Superman 2 (September 20)
2009-09-14 by John Roberts
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Hey, it's Rocky again. This week our man is starting to talk really strange. He's telling us that someone is going to murder him, not trying to but GOING to. He does NOT need to be afraid of anyone. We've seen what he can do.He can destroy any enemy. When he told us this we were so shocked that nobody said anything. It was just like Mrs. Othmar's science class when she explained photosynthesis. Nobody understood a word she said, but were afraid to ask a question because people would think you were stupid. So that's how it got left. Nobody understood and nobody believed because we had seen what he could do.

We are all good guys, but there is still some jealousy. Everyone wants to be teacher's pet,without the others knowing it. While we were walking to the next town, we didn't think he was listening. We argued about how we were going to divide up the jobs when we took over.Everyone thought he was the greatest, so that he needed to be boss. When we got to the house, he asked us what we were arguing about. We were so ashamed that no one said anything - just like Mrs. Othmar's science class. He told us that if we wanted to be the greatest, we had to be a servant to everyone. That's the craziest idea he's had yet. I'm beginning to wonder if I've done the right thing.I think that he has forgotten that he is Superman.

Jesus Don't Teach Me This! (September 20)
2009-09-13 by Andrea Hodges
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vv. 30-32: The setting makes me feel uncomfortable because He doesn't want anyone to know, and He's trying to teach his disciples this deep, dark, hard secret.  Well, I wouldn't want to know either if I were His disciple back then.  And now that I'm His disciple today, I think I take that teaching (kill, three days, rise) for granted.  I really don't want Him to teach me all the depth that it might mean, except the resurrection part!  It makes me wonder:  How much do we still not understand about what Jesus is trying to teach us? And why are we afraid to ask? 

vv. 33-37:  How do we do this same thing in our ministries, our jobs, our family?  Plow ahead trying to be "the greatest," while ignoring what God is really trying to teach us?  (And what is he really trying to teach us??  The cross?...that's not very fun teaching.  Again, it's hard to want Jesus to teach me this.) Please define "servant" and "last." Really Jesus, I'd like some human parameters on this...I want to learn it on my terms, probably not yours.  Actually, the more I read this text, the more I don't like it!  On a bright note, I LOVE the picture of Jesus taking the little child in his arms!  The works side of me says: "How do I welcome a child in your name, adopt? Practice better hospitality in my house?" The grace side of me says: "Mmmm...maybe I don't have to perfectly answer all these big questions.  Maybe I get to just be the little child in your arms." 

 

The Unlikely Jesus (September 13)
2009-09-11 by Amy Malick
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Sunday when I go to church, I'll be with two groups of congregants. Upstairs, in the church, will be the well dressed, the folks who smell good after their morning showers, the people who know the liturgy and how to celebrate the Eucharist. Downstairs will be poor and hungry who've come off the street for sandwiches and a warm and safe place to spend the noon hour. I'm not sure the upstairs group actually sees its fellow seekers. Like Peter, who didn't want to hear Jesus talk about his suffering, we also tend to shy away from Jesus in the "distressing disguise of the poor," as Mother Theresa described the people she served. How does Jesus feel about our blindness to his suffering and rejection? "Get behind me, Satan!" he says. If we believe Jesus when he says that we must lose our life to save it, then we need to look for the suffering Jesus in our midst and see with faith God's redemptive work even when our eyes perceive squallor and loss. Help us understand how to live with hope, keeping our minds on divine things, when human suffering is so great.

Saving Your Life (September 13)
2009-09-11 by Lynn Turner
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I recently heard several interviews of folks who have had to drastically change their lifestyles due to the economic climate...some lost their jobs...others cut back in vacaton spending...some making tough choices in whether to downsize their homes...sell a car...etc...

All said that even though they had to give up financial and material possessions....somehow they had found a deeper level of commitment to family and what is important in life....

Seems to me that it is a perfect time to draw from this passage the idea of what it means to "lose your life in order to save it."

What sort of attitute and behavior characterizes the person who wants to save their life?

Superman (September 13)
2009-09-07 by John Roberts
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Hi, my name is Rocky. Up until now, my life has been hard. But now I'm onto something. I quit my job on the fishing boat and I signed up with this guy who is going to change the world. He is so smart - he knows everything and he has the power that we need and he knows how we've been kicked around for hundreds of years. There are twelve of us who have signed up with him and we are traveling around with him while he meets people and shows them what he can do.He's teaching us how he likes to do things. We've seen what he can do and it's going to be great. We've seen him make wine with nothing but water and we've seen him stop a storm dead flat. He's spending a lot of time healing people. It bothers us,but but we haven't been able to stop him from healing people that we don't mix with. He treats everyone the same- sometimes he forgets our rules and how hard it has been to be kicked around all these years. But he'll come around. We've seen what he can do. He talks about how things will be when he takes over. He talks a lot about his Daddy. He uses a lot of code words that we won't need when we're in charge. This weekend he brought us to a place where everyone is a person that we don't mix with. It's starting to bother us how he keeps doing this, but he still thinks that everyone is the same. I'll tell you why we aren't the same -- these people have this big church down by the beach and they worship all kinds of idols and eat all kinds of strange things that we don't agree with. While we were at the beach, he asked us what we thought people all around were saying about him. We told him that some people thought that he was a doctor,some a prophet and some thought that he was the person to come before our promised liberator. Then he asked us what we thought. I told him that I knew he was Superman, just waiting for the right time to put on the suit. He got real mad and said I was just thinking of what was in it for me and not thinking about what he and his Daddy wanted. He'll come around. We've seen what he can do. We'll be patient. He'll wear the suit. He can't forget how we've suffered. Our enemies will be crushed.

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