Sunday, February 4, 2024
Spirit of Hope Lutheran Church, Lincoln, NE
Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
(narrative lectionary)
watch this service online (reading starts around 23:23; children’s sermon starts around 29:05; sermon starts around 40:14)
Reading: Mark 6:1-29
Hehe, for the children’s sermon, I wore a large pair of headphones that completely covered my ears and then pretended I couldn’t hear anything they were saying. They finally convinced me to take them off, and we talked about the things that make it hard for us to hear sometimes. Sometimes those are physical things, but sometimes they aren’t – sometimes it’s hard for us to hear/listen when people are telling us things we don’t want to hear. Our long reading from the gospel of Mark has three stories that involve people not wanting to listen to what Jesus has to say, what his disciples have to say, or what John the Baptist has to say. We talked about the importance of listening, especially to God and to our parents and to other people that we know love us and have our best interest at heart – it’s important for us to be aware of the things that make it hard for us to listen, especially when someone is saying things it would be good for us to hear. And we gave thanks that God always listens to us.
One of the things I enjoy most about living in a city again is the opportunity to meet new people. But whenever these new people find out that I am a pastor, I have found that they almost always tend to have the exact same reaction. It doesn’t matter if they’re Christian or not, or even if they’re religious or not, they almost always do the same thing – or, rather, they stop doing the same thing. Any guesses what it is?
It’s swearing. People almost always stop swearing or apologize for swearing around me the instant they find out I’m a pastor. It’s honestly kind of hilarious to me, because if you’ve spent much time at all talking with me in casual conversation, you already know that I don’t give a flying ffffff…fruitcake about people swearing. I do try to rein myself in in church though, heh.
This reaction seems to reflect a particular mindset that people often have about clergy – that because of our vocation, we are somehow holier, saintlier people than the average person. But if you actually read some of the stories in the bible about the people God chooses to call – this whole cabal of losers, rednecks, murderers, sex offenders, criminals, and outcasts – you really start to get the sense that maybe being called into God’s service isn’t exactly a compliment. (lol)
This is the Day 