Children's Time:
Items to pack: can opener (helping at food pantry), cup (Jesus as living water), candle (Jesus Christ is the light of the world-the light no darkness can overcome), matches (getting that candle lit), Bible (where we get some help in living like a Christian) A little of everything = taking responsibility for own devotional life (given copies of this week's version of Children's Mission Yearbook for PCUSA)

A friend of mine used to tell about living in Saudi Arabia with her husband, stationed there with the Army. We weren't as informed then about Islamic customs as we are now, so we thought it was quaint when Pat told about how when American women in short dresses or slacks walked in the Saudi streets, Muslim men would snap switches at their legs. These women-these American hussies-were offending Muslim ideals of female modesty. The more sensitive Army wives who dressed modestly for the sake of their Arabic neighbors probably didn't know they were taking the advice of the apostle Paul-doing something contrary to one's normal custom, so as not to offend people with different customs. Paul wasn't concerned about dress code or international relations. He was concerned to increase the credibility-what we might call the market appeal-of the gospel, even if it meant living a more conservative lifestyle. To Paul, everything is about the gospel. A little of "everything."

That "everything" is what today's passages have to do with our Christian backpack. This time of year, the lectionary texts are supposed to reveal something about God, but the message seems mixed to me. When he turns down the healing jobs, Jesus shows that "popular" isn't what he was sent to be and do. Paul, on the other hand, says, "Try to fit in." I don't know about your parents, but mine told me not to follow the crowd. "Just because everyone else is doing it . . ." was the classic beginning to a heart to heart with my mother. She thought that the courage to think for oneself and acting on one's convictions was more important than "going along to get along."

If we'd read Corinthians in the NRSV today, we would have heard Paul bragging about being "all things to all people." Do we want our teenagers doing this? I don't want our youth thinking I'm telling them to do what everyone else is doing. Being a Christian in our culture often means looking and acting differently from the crowd. There's a difference between making the gospel "hear-able" (what Paul advocates) and "following the crowd" (what my mother hated). Can you see the difference between the big kids being willing to play little kid games to include them in the fun, versus cutting class because everyone else is? Or the difference between eating native food out of respect when you are in another culture, versus going out drinking because your friends want you to? Jesus, as you remember from the gospel lesson, was willing to do what he needed to do to fulfill his mission and to stay in touch with God, even if he lost a few clients in the healing ministry and confused his closest friends. The route he took was not one that got him elected student council president, but that wasn't what he was sent to do. Between Jesus and Paul, what we do not see is a gospel of take-it-or-leave-it, a Sunday-only hobby religion, something you can do if it's not too inconvenient. What we see is a different way of living that requires commitment, intentionality, and discipline-a little of everything. Paul isn't writing to potential converts. He's writing to people who have already heard Billy Graham and gone forward, people who've already committed their lives to living into what it means to be "Christian." People sitting in the pews on any given Sunday. People finding out that being a Christian involves a little of everything.

Paul is so funny. He says he is free and that he gives away the gospel for free, but we all know discipleship comes at a cost. I usually have a hard time figuring out what Paul means. Mark tells a story, which is easier for me to understand. When our story opens, Jesus is the newest and bestest snake oil salesman in town. One Sabbath he casts out a demon, goes home with his buddies and heals the chief cook and bottle washer. By sundown, every infirm person in town-from obsessive/compulsives to epileptics-has showed up to be healed. You know if you've watched any televangelists who do healing, they behave as if the more people healed the better. Jesus finished his day's work, took down his shingle, locked the door behind himself, and went off to pray. Not to upgrade his skills, not to plan a Worldwide Convocation of Healing Professionals, not to increase his support base. Just to pray. Alone. Then, when he's chided by his friends, he replies, "We've gotta move on." Why would he leave just when things were getting good? Because he had been praying so he was in touch with what he was sent to do. This is not "a little of everything." This sounds single-minded.

Jesus is modeling how to be a Christian, showing the in-and-out movement of discipleship. Jesus certainly knows the ultimate cost of following in God's way. Jesus gave more than "a little of everything" to his mission. He gave everything. But part of giving his all included being replenished so there was more to give. He was intentional about his relationship with God-and how that relationship bore on his ministry. When I was ordained three years ago Friday, one of my friends came to the ordination and gave me a charge for my ministry. Rodger showed me a bucket with an open water spigot at the bottom. Water was pouring out, and he reminded me that the bucket would soon be empty without the all-important detail at the top: water pouring into the bucket. Water pouring in to the bucket so that as quickly as it emptied, it was also being filled. That is what Jesus does when he goes off to pray. Paul says he is willing to be "all things to all people," because the gospel of Jesus Christ is more important to him than anything in the world. Even more important than having "I Did It My Way" sung at his funeral. Paul knew where he stood in his relationship with God, and that was what counted. Paul got to that place just as Jesus did: through commitment, intentionality, and discipline in his faith walk. Deciding over and over, day in and day out, to ask for God's help in becoming the person God created him to be.

If you're going on an extended trip, a little bit of everything is a good idea. It's that Scout thing about being prepared-for every eventuality. Rick thinks that when I pack for a trip-any kind of trip-I pack like a Scout. I suppose it's from years of living in the Midwest, where the threat of every weather potentiality requires every clothing potentiality. Or years of going places with children and being glad more times than not that there was an extra change of clothes in my purse, not to mention small toys, a book, and a light snack if we had to stand in line very long. As Christians, we are in it for the long haul-which means we need a little of everything. Giving ourselves away in discipleship (which is what we are called to do by virtue of our baptisms), means we need to have the means of replenishing ourselves-like that bucket with the open spigot being refilled at the top. For Christians, that replenishment really is "a little of everything," relationship with both God and a faith community. Prayer, scripture, personal worship, worship in community, service, witness, spiritual exercise. And not just on Sunday. Friends, may your backpack contain plenty of commitment, intentionality, and discipline. May you grow through prayer, scripture, worship, service, witness-you know the drill. But not just on Sunday.