We are the Light on the Ridge proclaiming the love of Jesus in thought, word, and deed
We are the Light on the Ridge proclaiming the love of Jesus in thought, word, and deed
Sermons by Pastor Heidi M. Rodrick-Schnaath
For the next five Sundays we will be hearing about bread. Along with Jesus, bread will be the star of the show. Jesus will bless bread. People will eat bread. People will chase after Jesus to get more bread. And Jesus will also say that he himself is the Bread of Life.
When I was in seminary, one of my professors said that if a story seemed odd or unusual it was because either there was some deep symbolism involved or it just plain happened that way. Mark may have told this story, simply because that’s what happened. From the perspective of the storyteller, it provides an…
Now, you may wonder why God sent people like Ezekiel to talk to the Israelites. Why didn’t God just speak to them directly, and the reason is pretty simple.
Today’s gospel is one of those stories. I can remember hearing this story as a girl and thinking how wonderful it was that Jesus was concerned about Jairus’ daughter. The man was so sad about his little girl dying, and Jesus wanted to help her. It seemed like a family story. A children’s story.
It’s like the seed planting experiments you did in elementary school. You put dirt in a paper cup. You plant your bean seed. You water the bean. You talk to the bean. You make sure the bean gets sunshine and everything goes just like it was planned. The bean sprouts and begins to grow.
Today, we are still in Chapter three of Mark, but the people who put the lectionary together- the ones who decided what to read and when- they skipped a good part of this chapter. They probably did it because the two paragraphs that they left out are a bit dry and full of lists, but…