Mark 8: 31-38
Youth ministry is filled with fun, laughter, memories and experiences that often change the lives of the group who have come together in the name of Jesus.
Pastor Sarah shared a story today about a time when she was working in Minnesota with a group of 7th and 8th grade students.
She told us of a plan to take the group to a church across town for a retreat. The group was asked to work together to map out a route to the church using the city’s bus system. Once the plan was solidified, the teenagers gathered together to set out on their journey.
There is never a time when leading a group of youth that the leaders can expect things to go as planned, and this trip was no exception. Typically, there are always one or more teens in the group who offer a challenge for the adults.
Two of the boys arrived, ready to leave with the group, dressed in flamboyant country western dresses. They were determined to wear their outfits on their trip through the city on the way to the destination, 4 hours away.
The adults in the group worried that the boys would experience negative attitudes among the city folk they encountered along the way. Quite the opposite happened, people smiled, they asked questions of the group and seemed supportive of their activity. People who they never might have spoken to, learned that this group of kids were participating in a memory making activity.
Teenagers always seem to surprise us with their ideas and actions. They don’t fit into our well designed plans and it can be difficult for us to understand how they will fit into society and the normal vision for the future of our youth.
Our Scripture today, tells us of a day when Jesus shocked his disciples and followers with the message that he will suffer, be rejected, and that their lives will also be in jeopardy. The king they had been expecting to come and save them from persecution, was telling them that he was on a journey to the cross. Suddenly, the Messiah, their long awaited king, was not going to sit on a throne and rule over the world in a way that they prayed would come.
Like the youth in Pastor Sarah’s story, Jesus led his followers in an unexpected journey of faith that everything would be O.K. Sometimes we have to risk our own safety to change people’s minds if we want to change the world.
Jesus taught us that things will never go exactly as planned. Pastor Sarah’s teenagers taught us that sometimes we will be faced with a challenge that doesn’t fit in with our view of the world. It takes a brave soul and a heart filled with love to overcome our fears and share the Good News of the Gospel.
