Will Vaus

Eighty-six-year-old Joy Johnson, a veteran of 25 New York City marathons, died with her running shoes on. Johnson, who was the oldest runner in the 2013 marathon, fell at the 20-mile marker in the event. But she got up again, and she crossed the finish line in about eight hours. After the race she returned to her hotel room, lay down with her shoes on, and never woke up. Here’s the real kicker: Johnson didn’t run her first marathon until she was sixty-one years old. Ironically, Johnson was a career gym teacher, but a stranger to personal exercise until she took a three-mile walk in 1986. Then she started jogging and competing in 10-K races. By 1988 she had competed in her first New York City Marathon. Three years later she recorded her best time at age sixty-four: 3 hours and 55 minutes. After being a runner for a while, Johnson established a daily routine. She would wake up at 4 am, drink her coffee while reading her Bible, and then set out on an eight-mile pre-dawn run. “When you wak...

There was once a sign that said: Lost dog. Large cash reward for finder. Dog has three legs, is blind in the left eye, missing a right ear, his tail has been broken off, he was neutered accidentally by a fence, he’s almost deaf, but he answers to the name Lucky. Let me tell you: that dog is not lucky. That dog, like most of us, has been through a whole lot of mess. However, that dog is blessed because he has an owner who loves him and wants him back.  The same is true of you and me. We may not be lucky, but we are blessed because we have an owner who loves us and wants us back. His name is Jesus, and we see his tremendous love and his relentless search for lost human beings in our passage for today from Mark 2:13-17…. Jesus went out again beside the sea; the whole crowd gathered around him, and he taught them. As he was walking along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. And as he sat at dinner in Lev...

I would like to do something different this morning instead of simply reading the Scripture from Mark 2:1-12. I would like for you to close your eyes and imagine the scene described…. Close your eyes and imagine that you are living in first century Palestine and that you are standing outside a house in Capernaum by the Sea of Galilee. Can you picture the stone walls, and the roof made of earth and straw? Do you see a crowd gathered around, wearing robes, and having dusty, sandaled feet? Can you smell the sea air? Do you hear the sound of seagulls in the distance? Can you feel the warmth of the sun on the back of your neck? Perhaps you can smell the sweat of bodies packed close around and in this simple house with its few small rooms clustered around an open courtyard. Can you still savor the strong taste of the fish you had for breakfast? Alright, you can open your eyes, but now I want you to imagine who you are in this scene. First, there is a crowd of people. Why are you there in the...

Who are we afraid to touch?  There was a time when people were afraid to touch patients with AIDS or be anywhere near them. Elizabeth Kubler Ross, the famed author of the book, On Death and Dying, tried to establish a work with AIDS patients in Highland County, Virginia, many years ago. However, she was, basically, driven out of the county, I believe, in part, by fear. On the positive side, on a worldwide level, Princess Diana helped many people to overcome their fear of AIDS by meeting with AIDS patients and touching them.  In our text for today from Mark 1:40-45 we are going to read about someone in the ancient world who most people were afraid to touch, most people except Jesus. Listen for God’s word to you…. A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, “If you choose, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, “I do choose. Be made clean!” Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. ...

A June 2012 article in The New York Times online apparently struck a nerve for many people. The article received over 800 comments and was often quoted and retweeted. The following quote captures the essence of the author’s analysis of what he calls “the busy trap.” If you live in America in the 21st century, you’ve probably had to listen to a lot of people tell you how busy they are. It’s become the default response when you ask anyone how they’re doing: “Busy!” “So busy.” “Crazy busy.” It is, pretty obviously, a boast disguised as a complaint. And the stock response is a kind of congratulation: “That’s a good problem to have,” or “Better than the opposite.” Busyness serves as a kind of … hedge against emptiness; obviously your life cannot possibly be silly or trivial or meaningless if you are so busy, completely booked, in demand every hour of the day… [We’re] busy because of [our] own ambition or drive or anxiety, because [we’re] addicted to busyness and dread what [we] might have t...