For three weeks, we’ve been looking at the same text from Mark 9. You’ve seen seven posts, spread among all the things each of you reads or listens to. I’ve written those posts, spread among all the things I read. And, for both of us, that’s been 2000 words in all the living we’ve done in that time.

I should be more accurate. I’ve been looking at that text and then writing for you in an unstructured way. Last week, I thought, “What I really want to do is to write coherent, cohesive sermon-like thing on this story from Jesus the way I do when I’m teaching.” On one hand, there is nothing stopping me from writing like that. On the other hand, there is nothing committing me to writing like that.

I wonder if that’s why Jesus offers the graphic image of self-mutilation: “If your hand offends you, cut it off.”

He had already talked with them about his own death. He had talked about carrying their own cross. Why? To follow him. To be with him. To be part of the kingdom.

In this room on this day, he said “be a servant, give up the status.” And, so they would understand that following means committing completely to the new way of living, he looks around the room, making eye contact with the twelve and families. He says take drastic action. Not that he wanted this group to actually chop off body parts. But he wanted them to understand what this change meant.

As I think about (what feels like) the chaos of my writing about this conversation between Jesus and his friends, what might I need to cut out of my distractions to think and write with clarity?

And I’ll let you have your own conversations.