Month: September 2024

John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us [Mark 9:38]. About a half dozen folks who routinely read these weekly meditations shared the second grade with me back in 1958-59. Mrs. Davis, who taught about 40 miscreants at Robinson School (Gaston County) took neither nonsense nor prisoners. Once, when an errant marble had slipped from the jeans pocket of brother, Todd, during a rest period, Mrs. Davis made him stand before the others in the class, empty his pockets, and deposit his entire marble collection into the “special jar” that she kept…

Then he took a little child and put it among them, and taking it in his arms he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me" [Mark 9:36-37]. The irony in this week’s Gospel lesson, Mark 9:30-37 [the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost, RCL, Year B] is palpable. The disciples, unable themselves to cast out a demon from a possessed boy—Jesus always has to do the heavy lifting—find themselves in an argument about who among them is greatest. The disciples would have been comfortable within our society. Being gentle, meek, and kind all…

Losing Lives He called the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it …” [Mark 8:34-35]. Some years ago, at a Divinity School conference on church communication, we spent considerable time discussing how to make churches more appealing and accessible to newcomers, especially young families. We debated everything from signage to parking lots, noting the growth in non-denominational congregations, and how…

He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs.” But she answered him, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs” [Mark 7:27-28]. In last week’s Gospel, Jesus confronted “the Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law” [Mark 7:1] regarding their holier-than-thou attitude, reminding them—without criticizing the Jewish law itself—that nothing outside a person could defile; it was what came from within a person that defiled [Mark 7:15]. As if to illustrate that very point, in this Sunday’s Gospel lesson, Mark 7:24-37 [the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost, RCL,…