Sermons:
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Living in Awe, Job 38:1-7, 34-41,
by Rev. Randy Quinn
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Not About You
Job 38:1-7 and Mark 10:35-45,
by Rev. Richard Gehring
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Stepping Up to the Plate, Mark 10:35-45,
by Rev. Randy L Quinn
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God and the Geber, Job 38:1-7, (34-41), by
Rev. Tom Hall
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Rewards of Servanthood, Mark 10:35-45, by Rev. Tom Hall
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A Life of
Service,
Mark 10:35-45, by Jim from B.C.
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Needle in a Haystack, Mark 10:17-31
by Rev. Randy Quinn
Some things seem impossible to us, like finding a
needle in a haystack, or putting a camel through the eye of a needle,
or, as Jesus suggests, for a rich person to enter into the Kingdom of
God (Mk. 10:25).
And while some of us breathe a big sigh of relief thinking we are not
rich people for whom Jesus says it will be difficult; the truth is, we
are the richest people in the world. If all we were earning was half of
minimum wage, we would be among the wealthiest 10% of the world’s
population.
Not many of us – if any – worry about whether or not we will have food
on our table tomorrow, for instance. When we pray, “Give us this day our
daily bread,” we already know the prayer has been answered because there
is food in our cupboards. We even have “disposable” income for
entertainment. We may not have as much money as the ball players do, but
we can afford to watch them play – and that makes us rich. You see, if
you have enough money to pay to watch a ball game, you are rich.
We are people who have money. So when we hear this story, we are more
like the rich man than any of the other people. And if we don’t place
ourselves in his position as we’re listening, then we probably haven’t
heard the story.
Like that man, most of us would profess to be good people. We can list
the Ten Commandments – at least most of them – and we say with some
humility, and with a certain amount of honesty, that we have kept them
from our youth (Mk. 10:20).
And like the man in the story, we find it hard to believe Jesus would
ask us to sell all that we own and give that money to the poor. We might
even get defensive about it. We don’t want to part with our furniture
set. We have collected too many little knick-knacks to part with them.
We have made too many plans based on our income or our savings to simply
let it all go. And what about those family heirlooms? What would we do
without a car?
In a society where mini-storage units are among the most successful
businesses, it’s hard not to realize that we have and keep more than we
need; but few of us want to part with the “stuff” stored in them,
either.
We might try to justify our need to keep some things by saying we can’t
go to work without the right tools or the right clothes. But Jesus
doesn’t make any exceptions. He tells the man to sell it all (Mk.
10:21).
We might justify not giving the money “to the poor” because we think
they are so unreliable. It would be a waste of our money. We can cite
examples of wastefulness that we believe led to their poverty.
But Jesus says, “sell what you own and give the money to the poor” (v.
21).
It’s no wonder the man is shocked by the answer Jesus gives him – so are
we! And the Disciples are as stunned as we are. But when they ask if it
counts that they have given up home and family and income, Jesus assures
them that they will receive their reward (Mk. 10:27-30). (He doesn’t say
what the reward is, by the way.)
But where does that leave us? [continue]
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