Mark 9:1-5
Mark doesn’t waste a lot of words on his introduction of Jesus. Jesus enters the frame without detail or ceremony as he steps into the water to be baptized by John. Remember that Mark is actually the earliest of the four gospels, so this is the very first time in the Gospels that we meet Jesus.
Now, at the beginning of lent, we encounter Jesus once again in this earliest account of his life and ministry…
I was raised in a Baptist church in the South. Stewardship was always a part of our lives and our conversations. My parents, my Sunday school teachers all talked about offering, giving, tithing, above a whisper. If I had actually listened to a sermon back then, I’m sure the pastor talked about it too. I knew that to tithe meant to give a tenth, from a very young age. My parents made it easy for the three of us kids. We all earned a dollar allowance regardless of our age, paid to us on Saturday evenings, in dimes…