God Is Disappointed In You is one of my favorite translations of the Bible. The book is a brief retelling of the books of the Bible, written by Mark Russell with illustrations by Shannon Wheeler (who is a mainstay cartoonist in the New Yorker). It’s not necessarily the book I reach to when I’m looking to plumb the depths of meaning, but it is usually a fun way of hearing the stories from a different perspective.
The scripture reading for the week is from the gospel of Mark (Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23). Here is the reading as given to us by God Is Disappointed In You (lightly edited to maintain decorum):
Later, the Pharisees caught Jesus eating lunch without washing his hands first. They started in on him, blowing their whistles and shouting, “The Law of Moses requires you to wash your hands! You have defiled yourself, sir! You have eaten lunch without washing your hands, and now you are defiled!”
Jesus rolled his eyes, and said, “People aren’t defiled half as much by what goes in their mouths as by the [garbage] which comes out.” Then he went back to eating his sandwich. The Pharisees decided they’d had just enough of this smart [alec].
The other reading for the week is from the Letter of James (James 1:17-27):
Also, despite whatever Paul may have told you, don’t think that having faith in Jesus Christ means you can simply stumble into Heaven like a drunk crashing on the couch. God doesn’t give out medals just for believing the right things. You think believing in God makes you hot gravy? It doesn’t. Even the devil believes in God. So the Almighty isn’t terribly blown away by your willingness to acknowledge his existence.
What God wants from you isn’t your belief, but your dedication. Faith is nice, but by itself, it’s worthless. If you’re one of these Christians who’s full of faith, but who lets widows and orphans starve to death, you need to either start doing Christ’s work or start calling yourself something else.
And just for fun, here’s a passage from Exodus:
As Moses grew up, he went to the best schools, ate the best food, played with the best dogs and generally lived the good life. All of which was built on the misery of an army of slaves. But then he learned the awful truth; he wasn’t a blue-blooded Egyptian at all. In fact, he was the sone of illegal aliens. Having learned of how he came to be in the Pharaoh’s family, it occurred to Moses that the only thing that separated him from the slaves being whipped outside the palace was a basket ride. This realization caused an existential crisis in Moses.
He turned his back on his adopted family, his country club, and all his yuppie friends, and went into the desert to sort things out.
While in the desert, God appeared to Moses in the form of a burning bush and told him to go free his fellow Israelites from slavery. Now, when a flaming shrub tells you to do something, you do it.
Just thought I’d share somebody else’s silly writing this week.
Peace,
Rev. Jeff Fox-Kline
If you're looking for a vibrant church and congregation in the Brighton, NY area, we welcome you to visit us! Our worship service starts at 10:00 a.m. each Sunday and all are welcome! Twelve Corners Presbyterian Church is located at 1200 S. Winton Road in Rochester, NY. If you're unable to join in person, that's okay. You can also join our livestream on YouTube or visit our Facebook page. If you have any questions, call our office at 585-244-8585 or email us using our secure contact form.
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