My mom turned 80 this year and when I talk to her it seems that she is always busy. We invited them to come over today and they couldn’t come until later because they were serving coffee at their church. Their life is full with all kinds of activities.

It seems that this is true for almost everyone. We are all involved in many good things. The demands of the family are always upon us, whether it is a parent, a spouse or a child. The demands of a job are constant. Our working hours take up at least 35% of our waking hours. Then there are a lot of opportunities to get involved in the community. I was impressed with those who organized and ran the Rosenort Festival last weekend. They did a great job, but I know that it took a lot of hours to plan and run that event. When did they find the time? On top of that, we know that it is healthy for us to take care of ourselves. We need to make sure that we get enough sleep, that we eat well and that we get some exercise. Besides that we have life goals that we would like to accomplish – we would like to travel or to accomplish various projects. Besides all of that, which is all good stuff, the church comes calling and inviting us to become involved in service in the church. With all of that good involvement, when do we have time to be servants of Jesus?

Two weeks ago when I spoke about the beginning of the end I suggested that in light of the imminent return of Christ, Scripture calls us to be faithful to Jesus as His servants. At the time I suggested that being a servant of Jesus does not mean quitting all of our other jobs, but rather seeing all we do as a service to Jesus. Therefore, if we are servants of Jesus, the main question of our life must always be, “How can I be your servant today?”

I want to think about that question a little more with you this morning by asking, “Why should we make being a servant of Jesus the highest priority in our life?” Most of us are quite comfortable in the life we live. Even though it is very busy, we like the things we are involved in. Why should we put serving Jesus ahead of caring for ourselves, serving our family, working in the church and doing our jobs? Perhaps the best way to put this question is to ask, “What motivates us to serve Him?”

The Bible gives us many reasons and this morning I would like to share 8 of them with you.

I.                   Because of God’s Mercy Past

I have seen many people care for their aging parents with great compassion. What motivates us to care so much for them? Surely one reason is that we recognize all that they have done for us when we were children and throughout our life. We know that they love us deeply and have cared for us and so we are glad to care for them. In a similar way, we are glad to serve God because of all the things that He has done for us.

In Joshua 24, Joshua was motivating the people of Israel to give themselves fully to the service of God. He inspired them with his own commitment and invited them to join him in that commitment. We read in verses 16–18, “Then the people answered, ‘Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods! It was the LORD our God himself who brought us and our fathers up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled. And the LORD drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the land. We too will serve the LORD, because he is our God.” Their willingness to serve God came from a recognition of all that He had done for them.

The writers of the New Testament do a similar thing. For example, in Romans 12:1, Paul says, “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” What is important to note here is the word, “therefore.” The reason Paul uses the word “therefore” is because in the previous eleven chapters he has explained all of God’s faithful acts of mercy towards those who believe.

Just think of all that God has done for you and it will not be hard to commit yourself to serving Him above all. Do it out of gratitude.

II.               Because of Love

The Taj Mahal  is a mausoleum located in Agra, India. It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The court chronicles of Shah Jahan’s grief illustrate the love story traditionally held as an inspiration for Taj Mahal.(Wikipedia) It is probably one of the most extravagant acts of love which has ever been expressed.

When we know that we are loved by someone or when we love someone, doing stuff for them is easy because we are motivated from the inside to respond in service.

In a context that speaks of servanthood, Paul comments in 2 Corinthians 5:14, “For the love of Christ urges us on…” the phrase “love of Christ” is ambiguous. Does it mean the love Christ has for us or the love we have for Christ? It could be either. Perhaps it is ambiguous because it should be either. When we know that we are loved by Christ, we are motivated to serve Him. When we love Christ we are motivated to serve Him. It is the love Christ has for us and the love we have for Christ which urges us on to serve Him with great joy and commitment.

III.            Because We Have Been Redeemed from Death

I enjoy the MASH TV shows that came out in the late 70’s. The series is about army doctors in a mobile hospital during the Korean War. In one episode a large Marine is treated by one of the doctors and after he recovers he feels deeply indebted to the doctor and vows to help him as much as he can in return for saving his life. The story becomes humorous when this great big marine volunteers to be a body guard to the doctor and beats people up who annoy the doctor. The doctor tries to persuade the marine that the debt is paid, but the marine keeps trying to help the doctor. The concept of the gratitude of the indebted is one that is common in literature. When someone has done something special for us, then we are moved to express our gratitude to them. How much more should we be moved to serve God because of what Christ has done for us!

This is the motivation alluded to in Hebrews 9:14 which says, “How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!” The text speaks about the power of the blood of Christ, which, unlike the sacrifice of animals, has actually cleansed us from acts that lead to death with the express purpose that we “may serve the living God.” When we realize the great thing that God has done for us we realize very quickly that we are deeply indebted to Him. We were actually dead in our sins but God has made us alive by the His gift in Christ. The only reason we live is because of Jesus. How can we not offer the rest of our lives to Him in grateful service? Let us not take this great gift of Christ for granted. Let us not dismiss it as less than it is. It required a great sacrifice. We have been given a great gift and we have every reason for eternal gratitude expressed in willing and joyful service.

IV.             Because We Belong to God

Another motivation to serve God is because we belong to Him.

There were primarily two kinds of slaves in the days when slavery still existed. One was an indentured servant. This person had sold himself to someone who had means in order to pay debts. An indentured servant still may have had their own home to live in and worked only as long as was necessary to pay off the debt. The other type of slave was one who was completely owned by the master. This slave was completely dependent on the master. His lodging, clothing, food and all he was came completely under the control of the master. He could not conceive of a day when he would be set free. He belonged to the master for life.

The word that is used in the Bible to describe our relationship to God is that of a slave for life, not that of an indentured servant.

Revelation 5:9–10 is one of several passages in Scripture which convey the idea that we do not belong to ourselves any more. There we read, “And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. 10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”

Please notice from this text that Jesus paid with his blood to purchase people for God. The outcome of this purchase is that they should become “a kingdom of priests to serve our God.”

Other passages of Scripture also convey the fact that we do not belong to ourselves any more. I Corinthians 6:19, 20 calls for honoring God with our bodies, which is a part of our service and the reason given is, “You are not your own; you were bought at a price.”

The implications of such a duty are frequently expressed in Scripture. I find Luke 17:7-10 to be quite challenging. Sometimes we think that we are heroes for all the things we do for Christ. But if we are slaves of Christ because we belong to Him, our service is just what we ought to be doing. Although I will always thank people for what they have done, I have sometimes thought that Scripture does not really call for that. When we have served, we have done nothing extraordinary, we have just done what we ought to do. This is what we read in Luke 17:7-10, “Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? 8 Would he not rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? 9 Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10 So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”

When we recognize the Lordship of Jesus and that we are his servants, we are moved to serve because that is simply what we ought to do.

Paul gives us an example of this kind of thinking in 1 Corinthians 9:16 when he says, “Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!”

In A Long Obedience, Eugene H. Peterson puts it this way, “The person of faith looks up to God, not at him or down on him. The servant assumes a certain posture, a stance. If he or she fails to take that posture, attentive responsiveness to the master’s commands will be hard.”

When we remember that we are loved by God and that He has redeemed us from sin and death then we recognize that we belong to Him and are His servants.

V.                Because We Are Free

Realizing that we belong to God may feel oppressive, but in fact that is when we are free. By belonging to God we are actually free to serve Him. There is no such thing as complete freedom. We are always under the mastery of something or someone. Freedom is truly found only in being slaves of God. Eugene Peterson says, “The Christian realizes that every relationship that excludes God becomes oppressive. Recognizing and realizing that, we urgently want to live under the mastery of God.” Therefore, we are no longer slaves to sin or slaves to Satan, but belonging to God we have been set free to serve Him. Galatians 5:13 explains that freedom when it says, “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.”

In A Long Obedience, Eugene H. Peterson reflects on this freedom to serve when he says, ““For freedom is the freedom to live as persons in love for the sake of God and neighbor…” He concludes that “A servant Christian is the freest person on earth.”

VI.             Because We Follow the Example of Jesus

I like to go cross-country skiing with Larry because when I do, I know that I will always have a good workout. Larry goes faster than I do and when I am with him, I try to keep up. His example motivates me to work harder. We are often motivated by the example of others and in a similar way, when we look at what Christ has done and how he has served we are motivated by His example.

When the disciples wanted greatness, Jesus encouraged them instead to be servants. He gave them, as motivation, his own example to follow when he said to them in Matthew 20:26–28, “…whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

That is the greatest example of servanthood, but Jesus also gave us another powerful illustration of servanthood when he washed the feet of his disciples. In John 13:12–17 we read that, while gathered with his disciples for a meal, Jesus did what was normally the task of a slave. Then we read, “When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”

Henri J.M. Nouwen in the book Creative Ministry asks, “Does Jesus Christ really motivate my life?”

In A Long Obedience, Eugene H. Peterson reminds us that “God presents himself to us in the history of Jesus Christ as a servant.” Following His example we are invited to the “posture of servitude.” He explains further, “…if the attitude of servanthood is learned, by attending to God as Lord, then serving others will develop as a very natural way of life.”

Do you want to be like Jesus? Then serving Him and others is the best way that you can follow His example.

VII.         Because God Says So

All of these factors work at the level our heart to convince us most deeply to be servants of Jesus. We are motivated by seeing who we are, knowing we are loved, recognizing what has been done for us and following the example of Jesus. But we can also be motivated simply by a call to obedience. The Word of God has many verses which call us to servanthood.

For example, Deuteronomy 10:12 says, “And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul…” and Psalm 2:11 says, “Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling.” And 1 Peter 4:10 commands, “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”

VIII.      Because That Will Be Our Role for Eternity

My niece is attending Darden Graduate School of Business in Charlottesville, Virginia where she is working towards a Master of Business Administration. During the summer she was able to get a placement in a business doing work that was related to her studies. She thoroughly enjoyed the job. She plans to spend her life in business leadership and having that kind of a job in summer was a great experience for her. She was glad to be doing something which will be what she hopes to do for a career.

Well I have an even better offer for you. You can begin to do now what you will be doing for all eternity. If serving God will be the occupation, preoccupation, joy and full time activity for the major portion of our existence, that is eternity, why wouldn’t we want to spend our life now doing what we will be doing forever? It isn’t that we will be forced to serve God forever. Rather, it will be what we are happy to do. It will be what we have joy to do. It will be the thing which when we have nothing else to do will be the first thing that we will want to do. And all because of the reasons we have already looked at, that we are loved, that we are redeemed, that we belong to God and that are free to serve Him. Revelation 22:3 reminds us, as it describes conditions in heaven when it says, “No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.”

Conclusion

As you can see Scripture is loaded with a powerful call to servanthood. What does such a call require of us? I believe it requires a shift in our thinking.

It requires a shift in the way we approach each day. The first question we ask every day should not be, “what do I want to do today?” Rather, we should ask each morning, “Jesus, what do you want me to do today?” Before our eyes open and the morning light pours in, the thought on our minds should be, “Jesus, this is the day you have made. How can I bring honor and glory to you today? What is your agenda for me today?” We may also say to Him, “Here are the things I know which need my attention, what do you think? What are the things on your list which need my attention today?” If we can begin to think like that for all the reasons we have just thought about, we will live as servants of Jesus.

It also requires a shift in the way we respond to opportunities. In the next few weeks, we will be hearing from SS, AWANA and we will be presented with other opportunities. I would like to invite us to have an open heart. Our first thought should not be, “what do I have to do?” Rather, I would like to invite us to ask, “Jesus, what do you want me to do?” To be a servant of Jesus and to ask this question does not mean that we do everything we are asked. Rather it means that we are willing to serve Jesus in the way He calls us to serve Him. The question is not, “Will I serve” but “Where will I serve.”

What motivates you? Is it love? Is it obedience? Is it freedom? Is it gratitude? Whatever the motivation, there is no lack of reason to be a servant of Jesus. May we be those servants!

Introduction

When you go on a trip with children, one of the questions which is often asked is, “Are we there yet?” We are interested in similar questions when it comes to the matter of life itself. The questions we ask are, “What will it be like in the end? How will it all happen? When will it happen? How will we know when it is going to happen?”

Sometimes when children ask, “Are we there yet?” the parents don’t answer the question, but they may suggest that they sing a song or play a game or, these days, watch a video. Jesus does a similar thing in Mark 13.

Today we will take a look at Mark 13 in the last message on the series from the gospel of Mark. It is a chapter which speaks about the beginning of the end and although we will find that it doesn’t answer some of our curiosity, it does give us important answers for living in anticipation of the end.

As we think about Mark 13, we need to remember that it is written following the cleansing of the temple in Mark 11 and the conflict with the Jewish leaders in Mark 11 and 12. During these days, Jesus left the city at night, but each day he and his disciples went to the temple. As they walked out of Jerusalem for what would be the last time before his arrest, trial and death, the disciples remarked to Jesus about the beauty of the temple. None of that temple is visible in Jerusalem today, but all the accounts which are written about it suggest that it was a very beautiful temple. It was large and situated on the top of a hill and so was visible for quite a distance around. It was well built and a most impressive building. The disciples were awed by it, but also awed by the importance of the temple to their people.

It must have been shocking for them to hear Jesus say with great emphasis that “not one stone here will be left on another; everyone will be thrown down.” Not only was the temple beautiful and strongly built. It was also an institution which was founded by God and represented the presence of God. The people placed their spiritual hope on the temple in their midst. Yet such a condemnation was appropriate. In Mark 12:9, Jesus had predicted judgment on the Jewish religious leaders because of their faithlessness. Now he was predicting judgment on the temple because it had become an institution, not a place to meet God. Significant historical things are spoken of here and for once the disciples realized this because it is in response to this warning of coming judgment that they asked questions about these things which to them would have meant the end.

I.                   The Questions Asked and How Jesus Responded

As Peter, James, John and Andrew were sitting on the Mount of Olives with Jesus, looking across the Kidron Valley at the city of Jerusalem and at the temple, they were curious about what Jesus has just said and they wanted to know more. They asked two questions in Mark 13:4. They asked, “When will these things be?” and they asked, “What will be the sign of their coming?”

These questions which the disciples asked are questions which we continue to ask.

A.                 When will these things happen?

The first question which they asked was, “When?”

Oh how we want to know the answer to that question. I have been a part of many conversations in which this question has been asked. I have a book which says that Jesus will return in 1988…oops. Many people have suggested that everything is pointing to the return of Jesus very soon. I have listened to people who are looking forward to something very special, like marriage, and hope that Jesus doesn’t return before the event happens. I have listened to other people who are facing difficulty and hope that Jesus comes back before it happens so they don’t have to face it.

How does Jesus answer that question? Following the question in verse 4 we eagerly read verse 5 and on through each verse of the chapter waiting for an answer. Sometimes it seems like the next line will give an answer, but we don’t find an answer until we come Mark 13:32 and finally Jesus answers the question. What is his answer? His answer is, “I don’t know.” So we come to the end of the chapter and we realize that Jesus has not answered the question. In fact he warns against speculating about the answer to that question when he says “no one knows about that day or hour…”

It seems kind of disappointing to read a question that we want an answer to, but find that no answer is given and that the one whom we are asking doesn’t even know the answer. But that is how it is. When? We don’t know. There is no answer in this text.

B.                 What will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?

The second question is, “What will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?” Once again we read a question that we would like an answer to. If we can’t know the time, perhaps there will be some signs which will help us see that the time is near.

Sometimes when we travel to a location that we are unfamiliar with, we look for signs to tell us that we are close. I remember traveling once and I had been told that the place we were looking for was right next to a lake. We saw a lake and believed that we were almost there. Quite a long time later we realized that that was not the lake and we needed to look for another one. We want a clear sign to let us know that we have almost arrived at the end of our journey.

As we once again read through the text to look for an answer to the question, once again we are disappointed. Nowhere does Jesus use the word “sign” or say to the disciples, “Here are the signs.”

When we come to verse 14 it may seem as if we have found a sign. There we read, “When you see the abomination that causes desolation standing where it does not belong…” But what kind of a sign is that? What does it mean?

The phrase “abomination of desolation” speaks of some unholy thing inappropriately standing in a holy place. It speaks of that which is abhorrent to God standing in the place where God belongs. This phrase has a history in the literature of Israel. In I Maccabees 1:54, which is a book that is not in the Bible, but tells stories of the history of Israel, it says, “Now on the fifteenth day of Chislev, in the one hundred forty-fifth year, they erected a desolating sacrilege on the altar of burnt offering.” When that desolating sacrilege was set up, the people of Israel rebelled against the Greek occupiers and were able to remove the desolating sacrilege and establish pure worship again. In 40 AD Caligula ordered a statue of himself to be set up in the temple. The Jewish people made such a fuss that it didn’t happen and once again the desolating sacrilege did not come to be. But Jesus is warning that when this kind of a thing happens again then there will be a war of such magnitude that the people of Judea should flee. At that time they will not be able to prevent the desolating sacrilege from being placed. That exact thing happened in 70 AD when the Romans, tired of the rebellion of the Jews, attacked and totally destroyed the nation, Jerusalem and also the temple. That was the desolating sacrilege which Jesus was speaking of here. It was an answer to the issue Jesus raised when he warned that the temple would be destroyed. It was a sign which fulfilled the prophecy of the destruction of the temple which He has spoken of in Mark 13:2. So in part, Jesus did answer the question about a sign.

Our question is, “What does this sign have to do with us?” because it clearly did not signal the end of things. In some ways the judgment mentioned here seems to go beyond the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD. Is Jesus warning about something beyond that event? There is a concept in the Bible, which some call “bifocal prophecy.” For example, in Habakkuk 2:3 we read, “For there is still a vision for the appointed time; it speaks of the end, and does not lie. If it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay.” In that context Habakkuk was talking about the destruction of Babylon, but the prophecy also points beyond it to the final destruction of evil. This happens numerous times when a prophecy is given and has an immediate fulfillment, but also points forward to another more complete fulfillment. Is that what is going on here? It may well be but if so, it retains a considerable degree of ambiguity and in the end we do not have a very clear answer to our question about the signs which will indicate the end of time and the return of Jesus.

So in the end, it seems that Jesus is deliberately ambiguous about answering the question regarding signs. In fact, he actually warns about those who announce signs. In Mark 13:22 Jesus says, “For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect—if that were possible.” All of this makes us think that once again the question, as we want to know the answer to it, is not answered. Geddert suggests, “The chapter contains an astonishing number of ambiguous expressions…Interpreting this chapter does not mean getting rid of the ambiguity but understanding why it is there and what role it plays.”

II.               Living In the End Time

So we see that Jesus did not answer the questions which the disciples asked, questions we would dearly like answered. But that does not mean He did not respond with answers that were useful for the disciples and for us. He gave answers that help us live in light of what will yet happen. Instead of looking with curiosity for the answers we want, it would be much better for us to examine this chapter and look for the answers Jesus wants to give us.

A.                 With Understanding

One of the most important phrases which we need to recognize in this chapter is the phrase, “Watch out.” This concept is repeated numerous times in Mark 13:5-23. We read in both Mark 13:9 and 23, “be on your guard.” The message Jesus gives us is a warning to be aware. It is a message which invites us to live with understanding of the times we live in and with an awareness that Jesus will return.

What the disciples at that time did not seem to understand, but which we can now understand is just how things played out with the life and ministry of Jesus. Jesus had told his disciples that He would be handed over to the Jewish leaders, be killed, and rise the third day. The opposition of the Jewish religious leaders would not end in victory over Jesus, but in their destruction. The temple which was in Jerusalem was to be replaced with the temple which is the body of Christ – His people indwelt by His Spirit. This becomes the new temple. Jesus was announcing a time when the old system would be set aside and the new system under Jesus would be put in place as we read everywhere in the New Testament especially in Hebrews.

Furthermore, Jesus was indicating that from the time of Jesus death and resurrection until the day when He returns is the entire period of the end times. We do not need to wait for the end times, we are living in them. There is nothing else that needs to happen before the end. Jesus has accomplished all and the only event we are still looking for is His return. These are the things which Jesus tells his disciples when he announces his death and resurrection and warns about the coming abomination of desolation and destruction of the temple system. We need to be aware and understand that we are in the end times now.

The other thing about which Jesus warns His disciples, and us, is the nature of these times. Much of the content of what Jesus is saying in these verses deals with these warnings. He iss telling us that in this end time in which we live there will be people who will seek to deceive and warns don’t be fooled by them. He is saying that there will be wars but that they do not signal the end. He communicates that there will be earthquakes and famines but that we shouldn’t be alarmed by them. All of these things are simply the times we live in, they are not signs of the end. Jesus also lets His people know that there will be persecution but encourages us, “don’t stop being witnesses for Jesus.”

When Jesus warns “be on your guard” He is saying that we need to understand the times we live in. We are in the end times. Wars, deceivers, earthquakes, persecution will all be a part of these times. They do not mean that Jesus has already come, they do not mean that we have missed Jesus, they are not signs of the end. In fact in Mark 13:5, 6 we learn that deceivers are the ones who say that these are signs. Instead, these words of Jesus are a call to endure to the end.

The words of Jesus in this chapter help us to live with understanding in this present time, even when it does not look as if Jesus is winning. That is the question which Jesus answers, and it is a much needed answer. We need to know that Jesus is still Lord and will return more than we need to have our curiosity satisfied about when it will happen or what signs will reveal it. Geddert says, “These texts are functioning as intended when they lead believers to trust God’s sovereign care in ambiguous times. Then they can hope in God’s future so passionately that necessary sacrifices in this life are readily embraced for Christ’s sake.”

B.                 With Hope

In this section we are also given a word of hope in light of all the difficulties and trials which will mark the end times in which we are living.

In Mark 13:24-27, we have a wonderful word of promise. We read that in those days the end will come. When will it come? We don’t know. What will be the signs of its coming? We don’t know. What we do know is that the end will come. In God’s time a great cataclysm will reveal the final day. At that time the sun will be darkened, the moon will not shine and the physical world, as we know it will be destroyed. This destruction of the physical world is not a sign, but is what will happen accompanying the return of Jesus. Then we will experience the great promise which Jesus made when he stood with his disciples and ascended into heaven. We read in Mark 13:26, “At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.” The glorious hope we have, the wonderful promise we rejoice in is that Jesus is going to come back. His return will be marked “with great power and glory.” Everything we have hoped for will be fulfilled and revealed at that time.

This announcement encourages us with a great word of hope. Jesus is coming back again! So instead of satisfying our curiosity about signs and times, Jesus gives us a word of assurance and hope. Jesus is coming back.

C.                 With Confidence

The next section gives us another word about how to live in this in between time.

The lesson from the fig tree, mentioned in Mark 13:28, makes us think that we should be looking for a sign. It says that the tenderness of the shoots in a plant is a sign that summer is near. Many have taken that as a word that we need to watch out for the right signs. But that is a difficult interpretation because the text does not point to any signs and warns us about the danger of seeking signs, so the parable about the fig tree must mean something else.

What should come quickly to mind is the previous parable of the fig tree. In Mark 11, Jesus cursed a fig tree. When we studied that, we recognized that Jesus was speaking a parable about the deadness that was in the temple. There he indicated that the temple system was cursed . Now Jesus has expanded on God’s judgment on the corrupt temple and its leaders. The reason Jesus mentions this is that for the disciples at that time, the destruction of the temple, which was clearly announced in this section and in the rest of Mark, would have been devastating. But the assurance of the parable of the fig tree is that God’s plan for His people has not died with the destruction of the temple. What the parable of the fig tree says is that the tree which was assumed to be dead, has not died. God will make a new place for His kingdom which will include all those who follow Jesus. A new group of leaders will replace the corrupt Jewish religious leaders and that is the disciples who follow Jesus. When we understand the parable of the fig tree in that way, it becomes much easier to understand how Jesus could say that all these things would happen in this generation. The church was established in that generation and all of the trials which have come upon the world and the church including persecution began happening in that time.

After assuring them that God’s people would continue, Jesus gave them one more word of promise in Mark 13:31 where He said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” Once again we realize that although we do not have an answer to questions of when and what signs, we do have an assurance that God’s plan will certainly unfold as He has indicated. Therefore, Jesus gives us a word that allows us to live with confidence in this time.

D.                With Faithfulness

So what Mark 13 is about is to help us understand that we can live in the present time with understanding, hope and confidence. In the last part of the text, we have a call which arises out of the rest and that is a call to live with faithfulness. The final parable is about a man who goes away and leaves his house in charge of his servants. The parable talks about the servants doing their “assigned tasks.” We are those servants and the key phrase is that because we don’t know what time the Lord of the house will return, we need to continue in faithfulness doing the work which He has left us to do.

In Mark 13:10 we read, “And the gospel must first be preached to all nations.” Many times this has been taken as a sign. But we have already established that Jesus does not give us a sign in this text. Rather than a sign, this is an assignment. The word “it is necessary” is a key idea from Scripture that communicates a divine necessity. So when it says that the gospel must be preached in the whole world, we should not take that as a sign that Jesus will come when that has happened. Rather, we need to take it as an assignment which should occupy our time until Jesus comes. The next verse about knowing what to say in the context of persecution makes much more sense in that context. The reality in which we live in this present time is that the gospel will be rejected and those who proclaim the gospel will be persecuted. But if we know that when that happens the Holy Spirit will help us witness, then we can also be encouraged to keep on witnessing no matter what happens. The call then is a call to be faithful in the task of witnessing which the Lord has left us as His servants.

So the final warning and challenge and encouragement to all those who follow Jesus is that in light of the unknown timing, but certain imminence of the return of Christ, we must not be sleeping. Therefore, the question which each of us must ask of ourselves is, “am I where God wants me?” “Will God find me doing what He has left me to do when He returns?”

Jesus tells us, “you do not know when.” Therefore, “Be on guard, Be alert!” What does it mean to be alert? It means that we should be careful not to get too caught up in the things of this world. If our life in this world is more important to us than our assignment from Jesus, we might find that we are asleep. It means that our primary job is not mother, or teacher, or farmer, or student, but while doing any one of those jobs our primary job is being a servant of Jesus. If we have set being a servant of Jesus aside as an avocation which we pursue when we have time, we may be found sleeping.

Conclusion

When mom and dad don’t answer the question “are we there yet?” are the children disappointed? Perhaps. But if mom and dad provide meaningful activity for the journey, will the children be occupied and forget about their question? Probably.

Jesus does not want us to focus on the “when” and the “what signs” question. If that were our focus, it would be far too easy to look for the signs and leave following Jesus until just before the end. So Jesus left the answer to these questions deliberately ambiguous. Instead, Jesus has left us with some important information.

We do know that we are in the last days and that they will be days in which wars, earthquakes and persecution happen. We do know that God’s kingdom is being established through the new temple of Jesus. We do know that Jesus will return and it will be a wonderful. We do know that God keeps His promises and so we can be confident that all these things will be fulfilled. Therefore, we can wait, not with impatience and questioning, but with faithfulness, being busy with the work that Jesus has given us. So as we conclude Mark’s gospel in view of these words about the end, the final word is “Watch!”

Introduction

Have you ever been called religious? Is that a good thing or not? One of the options on Facebook is to declare your religious views and one of my Facebook friends responded to that option by writing, “I’m not into religion, I’m into grace.” On the website “Yahoo Answers” the question was asked, “What is the difference between being religious and being spiritual?” One answer which someone gave was, “A religious man goes to church and daydreams of fishing, a spiritual man goes fishing and day dreams of God. Religion comes from a church and a structured belief, spirituality comes from within.” By these responses it seems that being religious is not a good thing. Perhaps that is one of the reasons for an apparent decline in church attendance. In a December 2007 article on the Canadian Christian web site Jim Coggins writes the following: “The first systematic survey, a Gallup poll, placed weekly church attendance at 60 percent in 1945. Some surveys place the figure even higher in the 1950s, approaching 70 percent. However, in Bibby’s words, weekly attendance dropped “to just over 30 percent in 1975 and to around 20 percent by 2000.”

Does Jesus want us to be religious? The Jewish religious leaders were very religious. They had developed a culture of religiosity, but when Jesus, God’s Son, came into the world, they ran into serious conflicts with Him. In fact these conflicts were so serious that they led to the death of Jesus. This morning we want to examine Mark 11:27-12:44 which is a record of some of the conflicts Jesus had with the Jewish leaders. As we do, we will come to understand the difference between being religious and having a relationship with God. We will also be able to examine ourselves to see if we are religious or if we have a relationship with God.

I.                   The Rejected Stone

In Mark 11:15-18, we read the story of Jesus cleansing the temple. This made the Jewish religious leaders so angry that they plotted to kill him. When Jesus came into Jerusalem again the chief priests were ready for him and were looking for a way to discredit him and so they asked Him, “By what authority are you doing these things?” and “who gave you authority?” They asked these questions because Jesus had demonstrated authority in his statements regulating Sabbath observance, in his teaching, over illness, over demons and in many other ways. It is possible that they may have had all of these things in mind, but certainly the authority he demonstrated in cleansing the temple was fresh in their minds.

Jesus turned the question back on them and asked them about their view of John the Baptist, specifically whether they believed him to be from heaven or not. They did not believe he was from heaven, but they refused to say so because they were afraid of the people who did believe that John was from God. Their refusal to answer and the discussion they had in arriving at their answer reveals a lot about them. They were in charge of a well organized religious system. That system, evidently, did not include a relationship with God that allowed them to recognize God’s presence. Their primary goal in life was to maintain their position in the religious system.

Although Jesus did not answer their question, His answer is implicit in the story and revealed in the rest of Mark. He was from God and that was the source of His authority. Even though they were religious, their response to Him shows that they did not know God.

Jesus exposed their rejection of God in the parable which follows beginning in Mark 12. The parable is about a landowner who established all that was needed to grow grapes and make wine. Then he leased the vineyard and winery to a management group and left. When the time came for him to collect his portion of the proceeds from the farm he sent a servant to retrieve the return on his investment. The management group violently refused to give the servant the proceeds and as the owner sent more servants they were so violent in their refusal that they even killed some of them. Finally the owner decided to send his son whom they also killed. They may have assumed that the owner had died, since he sent his son. Consequently they thought that by killing the son they would inherit the farm. The use of the phrase “beloved son” reminds us of the times when Jesus has spoken about His relationship to His father and we understand that the parable is talking about Jesus. In the end of the parable Jesus invited the Jewish religious leaders to realize that they stood under God’s judgment because of their rejection of Him. Jesus quoted Psalm 118:22, 23 to reveal their hearts. They were very religious, but they had rejected God.

This rejection of God by the Jewish religious leaders is highlighted again in Mark 12:35-40 where Jesus pointed to Scripture to show who He was – the Son of David who is also the Lord of all – and warned the people not to follow the hypocritical religiosity of the Jewish leaders.

As we examine our own world, we need to think carefully and critically about what is written here. Are we open to God or are we trying to maintain a religious system? In the process of being the church what would happen if God showed up? Would we be open to what He would want to do in our church? Is our personal life merely a well structured religious system or do we have a relationship with God that allows us to recognize Him and know Him?

II.               When Jesus is the Keystone

Jesus gets to the heart of the matter in Mark 12:10 when He says, “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone.” A capstone or keystone is the final stone which is put in an arch. If it is not there, the whole arch will fall down. If it is there, it holds the whole thing together. The religious leaders had rejected Jesus, but God’s kingdom is all about Him. In the following stories in this chapter we see one conflict after another in which these religious people rejected Jesus. As Jesus responded to their challenges, we learn from their negative examples what it means to live with Jesus as the keystone, with our lives truly centered upon Him.

A.                 Give to God what is God’s

The first challenge comes to Jesus from two groups of leaders who never got along, but came together in their opposition to Jesus. They represent the religious leaders and the political leaders and they came to place Jesus on the horns of a religious/political dilemma.

They asked Jesus “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar?” The tax they had in mind was a particular tax which was required of every person and indicated allegiance to Rome as the occupying force in their land, the Promised Land. The other problem was that the coin required to pay this tax had an image of Caesar on it, which violated the second commandment. If Jesus answered that it was lawful, the Pharisees would accuse him of being unfaithful and they would put him in disfavor with many of the people and so discredit him. On the other hand, the Herodians were supporters of Rome and if Jesus said that it was not lawful to pay this tax, they would have had him arrested as one who was trying to provoke rebellion.

The answer Jesus gave was brilliant, avoiding the trap all together. He said, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”

In giving this answer, we have the first perspective on what it means not to be religious, but to truly follow God. Jesus’ words invite us to ask, “What does it mean to “give to God what is God’s?” Since the image on the coin was that of Caesar, giving the coin to Caesar was giving to Caesar what was his. But even more powerful is the recognition that the image which is stamped on every human being is the divine image. Genesis 1:27 says, “…God created man in his own image.” Therefore giving to God what is God’s means giving ourselves to God.

To give to God what is God’s begins with settling the ownership issue. To whom do we belong? Are we ruled by our whims and wishes or are we ruled by God. I like the way Paul puts it in 1 Corinthians 6:19–20 (NIV), “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” We personally answer the ownership question when we ask Jesus to come into our life. At that point, we accept the sacrifice He made on the cross and turn over the management of our life to Him.

We continue to answer the ownership question when we acknowledge that Jesus is the Lord of our life. 1 Peter 3:15 says, “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.” That means that every day our life’s purpose is to follow Jesus.

B.                 Know the Word of God and the Power of God

The next section introduces an interesting logical puzzle. It is presented by the Sadducees, who were very religious recognizing only Genesis to Deuteronomy as God’s Word. Since they did not find the concept of resurrection in these books of the Bible, they rejected it.

Their logical dilemma revolved around something called Levirate marriage. Because the Promised Land was passed on within the family, it was very important that each family have an heir. If a man died without an heir, it was the responsibility of the man’s brother to provide an heir with the man’s wife so that the family line would be continued. This group of Sadducees dug up the most extreme example of Levirate marriage they could find. Whether this actually happened or not we don’t know, but it was a logical possibility and so they raised it. A man died without offspring and his brother was faithful to the law and took his wife in order to raise up an heir. This man also died without offspring and so the next brother married the woman. He also died as did all the man’s seven brothers, each one marrying the woman and not having an heir. All seven men had been married to this woman and none of them had a superior claim to her by having had a child with her and so their question was, “whose wife is she in the resurrection?” Their story was brought about to show the ridiculousness of belief in the resurrection.

Jesus attacked them directly and told them, “You are quite wrong.” He demonstrated their folly by telling them that they were missing two key ingredients. They did not know the Scripture and they did not know the power of God. He demonstrated his accusations by giving an explanation in reverse order. They did not know that by the power of God things are different in heaven than they are here. God has the power to raise men from the dead and to make it a different kind of existence than the life we live on earth. We will be like the angels. The second error is that they do not know Scripture. To demonstrate their ignorance Jesus quoted from the section of the Bible which they accepted and showed that it proves the resurrection. The passage he referred to is the account in which God spoke to Moses at the burning bush in Exodus 3. God said, “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” At this point, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had already been dead for more than 400 years, yet God says “I am” indicating that they are not dead, but live in the resurrection.

This answer to the Sadducees gives us some more things to live by so that we will not be merely religious, but will have a relationship with God. The words of Jesus invite us to recognize the importance of knowing the Word of God and trusting the power of God.

Do we believe, know, and understand the Word of God? The Bible is the place in which God has spoken to His people. If we are not reading and studying it, we are missing out on a key component of understanding and knowing God. This week I heard the sad story of a person who was part of a cult in which the word of the pastor was authoritative. We need to measure every truth according to God’s Word and if we know it we will follow God faithfully.

Equally concerning is to consider whether or not we understand the power of God. What does it mean to live our lives trusting in the power of God? I know that in my own life I have to solve this question repeatedly. A challenge comes up in my personal life or in the church. What is my first step? It is often seeking the wisdom of others and trying to think about what makes sense instead of seeking God. I want so much to learn to trust in the power of God first and I know that as long as I don’t, I am missing an important ingredient in truly living in a relationship with God.

C.                 Love God and Neighbor

The next story involves a man who came to Jesus with a much more open attitude. He saw how well Jesus answered and seemed genuinely interested to know the answer to His question. He asked Jesus, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

Jesus answered with what we have come to know as the great commandment. It has two parts. One part is a quote from Deuteronomy 6:4, 5 which says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” The second commandment, which Jesus quoted, is from Leviticus 19:18 and calls for people to “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

It is interesting that the man agreed with Jesus and it is also interesting that Jesus responded to the man’s positive attitude with a word of encouragement when he said, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” A few weeks ago we talked about the difference between a bounded set and a centered set. We once again see this concept illustrated in the words of Jesus. He does not say you are in the kingdom or out of the kingdom. He says, “You are not far from the kingdom.” In other words, “You are headed in the right direction and if you keep moving in this direction, you are on the journey to knowing God.”

Once again we have a statement which helps us answer the question, “Am I religious or do I know God?” The answer is built on keeping the greatest commandment: to love God and neighbor.

So, do we love God? What was becoming increasingly clear about the Jewish leaders – both religious and political – was that they did not love God. They loved their positions, they loved their power, they loved their system, but they did not love God and that is why they rejected Him. Do we love God? What is the evidence that we love God? If we love God we will obey God. Are we obeying Him? If we love God, one priority in life will be getting to know God. Are we taking time to grow in our relationship with Him? If we love God, we will serve Him. Is serving God more important to us than enjoying our own pleasures and activities?

The greatest evidence of love for God is when we love others. How is that love for others manifested in our lives? Do we love those who are our family and friends? Do we love those who are, “The least of these?” Do we love the lost? Do we love our enemies? How do we demonstrate love to each of these? How we answer these questions reveals whether we are just religious or if our life is lived in a relationship with God.

D.                Give Generously

The final story in this section is not a story about conflict with the religious leaders, but happened while Jesus was still with his disciples in the temple. As they were sitting in the temple, they were near the place where people put offerings into the provided receptacle. Among the many people bringing offerings, Jesus invited his disciples to observe one particular woman who gave “all she had to live on.” Geddert comments, “What a model of self-sacrificing devotion to God!”

Jesus commended her action as one who gave more than all the others. That reminds us once again that God’s mathematics does not work the way we usually assume mathematics works. How can 2 pennies be more than $10,000? It is more because God does not look at how much we have given, but at how much we love Him. And our love for Him is demonstrated in the extravagance of the gifts we bring Him.

The first thing I would like to note is that in one sense we have come full circle. The poor widow demonstrated what Jesus called the Pharisees and Herodians to do. She gave to God what was God’s. She had given herself to God depending on the promises in His Word and also the power He had to care for her. Having given herself to God in this way, she was able to give her possessions to God as well without any difficulty.

The second thing which cannot escape our notice is that it had to do with money. Last week we looked at the story of the rich ruler who was not prepared to sell everything in order to follow Jesus. This week we are thinking about this poor widow who has given everything to God. I would like so much to avoid pointing out that if we have given ourselves to God, if we know His Word, if we trust His power, if we love Him, then it will also be demonstrated in how we give. This represents a very great challenge to most of us who are much more like the rich young man than we are like the poor widow. We have much and we give gladly out of our abundance, but do we, with generosity, give of our time, our money and all we are? Is it possible that our giving reveals that we are religious, but not that we have a deep, committed, passionate love relationship with God? When I was studying this during the week, here is what I wrote in my notes, “How will I personally respond to this? How will I preach about it? Help!!” May God help us!

Conclusion

I had a conversation with someone from our church this week. They were telling me about a conversation they had had with a co-worker. The co-worker told them, “I’m very religious, I pray twice a day.” They responded, “It’s not about being religious, it’s about having a connection with God.”

Are you religious or do you have a connection with God?

Our connection with God will be revealed when we give to God what is God’s, when we know both the Scripture and the power of God, when we love God and our neighbor and when we demonstrate a willingness to live sacrificially as an expression of our love for God.

I invite you to examine your life by the measure of these statements. I invite you to a connection with God.

Introduction

On May 8 we held a garage sale in Whiteridge in order to raise funds for the Arthritis Society. There were two things on the minds of people who came to the sale. They were looking for something and they were wondering how they would get it.

It was interesting to see how everyone was looking for something different. One man came very early, walked through quite quickly and I suspect he was looking for things that he could resell for more money. Others browsed and left with an odd collection of things that seemed of value to them. One lady came and asked if we had a tricycle and left when she found out we didn’t.

It was also interesting to see how people got what they wanted. Some people came, looked at the price of an item and decided that it was too high and left it. Others came to us and asked if we would give it to them for less. The funniest thing that happened was that when we had been doing the pricing the day before, we had been pricing some vases. We had put a price of 50 cents on most of them, but one was a little larger and just to be silly, I put a price of $30 on it. When Carla found out she determined that the next morning before the sale started she would put a more reasonable price on it, but when the sale started she forgot. Fairly early in the day a lady came up to her and asked if she could lower the price on it. Our daughter was there and suggested a price of $15 and the lady countered with $10 and they sold it for that price. We are wondering if she knew something we didn’t know.

These two questions – “what do you want and how will you get it?” are also questions that we ask in life. All of us are looking for something.

Leo Buscaglia thinks that people are looking for love. While teaching at USC, Buscaglia was moved by a student’s suicide to contemplate human disconnectedness and the meaning of life, and began a non-credit class he called Love 1A. He became famous for lectures on love and has spoken of it in books and on television.

Banks, Credit Unions and credit card companies think that people are looking for money and in order to help them get it they offer loans in attractive ways and at attractive interest rates.

Billy Graham thinks people are looking for peace with God. The Billy Graham association has published a brochure to help people find God which has the title, “Peace with God.”

What are you looking for?

The other question we ask is, “How are we going to get what we want?”

On the plane home from the conference in Leamington I watched a video on the 10 most beautiful buildings in the Muslim world. In the course of the program they described the five pillars of Islam…which is the term given to the five duties incumbent on every Muslim. These duties are profession of faith (that is: there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of God), prayers (said up to 5 times a day), fasting (particularly at Ramadan), giving of alms, (also specifically during Ramadan) and pilgrimage to Mecca. When we were in Jerusalem we saw this picture on some houses and found out that it indicated that the person who lived there had made a pilgrimage to Mecca. That is how Muslims think they will get what they want.

We have been studying Mark and today we come to Mark 10:17-52. It contains a series of stories of people who were seeking. What were they seeking? How did they think they would get what they wanted?

I.                   What Do You Want?

Our children live in Winnipeg and I can imagine our grandsons coming into the house from playing outside and saying to their mother, “We really like ice cream.” Our daughter-in-law also likes ice cream and I can imagine her responding, “I like ice cream too.” Once again our grandsons might say, “Ice cream is very tasty and we need something to eat.” Our daughter-in-law might respond, “We don’t have any ice cream because tomorrow is shopping day.” Then she hears the song of the ice cream truck and suddenly it dawns on her what her sons were really asking. How we ask a question reveals a lot about what we really want.

In this section of Mark several times people ask questions of Jesus and we need to listen carefully to the questions to understand what they really want. In Mark 10:17 the man whom we have come to know as the “rich young ruler” asked Jesus “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” What did he want? He was concerned about eternity and his place in it. He probably had a very comfortable life now, but was not satisfied that he would be OK forever. Jesus accepted his request and responded to it.

In Mark 10:26 the disciples asked Jesus, “Who then can be saved?” What did they want? They were aware that unless something changes, we are all headed for eternal destruction. They were aware of the eternal and mortal danger they were in and wondered how it was possible to be saved from that danger. Jesus accepted their request and responded to it.

It is interesting, however, that as Jesus responded to their requests He did not use their language. He did not condemn their language and the desire it expressed, but He also did not use the same categories. Three times Jesus used the same phrase when he responded to these requests. In verse 23 He says, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God.” Then in verse 24 he says, “how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God” and in verse 25 he uses the same language when he says, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Each time Jesus did not use the language of inheriting eternal life or being saved, but rather spoke of entering the kingdom of God.

What is the difference between asking to inherit eternal life or to be saved and on the other hand asking to enter the kingdom of God? To speak of inheriting eternal life is to focus narrowly on what will happen at the end. To speak of being saved also has an end focus. To enter into the kingdom of God has a whole life focus. What we often want and what is often offered in presentations of salvation is to make sure that we are OK in the end. What we want is for ourselves and those close to us to be in heaven when we die. What Jesus offers is something much better and much bigger. He not only wants to deal with our eternity. He also invites us to live in a relationship with God now. If we only want to have eternal life, we will never be able to understand why part of following God may involve persecution as Jesus indicates in Mark 10:30. But when we enter the kingdom of God, then we understand that persecution may be a part of the path which will lead to ultimate victory. After all, Jesus went the way of the cross, and because He did, He gained a victory much greater than if he had called down 10,000 angels. Geddert says, “Jesus does not guarantee an easy life. He promises an identity, a support system, and security in abundance, sufficient even for times of persecution…eternal life.”

If we only ask the question of inheriting eternal life, it implies that we are only interested in seeing God in the end. What Jesus wants for us is to enter into a relationship with Him now and to live in His way now so that in the end, we will rejoice to enter into the presence of God and be glad to see the one whom we have come to know throughout life and for whom we have lived our lives.

So, how do you ask the question? What do you want? Are you only concerned about the end or do you also desire the life God has for you now?

II.               How Will You Get It

The next question is, “how will you get what you desire?”

A.                 How You Won’t Get It

A number of statements imply how we won’t get what we desire.

1.                 Being Good

The rich man addressed Jesus as “good teacher” and Jesus picked up on his use of the word good. When the man called Jesus “good” at least part of the meaning is the implication that Jesus is God. It is a way of pointing to the divinity of Jesus.

But there is another implication in this exchange. When Jesus answered, “No one is good except God,” He was answering one part of the question which the man asked. The implied statement Jesus is making is, “You cannot enter the kingdom of God by being good” No matter how much goodness you pile on the scale, there will never be enough. If we are to be in the presence of God, we must be good and only God is good enough to live, all the rest of us are worthy of death. So it is impossible to be good enough to enter the kingdom of God.

2.                 Obeying the Law

Related, but more specific is the idea that one can enter the kingdom of God by obeying the law. Jesus tells the man to keep the law. The rich man affirms that he has kept all of these laws from when he was old enough to be accountable. But his question to Jesus suggests that he still lacks something. The words used in the list of laws is also interesting. They are basically only the last 6 items in the Decalogue and the order is changed. The order in Exodus 20 is:

Honor your father and your mother

You shall not murder.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

You shall not covet

In Mark 10 Jesus puts honoring parents last instead of first in the list. Even more significant is that he changes “you shall not covet” to “you shall not defraud.”  As we reflect on these differences we begin to realize what the man’s problem was. Although he could clearly affirm that he kept the law the way Jesus quoted it, he would have had more difficulty keeping the law if “covet” had been included by Jesus. He walked away sad, when challenged to give all his possessions to the poor, and we see that he was guilty of coveting his own possessions and not wanting to part with them. We also see that he loved his possessions more than he loved God and so violated the first part of the commandment, which Jesus did not quote.

What was true of this rich man is true of so many of us. We may believe that we keep the whole law, but we always will fall short in some part. Even if we keep the whole law, there is still this nagging sense that something is missing.

3.                 Being Generous

A third suggestion about how one might enter the kingdom of God is implied by Jesus when he tells the man to sell everything he has. As we watch the rich man walk away without entering the kingdom of heaven we know that that could just as easily be us. We know in our hearts that parting with our possessions in order to give them away is very difficult if not impossible. This way of entering the kingdom of God does not work because we can’t get ourselves to do it.

B.                 How Will You Get It?

So we are left with this great gap in our lives. We want the life God has for us. We want to enter God’s kingdom, both now and for eternity, but how is it possible?

1.                 Leave Everything

The answer which Jesus gave the rich man is still true for us today. Not the answer that we need to sell all our possessions and give to the poor. Rather, the answer that in order to enter the kingdom of God we need to leave everything. For the rich ruler, leaving everything required selling it. For others it will mean different things. In Mark 10:28 Peter mentions to Jesus, “We have left everything to follow you.” And they had. They had left their nets and their families for the purpose of following Jesus. This is always what it means. It may not mean that we have to sell everything, but it does mean that we have to leave everything. That is why in another place Jesus calls us to count the cost. To leave everything in order to follow Jesus is a costly thing. Are we willing to bear the cost?

As Jesus went on to explain what this meant, in Mark 10:29, he used the language of leaving home, brothers or sisters, mother or father, children or fields. Think about these things. Particularly in that culture they represented everything that a person was and held dear. Geddert quotes another writer and explains that this is a list of life’s essentials. Home is where I belong; brothers and sisters are those to whom I belong; parents speak of who I am, my ancestry; children are a revelation of God’s blessing and in many times and places represent our security; fields refers to our visible inheritance and in that culture and time a marker of God’s promises as it refers to the promised land.

For at least two of the disciples, James and John, leaving everything meant giving up ambition and positions of honor in order to be servants. In fact, this is also true for every one of us. If we want to follow Jesus, we also will need to be willing to become servants.

One of the greatest examples of leaving everything for the sake of the kingdom of God is found in Jesus who, as Mark 10:45 tells us, “did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Another illustration of leaving all to follow God comes from Abraham’s willingness to give up on the promises of God given to him in the person of his son Isaac. It was when he was willing to sacrifice his son that God knew that he was truly willing to enter the kingdom of God.

If we want to enter the kingdom of God we will need to leave everything to follow Jesus. But Jesus does not leave us without a promise. He assures those who make this costly decision that they will have a 100 fold return on their investment. That is a huge return. If a 100% return on investment means that you get everything back, what Jesus is promising is that you will get everything back times 100, which would be a 10,000% return on investment. So the question we need to ask as we want to know how to enter the kingdom of God is, “Do I really believe that God will be there to catch me if I give up everything?”

2.                 Follow Jesus

But giving up everything is only part one of the answer. The second part is to follow Jesus. Jesus said to the rich ruler in Mark 10:21, “Come follow me.” Peter acknowledges, in Mark 10:28, that they had left everything to follow Jesus. For the weeks and months since that time, they had walked with Jesus wherever he went. They were beginning to learn what the way of God was like. They were learning to function in the power of Jesus. They were learning to trust Jesus.

The journey of following Jesus is not always an easy one. We forget, we falter, we fade, and then we begin again. It is a journey in which we will learn to think like Jesus thinks, to act like Jesus acted and to do what Jesus did. It means that Jesus is not the co-pilot in our car, but the driver and we go where He goes and we do what He wants us to do as we follow Him.

3.                 By Faith in God Who Is Able

How is that possible? Can you follow Jesus like that? Are you willing to leave everything in order to follow Jesus? How can you do it?

Jesus has already answered that question. It is not possible. In fact, it is as possible as it is for a camel, to go through the eye of a needle – both humps. It cannot be done.

But Jesus gives this wonderful promise in Mark 10:27, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” The rich man, who has a hard time letting go of his riches, cannot leave everything in order to follow Jesus. The poor man, who holds on to every little scrap he earns, cannot leave everything in order to follow Jesus. The mother who dearly loves every one of her children cannot leave everything in order to follow Jesus. The student who has great ambitions for the future cannot leave everything in order to follow Jesus. The question of the disciples is such a relevant question. “Who then can be saved?”

What we cannot do, God can do. He can turn the heart of a rich man around so that he is able to hold loosely to his possessions and follow Jesus. God can change the heart of the poor man so that he is not consumed with survival and give him the freedom to live in dependence on God. He can take the heart of the mother obsessed with the safety of her children and make her into a gracious woman who depends on God and follows God and shows her children how to follow God. He can take the student bent on good marks and making a mark and change them into servants who desire to make their mark for eternity.

Conclusion

One of the themes which we have followed throughout this section has to do with seeing. In Mark 8 we read about how Jesus healed a blind man which we understood to be a promise that he would help his disciples get it. But as the story goes on, we see that they often do not get it. In this section Jesus makes a third announcement of His death and resurrection and once again the disciples are afraid and don’t understand. They continue to be partly blind because even though they have left everything to follow Jesus, they are still learning what it means.

In the context about stories of healing blindness it is interesting that Mark ends this section with another story of the healing of a blind man. He gives his name as Bartimaeus, which means son of honor. But he was anything but a man of honor, he was a man of shame who had to sit and beg because of his blindness. He had his cloak spread out in front of him and listened for the drop of coins which meant he would be able to eat another meal.

When he heard that Jesus was coming along he cried out, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Although the crowd tried to shut him up, Jesus heard him and invited him to come and what does the text say? In verse 50 we read “throwing his cloak aside.” In that act, which seems so incidental, we have a very deliberate action in which this poor man gave up everything he had. He left everything.

As he came, Jesus asked what he wanted and he said, “I want to see.” In a context that has spoken as much about spiritual seeing as physical seeing, we once again need to understand that he wanted to see in every way. How did he enter the kingdom of God? Jesus affirmed that it was not by being good, or by keeping the law or by being generous. It was by faith, by turning in trust to the only one who could help him see and recognizing that what is impossible for man, is possible for God.

Then to affirm once again what is required to enter the kingdom of God, we read at the end of the story that he “followed Jesus along the road.” What the rich man was unable to do, what the disciples continued to struggle to do, the blind man did. He left everything to follow Jesus and he came to this not by his own strength or ability, but by faith in God.

I recently received the Providence Alumni Newspaper and it tells the story of Eileen Davidson who is teaching English in Cambodia. She writes, “My plan was to go for a few months and then return to my ‘normal’ life in Manitoba. Little did I know that Cambodia would completely capture my heart and transform everything I had ever thought about the world…So here I am living out my dream…enjoying each moment of pouring out love and time into their precious lives, I find myself finding incredible purpose and meaning in my work…And so I’m here in obedience to God and His call on my life.”

What do you want? Do you just want eternal life? Do you just want to be saved or do you want to enter the kingdom of heaven?

Are you willing to leave everything in order to follow Jesus?

If that is what you want, you can’t get it, you can only have it by the mercy of God through faith in Jesus.

Introduction

If you have ever visited another country, you know that there are ways of doing things which are different. For example, when I went to Paraguay, one of the things I knew I would have to do was to drink terere. I was a little concerned about this because I did not know or understand the culture of terere. My hosts were very gracious and explained that sharing a bombilla was not a problem and that when I had had enough it was acceptable to say thank you and stop participating. In thousands of ways, we have learned to live in our world and many of the practices and habits of that world are taken for granted by us because we grow up in a culture and understand that culture and its ways.

When we become Christians, we become members of another culture. We become members of the kingdom of God. When that happens it is like going to another country and we need to adopt a different worldview – God’s worldview. The question is, “does God’s worldview fit with the worldview we have been living under all our life?” “What do we need to change in order to live with God’s worldview?”

In Mark 9:2, Jesus took three of his disciples up onto a high mountain. There he was transfigured before them and his garments shone whiter than any washing machine or any detergent could make them. Moses and Elijah appeared before them and Jesus was talking with them. The disciples were stunned because they could not understanding what was happening and Peter in his inimitable way suggested that he would build three shelters, one for Jesus, one for Moses and one for Elijah. Peter didn’t know what he was talking about because by suggesting this he was putting Jesus, Elijah and Moses on the same level. He didn’t understand that a change of worldviews was taking place. Jesus was not on the same level as Moses and Elijah and right away a cloud came over them and a voice came out of the cloud from heaven to explain what was happening. God spoke and made it clear that Jesus was superior to Moses and Elijah. Jesus was and is the Son of God and as one who was superior to any who had gone before, God commanded the disciples, “Listen to Him!”

Since a change of worldview has taken place the way to discover how to live in the kingdom of God is by listening to Jesus. What an appropriate statement for the disciples of Jesus then and now. In the chapter that follows, the public healing and teaching ministry of Jesus began to change primarily to a time of teaching the disciples. In each of the stories which follow, Jesus took time to instruct his disciples on what it meant to be members of His kingdom. In each of the stories normal human thinking was revealed and Jesus instructed his disciples on the way in which they should live as members of the kingdom of God and so divine thinking was revealed. The worldview of the kingdom of Heaven was declared. Since we are members of that kingdom, we need to think about these things as well. We need to listen to Jesus. We need to understand divine thinking and compare it to the world’s way of thinking which permeates our thinking so much that we are not even aware of it.

We will not fully explain the rest of the verses we are looking at today, but we will focus on this one thing. We will think about and contrast human thinking and divine thinking in each of the seven accounts found here. Each is important and stands alone as a lesson on divine thinking, but more than anything, I would like to challenge us to open our eyes to be able to see and consider how our thinking is impacted by the world’s thinking and to open our hearts to be able to receive God’s way.

I.                   The Path to Victory – 9:9-13

As they came down the mountain, Jesus told them not to relate this experience until after his resurrection. They didn’t know what He was talking about. Having seen Elijah and trying to process the experience and the information, the disciples asked Jesus, “Why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?” Malachi 4:5, 6 predicted the coming of Elijah to prepare the way for Messiah. Jesus responded that Elijah had come, by which he meant that John the Baptist was Elijah and had prepared things. But he had not restored all things and his life had ended in suffering. Then Jesus said something puzzling. He said, “Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer and be rejected?”

What is this interchange all about? The disciples were engaged in human thinking, in which they hoped that Elijah would come and “restore all things.” They were hoping for a great and clear victory of God. Jesus’ question forced them to think about divine things. In God’s plan, victory does not always come by power and by everything going right in this world. Victory often comes through suffering and death. That is the way in which Jesus brought victory and it was a theme which repeated itself. But the disciples could not understand this message of victory through suffering. Whenever Jesus announced that he would die before he rose to victory, they were troubled and puzzled. They didn’t get it because they were thinking human thoughts.

We continue to think in similar ways. We also wonder why everything doesn’t go perfectly. We also wonder why there has to be suffering. If God has won, why do we have all this trouble? Divine thinking helps us understand that sometimes the victory of God comes through suffering so that His resurrection power is demonstrated. When we go through hardship we need to learn to think divine thoughts instead of human thoughts and see where God is at work bringing resurrection out of death.

II.               Faith in God – 9:14-29

As Jesus and the three disciples met the other disciples, they found them in the middle of a dispute. A man had brought his son to the disciples for healing. The boy had a spirit in him that made him mute and also threw him into convulsions. The disciples were unable to heal the man. Jesus inquired about what happened, asked the man about his son and promptly healed him.

As the incident closed, Jesus was together with his disciples again and they were alone and we once again realize that this is teaching time. The disciples asked Jesus, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” It must have been quite puzzling for them because they had in the past driven out demons. What went wrong? One possibility is that they had fallen into human thinking. Perhaps they thought that they could drive out the demons by their words. The phrase, “only by prayer” suggests that they had not brought God into the picture. In human thinking, we fall into one of several errors. One is that we think we possess the power to call God into action, especially if we have had some success in doing so in the past. Another human way of thinking is that we believe that God acts if we do the right things or say the right words. Some translations have added the word, “and fasting” which conveys exactly the wrong kind of idea. It suggests that if we do the right things, God will act.

Divine thinking is clearly evident in the whole story. It is evident in the exchange between the man and Jesus. How is the boy to be healed? The man must believe. How much faith must the man have? He admits that he does not have much faith, but Jesus assures him that his small, weak faith is enough. Geddert writes, “Faith is measured in degrees of genuineness, not in degrees of certainty.” How does faith act? It acts when we ask God. Prayer and faith are the keys to God acting. We cannot manipulate God and we cannot act without God. God acts when we ask Him and when we trust Him. Our faith must be a faith in Him, not in what He will do for us so that our wishes are fulfilled. That is divine thinking.

Once again, it speaks loudly to our own situation. We struggle with the same things and need to learn the same method of divine thinking. Geddert writes, “’Thinking divine thoughts’ means trusting in the unlimited power of God, and humbly asking for increased faith.”

III.            Servant Attitude – 9:30-37

As Jesus travels on through Galilee with his face set resolutely to Jerusalem, he announces once again that he will be betrayed, killed and will rise again. Once again the disciples do not understand. Yet these thoughts prompt them to think about the kingdom of God. As they do so, their thoughts are once again permeated by human ways of thinking. The text indicates that they were arguing about “who was greatest.” With Peter, James and John having just had the privilege of being up the mountain with Jesus alone, they may have thought that they were special to Jesus more than the others and could claim positions of honor in the kingdom. Yet even as they discussed these things, they knew that there was something wrong with this thinking because when Jesus asked them what they were arguing about, they were silent.

Once again Jesus is teaching his disciples the way of divine thinking. He says, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.”

As we hear this, we need to be careful that we don’t misunderstand what Jesus was saying and fall into another form of human thinking. I don’t think that Jesus was providing a strategy for greatness. It would be easy to begin to think, “If I am the best servant and serve the most people, I can look forward to a great position eventually.” I believe that when Jesus takes a little child and lifts him up as an example to them he is telling His disciples that the way of the kingdom is simply a way of servanthood. It isn’t about hierarchy or position, but about being a servant.

Jean Vanier is the founder of the international movement of L’Arche communities where people who have developmental disabilities and the friends who assist them create homes and share life together. From what I know of these communities, the underlying attitude is servanthood, without position, reward or greatness. That kind of service is an example of divine thinking about how we should live.

IV.             Belonging – 9:38-41

Addressing Jesus as teacher, the disciples begin to understand that they are in a learning environment. Once again, John speaks words in which we can recognize human thinking. We don’t know when this happened, but possibly in reaction to the instruction on welcoming Jesus like a little child. John is reminded of a man who had been casting out demons in Jesus name but who was not one of the disciples who had been specifically trained and sent out to do the mission of Jesus. The human thinking of John is exclusive. The Good News Bible translates, “we told him to stop, because he doesn’t belong to our group.” He was thinking that if someone is not part of our group, they don’t belong and don’t have a right to do something in the name of Jesus.

Jesus once again points to divine thinking and expands their thinking about who belongs to the kingdom of God. Jesus says, “…whoever is not against us is for us…”

What are the implications of this kind of thinking for us? We easily fall into the human way of thinking, by which we build boundaries to identify who belongs and who does not. If we read this passage carefully we will see that Jesus does not even draw a line or establish any kind of a boundary. Setting boundaries about who is in and who is not is a human way of thinking. Jesus does not speak in terms of who is in and who is out. Jesus speaks in terms of who is around Him. To use mathematical terms, human thinking means to think in terms of a bounded set. What is in the set belongs and what is outside of the set does not belong. Divine thinking, the thinking of Jesus is to think rather of a centered set. It is to ask, “Who is near Jesus and moving towards him?” Geddert says, “Jesus is in the middle, and true inclusion in Jesus’ circle involves positioning oneself ‘around Jesus.’”

He also says, “The disciples are exclusionary; Jesus is inclusionary. They want to protect their prerogatives; he wants to see God’s reign established. They are thinking ‘human thoughts’; Jesus is calling them to think ‘divine thoughts.”

This passage challenges our thinking about who belongs. Whenever we begin to think about who belongs or does not because they are “Mennonite” or “evangelical” we are engaged in the same human thinking as John.

We need to understand that divine thinking is not wishy washy. To live around Jesus means that we still hold a solid grasp on the truth of the gospel. But divine thinking also recognizes that we must be humble enough to recognize that we may not have all the truth and we must also be gracious and accepting of others with differences.

V.                Influence – 9:42-50

As the teaching conversation continues, we come to a passage that certainly has some difficulties to it. It is clear that hyperbole is involved. I am quite sure that Jesus would not want us to engage in self harm. There is much that is important to learn in this passage, but as we are following one particular train of thought, I would simply like to pick up one aspect of human thinking and recognize in its place one aspect of divine thinking. Verses 42 and 50 present to us the themes of influence.

Human thinking would be such that we would consider our actions as no body’s business, but ours alone. We think, “I can do as I please because I don’t have to answer for myself to anyone else.” Yet divine thinking forces us to realize that we do have an influence on others. If our way of living has an impact on others that causes them to stumble, we will be held accountable for that. God will, in fact, judge us for the harmful influence we have on others. Our words, our actions and the living out of our faith have an influence on others that is not to be ignored. The next section talks about how we may ourselves be caused to stumble by our own body. It reminds us that being an influence on others begins with the kind of a life we live. If our life is not lived in obedience to God then we will hardly be able to be an influence on others. Geddert says, “The point is that there are activities we engage in, places we go, and things we see, that can become sources of temptation. Using graphic hyperbole, Jesus says, ‘cut it off.’” The mention of salt in verse 50, although admittedly a little puzzling, has at least this same lesson in it. Salt is an influencer and we are called to be influencers for good. Recognizing our influence and choosing to make it positive is divine thinking.

VI.             Marriage – 10:1-12

Chapter ten continues the teaching of Jesus in regards to divine thinking.

These verses do not give us the Bible’s entire teaching on marriage, divorce and remarriage and we will not develop that theme today. We will also not develop the entire Biblical teaching on these things, rather, we will continue to see how this lesson helps us discern between human and divine thinking.

The question which the Pharisees asked was, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife.” There are at least two aspects of human thinking present in this question. First of all, the Pharisees were asking, “what is the rule?” and “How close can I get to the edge before I break the rule?” They were also wondering if it was OK for a man who found another woman to divorce his wife so that he could pursue this other woman. In other words, they wanted to know, “how can I get away with adultery?”

Jesus answers with divine thinking when he speaks about God’s intention for marriage. He answers the question of permission to leave a marriage to pursue another relationship by pointing out that this is not what God wants for marriage. The intention of marriage is that a man and a woman will become one flesh and in that one flesh union, they are joined together by God. If they separate from that one flesh relationship, they break what God has intended and are guilty of the sin of adultery. Geddert says, “Jesus is then insisting that God calls for marital faithfulness; he does not permit legal games to justify sin.”

But woven into this answer is another aspect of divine thinking. Just as the Pharisees were asking, “what is the rule” Jesus points to another way of thinking of the kingdom of God which He is bringing in. Jesus points away from rule to intention. What was God thinking? How has God spoken in order to bring us to life? Divorce breaks relationship which violates God’s intention of peace, harmony and blessing. The problem of living by rules is that it has inherent in it the danger of trying to see how close to the edge we can get and also of judging others who do not measure up to our interpretation of the rules. Divine thinking invites us rather to learn to think with the mind of God, to learn God’s intentions and rather than living by rules, we need to learn to live by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Geddert writes, “Thinking human thoughts leads to justifying lust and sexual sin, seeking easy ways out of challenging situations, and playing games with texts. Thinking divine thoughts means looking for God’s true intentions, resisting temptations to sin, and living lives of purity and integrity.”

VII.         Welcoming the Vulnerable – 10:13-16

In the final section we have the well known incident in which people were bringing children to Jesus. Children are enthusiastic. You can’t control all of their actions and movements. They are curious, honest and see things the way they are. If you have a great person in the room, children just don’t belong. They should be seen and not heard because one must maintain a certain decorum and order and children by their very nature destroy that. That is human thinking and may be the kind of thinking which the disciples held as they chased the children away and told their parents that they were not welcome there.

But by this time, we already know that Jesus’ thinking, divine thinking, is different. We already know that Jesus welcomes children. How could the disciples have so quickly forgotten what Jesus said in 9:37 when he said, “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me.” Once again Jesus speaks not only about welcoming the kingdom, but points once again to the way into the kingdom, which is not by meeting formal guidelines or dressing in the proper way, or passing muster. Everyone who welcomes Jesus, with a simple and profound faith is welcomed into the presence of Jesus. As we read this, we should not only read this in reference to children, but in reference to all those who are vulnerable. Jesus welcomes all and blesses all He welcomes.

May we embrace the weak and vulnerable in Jesus name.

Conclusion

In Philippians 2:5 Paul says, “…your attitude should be the same as Christ Jesus.” Romans 12:2 calls us to be transformed with a renewed mind. This passage helps us understand some of the details of that transformed thinking. The stories in this section reveal our human thinking and when we read about these ways of thinking we have to admit that such thinking is not far from any one of us. Therefore it is important that we engage in thinking that is transformed. We need to always be evaluating what is human thinking and what is divine thinking. We can do so well by continuing to engage the Word of God daily in our lives so that our minds will be filled with divine thinking. How thankful I am that we are not called to divine thinking with human power. The Spirit of God indwells us and we can learn and live divine thinking in His power. May we all adopt the thinking that is based on our Father in heaven each day of our life.

Introduction

When we moved to Rosenort there were some things we worried about. Of course there were the concerns of wondering if we would fit in and be able to make a contribution, but there was another concern as well. We had just lived in a rented house where we had not unpacked all of our boxes for 7 months. We did not want to live in a temporary place again. We looked at a few houses which might eventually have been available and there was one that we liked because of its location and the features it had, but we weren’t sure if it was available. So we were concerned about these things. Did we trust God to look after us? Were we free of concern because we were confident that God would provide a place for us? Yes, we believed, but we still worried. Now it is over 10 years later and we have lived in the house we liked for all of that time. In hind sight, we can see that God provided a place for us that was better than we could have expected. We like our house, I particularly enjoy that it is on the river and we can look back and see that God provided abundantly.

At the time, however, we were not that confident and that seems to happen with every new thing that comes into our life. We wonder, “Where is God?” “How is He going to care for us this time?” “Will He care for us?” God has given us so much reason to trust Him and yet we struggle to live in confident faith.

Do you ever worry about the future? Do you ever fear circumstances? What are you afraid of right now? What do you think Jesus is doing about it? Do you think Jesus is doing anything? Why do you doubt that He is doing anything?

We have often heard young people tell stories of what happens to them at camp. They tell about how they have grown in faith when they were at camp. Because of the concentration and the prayer, amazing spiritual victories often take place at camp. God’s presence is so great and many commit themselves to living by faith and to being faithful. On the last day of camp they are filled with a powerful sense of how great God is and how they want to follow God when they get home. But after camp it doesn’t take long and life gets in the way and routine and temptations happen and pretty soon they aren’t so confident in God any more. Where is our faith? Why can’t we remember? Why does doubt come?

The disciples of Jesus had a similar experience. They had been in the presence of Jesus and saw Him do all kinds of amazing things and teach wonderful truths. It was like being at camp all the time, but there were still times when they weren’t all that confident about Jesus. There were times when they were not aware of His love or His power. There were times when they struggled with worry and fear.

This morning we will look at the stories in Mark 7:31-8:26 in order to think about these things and be encouraged that God is at work building us up in faith and helping us to see Him at work. I hope that these words encourage you in whatever is causing you to worry and doubt.

I.                   Spiritual Blindness

The key phrase in these verses is Mark 8:17, 18 where Jesus asks the disciples, “Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear?” Why did Jesus ask this question? How was it answered?

A.                 Feeding 4000 People

In these verses, Jesus did a lot of traveling. We read, in 7:31, that he was in Tyre and that he went up to Sidon and then down to the Sea of Galilee and crossed it several times. The story in Mark 7:31-37 took place in an area that was inhabited mostly by Gentiles, so the audience was likely mostly not Jewish. He had been with this crowd teaching and doing miracles for 3 days and realized that the people were likely running out of food and getting hungry. He perceived that their hunger was serious. It is interesting that they were so interested in Jesus that they were willing to stay in a remote place to listen to him and willing to undergo some hardship to hear Him.

The story reminds us of a similar miracle story in Mark 6:30-44 where Jesus fed 5000. Once again it is the compassion of Jesus which prompts him to recognize their need and desire to feed them. Once again the disciples do not possess the resources needed to feed such a crowd. Once again the disciples witnessed an amazing miracle of Jesus’ compassion.

The stories look similar, and some have suggested that they refer to the same event, but there are enough differences between the two stories to help us realize that they are two different stories which happened on two different occasions. In the first story there were 5 loaves of bread available and in the second 7. In the first story there were 2 fish and in the second, a few fish are mentioned. In the first story 5000 people were fed and in the second, 4000. In the first story 12 baskets remained and in the second 7. The most significant difference is that the first story happened in a Jewish area and the second in a Gentile area and it seems that the purpose of including both stories is to show that God provides for both Jews and Gentiles. Geddert comments, “As early as Augustine of Hippo, interpreters of Mark’s Gospel have seen the two feedings in Mark as for Jews and Gentiles…The first shows how God fulfills Israel’s hopes; the second shows how God also intends to give grace to the Gentiles.”

The text says in Mark 8:8 that “they ate and were filled.” Through this experience the disciples once again saw God at work and realized the power and provision of God through Jesus and also the compassion of Jesus.

Following the feeding, Jesus left in a boat to go to the other side of the lake.

B.                 Conflict with the Pharisees

As He came to the other side, he met some Pharisees. They had one purpose. They did not want to know Him or listen to Him, they wanted to test Him. Their attitude was one of challenge. Jesus was deeply moved by their obstinate unbelief. They had seen so much, but remained blind to the truth about Jesus. Because of their attitude, Jesus refused to respond to them and left and crossed the Sea of Galilee again.

The problem with their attitude was that they wanted proof. Jesus doesn’t work that way. He demonstrates God’s power and teaches, but offers truth to those who have faith and insight, not to those who demand a sign.

C.                 Can You Hear? Can You See?

When they got back into the boat, we have a rather interesting interchange between Jesus and the disciples. It is a puzzling conversation, but in the end it reveals hearts and invites us to examine our hearts.

We are told at the beginning of the story that the disciples had forgotten to stow provisions aboard the boat and that all they had along was one loaf of bread.

While this was a matter of concern weighing on the minds of the disciples, Jesus was talking about something else. He began to talk about the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod. The disciples responded to each other referring to that which had been on their minds. They were concerned that they didn’t have enough bread. It seems as if their worries were so great that they didn’t have the capacity to think about anything else or to hear what Jesus was talking about.

What was Jesus talking about when he mentioned the yeast of the Pharisees and Herod? Yeast is something that influences. When it is put in dough, it permeates the entire lump of dough. In Mark 6:14 we read that, Herod had heard about the miracles of Jesus and speculated that John the Baptist had been raised. He did not realize the divine source of Jesus power or position nor inquire more about who Jesus was. The Pharisees had seen the power of Jesus and should have recognized its origin, but refused to do so. Both of them were unbelieving. They did not accept Jesus and they did not respond in faith. Such unbelief, if permitted to enter into one’s heart permeates and has an influence which destroys faith. Jesus was warning the disciples that they should not be unbelieving, like the Pharisees and Herod.

But they didn’t get it. They were confused about what Jesus was talking about. They were worried and in their worry they expressed unbelief. It was not the same kind of unbelief as the Pharisees, but it was unbelief nevertheless and that is why Jesus was warning them. It is in this context that Jesus raised the question we find in Mark 8:17, 18 when He asked, “Are you blind? Do you have eyes, but don’t see? Are you deaf? Do you have ears, but don’t hear?” Of course He was not talking about physical blindness or deafness. He was talking about spiritual blindness and the spiritual inability to hear God. This is imagery which occurs in other places in the Bible as well. In Isaiah 6:9 we read, “He said, ‘Go and tell this people: ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ ‘Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.’”

In both passages, the inability to see what God has done and to understand His work are attributed to hard hearts. Their hearts were so hard that they did not remember what Jesus had done in the past. Jesus refers to both feeding miracles and questions them about what was left over. They had not understood the compassion or the power of Jesus.

As we listen in on the conversation which Jesus has with the disciples, we should not get too comfortable because the question is also asked of us. Are our hearts hard? Do we fail to see what God is doing? Do we fail to remember what God has done? Do we have eyes, but fail to see and ears but fail to hear?

But there is an encouraging word in this section. It comes out better in some translations than others. Where NIV says in Mark 8:21, “Do you still not understand?” we read in NASB wording that is a more faithful translation of the Greek, “Do you not yet understand?”” The implication of “not yet” is that one day they will. It functions as a word of hope and a promise that one day they will get it and they will understand.

But how will they see? How will we ever hear and understand? How will we ever believe? How will we ever walk with confidence? This story is so real to us because we understand so well the struggle of the disciples. We have all been there. We have all wrestled with unbelief. We have all seen God at work in the past, but often experience doubt in the present. It may not have been bread, but in some way we have seen God provide and change lives and do great things. Paul reminds us “He who did not spare His own son, how will he not also along with Him graciously give us all things.” But we don’t remember that God did not spare His own Son. So we live with unbelief. We worry. We fret. We doubt. Our hearts are hard. Not hard in the rebellious way of the Pharisees, but hard in the sense that God’s grace and truth do not penetrate deeply. We are insensitive to the work of God all around us and so we too have eyes, but do not see and ears but do not hear.

II.               Jesus Makes the Deaf Hear

Seeing and hearing are an important connecting point in the stories in this section. We have seen how the disciples failed to see and hear. But there are two stories surrounding this story that also have to do with seeing and hearing. If you look carefully at Mark 7:31-8:26, you will see how many times seeing and hearing are mentioned. In Mark 7 deafness and ears are mentioned in verses 32, 33 and 35. In Mark 8, eyes and ears are mentioned in verse 17, as we have seen. Then in Mark 8:21-26 eyes and seeing and sight restored are mentioned in verses 22-25. We should not think that this is coincidental. It is quite deliberate and Mark has put these stories together for the purpose of teaching important truths.

As we have seen the disciples all had good hearing in a physical sense, but in spite of that, they turned out to be quite deaf to the work of God and to faith in God.

Mark 7:31-36 tells a story about what happened in the region of the Decapolis on the other side of Galilee, when some people brought a man who was deaf and who had a speech impediment to Jesus. Those who brought him asked Jesus to place His hands on the man. This was normal procedure. Sometimes Jesus touched people, sometimes they touched Jesus, sometimes Jesus wasn’t in the presence of the people and they were healed. This time they wanted Jesus to touch the man, but Jesus did something much different than usual. He put his fingers in the man’s ears and spit on his tongue. Why this unusual healing method? Was it because the man was a Gentile and needed more help to believe? We are not told. Geddert points out, however that, “He does not heal by getting the magical techniques and incantations right, but by God’s power.” “The healing occurs in response to Jesus’ authoritative word.”

Whatever the method, the result was that the man’s ears were opened and his tongue was loosened and he could hear clearly and he could speak once again.

The lesson is quite clear and declared by the people in Mark 7:37, “People were overwhelmed with amazement. ‘He has done everything well,’ they said. ‘He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.’” And so we learn that Jesus is able to make the deaf person hear again. And we should not think that Jesus is only able to make the person who is physically deaf hear again. He is able to make the person who does not hear God hear again. This is a promise for all of us who struggle with unbelief. It is a word of hope for all of us who wrestle with doubt and who don’t get how God is working. Jesus is the one who can open our deaf ears to hear Him speak to us and to be able to understand what He is doing.

At the conference last weekend, the speaker, Dr. David Shenk spoke about Jesus. His text was Revelation 5 and he pointed to the fact that Jesus is worthy to take the scroll of the book of life. He is worthy because He was slain and purchased people from every tribe and tongue and nation. He is worthy because He is seated on the throne over all the earth. As I heard this message, I had to confess that I do not always believe that Jesus is Lord, that He has compassion and that He has all power to care for us. I confessed that I am not nearly quick enough to point people to Jesus. I had to confess, as I came home and began to meditate on this passage that my ears are plenty hard of hearing. How thankful I am for the promise that Jesus is the one who can open our ears. The one who has conquered, the one who is seated on the throne, the one who has loved us sacrificially, the one who has promised abundant life, the one who will reign for all eternity can open our ears.

He can help us to hear and understand and to know what God is doing so that we can put our trust in Him. So this becomes an encouragement to trust in Him, to know that He can help us hear. My prayer is that Jesus will open my ears.

III.            Jesus Heals In Stages

The story in Mark 8:21-26 is also obviously connected with this whole section. This time seeing is mentioned. The unusual methods in which Jesus spit on the man’s eyes ties it to the story in Mark 7:31-37. These are the only two stories in the NT where spitting is involved, except John 9 where Jesus used spit to make mud to put on a man’s eyes. These clues make it clear that we need to connect all these stories together. So what is the connection between these stories and the lesson in this last story?

It connects with the previous story because it is a story of healing blindness. Once again we see that Jesus is able to heal the blind. Once again we are reminded that Jesus can make us see again.

But there is another unique thing about this story in that it involves a two stage miracle. Jesus healed the blind man, but it happened in two stages. The first time Jesus spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on them. When He did, the man was able to see, but not clearly, not completely. We read his response in Mark 8:24, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.” There was a seeing, but it was not a clear seeing. When Jesus put His hands on the man a second time, we read that his eyes were opened and he “saw everything clearly.” Why this two stage healing? Because it reflects a reality in the world of spiritual understanding. The disciples had eyes, but they did not see. But remember that we said that “not yet” implied that they would yet understand and see? The disciples had realized a lot of things about Jesus. They had the beginnings of perception, but it was incomplete. In the very next part of Mark we have the first announcement of the death of Jesus. In that text, Peter clearly declared about Jesus, “You are the Christ.” But in the very next breath Peter rebuked Jesus and could not perceive that the way to victory was the way of suffering and death. In the weeks that followed, this confusion continued. They saw, but they didn’t see. They caught on to some things, but they missed others. Following the resurrection, their eyes were opened a little more and on the day of Pentecost, a little more. In fact, until the day of Pentecost they were in a bit of a fog, “seeing people walking around like trees.” But even then their seeing would not be complete and Peter and Paul would argue about what it meant to follow Jesus. But complete seeing will come. I Corinthians 13:12 says, “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”

How does this help us with our unbelief? It is helpful to know that it is not unusual that our seeing will be incomplete now. The disciples struggled to see clearly and so do we. But that knowledge is not intended to make us complacent. Behind the acknowledgement that sometimes seeing takes time and stages of perception remain there is the overwhelming truth that Jesus opens blind eyes. Not just physically blind eyes, but spiritually blind eyes. It is the touch of Jesus that will make us see clearly. In addition, there is the reality that sometimes seeing takes more than one stage for us to fully understand. Geddert says, “The two stage healing is a perfect reflection of the disciples’ situation. Just as the blind man has gained sight gradually, so will the disciples.” And so will we.

Conclusion

If you come to Jesus challenging Him to prove Himself, you will be disappointed. Just like Jesus did not answer the Pharisees, He will not respond to an unbelieving challenge.

If you come to Jesus expecting that He will give you whatever you want, you will be disappointed. He is sovereign and knows far better what is good for us and has eternal things in mind, not our temporal wishes. Although He often meets even these, He is not a cosmic Santa Claus.

If you come to Jesus with humble confidence in His power and His love, you will never be disappointed. You will trust His sovereignty, His compassion, His power and His love.

All of us at one point or another are deaf to this truth about God and blind to all that He has done and can do.

The word of hope to us this morning is to know that Jesus heals deaf ears and blind eyes. The word of encouragement is to be patient with ourselves and patient and humble with others knowing that we are all on a journey. The word of challenge for us is to keep looking to Jesus to bring the healing of our spiritual eyes and ears.

Introduction

I appreciated the mockery of one of my Facebook friends who wondered why she had to put mosquito spray on her children just to get into the van!

Another friend quipped that he regrets saying in January that he could hardly wait for the first mosquito bite.

Someone else wrote, “Let’s see…..thick socks – check; long pants – check; fully zipped jacket – check…….mosquito season, here I come!!!!

Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God and the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” How do we see the glory of God through the dense layer of mosquitoes?

Of course, mosquitoes are not the only cause of suffering, difficulty and trial. There are many much more serious things which we struggle with. There is all the rain and disease and conflict and tornadoes and evil and the list goes on. These things blur our vision so that we are not able to see the glory of God. But if we see the glory of God, what difference will it make? Will seeing the glory of God take away the mosquitoes? What will seeing the glory of God do for us while we swat mosquitoes?

This verse says “The heavens declare the glory of God.” What does glory mean? Glory refers to that which is the best. It refers to that which is so amazing you can hardly describe it. So when this verse says, “The heavens declare the glory of God” it invites us to look into the heavens and see how amazing and wonderful God is. I invite you to look to the heavens.

I.                   The Heavens Declare the Glory of God’s Power

Look up to the heavens and see the clouds. The clouds in the heavens declare to us the glory of God’s power.

I want to ask for a volunteer, a strong young man who thinks he can hold up this glass of water for a long time. On the second day of creation we read in Genesis 1:6, “And God said, ‘Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.’ So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. God called the expanse ‘sky.’” I have wondered about this passage. I understand the meaning of the water under the expanse, but I wasn’t so sure about the waters above the expanse. But because of the great rain storms we have had recently, the waters above the expanse have come to make a lot of sense. ________ is holding about 8 oz. of water which weighs about ½ a pound. How long would he be able to hold it up? My yard is 2 acres. If half an inch of rain fell on that yard the rain collected would weigh 226,645 pounds. What is most amazing is that all that water is held up by air in the “expanse above the heavens. Can you imagine the weight of water held in the clouds which roll across the sky from the Pacific Ocean all the way to Rosenort and Riverside?

Psalm 77:17-19 says, “The clouds poured down water, the skies resounded with thunder; your arrows flashed back and forth. Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind, your lightning lit up the world; the earth trembled and quaked. Your path led through the sea, your way through the mighty waters, though your footprints were not seen.”

Isaiah 40:12 says, “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand…?”

You tell me, do the clouds not declare the glory of God’s power?

II.               The Heavens Declare the Glory of God’s Wisdom

Look up to the heavens and see the weather systems. They speak to us of the glory of God’s wisdom.

When I went to university, I began with the intention of taking a major in economics and a minor in philosophy. During my second year, I had to take a science course and took a course which mostly studied weather and climate. I so enjoyed the course that I changed my minor to geography and most of the courses I took in geography were in weather and climate because I was so fascinated by the way the weather system works.

For example, did you know that at the equator and at the poles the prevailing winds go from east to west. In the whole rest of the world the prevailing winds go from west to east. That is why when Sylvia describes the weather systems, she always shows us what is coming from Colorado or Alberta. The reason for this weather system is that the earth is warmest at the equator. If there was no way to move all that hot air away from the equator, all that lived there would soon burn up and the cold at the poles would move even further south. The earth is really a big engine which moves air from the equator to the poles and so cools the equator and heats the poles.

Another fascinating part of the weather system is the way in which low pressure systems create enormous lift so that huge amounts of moisture are lifted off the surface of the oceans and lakes. They form clouds and travel thousands of miles to drop rain far inland where there is little surface water.

How did God ever conceive such amazing systems? Job 36:29 asks, “Who can understand how he spreads out the clouds, how he thunders from his pavilion? Proverbs 3:19, 20 answers that question when it says, “By wisdom the Lord laid the earth’s foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place; by his knowledge the deeps were divided, and the clouds let drop the dew.” So as we consider the wonder of the worldwide weather systems, we are introduced to the glory God’s wisdom.

III.            The Heavens Declare the Glory of God’s Goodness

Look up to the heavens and see the sun and the rain. The provisions of both declare to us the glory of God’s goodness.

What is the right amount of sunshine and rain? If you listen to the weather forecast on TV, you get the impression that sunshine is necessary all the time, especially on the weekend so that people can enjoy the outdoors. Right now we would be quite happy if it did not rain for a long time. We have gotten a little tired of the rain and all the damage it has caused. But I have lived in places and visited places where people desired rain with an even greater desperation than we now desire sunshine. In Israel I saw the barley crops in the Negev. The Negev is a desert region southeast of Jerusalem. In the lowest valleys the farmer had planted his crops hoping that any rain that came would find its way to these low spots. But the crop was very poor. It was a small patch and there were few stocks of barley. The shepherds spoke of it as a disaster. Last year when I was in Paraguay, all the people were speaking of the desperation they had for water. Their only source of water is the rain. They have huge roofs on their houses that collect water into cisterns and their cisterns were getting empty. Their cattle didn’t have water to drink and they didn’t bother planting crops because they wouldn’t grow anyway.

These things happen and we either long for rain or for sunshine, but over the whole earth and over the years, we find that there is a balance between rain sunshine. God doesn’t send only rain or only sunshine. Both are needed. Plants need moisture to draw nutrients from the ground and they need sunshine so photosynthesis can take place. Both are needed for plants to grow and God provides both. Because He does, we have a picture of the glory of His goodness.

Psalm 147:7-9 says, “Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; make music to our God on the harp. He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills. He provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call.”

IV.             The Heavens Declare the Glory of God’s Infinity

Look up to the heavens and see the sun and beyond the sun, the stars – which are all out there twinkling brightly, even though they are not visible to us right now. They tell us of the glory of God’s infinity.

I would like to have a few volunteers. I need someone to hold this globe, which represents the earth. We are going to do a little representative math. Suppose that 1cm = 1 million miles. If this represents the sun, how far away from the earth would the sun be? Sun is 93 cm away. The nearest star is Alpha Centauri which is about 4.2 light years away. If 1cm = million miles and this is the nearest star, where should we send _____________ so that he/she would be the right distance away? Start walking and when you think you are far enough you can stop. Remember that the speed of light is 186,000 m/sec. It would be about 250 km away which would be somewhere near Clear Lake, between Grand Forks and Fargo, Boissevain, Hecla Island.

Job 22:12 says, “Is not God in the heights of heaven? And see how lofty are the highest stars!” God is the creator of all the stars and holds them all in his hand and knows the name of every one of them. We have only talked about the nearest stars. The farthest stars are so far away that we can’t even imagine the distances and God is greater and far beyond even them.

If we can begin to wrap our head around these great distances, we can begin to get a little idea of the infinity of God. That infinity extends not only to the furthest reaches of the universe, but also to the furthest reaches of time. Truly the heavens declare the glory of God’s infinity.

V.                The Heavens Declare the Glory of God’s Faithfulness

Look up to the heavens and see how day follows night and night follows day and see the glory of God’s faithfulness.

Many years ago Carla and I were guests at someone’s home. We had gone to their place to see if their church would hire us to be their pastor for the summer. This was between my second and third year of seminary. We arrived at their place in the afternoon and enjoyed their kind hospitality for supper and met some of the people of the church. When it came time for sleep, they took us down into the basement of the house and showed us into the bedroom. By this time it was dark and we didn’t notice much about the room. The bed looked comfortable and we were glad to get to sleep. We didn’t have a clock, so we didn’t know what time it was. When morning came, we had no idea that it was morning. The room had no window in it and no light came through the door. For all we knew, day had not yet come. We wondered what time it was, we wondered if we should get up, we wondered if we should go back to sleep. What we did not wonder was if day would come. Eventually they came and knocked on the door and we knew it was morning. Morning came, like it comes every day. Morning came, like it has come every day since God set days in place at creation. The cycle of day and night is something we can count on. Weather may be unpredictable, winter may come late or early, sunrise times change through the year, but there is no doubt that the cycle of day and night will always come.

Jeremiah 31:35, 36 says, “This is what the Lord says, he who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the Lord Almighty is his name: ‘Only if these decrees vanish from my sight,’ declares the Lord, ‘will the descendants of Israel ever cease to be a nation before me.’”

As we see the regular rotation of the earth and the regular cycle of the sun and moon, we see in the heavens something of the glory of God’s faithfulness.

VI.             The Heavens Declare the Glory of God’s Greatness

Look up to the heavens and see the vast expanse of the heavens. They declare the glory of God’s greatness.

When we look at the sky it looks pretty big. We can see from the western horizon to the eastern horizon. Have you ever tried to measure the sky by stretching out your arm and seeing how many hand widths it is from horizon to horizon? That seems doable, but we know that it isn’t an accurate measure of how big the sky is. The circumference of the earth at the equator is 40, 076 km. If we were to define the heavens as the layer at which airplanes fly, most jets fly about 10 km up in the air. The circumference at that level would be about 40,110km.

The Bible tells us in Isaiah 40:12, “Who has… with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?” God didn’t measure the heavens with his hand from a vantage point on earth. He actually is able to measure the heavens, whether at the level of the earth at the equator or the level at which airplanes fly with his spread hand. How big is God’s hand? Does He measure 5000 km at a time? This kind of thinking invites us to think about the greatness of God.

When we speak of the heavens, we are not talking about a two dimensional thing. The heavens have layers. The levels of the heavens, which actually begin at the surface of the earth, are made up of five layers – the troposphere, the stratosphere, the mesosphere, the thermosphere and the exosphere. The thermosphere ranges from 350 to 800 km above the earth’s surface. At this level the circumference of the earth would be about 45,000km.

Whichever direction you think of it, God is greater than all these and is above all of these. Isaiah 40:22 reminds us of this when it says, “He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.”

How awesome is God. How glorious in His majesty and greatness!

VII.         The Heavens Declare the Glory of God’s Sovereignty

Look to the heavens to see the weather, which reminds us that although we have no control, God does.

On Thursday when I was writing out this message, I looked at the forecast for today. Then it was to be a high of 23 with 80% chance of isolated showers. When I returned on Friday, the forecast had changed a little to a high of 22 with 60% chance of showers. One of the common topics of conversation at the coffee shop is the weather. We talk about what we would do if we could control the weather. We talk, with mockery, about the failure of the weather forecasters to get it right. Human beings have even tried to manipulate the weather and one common method has been cloud seeding. By introducing substances like silver iodide into a cloud from an airplane, some suggest that it is possible to increase the amount of rain. Wikipedia also suggested that cloud seeding was done before the Beijing Olympics to induce rain so that it would not rain during the Olympics. The article admitted, however, that the results were disputed. It seems hard to imagine that if we can’t even predict weather, how can we control the weather?

In contrast to that, we know that God can control the weather. Jeremiah 10:13 says, “When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses.” In Psalm 148:7-9 we read, “Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding, you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars…”

These thoughts remind us of the glory of God’s sovereignty. God is over all and by His hand is in control. Sometimes we wish the weather was different than we had hoped for our event, but I also know that at times we have prayed for particular weather, and God has answered. I remember hearing about a gospel crusade which took place in a South American country. The weather was terrible, but people came. The whole time that the service was going on, the weather was threatening. But people had prayed that the gospel would not be stopped because of the weather and the rain held off as long as the service was on. As soon as it was over, the rain poured down. For those who experienced this, it was a clear example of the sovereignty of God.

Conclusion

Have you ever had this experience? It is one of those weeks. It’s not that everything goes wrong, but enough things to begin to set discouragement in your heart. There is a feeling in your stomach of discomfort, a choking feeling in your throat and your shoulders are tight which is beginning to give you a headache. In the evening you have a chance to go for a walk and since mosquito season is over you decide to take a hike down the river trail. As you walk along the green of the trees in the light of the setting sun is brilliant. As the sun begins to sink it produces many hues of pink and orange on the clouds. As you walk along, you notice that your shoulders are beginning to relax and the choking feeling is getting less. What is happening? In the presence of the natural text you are reminded of the glory of God in His power, wisdom, goodness, infinity, faithfulness, greatness and sovereignty. This realization leads to peace which gives you hope.

Because God is glorious we have hope.  We have the hope of benefiting from His power, the hope of living under His wisdom, the hope of being blessed by His goodness, the hope of a glorious eternity, the hope of confidence in His faithfulness, the enjoyment of His greatness and the confidence of resting in His sovereignty.

So whenever you look up to the heavens, I invite you to see the glory of God and be reminded that you are under the care of One who is very great and very good.

My father was a professional photographer. He loved photography and he was good at it. My brother has inherited his ability, but he is not a professional photographer, nor is my sister, nor am I. If my father were alive, I wonder if he would be disappointed that none of his children became photographers?

I have been a minister all of my working life. One of my sons is a part time pastor to youth. If he should not be a youth pastor one day, I would not be disappointed because following in my career is not the greatest passion I have for my children. What is my greatest passion for my children is that they love Jesus and that they serve Him with their gifts.

Job is a great example of a man who was deeply concerned that his children be in a right relationship with God. We read in Job 1:5 that whenever his children would have a period of feasting, “Job would send and have them purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, ‘Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.’”

I don’t know what your greatest desire for your children is, but I suspect that you too want them to follow God faithfully. If so, is there anything that we as parents can do to help our children move in that direction?

Near the end of March a group of people from this church attended the “Faith at Home” conference. One of the issues addressed at this conference was that of passing faith on to our children. We were invited to ponder, “Who has the greatest influence on the faith formation of children?” “How can families be well equipped to pass faith on to their children?” “How can the church help families fulfill this important role?” These are the questions which I would like to think about with you this morning. We will look at Scripture and other sources to learn that the home, not the church, is the primary place where faith is passed on. We will see that a living example is the most powerful teaching tool and we will think about some of the practices which help parents fulfill their role in nurturing faith. In that context, we will invite you to fill out the survey which you have received this morning. It will be a way for us to find out which skills we need to emphasize in order to be better able to pass faith on to our families.

I.                   The Home Is the Primary Place Where Faith Is Passed On

In 1994 a group in Switzerland conducted a survey to determine whether a person’s religion carried through to the next generation and, if so, what, if any, were the critical factors. They discovered that there is one overwhelming critical factor: the religious practice of the father of the family that, above all, determines the future attendance at or absence from the church of the children. www.trushare.com/83APR02/AP02LOW.htm

In the book, “Building Faith at Home” Mark Holmen quotes a survey in which mainline protestant youth in grade 12 were asked the question “what has been the most significant religious influence in your life.” Of those who responded 75% identified mother as one of the top five answers, 51% had fathers, 49% mentioned pastors, 34% – youth group. Friends came in at 31%, the Bible was mentioned 26% of the time as one of the top 5, the churches Christian Education program was in the top five 25% of the time, camp and Sunday School teachers came in at 23 % and grandparents at 22%. The overwhelming evidence of this survey was that the most significant influence towards knowledge of faith and adherence to faith is the home.

We put a lot of emphasis on the role of our Christian Education programs like Sunday School, AWANA and youth programs, and they do have an important place, but the evidence strongly indicates that parents are the most influential. What we need to remember is that these survey results refer to grade 12 students. Although the results were not much different among younger grades, it is interesting to note that at a time when we often assume that parents are losing influence on their children and when peers and youth leaders may have a greater influence, the most powerful influence towards faith was still parents.

The Bible teaches us that this is the way it should be. The Bible teaches us that we are to teach one another, but when it comes to children, the Bible always puts the responsibility of training children in the ways of God on the parents.

One day when God was having a conversation with Abraham, we have a glimpse into the mind and purposes of God. We read in Genesis 18:19 what God says about Abraham, “For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.” God chose Abraham so that he would teach his children the way of the Lord so that He could bless Abraham and his descendants.

The same theme is found in Deuteronomy 4:9, “Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.”

In the New Testament Paul instructs disciples of Jesus in the same way. For example, Ephesians 6:4 says, “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”

George Barna writes, “A majority of churches are actually guilty of perpetuating an unhealthy and unbiblical process wherein the church usurps the role of the family and creates an unfortunate, sometimes exclusive, dependency upon the church for a child’s spiritual nourishment.” That is not to say that there is no place in the church for Christian Education, but Scripture is very clear when it teaches that parents bear primary responsibility for the spiritual nurture of their children.

I believe it is important for us to acknowledge and recognize that. When the church pretends to be more important in Christian training than the parents, it takes on a role that it has not been given by God. When parents assume that they are unskilled and unqualified to pass faith on to their children, they abdicate a primary responsibility. We need to affirm and honor parents in their role as spiritual teachers and we need to challenge them to this task.

II.               Children Learn To Live What They Observe

Some parents, when they hear that, may be filled with fear. They may wonder whether they have the skills to effectively train their children. How is this enormous task to be done? How is it to be done well? The answer to that question is very simple, but extremely challenging. The simple answer is that children learn what they live.

Proverbs 22:6 is right on the mark when it says, “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” Whatever children are taught is what they will most likely follow in life. But what is important to note is that they will follow not what they are taught in the formal setting of a classroom or the times when we sit them down and instruct them in the right way to live. What they will learn is what they see us live.

Deuteronomy 6 is so clear about this strategy. In Deuteronomy 6:5-7 we read, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”

In this passage we notice that the starting point must be our own love for the Lord. That which is of primary value in our lives is that we must love the Lord. That love must be a complete love – a love that is in our hearts, which goes down to the depth of our soul and is displayed with all our strength. If that love is not first of all in us, not as a museum piece which is put on display at breakfast and on Sundays, but which permeates our whole life, how will it be passed on? If love for God is deeply rooted in our life, then the second part of this strategy will be second nature to us. When it is second nature to us, we will naturally and strategically talk about God when we sit at home and when we are walking about and late in the evening and first thing in the morning. Love for God will not be a show we put on, but a life we live.

The effects of the example of a life of faith well lived are seen in the story of Samuel and his parents. The story is found in I Samuel 1-3. Elkanah, Samuel’s father, was a man who led his family in regular worship. The place of worship for the people of Israel at that time was the tent of meeting at Shiloh. That is where sacrifices were offered for sins and where God’s presence was and was therefore the place they went to worship. Every year Elkanah took his family there in order to worship with them. Elkanah demonstrated the importance of worshipping God by his regular practice of going and also in taking his family to worship.

Since Hannah did not have children, life was very difficult for her. One of the years when they went to the temple, she was particularly agonizing in her heart about her barrenness. Since this was the place where they could seek God, we find that that is exactly what she was doing. It seems she was offering a very animated prayer which was also a prayer of desperation. It seems that she lived with “bitterness of soul” but it also says that “In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the Lord.” Her difficult situation was cause for her to lay it all out before God. It was in her heart to recognize that help comes from the Lord and that is where she went. We also see an attitude of faith in her so that when the priest answered she accepted the answer as from the Lord and was at peace. We read in 1 Samuel 1:18, “She said, ‘May your servant find favor in your eyes.’ Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast.” When God answered her prayer we read that she responded with praise to the Lord, as recorded in I Samuel 2. After her son had been weaned, we read a further evidence of one who loved the Lord in that Hannah fulfilled her vow to give Samuel to the Lord and he went to live with the priest and began to serve him in the tent of meeting. The early years of Samuel were lived in this home where faith was not only a theory, but central to life. It was a home in which the family worshipped and in which faith was expressed and lived in the trials of life.

What became of Samuel? The first story we hear of his response occurred when he was living in the temple. One night he heard a voice and because he had had no previous experience, he did not know what to make of the voice. Eventually the priest, Eli, informed him that it was God speaking to him. Samuel responded by listening to the voice of God. He became a man who lived his whole life in obedience to God. The faith life he had seen in his parents was certainly one factor in influencing him to follow the Lord. That is not to say that there is a guarantee or that it is inevitable, but it is to say that the influence of parents in bringing their children to faith is very important.

Others who study these things and have written about them have found the same thing.

Mark Holman was the presenter at the Faith at Home seminar which we attended. He writes, “…no matter how good a Sunday School or youth program is, if children don’t see godly living modeled and hear issues of values and faith discussed in the home, any faith they gain at church probably will not stick when they grow older.” He also says, “Faith is not something that can be taught; faith is something that must be caught.”

Tim Kimmel has written the book, “Why Christian Kids Rebel” and he also has some important things to say about this. He writes, “If we trade our passion for Christ for a convenient Christian experience, it’s going to be very difficult for our children to develop a deep intimacy with God – at least not through our example.” “…it is extremely easy for the children of Christian parents to connect to God through the traditions surrounding their beliefs rather than through an authentic relationship with Christ.” “Christianity, at its core, is not just something we do or something we know; it’s Someone we love.” “Kids today are more inclined to believe God’s truth and embrace it when they have seen it embodied in a changed life. They especially give truth weight when they see it lived out under stress.” “The biggest determining factor as to whether a child’s Christian education will be stuck in his head or hidden in his heart has to do with the home he comes from and how passionate his parents are about Jesus Christ.”

“There is a major problem in many Christian homes, and it feeds a child’s inclination toward spiritual rebellion. It’s the presence of a faith that doesn’t cost much. It’s a belief system that fits comfortably into our personal agendas.” “Kids want to see more in the Christian faith than mediocrity and convenience.”

I John 1:1-3 says, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.”

Although this passage isn’t about parents and children, it is about passing on faith. It gets to the heart of the primary principle of passing on faith, whether from one person to another or from parent to child. It begins with a personal experience. John speaks of what “we have seen with our eyes” and what “we have looked at and our hands have touched.” As they proclaimed the gospel, they were proclaiming what they had personally experienced. Their goal was “so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father.” Our goal for our children is that they may have fellowship with us and with God. The way to achieve that is to communicate in life and with word what we have touched and seen and heard. Our children will learn what we live.

III.            Displaying Faith Practices

This is sometimes tough to do. If faith is in our hearts and we are living it, it will pass on to our children. But living faith before our children involves specifics. What are some of the specific things we can do to let those in our home see our faith?

In the Old Testament there are some examples of what the people of Israel did to pass faith on to their families. God instructed them to do these things exactly for this purpose.

One of the things which the Israelites used to pass on faith was the Passover celebration. Once a year they were to participate in this meal of remembrance. In Exodus 12:26, 27 we read, “And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’”

Ceremonies which remember God’s salvation are good ways of teaching our children about faith. They are tangible expressions which raise questions and require discussion. Therefore it is good to have children present at communion and as soon as they are Christians to instruct them in the participation in communion so that they can participate in remembering what Christ has done.

In Deuteronomy 6:20 we read, “In the future, when your son asks you, ‘What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the Lord our God has commanded you?’” The Israelites lived according to the Word of God. Because of the presence of this book in their midst, children raised questions and were directed to God. The presence of the Word of God in our life will be another way in which those in our family will be brought to see God. What will be the impact on our children if every day at a particular time they see us sitting in a certain chair reading our Bible and if afterwards they notice a well worn Bible on the table beside that chair? It will bring them to ask, what is the meaning of such a dedication to this book? If they also see us submit to the words of God’s book and realize that we are not only reading it, but living by it, it will have even more of an impact.

Joshua 4 tells the story of how Israel came through the Jordan River. When they did, God instructed them to bring stones out of the middle of the river. We read in Joshua 4:5-7, “Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”

What are some ways in which we can set up stones of remembrance in our life to remind ourselves and our family of the things that God has done for us? When we lived in Manitou our children were in their growing up years. We had a wall in the garage on which we marked their height. Each year about the time of their birthday they stood against the wall and we marked their height and dated it. It was always interesting to see how much they had grown. Do we ever make markers of spiritual growth? Over the years, I have heard people talk about how they have not had assurance of salvation at a certain period of their life. I heard about how one family addressed that issue by writing on a post in the basement the date on which members of their family accepted Christ. It helped them know that they had made the decision and affirmed the decision they had made. If we are willing to mark our house with indicators of God’s work, surely the people in our house will see God at work.

These are some examples of how faith was passed on in the Old Testament. What are some other of the specifics of living faith before the eyes of our children?

In a survey done by George Barna he writes, “We discovered that in a typical week, fewer than 10% of parents who regularly attend church with their kids read the Bible together, pray together(other than at meal times) or participate in an act of service as a family unit.” Scripture reading, prayer, worship and service are excellent ways in which to demonstrate faith to our families.

Dr. Tim Kimmel writes about some of the practicalities. He suggests, we “…shouldn’t let our academic study of the Bible be a substitute for our personal study of it.” We “…should be doing more than just attending a local church. We should be serving in one.” We “…should be developing relationships with people outside the safe confines of our Christian peer group.” “God…placed a passion in each of our hearts…we need to act on that passion and turn it into a ministry.”

Mark Holman points to four keys to nurturing faith in the home. They are: caring conversations or faith talk; devotions in the home; family service in the neighborhood and community and rituals and traditions in the home.

Conclusion

Do you as a parent feel well equipped, to pass faith on to your children?

Even though I have been a pastor for many years, there have been many ways in which I know that I did not do what was best for passing faith on in my home. For example, although I prayed, Carla and I have not always prayed together. We all struggle in various ways and as a church we want to help equip the families in this church develop good habits of passing on a living faith. In order for us to understand where you struggle in this matter, we have put together a survey. Our hope is that as you fill out this survey, we will discover some of the ways in which we as a church can help you live your faith and “showcase” your faith for your family in order to help keep lived faith before your and their eyes. We invite you to respond to the survey you received at the beginning of this service. This is for everyone, not just people with small children, so we ask that everyone fill it out. The definition of family is not just those who have young children in their home, but any home in which there is more than one person. We will give you a few moments now to fill it out and then if you would put it in the box provided in the back we would appreciate it.

In Psalm 145:4 we read, “One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts.” May that be the intention of our heart! May what God has done pass on from generation to generation.

Introduction

What a great day it is for the church today. Whenever we have a baptism, it is a day of rejoicing and celebration. But what is this really all about? When you observe the procedures we go through as they have had baptism classes, as we heard their testimonies and affirmed them for baptism and church membership and now as we have a special service of baptism, it might simply look like church business. Certainly we have church structures related to what is happening here today, but that is not what the center is. The center is Jesus and before we hear the girl’s testimonies, I would like to point to that center.

Please open your Bibles to Colossians 2:6-23. There are many wonderful thoughts in this passage which point to Jesus. These thoughts are summarized in verse 6 which says, “Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him.”

Those who are being baptized are declaring that they have received Christ Jesus as Lord. What does that mean? Because they are being baptized, they are saying something about the life they intend to live. What does that life look like? Let us examine God’s Word to help us answer these questions.

I.                   You Received Christ

Baptism is a way of saying to the world, “I have received Christ.” What happens when we receive Christ?

A.                 You Have Fullness in Christ

In Colossians 2:9-10 we read, “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.” To have received Christ means that “…you have been given fullness in Christ…”

What good news this is! We know that we are sinners and often we loath our weaknesses and our failures. What good news to learn that we have been given fullness in Christ!

What does this fullness consist of? Don’t you hate it when you do a puzzle and find that there are pieces missing? What are the pieces that are missing in us which make us incomplete? We are incomplete in that we are sinners, but Christ died to forgive our sins. We were sinners, but now we are saints. We are incomplete in that we fall short of the glory of God, but in Christ we come to share that glory as we read in John 17:22, “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one…” The life we live is lived in weakness, but in Christ we have been given power. The life we live is often empty, but in Christ we are given abundant life as we read in John 10:10. Our bodies are subject to decay, but in Christ, we are going to receive bodies that are incorruptible. In all of these ways we have been given fullness.

That fullness is given to us in Christ. Jesus has made us complete and when you are being baptized you are saying, “Look what Jesus has done!”

B.                 The Sinful Nature Has Been Put Off By Christ

How can that be when we know what we are, that we are sinners and fail to measure up to what God wants us to be? Colossians 2:11 answers that question when it says, “In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ…”

Circumcision is a physical surgery with an Old Testament background which came to have a spiritual meaning. That imagery assures us with somewhat violent language that sin has been removed from our life.

We have a number of Schubert Chokecherry trees in our yard. They are susceptible to black knot which is an ugly growth on the branches, which if not removed will eventually kill the tree. Every year or two, I remove the black knot wherever I find it. It is something in the nature of the tree to be susceptible to this disease. If there was something that could be done to change the nature of the tree so that black knot would not happen, that would be great, but I don’t know of any such treatment.

Black knot is like sin. It is an ugliness that shows itself in our life because it is within our nature to sin and if we don’t remove it, it will eventually kill us. This verse tells us very good news. When we receive Christ, sin has been cut off. Not just the evidences of sin, but that something within our heart that makes us susceptible to sin so that we can begin to live without the inevitability of sin. When you are being baptized, you are saying, “Yes! My sin nature has been cut off.”

Once again it is important for us to note that this removal of the sin nature has happened through Christ. It is what He has done which has made it possible for us to have our sin nature removed.

C.                 You Were Buried and Raised With Christ

Another way of looking at what has happened is with the imagery of baptism in Colossians 2:12 where we read, “…having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.”

This is a very radical statement. Baptism doesn’t just imply that our life has been washed clean of sin. It isn’t even only that we have been given power tools for holy living. Baptism implies that a death has taken place. That is deep and profound. Jesus died for sin and when we are baptized, we identify with that death. When you die of cancer you beat the disease. It can no longer grow in your body. If we have died to sin, it means that sin no longer has any right to our life because we have died to it. Of course, if you die of cancer it is not only the cancer that stops growing, you stop living. But, Jesus has done something else.

Resurrection is a totally unexpected thing in terms of the human experience. Many people still doubt that Jesus rose from the dead because we don’t experience such things in this world. Just as amazing is the truth revealed in this verse. When you are being baptized, you are declaring that not only have you died, but you have also been made alive in Christ. When we look at our lives and know that we still sin, it is hard for us to grasp that we have actually been raised to a new life which is a life apart from sin. In Christ, we are participate in His resurrection. A life of holiness and obedience becomes possible because we have been raised.

But again we need to remember that this death to sin and resurrection to life happen in Christ. Death to sin and resurrection does not happen because we have lived an exemplary life or been particularly good. It happens by faith in God, as the text points out. We are alive to the new possibility of a victorious holy life only in the power and presence of Jesus in our life.

D.                You Were Made Alive In Christ

Another way of looking at what has happened when we receive Christ is found in Colossians 2:13-15 where we read, “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”

This adds two other aspects of what has happened in believing in Christ and which you are declaring in baptism. The phrase “…canceled the written code…” suggests that there are charges which have been laid against us. The charges against us are that we are guilty of rebellion against God, but in Christ those charges have been dropped.

The other thing which this verse assures us of is that all the powers which are against us have been disarmed. If you were held hostage and an armed person held a gun to you, you would have little chance of escape. If a stronger person came into the room and took the gun away from the hostage taker, his power would be removed and you would be free. That is what has happened. Satan was the one whose power kept us in bondage. But on the cross, Jesus Christ has taken away the power of Satan. It is removed and he has no power over us anymore.

Jesus is the stronger man. He has nailed the charges against us to the cross and He has removed the power of the enemy. What powerful truths! The most wonderful thing about these truths is that every one of them is true in Jesus! Over and over again, at least 6 times we read the phrase “in Christ” in this passage. How powerful! How wonderful.

II.               Live in Him

Therefore, since we are complete in Christ, we can walk in that completeness. Since our sins have been cut off, we can walk in holiness. Since we have died to sin and been raised to new life, we can walk in resurrection. Since the debt has been cancelled and the powers against us disarmed, we can walk in freedom.

Yet there are temptations which try to derail us from living in Christ. This passage identifies those temptations. As you are baptized, you are declaring a direction for life. This passage challenges you to walk in that direction.

A.                 Focus On Christ

There is a temptation to follow “human tradition and the basic principles of this world.” There are many shows like Dr. Phil and Rachel Ray which give wisdom for living. Our government tries to make laws which make sense and they expect us to live by those laws. A lot of those ideas are wise and sound ideas, but not every idea or every philosophy or every strategy follows the wisdom of God.

We are called on to use discernment. Colossians 2:8 warns us to make sure that “no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy…rather than Christ.”

There is a lot of wisdom in this world, which follows the wisdom of God. But not everything that looks like wisdom is the wisdom which follows the worldview of Christ. For example, the world’s wisdom tells us to make as much money as we can and promises that the more money we have the more secure we will be. The wisdom that comes from God teaches us a different philosophy. It teaches us to work hard and if someone does not work, they should not eat. It teaches us that we should not depend on our strength, ability or bank account, but on God and it teaches us to be generous and care for the poor.

Everything we do in life, every philosophy we adopt or live by must be tested by the wisdom which is in Jesus Christ and only that which lines up with what He has taught and lived ought to be lived by us.

Our whole existence as Christians is based on Christ and so the way we live must also be focused on Christ every day.

B.                 Find Your Reality in Christ

Another temptation is to live our lives developing a code of conduct which we force ourselves to follow with discipline.

In Colossae, there were false teachers who were trying to introduce all kinds of rules and regulations for living the Christian life. They taught that if you did not observe certain food laws, or keep certain festivals you were not a good Christian. In Colossians 2:17, Paul calls these things a shadow. In Colossians 2:23 he indicates that “they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.”

Let me be very clear that God wants us to obey Him. God wants those who follow Jesus to be people who walk in righteousness and holiness. The problem was and still is that there are many Christians who want to walk in righteousness and live by holiness not by obedience to God, but by the power of discipline and obedience to manmade rules. As we have seen in this passage, these things are a shadow that lacks any value in helping us walk in the way God wants us to live.

Sometimes in winter on a clear cold morning, I have observed that the horizon seems to be bent upwards. It is an optical illusion, a mirage. What we see is not really there. Walking by cold discipline and hard legalism is the same thing. It is a shadow which does not lead us to where God wants us to be. We are reminded once again that “the reality is found in Christ.” The way to walk in the new life of holiness is in a deep and growing relationship with Jesus Christ. It is only when we are deeply in love with Him that we are motivated to walk in holiness. He is the only one who can show us the way to live in righteousness. He is the only one who can give us the power to live in obedience.

The Expositors Bible Commentary quotes Maclaren who says “There is only one thing that will put the collar on the neck of the animal within us, and that is the power of the indwelling Christ.”

C.                 Remain Connected To the Head

Another temptation is to seek spiritual experiences for their own sake. The text speaks of those who delight in “the worship of angels” and “details about what he has seen, which sounds like a reference to visions.”

The danger is that we may come to seek spiritual experiences instead of a spiritual relationship. When we look for spiritual highs so that we can feel something or when we dwell on visions we have received as a way of proving that God loves us, we are substituting another shadow for the reality. The danger is that this can develop into spiritual arrogance. We may begin to believe, “I am so great that God has blessed me with special insight.” We may begin to desire the experiences and forget about the relationship and Paul warns in this text that such a person “has lost connection with the Head.”

So after you are baptized, the encouragement of this text is to keep connected to the Head. In our physical body the head is critical. If we lose connection to our head, we will not survive. If we are severed from Christ, we also will not live the new life. Living the Christian life has everything to do with our relationship with Jesus.

Conclusion

This morning, I am speaking to those who are being baptized. What a powerful thing you are saying by being baptized. You are pointing to Jesus and saying – “I am complete in Him, He has removed my sin nature, I have died and been raised with Him and there are no charges against me and no power which can defeat me.” Jesus has done all of this and we want to say to you, “Since you are making this commitment, keep on walking in Jesus. Focus on Jesus! He is the reality! Don’t lose connection to the Him!”

But this morning, I also speak to all of us. As we watch these young ladies make this commitment, let us be encouraged and reminded about the reality in Christ and live in it.

Introduction

Last week Carla and I watched The Poseidon Adventure. It is a movie about a passenger ship that is hit by a huge wave and is flipped over and begins to sink. While it is sinking, a group of passengers follow a person who is a minister. They go the opposite way of everyone else and with effort a group of them manage to escape. The minister who leads them is not the type of person you would expect a minister to be. Early in the movie while the ship is still floating, on a Sunday, he preaches and what he says is, “don’t bother praying, just work hard and you can help yourself.” Of course in the movie, that is the philosophy that is followed as they make their way through the ship to the one place where they hope to find a way out.

Whenever his ideas were expressed, I found myself thinking, “no, no, no help comes from God, He is powerful to save and to help, do pray.” But the ideas of that minister are not that far from the way we often think and live. How many of us have not tried to figure things out ourselves? How many of us live as if we will succeed by trying harder? Sometimes I wonder, “Do we trust the power of God?” “Do we let God lead us?”

An event happened 50 days after Jesus rose from the dead that introduced a new way of living for everyone who is a follower of Jesus. It reinforced that God is present among His people and at work in their midst. Today is Pentecost Sunday, the day we remember that event and so this morning, I would like to invite you to examine Acts 2 in order to be encouraged and challenged. As a way of looking at this passage, I would like to focus on two questions which are found in the text. In verse 12, the people asked, “What does this mean?” and in verse 37 they asked, “What shall we do?”

I.                   What Does This Mean?

A.                 What Happened?

Let us read about what happened in Acts 2:1-12.

We need to remember that the day of Pentecost follows the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. Jesus died on what we have come to know as Good Friday. Then three days later he rose from the dead. Forty days later, he ascended into heaven and ten days after that this event took place. All of these events are critical events in salvation history.

What an unusual time! The day of Pentecost was a Jewish festival which occurred fifty days after Passover. It was a celebration of the beginning of harvest. Many people were in Jerusalem for this celebration. It is uncertain where the disciples were. The text says they were in a house, which would be an unusual way of referring to the temple. They may have been at the home of one of the disciples, somewhere not too far from the temple.

While there, the sound of a strong wind came into the house. We notice that it wasn’t necessarily windy, but the sound of wind was heard. Then tongues of fire separated and came to rest on each of them. The tongues of fire remind us of several other times when fire manifested the presence of God. For example, we think of the burning bush when God met with Moses in the wilderness and the pillar of fire after Israel left Egypt and were traveling through the desert. But what is unique about this fire is that the flames “separated and came to rest on each of them.” The presence of God was not only present with the whole community, but was present with each of them. This is an important new development.

As this happened, we read that they were filled with the Holy Spirit and the manifestation of the presence of the Spirit was that they spoke in other tongues as the Spirit enabled. It is important to note that the ability to speak in other languages came from the Spirit of God and was controlled by the Spirit. The miracle of speaking in tongues seems to have been both a miracle of speaking and of hearing. In verse 4 it says they were able to speak in other tongues and in verse 8 we read that those listening heard them in their own language.

In verse 6 it says that people heard the sound and gathered together to the sound. Was it the sound of the wind that brought all the people together or was it the sound of the disciples speaking in other languages? Since the same word, “sound” is used of the wind and what brought them together, I suspect it was the wind which brought the people together and then as they gathered, they heard the disciples speaking. What the disciples spoke was praise to God. We read in verse 11 that they heard them “declare the wonders of God.”

They came from all over, from Mesopotamia, Judea, Asia and even Rome, but they were all people who belonged to the Jewish faith. They recognized, because the speakers were all from Galilee, that this was something unusual and amazing. Twice it says that the people who heard “were amazed.”

B.                 What Does it Mean?

Then we read that they asked, “What does this mean?” That is a good question!

Peter stood up to answer the question and we see the effect of the power of the Spirit immediately in that Peter was not his usual rash, impulsive self, but spoke with confidence and Biblical accuracy. He first of all addressed the mockery of some who thought that this was an evidence of drunkenness. How interesting that people can be so blind to a divine event! Are we ever blind to a divine event?

The answer which Peter gave comes in two parts. First of all he indicated that this was the fulfillment of prophecy. Secondly he made a connection of this event to Jesus.

What does it mean? It means that what God spoke about in the Old Testament has been fulfilled. God didn’t just make these things up as he went along. He had a plan that reaches back to the beginning of human history. He prepared people to understand the plan and announced it and now it was being fulfilled.

It means that the last days have come. Today people often wonder if we are in the end times. Well, according to this verse, we are. How is that true? Before Jesus, there were still important things that had to happen before the final events happened. Now that Jesus has come, there are no more events that need to happen. Jesus could return and the world could end at any time. These are the last days.

What does it mean? It means that the Spirit of God is being poured out. In the past, the Spirit of God had always been present. The Spirit of God was present at creation, involved in the work of creation as we read in Genesis 1:2 that “…the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” The Spirit of God had been given to various people in the Old Testament in order to accomplish God’s purposes. For example, in Judges 6:34 we read that, “… the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon…” But something significant was happening now. The Spirit of God was being “poured out on all people.” When we read “all people” we should make sure we read all of the passage and recognize that “all people” means, as verse 21 says, “those who call on the name of the Lord.” But the broad distribution of the presence of the Spirit to all those who follow the Lord is a new thing, a unique thing and a powerful thing. The presence of the Spirit is not limited only to those who were special servants of God. He was going to come on all. The presence of the Spirit of God was not limited to men. He was going to be poured out on “sons and daughters,” “men and women.” That tells us there is equality for all in the kingdom of God. The presence of the Spirit of God was not limited to mature believers, but would come on “young men and old men.”

What does it mean? It means that God is personally present with His people from now on! The Holy Spirit is identified as a “gift” from God. We need to distinguish between the gift of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit. The gift of the Spirit is the presence of the Spirit, essentially the presence of God with all God’s people. The gifts of the Spirit are the abilities, the things the Spirit gives us to use for His service. The gifts of the Spirit are great, but the truly great blessing is that God has given us His presence. What an awesome gift this is! It means that we are never alone again. It means that the power and presence of God accompany us in this journey we call the Christian life. It means that whether we are trying to make the name of Jesus known or serving Him even in some menial task or walking through the most difficult time of life, God is present with us. What a gift!

What does it mean? It means that Jesus has won!

Peter goes on to describe the sequence of events and their meaning in relationship to Jesus. He first of all reminds people of events that had happened less than two months previously. Many of these people had been in Jerusalem when these things had happened and they would have remembered them. They would have remembered that Jesus had done many amazing things. These amazing things were a sign that God was with Him and working through Him. He reminded them that they had done nothing to stop the religious leaders from putting Jesus to death on the cross but were implicated together with the wicked men who were the Roman occupiers. He announced to them that God had raised him from the dead. He reminded them that the resurrection of the dead was something that the Old Testament had spoken about. The passage he quotes is from Psalm 16:8-11. He tells the listeners that this passage is not speaking about David, who died and was buried. At that time, there was still an identifiable site of David’s tomb. Today, we don’t know where that site is, but we still know that David died and was buried. Since the passage wasn’t talking about David, it must have been talking about someone else. The promise of God was that one of David’s descendants would sit upon the throne of David eternally and it is that descendant, Jesus, whom this Psalm is speaking about. Peter again affirms the resurrection by the fact that He was seen alive by many of them. He also speaks of what happened in the ascension of Jesus and the important victory implied in being exalted to the highest place. All of this to affirm that Jesus is, as verse 36 says, “both Lord and Christ.”

Why is it important to connect Pentecost to the events surrounding Jesus? Because, as Peter explains in verse 33, it is on the foundation of all that Jesus has done and the victory He has gained that the Spirit has been poured out. We read in verse 33 that because of all of this, Jesus “…has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.” Dodd says “The Holy Spirit in the Church is the sign of Christ’s present power and glory.”

II.               What Shall We Do?

After Peter had explained everything clearly – the whole history of the work of God in salvation through Jesus and the event which had just happened, the people recognized that this demanded a response, so they asked in verse 37, “What shall we do?”

A.                 Repent and Be Baptized

Peter’s answer is clear and direct. First of all, he calls them to repent. What did they have to repent of? Peter had leveled a pretty direct accusation against them in verse 23 telling them that they had been responsible for the death of God’s Son. Imagine the embarrassment if you were gossiping about someone just as they walked into the room! That can’t compare with the sudden deep shame and deathly guilt which would have come upon these people as they realized that they had made the worst mistake of their life. The text says that “they were cut to the heart” or as the Good News Bible says, “they were deeply troubled.” For this terrible act which was more than an error in judgment, they needed to repent.

But his call to repentance was not only for their guilt for being involved in the events that led up to the death of Jesus. All people, even those who weren’t there are guilty of the death of Jesus. Romans 3:23 reminds us that “all have sinned.” Romans 6:23 says that “the wages of sin is death.” 1 John 2:2 tells us that Jesus died in our place when it says, “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” That is why repentance is necessary. We need to accept the fact that Jesus died because of me. We need to acknowledge that we fall far short of what God has created us to be. We need to acknowledge that we have not trusted God and that is our sin against Him. We have to recognize that we have disobeyed God and so have sinned against Him. No matter who we are or how good we may appear to others, in the eyes of the one who in the end will be our judge, we have failed. Anyone who comes to God must begin with repentance.

The second call is a call to be “baptized in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven.”

The Bible is very clear that we are not saved by baptism, but by faith. Ephesians 2:8 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith…” John 3:16 tells us that “whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Therefore we understand that baptism is a symbol. It is a symbol of the cleansing that takes place by the power of Jesus to forgive our sins. It is a symbol of the faith we have in Jesus. It is a symbol that we have begun a new life. Romans 10:9, 10 tell us that salvation is a two stage process. There is something that must happen in our heart – we must believe. There is something that must be declared – we must confess. There we read, “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” When Peter says that we need to be baptized in the name of Jesus, it is that two part path to salvation that He is talking about. What Peter told the people on the day of Pentecost to do is the same thing we must still do today. These are the things that are necessary in order for us to enter into a relationship with Jesus. These are the things we have been invited to do and if you have not put your faith in Jesus or have not repented or declared your allegiance to Jesus, I invite you to do it today.

B.                 You Will Receive the Gift

The promise is that if we repent and believe, we will have our sins forgiven. This is an important part of what must happen. Sometimes when I visit someone at their workshop or on their tractor, I change my dress pants and put on my jeans. These places are dirty and I don’t want to get my good pants dirty. It isn’t that God doesn’t like to go into a dirty place. He can’t. Jesus put on his jeans and came into our dirty world, but not only to visit. He died on the cross in order to make us clean because God can’t come into a dirty place. God can only live in a clean place. Our heart and life must be cleansed God can come in. Jesus cleansed it by His blood and because He did, God can enter in. In order for the Holy Spirit to come, God has to first of all make a place that is ready for His coming.

The promise is, that when that has happened “you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” The promise of God, our hope is that when we become Christians, the Spirit of God comes to live in us.

A lot of people have confused this issue, but we need to listen to what the Bible says. Some have confused the issue by saying that you have to wait for the coming of the Spirit. They point to the fact that Jesus told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem until the Spirit was poured out on them. But that is not why they were to wait. They were to wait until God’s right timing for this event. That is also not what the text says. Peter says that repentance and baptism are the means by which the Spirit comes to indwell us. From the day of Pentecost on, the Spirit comes to indwell all who will repent and receive Christ.

Some have suggested that we need to pray for the coming of the Spirit. They point to the fact that before the day of Pentecost the followers of Jesus were “constantly in prayer” as we read in Acts 1:14. But that is not what Peter says. Peter says that if we become followers of Jesus, the Holy Spirit will come to live in us.

Some have suggested that you will know when the Spirit has come upon you because you will be able to speak in other tongues. But that is also not what the Bible says. The manifestation of being able to speak in other languages was an event unique to that day. Although God has given the gift of tongues at other times, it is not the only evidence of the presence of the Spirit of God. There are some other evidences of the presence of the Spirit. There is the evidence which is within our hearts, as Romans 8:14 says, “The Spirit bears witness with our spirit.” There is the evidence of the fruit of the Spirit as we read in Galatians 5:22, 23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” So we need to be careful that we do not look for some particular sign before we know we have the presence of the Spirit. The promise of Peter is that if we repent and receive Christ, we will receive the Spirit of God.

Therefore, this is a cause for great rejoicing. Joel’s prophecy was that the Spirit will be poured out “on all people.” On the day of Pentecost that happened and since that time, the Spirit is active in the church and in each believer. In verse 39, Peter assures us that “the promise is for you and your children and all who are afar off – for all whom the Lord our God will call.” Therefore we know that this promise is also for us. We, who know Christ, whose hearts have been cleansed by His blood are indwelt by the Spirit.

Conclusion

Has the day of Pentecost made any difference in your life?

Have you received by the gift of the Holy Spirit?

How have you lived with that gift?

Ajai Prakash writes, “During our ministry in the Middle-East at one of the underground churches a gentleman used to walk around 5 miles to attend that worship and fellowship. He had a lowly job at a remote construction site in the wilderness and could not afford to buy a conveyance for himself. He did not know any other languages other than his mother tongue and the local language of the country. Whenever he used to attend the meeting, it would be a powerful time for all of us. I believe, more than him, we would be blessed. He brought with him the right Spirit, his heart was in the right place and carried no guile or guilt upon his life. Whenever he would praise or pray, it would be in English which was foreign to him; apparently he had no clue or idea about. He did not know a word of English. After the worship service, we would spend time fellowshipping and I would communicate with him only in the local language as that was our common ground. What was happening there? Because there was no human intervention, I could sense and comprehend that it could only be the wonderful work of God.”

Because of the presence of the Spirit of God, we can expect God to work.

Let us rejoice at that God has given His Spirit! Let us be open to what the Spirit will do!