During Pub Theology last week, while extending my welcome to the group of over 50 people who had gathered, the 1980s alternative rock song, “Personal Jesus,” by the band Depeche Mode came on in the brewery. It made my Gen X heart sing. It also gave me a spontaneous “way in” to our conversation that night about where and how we find meaning and purpose in our lives.
The song is on my mind again as I’m think about the story we explored in worship, the story of Jesus healing Simon’s mother-in-law in the gospel according to Mark. It’s a very personal act of Jesus, emphasized by the intimacy of Jesus taking the woman by the hand, and yet it is surrounded by very public acts of healing and exorcism. Is Jesus Simon’s mother-in-law’s “Personal Jesus”? What does her response to the healing tell us about her own answer to that question?
The worship video of this sermon is also available here.
“Have a happy Good Friday,” and it, well, brought about mixed emotions in me, to say the least. On the one hand, in a time when our culture is growing more and more secular I wanted to jump up and down excitedly and shout, “Yes! It is Good Friday! Someone knows it!” On the other hand – – happy Good Friday? Really? I’m not so sure that’s the exact emotion we’re going for here. But I think I’ll stick with my first impulse – – gratitude for the recognition that this isn’t just another day, that something happened, something important and horrific and life-changing, earth shaking, and kingdom altering even. Something happened on that Friday in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago, and it wasn’t good, and it most certainly wasn’t happy, but it was something that changed the world forever, changed the world for the better. 
On Sunday the proclamation of the word took place through the words of Scripture themselves. It’s not often that many of us hear this whole story – – from the anointing of Jesus through the last supper with his disciples to his death and burial. It’s not often that we hear how the crowds shouted “Hosanna!” on Sunday, wondered what’s coming next on Thursday, and then denied Jesus and scattered in the days that followed. It’s not often that we hear the fear of Jesus’ enemies turn into anger and, ultimately, violence.
seen someone like the person who probably drives this van. He or she is usually around at events or occasions that draw a big crowd. They don’t even have to be religious events, although I’ve seen people like this warning us “apostate” Presbyterians at our General Assemblies in the past. But I’ve also seen and imagine you have, too, these poster waving, self-identified prophets declaring “The end is near!” at football games and festivals. It may even be just what they call “Tuesday” in popular tourist spots like Times Square or the Washington DC Mall of monuments in the busy summer season. These prophets (I use the term loosely, very loosely) may turn up anywhere there are a lot of people around because they are trying to announce what they think is a very urgent message – “The end is near!!!” Judgement is coming! You better get your stuff in order, because this is your last chance. 
For Some Reason 