\u00a0<\/p>\n
January 20, 2008<\/strong><\/p>\n Tim Schmucker<\/strong><\/p>\n Text:<\/strong><\/p>\n Luke 10:25-37<\/strong><\/p>\n Mark 2:13-17; 10:17-22; 8:27-30<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Sipping whiskey from a paper cup,<\/em><\/p>\n You drown your sorrows till you can’t get up,<\/em><\/p>\n You think rock and roll will set you free,<\/em><\/p>\n You’ll be deaf before you\u2019re thirty-three,<\/em><\/p>\n Shooting junk till you\u2019re half insane,<\/em><\/p>\n Broken needle in your purple vein,<\/em><\/p>\n Why don’t you look into Jesus, He’s got the answer.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Why don’t you look into Jesus, He’s got the answer. Larry Norman, this song\u2019s singer-songwriter, was an influential mentor of mine during my early to mid teens, albeit at a distance. A leader in the \u201cJesus People\u201d movement around 1970, and the founder of \u201cJesus Rock\u201d music, Larry had abundant blond hair half way down to his waist; said he grew it out to make room for his brain. His trademark gesture was \u201cOne Way\u201d, and he put it to lyrics in his song with the same title.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>one way, one way to Heaven<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 hold up high your hand<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 one way, free and forgiven<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 children of the Lamb<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Why don’t you look into Jesus, He’s got the answer. While the song was written for Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and other contemporary rockers whose lives were in shambles, not for teenagers growing up in the church, it assured those of us growing up at Toledo Mennonite, that we indeed had the answer with Jesus, that we were indeed on the \u201cone way\u201d to heaven. We knew that Jesus was the answer even if we didn\u2019t know exactly what our questions were. Still, intuitively we understood that the questions were: because we were all sinful, how were we to be saved from hell? Or to state it positively how were we to gain eternal life?<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Larry Norman\u2019s music confirmed what we had learned at home and at church, that the answer to these questions was that through believing in Jesus \u2013 believing in his virgin birth, his death and resurrection – we are saved from sin for he took our place on the cross, and we therefore have eternal life. Jesus was God or God\u2019s son, or both. And he was coming again soon to rapture us home to heaven. In short, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.”\u00a0 (Those aren\u2019t my words, but I got them from a respectable source!) And there was more: we could take our problems to God or to Jesus (or both) in prayer, and things would work out, prayers would be answered \u2018cause God and Jesus love us. So, why don’t you look into Jesus, He’s got the answer.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 However, we then graduated from Sunday school and went off to university (me to a Mennonite one at that). And those answers that faith in Jesus gave, the answers we thought were eternal, began to shake and eventually crumble as we threw ourselves into studies in science, in theology and the Bible. We began to have different questions too. We learned that much of the Bible was based on the world-view of those times. We discovered that the Bible assumed a three-tiered universe; that is: a solid dome of Heaven above the Earth that rested on the Earth\u2019s horizon, then a flat Earth, and below, the waters of the deep and Sheol or hell. We realized that simply wasn\u2019t our universe. And we began to see that the supernatural stories we had taken to heart in Sunday school were either mythology whose meaning and truth was meant to be found beyond the historicity of the event or they were explanations of natural world occurrences that people feared or did not understand. I refer to the creation stories, the Flood (in spite of Evan Almighty!), the conquest of the Promised Land, Joshua and the sun standing still, Elijah, Baal and fire from heaven, \u2026 Jesus\u2019 walking on water, calming the storms, and his ascension to heaven, to name a few.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So, we were experiencing a massive collision between our modern worldview and our childhood beliefs. And we wondered why our mentors hadn\u2019t told us any of this. The modern worldview, with its image of reality as that of matter and energy, and its vision of the universe as a closed system of cause and effect, made traditional belief in God increasingly problematic. Moreover, we heard that many learned people, both in and outside the church, believed that the eternal God, the Grandfather figure with the long white beard, was in many ways a creation of humans to explain what they didn\u2019t understand and to cope with the fragility of life.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And then there was Jesus, who had<\/span> had the answer. For those of us who continued in Biblical studies, we discovered that:<\/p>\n \t<\/span>\u2022\t<\/span>First, the gospels are not primarily history, but “proclamation” (kerygma). The gospel of John in particular is highly symbolic and essentially not historical. The synoptic gospels are the products of a long process of development, shaped by Christian communities during the time of oral transmission, and fur \t<\/span>\u2022\t<\/span>Second, the oldest parts of the gospel tradition are Q (a collection of sayings) and Mark (the oldest Gospel narrative). In addition, some scholars believe that Mark was written for Jews who were followers of Jesus as a liturgy for the \u201csynagogue year\u201d, and the events recounted were symbolic and had their meaning primarily within 1st<\/span> century Jewish faith understandings.<\/p>\n I now realize that none of this made the Bible any less true, rather it was true in a different way. At the time, however, we wondered whether we could still \u201cbelieve\u201d in the Bible.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Well, this isn\u2019t a sermon about my generation\u2019s faith pilgrimage. Suffice it to say that many, including some of us here at TUMC, simply no longer believe in or accept the traditional theistic view of the Christian God from our childhood. We can\u2019t embrace a god who can be influenced at times by prayer to intervene in the details of human life, a god who blesses and cares for some people while leaving others without divine support; in short, a god who behaves like a tribal deity.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yet, we are still a people of faith. We are indeed a people of faith. With Levi the tax collector, we have chosen to follow Jesus even while we continue to ask in amazement \u201cwho is this man\u201d? We seek to see Jesus more clearly. While our modern and post-modern questions and answers are significantly different and nuanced, most of us do believe in a creator and creating spirit that we call God. We also believe that in the early followers\u2019 witness and proclamation of Jesus, we can know God, and we come to know what true, authentic human life is. We believe that the essence of God is love, peace, and justice, that Jesus embodied this essence, and that we are called to embody it in our daily lives as his followers. Plus, we believe that the best way to live this out is in community, the church. When we decide to follow Jesus, we commit to a group of like-minded followers, to discern together how to daily live out God\u2019s essence which we see in Jesus, that essence of love, peace, and justice. So ultimately, we believe that Jesus,\u2026 Jesus, well, he\u2019s got the answer, even if that is too clich\u00e9 for us. Jesus does have the answer!<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So how do we mentor our children? How do we share our faith with them that is both authentic and meaningful in our world? How do we lead them toward making the genuine commitments we hope they\u2019ll make? First, I suggest that integrity requires that we be honest with what we teach our kids. We must show them, in words and actions, a faith that is active and alive and dynamic, a faith that doesn\u2019t stumble in light of science or theological questions. In this way, we prepare our children for faith in a modern and post-modern world that has not flinched at deconstructing the most beloved ole time beliefs. And they\u2019re prepared for living in a multi-faith world, country and city where \u201cone way\u201d exclusivism can\u2019t be the answer. So, we guide our children toward a faith that gives answers to their questions.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And we start by doing it \u201cin community\u201d as we are indeed a people of faith. The diversity we have at TUMC adds richness and balance. I am thrilled that my dear friend Geoff is my son Derek\u2019s mentor, even though Geoff and I don\u2019t agree on numerous aspects of theology and Biblical interpretation. Yet I trust him. Together we are a people.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Secondly, I firmly believe that faith can\u2019t contradict what we know about the world and how it operates. So, can we teach our children about God, Jesus, and the Bible in a way that doesn\u2019t require that our and their intellect be suspended? For example, one evening at home a while ago, I was reading stories from \u201cMy First Bible\u201d to Christopher; the story was Jonah and the Whale. Christopher listened intently and at the end, responded: \u201cwow Pap\u00ed, did that really happen?\u201d Now, if I had asked my Dad that question 40 years ago, his response would have been: \u201cAbsolutely. The Bible is the Word of God, and so we believe it.\u201d While there\u2019s some comfort (or escape?) in relying on the traditional answer, ultimately it\u2019s unsatisfying and not authentic. How have you answered these types of questions? \u2026. For my part, I hesitated, took a deep breath (thankful my mom wasn\u2019t in the room), took another deep breath as we were charting new territory here and it was risky! \u2013 and responded with a question: \u201cwhat do you think Christopher? Can someone be swallowed by a huge fish and live in its stomach for days?\u201d He thought for a second and answered carefully \u201cno\u201d, and I added \u201cI don\u2019t think so either. So what does the story mean?\u201d We then proceeded to brainstorm about the meaning of the Jonah story.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Let me hasten to add that telling the stories just for the stories\u2019 sake is at times also valid. Sometimes we simply tell the story. We don\u2019t have to \u201cgo deep\u201d all the time. And we certainly don\u2019t want to wait until children have manage the concepts and language of symbol and metaphor before we tell the stories. Neither do we force a complicated explanation on a child who is not ready to understand a story at that level.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yet, what I\u2019m trying to plead for is that we mentor our children and teach them about faith, and demonstrate our faith to them in such a way that they don\u2019t have to discard their Sunday school faith when they become young adults, when they get to university. Now, some of you may think that we should raise our kids with the traditional belief framework, expecting and hoping that later as adults they\u2019ll make sense of it for themselves. I\u2019d like to dialogue with you on that because I think it\u2019s dishonest to teach our kids faith beliefs and language we ourselves struggle with or no longer accept. It\u2019s not fair to do this, knowing that as they begin to develop and learn about the natural world and how it is ordered, that what we\u2019ve taught them will need so many adjustments that it will be easier for them to simply dismiss it all, and not try to figure it out. With this form of mentoring, God, Jesus, the Bible are simply another Santa Claus \u2013 something fun and fanciful from childhood that is put aside as we mature, not to be totally forgotten, but certainly to be smiled at and not taken seriously.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Third, I want us to model for them from an early age how to approach the Bible with the respect and nuance it deserves. For example, many supernatural Gospel stories have even deeper meaning when seen as a metaphor or a symbol rather than literal history. And by understanding them this way, we are, I think, much closer to the intent of the Gospel writer. The way the author of Mark\u2019s gospel tells the stories of two blind men to whom Jesus gave sight is a good example. The two stories are immediately before and after the great central section of Mark that describes Jesus final journey to Jerusalem, and recounts sayings regarding his impending death and resurrection. The section also speaks much of discipleship as following Jesus on this journey. By placing these stories where he does, Mark gives them a metaphorical meaning: gaining one\u2019s sight is seeing the way of Jesus and deciding to follow him. Let\u2019s look at them.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Mark 8:22-26: Jesus Cures a Blind Man at Bethsaida<\/p>\n They came to Bethsaida.\u00a0 Some people brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him.\u00a0 He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village; and when he had put saliva on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Can you see anything?”\u00a0 And the man looked up and said, “I can see people, but they look like trees, walking.”\u00a0 Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he looked intently and his sight was restored and he saw everything clearly.\u00a0 Then he sent him away to his home, saying, “Do not even go into the village.”<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Notice that the man didn’t receive his full sight immediately.\u00a0 He received it in two stages.\u00a0 Yet he gains his sight by seeing the way of Jesus and deciding to follow him.\u00a0 Then comes the great central section from the rest of Chapter 8 through Chapter 10: Jesus on the road to Jerusalem with many teachings about following him, along with solemn sayings of his impending death and resurrection.\u00a0 The section ends and then we have 10:46-52, the second blind healing story.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The Healing of Blind Bartimaeus<\/p>\n They came to Jericho.\u00a0 As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside.\u00a0 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”\u00a0 Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”\u00a0 Jesus stood still and said, “Call him here.”\u00a0 And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart, get up, he is calling you.”\u00a0 So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus.\u00a0 Then Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?”\u00a0 The blind man said to him, “My teacher, let me see again.”\u00a0 Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.”\u00a0 Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n This time, after walking with Jesus on the road to Jerusalem, a blind man sees Jesus immediately, and follows him.\u00a0 We see Jesus more clearly after we’ve walked with him in life.\u00a0 This is what we have to share with our children.\u00a0 This is why we mentor.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Seeing Jesus.\u00a0 Seeing and Following Jesus.\u00a0 Our scripture passages for today do point to our questions, the<\/span> questions of our time – what is the meaning of life? how then shall we live? and they do offer answers that satisfy.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Deb and Madeleine read Mark 2.13-17: <\/strong>As Jesus was walking along the lake, he saw Levi, a despised tax collector, a collaborator with the hated Roman empire that had militarily enslaved Palestine. Levi was sitting at the tax booth where he extracted and extorted money from his struggling sisters and brothers. And Jesus said to him, \u2018Come, follow me.\u2019 Incredible! And just as incredibly Levi got up and followed him.\u00a0They went to dinner at Levi\u2019s house with many of Levi\u2019s colleagues along with a bunch of other sinful Jews. When the religious leaders saw that he was eating with sinners and tax-collectors, they said to his disciples, \u2018Why does he eat with this scum?\u2019 When Jesus heard this, he said to them, \u2018Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jesus meets all where they are at, and invites them to follow him. The first invitation Jesus gives to all is \u201cfollow me\u201d. As we mentor our children our lives will show that we are following Jesus, and the clear invitation is that they choose to do the same. We also see who Jesus spend his time with. Who do our children see us spending our time with?<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Our next two passages are found in the great central section of Mark, sandwiched between the two stories of Jesus giving sight to the blind, the two stories we\u2019ve just looked at.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The first, Mark 8.27-30<\/strong> is the very first story in this central section of Mark, it comes immediately after the 1st<\/span> healing the blind story. It grapples with one of the primary questions of the synoptic gospels: Who is this man, Jesus? And it repeats the two step process toward seeing Jesus that the blind man experienced immediately before. The disciples also need help, need two stages to see Jesus. Jesus asks his disciples \u201cwho do people say that I am?\u201d and they respond with various reports. Then Jesus asks them \u201cwho do you say that I am?\u201d and Peter responds with \u201cyou are the Messiah.\u201d Just like the blind man of Bethsaida, their seeing \u2018who Jesus is\u2019 involves two stages.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This is mentoring also. We adults didn\u2019t see who Jesus was all at once. We needed several stages. So too will our children.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Our next passage, Mark 10.17-22,<\/strong> also in the sandwich between the two stories of Jesus giving sight to the blind, has a sad ending. Someone chooses possessions over following Jesus: \u00a0A man ran up to Jesus and knelt before him, and asked him, \u2018Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?\u2019 Jesus said to him, \u2018Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. Jesus then remin \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Seeing and following Jesus involves changed values. It means metanoia! Conversion! The Grade 3-5 SS class learned this Greek word in the fall. Metanoia! A complete turn around. To follow Jesus our values need more than a simple adjustment, rather metanoia! Anything that hinders full commitment to Jesus needs to be given up. What do we need to give up in order to follow Jesus? What values are we passing on to our children? Are they metanoia values? Following Jesus values?<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And finally, in Luke chapter 10, in responding to a trick question, Jesus says that the whole Law is summarised in \u201cLove God with your whole being, and your neighbour as yourself.\u201d This is seeing and following. This is eternal life. Jesus explains who is our neighbour with the beloved story of the Good Samaritan. So loving neighbour means offering one\u2019s whole self to others, even the enemy. Meeting them where they are and treating all people with God\u2019s love and compassion. This is true seeing and following.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Seeing and following Jesus. Questions and answers. As we mentor our children and youth, we walk with them in their journey of faith, and we invite them to walk with us in ours. We see and follow Jesus together. In awe we say with the Jews of 1st<\/span> century Palestine: Who is this man, Jesus? And with Larry Norman we proclaim: Why don\u2019t you look into Jesus? He\u2019s got the answer.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m still looking into Jesus. And that\u2019s what mentoring is all about \u2018cause Jesus, he\u2019s got the answer. Amen!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0 Still Lookin’ Into Jesus January 20, 2008 Tim Schmucker Text: Luke 10:25-37 Mark 2:13-17; 10:17-22; 8:27-30 \u00a0 Sipping whiskey from a paper cup, You drown your sorrows till you can’t get up, You think rock and roll will set you free, You’ll be deaf before you\u2019re thirty-three, Shooting junk till you\u2019re half insane, Broken needle in your purple vein, Why don’t you look into Jesus, He’s got the answer. \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Why don’t you look into Jesus, He’s got…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons-a-worship-audio"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1140"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1140\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tumc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nther interpreted and shaped by the Gospel writers.<\/p>\n
\nds him of the commandments, and the man responds: \u201cTeacher, I have kept all these since my youth.\u201d Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, \u2018You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.\u2019 When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.<\/p>\n