This week's insides-twisting Bible reflection (Sick to my stomach) provides part of the beginning for what is now Sunday's sermon at Union Congregational United Church of Christ in Somonauk, IL.
"Disobedience" text
"Disobedience" podcast
Showing posts with label Mark 1:40-45. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mark 1:40-45. Show all posts
2/10/2012
2/07/2012
Sick to my stomach
Sometimes it’s a bug. Sometimes it’s something I ate. It doesn’t happen too often in either of those ways, but there are life moments where I remember feeling sick to my stomach.
And then there are other times where an emotional response makes me feel exactly the same way. When one of my children appears to have been injured while doing some ill-advised skateboard stunt it happens. When I feel so much stress from bad news, festering anger, or (but Christians don’t do that?!) worry, it happens.
And then there’s another “sick to my stomach” connection. When I see or even hear about God’s children being treated as if they don’t matter or as if they are somehow less worthy of care, compassion, and attention, I get angry. I don’t what to paint myself as someone who always responds to what is wrong in the world with anger or as someone who is always seeking to help others and doesn’t enjoy living with the nice things in life.
Nonetheless, injustice makes me angry. It turns my insides into knots and makes me feel sick to my stomach.
Jesus saw a man with a skin disease. This man was thought of a less worthy of care, compassion, and attention by the culture of the time. And Jesus’ insides were tied up in knots and he felt sick to his stomach.
The word translated as “moved with pity” in this week’s reading from Mark 1:40-45, splagchnizomai, (splangkh-nid'-zom-ahee) carries with it a sense of having one’s bowels twisted into knots.
Jesus responded, sick to his stomach, by healing the many with the skin disease.
Jesus could do that kind of stuff.
What makes you sick to your stomach? How do you respond?
And then there are other times where an emotional response makes me feel exactly the same way. When one of my children appears to have been injured while doing some ill-advised skateboard stunt it happens. When I feel so much stress from bad news, festering anger, or (but Christians don’t do that?!) worry, it happens.
And then there’s another “sick to my stomach” connection. When I see or even hear about God’s children being treated as if they don’t matter or as if they are somehow less worthy of care, compassion, and attention, I get angry. I don’t what to paint myself as someone who always responds to what is wrong in the world with anger or as someone who is always seeking to help others and doesn’t enjoy living with the nice things in life.
Nonetheless, injustice makes me angry. It turns my insides into knots and makes me feel sick to my stomach.
Jesus saw a man with a skin disease. This man was thought of a less worthy of care, compassion, and attention by the culture of the time. And Jesus’ insides were tied up in knots and he felt sick to his stomach.
The word translated as “moved with pity” in this week’s reading from Mark 1:40-45, splagchnizomai, (splangkh-nid'-zom-ahee) carries with it a sense of having one’s bowels twisted into knots.
Jesus responded, sick to his stomach, by healing the many with the skin disease.
Jesus could do that kind of stuff.
What makes you sick to your stomach? How do you respond?
2/15/2009
Disobeying Jesus
This week's Bible study blog entry for i.ucc (Don't tell anyone about this) provided the beginning of what proved to be a very emotional sermon this week at Union Congregational Church, United Church of Christ in Somonauk
2/09/2009
Don’t tell anyone about this
Here's this week's Bible study blog entry for i.ucc:
Jesus healed a man with a skin disease. Restored back to health, the man was warned by Jesus to keep quiet about the healing and to go to a priest so that he could be restored to the community he was outcast from because of his disease. The man didn’t listen. He went out and started telling anyone who would listen, “I’ve been healed! Jesus healed me!”
Did the man, healed of his skin disease, mess things up for Jesus?
This week’s Bible reading from Mark 1:40-45 says that Jesus couldn’t openly go into towns anymore – and instead stayed out in the country. It also says that folks still came and found him.
Do you think this man was the only one who talked? Do you think he was the only person who either knew of Jesus’ healings or had experienced them personally? Do you think Jesus really expected folks to keep quiet about miracles?
I don’t either.
The man who was healed told his story. He told everyone who would listen what Jesus meant to him.
Oh that we would be so bold in telling our story.
Jesus healed a man with a skin disease. Restored back to health, the man was warned by Jesus to keep quiet about the healing and to go to a priest so that he could be restored to the community he was outcast from because of his disease. The man didn’t listen. He went out and started telling anyone who would listen, “I’ve been healed! Jesus healed me!”
Did the man, healed of his skin disease, mess things up for Jesus?
This week’s Bible reading from Mark 1:40-45 says that Jesus couldn’t openly go into towns anymore – and instead stayed out in the country. It also says that folks still came and found him.
Do you think this man was the only one who talked? Do you think he was the only person who either knew of Jesus’ healings or had experienced them personally? Do you think Jesus really expected folks to keep quiet about miracles?
I don’t either.
The man who was healed told his story. He told everyone who would listen what Jesus meant to him.
Oh that we would be so bold in telling our story.
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