Month: July 2021

Eighth Sunday after Pentecost: Proper 11
July 18, 2021
Year B

First Reading: 2 Samuel 7:1-14a
Psalm 89:20-37
Second Reading: Ephesians 2:11-22
Gospel: Mark 6:30-34,53-56

Collect:

Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom, you know our necessities before we ask and our ignorance in asking: Have compassion on our weakness, and mercifully give us those things which for our unworthiness we dare not, and for our blindness we cannot ask; through the worthiness of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, on God, now and forever. Amen

Before:

Let’s go over the past couple of Sundays in the Gospel of Mark…Chapter 5:21-35, Jesus was speaking to great crowd of people that had followed him. In these scriptures, was the women who had been bleeding for 12 years, she had spent all she had on doctors and nothing helped. She was considered unclean and couldn’t worship in the Synagogue. Because of her persistence, she found a way to touch the hem of his garment and with her faith, she was made well. He also healed the daughter of one of the Synagogue, leaders Jairus.

Mark 6: 1-13 Jesus leaves that place and goes home and is teaching in the synagogue…of course the leaders are not happy with him and neither are some of the people he grew up with…who is he and where did he get his wisdom?

Jesus gathers his 12 disciples and sends them out with nothing…go two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits. They went out and proclaimed that all should repent, they cast out demons, anointed some with oil and many who were sick were made well. 

King Herod, being the one responsible for beheading John the Baptist, heard all this and because some were saying…maybe John the Baptist has returned, he was worried.

I spoke last Sunday about promises we make and in order to save face, we have to keep the promise or lose trust in those who we have promised, and maybe we wished we hadn’t made this hasty promise. Herod had regrets and guilt. We cannot go through life without regrets and guilts.

Gospel: Mark: 6:30-34,53-56 

In today’s Gospel, the story is divided into two parts, but pretty much says the same thing.

We Rest In A Quiet Place:

The Apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.

We have seen this, where people put a lot into what they are doing, it doesn’t matter if it’s work, a volunteer position, taking care of aging parents or your spouse, your spending 24-7 doing it.

Soon your tired, burnt out, losing weight, not sleeping, not eating and you become short tempered and being a disciple of Christ Jesus, you’re not spending enough time alone and resting in God’s arms.  This reminded me of a prayer, I’m sure we all have heard, or different versions. 

Time to Pray

I got up early one morning and rushed right into the day;
I had so much to accomplish that I didn’t have time to pray.
Problems just tumbled about me, and heavier came each task 
“Why doesn’t God help me?” I wondered.
He answered, “You didn’t ask.”
I wanted to see joy and beauty, but the day toiled on, gray and bleak;
I wondered why God didn’t show me.
He said, “But you didn’t seek.”
I tried to come into God’s presence; I used all my keys at the lock.
God gently and lovingly chided
“My child, you didn’t knock.”
I woke up early this morning, and paused before entering the day;
I had so much to accomplish that I had to take time to pray.
Author unknown

Jesus listens to his disciples telling him all that they have been doing, and frankly he sounded quit worry about them. They sounded effective, but is it going to take a toll on them and then how effective will they be? Also, they were successful, just look at the crowds following Jesus and the disciples.

He wants to accomplish several things. He may have felt… they were getting a little ahead of themselves. When you see the results, they were getting, could it be going to their head a little? and not giving the credit to God!    Jesus knew what they needed, to be in silence and in prayer, to reunite and renew, so they can continue to receive the gifts… that God has given them.

As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.

Jesus, had not only compassion for his disciples, but he had compassion for the people. Their need was so great; the hunger they had for healing and for the power of God’s word was strong and he wasn’t about to send them away. 

Conclusion:

God calls us to rest in him. “Come to me…I will give you rest.”

Rest is important to your spiritual walk with the Lord, and many Christians today don’t appreciate the value of rest or keeping the Sabbath day holy. Rest allows our mind, body, and soul to renew and start with even more strength and focus.

Scripture is filled with God’s promises to provide rest when we seek Him. God is an endless source of peace and strength and He created us to need Him!

It may be hard to make time daily to build a space between here and in the spiritual world with God. But we can give him a few minutes every day, so we can go out and use the gifts he has given us through grace and he strengthens us when we are tired, he shows us the way to be compassionate, but also, he gives us the knowledge to know when to work and when to rest and pray.

Amen
Rev. Lola Culbreath

Seventh Sunday after Pentecost
Year B
July 11, 2021

2 Samuel 6:1-5
Palms:
Ephesians: 3-14
Mark: 6:14-29

O Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who call upon you, and grant that they may know and understand what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to accomplish them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, on God, now and forever. Amen

Gospel: Mark 6:14-19

After Jesus had healed the women who had been bleeding for 12 years and had raised and healed the synagogue leader, Jairus’ daughter, he left that place and went back to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. 

On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? 

People knew he was Mary and Joseph the carpenter’s son. How did this little boy get his wisdom?

Later He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over unclean spirits.  

KING HEROD heard of Jesus and his disciples, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some were saying, “John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason, these powers are at work in him.”

Herod had overheard it, could be John the Baptist? and he, being the one who was responsible for beheaded him, Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man.  “Has he come back for revenge”? Herod has a guilty conscious…don’t you think?

He is more then aware of this new knowledge and painfully sensitive and concerned with worry about it. He made a promise to this young daughter of his, who had danced at his birthday party in front of all his guest. He was so pleased he offered her “Whatever she wanted”. 

“Big Mistake”

She asked for the unthinkable… he had to keep his promise to her and that was the head of John the Baptist.  So? he would rather commit murder than appear to be a fool.

Promises We Make and Can’t Keep  

We all have made promises in our life that we could not keep. It happens all the time. If we don’t keep our promise, we risk being a failure and not sincere, we are human and sometimes each of us struggle when we promise something, after all it’s our word.

We are so committed to projecting images of success and happiness, that many of us intentionally project and image of our lives to others, that is a fake self not our true self.  King Herod didn’t want to risk being weak or a failure, he promised her in front of everyone…all his guest in attendance.

Our history of humans, we have grown up with broken promises, maybe as a child you were promised that your parents would take you to the zoo, a movie, the beach, Disneyland, only you were disappointed when something came up and you couldn’t go. 

Hopefully you learn to cope as a child in disappointment and broken promises…then later as you become an adult, you now are making promises, that maybe you too can’t keep. Why?? Because we don’t think about the consequences ….if we could not keep that promise!

Regret’s

Also, we all have done things in our past that we regret doing. And say to ourselves, why didn’t I think this through before I said or did that? Now that Jesus is out in all the county sides, people by the thousands are following him and praising him, Herod is now regretting what he did to John the Baptist.

There are literally millions and millions of people that regret something they said or did years ago and it is catching up to them. In recent years we have seen things come to pass in the public eye and the responds from many will be negative…as if they have no skeletons in their closet!! (Right?) and there are many that regret something, but it’s not public and they are dealing with it in their own way. Sometimes not good either. 

Forgiveness 

First, be sincere and admit the thing or things we have done. Asking God’s forgiveness, we must say what we did or said and admit we were wrong without excuses. And saying I am sorry God, please forgive me, I sincerely regret disappointing you Father.

There are many ways to find forgiveness with God, I like to use scripture in my prayer, God’s word is powerful, and he encourages me to use it when speaking to him. We have a forgiving God and Jesus gave his life for us, so that we would have eternal life.

(Romans 6:23)

The end is eternal life; For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Paul says: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Chris before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love.

Our past mistakes help us grow more in wisdom and faith, we root ourselves more deeply in God and God’s Word, and we begin to see that our lives have the potential to impact others with the love of God in a much deeper way than we can imagine.

We cannot control what happens to us in life, but we can make a conscious effort to create a new path for us and those who follow us, by being honest and true to ourselves. Maya Angelou said, “You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.”

Amen
The Rev. Lola Culbreath