Sunday, September 23 – Contemporary worship
Mark 9:30-37
30 They went on from there and passed through Galilee. (Jesus) did not want anyone to
know it; 31 for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, "The Son of Man is to be
betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will
rise again." 32 But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.
33 Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, "What
were you arguing about on the way?" 34 But they were silent, for on the way they had
argued with one another who was the greatest. 35 He sat down, called the twelve, and said
to them, "Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all." 36 Then he took
a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, 37 "Whoever
welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes
not me but the one who sent me."
Last week, some friends and I got together to do a little bible reading. We did a little chitchatting, got our special coffees and finally decided we should get down to our bible reading
business. We all grabbed our bibles. We looked at each other and realized that none of us was
very prepared…we didn’t have anything chosen. So I said, “We could look at my grandpa’s
confirmation verse.” I found it in his bible recently and really liked the verse. Okay! So we read
it.
10
do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen
you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.
It’s a beautiful, reassuring verse. We all agreed. Then we sat there. Hmmm! What else can we
say about it?
I finally babbled something about the word fear that I had read recently…that when we fear
something, we let it have power. And again. We all sat silently. Then one of my friends asked
this zinger of a question, “What is it that you fear today?” I can’t begin to tell you how powerful
that question was for me.
It had been a stressful, busy week…yes. But aren’t they all? For some reason, that week had
been worse than others. I was more anxious, more worried, more unfocused than normal. But
her question to us – she asked all of us, not just me – but her question just zeroed right in on
my problem. I don’t even remember if I gave an intelligible answer, but I did think about that
question a lot in the next few days.
But what a question!
And how great that she had the courage to ask it! Even if I didn’t have an answer, it was a
powerful thing. I thought about it a lot.
And yet, when we look at the gospel this week, we find the disciples have once again botched
things up! To be honest, I kinda like when the disciples botch things up. It makes me feel better
about how I botch things up!
But the disciples didn’t ask any questions! At all…
This text begins with Jesus teaching the disciples – not the crowds, not the followers … only the
disciples. This teaching is important stuff! This is what he wanted only them to know. This is not
information for the general public. This is especially for them. Jesus tells them that, “The Son of
Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being
killed, he will rise again.”
Now, granted, that is a confusing and horrifying statement. But the text says they did not
understand him and they were afraid to ask him. Let me just stop there for a minute. This isn’t
the beginning of their ministry together. They had been through a lot together already. This
story is already late in chapter 9 of the book of Mark. So I have to wonder why they were afraid
to ask him about a statement that talked about the death of their beloved teacher.
So then, they came to the town of Capernaum on the northern side of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus
turned to them and says, “So… what were you all talking about along the way?” And they were
silent….
They were silent because they knew that Jesus already had it all figured out. Because Jesus
knew that they were trying to decide who was the greatest among them. That was their
burning issue. Not about Jesus being the Son of Man. Not about his death and resurrection. Not
even about who would betray him, but who among them was the greatest.
Now, I hate to throw the disciples under the bus here and only talk about what they did wrong,
but they really blew it.
And then Jesus, with his deep sigh – and maybe a silent prayer for patience – sat them down
and reminded them again how things should be.
So throughout the book of Mark, the disciples come across as – well, as less than stellar
followers of Jesus. They fail to understand at almost every turn – not every time – but many
times, they fail to get what Jesus is trying so hard to teach them.
So what if they would have asked Jesus what he was talking about that day? What if they took
the time to understand what it was that he was predicting? What if…
My teenage boys like to have conversations with me that start this way.. Mom, what if….(add
story here?)
And I always say, if you have to start a sentence with what if, then I probably don’t want to hear
it! So, wouldn’t they think it was funny that I am standing here asking the question, what if…
What if the disciples had asked the questions?
What if they had tried to understand that cruel fate he was telling them about?
What if they hadn’t argued about who was first among them, but what if they had tried to
figure out ways to live out the ministry that this Son of Man had been trying to get them to
understand for all this time?
Their relationship with Jesus stayed the same throughout the book of Mark. They never did get
to a point of really understanding until Jesus was already gone. Would that relationship have
changed if they had asked those questions?
And what if… what if we asked Jesus those important questions too? What if we asked…”Jesus,
what is it you want us to do to live out your will for us?” or what if we asked, “Jesus, can you
help me understand?” or what if we asked, “Jesus, what do I do?”
I am not one of those people who always asks great questions. If I throw out a good question,
it’s only a fluke. Or I copied it from someone else. I have friends who always ask such great
questions and always at the perfect time. Like my friend from the beginning of my sermon. Now
she can always come up with a great question. But I don’t think that’s the point here. The point
here is that the disciples didn’t ask any questions. They didn’t even speak in this passage. Just
ask, Jesus says, just ask.
Yesterday, I was driving home from town – I live out in the country now – and I was listening to
an MPR interview with Chef Leah Chase who is the 89-year-old queen of Creole cooking from
New Orleans. I want to play about a minute of this interview. (9:33 – 10:47)
Don’t you just love her answer? She says some people are existing, but she loves living. So,
living or existing? Existing by getting up, brushing our teeth and going through the day. Or living
by being around people and doing things for others?
What if we asked questions? Would it make a difference? Would it mean the difference – as
Leah Chase said -- between existing with Jesus and really living out our relationship with Jesus?
So what if the disciples had asked their questions, what then?
What questions do you have about Jesus? What is it that you want to know? What is it that you
wonder?
I’m just asking… 
Let us pray, Jesus, our hearts and minds are full of questions, sometimes questions we are too
afraid to ask. Fill us with courage to ask those questions that bring us closer to you. We know
they don’t always have to be the right questions, but we pray that in our questions we can
become closer to you and live out our relationship with you, instead of just existing.