The Heart of the Problem is the Problem of the Heart…But in Christ We Have New Hearts.

[Author's note: Any sermon manuscript found on this blog is written pre-preaching, which means that invariably the content is slightly different than what is actually heard in the sermon. If you'd like to listen to the audio of this sermon, please visit our website here.]
Go ahead and turn in your copy of God’s Word to Mark chapter seven. As you turn there I’d like to give a brief recap of where we’ve been and where we are now. We began our journey through Mark with the launching of Life Journey Church last September, where we see Jesus arriving on the scene as a grown man and is baptized by John the Baptist.

Jesus wasn’t declaring that He Himself was repentant for His sins in His baptism, because He’d never sinned! Instead He was symbolically putting himself in the place of sinners and immersing Himself into the sins of His people, giving us a picture of the reality to come, where some three years later He could stand in the place of sinners, take that sin upon Himself, and bear His Father’s wrath in the place of His people while on the cross.

After His baptism, Jesus spent over a year traveling throughout the Galilean area, calling disciples to Himself and preaching the Kingdom of God. Along the way, friction is created between Jesus and the Pharisees, the religious elite among the Jews. They hated Jesus for his message of grace, instead of works. Of grace, instead of rules.

Jesus is now on the move, transitioning from Galilee to the surrounding areas. As He moves around, His message begins to morph a bit, and He begins to do things that only God can do. He demonstrates the power of creation in the feeding of the 5,000. He shows His power over creation last week as He walked on the water.

He has begun to live out the reality of the New Covenant, that the “God who was once far away from us is now united to believers in the new creation.”

Today’s personal, though. Today it gets ugly. Today, reality is made known and the truth is exposed in a not-so-pleasant way. Today we’ve got to asked ourselves, “What if we’ve been wrong all along?” I mean, what if we’ve been totally backwards in our way of thinking?

Sometimes this is amusing, right? I mean, who doesn’t like watching a football player running into the wrong end zone and then wondering why he’s the only one cheering? And I don’t know about you, but I love shows like Jeopardy or Who Wants to be a Millionaire when the contestant blurts out an answer and then immediately realizes that they’d given the wrong one!

Some mistakes are amusing. But Jesus isn’t on the scene telling people “Hey, your prayer shawl is on backwards, haha!” No…it’s a bit worse than that. What if our errant way of thinking has catastrophic results? What if the mistake we make is the final nail in the coffin of our damnation? What if we’ve had it all wrong, all along?

With that in mind, let’s jump into our text. We find that Jesus is again being badgered by Pharisees and some of the scribes who had made their way up from Jerusalem. Remember- they’re only there to find something wrong with Jesus, some way in which He is violating the Law of Moses.

And they can’t find anything. Big surprise, huh!? Jesus came to fulfill the Law in our place- or course they can’t find Him violating it. What they do find, though, is that Jesus’ disciples are eating food without washing their hands first, and this was a no-no to the Pharisees.

Mark tell us that there were many traditions passed down among the Jews, things like washing their hands before eating, or bathing after returning from the marketplace, and they’re meticulous about how they’d clean their cups and pots and copper vessels- even the couches they would dine on!

And we’re not talking about a lackadaisical hand-washing here. We’re not talking about the “someone else is in the bathroom, let me as least wet my hands” kind of hand-washing. No sir. Washing up before eating was a little more complex than that.

One scholar tells us that, “For these ceremonial washings, special stone vessels of water were kept, because ordinary water might be unclean. To wash your hands in a special way, you started by taking at least enough of this water to fill one and one-half egg shells. Then, you poured the water over your hands, starting at the fingers and running down towards your wrist. Then you cleansed each palm by rubbing the fist of the other hand into it. Then you poured water over your hands again, this time from the wrist towards the fingers. A really strict Jew would do this not only before the meal, but also between each course. The rabbis were deadly serious about this. They said that bread eaten with unwashed hands was no better than excrement.” – Guzik

The Jews took their hand-washing seriously. Why? Because they didn’t want to contaminate their food and make it unclean. If they eat unclean food, they’re in violation to the Law of God, right? For so long, God’s people were simply accustomed to washing up at mealtime, but not Jesus’ disciples. Not all of them.

And so the scribes and Pharisees ask him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” Ooooh boy. You done screwed up now. Y’all hands is filthy!

I think that Jesus’ patience is beginning to wane a bit. Listen to His reply: “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

That’s you! Jesus says. Isaiah is talking about you! You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.

“Oh, and you have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition. For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother.‘ Moses said ‘Whoever reviles father and mother must surely die.‘ But you? You tell people that they can withhold needed money from their parents under the guise that it’s God’s money! Therefore  you make void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down- and many such things you do!”

You wanna jump on me for not keeping your traditions? Your stupid traditions have trumped the Law of God!

Then Jesus called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me- all of you- and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”

What? What did you just say? Did you really just say a person isn’t defiled by what they eat? Come on, Jesus! Haven’t you read the Law of Moses? You know we can’t eat pork. You know we’re defiled by lobster, by frog-legs, by all sorts of things. Jesus, what are you talkin’ about?

And then we have an interlude between Jesus saying all of this and then leaving the crowds to go back to the house of one of his followers. I don’t know what transpired immediately after Jesus made this audacious claim. Matthew tells us that Jesus’ disciples came to him and said, “Did you know you offended the Pharisees earlier?”

Ha! Yeah, I think He knew. But his disciples pressed him on it. They knew the law. They knew something wasn’t meshing right.

Jesus said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? You don’t get this? You’re not seeing this? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from the outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?”

Jesus says, “There is nothing on this Earth that upon your eating it, is going to make you defiled before God. Whatever part of it that isn’t useful isn’t going to contaminate you. It going to come back out.”

And in that simple statement, Mark tells us that Jesus thus declared all foods clean. I mean, how much of the Law did that unravel? How many years, how much time and effort went into ensuring that no unclean foods were eaten, for fear of becoming unclean?

See, that was the problem all along- the Jews were of the mindset that inwardly all of them are clean, and it’s up to a good law-abiding Jew to make sure they stay that way. That’s why they were fanatical about their hand-washing.

But here’s the fundamental problem… righteousness in the sight of God isn’t based on protecting our cleanliness…Jesus says we have none. Listen to Him.

Jesus continues, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these things come from within, and they defile a person.”

And so of course this begs the question, are we depraved in the sight of God because of the things we do, or because at our core we are spiritual dead? What comes first, the chicken or the egg? Are we considered righteous until we have evil thoughts, lust, pride, etc? Was Pelagius right? Are we born in a righteous state with the ability to sin or not sin?

I would say Scripture is clear on that point. None are righteous. All have sinned. Death passed upon all men through the sin of Adam. There are no blank slates. So what is Jesus talking about here?

To get at the bottom of this I need to draw a mental picture for us here, one that I hope is beneficial to you. Ok, I want you to imagine with me that your body is a well, a reservoir, a container of water. Buried deeply within you is a wellspring, the source of this water that is intimately connected with the water around it.

Whatever flows from this wellspring is going to eventually take up all of the space around it and start to over flow. Now- what if the wellspring within was full of and distributing poison? This poison would seep out, grow deeper, fuller, expanding, and finally it began to spill out. Like a contaminated well, nothing coming from this well would be healthy. It’s no good.

That wellspring is our heart, and here’s the problem: if our heart is corrupted, everything else will follow.

So here is why the message of Jesus was so radically offensive to the scribes and Pharisees. While they were thinking themselves righteousness and creating new ways to avoid contamination, Jesus is here saying “You know the lust you have? It’s coming from your heart. Hatred for your brother? Your heart. Lying, stealing, envy, pride- everything that makes a person unclean comes from the heart.”

Jesus is telling these men that the very core of their being was so radically depraved and fallen, simply washing hands and watching what one ate was a waste of time and missing the point- men don’t becomes sinners because they sin; men sin because inherently we are sinners. We don’t need clean hands and good food- we need a  heart transplant!

I think it’d be best for us to spend some time putting this into perspective. Let’s zoom back a little bit, dig into history, and find why this isn’t just revolutionary for the Jews of Jesus’ day, but why this is earth-shattering even today.

If you’ll remember, the first announcement of the Gospel is found in Genesis three where God says that a descendant of Adam and Eve would crush the head of Satan. Almost 2,000 years later, God approaches Abraham and tells him that He is going to make a great nation out of him, that through Abraham all the nations would be blessed.

We see this promise begin to come to fruition through the birth of Abraham’s son Isaac, and from Isaac we have Jacob, whom God called Israel. As Jacob fathered 12 sons who became the heads of their own tribes, this collection of individuals came to be known as Israel, also known as Hebrews or Jews.

Part of God’s interaction with Israel was in the giving of the Law, an extensive collection of commandments which were meant to form the basis of behavior for Israel. In return for their obedience, God would bless them. In fact, perfect obedience to these commands would result on one’s righteousness, or right standing before a holy God!

On the other side of that coin, there were also repercussions for failing to keep the Law, though God repeatedly, graciously and mercifully, withheld full judgement from His people. Oh- judgement was coming, but it would fall upon the shoulders of Another.

As the centuries pass, we see over and over God’s people falling away from Him and His Law. They pursue other gods, they abandon their unique identity as God’s people, yet still God lovingly refrains from judgement.

But see, this story isn’t about us. It isn’t about our being blessed or cursed. It isn’t even really about righteousness vs. damnation. Undercutting all of this is a story of God’s fame, of His holiness, and His desire to create for Himself a people who would follow Him as their God.

God says, you are my people. Live this way. I am holy- you be holy. I am perfect- you be perfect. Reflect who I am to the pagan nations around you. Israel’s response? No thanks, God. That’s not what my heart wants.

Because it wasn’t! Through the Fall, man’s heart, the wellspring of their entire being, that core aspect of who they were, because hopelessly corrupted, defiled, separated from God. As a result, all those born to Adam (in other words, all of us) now have a poisoned wellspring, and from within our hearts come all thoughts of sin. It’s why we’re born at odds with God.

God’s people didn’t want to obey God. Well, they wanted to as long as they benefited from it. But God tells us that the inward thoughts of a man’s heart are always set to evil. Perhaps restrained evil due to God’s common grace, but evil nonetheless.

So what happens when God builds for Himself a nation of people who, instead of following Him and living holy lives, pursue the desires of their wicked hearts and look just like the nations around them? Well, what happens is that God’s name is defiled. The onlooking nations mock this God of Israel who is powerless to change His people. They look at Israel and see no difference between their worship of Yahweh and their own worship of Ba’al or any of the other gods they worshipped.

Well God isn’t going to stand for that very long. He’s got two options, really. He can utterly destroy Israel, which had crossed His mind on more than one occasion, or He can change them.

So God chose to enact yet another covenant with mankind. There were several throughout the pages of the Old Testament. There was the overarching covenant of works, which in Adam we all trangressed. There was the Noahic covenant, the Abrahamic covenant, Mosaic covenant, Davidic covenant- this one would surpass them all in scope and magnitude.

The prophet Jeremiah speaks of it in Jeremiah 31:31 where God tells us: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Ok, God. This sounds great, but wait a minute. Jeremiah also told us that the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. What good is putting your law on my heart, if my heart wants nothing to do with you? If you’re talking about a New Covenant that deals with the heart, but Jesus says that the heart of the problem is the problem of the heart, then how’s this going to work?

This Old Covenant has a lot of issues. God’s people are giving God a bad name, the heart is the root of the problem, yet a New Covenant is promised- how’s this going to work?

And amazingly, we don’t have to turn to the New Testament to find this out. Through the prophet Ezekiel, God says this to Israel: “It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. 23 And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. 24 I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”

The New Covenant works because there is also a New Creation. There must be. God will not unite Himself to fallen beings. He will not place His Spirit into uninhabitable temples. So for God to dwell within the heart of a men, there must be a new heart, a new wellspring. As Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3, you must be born again. Unless a man is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God- much less enter.

So Jesus’ point to His hearers is this: our actions will never result in our own righteousness, because the very core of our being is poisoned, dead, against God. Yet these Pharisees were throwing a fit because Jesus’ disciples hands were dirty?

Jesus’ message was this: “The Law cannot save you, because it’s not about you protecting yourself against outside ungodliness. The problem is within! You need a new heart, and you’ve known that you need a new heart!

Let me tell you this- there’s nothing a religious person hates to hear more than someone else saying that their actions will not result in their justification. And Jesus has just announced that it’s not about the external. It’s not about the food. It’s not about the rules. It’s not about the obedience or lack thereof. It’s about the need for a supernatural heart transplant.

So here’s how this works, because the need for a heart-transplant still exists. In our depravity, we cannot seek God because we will not seek God. And yet showed His love for us in that even while we were sinners, Christ died for us.

On His cross, Jesus stood in the place of lawbreakers and absorbed His Father’s wrath in their place. Now God is free to pardon guilty people like you and me. We unite to that work of Christ by faith in Him, when we see ourselves as sinful rebels and embrace the person and work of Christ on our behalf.

In His death, Jesus purchased our redemption. In His burial He promises forgiveness. And in His resurrection He gives new life- a life we’re given in our conversion by which God removed our lifeless heart of stone and replaces it with a living, beating, God-loving heart that is wed to Christ through the Holy Spirit. That’s the Gospel!

So if you’re here this morning and you’re still on the fence, trying to figure out what you’re going to do with your faith, whether you’re going to place it on Jesus or not, I beg you- believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. Don’t rely on your own efforts- what you need is a heart transplant. Beg God for it. Your prayers will not fall on deaf ears.

As our band comes forward and we wrap things up, I want to spend just a few moments addressing a remaining issue- one that Jesus’ hearers wouldn’t have been able to relate to, but definitely one that we and Mark’s original readers can.

‘Cause there’s a disconnect here, isn’t there? Jesus tells us that the heart of the problem is the problem of the heart, and the good news is that in the New Creation, in this New Covenant, we’ve been given a new heart.  But if the old heart was responsible for the outward sin…how do we come to terms with the sin we still wrestle with?

In other words, if there is truly a new creation, a new core, a new heart, a new inner man, if the wellspring of our lives in wed to Christ through the indwelling Holy Spirit and the old man is crucified with Christ, wouldn’t that make us sinless?

Maybe you’re sitting there thinking, man…I still have pride issues. I still battle lust. I fight envy, with covetousness, there’s still sin there, and if external sin is a reflection of who I am inwardly, does this mean I’m not saved? Does this mean I don’t have a new heart? Does this mean God’s hasn’t forgiven me?

That’s not what it means. God has replaced the wellspring, but think about this- does the creation of a new spigot, of this new wellspring mean the instantaneous transformation of all the water in the well that is you? No, it takes time. Now thankfully for us, God sees only the new creation, but this new creation is still within our fallen flesh.

And so for us the Christian life isn’t about working for our salvation. It isn’t about looking at the flesh and taming it to make God happy. It’s about letting this new wellspring of life permeate our entire being, slowly but surely pushing out the contaminated water and replacing it with Christ.

And here’s the key to that- it’s the renewing of our minds. Our minds act as the valve between this new creation and the rest of us. It’s that valve that, when fully opened, releases the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, transforming us outwardly into who we are inwardly. And when that valve is closed, change is slow to come. You’re gonna struggle more with sin. You’re going to see slow progress. The writer of Hebrews told His readers, “some of you should be teachers now, yet you’re still spiritual babies!”

Advancement in our Christian walk comes through the intentional renewing of our mind as we dive into the Gospel and not only see what God has done for us through the Cross of His son, but to also see what His Spirit has done in the recreating of our hearts and our union with Christ. We will never advance beyond this. This is the Good News.

As we enter into our time of response, we’ll put our JourneyMaker on the screen. Let it penetrate. Believe it. “The Heart of the Problem is the Problem of the Heart, but in Christ We Have New Hearts.”

You say, Richard, what do you want from me in this time of response? If you’re here and not trusting Christ as Savior, I implore you to throw yourself at the foot of the cross and receive His forgiveness. Trust Him with your life.

If you’re here and a child of God, this is the time we’ve carved out for you to think about the Gospel and worship God for who He is and what He’s done. Repent from thinking that His love for you is wrapped up in your performance for Him. It was never about your performance. It was about your heart- and He’s fixed that.

Nothing is Ordinary in the Kingdom of God.

Good morning! Mark six is where we’re going this morning. Mark chapter six. We’re going to cover a very familiar historical account of one of Jesus’ miracles- one of His biggest, in fact. It was the biggest in Galilee, to be sure. Anyone who’s ever heard of a flannelgraph can probably recall childhood memories of crowds of people, fish, and loaves of bread slapped against a flannel board. Ringing any bells with anyone?

That’s right- we’re at the feeding of the 5,000. And what used to be a simple childhood story has become for me this week a story with so much depth that it’s amazing. So many things in play here, such an obvious display of Jesus’ divinity, sovereignty, and grace…it’s hard to even know where to begin.

I struggled as I put this sermon together to figure out the “big” picture, as well as how we can best apply it in our lives today. Quite frankly, one message cannot and will not do justice to everything going on here. So let me just put in a shameless plug for our Community Groups, where we’ll be able to discuss things that I simply don’t have the time for this morning.

But I want to frame today’s message within the context of this convoluted question: If the Kingdom of God is a present reality, and if we as God’s children are now within this Kingdom, and if the resurrection has granted us supernatural new life in Christ, and if a miraculous cutting out of our old, dead spiritual self has happened, and if God has placed within us a new man created in true holiness and righteousness…then where is the power, presence, and person of God in my life, now?

‘Cause I don’t know about you, but I didn’t heal any sick people this week. I didn’t raise anyone from the dead. I didn’t talk about the Kingdom of God and see God radically transform hearts before my very eyes. I didn’t perform any miracles that led to all of Crozet knowing that I’ve been given power and authority by Jesus.

When I look at the pages of Scripture and compare myself to what I see Jesus’ disciples doing, a lot of times I feel like a loser. And so naturally there are thoughts coursing through my mind, like “maybe Jesus doesn’t work like this 2000 years later,” or “what if I’m doing this whole Christianity thing wrong?” or “what can I do to experience the supernatural?” “Does it even happen anymore?”

But then I have to get after myself, because when I look at the rest of God’s Word, and I look at the work of God in my own life, there is no denying this fundamental truth: nothing is ordinary in the Kingdom of God. Nothing. Sometimes, though, we’re blinded to it. Or we miss opportunities to experience the supernatural.

So the question for us this morning isn’t where has the extraordinary and supernatural gone, but rather what can I do to experience it? Can it still be seen? Have I blown my chance?

Hopefully before we leave this morning we’ll have answered these questions as we look at one of Jesus’ greatest miracles. My goal is for us to leave here having learned Four Secrets to Experiencing the Supernatural.

We’ll ask and answer some other questions along the way, but I’ll tell you up front that it’s going to take some work. It’s going to take some thought. It’s going to require us- all of us- this morning to envision the scene set before us.

Listen for the birds crying in the air, the sounds of waves lapping at a boat. The excited murmuring of thousands of people. Try to smell the springtime grass. Feel it between your fingers. Don’t just listen to the narrative. Join it.

As our text picks up in verse thirty, we find “The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught.” If you recall, Jesus had commissioned His disciples and sent them out to the surrounding towns and villages, preaching repentance and performing many of the same miracles that Jesus did.

We don’t know exactly how long they were gone, but we know that the rumors of their works had covered the region, and wherever they went people were healed, the dead were raised, and the Gospel went out. Now, they’re returning to Jesus, six teams of two, to report on what they had done and taught.

They’ve been busy, and they’re tired. They didn’t have the luxury of driving from town to town- they walked. And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32 And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves.

What’s amazing here is that Jesus recognized their need for rest. It was a need that He Himself experienced on multiple occasions. Remember when He was so worn out that He passed out in a boat in the middle of a storm?

Jesus was no stranger to weariness. He knows that ministry is hard, that Kingdom work is tiring. His disciples were so bombarded by people seeking miracles for various reasons, and telling Jesus what all had happened, that they hadn’t been able to eat and were getting hungry.

Come on, boys. Hop in the boat- let’s go relax a bit. You need to rest. You’ve done great.

Not so fast, Jesus. By now your whole crew is recognizable, and you have six teams of men leading people your direction. Mark tells us that 33 Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. As one commentator put it, “some track star guessed where Jesus and His men were headed and raced there ahead of them, alerting each town they passed that Jesus was coming.”

Whoever Jesus’ PR agent was, they were good at their job. By the time Jesus reached the shores just outside of a town called Bethsaida Julius, he went ashore [and] he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.

There was no quit in Jesus, was there? He’d spent a lot of time catching up with the disciples, they were worn out, all were hungry, Jesus had to be an emotional wreck adjusting to the murder of John the Baptist, all they wanted to do was rest, and yet here is this great crowd, ready to continue draining Jesus of His time, energy, and emotions.

And Mark tells us that Jesus “had compassion on them.” This word in the Greek means to be “moved in the bowels.” It’s that gut-wrenching feeling you get when you see people in need- and not just see people in need, but connect with it. It wrecks you. It binds you to that person and drives you to act.

I want to remind you this morning that Jesus was not simply a passive observer of the human race during His incarnation. He was one of us. And He loved us. He hurt with us. He was hungry with us. He was tired with us. And yet He never withheld Himself from us.

Jesus sees this multitude and it crushes Him inside, because He knows. He knows they’re like sheep without a shepherd. You know what happens to sheep without a shepherd? They die. They can’t clean themselves, feed themselves, find water, travel, or defend themselves from predators. They can’t even pick themselves up off the ground if they fall on their back. They’re pitiful, helpless, hopeless, and miserable without a shepherd.

Might surprise you to learn that the phrase “sheep without a shepherd” is mentioned frequently in Scripture as the way God sees Israel.

You could argue that Jesus has a special love for His bride, much like we do our own spouses. I agree with that, and I believe Scripture is clear that Jesus’ love for His church has no rival, save for the love He has for His Father, and for the Holy Spirit. But there’s no denying that Jesus loved even those who would eventually call for His execution, those who would stop following Him even directly after this encounter.

Jesus loves this crowd, He hurts for them, He cares about them, and so He begins to teach them. Yeah- most were going to let His words go in one ear and right out the other, but there were some who would get it. There were some who were His.

Picture Jesus standing there on the shore, stretching His tired legs and helping His disciples out of the boat. Looking around, He sees thousands of people milling around, hoping for miracles, with no regard for the needs of Jesus and His men.

He was hungry, he was tired, He’d told His men they were coming to rest- He needed a rest…and yet the needs of the people outweighed His own. As it always did. And so He teaches them. And teaches them. And teaches some more.

35 And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. 36 Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” Pretty clear problem, right? Um, Jesus? We’re not exactly in the city center right now. It’s past time to eat, it’ll be dark in a bit- tell them to go home, ok? And if they can’t make it home tonight, let them at least find a place to eat and stay for the night. Let’s call it good, get back to our R&R, whaduyah say?

37 But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” Now here’s where things get interesting, because I don’t think Jesus was throwing out an impossible command just to highlight the need for His own power. Let me explain what I mean.

Jesus had given His disciples authority to raise the dead, heal the sick, and proclaim the Gospel with power. Here, in His presence, with His permission, they were commanded to feed this enormous crowd. Had they acted obediently with faith, I can’t help but believe they would have been able to feed them.

They aren’t thinking on that wavelength, though. That they could actually do this went right over their heads.

And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” To be honest, it was a sarcastic response. Yeah Jesus! Sure, no problem. Let’s just buy almost a year’s worth of bread and give ‘em all an appetizer, huh? 38 And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.”

So what now, Jesus? We just combed this crowd looking for food (and I still can’t believe that we’re talking about this)- there’s one kid here with food, one boy with a kid’s lunch. Five “loaves,” if you want to call it that. More like pitas. And a couple small fish.

They had obeyed Jesus, perhaps in hopes of discovering more food than what they had. But the secret was out- there simply wasn’t any food. Nothing, that is, except for this boy’s lunch. And now we’re in the middle of the first secret to experiencing the supernatural, which is this: faithful obedience in the ordinary. Faithful obedience in the ordinary.

Last Sunday we baptized four people- two of whom have been Christ-followers for years, two who are recent converts. I know of others who have come to faith in Christ through the ministry and influence of Life Journey Church…but that does’t happen by itself. Our church does not exist in a vacuum, you are the church! Two years ago there was no LJC, there was no Walt Davis, and now almost 40 families are plugged in and connected to this dream of spreading God’s fame to our neighbors and the nations.

And we are spreading His fame! If you believe otherwise, just ask those who were baptized last week! God is supernaturally drawing together for Himself this growing assembly of believers known as Life Journey Church, and He is doing it through community group leaders, co-leaders, group hosts, groups, musicians, a/v technicians, JourneyKids volunteers, food servers, greeters, setup and teardown crews, and the countless other ways in which you have come together to serve as the body of Christ.

God is doing extraordinary things here in Crozet and our surrounding communities, and He’s doing it through your faithful obedience in things that may not seem supernaturally spectacular when viewed alone.

Want to see more of God in action? Be faithfully obedient in the mundane, in the seemingly unimportant. But remember, nothing is unimportant in the Kingdom. Nothing is ordinary.

39 Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. Let’s be honest here for a second. If I had been there, and I had known the predicament these hungry people were in, I’ve got to say that I would have questioned this. Why bother putting them in groups we can serve when we have no food, Jesus? Yet still His disciples obeyed and had this crowd of people sitting in groups of fifty and a hundred.

By this point all eyes are on Jesus. We’re sitting down, it’s been a long day, we’re tired, we’re hungry, we see no food, we heard your disciples asking around- they have no food…what’s the deal?

41 And taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all.

Man, I wish we could get inside the minds of Jesus’ followers right here. Standing before this crowd of thousands, Jesus holds this lunch his disciples ganked from a kid, and staring into the heavens He blesses it before God…and what? Now we’re supposed to pick a lucky winner to give this food to as a snack?

Yet incredibly enough as the disciples begin to distribute this food they’d been given, something like half a pita and 1/6 of a fish each, the supernatural begins to occur as Mark tells us, “42 And they all ate and were satisfied.” “Satisfied” doesn’t do it justice there. They were stuffed. This was an “All you care to eat buffet” going on, and they were getting it done.

I love what John MacArthur says about it. He notes that in this Divine act of creation by Jesus, the barley loaves He’s creating, the fish He’s creating, these are elements of creation untainted by the Fall. There is no stain of sin touching this food, and because of that it’s no doubt the best fish the crowd had ever tasted, the most delicious bread. This was a precursor, the faintest image, of what is in store for God’s people in the coming new creation.

Mark tells us that “43 And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish.” These faithful disciples, skeptical and wavering at times they may be, were left holding a basket for each of them, loaded with fish and bread. And as they stood there, holding this food somehow created by Jesus, I wonder if they were weighing what they knew about Jesus against this.

Yeah, He’d raised the dead. Yeah, He’d healed the dead. But this? The ability to create? No one does that but Yahweh.

And I wonder what the crowd thought. This massive crowd, this last group who experienced this kind of power on such a large scale. Mark tells us that “44 And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.” That’s 5000 men. The text doesn’t mention how many mothers, sisters, wives, and children were in the mix. Some scholars estimate that this crowd was at least 15,000 large- possibly as large as 25,000.

One boy eating five loaves and two fish, adults doing at least twice that…crunch the numbers and it would have been something like 200,000 loaves and 80,000 fish in that crowd. This was a miracle that couldn’t be faked. There was no denying the power of Jesus here. And I would venture a guess that many of us here today have experienced things in life where God’s involvement was undeniable.

But it doesn’t always involve crowds of thousands of people, does it? Because if that’s the only way we expect to see God in action, we’ll rarely see Him. That leads us to our second secret to experiencing the supernatural, which is this: Realize that the supernatural doesn’t always come with flashing neon lights.

I’d like to share one such story with you this morning. I believe I shared this once before, when we met at Old Trail, but it’s definitely worth repeating.

Last month in a message, I told you that I had resigned my job last year as a Student Pastor to join Walt here in Crozet, and I did so with very little support in place. My home church was gracious enough to give me a two-month transition period during which I could build my support network, take care of housing, spend some time with my students, etc.

You can imagine how fast and chaotic those two months were! In the final month there, which was July of last year, I wrote a daily entry in my blog that showcased God’s faithfulness and sovereignty and we made the transition to Crozet. I would encourage you to read through it sometime.

God is still working in supernatural ways, and He does it to bless us- not for our perfect obedience, but because we’re His children and He has a distinct plan for each of our lives.

But please, be sure to get this third secret to experiencing the supernatural: Understand that God’s moving isn’t contingent upon our obedience. This is what I mean: Jesus’ disciples didn’t exactly obey Jesus’ command to feed the crowd, and also the same crowd that was blessed turned on Him the next day.

How many times in Sunday School did we learn that the moral of the story is that if we have childlike faith and give God our lunch, He can do mighty things with it? That is Old Covenant thinking! In the New Covenant we don’t have to earn God’s favor or perform in ways that cause Him to shower us with Grace.

Is it true that actions come with consequences? Absolutely. Is it true that obedience to God enhances our joy in Him? Of course. But to think that God will only move in supernatural ways in your life if you have perfect obedience is only going to rob you of your joy, because no one obeys God perfectly. That was that point of the Cross. And yet still God blesses. Still God works miracles. But it’s about His glory…not about your stellar track record. ‘Cause let’s be honest…we’re not that impressive.

As our band comes forward, let me share with you this fourth and biggest secret to experiencing the supernatural: It doesn’t get any more supernatural than what we’ve experienced personally in the New Birth.

Here’s what set this miracle of Jesus apart from the others He had done: Jesus wasn’t taking diseased fish and making them well. He wasn’t taking dead fish and bringing them back to life. Jesus used His Divinity to create, to bring into existence something that had not existed prior to His work.

And He’s done that very thing in us. Jesus didn’t simply resuscitate our spiritually dead self. He could’ve, no doubt. But equally certain is that fact that in our fallen flesh, we wouldn’t have made it far at all before again falling into temptation and rebelling against God.

No, God is at work among us doing so much more than that. If we’re united to Christ by faith, we are a new creation. That is something within now in our regeneration that did not exist prior to our conversion. And as our minds slowly, so slowly!, grasp the reality that God no longer sees our sins and failures, that He cannot be displeased with us because He sees us as He sees His own perfect Son Jesus, as we set our minds on the things of the Spirit, the flesh will follow.

Want to see the extraordinary and supernatural work of God? Look at yourselves, church. We are His prized creation, His glory put on display. We are the embodiment of Jesus as we function as His bride. That is miraculous.

You’ll notice as we go through Mark that there isn’t a whole lot of “do’s” in our messages. Don’t get me wrong- there are some “do’s”. And if we wanted, we could take each message and end with a list of “do’s” and “dont’s,” but I don’t think that’s the purpose of our Gatherings. Our goal isn’t to bring you in with your burdens, lay more on you, and send you on your way. We want the grace of God to remove them from you.

So these next few minutes aren’t going to focus on action items, other than these two…the first is this: Ask God where He’d have you obey. I’m not going to tell you what God wants you to do- but I want you to be open and listening for Him to tell you what He’d have you do, how He’d have you further His Kingdom here through Life Journey Church.

And the other thing is this- in these few minutes I want this truth to sink in, and sink in deep. This is our JourneyMarker for the week: Nothing is ordinary in the Kingdom of God. Nothing. Daily, whether we’re aware of it or not, we’re experiencing the supernatural work of God.

It’s there in our obedience as we see God use us- it’s even there in different forms in our disobedience as a testimony of God’s grace. It might not have flashing neon signs, but it’s there, and I know it’s there because in our salvation we’ve experienced the God of the Universe drawing us to His Son, cutting out from us the old man, the spiritually dead God-hating rebel within, and giving us a new life united to His Son through His Spirit, so that for the rest of our lives we will be conformed outwardly ever-increasingly, into the image of Jesus. It doesn’t get much more supernatural than that.

Nothing is ordinary in the Kingdom of God.

“We Know Who Jesus Is…What Will We Do With Him?”

[Author's note: Any sermon manuscript found on this blog is written pre-preaching, which means that invariably the content is slightly different than what is actually heard in the sermon. If you'd like to listen to the audio of this sermon, please visit our website here.]

Well good morning, so glad to see all of you here. I must confess from the get-go that this is something of an odd morning, for many reasons. Obviously, we’re in a different part of the school. If you’re new to us, this isn’t where we typically meet- usually we’re in the cafeteria.

I’ve never preached three Gatherings in a row until now, which is also an anomaly. Typically Walt and I alternate Sundays, but with the imminent arrival of Baby Drake weeks ago, we felt it best to free his Sundays up. In case you’ve not heard yet, Drake was born early Saturday morning and Walt and April are doing well.

And on top of that, we’re at a bit of an odd text this morning as well. Walt and I have been systematically making our way through the book of Mark and will continue to do so unless the Holy Spirit impresses upon us a need to deviate. Until then, we’re strolling through the life and ministry of Christ and trying to discover two things: what Mark was communicating to the Christians in Rome to whom this book was written, and what the Holy Spirit is communicating to us today, 2000 years later.

And so as we prepare to continue on, let me explain how there are a few reasons why I say the text is odd. For starters, we’re going to cover the only lengthy passage of scripture found in the book of Mark that has no mention of Jesus. Up until this point, and from here on out, Jesus is the primary focus of Mark’s narrative. But this passage, while certainly connected to Jesus, contains a lot of material that doesn’t feature Jesus.

That ties in well with the second reason this is an odd passage. It’s not doctrinal in nature, nor does it contain a description of current or on-going events. It’s largely a flashback into the past, without many clear tie-ins to our own present day, much less that of Mark.

But lastly, I find it an odd text because despite what I’ve already said, this passage will serve as a beautiful bridge to our quickly approaching Easter celebration. Next Sunday we celebrate life, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the new life given to those who died with Christ, the coming physical resurrection for all who believe. Lots of life to be found in Christ.

But this week we’re surrounded by death. In five days Good Friday will be here. While there is spirited debate about the actual day of Jesus’ death (made possible by the complexities of the Jewish method of denoting days and time) there is no arguing that Good Friday is the day where world-wide, millions of people will stop at least once in their day and think about the bloodied cross, where 2000 years ago Jesus died to atone for the sins of His people.

Jesus, the true King of the Jews, was betrayed by his own people and murdered….But there was another. There was a forerunner for Jesus who preceded Jesus in life, who preceded Jesus in the ministry of repentance, of calling men to turn to God, who preceded Jesus even in death. Jesus called him the greatest man ever born, but we know him simply as John the Immerser, the Baptizer. There were incredible parallels in the deaths of these two.

Now that may catch some of you off-guard, ‘cause John was alive and well when we last saw him. Well, alive at least. Maybe not so well. Mark told us back in chapter one that John had been arrested. As we’ll see, his story didn’t have the happiest of endings.

We’re also going to meet a man today that’s consumed with fear and guilt…a man who later in life has the opportunity to be freed of this, yet refuses. And when it’s all said and done, we’re going to have to ask ourselves the same question that’s been brewing for over six months now: how are we going to respond to the power and authority of Jesus?

So let’s continue reading in Mark chapter six. When we left off last week, we found Jesus commissioning His twelve closest followers and sending them out on a mission. This made them apostles, or “sent ones.” We saw that in obedience to Christ, they went out “proclaiming that people should repent, and they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.”

We also know from Matthew that these men were raising the dead back to life. And now word is spreading. Jesus has effectively multiplied His ministry from one to thirteen. It’s not just Him performing miracles now, but the other twelve are as well, all in the name, power, and authority of Jesus.

We see in verse fourteen that “King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known.”

Before we continue we need a little background info on this King Herod. This part might sound a bit more like a history lecture, but bear with me. This guy’s family puts the “fun” in “dysfunctional.”

King Herod’s full name was Herod Antipas. There were lots of Herods running around back then. It was a family name. His father was King Herod the Great. You might remember him as the King of Israel who ordered the execution of all the baby boys who were two and under in Bethlehem when he heard of the birth of Jesus.

We call this line of rulers over Israel “King,” but this kinda exaggerates their position in the Roman empire. It’s nothing like when David was king over Israel and Israel was a mighty nation with its own borders, military, and political system.

You see, as Roman rule expanded, there was an increasing need for regional rulers. These were more or less pawns of the Roman empire- not men with legit power sticks. You were to obey the mandate of the Empire and ensure the same of your district. Failure to do so meant you were replaced, killed, or both.

So tread lightly, but hey- call yourself a “king” if it makes you feel better. If it helps you do your job. Herod the Great was the so-called king of Israel when Jesus was born, but in his will he requested that upon his death, Rome should divide Israel into four regions and allow four of his sons to rule over each, collectively. Rome agreed, and so his sons became known as “tetrarchs,” or “governors of a fourth.”

Sounds like a nice thing to do for your kids, that perhaps Herod the Great wasn’t that bad a guy, but just five days before his death, Herod the Great had murdered one of his own sons, thinking that he was out to claim his kingdom.

So along comes Herod Antipas, one of the sons of Herod the Great, make-believe king of a region of land in Galilee, maybe 900 square miles or so, along with a larger tract of land further south around the Dead Sea.

Now also important to keep in mind is this: Herod the Great was a descendant of Esau- not Jacob. By blood, he wasn’t Jewish. Nor was Herod Antipas- though he often partook in Passover and other Jewish festivities. He’d built a new capital and named it Tiberius, though there was much flak when the Jews discovered that he’d build the capital building on one of their graveyards. So Antipas was trying to front with his subjects, wanted them to think he was one of ‘em. See? I believe in God. I can be religious, like you.

But now word of Jesus has reached his ears. At least, word of the miracles had come. There was debate over the actual person behind them. Some said “John the Baptizer has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” Others said, “He is Elijah!” And others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.”

Understandably, there was confusion. Reports of these supernatural events are circulating- it only makes sense that the explanation is equally supernatural. The Jews knew their history. If Elijah the prophet had raised the dead, maybe he was back! Wasn’t there a prophecy about Elijah returning? Maybe it’s him, or maybe God has raised up another great prophet and empowered him for service!

Herod is among those who think that this “Jesus” character is John the Baptist, raised from the dead. Whenever the conversation came up, Herod’s response was always “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised!” It wasn’t an indifferent guess- it was fear-based, guilt-driven, anxious, frightened reality in the mind of King Herod. And rightfully so- after all, he’d had John murdered.

Why would he do a thing like that? I’m glad you asked, because Mark gives us the backstory.

Turns out, Herod is the kind of man who likes to have his way. He sees something he likes, he takes it, or does whatever necessary to acquire it. Just so happens this was the case when he met his brother Philip’s wife, Herodias.

Now get this: Herodias’ grandpa is Herod the Great. Her dad is a half-brother to Philip, who is a half-brother to Herod Antipas, so she didn’t just marry into the family; she was part of the family to begin with. She’d married her own uncle. And now another one of Herod the Great’s sons wants her- Herod Antipas, who himself is already married to one of the daughters of the King of Arabia.

Well, Herod wants Herodias, even though she’s a blood relative only one more generation removed from his father than he is. Even though she’s married to his brother already. Even though he’s already married. And so he divorces his wife Aretas, Herodias leaves her husband Philip, and the two are married.

Come to find out, John the Baptizer is also John the preacher, and he wasn’t shy about condemning the actions of King Herod. And rightfully so, given the public prominence of Herod and his quasi-adherence to the Law of Moses. So John called him out on it. “Come on, bro. You know it’s wrong to have your brother’s wife. This is adultery. You claim to be a ruler over God’s people, you celebrate Passover with us, yet you do this? Something ain’t jiving somewhere, amigo. No true King of the Jews could do this sort of thing.”

Weirdest thing, here. Could you believe that Herodias wasn’t a fan of John’s nosiness? In fact, Mark tells us that she had a grudge against him- maybe a bit more than a grudge. She wanted him dead. She hated him for his proclamation of truth.

Remember how last week I said that following Christ might not end the way you envision? Here’s a case study for us. Herodias wants John dead, yet oddly enough Herod actually enjoys listening to him talk and preach. And so he doesn’t have John killed, but simply arrests and imprisons him. There was also a part of Herod that feared killing John because of the fallout that would ensue from the people, not to mention the Divine fallout for killing a man of God.

So for over a year- closer to two, Herod has kept John imprisoned. Out of sight, out of mind, right? Perhaps in general…but Herodias hadn’t forgotten, and her hatred was in no way diminished.

In verse twenty-one we find ourselves at a birthday party for Herod. We call it a party- it was a banquet that he orchestrated, one to which he invited “his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee.” That’s the upper crust of Jewish society, the movers and shakers. Herod wants to rub elbows with the real powerhouses of both the Jewish people as well as the Gentiles, or non-Jews. It was a night of drinking, of eating, of enjoying the baseness of their depravity.

Here’s our next player in this drama. At some point during the party, Herodias’ daughter makes an appearance. According to the historian Josephus, her name is Salome, and according to history she’s somewhere around the age of 15.

Now Mark isn’t very clear in the details, but Salome comes into this party and begins to dance for these men. I don’t think it was the Harlem Shake or the Texas Two-Step. This was a dance that led to these men being “pleased.”

I think we’d got every right to assume it was a sensual dance, because when Herod sees it, he begins to write all kinds of checks with his mouth that his rear can’t cash. He tells her, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you. I swear to you, whatever you ask of me I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.”

Who are you kidding, Herod? You have no kingdom. Rome is allowing you to rule over a fourth of what your daddy did, and if you deviate too far from that, you’ll be kicked out in a New York second! Herod’s talking big in front of his boys, is what he’s doing. And he’s doing that to please her, more than likely motivated by his sexual perversity.

She’s related to him. He should have been the father-figure she needed and protected her from these leering men. Her mom should have loved her enough to keep her out of the party, displaying herself to be gawked at.

Told you this was a dysfunctional family.

Salome runs back to Herodias. “Mom, Herod said that I could have anything I wanted, up to half his kingdom. What should I ask for?” And here was Herodias’ chance to finally get her way, to be rid of this meddler. This loud-mouthed nuisance. “Salome…ask for the head of John the Baptist. Demand it. He promised you.”

There’s no way to know what went through Salome’s head when she heard that, but Mark tells us that Salome wasted no time in running back to where the men were still recovering from her dance. I have to wonder at this point if Herod even remembered why she was there. But she came in and blurted out, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter!”

‘Was right about then that Herod realized, “You know…maybe I shouldn’t have spoken so quickly after her dance.” Herod didn’t want John dead. He kinda liked the guy. People loved him. This had the potential for all kinds of negative fallout.

Now this room full of Jews and Gentiles alike are waiting to see what Herod does. While the Gentiles may have been more indifferent to John’s fate, I would like to think the Jews in the room were sober enough to realize the ramifications of Salome’s request.

Here they were, descendants of Abraham, God’s chosen people. And below them in the prison was one of their own. A wildman, yes. Preaching a crazy message of repentance, yes. But his message was turning people to God. And he was right; Herod’s marriage to Herodias was wrong. But John had been bold enough to proclaim it. Them? They liked their wealth. They weren’t about to make waves.

And now because of his stand for Godliness and obedience to the Law, John was locked up…and Salome had just asked for his head. Herod was too arrogant to retract his offer- he didn’t want to lose face or have his integrity later challenged. In his mind, he really had no choice. He needed to act, and he needed to act quickly.

Wasting no time, Herod called for the executioner to come and gave him orders to go to the prison and cut off John’s head. And he did. The head was placed on a platter- not an uncommon practice at the time- and given to Salome, who in turn gave it to Herodias. Mark tells us that when John’s disciples heard about it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

…And with that, the greatest man who’d ever lived was gone. God’s last Old Covenant prophet was quietly murdered with no fanfare, no national mourning. He was innocently killed while some of God’s people sat there in the party making no attempt to prevent it. Allowing this death to happen was more beneficial to them than risking their status to save him. Their allegiance was to Herod, not to God. That’s why they were known as Herodians.

I find this ironic, because later this week we’ll observe Good Friday, that day 2000 years ago where God’s people screamed for the murder of Jesus of Nazareth. Didn’t scream against it. Screamed for it. And again sat by undisturbed when they got it.

John preached repentance, so did Jesus. John was persecuted for his message, so was Jesus. John was murdered while his own people did nothing to stop it. Same with Jesus. In life, in ministry, and in death, John truly was his cousin’s forerunner.

But there’s two major differences in the deaths of John and Jesus. The first is this: Jesus’ death accomplished far more. That’s because John died to appease Herodias’ wrath, but Jesus died to appease His Father’s wrath.

It’s true. Yes, Jesus was killed because the Jews hated His message. Yes, Rome was content to execute an innocent man to prevent a potential uprising among the Jews, but ultimately Jesus died for this purpose: to save His people from the wrath of His Father by bearing our guilt, though He was innocent.

I want to shift gears a little bit as we begin to wrap things up by fast forwarding over a year to where we see Herod lay his eyes on Jesus for the first time. The occasion? By this time Jesus had been arrested and was making His way through the pitiful excuse of a local legal system.

The Jews wanted Him dead but had no authority of their own to execute Him, so they lied through their teeth, brought Him before the governor of Judea- a man named Pilate, and tried to show how Jesus was an enemy of the state. Luke records for us what happens next in Luke 23:

6 When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. 7 And when he learned that he belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time. 8 When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him, because he had heard about him, and he was hoping to see some sign done by him. 9 So he questioned him at some length, but he made no answer. 10 The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him. 11 And Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him. Then, arraying him in splendid clothing, he sent him back to Pilate. 12 And Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before this they had been at enmity with each other.

Luke tells us that Herod was “glad” when he saw Jesus, “for he had long desired to see him.” You would think a man of Herod’s stature would have had no problems seeing Jesus. He’d been in the area for over a year since we saw Herod first catch word about him.

Admittedly this is speculation, but I wonder if Herod’s gladness came from seeing Jesus face-to-face and finding out that He wasn’t John the Baptist. I wonder if he was glad because with John truly gone, he could stop living in fear. I wonder if he was glad because he could finally quell his nagging conscience.

It’s a shame that when Herod met Jesus, it only served to build a friendship between him and Pilate. Herod became just as complicit in the death of Jesus as he was with John. Herod saw Jesus as an escape from his fear and guilt- and not because he was trusting Jesus to deliver him from the punishment he was due for his rebellion against God, but simply because if Jesus wasn’t John, then Herod saw no reason to have any further concern with Him.

Herod never learned his lesson and not even a decade later he died while powerless and in exile. John the Baptist talked with him for over a year and Herod never listened. Jesus gave him His undivided attention and Herod asked all the wrong questions. Talk about wasted opportunity.

So here’s where we’re going to land this plane. As our band comes forward I want us to take these last few moments and really ask ourselves this question, this question that has served as our foundation to Mark’s Gospel for the last six months: how will we respond to the power and authority of Jesus? More specifically, how will you respond?

If you’re a believer this morning, the response I wish for you is this: “I am going to respond to the work of Christ by resting in the work of Christ. I’m going to quit striving for Godliness as a means of making God happy and I will rest and delight in the knowledge that God is happy. I’ll quit abiding by a set of rules to please God and rest in the reality that He is pleased! I will stop attempting to earn God’s love and embrace God’s love. I will pursue godliness purely as worship in response to God’s grace in my life.”

I can’t tell you how much I hope you’re here next week. I told you Jesus’ death was different in two ways. One, it served as the basis for the believer’s salvation. Secondly and more importantly, Jesus’ death was different because He didn’t stay dead. On the third day, on that first day of the week, Jesus was raised to life. Next week Walt is going to explain why the resurrection is so vital to the Gospel.

But maybe you’re here and you’re not a believer. What should your response be to the person and work of Christ? Complete reliance and trust in Him. And it begins in your heart when you tell God that He’s right and you’re wrong. Will you do that this morning?

Our JourneyMarker, the thought I want you to take with you from today’s message, is this: “We Know Who Jesus Is…What Will We Do With Him?” Will we embrace Him as Savior, or decide we have no need for Him? The choice is yours.

“Don’t let mishaps in ministry keep you from your Kingdom calling.”

[Author's note: Any sermon manuscript found on this blog is written pre-preaching, which means that invariably the content is slightly different than what is actually heard in the sermon. If you'd like to listen to the audio of this sermon, please visit our website here.]
Good morning! Go ahead and turn to Mark chapter six in your copy of God’s Word. Mark chapter six.If you’re new to us, the way that Walt and I preach here is by alternating weekly (usually!) and picking up the text where the other left off the previous week. We began Mark’s gospel back in September, and things are really beginning to pick up speed.

We’ve spent the last couple of months really wrapping our minds around two themes: the kingdom of God, and faith in Christ. As Jesus has spent over a year now investing his life into his followers, he has revolutionized the way they envisioned the Kingdom of God.

In addition to adjusting their theology- and ours!- He has clearly demonstrated His Divinity through His ability to manipulate the weather, cast out demons, heal the sick, and raise the dead to life. As I said last week, there really is no greater object of our faith than the God-man, Jesus Christ.

Things are really beginning to shift now, though, and Jesus’ ministry in Galilee is approaching its end. We’re still a month or two away from this, but even today we’ll begin to see the gears turn.

Up to this point we’ve kinda felt like spectators, haven’t we? I would imagine that the loyal followers of Jesus felt the same way. Follow Jesus, watch Him work. Listen to Him teach, watch the crowd react (both positively and negatively), witness a miracle here and there…it was the easy life, right?

I mean, I could get used that. To just enjoy the presence of Jesus? To let what I see and hear mould my way of thinking? Soaking in knowledge? Ok. Sign me up, right?

Problem is, this wasn’t the end to which Jesus called His followers. And today, this still isn’t the end to which Jesus calls His followers. Is it great that you’re at this Gathering? Absolutely! Is it great that you’re a committed part of our Life Journey family? Of course!

But…if what we’re doing is gathering around God’s Word and seeing the ministry of Jesus come to life and jump off the pages of Scripture, and that’s all we’re doing, then at this point in our spiritual development we’re not much different from Jesus’ followers in their early days- which isn’t necessarily a bad thing…but now we’re going to see things change a bit.

Because Jesus didn’t call followers to simply follow. He didn’t call men to leave their lives behind and simply watch. And they knew this. They knew change was coming. What did Jesus say from the very beginning? Follow me…and I will make you fishers of men.

If Roland Martin or Bill Dance or Mike Iaconelli came up to you and said “Hey, come with me- I’ll teach you how to bass fish.” He might let you watch him work for a bit, but you know at some point he’s going to hand you a pole and say “Here, now you do it.”

Or think back a few chapters in Mark 3:13-15, where some year before Mark tells us that “Jesus went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. 14 And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach 15 and have authority to cast out demons.”

Jesus had always had an end goal in mind when He called His followers to leave everything behind and come be with Him. It was true then…and it’s true now.

So as we look at this new development in the life and ministry of Jesus and His followers, I want us to do so with this idea in mind: we too are followers of Jesus. And while the context has changed, while our culture is different, while we are some 2000 years removed from the actual ministry of Christ…The question for us is this: Are we, today, fulfilling the ministry for which God has called us?

There’s two aspects of our message this morning- two units of thought that are intertwined, that are going to shape our thinking this morning. The first one, a miniature Journey Marker, if you will, is this: “Whatever difficulties Jesus experienced in His ministry…we can expect no less.”

With that in mind let’s look at Mark six, verse one. “He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him.” So we find that Jesus has left Capernaum and has travelled the thirty miles or so back to his hometown of Nazareth.

While that sounds simple enough, it was anything but. Remember- Jesus had been baptized some year and a half earlier; that had been the beginning of His preparation period. Before that there’d been no preaching. There’d been no healing. There’d been no declarations of the Kingdom. There’d been no raising from the dead or pronouncing sins forgiven. There’d been no “repent and believe the Gospel.” There was just life as usual in the family trade.

Mark doesn’t go in details about this, but we know from Luke four that this wasn’t Jesus’ first time in Nazareth since beginning His radical ministry. Shortly after beginning His ministry, some year, year and a half ago at this point, Luke tells us that Jesus went to Nazareth and taught in the synagogue.

What Luke recorded may have been Jesus’ first time speaking in the synagogue, but it certainly wasn’t His first time going. He’d been going for years, but on that occasion, standing to read from the scrolls, Luke tells us that Jesus had read from Isaiah, which said “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

And then Jesus had sat down and begin to teach by saying “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” And oh man, did that not go over well! Luke tells us “they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff.”

Not the best response to His first message there. Not to mention the awkward tension between Jesus and His family now. Last time we saw them together, they were trying to defend Jesus’ actions by claiming that He was out of His mind!

So now some year after they’d tried to kill Him, Jesus is returning home with His rag-tag band of followers. His first Sabbath there finds Him in the synagogue…and they allow Him to speak. History tells us that any male Jew had the right to speak publicly in the synagogues- the trick was claiming that right first!

Whether through fame or persuasion, Jesus is given the floor. And while Mark doesn’t tell us what Jesus preached, we do see the reactions from many in the crowd: “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to Him? And how are such mighty works done by His hands? What is going on? I know this guy. He’s that carpenter, right? The son of Mary, and brother to James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?”

These people aren’t in awe of Jesus- they’re ticked! Remember- Jesus taught not  like the scribes, but as one with authority. And these people weren’t about to have their boat rocked by a carpenter, much less one they’d watched grow up.

They knew Jesus. Knew Him well. Nazareth was a tiny town that sat on 50 or so acres of land, probably no more than five or six hundred residents. You know how people are- everyone knew everyone else’s business. They knew Jesus was a carpenter.

They knew Jesus had spent the last couple decades as a builder, a wood-worker. Think about that. Jesus’ humanity was all that He’d demonstrated until the time had come to go public with His power and authority. Until then He had humbled Himself and took up the trade of His earthly father Joseph.

And as Jesus has spent most of His life working with ugly logs and pieces of wood full of knots and discolorations, he knows what they has the potential to become. He knows even as He’s working that one day an outcast woman would reach out to him in faith, and just as that ordinary piece of wood in His hands would be transformed into a work of art, so would this woman- so would all of God’s people.

He knows as he’s working tiredly, that it takes time to craft a work of art. Even still, he knows what the finished product will be. Jesus didn’t see the raw materials- he saw the finished product and very skillfully removed the pieces that weren’t part of that final design.

As he chiseled wood from out of the log, no doubt he was thinking to himself, “Just a few more years, and I will begin doing this to my people. I know what they are. I know who they were created to be. I don’t see the mess on the outside- I see the work of God on the inside and I will lovingly use my chisel to remove from them the pieces that aren’t part of their identity.

Can you appreciate the beauty and irony of Jesus spending His life taking ordinary and perhaps ugly pieces of wood and crafting them into beautiful treasures?

But now declaring the mysteries of the Kingdom, Jesus’ hometown again takes offense to His message. The reference to being “the son of Mary” was pure insult in that culture. Even if a Jewish man’s father was dead- which some speculate to have been the case here- you don’t refer to a Jew as the son of His mother. Not unless you’re wanting to insult him.

Jesus responds with this axiom: “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” Jesus’ friends, relatives, and neighbors refused to acknowledge that Jesus was anything more than a carpenter.

Mark tells us that “he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief.”

Only twice in scripture do we see Jesus marveling at people. Both times it’s in conjunction with their faith. The other occasion involves a centurion that believes Jesus can heal his servant without even entering his house. Jesus marvels at so great a faith from the least likely of sources- a gentile soldier of the Roman empire, of all people.

Here He’s astounded at the lack of faith from His own people, those who with their own eyes have experienced His power, have heard His teachings. Yet still he acts in love, healing a few people there inside the town, and then moving around Nazareth, continuing to teach.

Wasn’t that Jesus lacked the power to perform the miracles…but He wasn’t going to continue casting pearls before the swine. Would have been wrong, really- demonstrating His power before such an apathetic crowd. He knew it would have accomplished nothing.

So what are some of the lessons learned by Jesus’ followers as they see all this unfold? Because I can assure you that those lessons are still applicable in our own context.

The first is this: perfect technique does not promise transformation. If Jesus, the Son of God and the greatest preacher, pastor, and theologian that’s ever lived, did not win over everyone He spoke to, we can expect no better results.

Sometimes we’re scared of spreading the word about Christ because we don’t think it’s going to work, that people will not receive it well. And many of them won’t. Happened to Jesus, it will happen to you. Question is, how will rejection shape your behavior?

The second thing Jesus teaches is that “failure” in ministry is no reason to fail to minister. Jesus wasn’t met by a receptive crowd, so what did He do? He continued to minister in the outlying villages. And to those in town who were ready to receive it. His disciples are able to witness the love and perseverance of Jesus as He kept on keeping on.

Now we know that God is sovereign. We know that this rejection of Jesus didn’t catch Him by surprise, it didn’t somehow ruin all of God’s plans. And we also know that everything Jesus did had its purpose, so I’m convinced that Jesus took His followers to Nazareth so that they could get a taste of abysmal rejection, of ministerial failure. Of evangelistic emptiness. They may have then begun to see that outside of the crowds who loved Jesus’ miracle ministry, reception to the Good News might not be so good.

But now the lesson’s over and the homework begins. We already saw how we can expect the same hardships that Jesus faced, but now I want us to hold in our minds for a few minutes our second miniature Journey Marker, which is this: “Where God leads, His people succeed.” Perhaps not in the way we envision or would expect, but you’d better believe that if God calls us to it, He will bring us through it. If we are willing servants, the work of God will be done.

Mark tells us that “He called the twelve and sent them out two by two.” Right off the bat we see that Jesus’ first step in sending people out in ministry is to first call them to himself.

From the very beginning Jesus wants us as His followers to know that He’s there with us. He’s in this thing. He’s not just barking orders and waiting for compliance. He’s authorizing His followers to act on His behalf, which is why he “gave them authority over unclean spirits.”

And Jesus gives them odd instructions: “Take nothing for your journey except a staff, if you have one. Don’t take any food. Don’t take a knapsack to put food in. Don’t take any money. Take the shoes on your feet and go. Don’t even put on an extra tunic. I want you to go as you are and trust God for your provision.”

That’d be a lot funner to try if Jesus was going with them…but He’s not. Jesus is saying to them, “It’s time, guys. Go in pairs. Support each other. Protect each other. Encourage each other. But don’t pack your bags for this one. I want you to trust me. I want you to trust our Father in Heaven. If I am sending you somewhere, if I am calling you to a work, I will take care of you.”

I can tell you from first-hand experience how true this is. In May of last year I visited Life Journey Church for the first time. It wasn’t to make my mind up about joining the leadership team. I was already committed inwardly. It wasn’t to meet Walt and form an opinion- I’d known him for years and respected and loved him greatly. (Wait a minute- I think he hacked my manuscript and put that in there!)

I visited with the mindset that God was going to have to use the trip to change my mind about resigning from a successful position as a student pastor in Indiana to pursue the planting, establishing, and leading of Life Journey Church as one of her elders, along with Walt and whomever else God raises up.

God affirmed my decision, and I went back to Indiana and told my pastor that I was leaving. And when I announced my resignation to the church, I had a guaranteed $200 a month waiting for me. $200 a month for rent, food, gas, bills, clothes. And when Walt pulled the trigger on coming to Crozet and he resigned from his job, he had a guaranteed $0 dollars.

The vision of Life Journey Church was so instilled into Walt that leaving the security of a job was a non-issue. That vision was contagious, as was Walt’s leadership. I remember him telling me, “Richard, if this is where God wants you, the money isn’t an issue.”

And here we are, blessed by God through the generosity of several churches, friends, family, organizations, and yourselves to be able to pour our lives into you.

So as I see Jesus sending His twelve disciples out on this mission, when I see Him telling them, “rely on me- I can meet your needs,” I’m like man…how true is that. He still calls us to trust Him for everything.

He also tells them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there.” Look guys, be content with where you are. “And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.”

Jewish resentment towards Gentiles was so great that if a Jew had to walk through Gentile territory, upon leaving they would knock the Gentile dust off of their shoes so as to not “taint” Jewish soil.

Jesus is saying, “You guys are going on my behalf, with my message. Rejection of you is rejection of me. And if they want no part of me, if they don’t want to be my people, treat that place as though they’re not my people.”

So now the calling is clear, the mandate is clear, Jesus followers are now in the position to obey Him…or to not. To trust Him…or to not. To embark on this journey of ministry and evangelism…or to not.

Not a whole lot different from us, huh? ‘Cause God’s still at work. God’s still calling His people to do hard things. He’s calling people to leave their jobs and move to Crozet, VA.

Even within our faith family we’ve seen God call families to take in children as their own. To remain in Crozet and plug into our community group ministry. To drive across a mountain to be part of our family. To be baptized publicly as a declaration of faith in Christ. To  share the Gospel with our coworkers, our family, our friends. To reach our neighbors and the nations.

God has got a plan for each of us in a way no different from the plans that He had for His people 2000 years ago. Yes- they make look different for us- but they may not. They may be huge, they may be minor. They may have obvious results, they may have results we’ll never see this side of Heaven. But I know that our mission will not fail with God’s empowerment.

Mark tells us that Jesus’ disciples “went out and proclaimed that people should repent, that they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.”

God is faithful to His people, but only through obedience were the disciples able to experience the supernatural provision and moving of God. As our band comes up I want us to take a few moments to figure out where we are in this message.

Over the last few weeks we’ve seen Jesus stress the importance of faith. He’s also removed any reason to not have faith in Him. Jairus showed it- the nameless woman in the crowd showed it, and now His closest followers are showing it. But what about us? Are we living in faith?

Now I recognize that for many of us, we’re right now living in faith and fulfilling the calling that God has placed on us. Could be long-term, could be something as simple as obeying God’s calling for us to pray for someone. Please don’t think that “God’s calling” is always in reference to something big to us. It’s whatever the Holy Spirit is moving you to do, which is certainly big to Him, even if we don’t see it.

Maybe some of us can’t really put our finger on anything specific that God has called us to do…to which I would say that God has called us all to be witnesses of His. We’ll get to it more in depth at the end of Mark, but we know that Jesus has called for all of His followers to spread the gospel worldwide and to make disciples of all the nations. We can work on that right here in Crozet.

That’s essentially what Jesus commissioned his disciples to do in this text- take this Good News of the Kingdom, and spread it. If you’re looking for what God wants from you, I would encourage you this morning to pray for guidance, and then act. We don’t have the luxury of waiting for God to take the clouds and write in them a specific action plan.

But we can act on what we do know. Whether it’s sharing our faith at work, inviting neighbors to our Gatherings, to Community Groups, to our Easter Celebration- I really don’t know what that looks like for you. But I do know that if we obey, God will provide. If He’s calling us to take risks, He will take care of us.

And then for some of us…the mission is clear. We know what it is that God has impressed upon us to do…and we’re scared. For many reasons. Fear of failure, of rejection, of ridicule. Maybe it’s a matter of financial insecurity. “God wants me to do this with my finances…but man, I’m struggling with trusting that God will take care of me if I do this. He wants me to make this career move, do this with my family, with my time.”

Maybe it’s with joining a volunteer team- who knows; it might have absolutely nothing to do with Life Journey Church. But will you trust God this morning? In our time of response, will you let go of what’s holding you back? Will you step out in faith and trust the results to God?

Our overarching JourneyMarker this week is this: “Don’t let mishaps in ministry keep you from your Kingdom calling.” They didn’t stop Jesus. They didn’t deter His followers. Will you commit today to keep on keeping on?

There Could Be No Better Object of Our Faith Than Jesus.

[Author's note: Any sermon manuscript found on this blog is written pre-preaching, which means that invariably the content is slightly different than what is actually heard in the sermon. If you'd like to listen to the audio of this sermon, please visit our website here.]
Good morning! Go ahead and turn in your copy of God’s Word to Mark chapter five. So we’ve been in Mark since we launched here in September, and up until a couple weeks ago we were flying through the ministry of Jesus.

We spent the better part of six months covering about a year of Jesus’ life, but today marks the seventh week that we’ve spent looking at a two-day period in Jesus’ life. Mark really slows down for a bit. It’s as if Mark wants to slow down not just to cover a few key events in greater detail, but it’s like he’s giving us a realistic look at the ministry of Jesus.

Jesus didn’t spend his last few years on this planet loafing around, doing a bit of ministry here and there. He was busy. He was like Jack Bauer. He never stopped moving among His people. Not until His ascension into heaven. Until then, it was go, go, go, as long as his body would let him. John tells us at the end of his gospel that if everything Jesus did was written about, the world wouldn’t be a large enough library for those books. That’s a lot of ministry.

This sequence of events that we’re looking at included Jesus’ day of teaching about the Kingdom of God. From there he and his disciples began to cross the Sea of Galilee, where a storm threatened to sink their boat. Jesus calmed the storm and the sea, demonstrating his divinity and power over creation. Once they reached land, Jesus was confronted with a demon-possessed man who became an evangelist for the Kingdom.

Our text picks up today in verse twenty-one, where we find Jesus returning to Capernaum. When you put the chronology together, we realize that Jesus had only left the day before. Yet even as he arrives, a great crowd is already gathered, waiting for his return. Crazy part is- the people had no reason to assume he was returning so soon.

So there’s Jesus. He’d spent the day before teaching. He was so tired that he was sleeping during the storm. Arriving on the other side of the lake, he was casting demons out of the demoniac and being asked to leave, now he’s arrived back to where he’d just sailed from the day before, and already there is a massive crowd with nothing else to do but wait for this miracle man to come back. Perhaps some of the boats that had been caught in the storm had returned to Capernaum and spread the news of Jesus’ power, if they’d seen it in action the night before.

Whatever the reason, these people weren’t interested in letting Jesus rest. And rather than chart a new course upon seeing these people waiting for him, Jesus lands the boat prepared to give even more of himself, to lovingly and diligently minister to these people so desperate for his touch.

And there was never a shortage of people needing help from Jesus. There still isn’t. Today we’re going to meet two in particular; two people that couldn’t be much more different from each other, yet both in great need. Each at the end of their rope, each desperate for Divine help.

Ever been there? Are you there now? If so, listen very carefully as this story unfolds. Might just be you we read about.

Let me introduce you to a man named Jairus. (Juy-rus!) Jairus was a Jew- a ruler in the synagogue, even. While his duties may have involved teaching, he would have more likely been more involved in maintaining the day-to-day business of the synagogue. Not necessarily a Pharisee, or Saducee, or scribe, or rabbi, his job would have been to take care of the scrolls, take care of the facility, perhaps be the administrator over the synagogue school. It was a respected position, one of prestige.

This means he was well respected, religious, devoted, an elder in a position of leadership. In our culture and terminology, we could say he was a pastor in the local church. Employed, admired, Jairus is a made man. But he’s got a problem at home. A big problem. His only child, his little twelve-year old girl, is sick. Beyond sick. Dying.

I hate when my kids are sick. I hate when I’m sick, or Sarai, but it’s different when it’s your kids. It’s even more different when it’s your little girl. My son Uriah gets sick- meh. Builds character. Little cold won’t hurt. Makes him stronger, right? But Gracie? That’s a different story. That one tugs at my heartstrings. That little girl has got me wrapped around her finger. When she’s fighting a cold and snotting up and wants to just crawl up in my lap and let me hug her- that’ll break my heart fast.

I have a bond with my son that Gracie will never experience, but the same is true with her. I find that more often than not I don’t call her Gracelyn, or Gracie. Most the time it’s “Babygirl.” I call her that so much that Uriah has started to call her that as well. Babygirl.

I don’t know what I’d do if she got sick- I mean, really sick. I can only imagine how it would feel if she were sick and the doctors told me to leave her home because there’s nothing more to do for her. I can only imagine the helplessness and frustration that would come from seeing her life slipping away and not being able to do a thing about it. Can you imagine the internal torment that would come with seeing your child dying and being powerless to stop it?

That’s where Jairus is. His Babygirl is dying, and in the back of his mind he’s begun to wonder if it’s true- these reports that have been floating around about the power of Jesus to heal. He may have even been there the day that Jesus cast the demons out of that one man in the middle of the synagogue. But no doubt Jairus had heard much about this Jesus of Nazareth.

No doubt he was familiar with the hatred that was welling up toward Jesus from the Pharisees. No doubt he was part of the damage-control as the religious elite sought to discredit the messianic claims of this rebel.

But things have begun to change drastically in Jairus’ mind, and finally he reaches the point where he has a decision to make. He can stay home and watch his little girl die, or he can track down Jesus. This rebel, this enemy of the Jews. This man who, just maybe, can heal his daughter.

And he chooses the latter. He has no other option but to seek help from Jesus. So now Jairus is in this crowd of people who are hanging out by the lake, waiting to see if Jesus comes back to their town. And I can see him now, pacing back and forth with so much on his mind. Hoping beyond hope that somehow he can convince Jesus to come help his girl. Wondering what this would do to his reputation among the Jewish community. Risking his job, his prestige, perhaps even his own life, just for the chance that his daughter would be healed.

Wondering if, even as he’s waiting for Jesus, if he made the right choice in leaving his baby girl.

But then Jesus is on land and all doubts and thoughts of self-preservation vanish from Jairus’ mind, and he falls before Jesus. Synagogue rulers didn’t bow before Jesus. Jairus did. There is no room for arrogance in the presence of the Son of God. Only humility.

Mark tells us that he begged Jesus, “Please. My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she be made well and live. Please.”

Imagine what’s going through Jairus’ mind right then. Here were thousands of people waiting for a personal touch from Jesus, to hear from Jesus. And here he was, part of Jesus’ enemies, with the audacity to ask Jesus to leave where he was, just to come to his house? And yet remarkably…Jesus does just that.

As Jesus begins his walk to Jairus’ house, the crowd naturally follows him- aggressively. This crowd was prone to do that- remember that Jesus finally had to teach them from a boat? They’d pressed in to the point of putting him in the water, and now as he’s walking they’re encircling him, a teeming mass of humanity that is pressed in all around him.

In this faceless crowd is someone else I would like to introduce to you. Someone who, like Jarius, is desperate. Someone who, while watching Jesus leaving to go heal this man’s daughter, realizes that her own slim chance for a miracle is slipping away from her.

See, this woman had been bleeding for twelve years- for as long as this little girl whose house Jesus was going to had been alive. Probably a uterine hemorrhage. One could imagine the physical discomfort that comes with this. Low blood pressure, racing heartbeat, dizziness.

But that really doesn’t even scratch the surface of this woman’s misery. The treatments that she’d undergone were just as bad as her problems were. The quacks of her day had no clue how to treat her, but were glad to charge her for their ineffective treatments.

But even all that isn’t the biggest part of her problem. See…according to Jewish law, this woman was considered to be unclean. And that was a problem, ‘cause she lived in a Jewish culture. Or at least, tried to. But she couldn’t. Not with this. Menstration in the Old Testament was seen as a depiction of the way that sin defiles and corrupts, and so women were considered unclean for a week after their bleeding stopped. But what if it never stopped?

What this bleeding meant was that for this woman, there had been no personal touch for twelve years. No warm hugs, no arms around her shoulders, not even a pat on the back. No intimacy for her husband, so if she had ever been married, by now she would have been long divorced.

She wouldn’t have been allowed to worship in the synagogue, or learn about God. There would have been no community groups- nothing. No lasting or respectable job, and what little money she did have had gone to the doctors. She had nothing. No friends. No one to turn to. No family. No one to love her as she could tell Jairus loved his little girl.

I love going home and having my kids yell “Hi!” and rush me for hugs. This woman probably didn’t remember what hugs felt like.

Out of money, out of solutions, this woman knows that she has only one chance at a normal life, and his name was Jesus. And she’s in this crowd just as desperate for a miracle as Jairus was. But here’s the difference- Jairus is well-liked, respected, and has no problems begging Jesus to help him. But she was a woman- and an unclean woman at that!

But that won’t stop her, because whether by superstition or sheer ignorance, she believed that even if she simply touched his robe, she would be healed. Such was the power of this man Jesus.

So here she is in this crowd, slipping through, trying not to be noticed and called out for being so close, if she can just get close enough- and there he is! Sneaking through, as this crowd is moving along the road, voices a dull roar, she’s finally behind him…and she reaches out, and praying that no one sees her, she touches his clothes.

And time stops. Immediately she knows that she’s been healed. The bleeding stops, and whatever problem was causing it was gone. About the time she realizes this, she realizes that Jesus has stopped. Mark tells us that “Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said ‘Who touched my garments?’”

His disciples are incredulous. “Come on, Jesus! You’re in the middle of a crowd like this, people are constantly jostling you, and now you want to know who touched you? Who hasn’t touched you??”

But Jesus’ eyes are scanning the crowd, and as he looks around his gaze settles on this woman, who now is terrified. Not because she fears being condemned for her disease- the disease is gone. She wasn’t embarrassed over her actions, because she was past being ashamed, if it meant being healed.

No, she’s terrified because in the moment she knew she was healed, she knew that she was in the presence of God. Jesus wasn’t simply a healer. He was much, much more than that.

Falling before him, signifying the he was greater than she, she told him what she’d done. So as this stopped crowd listened to this terrific tale of nonsense, as Jairus is wondering when Jesus is going to leave this outcast woman and continue on to his house, Jesus replies to the woman for all to hear:

“Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

Daughter.

Did you know that this is the only woman that we find calling Jesus calling “daughter”? Not only it that itself odd, but if this woman’s been bleeding for twelve years, it’s not unlikely that she was older than Jesus. Certainly not young enough to actually be his daughter. So why does He call her that?

He calls her that because she doesn’t have a Jairus in her life. She doesn’t have a dad who is willing to come to Jesus on her behalf. She doesn’t have a dad who is racked with fear, and worry, about her disease. She doesn’t have someone who’s willing to lose everything they’ve got on her behalf.

And Jesus is looking her in the face, this man who she’s recognized as more than man, and He’s saying to her, “You’ve got me!” I love you like that. This woman had spent all her money, had struggled alone for a dozen years, had been without meaningful communication, had been without acceptance, had nothing like a Jarius in her life, and Jesus says “It’s ok. I love you. I accept you. I will save you.” The love that you have been looking for? You’ve found it, my daughter.

I can’t help but to think that many of our friends, family, and neighbors here in Crozet are in the same place this woman found herself in. Maybe even you. We’re all born into the disease of sin, this corrupting, life-taking, joy-stealing, spiritual death that leaves us hollowed out on the inside and searching for fulfillment, for healing.

We try to “fix” this problem in a variety of ways. Some of us try to find acceptance among our peers, and so we model our lives after those around us. Problem is, there’s always someone with a bigger house or flashier car, and so we work longer hours and go further into debt trying to keep up, trying to maintain our position in their eyes.

And so while we think we’re ok to our neighbors, while we pursue the things we think we need to find fulfillment, we look around and realize that intimacy with our husband is long gone, that our wives have checked out emotionally. Our kids see us as strangers, but it’s ok. Look how many square feet I have. Look at my car. Look at my office.

Some people turn to other substances to fill the void. Drugs. Alcohol. Many of you were with us this past week ministering to the homeless community in Charlottesville. It doesn’t take long to see just how many of them live in a drunken stupor, or high as a kite, just to cope with life. Just to fill that emptiness up.

Others turn to sex- especially women who were devoid a father figure in their lives. They’ll do whatever it takes to feel the love of a man, because in their mind that’s what they’re absent. That’s what they’re missing. That’s what they need to be whole.

For many of us the answer is moralism. We see people in the church who seem to have their act together, and so we go to church to learn the rules and figure out how it is that we can get in good with God. And that works for us, for as long as we can play the game- right?

But when we fail to be perfect, or when we see someone who has an authentic relationship with Jesus, it only serves to remind us that the hole is still there. Try as we might, our careers, our families, our partying, our religion- nothing of these things are going to fix our problem. There’s only one solution, and His name is Jesus.

What a beautiful thing Jesus says here. He declared her clean. Healed. Saved. Jesus literally says, “Your faith has saved you.” What a beautiful picture of the gospel that we have here.

So many people get wrapped up in religious externals, trying to earn God’s favor. Some of His own people do the same thing, for that matter. But Isaiah tells us that all the external things we do to make God happy? Yeah- God sees them as filthy rags. They are as disgusting to Him as this woman’s rags that controlled her bleeding.

And yet when she humbles herself and in faith reaches out to Jesus, he takes every last bit of her filthiness and removes it from her. She doesn’t make Jesus unclean by touching Him; He makes her clean. And He tells her to go in peace. Be healed. I’ve taken this from you, Jesus says. Live in this reality.

How tragic is it that so many have embraced Jesus as Savior, yet refuse to live in the reality that we are now at peace with God. We have been adopted as sons, as daughters…and yet peace eludes us because we’re still trying to earn a seat at the table.

As Jesus is talking to the woman, perhaps to the crowd around her, runners come from the ruler’s house, and the news isn’t good. “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?”

At the same time that Jesus is giving new life to this woman who was placed all her faith on Him, Jairus, who had done the same, and first, learns that it’s too late. While Jesus was healing this woman, his little girl died. It was over. Done.

But Jesus hears what they’re saying and quickly tells Jairus, “Do not fear, only believe.”

Leaving the crowd behind, Jesus allowed no one to follow him except for Peter, James, and John. As they arrive at Jairus’ home, they find the funeral festivities already under way. Mourners, both legit and hired, are wailing and weeping over the death of this precious little girl.

And Jesus gets a little weird again. He asks the mourners, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead, but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. They knew what death was. Didn’t take a genius to know she was gone, that her spirit had long departed.

Jesus doesn’t waste His time arguing with them, but rather kicks them out of the house and together Jesus, Peter, James, John, Jairus, and Jairus’ wife go back to where this girl is, where she had stopped fighting, where her body had become an empty husk.

I bet you Jairus’ heart broke right there. Had to have. Seeing her broken, lifeless body. Watching Jesus take her by the hand and saying “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” Not even having time to ponder the absurdity of that comment before his precious baby girl stands to her feet. And their jaws drop.

Man, I’d love to know what went through her mind as upon being given new life Jesus’ voice is the first she hears. Jesus’ face is the first face she sees. Jesus’ hand is the first thing she feels. What a beautiful picture we have of the assurance that death is nothing to be feared as God’s people. Jesus is waiting for us.

This small group of people is stunned. Doesn’t surprise Jesus, though. Jesus says “Hey- get this girl some food. She’s been through a lot. And don’t tell anyone about this.” As if the crowd outside isn’t going to notice that Jairus’ daughter is alive! “Don’t tell anyone about this.”

‘Cause here’s the deal, guys. Jesus’ primary mission wasn’t one of healing. That’s not what He wanted to be known for. That isn’t why He had come. He hadn’t just come to heal people, though He does. He came to save.

I’d like our band to come on up and in a bit we’ll sing our last worship song. So much that could be pulled out of this text, but here’s where the plane needs to land. Of all the themes found with this story-within-a-story, I think there’s an overarching one that hits home to all of us, and that’s this idea of faith- true faith- and Jesus as being the only worthy object of it.

I know that some of you here today are wrestling. You’re at the point like Jairus, like this woman, where you know that everything you’ve tried to fix that hole within has failed. And I pray that as you’ve seen the love of Jesus in action, the Holy Spirit has been at work drawing you to Jesus and telling you that yes- you are loved. Yes, Jesus died so that you can be reconciled to God. Yes, Jesus’ love for you is greater than any sin you’ve committed.

Will you trust Him this morning to save you? Will you believe that He loves you and died for you? There’s room at the cross for you this morning. Will you go to Him? You say, well Richard, what does that look like? This woman reached out and touched Jesus’ robe. Jairus begged Him for help. We saw their faith in action. What must I do to be saved?

Scripture tells us that if we simply believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, we will be saved. No more trusting in our own goodness. No more reliance upon our own self-sufficiency. It’s about humbling ourselves and offering our hearts and lives to God. And you can do that right where you sit. Faith in action for you could simply be a conversation between you and God where you admit that He’s holy and you’re not, that you recognize your sinfulness…but also that you’ll trust His Son to save you. Will you do that this morning?

Jesus has now demonstrated His power and authority over the natural and the supernatural, over sickness, even over death. Historical fact tells us that this was no ordinary man- this was the Son of God.
In these next few moments as our band plays, I’d like for us to think about our Journey Marker for the week, and that is this:

There could be no better object of our faith than Jesus.

Will you trust Him to save you?

Maybe you’re here this morning and you have trusted Christ as Savior, yet still you feel like an outcast before Him. Would you recognize this morning that you are no less clean today before God than this woman who Jesus healed? Would you recognize this morning that you, too, have been given new life, just as Jairus’ daughter was given new life?

Can you imagine, church, what we would look like if we lived in peace, in true inward recognition that God has truly forgiven us, that we are sons, daughters, holy and acceptable?

If Jesus Can Be Trusted With Our Soul, He Can Be Trusted With Our Life.

[Author's note: Any sermon manuscript found on this blog is written pre-preaching, which means that invariably the content is slightly different than what is actually heard in the sermon. If you'd like to listen to the audio of this sermon, please visit our website here.]
A month or so into my deployment overseas back in 2003, my Army reserve unit was making its way across Iraq. We’d spent several weeks on the ground in Kuwait, providing support for the 101st Airborne Division as the ground war progressed during Operation Iraqi Freedom, and now we were following them into the heart of Iraq.

Along the way we spent a couple weeks in the middle of nowhere- even now the name of the temporary camp escapes my memory. But I vividly remember the night we were hit by one of the worst sandstorms I’d ever encountered. I awoke to the howling of the wind and the flapping of our tent as all chaos broke out. Even within the tent that was as closed as tight as it could be, enough dust had come in that you could slap it off your sleeping bag and watch it pour onto the ground.

I remember waking up there on my cot and stretching both hands above my head, grabbing the tent walls because I was convinced it was going to blow away. Iraqi sandstorms are no joke! Picture a moving wall of dirt, dust, and sand moving as fast as sixty miles an hour. Oftentimes you can see them coming and prepare accordingly. Other times they catch you off guard and all you can do is grit your teeth and ride it out. There is no preparing. There is no plan. It’s just hunker down and try to cope.

I hate those types of storms. Storms we can prepare for are a lot different, aren’t they? We might not be able to change the storms one bit, but we feel better when we’re prepared for it. When we can stock up on bread and milk. When we have our ice-melt and snow shovels. When we’ve battened down the hatches and brought the pets inside.

And yet best as we prepare, we still get hit with storms. And if it’s not a legit storm coming over the mountains, it’s storms of another nature. You’re moving along peacefully in life and then BAM!- the doctors tell you that you have cancer. Your boss tells you she’s letting you go. Your kid gets arrested. Death visits your family. Tragedy strikes.

And as much as we try to have our “best life now,” reality hits us in the face and we find out that life is hard. And it’s not fair. And we flounder and wonder where God has gone in all of this mess. And we hate ourselves for doubting, yet everywhere we look there’s just more storm. There is no break in the wind. The rain is cold as ever. There are no rays of sunlight peeking through the angry black thunderheads.

Is any of this sounding familiar? I hope not, yet experience has taught me that most, if not all, of us have been in this position. We find out the hard way that we’re not immune to the storms of life, be they figurative or literal.

The disciples learned this as well. Through their own experience I’m hoping that we can leave here this morning having answered two key questions: why do God’s people experience storms, and what is the proper response when they come? With that in mind let’s go to our text.

If you’re new to us, Walt and I are systematically making our way through the Gospel according to Mark, which we’ve broken up into four sections. The first was Jesus’ time of preparation, the second (and where we are now) is Jesus’ ministry in Galilee. Along the way we’ve had a miniseries that examined the dynamic between life-giving grace opposed to life-choking law, and we’ve just completed a short series on the parables of the Kingdom of God.

If you’ll remember, the Kingdom of God can be generally defined as “the very real, yet invisible rule of God over His people, that began with the arrival of Christ and will be fully realized and made visible with the return of Christ.” And in this series we discovered that even though God’s kingdom is built by grace, we’ve been called to work. We found that our view of the Kingdom is only as big as our view of grace, and that the more grace we see, the more changed we’ll be. We found that in the Father’s kingdom is forever freedom.

And now after a long day of teaching, Mark tells us that “35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him.”

So let’s just take a couple minutes to really paint a picture here. Jesus has spent the day teaching. Some of it was in the house to his disciples, but the bulk of it was to the crowds who had gathered around to see miracles, maybe to be the recipient of one.

And so this crowd had grown large enough that Jesus resorted to sitting in a boat- possibly one belonging to one of His twelve closest disciples. And while he sat on the water he was able to teach for hours on end.

But now it’s getting dark. People are drifting back to their homes. Supper in on the table- it’s time to call it a day. But while Jesus may have finished teaching, his time for R&R wasn’t here yet. There was business on the other side of the lake. Mark tells us “they took him with them in the boat, just as he was.” It’s as if he’s so worn out that he says, “Just go, guys. I’m not even going to walk around, stretch the legs. Let’s not worry about dinner. Let’s just go.” Some commentators believe that Jesus was asleep even before the boat left the shore.

They unfurl the sails and begin to cross the lake, this boat with Jesus and his disciples, as well as other boats on the lake. There were always people following Jesus- sometimes even running around the lake on foot to wait for Jesus on the other side. But we gotta remember- this is no ordinary lake, and this was no ordinary evening.

Temperamental thing, this Sea of Galilee was. Sitting about 682 feet below sea level, it’s the world’s lowest-elevated body of fresh water. Surrounded by hills and sitting in the Great Rift Valley, sudden storms were normal. They were an almost daily part of life as the warm air around the lake met the colder air coming down from the mountains. After 30 minutes or so of fierce windstorms, things would return to normal.

One of the things that my wife likes to hide from the world is that I’m a pretty romantic guy. No, seriously. I liked to take Sarai on dates that would showcase my affections for her, that would make her feel like a queen. This was all before we got married, of course. I had to woo her into becoming my bride.

So I decided one day to take her catfishing! Nothing screams “romance” like floating down a lake and hooking into some blue cats! So I borrowed my uncle’s boat, headed on down to Bugg’s Island, put the boat in the water, and began a lovely afternoon of fishing.

Lovely, that is, until our little outboard motor decided to die. Not a huge problem, but by now we were a couple miles away from where we had put in. Ok, so I’ll use the trolling motor. For now let’s fish! But…the fish weren’t biting. And it started raining. And what started as a good breeze for drifting became a strong wind that produced whitecaps. And it didn’t take much longer for us to realize that the aluminum john boat we were in probably wasn’t the safest boat to be sitting in when the storm hit.

So there we were, putter-puttering along in the rain, using the trolling motor to get back to the truck, when the battery died! To cut a long (and romantic!) story short, we were eventually towed back to the truck by a kind fisherman. Um, believe it or not, we’ve not been catfishing since! Weird, I know.

That day I learned just how quickly a peaceful trip on a lake can turn into a bad scenario, but the disciples had it much, much worse. Mark tells us that as they were sailing across the lake, “37 …a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling.”

Our ESV calls this a “great windstorm,” but this doesn’t quite do justice to the Greek. This was a tempest, a small-scale hurricane. Now remember- many of these men were fishermen. They were used to being on the water, and storms weren’t unusual. Even today it’s not uncommon for ten-foot waves to break on the shore, and there have been documented cases of water flowing as far as two-hundred yards inland from these swells.

But this storm was a widow-maker. As these 13 men crammed into this fishing boat, they encountered a storm of epic proportions. Bailing furiously, they were unable to keep water out of the boat- to the point where they were fearful for their lives.

And where was Jesus in this mess? While these men are panicking, and bailing, and fighting the waves, and fearing for their lives, Mark tells us that Jesus “38  …was in the stern, asleep on the cushion.” Now that’s tired. I don’t think Jesus looked at his watch, thought to himself “Hmm. I have about an hour before this storm hits. Better fall asleep now to make it look good…” No, I think he was plain exhausted.

Sarai and I had a difficult delivery with Uriah. Probably more difficult for her. Most difficult for him. But there were complications. It was a trying delivery that threatened the life of my son. More than once during delivery his heart stopped. He was born with a large head and water on the brain. Thankfully, the extra cerebrospinal fluid has since been reabsorbed into his body.

But the delivery was anything but normal, and it took a mental and emotional toll on me that led to pure exhaustion. Several times that night as nurses came into talk to us and even measure our heads for a frame of reference, I could not for the life of me stay awake. It was like I was drugged. Not even during my deployment had I experienced this kind of shutdown that came with total exhaustion.

And I think that’s what we’re seeing here with Jesus. The walking, talking, teaching, healing, exorcising, loving ministry that consumed his life had taken its toll, and he was exhausted. Even as this small fishing boat is being hammered by the waves , and water is filling the boat, Jesus is knocked out.

Finally his disciples have had enough- but it’s too late. The boat is going down, and they’re powerless to stop it. So now they turn their attention to Jesus, sleeping peacefully while the storm around them threatened their lives. Marks tells us “…they woke him and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’” Luke and Matthew provide more dialogue as it wasn’t just one comment directed towards Jesus. No, they were all panicking, all desperate, all shouting in fear.

Jesus heard things like, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” and “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!” “Teacher, do you not care???” Jesus, we’re about to die, and the best you can do is lay there asleep? Really, Jesus? Is that all you think of us? Do you not even care that my life is crashing down around me?

Do you not care that I’m watching my unborn son flatline? Do you not even care about our miscarriage? Do you not care that I’ve lost my parents to cancer, that my husband, my wife, has been unfaithful to me? Do you not care that my children hate me, that I’ve lost my job, that I have to move to find work? Do you not care that I’m mocked at work, at school, at home for following you? I’m dying in this storm, Jesus. Do you even care??

Jesus’ friends aren’t praying. They’re not respectfully imploring him for help. They’re not reverently asking for Divine intervention. They’re doing what we do so many times when we reach rock bottom and take pity on ourselves. They’re rebuking Jesus, questioning his love and loyalty, trying to shame the Son of God into helping them. Moments from death, the true nature of their character is revealed…and it’s not pleasant.

And as Jesus wakes up and takes everything in, as he sees the waves above him, the boat sinking, the men screaming…how easy it would have been to react to the accusations of his supposed friends. How easy it would have been to let them be, to let them flounder. Or maybe to rescue them, but only after they suffer a bit longer.

Not Jesus, though. Mark tells us that “39 …he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.” Two things going on here that we need to be mindful of. Firstly is Jesus’ rebuke of the wind.

Picture Jesus waking up, and rather than clinging to the bottom of the boat and fighting for balance, He stands and says “Stop it!” And immediately the wind ceased. That doesn’t eliminate all of the problem though. Just because the storm is gone doesn’t mean the waves are. It takes some time for the momentum of the sea to reside. Had Jesus only stopped the wind from blowing, the boat would still have sank.

And so Jesus spoke to the sea and said “Peace! Be still!” It’s the same word Jesus used earlier in this book when casting out demons. “Shut up! Put a muzzle on it! Enough! Knock it off!”

And there was a great calm. What seconds before had been a turbulent, frothing mass of millions and millions of gallons of angry water was now a placid and still lake. It was like glass. And before the disciples could even process this, perhaps before they could even pick themselves up from the bottom of the boat, Jesus is speaking to them:

40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”

Come on, guys. It’s been over a year now. You’ve been with me. You’ve seen my miracles. You know the power and authority I have. You’ve listened to me talking about the Kingdom of God. Why are you so afraid? After everything we’ve been through together, do you still have no faith?

And the pieces begin to slide into place. Mark tells us that “41 …they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” Who is this? Who else could it be but God? I wonder if Psalm 107 crossed their minds, where the Psalmist tells us that:

23 Some went down to the sea in ships,
doing business on the great waters;
24 they saw the deeds of the Lord,
his wondrous works in the deep.
25 For he commanded and raised the stormy wind,
which lifted up the waves of the sea.
26 They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths;
their courage melted away in their evil plight;
27 they reeled and staggered like drunken men
and were at their wits’ end.[b]
28 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
29 He made the storm be still,
and the waves of the sea were hushed.
30 Then they were glad that the waters[c] were quiet,
and he brought them to their desired haven.
31 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
32 Let them extol him in the congregation of the people,
and praise him in the assembly of the elders.

As Jesus stood in the stern of that small fishing boat and with mere words ceased the winds and calmed the sea, his disciples are confronted with the reality that God is in the boat with them, and it shakes the foundations of their reality. We’ll find over the next year or so that Jesus’ followers are going to continue to wrestle with this issue. For some of them, it’s a bumpy road with ups and downs. For one, it ends in damnation.

But we see from this occurrence that Jesus isn’t content with head-knowledge about him. He wants to know what we believe in our hearts, and often times even we don’t know what’s in there until the storms rage. This was a valuable learning experience for Jesus’ disciples, and there’s much we can learn from it ourselves- especially when we find ourselves in life’s storms.

So if you want to jot these thoughts down, by all means do so. These are the take-homes from this passage: Number one is this: storms in life will come about even when living in obedience to God. I mean, it’s natural to think that storms are God’s punishment for disobedience. Look at Jonah, right? But think about this- these disciples of Jesus were told to get into the boat and go to the other side. In their obedience they encounter this storm. So when things go south, don’t jump to the assumption that it’ because of something you did or didn’t do. Don’t assume it’s a Divine judgement against you.

Number two, hard as it is to fathom sometimes, is this: our storms in life are blessings by God. What was the biggest benefit to the disciples for this storm? The same as it often is for us, given the fact the often times it’s not until we’re in the darkest of all storms that we’re able to most clearly see God. Pain hurts- I’d be a fool to say it doesn’t. But through the trials and ordeals of life we’re most able to see God at work. Most the time.

Because number three…sometimes we don’t see God at work. Think about the other boats that set sail with Jesus. Jesus wasn’t in their boat. To them, it was just a freak storm that had a crazy ending. I’m sure when they reached land they heard about what Jesus had done, but from their perspective there was no rhyme or reason to the storm.

It’s like that for us sometimes, and we’re going to have to figure out if our faith is strong enough to sustain us, even in the worst of storms when it feels like God has abandoned us. Will we believe God as he says “I will never leave you nor forsake you?”

As our band comes forward, let us quickly answer the two questions we came into this message with. One, “why do God’s people experience storms?” Because they are part of the refining process. Might they be something we bring on ourselves? Possibly. But it’s not God’s judgement falling- it’s the correcting action of a loving Father. He doesn’t place storms in our lives to drive us from Him, but rather to bring us even closer.

Paul tells us that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. God has planned for His children to become more and more like Christ over the course of our lives. Inwardly, we are there. Outwardly, we’re getting there so much as our minds can be continually renewed. Storms are a part of the process. Will you trust Him in it?

The second question was this: what is our proper response to the storms of life? It’s not going to God only when there’s nothing left for you to do; you should go to Him first. Some of you may need to repent of the sin of self-sufficiency. Too often we rely upon our own strength to fix the messes in our lives.

God’s word tells us to cast all our cares on Jesus, to be anxious for nothing…and yet we seem content to shoulder all of our burdens. I really think this was the point of this storm. When the going got tough, these followers of Jesus acted like functional atheists until there was nothing more to do than bitterly accuse Jesus of not caring.

I think what Jesus wanted was their realization that in their own strength they had no control, and that the best thing to do would be to trust Jesus to either be with them in calming, or to be with them in death…Jesus wasn’t promising to save us from the storms. He was showing that He has total power not just over illnesses, not just over Satan, not just over life and death, but power over the universe and everything in it.

So our Journey Marker is this. This is what I want us to go home with, even if we leave here and the storms are still raging over us. If Jesus can be trusted with our soul, he can be trusted with our life. Think about that. In the time line of eternity, this life is but a blip. If we’re willing to entrust our eternal soul to Jesus, how much more our temporal lives- even if it means our lives aren’t smooth sailing from start to finish?

Mark wrote this book to believers in Rome who were being dressed in animal skins and torn apart by wild dogs. But I can promise you two things- those saints who are long dead have no regrets for keeping the course, and ultimately God was glorified, even in the suffering of His saints. Will you trust Him to be with you this morning, even if He doesn’t calm your storm?

Maybe you’re here this morning and God’s at work in your heart, telling you it’s time to stop fighting and surrender to him, to embrace His free gift of salvation. If you’d like someone to talk to, Walt and I will be here in the front and we can show you from God’s Word how to know that you’ve been forgiven.

Everyone in here is at a place in their lives where you can leave here trusting in your own might, in your own power…or you can leave having placed your trust in God, be it to save you or sustain you. Which will it be?

Our View of the Kingdom Is Only As Big As Our View of Grace

[Author's note: Any sermon manuscript found on this blog is written pre-preaching, which means that invariably the content is slightly different than what is actually heard in the sermon. If you'd like to listen to the audio of this sermon, please visit our website here.]

You know what I hate? I hate having an idea in my head of how something should be, only to find out that in reality I’ve got it totally all wrong. Happens to me a lot, this does. Has my whole life, really.

I remember the blizzard of ’96. I was thirteen at the time and saw this as my cash cow. By this point my brother and I already had a faithful clientele for our one and two-man snow removal business, but this was huge. Twenty-plus inches of snow? Are you kidding me??

So I began to do the math. I don’t recall now the figures I used, but it went something like this: Ok, I can knock out a sidewalk and driveway in like, half an hour. If I get $20 per job, two jobs per hour, eight hours a day, two days of work…that’s $640! If I was partnered up with my older brother, no biggie! Twice as quick, twice the jobs, divide by two- still gonna be over $600 in my pocket.

And that was for just two days. Imagine if we got booked up for four!! Me, a thirteen year old, with a thousand dollars. Do you have any idea how many toys that can buy??

And so I had dollar signs flashing in my eyes that January. At least until we began our first sidewalk. And then reality hit. Hard. See, the only shovels my brother and I could get our hands on were square point shovels with a 27-inch handle. Not ideal for snow removal. I mean- they weren’t even the little shovels with the huge scoops on them. They were these mining shovel jobs with at best a ten-inch lip on it.

And twenty-some inches of wet, melting snow- do you have any idea how heavy that stuff is? We had to cut squares, lift it up, fling it to the side, over, and over, and over, and over, taking hours just to clear one driveway!

And then there was the cold, cold wet feet, cold wet hands, windburn on the face, blisters on the hands, agony in the back, snow-blindness migraines- it was miserable! Needless to say, there was no $1000 payoff for me that year. I made about $200 before I called it quits- my brother lasted a bit longer. I think he made $300. Definitely not the payoff I had conceived in my mind.

I hate having misconceptions. Whether it’s raising kids, picking classes, pursuing education, changing jobs- planting churches, there’s always a degree of difference between reality and what I thought was going to happen.

Ever happen to you? I think we can say we’ve all been there in some form or another. I mean, we have people visit Life Journey Church all the time thinking that we’re an established, programatic church, only to find that we’re a young plant of 30-some families. Surprise!

But that’s not a huge deal, right? Ok, so the two-hour block that you had planned to have on Sunday morning wasn’t what you were expecting. Not the end of the world. Most of our misconceptions do not result in catastrophe.

Not so for many of the Jews in Jesus’ day, though. Their misconception of the Kingdom of God was of epic proportions, and I wonder if ours is as well. If you remember when we began this series in the book of Mark, we found Jesus going through a time of preparation here on earth before beginning His ministry in Galilee.

His first recorded words by Mark were “the time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand- now repent and believe the Gospel.” The “Kingdom of God” wasn’t a foreign concept to these Jews. Jesus wasn’t using words not in their vocabulary. The Jews had been anticipating this kingdom for over 700 years.

Here’s a quick history of how Israel became what it was by that point in history. Remember when God came to Abram in Genesis chapter twelve and said “I will make of you a great nation?” God did just that. As we go through Old Testament history, Abram was renamed Abraham and fathered Isaac, who fathered Jacob, from whom we have the twelve tribes of Israel.

Israel as a people were oppressed and enslaved by Egypt, so God raised up Moses and Aaron to lead the nation of Jews out of Egypt where they were soon thereafter ruled through Godly judges over these tribes.

Several hundred years later, Israel got a hankering for a king to rule them like they saw other nations doing, and so God save them a king, but they weren’t four kings into this process before the kingdom of Israel split into two factions known as the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah.

Eventually both of these kingdoms were destroyed and God’s people were scattered, yet still there was hope of a new kingdom, a kingdom prophesied by Isaiah as one led by “An offspring of Jesse…and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.”

Jeremiah speaks of the Kingdom in God’s promise to “gather them from all the countries to which I drove them in my anger and my wrath and in great indignation, and I will make them dwell in safety.” Micah spoke of this Kingdom and its peace, of a day and age where war would cease and the Messiah would rule. Daniel spoke of the Kingdom as “a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever.”

Hints of this Kingdom are strewn throughout the writings of the Prophets, and with them clues about the Messiah, this political figurehead who would free God’s people from the tyranny around them and lead them in this never-ending reign as God’s people.

That was the concept, at least. That’s what these Pharisees were anticipating. If the Messiah came in their lifetime, he would usher in the Kingdom of God, defeat the Roman occupying forces, and set Israel up as the world leaders. I think we’re able now to understand how inflammatory Jesus’ remarks would have been in his culture.

And so as we continue now with this third installment of our “Grace Works” series, we’re going to see Jesus reveal Jewish misconceptions of the Kingdom of God, but hopefully we’re going to see also how many of us are still living with misconceived notions of what it means to be a part of this Kingdom.

Because here’s the problem with misconceptions- as long as we live in them, we’re blinded to the truth of reality. And if we’re not careful, we’ll simply be more people who are seeing, yet not seeing. Remember the message from last week? We really need to get this. We need to grasp this Kingdom of God. We need to grasp what it means to be in this Kingdom. We need to see how Grace Works.

With that in mind let’s jump into Mark 4:26. Jesus is continuing to teach those around him about the kingdom. He says, “The Kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

Ok, we see immediately that Jesus is doing a few things here. He’s talking about the Kingdom of God, He’s using terminology familiar to the crowd around him, and He’s using a figure of speech known as a simile.

And what He’s doing is taking this nebulaic concept of the Kingdom of God and beginning to describe and define it for what it really is- not what the crowd currently believed it to be.

The story he uses is simple, right? Once upon a time, a farmer planted seeds in the ground. And then he went about his business. Meanwhile, in that mysterious process even now not really understood by botanists, the seed does what seeds do. It sends a root down, sends a sprout up, and voila- wheat. First the blade, then the ear, then the whole grain.

Again- this is a simple story. Jesus isn’t describing the process of photosynthesis or plant mitosis. He’s telling them something that they all know to be true. Put seeds in the ground, seeds grow. Duh.

But here’s the thing. Jesus isn’t telling a story for the sake of telling a story. He never did. He’s telling a story, or a parable, to illustrate a deeper reality, in this case the Kingdom of God.

So why does Jesus have to use parables to describe the Kingdom of God? Well, we know from previous messages that He did this to enlighten some and confuse others, but let’s go a bit further in our thinking. There are two more immediate reasons here why Jesus is speaking like He is.

Number one is because of the widespread confusion over what this Kingdom was. Remember, the common conception of the Jews was of a visible kingdom with a visible ruler who would restore and empower the Kingdom of Israel as the world leader. If this were the truth, Jesus would have no need to correct it!

There’s a huge problem with this idea though, and this problem is precisely why Jesus used similes to describe the Kingdom of God- it’s invisible. The Jews were looking for a king, they were looking for a reestablishment of the mighty Kingdom of Israel…and yet what did Jesus, this son of a carpenter who was placed in a feeding trough, say? The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand. It’s here. It’s now. And what did the Jews see? Nothing.

Rather than spend the next year or so describing the Kingdom of God and then presenting a definition of it, let me give you now a working definition of the Kingdom of God. Know as I do this that it’s extremely simplified and might not answer every question about the Kingdom, but as a frame of reference it’s greatly beneficial.

The Kingdom of God can be defined as “the very real, yet invisible rule of God over His people, that began with the arrival of Christ and will be fully realized and made visible with the return of Christ.”

Think of the Kingdom of God as a train that is blazing past you on your platform. The train has arrived, for sure. And yet as you watch it pass it is still arriving, it’s here. Now. But even as you see that, you can also see the end way down the tracks- it’s a ways to go before it gets here. It’s not fully here yet.

It’s the same with the Kingdom of God. It has come. It is now. It’s still yet future. And as Jesus begins to unpack this over the course of his ministry, he now compares it to this seed that’s planted.

Do you remember the message last week- where we found that nothing is hidden except to be revealed? Jesus is now building a picture of that for us. The Jews were looking for an explosive change, a complete change in the Zeitgeist, the spirit of the age, wherein everything changed with Israel, with the world. To them, the Kingdom of God was going to be like a barren garden which explodes with new life.

But Jesus tells us otherwise. He says the Kingdom of God has origins we can’t even see. And he’s right. After all, the Kingdom of God was planned from eternity past in what has been termed the “Covenant of Redemption”. Within this covenant, the Father promises to redeem fallen people by sending the Son, the Son promises to bear the sins of His people, and the Spirit promises to seal all believers unto salvation.

And so this invisible rule of God has origins beyond us. But like a seed that is sprouting, a blade begins to pierce the earth. Something is visible now. There’s something there, something coming up. As I said before, the prophets of old began to give hints of this coming Kingdom.

And as God moved throughout human history, more and more began to be revealed. The spout formed into an ear, and within it wheat. Slowly but surely more of this Kingdom is being revealed.

And here’s where Jesus’ message was so radical. The Jews believed that they, by virtue of their birth, would be the inhabitants of this new Kingdom. They believed that through their adherence to the Law they were in right standing with God. But what did Jesus say? Unless you’re born again, you cannot enter the Kingdom of God. In fact, He said until you’re born again, you can’t even see it, much less enter in.

The Jews sought a physical kingdom, but Jesus was offering an invisible kingdom that would one day, when the fullness has come, when the Kingdom becomes all that it was planned to be, would then be all there was. It would be the only Kingdom.

So the disciples of Jesus’ day, and even us today who follow Christ, we’re part of this kingdom, but it’s still invisible to us. We can see hints of it. We experience it when we come together in worship as a body of believers. We see the transformational work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, leading us to produce fruits of righteousness, but it’s still invisible.

And that’s a problem for us, isn’t it?

Because what are we going to do today? We’re going to listen to me speak, then we’ll sing. We’ll collect our kids, break our setup down, maybe go eat lunch somewhere. Then we’ll go home and veg out because it’s been a long week and dang it, I’m tired. We’ll eat supper, watch some TV. Go to bed.

Tomorrow we’ll wake up and go to work, drudge through the day. Here comes quitting time. We go home, eat supper, watch TV. Maybe work out. Tired, we’ll play with the kids. Maybe read a book. And then we go to sleep.

And we’ll do it again on Tuesday. On Wednesday. Pay the bills. Find something to entertain us. Eat food. Go to sleep. Over, and over, and over- and the entire time we’re spiritually starved because while we’re inhabitants of the Kingdom of God, all most of us can do is trudge along in the 21st century trying to find some sort of meaning to life- where does it end??!? Is that really all we’re here for?

This is one of the reasons I love my community group. Wednesday night comes around, and people tired. More often than not we’re battling grumpiness. By the time Wednesday night rolls around we already feel like we’ve had a long week.

And so Wednesday comes and one you come over to my house. And another. And a few more. And we’ll eat some food, and we’ll laugh. And then there’s over a dozen of us hanging out, catching up on the week.

We’ll pray for each other, laugh with each other, cry with each other. We bear each other’s burdens and confess our sin to each other. We’ll open the Word together. Together, we are drawn into the timeless and life-changing truths of the word of God.

And as I sit there among my friends I find myself thinking, “This is it. This is what it’s about. This is the Kingdom of God being revealed. God’s people doing God’s will on earth. Together.”

Then everyone goes home, the kids get fussy because they’re tired, and what do I do- soak in more of God’s Word while maintaining that wonderful sense of God’s presence that was just there in my living room? Well, no. I eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, plop in the floor, finish American Idol and fall asleep to Top Chef!

Do you see the disconnect there? I do! But isn’t that what we tend to do? We live in the reality of the Kingdom on Sundays and in our community groups, but by and large in the scheme of things we’re more consumed with the here and now- or even worse, we despair over our place in the Kingdom, if we even have one.

Jesus tells us that the Kingdom of God, though beginning in secret and slowly coming to its completion, is here. And I want to experience more of it than what I am. I hope you do as well.

And so here are two things I want us to leave here with. Two things we can focus on that I think we be greatly beneficial as we leave here and return to the “real world”. Two “kingdom statements” that we can never exhaust.

The first is this, and this is the one I really want us to leave here with. It’s our Journey Marker.  Our view of the Kingdom is only as big as our view of grace. Our view of the Kingdom is only as big as our view of grace. What I mean by that is this: if you want a bigger view of the Kingdom, if you want to be more focused on the rule of God over His people in this odd cultural context we’re in, you’re going to need a bigger view of grace, the gospel, and your salvation.

Paul tells us in Romans that the key to life transformation is the renewing of our minds. Having the way we think changed, in turn changes the way we live. And to be what God has called us to be, we have got to always be returning to the gracious gospel of Jesus Christ. When we realize, truly realize, that in Jesus Christ we are beloved children of God, when we realize that because Jesus died in my place I now stand before the Father spotless and without sin, when we realize that God loves me in spite of my shortcomings, when we realize that all God wants for us is our best, then we begin to see the Kingdom of God among us. As the people of God come together, Christ is in our midst. We are the body, and the extent to which we view grace makes all the difference in how our realities are shaped.

Want to see more God? Go to the Gospel. Want a passion for the lost? Go to the Gospel. Want to transform the world? Go to the Gospel. Want more victory over the sin in your life? Go to the Gospel. Seeing what Jesus did for us changes everything, because the only response that makes sense is total surrender.

Our love for God and His fame then becomes our motivation for missions. Our love for others becomes our motivation for holiness. Everything in our lives becomes grace-driven, not fear-driven. In the Gospel, God is found to be the kind and unconditionally loving Father that He is- not the grudge-holding, perpetually disappointed, always-mad Father that we often think He is. Seeing the Grace in the gospel changes everything.

So the first Kingdom statement was this: Our view of the Kingdom is only as big as our view of grace. But what do we do when our view of the Kingdom is big, yet the current world in which we live is crashing all around us? What do we do when we’re Gospel-focused and cancer strikes those closest to us? How do we embrace this Kingdom we’re in when miscarriage strikes? When maniacs shoot up our schools? When earthquakes destroy homes? Where’s the Kingdom in that?

And these are fair questions, right? No doubt the Christians in Rome reading this Gospel of Mark may have been wondering that same thing. “Jesus said the Kingdom has come…and yet we’re being hunted down like dogs. We’re being fed to dogs. Is this the Kingdom of God?”

No. That’s what Jesus has come to right, and when He returns He will reconcile all things to Himself. He’s going to fix this mess.

The second Kingdom statement is simply this: While aspects of the Kingdom are here, right now, it will not be here fully until King Jesus returns. The fullness of the Kingdom is coming with Jesus. He’s going to fix it. Until then, there will be heartache. There will be suffering. There will be evil. But do not despair- the Kingdom of God is at hand. God is at work.

As our band comes forward, the question for us becomes this: Is the reality of the Kingdom of God transforming my life? Really changing the way I see everything? If your answer to that is “yes,” then wonderful. That’s great!

But if it’s not…is it because your view of grace is too small? That your realization of the completed work of Christ is lacking? For you, the key to a changed perspective of the Kingdom begins at the Gospel. I’m not saying that if your view of the Kingdom isn’t big then you must not be saved. I’m simply affirming that life transformation comes through our grasp of the Gospel.

What does that look like, exactly? Well, for me it means more time contemplating the truths of God’s grace. It’s more time reading God’s Story and wrapping my mind around it. For me it’s listening to preaching, or music that extols the work of Christ. It’s more time talking to God in prayer in response to what I read or hear. There’s no set way to go deeper into the Gospel…but it starts with this simple prayer right here: “Father, help me, through whatever means to lead me to, to gain a deeper understanding of grace, of the Gospel, and of your kingdom.” Will you come to God today with that mindset?