Who
is Important?
Mark
12: 38-44
When I was in my first year of college, I remember my Sociology professor talking about his experience growing up in England. He said that when there was a knock on the door at an awkward hour, usually on a Sunday morning, you looked out to see someone dressed up and carrying a briefcase. You immediately knew that it was a politician coming to convince you to vote for them, or a person representing their religious group wanting to convert you to their way of thinking. The way that they were dressed and the briefcase seemed to be a way of saying that they were important and it was imperative to listen to them. Sometimes it is necessary to dress properly and carry a symbol of importance like a briefcase but we always have to consider the motivation for the things we do. Are they to make you feel more important than other? Are they being used to be seen as a "cut above" the rest of the populous, at giving you some status above the rest of us -entering the statusphere. Are they used in a way of seeking fame and even fortune? Are they used as a symbol of authority and the need to control others? Or are they used in a way to serve the public better.
Certainly the motivation of some politicians is to be elected to serve the public (that is what they say anyway) but often it is a way of gaining status, control and in some cases, fame and fortune.
The desire for control and the thirst to be seen as important, to be recognize as some sort of celebrity is seen to be too often in the church. Often leaders in the church want to be seen as having special status. The desire to be the best or greatest in ministry, whether it is about leadership or building institutions, is a pandemic virus in the church. Also, among members in the church there is often an attitude that they are "special" that they are the elite in the eyes of God. There is lots of talk, pompous acts, regular worship and other activities in the institutional church but very little love.
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Jesus had some hard words to say to religious people who thought they were part of the elite but it was all show and no substance. They were glad to say they were God's people but did not follow the ways of God's love. In today's Gospel he said:
"Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! They devour widows' houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation." (Mark 12:38-40)
Jesus condemned the outward show that in a lot of ways masked the true motivation behind it which was really for a sense of greatness, importance, power, and status. Jesus on the other had said that if you wanted to be great in the kingdom of God, you were to love your neighbour as yourself and you were to above all be willing to be involved in helping those that needed it most. In other words, you were willing serve humanity in the best way that you could.
Robert Fulghum, who wrote All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, says that he placed alongside the mirror in his bathroom a picture of a woman who is not his wife. That's risky business! Every morning as he stood there shaving, he looked at the picture of that woman.
The picture? The picture is of a small humped-over woman wearing sandals and a blue eastern robe and head dress (sari). She is surrounded by important-looking people in tuxedos, evening gowns, and the regalia of royalty. It is the picture of Mother Teresa, receiving the Nobel Peace Prize!
Fulghum said he keeps that picture there to remind him that, more than a president of any nation, more than any pope, more than any chief executive officer of a major corporation, that woman has authority because she is a servant.
(As told in Giving by Brett Blair and Staff, www.eSermons.com )
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Who is really important in our world? We are encouraged to think of celebrities as most important. Television shows are devoted to their lives, and magazines and newspapers keep us informed of their every move. The movers and the shakers, too, are touted as important. Imagine how powerful the chairman of the Federal Reserve is! With a single sentence in a speech he can send the stock market plummeting. These are the people we are taught to regard as important.
However, I believe that the people who are most important are those that are willing to serve humanity in the best way that they are able to. Do you have that desire to serve - to even go beyond your comfort zone to enter into that arena where your greatest glory and the world' greatest needs meet? That is what is important. You don't have to wear your best clothes. You don't have to carry a briefcase. You don't have to have a special seat of recognition. You just have to have the heart full of Grace and the willingness to love in the world where there often is little love.
We must always remember that it is love that remains when everything else is gone.
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Each year, thousands of women and children become homeless as a result of domestic violence. "The Goddess Within" music project is designed to empower those whose lives have been affected by domestic abuse and to raise awareness of this issue.
"The Goddess Within" compilation album will showcase artists and their songs, written for or relating to those escaping the cycle of violence. The C.D. will be distributed throughout North America and proceeds from the sale of the C.D. will be donated to women's shelters.
More information on the CD is available at ARTISTS FOR CHANGE
My daughter Carly
is featured on the album with her
song The Mask.
The art for cover for the CD
album is the creation of another
daughter,
Mary Anne Molcan.
Another site to access is Ending Domestic Abuse
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Mary Anne is a very talented artist. She has a new web site called Faerie Artist where she displays her Art. You can access her site at:
