7:24, Psalm 103:3, 147:3, Isaiah 19:22; 38:17,57:18. William L. Lane, The Gospel of Mark (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1974), 92. Even in the New Testament you find such thoughts.  James 5:14-16 appears to be a link between sin and sickness.

[8]See Hare, 36; and Morna D. Hooker, The Gospel According to Saint Mark (1991, Hendrickson Publishing, 1997), 85-86.

[9] For a brief definition of sociopath and psychopath and anti-social personality disorder see https://www.verywellhealth.com/sociopath-vs-psychopath-characteristics-and-differences-5193369

[10] Blasphemy was punished by stoning. See Leviticus 24:13-16.

[11] Russell Moore, Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America (Sentinel: Penguin Random House, 2023), 81. 

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Learning more about the Okefenokee

Photo of book, "Suwannee River"

Cecile Hulse Matschat, Suwannee River: Strange Green Land, A Descriptive Joureny through the Enchanted Okefenokee (1938, 1966, Athens, GA: University Press, 1980), 296 pages including a bibliography, glossary, bird and flora list, an index. Black and white drawings illustrate each chapter.

I picked this book up at a used bookstore several years ago. It was the perfect book to pack along on my recent ramblings in and around the Okefenokee. Originally published in the late 1930s as a part of a “River in America” series, the University of Georgia Press republished it

I have read many books about rivers. I enjoy an author taking me down a steam, telling me about the river, its history, along with the flora and fauna and wildlife around its water. This book does that in a fresh and unique manner. The author, an “outlander” from New York. She, heads into the Okefenokee Swamp looking for the headwaters of the Suwanee River in the 1930s. Drawing on her interest and knowledge of plants, she becomes known as the “Plant Woman,” and gains the confidence of the people who live in the swamp. She then writes about the swamp and river through the eyes of the native residents of the swamp. Not only will the reader learn about the region’s natural history but also gains an appreciation of the stories of the swamp. These stories are told in the swamper’s own dialect. 

The largest part of this book involves the Plant Woman’s stay with those living in the swamp. Here, we also learn the folk heritage of the swamp. Instead of a scientific understanding of the region, we learn of how the beavers and the native people had developed a truce, but when a new chief rose, he decided to make war on the beavers. In retaliation, the beavers flooded the land and abandoned it forever (there are no beavers in the swamp. We learn of tall tales of the ingenuity of who lived in the swamp. One “swamper” wedded bees and lightening bugs, doubling his production of honey because the insects could now work 24 hours a day. 

Matschat asks to see a still. They blindfolded her and take her by boat to a remote landing. There, she sees a still in operation and learns about moonshine. She introduces us to the “snake woman” who has a pet kingsnake. Some of boys catch a large rattlesnake with 21 rattlers They set up a fight with the kingsnake. Everyone knew the kingsnake would win, but the betting was on how long the rattlesnake could last against its arch enemy. She’s present as they boil off cane squeezings into syrup and learns about “old Christmas.” She tells of people’s encounter with the wilds. This included wild hogs, bears, and sandhill cranes. We also learn how they cared for each other. We are provided with recipes for delights like sweet potato biscuits along with the words to songs sung to pass time.  Her time in the swamp ends with a wedding. 

After her time in the swamp, she takes boat down the Suwannee River. Here, she experiences a variety of orchids and meets those who live by the river. She spends some time on old cotton plantations, with African Americans left behind after the Civil War. There, they eke out a living from farming, hunting, and fishing. Some may find this section difficult as Matschat tells of older members speaking fondly of slave days. This doesn’t ring politically correct today, but she found the former slaves still living in their cabins as the old mansions of the masters were rotting away and considered haunted. 

One of the stories an old man tells the children is about the rabbit. Supposedly, the rabbit used to have a beautiful long tail. Noah’s son, Ham, in the ark, spent his time during the rain playing the banjo. When his strings broke, Noah suggested he take the tail of the rabbits to create new strings. He did, which is why rabbits now have bobbed tails.

When she gets to the mouth of the Suwannee, she takes a boat down to Cedar Key. There, she meets a more international community of Cuban and Portuguese fishermen and hears more tales of pirates and hurricanes. She leaves her journey behind, taking an airplane from Cedar Key back north. For all her journey, you’d thought she was in the 19th or 18th centuries. Only here at the end we’re reminded that her experiences were in the 1930s.  I found this a delightful book and highly recommend it if you can find a copy.  

If one wants to learn more about the actual history of the Okefenokee, I suggest reading Trembling Earth. I first reviewed it in 2015 and have republished my review below. It’s academic and approaches the swamp’s folklore from a more objective perspective. She of how it was a refugee for runaway slaves, native Americans, deserters during the Civil War, and outlaws. She also tells of human efforts to drain the swamp, which became a folly.

Opening pages of book
A look inside at the opening page of the book
Photo of book, Trembling Earth

Megan Kate Nelson, Trembling Earth: A Cultural History of the Okefenokee Swamp (Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 2005), 262 pages including notes, index, bibliography, and a few photos.  

The Okefenokee Swamp is huge bog located mostly in South Georgia, just above the Florida border. Today, much of it is a National Wildlife Refuge. Prior to this status, the swamp existed as a barrier. Nelson calls it an “edge space.” The name, “Okefenokee,” comes out of a Native American term meaning “trembling earth.” This name describes the floating peat islands inside the swamp. Since there is only a little “solid” high ground inside the swamp, few made their home there.  

Prior to European immigration, there were a few native communities existing along the edges of the swamp. The interior was only probed for hunting. This changed over time as the Spanish began to populate Florida and the British began to move into Georgia. The swamp and the native populations served as a buffer between British and later Americans in the north and the Spanish in the South. 

Native communities began to move into the swamp during the Seminole wars of the early 19th Century, using it geographical barrier to their advantage. Another group to find the interior of the swamp beneficial were runaway slaves. At first, Georgia didn’t allow slavery. However, Africans had some immunity to the diseases that affected Europeans. That, along with the need for new areas to expand rice plantations , a push was made to extend slavery. Being close to Spanish Florida, some slaves would hide out in the swamp before making their ways south. Interestingly, the last group to find refuge in the swamp were poor white men. At first, they avoided conscription in the Confederate army during the Civil War by hiding in the forbidding swamp. Later, “crackers” who lived under the radar in the swamp, living off the bounty of the land. 

After the Civil War, serious attempts were made to “conquer” the swamp. The first was a failed attempt to drain the swamp through the St. Mary’s River to the Atlantic Ocean. It was with hopes that the rich ground could be utilized for farming. This attempt failed to understand the geography for most of the swamp drains through the Suwanee River into the Gulf of Mexico. 

After the bankruptcy of the dredging company, the swamp fell into the hands of northern timber companies who built “mud lines” (temporary railway spurs) which allowed them to harvest much of the cypress and pine within the swamp.  During this time, another group began to make the swamp their home. These “crackers” or “swampers,” both worked for and often resisted the various dredging and timber companies who attempted to change their environment. As the timber was being harvested, the interest in birdlife in the swamp increased as various surveys were made of the birds and waterfowl within the swamp were taken. This lead to the creation of a government protected wildlife refugee in the 1930s.  

Using a historicity which she labels “ecolocalism,” Nelson tells the history of the swamp through the stories of competing groups who relate to the landscape in different ways. These groups include Native Americans, slaves, colonists, developers, swampers, scientists, naturalists and tourists. This book is a distillation of the author’s dissertation. Although edited into its present form, it still maintains an academic distance from her subject. Only in an opening essay does she acknowledge having been into the swamp. This lack of a personal connect makes the book seem a little aloft. She does draw upon many of the group’s stories which makes the book very readable.  

twilight in the Okefenokee
Winter twilight in the swamp (photo taken in January 2017)
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Jesus Trades Places with Us

Title slide showing photo of cross on Iona, Scotland

Jeff Garrison
Mayberry and Bluemont Presbyterian Churches
February 11, 2024
Mark 1:40-45 (Leviticus 13:45-46)

Sermon recorded at Bluemont on Friday, February 9, 2024

At the beginning of worship: 

Some of you may have read Charles Dicken’s classic novel, A Tale of Two Cities. It’s been decades since I read it, and I don’t remember much of the book. Of course, I remember that memorable opening line, but even people who haven’t read it knows “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” I’m pretty sure that’s been a Jeopardy question. 

The only other part I remember is the ending. Charles Darnay has been condemned to death on the guillotine during the “Reign of Terror” in the French Revolution. While waiting for the day, Sidney Carton, a man who both looked like Darnay and who loved the same woman, visits. He comes with another friend and a plan. They drug Darnay and in his stupor, Carton exchanges clothes with him. Carton assumes the identity of the condemned, as the other man leads the condemned to freedom. Waiting for his turn at the knife, Carton comforts a young seamstress who faces the same fate, while contemplating the life he loved and would lose with the drop of the blade. 


What a sacrifice, to give your life for the life of your rival. As the scriptures say, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”[1] But what about when it’s not your friend? Carton gives his life for his rival with a woman he loved. And would you give your life for someone you don’t know?

Today, we’re looking at the closing story in the first chapter of Mark’s gospel. Jesus trades places with a leper. In a way, with the placement of this story early in the book, Mark foreshadows Jesus’ goal. As Jesus says in the tenth chapter: “For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.”[2] This is what atonement is all about. Jesus takes our place. He pays the price for our ransom. 

Before reading the Scripture: 

It’s taken us five Sundays to work through the first chapter of Mark’s gospel… From the prologue which announced Jesus’ purpose of proclaiming the kingdom of God coming near, Mark stacks on top of each other stories of Jesus’ power. He is no ordinary human. His power extends over evil and over illness. 

Last week, we heard about Jesus leaving Capernaum,. So far, he focused his ministry there. Now he heads out to preach in the synagogues of the surrounding towns. We’re given one example of this ministry as he encounters a man with leprosy or some kind of skin disease. This was a feared illness. The Old Testament prescribed strict guidelines for how to handle the illness. For the sake of the community’s health, the one with leprosy must live outside the city and keep away from people. 

In the middle of the book of Leviticus, there’s a long section dealing with leprosy. I’ll spare you all the details, but let me read these two verses which provides an idea of what those living with the disease endured:

The person who has the defiling disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head be disheveled, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease; he is unclean. He shall live alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.[3]

It’s often pointed out that the leprosy of scripture is different from the horrible diseases we know today by that name. It included a host of skin diseases which create open sores on the body of the victim.[4]  

Because Greek had another name for the disease we know as leprosy, the updated edition of the New Revised Standard Version identifies the illness only as a skin disease.[5] Such people were seen as contagious, and therefore for the good of the community, they were kept away from people. As one commentator noted, it wasn’t just bad enough to suffer with the disease, the person also received a sentence, a banishment from society.[6]

Now let’s look at this encounter between Jesus and a man with leprosy or a skin disease.

Read Mark 1:40-45

This passage marks a turning point in Jesus’ ministry. He has headed into the other town of Galilee to preach in the synagogues, but after encountering and healing this man with a skin disease, his popularity soars so high he can no longer go into the towns. His ministry is now limited to the countryside. Still, the crowds flock to see Jesus. 

In a way, if you were a strict Old Testament law constitutionalist, our passage shows two violations. The first comes from the man who approaches Jesus. He was to stay isolated. With unkempt hair and ratty clothes, he was forced to announce his presence as “unclean,” to anyone who may approach him. But the man has faith and feels this is his one chance to be clean. So, he ignores the law and finds deliverance from his sentence which forced him to live as the walking dead. 

The other violator to this strict law was Jesus. If you were without the disease, you were to stay away from those infected. For most people, this was a no-brainer. Who would want the disease. But Jesus reaches out his hand to the man. The illness doesn’t scare Jesus away. 

It’s more important for us to care for others than to be a strict legalist. I’ve been studying to take the test to renew my Amateur Radio license, which expired around the time I started college. One of the FCC rules that surprised me has to do with times of emergency. If life is threatened, you can break rules. If you hear a ships distress call, you can go to a frequency you are not licensed to use, to attempt to respond and get them help. 

There are also good Samaritan laws in many states. We can’t practice as a physician if we don’t have a degree or license. However, if there is no physician on the scene, we can attempt to provide aid when its either that or letting the person die. The law’s purpose is to protect the community and life. Jesus, knowing his powers, willingly intervenes even if it means going against the law. We’ll see more examples of this in Mark’s gospel.[7] Grace and love always triumphs the law. 

I recall the first person I knew with AIDS, back in the 1980s. If you remember, when the disease first appeared, people were scared to be around those diagnosed with it. This woman’s husband, a hemophilic, had contracted the disease through a blood transfusion. He died and she came down with AIDS. Her sister took her into her home so she would have a place to live out her remaining months. But there were people afraid of being around her. Thankfully, those in her sister’s church, which I was pastoring at the time, stepped in and made her feel welcomed.

I recall stories of those suffering from the illness who found hope and solace in those willing to give them a hug or to hold their hand as they were dying. As followers of Jesus, we are to show compassion and grace, even when it requires us to take risks. 

The man in our story today approaches Jesus reverently, kneeling before him. He has the beginning of faith. “If you are willing,” he says, “you can make me clean.” He knows of Jesus’ power. Think of how he felt when Jesus, without saying a word, reaches out his hand to touch the man. Jesus touched the untouchable. For Jesus, the law of love reign supreme, topping even the law of Moses. It’s only after Jesus touches the man, does he speak. Jesus’ word has power. The man experiences healing. 

Only then does Jesus follow protocol. He sends the man to the priests to be examined and proclaimed clean. Such requirements were laid out in chapters 13 and 14 of Leviticus. And he tells the man to keep it a secret about his healing. We’re not told whether the man makes it to a priest, but we learn that he could not keep quiet about his healing. I

It was as if the man received a pardon when facing a death sentence. He can’t help but to brag on Jesus, on what he had done for him. He becomes an evangelist, sharing the good news that he experienced. 

Our passage ends with a statement that Jesus can no longer go into towns because his fame has grown so much that he’s overwhelmed by people. So instead of going to the people, now the people come to Jesus. 

And while the man who had the skin disease is free to go into town, Jesus is stuck on the outskirts. As I mentioned earlier, this is an example of atonement, of Jesus trading places with us. The leper is freed, Jesus is restrained. Mark foreshadows what happens on the cross. Jesus willingly takes our place, accepts our punishment, so that we, like the man in today’s story, experience freedom. 

While I don’t suggest we ignore Jesus’ commands, I understand the man’s inability to keep quiet after his healing. After all, he’s now freed to live and has much for which to be thankful. And, for his blessings, he gives the credit to where it’s due. He doesn’t claim the grace he experienced to his own abilities or hard work. He gives credit to Jesus. May we be as thankful. Amen. 

[1] John 15:13. 

[2] Mark 10:45. 

[3] Leviticus 13:45-46.

[4] See William L. Lane, The Gospel of Mark (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1974), 84-85; Morna D. Hooker, The Gospel According to Saint Mark (1991, Hendrickson Publishers, 1997), 78-79; Douglas R. A. Hare, Westminster Bible Companion: Mark, (Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1996), 33-34. 

[5] The original NRSV, which I will be reading, uses “ a leper.” The updated edition of the NRSV says, “A man with a skin disease.” 

[6] James R. Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2002), 68.

[7] In the 2nd chapter, Mark writes about Jesus breaking the Sabbath laws. See Mark 2:23-28. 

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A stop at the Congaree

Title slide "A Stop at the Congaree" with photo of a kayak in the swamp
Cedar Creek

As I hadn’t planned on returning home until Monday, I decided to add another stop on my return. I have wanted to visit Congaree National Park in central South Carolina. The park is one of the nation’s newest, established in 2003. It’s also one of the least visited parks in the nation. The park consists of river bottom land along the Congaree River, which tends to flood.  A few weeks before I arrived, 80% of the park was underwater. While I was there, the water within the park was once again rising. 

Cedar Creek flows through the middle of the park, paralleling the Congaree River, which forms the park’s southern boundary. To the north, the land rises above the lowland, creating an area ideal for longleaf pine forest. Sadly, there are few longleaf, but I’ll get to that later.  

Leaving Folkston, Georgia, I determined to stay off the freeways. I followed US 301, through small towns in South Georgia, Nahauta and Jessup. This was familiar territory from my time living in South Georgia. The GPS on my phone drove me nuts as it kept trying to lure me back on I-95. The GPS even said it was the safe route as the National Weather Station reported flooding on other routes. I found myself rerouted to the interstate.  This I discovered this when I arrived in Hinesville. Turning the GPS off, I take a road that cuts through Fort Stewart, and picked up 301 again.  I drive through Claxton (the world’s fruitcake capital) and Statesboro and Sylvania, where I stopp for a late lunch in a Chinese restaurant.  While the rivers are high, they are nowhere near cresting over the bridges.

Crossing the Savannah River on an old bridge, I enter South Carolina. As I drive on, I listen to Edward Chancellor’s Devil Take the Hindmost, which is a history of economic speculation.  Traveling through towns like Allendale and Bamberg, who appear to have long passed their better days gives me time to ponder what happens when an economic bubble bursts.  I passed through Orangeburg, probably the largest city that I passed (Statesville might be larger, but I only skirted around it). 

When I crossed Intestate 26, running from Charleston to Columbia, I stop and grabb a burger for later, knowing that I didn’t feel much like cooking. 

Giant Loblolly Pine

I arrive at the Congaree National Park’s Longleaf Campsite at dusk. It’s a walk-in campsite, so I lung my waterproof bag containing my hammock, tarp, and sleeping bag a few hundred feet to my assigned site. I quickly set up my hammock, for there was heavy lightning to the north. But the storm took another path and by the time I was set to withstand the storm, the lightning has disappeared. 

I then set out to explore. The waning moon, only a few days after full, rose and offered plenty of defused light. I hiked the longleaf trail to the Visitor’s Center. Of course, everything was closed, but in the darkness, I came to understand that the name of my campsite and the trail to the Center was aspirational. I was camping and hiking under loblolly pines, the type of pines loved by paper companies. When the old growth longleaf were cut, they were replanted with loblollies, as they grow faster. The loblollies have shallower roots than the longleaf, who grow deep roots before they grow tall.  The only longleaf I’d seen in the dark were a few youthful plants near the outhouses. 

Returning to my campsite, it begins to drizzle. I retreat into my hammock and read a few chapters of Cecile Hulse Matschat’s The Suwanee: Strange Green Land, before falling asleep to the sound of rain. It rained off and on throughout the night. 

Coffee pot on my stove
(inside the fire pit because of the wind)

While I had enough water for the evening, I have to go find water for breakfast. I hike back to the Visitor’s Center and fill a couple of liter bottles. Coming back, I perk a pot of coffee and make some oatmeal. The wind slips through the pines as I enjoy breakfast. In honor of the Christian Sabbath, read several Psalms and commentaries in Robert Alter’s The Book of Psalms. The sun burns the fog and clouds away. Along with the wind, my tarp dries by the time I finish breakfast. I pack up a head back to the Visitors Center where most of the trails originate. 

Boardwalk with evidence of recent flooding

The park has an amazing 2 ½ mile long boardwalk that takes you deep into the cypress lowlands. At places, the water is just below the walking path. I can see where, a few weeks ago, the water crested over the boardwalk.  When I get to the trail to the river, I take it, but only make it about a half mile before the path is blocked by running water. I return to the boardwalk.

Along the way, I pass one of the largest loblolly pines I’ve seen. It’s huge. This is the natural location for such trees, as they tolerate water around their base better than the longleaf pines. These trees are obviously old growth and this one next to the boardwalk is thought to be the largest pine in South Carolina. 

Water moving into bottomland. The rotten trees create bird habitat

These bottomland swamps, populated with cypress, loblollies, holly, and tupelo (gum) trees remind me of the swamps I started exploring as a teenager in Eastern North Carolina. While there is some similarity to the Okefenokee, it’s also different, especially with the amount of tupelo. After hiking about 4 miles, I make it back to my car and drive to the boat landing on Cedar Creek. I must get one more paddle in before driving home.  

I eat lunch at the boat launch on the edge of the National Park boundary, a few miles from the Visitor’s Center. From the number of vehicles, it seems there are many others on the water, and a few are hiking, even though much of the trails are underwater. As I’m putting in, I speak with a guide who is bringing back a couple of patrons from a paddle. The water is high. He informs me that you can only make it about a mile upstream and three miles downstream. I head out, paddling upstream against the hard current for about 30 minutes, till I arrive at a place I can go no further without pulling my boat over a log. Then, I turn around and make it back to the takeout in only 10 minutes. 

I continue going downstream for a few miles, passing many boaters struggling to fight the current as they paddle back to the takeout. This water is naturally blackish, but with the silt from the rains, it’s milk chocolate brown. As I turn around and paddle upstream, I pass many of those in small kayaks still fighting to get back to their takeout. My boat, 18 feet long, is easier to paddle against the current. I also read the water better, and am able to stay out of the fastest current. 

One of the local paddlers from Columbia is impressed with my sea kayak and asks me all kinds of questions as he helps me load it on the car. He’d come down from the state capitol for a day trip and had never paddled this area. As we talk, we realize that we have probably raced against each other. He used to crew on a friend’s boat out of the Savannah Yacht Club and raced in many of the regattas I have also raced in. 

A little after 3, I’m loaded up and heading north, driving the backroads of South Carolina through the Sandhill region of the state. In an old tree in a pond next to the road, I spot a bald eagle, I slow down, but there is no place to pull over. The car behind me honks his horn and gives me the “Hawaiian good luck sign” as he passes. The bird takes off. I have no idea what kind of hurry he was in, but he missed seeing a beautiful bird. As I enter North Carolina, the light fades. I cut over and take Interstate 77 toward home. Stopping only for dinner and gas, I arrive home a little after nine. 

Selfie taken on Cedar Creek