Sermons from St. David's

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon by Mike Stutso, Deacon-in-training, based on Mark 10: 2-16

When Martin Hebold won the $600 million Florida State lottery a couple of years ago he was the happiest man on earth.Martin worked as a municipal engineer, and on the day he won, he remembers kissing every financial worry goodbye - and saying ‘hello' to opportunities that were beyond his wildest dreams.Martin says this is what he thought about when he went on a walk that day, right after hearing the news, strolling around the block where he lived, imagining what his new life was going to look like: Martin was walking on cloud nine.Researchers say Martin was engaging in an activity called prospection. It's when our minds do the work of imagining future scenarios. We conjure up these events and condense days, weeks, and months of future living into minutes of imaginative thought. It's something we all do. But, unfortunately, for all it's benefits, prospection is seriously flawed.After all, when you and I think of winning the lottery, we think of sitting in a bathtub full of $100 bills, paging through catalogs or scrolling through web page after page of previously unaffordable luxuries.And as helpful and needful and fun as prospection is, we have to understand its limits if we don't want to get burned, which is what happened to Martin.Within days of winning that huge amount of money, and the news spreading among family, friends, and to his community, Martin began to learn things about his newfound wealth that he had never imagined.For all his prospection, Martin had neglected to consider the downside of winning the lottery - like the amount of friends and family members who were in financial distress and now coming out of the woodwork contacting him for help.Or what happened a few months later when he joined the local country club. Martin didn't expect to be snubbed by members because he had not acquired his wealth the 'right' way.And Martin never estimated how much stress he was going to feel about his new and old relationships: did people like him because of who he was, or because of his money?While there is no question that money makes us happy, Martin's story reminds us that money has its limits.Here's another reminder...Shortly after he cashed his first lottery winnings check, Martin went out to the car dealership and bought his dream car. It was perfect. The right color, the right style, the right feeling that he had always imagined while driving that dream car. But six months later, he didn't feel the same way.After those few months, Martin realized that the car was a gas guzzler. It was hard to get in and out of. He was always worried about scratching it. And he no longer got the same euphoric feeling while driving it.Martin was experiencing something called the hedonic effect. This is what happens when we finally get something we've had our eye on, enjoy it, but then after a period of time get used to it, or maybe even get bored with it. This is what keeps us on gerbil wheels of production, to set our eyes unceasingly on the next desired item.And this didn't just happen with Martin's car, but with his house, with his relationships, with all of his possessions. The luster eventually burnished, and he discovered what that great theologian Yogi Berra once said, "No matter where you go, there you are."This is why happiness researchers say that happiness is best thought of as a vacation spot, one that we can visit, but never stay permanently.And that while money can certainly make us happy, it is not the most effective or reliable way to find contentment in this life.This is where Jesus comes in.-----Welcome to fall, or as church leaders like to call it, Stewardship Season, the occasion of our annual beg-a -thon. And it's always interesting to me to see how our lectionary readings, the prescribed Bible readings we use on Sundays, always seem to talk about money at this time of year.But in all fairness, it's not as much about subtle suggestions by the church hierarchy, as it is a reflection of just how much Jesus talked about money. Next to the kingdom of God, Jesus talked about money more than anything else. This subject is unavoidable in scriptures just as it is unavoidable in our lives.Jesus talked about it so much because of the long-standing notion that is as pervasive as it is false, that money offers us lasting contentment - that money can buy us happiness.And so we get this story about a young man in our Gospel today.He seems somewhat dramatic as he approaches Jesus and hits his knees! And asks him what he must do to inherit eternal life.Jesus rattles off six of the ten commandments and the young man says he is kept them all - as if he had never sinned in his entire life.The text then tells us that Jesus looked at him a lovingly, like a mother looks at her young child with cookie crumbs all over his face, as he swears up and down that he did not go into that cookie jar.Jesus then tells this allegedly sinless, holy, and perfect young man that if he wants to keep his streak going, all he needs to do i

Were we to allow the British comedy troupe ‘Monty Python’ to interpret our Gospel text this morning - then we would have to turn to that famous scene from a film called ’The Life of Brian’ when the movie’s main character tries to cross a Medieval bridge and is stopped by a soldier in a suit of armor called ’The Black Knight.’ A sword fight ensues - and the Black Knight gets his arm chopped off. ‘Let us pass!’ demands the aggressor. ’No’ says the Black Knight, ’Tis but a scratch. Fight on, or are you chicken?' The fighting continues until the Black Knight loses his other arm. ‘We shall now pass!’ declares the aggressor. ’No’ says the Black Knight, ’Tis only a flesh wound.’ ‘But the fight is over!’ ‘Oh, then you’ve had enough?' The fighting starts up again, then The Black Knight loses both legs - all the while contending that now armless and legless, his adversary is the coward because he has now walked away from the fight to continue his journey - as The Black Knight declares: ‘Come back here and I’ll bite your legs off!’ Yes, this Monty Python scene may be just as gory, graphic, disturbing, and even comedic as the declarations from Jesus we hear in our Gospel this morning - about losing hands, cutting off feet, and plucking out eyes - But it may also be just as inspiring when we consider that what’s at play here is not comedy or gore - but the notion of focused determination to do one thing above all else. And for you and me - it’s focused determination to pursue the spiritual life above all else. This is one of Jesus’ recurring themes - words of sober encouragement to disciples of all time - to you and me about making our number one priority the health and growth of our spiritual lives. And when we look at this lesson, we get it. After all, Jesus continually tries to hammer it home not just here, but with parables like the lost coin and pearl of great price, that famous quote we all know - seek first the Kingdom of God, and then all these things will be given to you. But just because something’s simple doesn’t make it easy, that in the great priorities of life, spouse, family, work, keeping safe from covid, physical fitness, travel, entertainment, care for our communities: Jesus is clear that the most important thing we are to continually have on our minds, the most important thing to do, our first priority, is our spiritual walk, that we should do all that we can to keep other things from interfering with that, cutting off and plucking out even really important things that get in the way, so that our never-ending work is to put God first in all that we do. What does that look like for you and me? What does that mean? How do we make that happen? Are we truly convinced that this is really a good thing? One thing is for sure, keeping focused on Christ and keeping the spiritual journey our top priority, takes real determination. And it's amazing what we can do when we set our minds to something. --------------- In the great state of Maine, there’s a company called Incredibles. Apparently there are people in Maine who like to smoke marijuana. However, while smoking pot was recently made legal, getting it delivered to your house is not. And there are a lot of people who smoke pot in Maine who like to get their weed delivered. The Incredibles is a company determined to find a way to do that. Here’s their unique business plan. Incredibles employs psychics. Since the company could not overtly deliver marijuana to you, it decided that a psychic detective agency could - because they would not be selling and delivering marijuana, oh no, no, but retrieving weed that their customers had lost - for a modest finders fee, of course. Their copy reads: ‘We have psychics roaming all over Portland, communicating with their deity, their spirit guides, and have religious moments of clarity! We can guarantee to find your lost weed and get it back to you ASAP!" So customers simply contact the company, tell them what kind of marijuana they “lost," tell them where they think they lost it, and the company sends out psychics to find the lost marijuana and then return it to its rightful owner - and don’t forget to tip your driver for the use of their exquisite, extra sensory gifts... Who thinks up these things? Determined people. Committed people. Single-minded people. The suggestion here is not that we turn our church into a marijuana dispensary, but that we should be just as creative, imaginative, and determined about the gospel of Jesus Christ. It makes you and me wonder: If God's holy people were as determined to get the Gospel out, as pot purveyors in Portland to pedal their product, what might the church look like? What if we were truly able to make our great priority the cultivation of our spiritual lives - to make it our first priority, that we would do all that we can to keep other things from interfering with that, cutting off and plucking out even really important things that get in the way, so that our never-ending work is

There is much to be learned from today’s Gospel lesson, but the words that jumped out at me the most are the words Jesus uses to teach his disciples how to measure their greatness. Jesus calls the twelve near, saying to them; “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” This passage offers us direction on how we are to walk through this world with a compassionate and humble heart, putting the care others before our own needs. But when I hear these words, I feel very conflicted. How does one go about living a life for others? How do we be the embodiment of the second greatest commandment to “Love our neighbor as ourselves”, in a world that teaches us to do the exact opposite? How do we learn to be last, when we are taught from the beginning that to constantly strive for more and to be first really is best of all? We are taught by the world we live in to measure our greatness first through the eyes of society, and if we are lucky, second through the eyes of God.The lessons of how to measure our greatness came to me at different stages and in varying context throughout my life. But it wasn’t until I entered the business world as a marketing and sales professional, that I became most conflicted with these teachings of Jesus. I have spent a lot of time volunteering in various ways throughout my life, doing my best to put the needs of others before mine. And as I entered the business world, I maintained many of my volunteer positions. However, once I arrived at the office, I gave little thought to Jesus’ teaching that in order to be first we must be last. From 9 to 5 it was all about being first. As a sales and marketing professional, I was measured by numbers and quotas, and being last on a “ranking report” such as this, meant failure and possible termination. I learned early on in my career that nowhere in being last could I possibly be first, and maintain my employment. What did matter was the number of clients I brought in, the size of the accounts, and what I had in the pipeline. The bigger the clients, the higher my ranking. The more prospects in the pipeline, the securer my position. This is how my greatness was measured through the eyes of corporate America.My thinking became very self-seeking I told myself the reason I wanted to be on top was because I wanted to help support my family, and be a good provider, and of course, this was true, to a certain extent. But at the end of the day when I looked myself in the mirror there was no hiding from the deeper truth. And that deeper truth was that I had begun to care more about where I came in on the ranking report and how my standing looked to the rest of my company,then just about anything else. I had earned a reputation as a top performer. I was proud of this, and I wanted to keep it, but at what cost?My wakeup call to realizing the cost of maintaining my high standing in the company came fast and hard the morning of my sister Sharon’s funeral. As I was preparing myself for what promised, to be a very challenging day, on every level imaginable, I received a call from a co-worker who I will refer to as Brenda. Brenda was aware that my sister’s funeral was that morning, so I answered the phone thinking that she was calling to offer her support, but this was not the case. Brenda was seeking information about a new client I had brought in and that she was helping to service.As Brenda began talking, not mentioning my sister’s funeral even once, my first thought was that she must have forgotten about it. I gently reminded Brenda about Sharon’s funeral, and then told her that I had sent the information she was seeking the day before. It is in the following response from Brenda that my wakeup call was delivered with a tone and sharpness that was void of any kindness or caring; Brenda’s response to me was “Donna, we all have problems, and I need that information.” As Brenda’s words hit me, I was stunned into silence, a feat that up to this point, few had been able to accomplish. I had no reply to the callousness of this response and to this very day, Brenda’s words weigh heavy on my heart for it was in this moment I realized who I was working for, how I was measuring my greatness, and God was nowhere to be found in that realization. It was in this moment that I realized how far I wondered from the teachings of Christ. There is nothing wrong with being successful in all we do, in fact, we should always strive to do our best, but it becomes a problem if our personal success becomes more important than other people.I realized that I had become part of a culture that helped make the phone call from Brenda acceptable, long before the day of my sister’s funeral. Through my actions and my continual quest to be on top, I fed my colleagues drive for more, and they fed mine. I not only condoned Brenda’s poorly timed phone call, I condoned the self-seeking frame of mind that led to it by the way I had chosen to measure my greatness. I had become a co-sig

In this July 18.2021 sermon Fr. Chris Yaw, rector of St. David's Episcopal Church in Southfield, MI preaches on the importance of compassion.

Fr. Chris Yaw, rector of St. David's Episcopal Church in Southfield, Michigan encourages us to never, never give up.