Mark: The Person and Work of Jesus Christ #17

Who Jesus Came To Earth To Reach ~ Who We Are Still Here To Reach
Mark 2:13-17

13 Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. 14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.

15 While Jesus was having dinner at Levi's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the "sinners" and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: "Why does he eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"

17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Let’s pray…
There are a lot of familiar aspects of this section of Scripture. In fact, one section of this has been taught on before. When we taught on Mark 1:16-20, we saw a pattern in the way that Jesus chose His first disciples, remember?

The pattern was, “Jesus sees, Jesus calls, we leave our (fill in the blank) and follow Him.”

In that passage of chapter one the Scripture shows the importance of people (Simon and Andrew) leaving their livelihood to follow Jesus. And that’s important because if you are still clinging to the false notion of your career as a true safety net for your life - or if you find your satisfaction primarily in your job - or IF YOU IDENTIFY YOURSELF BY YOUR CAREER…

…If any of those things are true for you, then you will not be able to give everything that you are to God’s mission.

And then in the next verses of that chapter, the Scriptures point out the fact that we must not even make something as wonderful as our family into the MAIN devotion of our life.

The passage is a great and hard lesson that even good things become idols - WHICH ARE SINFUL TO FOLLOW OR CLING TO - even good things become idols IF those good things stand in the way of our devotion to God.

Well in this new passage in Chapter 2, we see a new aspect of what we are called out of. And this is much more universal. Alright, no matter who you are – this passage is a call on your life. Let’s read it again and I’ll show you what I mean:

14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.

Now, on first glance, this may only look like another person being called out to leave his career as the primary focus of his life in order to be a fully devoted follower of Jesus.

But, we need to dig deeper and understand that this was not just another career. Levi was a tax collector. Levi was not only defined by a particular job, the same as a fisherman, or a carpenter, or a day-labor field worker, No Levi was a Tax Collector. In the times of Jesus, if you were to mention a tax collector, it would probably be followed with a hiss from the audience or someone spitting on the ground.

Tax collectors were their own kind of social scum in the time that this was taking place. Like prostitutes, tax collectors were always named as a distinct group WITHIN a gathering of sinners.

It was as though most sinners just got thrown together into a junk drawer. But prostitutes and Tax Collectors… To the general population they were seen as their own kind of “bad” they got their own distinction – not a distinction you want. This isn’t the time that you want to stand out as the greatest among your peers.

Remember, tax collectors in that day were hirelings of the Romans. Tax collectors were given the right to collect from their own people and they got their money by adding their own cut on top of the already hefty taxes that the people were forced to pay to the Government – And, the money that the Tax Collectors took in went back to the government so that the government could then USE that money to maintain their oppressive control.

It was one thing to be an outsider hurting the community, but to hurt your own people FOR that government and for your own gain – to be a Tax Collector, Oh!

They were the Lowest of the low. And here’s why I say Levi is a better picture to describe everyone of US – Here’s why he is a better picture for us than the examples in chapter one.

This is the deal. There are millions of us who have jobs that are simply jobs. They are bad jobs or good jobs, but honestly if something better came your way, something like the draw of a universe changing mission like Jesus offers – you might readily and happily leave that job without a care, right? So you might look to the fishermen leaving their nets for Gospel adventure and say, “Big whoop. What’s the big deal? Of course they are going to follow Jesus.”

And likewise, some of us love our families and it might be hard to put them in second place in order to properly honor and follow our Lord, but in the light of His holiness, many people understand this concept and we come to a place where we can do it.

Furthermore, some of you might be leaping at the chance not only to give family less of your heart, but to pick up and run away all together! That’s another sermon.

Here’s the thing, if you look at Levi, what is it – more than a job – that Jesus is calling him out of?

Jesus is calling Levi out of a life full of choices that has defined him, not as an image bearer of God, but as a sinner. And not only a sinner as a TAX COLLECTOR.

I say that we are like Levi because, like that poor tax collector at his table, we were also at one time STUCK in the habits and routines of our sins to the point, where, we couldn’t see how life could be lived without our particular brand of sin. Maybe you are still there, I don’t know your hearts.

But, if you are a Christian, I want you to remember that day when Jesus became your Savior, your Redeemer!

You should remember all to well what it was like to be in the shackles, a slave to the sin that owned you, a slave to the sin that controlled the way you thought and talked and acted and reacted in the world and in relationships and in your own mind.

But! BUT, IF YOU ARE A CHRISTIAN, you should also hold fast to that memory, that call from Christ, that call out of sin!

Now listen, the problem that we have if we have been a long time in our faith is that we tend to forget that wreckage of the past.

Praise God, He has healed your heart through time and love and community with other rescued sinners.

I call that a problem because our life in Christ, if we don’t stay on mission, if we don’t continue to live transparent lives where we are called by our church family to repent of new and indwelling sin that tries to divert us off of the goal – our life in Christ, if we do not remember our sin and our daily and eternal need for Christ, will actually turn us away from Him and turn our hearts toward ourselves and our traditions and our systems and we will become just like these Pharisees, who hate the sinners and refuse to live on mission to lead the sinners to God.

And listen, kids of church folk. Some of you will THANKFULLY never have the same kind of “life in the gutter” testimonies that a lot of us late in life converts have. Again, Praise God if you were saved in your youth, but also cling to Jesus so that you don’t fall into the Pharisaical trap.

No matter when you were saved, take a look at this next part of the passage to see where you are in your walk with Christ:

15 While Jesus was having dinner at Levi's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him.

Where was Jesus? WITH the Tax Collectors and WITH the sinners. And, Jesus and the church (His disciples) weren’t just in the same area as the sinners and the tax collectors. They were eating together!

Jesus wasn’t still just passing by, He was sharing life and sharing one of their culture’s most intimate times with the sinners – He was eating with them. Jesus partied with the sinners.

16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the "sinners" and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: "Why does he eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"

17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Now, we don’t hear a response from the religious folks – from the Pharisees after this confrontation, but based on the rest of the Gospel of Mark, I don’t think they joined Jesus after that.

Here’s what we need to see. Of course we are Levi, but in one way or another, everyone of us is also the Pharisee.

Here’s what I want to do: I am going to have you close your eyes, I don’t want you to sound off, I just want you to think about your HONEST and candid response to these words.
Again, just think of your HONEST reaction. I’m not going to have you fill out a card. I’m not going to have you come up and tell us your churchy response. This is between you and your heart, and this text and the God of the Universe.

Okay, close your eyes and listen and in your heart gauge your honest response:

Politician - Republican - Democrat - Tea Party - Barack Obama - Nancy Pelosi - Rand Paul - George Bush - Bill and Hillary Clinton - Glenn Beck

Let’s move out of politics and move around to other areas:
Meth addict - Meth cook - Neglectful parent - Abusive parent - Animal abuser - Animal lover - Cop - Immigrant - Women - Men - Homosexual - Homophobic - Racist - Liberal - Fundamentalist - Baptist - Pentecostal - Presbyterian - Lutheran - Catholic - Jew - Mormon - Jehovah Witness - Corporate leader - Preacher - Atheist - Professor - Bartender - Prostitute - Pimp - Murderer - Child Molester - Traitor - Cheater - Teacher - Mother - Father

Now, while several of those are outright sinful, others are simply unacceptable to you if your culture and your own sinful heart has put up walls around us and “our people” from “those people”.

But, regardless of the group or the individual, what is our mission? When we come up next to the people who raise our anger and set us off, what are we here to do IF we are followers of Christ? What is our task, our calling, our reason to live IF we are The Church?

If we are simply modern day Pharisees, our mission is to poke and scorn and demean or even simply ignore and avoid the people we see as unfit our broken or lost or unclean on that list.

But if we are THE CHURCH, if we are In Christ and we actually believe what this Bible says, then we are Agents of Reconciliation!

And, who are we here on Earth – now – in this place and in this time, who are we here on Earth to reconcile through the power of the Holy Spirit and the Gospel proclamation and by our Gospel intentioned living?

SINNERS. Which Sinners? Which ones do we share with? Which ones do we love? Which ones do we pray for? Which ones to we pursue and fight FOR?!

Jesus didn’t say “this kind of sinner” or “that kind of sinner”. He said he came to call the sinner and that is you and me and everyone else apart from Christ. He didn’t come to call the righteous to Him because there were no righteous ones to call. Amen?

Now we are almost done, but let’s move on to our big announcement. It relates perfectly to tonight’s passage.
Listen, Since the day we launched the Church in the Grass, starting with our first service in early 2009, we have tried to consistently state and restate and call one another to our central mission as the church.

It is a mission, on which we have striven to:
Present God’s message of salvation, the importance of a church family, and the proper expression of God’s love into the world.

Put another way:
- We are here to promote the Gospel for salvation,
- We are here to build a church family for our sanctification. By sanctification, I mean our growth toward the perfection that God has called us to as individuals and as the church.
- And we are here to call every Believer to missional living as a result of the Gospel and as a result of the Church – we are here to call every Believer to Missional Living that includes drawing others into the family of God through love, and the clear presentation of the Gospel.
In tonight’s passage, we saw all three aspects of our mission in the way in which Jesus lives out His ministry.

Let’s look at it again in the text:
- We call people to turn to and follow Christ as part of our Gospel preaching: Jesus calls Levi to Himself in v. 14.
- We stress the need for the church family in the life of every believer: In v. 15 we see Jesus living life with the church. Remember the word church literally means an assembly of the “called out ones” (For Jesus, this would include the disciples, whom Jesus CALLED OUT of their old way of life to walk in a radical fellowship of followship to Him {see Chapter 1:16-20 and, again 2:14}).
- And finally, just as we Call every Believer to missional living as a result of the Gospel and the Church – Missional Living that includes drawing others into the family of God through love, and the clear presentation of the Gospel: We also see Jesus’ influence on Levi, who didn’t avoid his old friends after he started following Christ, but instead entertained them and provided a way for them to get close to Jesus.

Of course it is not that Jesus was trying to minister according to the Church in the Grass’ mission statement, right. Instead, we have done everything that we can to shape our mission to conform to Jesus’ mission.

Tonight we are announcing what most of you already know. We are continuing that mission, and we are continuing through new methods so that we can be more effective in advancing the Kingdom of God in this City by following Christ’s mission to call sinners to Him.

And, since we see need everywhere, but we also understand that we have to focus on the lost somewhere in particular, we will continue to seek to serve Christ in the Walnut and East Street areas as well as spreading out to shine the light throughout downtown Madison.

And, we are not planting in a competition to the churches that are already Downtown. We will be a Partner in the Gospel with the churches that are still alive with Christ in our area. We will partner with them because the work of reaching the lost cannot be done by a single local congregation.

The truth is that we have a lot of steeples and a lot of really nice buildings, but the people that Jesus came to reach, the people that we have been called to reach do not only reside within the walls of pretty buildings.

What all this means in this moment, what changes you will see right away are these: we are going to transition Wednesday nights into a very focused and Gospel saturated kids and Youth ministry called Hyper for Christ.

Paul and Lori are going to head that up and honestly we are going to figure that out as we go. There are wonderful youth programs for the church folk, but we are still trying to figure out how to reach the kids who have no family connections to the body. As we build that ministry, we would encourage you to be here every week, just as you have been, but we want you here to serve at that point. Bring your kids and serve the kids of the neighborhood to the Glory of God.

As far as teaching and preaching, communion and baptism and the rest of what you think of when you think of church.

For those weekly gatherings, we are transitioning that gathering to Sunday, with a very deliberate new emphasis on being ALL that the church is seen to be in the Scriptures, instead of simply a once-a-week spiritual recharge.

It will be an emphasis on church as a real family living life on life together for the Gospel.

It will be an emphasis on church as the body in which each and every member, or better said – every partner – is doing his or her part as God has designed it in order to do what? To Reach the sinners and to deal honestly with our own sin, so all God's people can find - and so that we can all share the Freedom that is only found in Jesus Christ.

Now, again we say transitioning very deliberately. Before we actually launch the “church” as we and our culture tend to think of “church”, we are going to gather as a core of believers to build a frame of solid Christians on which we can build a local church that truly reflects God’s design.

Now, if you have read the New Identity Church vision packet, you know what direction we are headed. (If you haven't read the vision Packet call Ken at 265-4827 or by email at churchinthegrass@gmail.com and we will get one to you right away).

But, just to put it out here in general, To answer the question of What’s Next? We are going to begin Core Group gatherings for New Identity Church on Sunday, November 14.

We will start these gatherings at our house, 2124 Wilson Ave., until we outgrow it and find a new building downtown (I am pursuing possible gathering sites now).

If you’ve called this your church then that’s where you will find us gathered. And I want you there.

Also, if you are a new believer that is not connected to a church, or if you are not at a local church where the Gospel is not preached, or if you are at a church that is so concerned with maintaining existing buildings, structures and programs that they are unable to focus on equipping you and the people to live on mission, then you are welcome too.

We believe that the most effective form of evangelism is the planting of new churches.

The first stage of our gatherings are not going to be a guy in the pulpit, with everyone sitting in rows. Though we see the value in that and though we will eventually move to a time where we gather for that kind of service a a PIECE of our Christian life, it cannot be seen as the whole of the Christian experience if we are truly following the Scriptures.

We learned from the Church in the Grass that there is a basic need to build the family of believers first. Jesus didn't give a great commission of "Go and lecture people in rows", but that's all we in our culture think of when we think of church.

Instead, Jesus - with FULL AUTHORITY said:

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

(Matthew 28:19-20 ESV)

Ultimately we are on mission to bring others into a fellowship of Christ followship - not just church attendance.

As we begin, we will sit in circles instead of rows. We will interact as a community, we will share dinner, we will pray together, we will very deliberately unpack the basic tenets of our faith based on the truth of the Scriptures (who is God, who are we, what happened at the fall, who is Jesus Christ, why did He have to die on the cross, how is a person saved, what does the Bible unpack as the life of a believer, etc...).

There will be Q&A time and discussion. This will also be a time for the core group to begin forming into a model of what it looks like to live out what the Bible actually calls us to be the Church. We will begin to really get to know one another and be known by one another.

And listen, in that time,
- if you are serious about making the mission of Christ in the world your mission,
- if you are serious about really living life on life with other believers,
- if you are really interested in growing in your faith and in your effectiveness as an ambassador of Christ, to reach out to the world with Christ instead of closing in away from the world and huddling with other Christians...
Then New Identity Church may be for you.

And listen a Core Group is NOT a Holy Huddle. A Core Group is a Gathering Group. So begin gathering tonight and this week. Start inviting people this week to our first meeting. Again we will meet in our house, 2124 Wilson Avenue, Sunday, November 14 @ 6 p.m.

And we will meet there until we are too big for our house, or until we find the house that we can move into on Walnut or East Streets. Then we’ll be downtown in our mission field.
Let's Pray...

Mark: The Person and Work of Jesus Christ #16

The Authority to Forgive Sins (Communion this week)
Mark 2:1-12

1 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."
6 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7 "Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
8 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, "Why are you thinking these things? 9 Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins..." He said to the paralytic, 11 "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." 12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!"

Let’s pray…
Alright, tonight we will share in communion and we have a lot to cover in a short amount of time. So, what we’ll do is just read and unpack, read and unpack through to the end of verse 12.

If you’ve reading this Gospel on your own at home, then you may have noticed that in this chapter, chapter 2, we start to get the first major push back from the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. Before this point in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus was possibly just a blip on their radar, but now He was getting a lot of notoriety, He was causing a stir and these scribes and Pharisees began to feel a threat to their place of authority.

So then if we were to read through the rest of the chapter, we would see a progression in their sin. They BEGIN thinking bad things about Jesus in tonight’s passage. Then they point fingers and try to undermine Jesus among His followers in v. 16. Then they confront Jesus directly and accusingly in v. 24.

And in each case, Jesus simply showed the ways in which the religious leaders had misunderstood or even neglected the tenets of their own faith.

Now let’s get into tonight’s text, Mark 2:1-12.
Again, we’ll just read and unpack along the way.

1 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."

Now, we aren’t going to hit vv. 1 and 2, because it is a continuation of a pattern. Jesus drew crowds all the time with His preaching and healing and so we see that here again.

And listen I’ve heard this passage through verse 12 preached on more than almost any other passage in the Bible, and like other preachers, I’m going to touch on the friends of the paralytic, in fact we are going to come back to it just before we close tonight. But, I want you to leave here tonight knowing that the friends are not the main point of the story.

In fact, they aren’t even the first friends to do this for a person in the Gospel of Mark. In chapter 1:32 it says what?

That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed.

Again, these four were awesome friends, and they made it into the Bible as more than a footnote because they went so far out of their way to help this guy, but they are not the main point. Who’s the main point and central Character of EVERY Bible story? God.

But, in fairness, there is an important lesson here so let’s look again.

3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."

Here’s the lesson, we need to realize, as Christians, that our faith in Christ – and the ACTION that springs from that faith in Christ – has the power to transform the lives of our friends and family and even our enemies.

I think, based on what I see in my own inaction and the lack of Gospel intentioned living among many Christians around me, that we forget how much POWER our own faith has to help our lost friends outside the church and our suffering brothers and sisters in the church.

These four helping to bring their friend to Jesus which led him to a saving relationship is one great example. Another example, James 5:16 tells us this:

…Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

Brothers and sisters, it is to our shame when we don’t do all that we can to assist the hurting, the sick and the lost through our faithful prayers and action.

And I don’t say that to guilt you, I know how much many of you do, but ask yourself, in the light of the lost and the hurting found people around you, are you doing all you can to get them to Jesus.

One more point on this, sometimes we need to STOP and allow our friends in the church carry us back to Jesus with comforting words and prayer and sometimes with loving and grace filled correction when grief, or pain or sin has crippled us.

If you cannot “walk” SPIRITUALLY, then allow the church to come around you like you all did for my family last week.

And, with all that said about helping people get to Jesus or back to Jesus, don’t get me wrong.

We are still told plainly in the Scriptures that no matter how we are brought to Jesus, we still need to individually respond - in faith - to Christ on our Own to be justified, to be made right with God. We teach that every week.

Even here, this paralytic man was carried to Jesus by his friends, sure. But He responded in faith and action on his own by taking up his bed and walking.

Moving on, starting back in v. 5:

5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."
6 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves,

Let’s stop there for a minute. Before any of the religious leaders began speaking against Jesus, before they began plotting against Jesus, before the crucified Jesus, before all of that, it was their HEARTS that were against Him.

They were “thinking to themselves”. Friends when you catch your mouth saying things you shouldn’t say, and when you begin acting out in ways that you shouldn’t - don’t simply try to curb your behavior or hold your tongue — instead check your heart.

Our heart is the root cause, so we are called to turn our hearts to Christ. We aren’t told to simply white knuckle “better behavior”.

Let’s keep going and take a look at the hearts of the religious leaders here. They were thinking to themselves:

7 "Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?"

If you read this carefully you will see that these guys were SO CLOSE! But, they were at the same time miles away from the cosmic reality of WHO was right there in front of them.

You see, if Jesus wasn’t God, then He WOULD HAVE BEEN blaspheming. They are right to imply that NO ONE can forgive sins except God alone.
Now, for us to wrap our minds around that, we need to see sin — ALL SIN — ultimately as cosmic treason. We need to understand it as us basically spitting in the face of our Father in Heaven.

Unfortunately, we usually only see sin in the immediate – in the moment.

If we recognize it at all, many times we only see how we have offended another person or how we’ve hurt ourselves in our sin.

Instead, while we may need to make amends with another person, we FIRST have to acknowledge what we’ve done to our Creator, and realize that there is no way to make amends to Him on our own.

By sinning – any sin, small sin and big sin is not a distinction that will matter on the final day – by sinning we are saying that God’s will for our lives, and His perfect design for the way we are to live, and function, and relate to Him — and to one another — is not as important, and we don’t think it’s as RIGHT as our own will, as our own designs, as our own way.

At the root, every sin is an example of when we have said to the Holy and perfect Creator of the universe, “Forget you. I know better. I’ll do what I want.”

This is what David understood in Psalm 51. After he had gotten a married woman pregnant by abusing his royal power, and after he had the woman’s husband killed to try to cover up his own sin, and after several other soldiers in David’s army were also killed in the cover-up process, what does David say in the Psalm?

Praying out to God, David says:

“Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight.” (v. 4)

Until we realize that it is ultimately God whom we need to be made right with, we will never be free of the sins of our past.

I used to be a part of a group that helped me stop drinking. I thank God that He used them to bring me that freedom, which ultimately laid a path on which I found Jesus.

But, one thing that I never understood in that process was why I still felt miserable even though all the people I had wronged had forgiven me for what I had done to them.
The problem was that I didn’t see the bigger area of Spiritual damage that I had done through my sins – all my sins, drunken and sober. Every sin since I was born...

I didn’t just need a nod of, “it’s okay,” from friends and family and enemies, I needed to be made right with God, but that wasn’t going to be possible through my own efforts.

Try as I might, I couldn’t do enough good to make up for the bad. In fact, the Bible is clear to tell us that even the “good” is garbage if I don’t have faith.

And so back to the passage: at that level of understanding all sin as being against God before it’s against anyone else, on that level, the religious leaders were on the right track.

When they said who can forgive sins, but God alone?! That was the right question.

They saw the gravity of sin. They understood the weight of sin in a person’s life. The problem was that they didn’t recognize God when they were face to face with Him.

The answer to their question is that no one but God can forgive sins, and that is why Jesus was able to do it. Because Jesus Christ is God in the flesh.

8 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, "Why are you thinking these things? 9 Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'?

What’s the answer to verse 9, which is easier? Obviously, it is easier to SAY your sins are forgiven. It isn’t something that can be tangibly seen or proven on this side of eternity. But, to SAY get up! Take up your may and walk to a paralyzed man, whose musculature and joints had atrophied over the course of his lifetime - or at least since the injury that took his freedom to move on his own – that kind of verbal command would be more difficult to SAY because it would be applauded or heckled in the moment when the man was able or not to move.

BUT, let me ask you what Jesus doesn’t ask. Forget for a minute about which is harder to SAY, and ponder which is harder to DO?

To revive the ability to walk for a person who is paralyzed is a miracle for sure. But, we may see a time in our own lifetimes when God allows scientists to help a once paralyzed person to walk again.

But forgiving sin isn’t a one off wonder-work, and it isn’t something that science can ever do. The science of philosophies may come to conclusions where they deny sin and therefore deny a need for forgiveness.

Even some people who call themselves Christians have a hard time with the idea that some people will not be forgiven of sin and so they try to invent universal salvation, even though to do that requires throwing out huge chunks of the Bible.

But, if you follow Jesus’ teaching, and follow His ministry to the cross. Even if you just look through the Old Testament, you will see that the forgiving of sins – or even the temporary covering of sin — is a transaction with a cost.

There is a trade-off. Sin ALWAYS comes with a very high cost. 100% of the time sin leads to death.
The sins of Adam and Eve, among other things, (they eventually died physically, but even before that) their sins caused them to be ashamed of their nakedness.

And in His grace and love for His image bearers, how did God cover them, by slaying animals and allowing them to use the hides for a covering.

This animal covering the sin is seen throughout the sacrificial Laws later for the Nation of Israel.

And just like Adam and Eve, and every generation after them right up to now. We are all going to physically die unless Jesus comes back first. Death ALWAYS comes after sin. There is a cost.
So which is easier for Jesus to DO?
It is easier for Him to grant a paralyzed man to walk. To forgive the man’s sins would ultimately mean paying the man’s sin debt, to ransom the man from the slavery of the sin. Forgiving the man’s sins and ours would lead Jesus to the cross.

Now for the main point of the whole passage:

10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins..." He said to the paralytic, 11 "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." 12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!"

Again, as preachers we want you to be able to take some practical pieces home and into your work-a-day worlds, we want you to be able to apply the Bible and these passages to your life. But again, never forget that God is the Main character and the main point of everything we talk about.

The main point is that Jesus has the Authority to forgive sins. And that authority – His right as God the Son to say to God the Father on the day of Judgment, “They are safe, they do not get your wrath,” that authority and that power comes because of the cross.

God the Son doesn’t say to God the Father, “They’re safe because I said so.”

No, Remember, sin ALWAYS equals death. Sin always causes God’s wrath to be stored up for a time and then poured out.
That is even true for those of us who will be in heaven, that portion of wrath was produced for our sin, and it had to be poured out.

But Jesus can look to us and say, “No he’s safe. She’s safe, That former paralytic man is safe, because I already took that wrath for them.”

Jesus already paid that sin debt for us and for that paralytic man.
When Jesus said, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” He knew He could say it because he knew from eternity past that He would absorb the wrath of that man’s sins. And listen, He knew from eternity past that He would take the sins of all of the people that God the Father gave Him (John 17:6; John 18:9).

But, to receive that gift, that gift that cost Jesus so very much, than you have to recognize your need for Jesus and put your faith in Him and His authority to forgive your sin.

And if you have already been saved by the Grace of God that granted you faith in Christ alone for your salvation, then I beg you go find someone who is lost and bring them to Jesus. Until He comes back to end all of this – that is your task and mine...Let’s pray...

Communion…

Mark: The Person and Work of Jesus Christ #15

God First
Mark Chapter 1 (Review)

For the last couple of months Ken has been preaching from the first chapter of the Gospel of Mark. Tonight’s message is designed to be a recap of a few key ideas that I gleaned from this chapter.
- Jesus is God incarnate; and
- Christians are to put God first
If you are a Christian, your first reaction might be “well, duh…” – my two big ideas are fundamental to our faith, to how we are supposed to worship and live, and to our mission as Christians. But, like so many simple (but not easy) concepts they bear repeating over and over so that I don’t forget them, or set them aside.
So let’s start with Jesus –

Mark 1:1

The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Right away, we see testimony from men as to who Jesus is – the Son of God. A little further on, we receive testimony directly from God himself:

Mark 1:9-11

9At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

But it’s not just in words or proclamations that Jesus deity is revealed; as Jesus begins his public ministry we see actions that speak to who He is.

Mark 1:21-22

21They went to Capernaum, and then the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. 22The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.

As Ken pointed out to us, only the author has the authority. Because Jesus is God, he authored the Law that was handed down to Moses. Because he was there from the beginning (see the first chapter of the gospel of John), Jesus knew the meaning and intent of every single word of the Law. Jesus spoke with authority, unlike the human teachers who could only comment on each other’s interpretations, and on the traditions and practices handed down by man over the years.

In addition to his teaching, Jesus healed many – healing the people of various diseases because as God He holds the very power of life. Because Jesus is God, he was able to cast out the demons with ease – demons with power far superior to humans were cast out by Jesus’ words alone. In Jesus we see Emmanuel, God with us; fully God and fully human.

But why is this concept so important to us? Why is it so critical to Christians that Jesus is God? Because this is the very heart of the gospel – the good news.

We are sinners – every human that has lived, or will live, has been separated from God by sin. This goes back to Adam and Eve; and the poor choice they made brought sin into this world, corrupting creation and breaking the relationship between God and man. And so God put into motion His plan for the restoration of creation and the reconciliation of man to God.

And in the Old Testament we see God’s plan begin to unfold, starting with the creation of Israel – called out of the pagan nations to be God’s own people, redeemed from slavery for His purposes. It continues with the words of the Prophets, who were given glimpses of the Messiah, the one who would come and finally reconcile the people to God. And in the first chapter of Mark, we see John the Baptist (called from birth) calling the people to repent and believe.

Is 40:3

A voice of one calling: “In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.”

Because we are all flawed and imperfect (Romans 3:23), it is impossible for any of us to come before God on our own – no amount of giving, or good deeds, or sacrificing can make amends for the sins that we have committed against God. In order for us to stand before God, the penalty for our sins must be paid; God’s wrath must be absorbed.

This was Jesus mission while on earth – to reconcile and restore all things to Himself. To do so, He took on human flesh in order that we might be reconciled to Him. Jesus did what we could not, living in perfect obedience to God the Father and giving Himself over to death, absorbing the wrath that was due me (us) for my (our) sins. Jesus was then raised from death, so that the power of death might be broken for those who believe, and that we might be clothed in His righteousness. In his letter to the church in Rome, Paul puts it this way:

Romans 6:23

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The second big idea is the response that should come from our profession of faith – putting God first in our lives and living according to His will. And in the first chapter of Mark we see Jesus showing his disciples, and us, what this looks like. We see Jesus’ perfect obedience to God the Father.

Mark 1:12-13

12At once, the Spirit sent him out into the desert, 13and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.

At the beginning of His ministry, Jesus is sent into the desert to fast and be tempted by Satan. And in this part of the story we see a couple of key pieces to putting God first in our lives:
- Going where God tells us to go
- Trusting in God to provide for us and keep us from harm

Notice that when the Holy Spirit told Jesus to go into the desert, there was no argument. Jesus didn’t complain that his cloak was still wet from the baptism, or that the desert was too hot this time of year, or that he needed to go hang out with his friends. Jesus answered the call from God with complete obedience and went where God told him to go, the moment he was told to go.

We also don’t see Jesus packing up a bunch of food and water and other supplies. He simply went into the desert, confident that God would provide. At the end of verse 13 we see that “angels attended him” – God sent servants from heaven to keep Jesus safe from harm and provide for his needs while in the desert.

Within the first chapter of Mark, we also see this same level of obedience displayed by the first four disciples – each was called by God, and each answered the call without hesitation. John the Baptist is another great example – for a more detailed look into his calling, see the first three chapters of the gospel of Luke.

Throughout this chapter we see plenty of other responses by man to Jesus, some appropriate and others not so much.
In the synagogue, the people react with amazement to Jesus’ teaching. They are astounded because they had never heard anything like it. Nor had they seen anyone who had the power to drive out demons.

Mark 1:27

The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching – and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him.”

While the amazement of the people is certainly an appropriate response to witnessing God’s power on earth, as with most good things man tends to look for what’s in it for us. As soon as the Sabbath is over, the whole town seeks out Jesus so that they can be healed – seeking healing from God is not a bad thing by itself, it simply depends on where your heart is.

Jesus’ new disciples even appear to get carried away with their new found fame, trying to adjust Jesus’ mission and work to fit their expectations instead of serving God and putting his will first.

Mark 1:36-37

36Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”

I’ll touch on the two other examples of Jesus’ healing touch in Mark 1.
First up is Simon’s mother-in-law. After she is healed of her (grand) fever she gets up and begins serving Jesus and the others. Out of a glad and thankful heart, this woman responds to Christ’s healing touch by serving others. In her, we see our right response to Jesus healing our own sin sickness – setting aside our plans and serving God.

Next is the leper, who comes to Jesus with an attitude of humility; he acknowledges that Jesus can cure his leprosy if Jesus wants to. Up to this point, the leper is a great example for all of us – we need to remember who God is, and who we are, and adjust our attitude when we approach Him. God isn’t a genie who grants wishes – He is the creator, the one true and living God, He is the very life breath that is within each of us. I exist only because he allows it – and it is with this understanding and humility that I need to approach God with any petition.

It is after he is cured that the leper goes off the rails. Jesus gives the leper very specific instructions.

Mark 1:43-44

43Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: 44”See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”

However, the leper doesn’t do anything that Jesus told him to do. The leper responds to Jesus power with rebellion instead of obedience.
So there’s the big picture look of Mark chapter 1. We’ve seen God’s love as He sent His son into the mess that is the world; we see Jesus establish His authority and do what He came to do – to preach the Good News – which is the same message that we try to bring you every week. He preached and we preach – Repent and believe.


Now, the question comes to you, and it is the same for everyone in this room. Whether you are a believer or non-believer, grey haired saint or infant in the faith; no matter who you are or what you’ve done in your life.

What are you going to do with Jesus?
One choice is to reject Him, the other choice is to accept Him. But remember friends, to accept Jesus is to accept Him as He is and to follow Him where He sends you. What will your choice be?

If you need to talk this over with someone, get with us afterward and we will answer whatever questions we can, and point you in the right direction for anything we can’t answer…

Let’s pray.

Mark: The Person and Work of Jesus Christ #14

Follow Jesus, Not Your Feelings
Mark 1:40-45

40 A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, "If you are willing, you can make me clean." 41 Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" 42 Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.
43 Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: 44 "See that you don't tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them." 45 Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.

Let's Pray...
Last week we spent most of the service exploring the good things about the leper in Mark 1:40

40 A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, "If you are willing, you can make me clean."

Just as a review, we see that this man with leprosy:
− Recognized his own deep need for Christ. And we explored how that is true for us for salvation, but it is also for us - to remind ourselves of our need for Jesus at every step in our life.
− Next we saw the leper's recognition of deep need turned into a RIGHT REACTION to Jesus. There was no demanding attitude, there was no blaming God, there was simply a reaction of, “I need your help, Jesus. Please Help me.” And, that RIGHT REACTION was followed or closely connected to:
− A strong faith. There was no question in the leper's mind that Jesus was able to heal him on the spot. “If you will, you CAN.” I hope that you left here with a renewed passion to pray those kinds of prayers for yourself, your family, your neighborhood and the city as a whole. Anywhere you see a need for Jesus' healing hand, you should follow the recognition with bold prayer.
− Finally, we saw the leper submit to the will of God.
Before he said Jesus could heal him, the Leper acknowledged that Jesus only WOULD if it was in His will to do so.

So that's review, and as always, if you want to talk about all that more, see me after the service or you can look up the sermon notes from last week online.

Now, You might think from last week and from that one verse (v. 40), that this leper was an amazing person to mold your life after. But before you go and try to follow his life as a great example, we really do need to get through the rest of the passage.

And, when we do that, you will see that this guy is far from perfect, just like every other sinful human in the Bible and in the world since Adam and Eve.

The fact is that, after this bold deceleration of faith and submission to Jesus that we saw last week, the leper then flips the script and leaves in an act of outright rebellion.

Lets read it again from v. 41.

41 Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" 42 Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.
43 Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: 44 "See that you don't tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them." 45 Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.

Now, before we get going with this, let me add that I've seen one thing as constant in the life of believers – one thing that seems to be true across the board from young to old, from rich to poor, men and women.

Here it is believers get in a lot more trouble during good times than bad. When this guy was sick and an outcast and when he was in this DEEP need for the intercession of Jesus, he was on his knees pleading, submissive and ready to do what ever it took to line himself up with Jesus.

But as soon as he is healed, he goes out in rebellion.

There's an old saying that it is easiest to go on a diet right after you ate a whole cake.

You see this with teenagers who are all about love and obedience when they see a need for their parents, but then they lose their minds when they get the car keys and a fist full of cash.

Or when the alcoholic swears off the bottle and commits to “anything” to help him kick the habit. You know when a recovering drunk is likely to relapse? Usually about three to six months after their last drink – just enough time to think they are strong on their own again.

We are no different than any of those examples when we have had some healing time with Jesus Christ. Sometimes it is an automatic rebellion, like this leper’s, and other times it takes a little bit longer. But a common denominator is a feeling like the storm has passed.

I've seen it several times, just in this few years of ministry that I've been able to serve. And I've seen it in my own life. That's why this passage jumped out at me so clearly.

Now, with all that said, you might already be pushing back and thinking, “Hey, wait a minute! This leper that you’re calling a rebel, went out and evangelized!? Ken, that's what you're trying to push us to do every week!”

That's true and we'll get to that before we finish tonight. But, look again at vv. 43-44.

43 Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: 44 "See that you don't tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them."

You see, Jesus' last orders to His disciples in Matthew 28, and to us were to go and make disciples here, there and everywhere. And, we should be doing that.

BUT, he told this guy NOT to. Instead Jesus said, button your lip in the city and go straight to the priests and fulfill the ceremonial law for a cleansed leper.

And listen, in my reading, I've found a bunch of theories of why Jesus wanted this guy to stay quiet in the city and why he shouldn't tell anyone. Some of the theories were pretty logical; they followed the text well. But, some were off the wall, and in the end, the question isn't why did Jesus give the order? Instead, our question remains, what was the command from Jesus? And then we follow the orders.

Remember, Jesus doesn't rule by committee and His commands are commands, they are not suggestions. When He says, go and do something, that's what we are to do IF we are in fact His followers.

Briefly, let me hit one theory that I think was bunk. A reader said that Jesus must have been saying don't tell anyone, but he was saying it with a sort of wink and a nod. Like, Jesus was speaking in code.

Listen, One of the attributes of God, is that everything He says is true. He is not going to be deceptive to get His mission done.
Furthermore, v. 43 says 43 Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning
In the Greek, “strong warning” is the word embrimaomai, which means to sternly charge, or even to threaten.

Picture that. Jesus was serious and Jesus was clear.

Also, not only did the former leper do what God said not to do, he also didn't do what God said to do.

In Christian circles we sometimes call this sins of commission and sins omission. Either way, we need to see them as sins and not look past them or make excuses.

What this man understood was that Jesus could be a sort of savior, at least from the skin disease, but he refused to see Jesus also as LORD, or King over his life.

So, it was the classic case that many of us have found ourselves in of “God, help me! But, don't tell me what to do.” That's not how God works. Please understand that.

He calls everyone of us to obedience. Not obedience to be saved, but obedience as the right response to our salvation.

Now, if you are here and you are a Christian, there is likely some part of you that says, yes, but this man's disobedience still helped others find Jesus. And, I can totally relate, I came from a denomination that clearly contradicts the Bible in the way they govern. But, the overarching argument that they come back with (and the argument I used to buy into when I was in that denomination) is that it can't be sin if it's effective.

At the end of the day, though the leper, and you and I have to ask, what wins out in an argument? Will it be our reasoning, tainted by indwelling sin and limited by our context? Or, will it be the clear teaching of Scriptures, which we believe to be the inspired word of the Holy, all knowing, all powerful and perfect God of the Universe?

Let's move on, because now we are going to look at this leper and try to see it in the mirror of time. In v. 45 we see that, instead of going to the religious leaders, like he was told to do, this man went to the regular people of Galilee and the result was tremendous:

45 Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.

The reason I think many people want to overlook the rebellion of the leper is that we are looking at things from a different point in history.

I say it a lot around here, when you are reading the Bible it is important to read it with the historical framework that the original people had. With that in mind, try not to see this guy in light of the great commission, because it hadn't happened yet at that point in history. Without that future reference it is easier to see the clear rebellion against the will of God.

But, we've looked at his rebellion, now lets fast forward to the Great Commission, in Matthew 28 and then look at how there might be a redeemable example in the leper for us:

18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

For whatever reason, it was the perfect reason, Jesus told the leper, don't tell anyone, just go to the priests and do what you’ve been told to do in Leviticus 14 (the ceremonial law for a cleansed leper).

And, as we said, this guy did the exact opposite.
When we look at Him and remember the big idea of last week, that I am the leper, or that each one of us is the leper, what can we see in ourselves when we look at him?

First off, if you are a Christian, you can relate to the leper, before he was cleansed. You can relate to your sin as a disease that could only be healed by Jesus Christ.

But, can you see yourself in the healed and then rebellious leper?

Most of us are rebelling in the exact same way, but in a different method.
You see, He was told to say nothing to anyone except the priests, and instead he tells everyone except the priests.

In our lives, Jesus has issued a different standing order that we read a minute ago. It's an order, a command, to go and tell EVERYONE, and at best, we don't tell anyone EXCEPT other Christians.
That is sin.

And if, like me, you see that sin in your heart, tonight is the night that I call you to repent. That simply means to turn away from the sin and to turn to Christ. Because listen, the way you respond shows who's orders you are following.

The world's orders say “believe whatever you want, but just don't talk to other people about it or talk as though your way is the only way.”

But, Jesus said, I am the way the truth and the light, no one comes to the Father except by me and then He told us to follow Him and tell other people to follow Him as well.
Overall, you and I are called to be agents of reconciliation – reconciling lost people to the God of the Universe. We are to evangelize as we go into all the world.

Are we doing that in our homes?
Are we doing that in our workplaces?
Are we doing that in the restaurants?
Are we doing that in the political realm?
Are we doing that in the supermarket?
Are you and I following Jesus' orders?

Listen, we can do a million great things, but if they are not what He told us to do, then we've got to answer for that.

We all have specific callings as believers, but, as you go, are you making disciples?

And listen, before we go tonight I want to give some background on my own story.
Like I said, this passage hit me right between the eyes long before I got up and started talking.

Some of you already know this - When I first felt called to preach and pastor a church, I didn't want to submit to that call. But, I didn't want to be outright rebellious so instead I did all kinds of other “good” things.

It's like I was saying, no I'm not going to preach, but look, I started a Christian blog... I joined my church's stewardship committee... I started and led a Men's Bible study/small group...
It's as if I told my son to go pick up his room and he made me a sandwich and got me a soda and brought me the newspaper instead. All of those things might be awesome, but it is still disobedience.

Or, if my boss tells me he needs a picture of a person for a story in tomorrow's paper. If I go out and get a picture of a duck on the river, or a pretty sunset instead, I may need to go find another job. Those pictures might be the best duck in the sunset pictures ever created, but they don't fulfill the last order given.

I know there are some people here who have military experience. The same applies there.
In the Army, a good soldier doesn't chase after his or her best ideas, they say “Yes, Sgt.” and they do what they are told EXACTLY as they are told.

Now listen, if you’ve screwed this up, like I have, I don’t want you leaving here tonight feeling condemned or full of self-pity or guilt.

The good news if you are here tonight is that, while your best efforts may have been a smoke screen for what God has actually called you to, there is still a chance NOW to repent and follow His orders for you.

If you are not a believer, you may have looked to a million great things to be what saved you and got you to heaven, But the Bible is clear, the work that the Father seeks is that you Believe in the one He sent, that's Jesus.

Without faith in Christ, the Bible says, all of our works are filthy rags.

The good news is that, tonight the work can be done, you can place your faith in Christ as your savior and follow Him as Lord thanks to the loving grace of God.

And, if you are here and you have already believed, but like me and like this leper, you are have been running in rebellion masked as religious works, then tonight's the night to walk in the calling God has given you as an agent of reconciliation with:
- Specific gifts
- In a specific place,
- Around specific people
- At this specific time.

No one else can reach the people that He has placed in your path for you to reach with the gospel.
Let's get to it by the grace and the leading of God, for His glory.

Let's Pray...

Mark: The Person and Work of Jesus Christ #13

We’re all Lepers
Mark 1:40-42

40 A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, "If you are willing, you can make me clean." 41 Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" 42 Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.

Let’s pray…
I only have one point to make tonight and it is this: We are all Lepers.
This is an important thing to understand when you first come to Jesus and it is a vital truth to hold close to your heart after you have been saved by faith in Christ.

But, before we look to Scriptures to find out more about us, we should look and search out truths that God has revealed about Himself in His Word.

Tonight I simply want to unpack these three verses to see a portion, a sliver of the character and nature of God that we see in the God-man Jesus Christ.

Then, I want to show how our own salvation stories line up with this interaction.
First let’s look at Jesus. In this text we see that Jesus has:
- The recognizable power to heal and
- An ACTIVE compassion for the sick and marginalized.

40 A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, "If you are willing, you can make me clean." 41 Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" 42 Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.

By this point in the book of Mark, we know as the readers of the book that Jesus is the Son of God, able to heal the sick and able to cast out demons and we know that he does those things mainly to show the authority by which He teaches.

We know this, and the leper from Galilee knew it too. He knew all about Jesus’ power to heal. The power was evident to the leper. And, the leper understood that Jesus was worth pursuing because of that power.
Let me stop for a moment and say that we are all going to pursue the thing that we believe will help us. Some of us have pursued education, or popularity, or career advancement, or material gain (more stuff), others of us have pursued relationships.

Then there are a few of us who have chased a high or a drunkenness that we believed MIGHT help; and if not help, at least allow us to forget our need for help for a time.

Now, one of the key doctrines that you will find throughout the Bible, from Genesis through Revelation, and what we see a glimpse of here is that God is the only one who can completely satisfy the hunger in our hearts. And so He is who we should turn to.

And listen, all of those other pursuits that I listed are not evil in and of themselves, but if we seek our ultimate happiness from created things, from people, money, jobs, etc., then what we are doing is called idolatry and God takes that very seriously.
To God, idolatry is comparable to adultery between a husband and wife. In Hosea you can read about a woman who had a husband who was willing and able to take care of her and rescue her from bondage. But she just kept going back to other men for her satisfaction.

That is how we violate our relationship with God when we pursue other things and elevate other things above Him in our heart and life.

But, the other piece of God’s character that we see in Jesus here is His ACTIVE compassion for the lost.
Listen close. It IS an ACTIVE compassion. When some of my friends think of God, they have a view of an intelligent designer who is like a watchmaker who created a watch, wound the watch and let it go, without ever interacting with it again.

Those friends say, yes there is a creator who started the universe up, but He doesn’t play a part in how the parts have moved since He kicked things off.
But, the God that we worship, the God who has revealed Himself in this book, is both, the Creator and sustainer and we are taught that He is sovereign over all things.

To put it simply, He is involved and deeply interested in every facet of His creation.

Jesus Himself is the clearest picture of this. In Jesus we see the God of the Universe, who set everything in motion, also coming into the creation to redeem it and reconcile the Universe to Himself.

He isn’t some obtuse God who doesn’t know or care about our problems. And He is not a concerned God who has His hands tied and is unable to help us.

No, the story of redemption that runs through this book tells is that God sees our desperation and that He has been ACTIVE in His compassion and grace ever since the fall of the first man and woman.

And one more point on the active Compassion of Jesus Christ, the main thing we see is something that we’ve seen before in the book of Mark.

When Jesus sees this man, He is moved with compassion and what does He do? Does He form a council or committee to figure out a help plan? Does He look for someone more capable to help? Does He wait to act until He figures out what the reaction might be from the people around Him?

No He reaches out and touches the man. And touch is a weird word. In the Greek the word is haptomai (hap'-tom-ahee) and it means to fasten one’s self to, to cling to. It could be that Jesus grabbed or embraced this man, who up to that point had probably not been touched for a very long time.

Jesus’ compassion was ACTIVE! Please, if you call yourself a Christian, then reflect that aspect of Jesus to the people around you.
Don’t wait for someone else, do SOMETHING.

Let’s move on…
Now that we’ve seen the character of Jesus, God in the flesh, let’s look at the man with leprosy.

And when you look at his story, I want you to see yourself. Remember, the Big Idea is that in one way or another we are all Lepers.

Like I said earlier, it’s important for us to understand that you and I wee lepers. We were sinfully unclean in our spirit when we first came to Jesus.

If you are here and you are not a Christian, this is a great model for how you can come to Jesus, if your heart is being stirred to do so by the Spirit.

And, for the rest of us who profess and I hope possess faith in Christ as savior and lord - it is a vital truth to hold close to your heart throughout this life – that you and I are still lepers to a degree. We needed His grace unto salvation. And, we still need His grace daily for our sanctification.

40 A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, "If you are willing, you can make me clean."

The first thing we see in this man is that he has a deep need for Christ. We can feel sorry for him for his leprosy, but in a very real way, the leprosy may be the best thing that ever happened to him in the light of eternity.

If we went through the crowd here I know that we could share story after story of how we found God to be closest - and our fellowship with Him the most vibrant and real - in the midst of desperate trials.

The WORST thing that could happen to someone - I think - is that they might go through their whole life without any significant stripping away of their worldly comfort or security.

If we don’t feel the need, we might never turn to Him. Let’s move on though because deep need isn’t the only thing we see. There is also a RIGHT REACTION to the need when God comes into view.

The leper responds in his desperation with a reverence, or deep respect for Jesus.

We see that he came to Jesus and begged Him on his knees. Oh! If only we would have the humility and the respect for God to approach Him in this way more often.
In the world today we see many people in a deep pain or a desperate trail who show contempt for God instead of a respect for Him.

IF there is even a recognition that He exists, the world scowls and belittles God and demands, “If He’s there and He’s so powerful, Then Why Doesn’t He just fix me right here and now!?”

I used to do this, as if He was some lackey who existed to do my bidding! As if he owed me anything except wrath for my life of rebellion!

Friends, I would plead with you not to see God as some weak and passive God who would do anything for your approval.

Please see Him as the Holy and Mighty God of the Universe who would be JUST to wipe us out for our sin, but who instead has continued to pour out grace and has provided ample opportunities for us to repent and believe the Gospel.

If you are here and you aren’t a Christian, then tonight, I beg you, turn to Him. Take Christ.

And to turn the spotlight on us as believers, please go to God as your Abba, Father. But don’t be so flippant as to forget who God is. Don’t let your relationship drift into disrespect.

Another thing we see in this man is a strong faith. We talked about this earlier, Jesus’ power to overcome even an obstacle like leprosy, was as good as a done deal.

The man said if you are WILLING , YOU CAN make me clean. I asked a few weeks ago, do you really believe that Jesus CAN heal you? So many of us don’t pray bold, out-of-this-world prayers. Don’t be scared to ask for what you believe you need.

Of course you need to continue in your growth in the Spirit to be transformed by the Word of God so that your outrageous prayers won’t contradict God’s will, but start praying. Praying for yourself, your family, your workplace, your neighborhood, your city, nation and the world with bold prayers.

God will answer the prayers that are within His will. He already knows what you need, and He tells us again and again, to pray.

But don’t doubt God’s ability when you come to Him. Don’t be like the man with the boy who had a demon in Mark 9. He said the demon:

…has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us."
23" 'If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes."

The last point is closely tied to this one. In verse 40 we see a desperate man who deeply desires to be healed. We see a bold confidence in Christ, but we also see a submission to God’s will in the situation.

Listen, I have seen God do all kinds of amazing things in the lives of friends and family. I really do believe in miracles.

In fact, we’re working a story at the paper on a guy who beat cancer and He was weeping as he talked to me on Monday about how God answered a prayer within 24 hours.

Why did God answer the prayer? For His glory – that’s for sure. But the avenue by which God’s glory was revealed was through this man’s bold prayer and through His testimony after the fact. But, we’ll talk more about the leper’s testimony – his reaction to his healing next week.

But, back to submitting to God’s will; I have also seen friends die of cancer, I’ve seen my grandmother die of AIDS. And I’ve also been there when they buried my brother, who was only 14 when he died.

In the end, we must – as Christians – find our rest in the fact that God decides according to His purpose and will who will live as a testimony to His wonderful works and who will not.

Either way, we believe that God’s plans are beyond our comprehension and they ARE ALWAYS GOOD, because He cannot do wrong.
We may not know until we get to Heaven why some suffered more than others. I suspect that at that time – the radiance of His glorious presence And the renewed fellowship with believers in Heaven, free of sin, free of sorrow, free of sickness and pain, will wipe a lot of those questions out of my mind.

Now, back to the FACT that we are all lepers. Please! Christians, do not forget this. Do not forget that you and I, we had a problem INFINITELY greater that the problem of leprosy.

We were COVERED in sin, CONTROLLED by our sinful nature, UNABLE to please God or pay our sin debt.

And, in our time of desperation that was worse than that of this leper – at that time Christ saved us.
He saved us and it was not because of who we are, not because of where we were born, not because of what skin color we have, not because of what our bank accounts looked like, not because of who we voted for, and not because of or what we did – good or bad – Christ saved us because of who He is.

Christians, when we forget that we were just as desperate than this man, then we WILL hinder the Gospel. We’ll hinder the Gospel, either through our arrogance or our laziness.

In respect to arrogance, I had a non-believer ask me this week, how people could call themselves Christians and at the same time spew anger, malice, hatred and racism out like a fountain with their words.

My response is that such people either forgot that they were just as sinful as any other person on earth, or they never knew it in the first place.

One pastor says that we as Christians are the worst hypocrites when we don’t give the grace we’ve been given in Christ.

Don’t be that Christian. Remember that we were all Lepers in need of cleansing by the touch of Christ.
We were all beggars in need of bread.
We were all foreigners looking toward Home.
We were all prisoners seeking a pardon.
We were all slaves running to the cross for freedom.
We are all sinners saved by grace.

If you cannot let go of the hate, if you refuse to forgive, if you deny the rights of others, or if you see yourself as better than THEM, then I beg you for the first time or in a spirit of renewal – REPENT AND BELIEVE in the Gospel.

Otherwise you will never be able to follow Christ and show Christian compassion that is active and life changing to the other lepers around you.

Let’s pray…

Mark: The Person and Work of Jesus Christ #12

He Came to Go and Preach
Mark 1:32-39

32 That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. 33 The whole town gathered at the door, 34 and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.
35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 36 Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37 and when they found him, they exclaimed: "Everyone is looking for you!"
38 Jesus replied, "Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come." 39 So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.

Let's pray...
Last week we went through a majority of this passage, if you weren’t here you can pick up the sermon Notes online or see me after the service and I’ll give you a review.

Tonight we started reading at verse 32 again, because without the background information, you’ll miss out on what’s going on in verses 36-39.

On to the Big Idea, let’s read the passage again, starting in verse 36.

36 Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37 and when they found him, they exclaimed: "Everyone is looking for you!"
38 Jesus replied, "Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come." 39 So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.

The Big Idea is this, Jesus came to “Go” and “Preach”…

Now, some of you might push back like I did and say, I thought Jesus came to die on our behalf.
I thought that Jesus came to save us from the wrath of God.
I thought Jesus came to live the sinless life that I –WE – couldn’t live.

That’s all true. But He came to Go and Preach FIRST, so that once He had died, been buried resurrected, ascended to Heaven – then everything that He had taught them would come to their memory and they would finally BELIEVE with saving faith in a way that they wouldn’t have been able to without His teaching.

If He would have just lived and died without explaining all of this to His disciples, then it wouldn’t have made any since to them when He went to the cross.

And not only would the Gospel that He preached bring some to saving faith once they saw the work of the cross and the resurrection - but the preached word of the Gospel – and Jesus’ works would leave those who refuse to believe without an excuse.

Keep you finger in Mark 1, and turn with me to John 15:22-27

22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin. 23 He who hates me hates my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: 'They hated me without reason.'

26 "When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. 27 And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.

UNPACK: The Holy Spirit was sent not only to bring us to faith, but also to help those who were with Jesus in His earthly ministry to remember the important attributes about Him.

That’s one of the reasons for the Epistles. Since most of the writers of the New Testament were witnesses to Jesus life and teaching, death and resurrection, they were able to write to us, to the world and to the church, and in their writings, they were able to flesh out the qualities of Jesus.
So now, because of the Holy Word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit of God, when we say we are Christians, and we say that we believe in Jesus Christ, we can KNOW what that really means.
Without Jesus’ preaching and teaching ministry, and the records that we have in the New Testament, we could redefine Jesus to be anything we want Him to be.

But since we have the Scriptures, God is able to tell us who He is without shape shifting and changing with each new change in culture, national power or political movement.

If you look around though, we have countless groups in the world today who try to change who the Triune God is. Sadly we have it in what are called Christian churches today.

And, the first step that people take in redefining Jesus to suit themselves is to deny the Bible. But, it isn’t new. There is nothing new under the sun, not even this kind of sin. Turn back to Mark 1 and we’ll see the earliest followers trying the same thing.
Start back at verse 36.

36 Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37 and when they found him, they exclaimed: "Everyone is looking for you!"
38 Jesus replied, "Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come." 39 So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.

If you don’t take anything else home from this part of Mark, then please at least take this lesson: Above all else God’s purposes trump ours. Every time.

Jesus was out there, making time to pray on purpose, in secret and in quietness and here comes the crowd. Mark reports it simply as Simon and “his companions”, and one great thing about having the four Gospels is that you get a fuller picture with all of them together than from one alone.

Luke’s gospel tells us that Simon’s companions included the people from the town and that when they were looking for Jesus it wasn’t some “easy going” way of looking for Him.

In Luke 4:42, the word for look or search is epizétéo (Epi-zay-tayo) in Greek, which means to wish for or to crave, to clamor for and demand. They were searching for Him and wanted Him – They wanted Jesus – for their purposes.

Verse 42 in Luke goes onto say that the crowd, which included Simon, tried to keep Jesus from leaving the area.
And what’s Jesus tell Simon?

“Let’s go somewhere else – to the nearby villages – so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.”

Jesus doesn’t mince words and He doesn’t waste time, He knows His time is limited before He faces God’s wrath on the cross.

He’s not interested in staying in a place and being a local celebrity and building a mini-empire by being some one trick pony in Capernaum.
No, He was on a mission to plant the seeds for a Kingdom Movement that has continued to grow over the course of two millennium, and will continue until He returns.

And the way that movement began was the same way the earth and the heavens began. With a Word of God.

We talked about this before. It was with a word that God created all of this (heavens and earth) and it was against His word that Adam and Eve rebelled. It is against His word that we have been kicking back against ever since. And it is by His word – the Gospel – The Good News – the Good Words – by which God, the Holy Spirit is working salvation and sanctification into our hearts.

Jesus said let’s go somewhere else so I can preach (proclaim the Words of LIFE) to others also. And He said THAT is why I’ve come.

You see the crowd was only interested in what Jesus could do for them - healing, teaching and casting out demons. Their shortsighted desires kept them from seeing God the Son - Jesus’ long-sighted plan.

Here’s what I mean, here’s what they didn’t see: When they were healed, they eventually got sick again and died. But Jesus was on earth to do more than take away their sickness that destroys their bodies, He was there to take away the sin that led to spiritual death and eternity in Hell apart from God.

And Simon and the disciples weren’t in the clear either. They were just starting to follow Jesus. They didn’t quite know what to expect. And here they saw a quick rise in popularity, people were coming to them, the town was buzzing about them, they were the people to know. It was awesome.

So, they probably thought, why mess with a good thing? Who knows how the people in the next city will react? We’ve got something good here, we’d be stupid to let go of this.
And listen, at the root of the disciples and at the root of the crowd is not just shortsightedness, it is also selfishness. Their actions spoke louder than any words. Their selfishness screamed out, “Who cares about those people across the border, those strangers. Let them fend for themselves.

Meanwhile Jesus’ message is a message of reconciliation. It is a message of reconciling the world (In Capernaum and beyond) to Himself by the proclamation of the Gospel. That is why He came and that is why He did not – Could Not – stay in one place.

And that’s why we as a church body and as individual Christians need to see the importance here of pursuing God’s purpose, and not trying to box Him into our purposes, which are usually shortsighted and oftentimes selfish.
Let me give a couple of examples of where we are sometimes shortsighted and where we threaten to deter the movement.

We are shortsighted when we seek the good of our city with a million good things while allowing those good things to stop us from speaking – SPEAKING - the Gospel. The good things get in the way of the GOOD NEWS.

Don’t get me wrong, As Christians,
• We should be supporters of the animal shelter.
• We should keep our city clean and river looking good by picking up litter and cutting down on what we throw out when we could easily recycle.
• We should be adamant about feeding the hungry and providing shelter for the homeless and clothing those in need.
• We should be active in local, and national government.
• We should fight for the rights of people from the womb to the grave.
• We should be lovers and supporters of the arts.
• We should promote Health and wellness.
• We should fight slavery, the sex trade, and other atrocities that are still rampant today.

But, too many churches lose sight of THE REASON that Jesus came and THE REASON that we are supposed to be doing any of those things.
THE REASON He came was to preach the Gospel. And, THE REASON we should be doing any and all of those things that I just listed are as natural responses to the Gospel AND as avenues by which we can spread the Gospel.

If we don’t make Christ the central point of all of those endeavors then we are epic failures in our supposed goodness. The Social Gospel is only what we’ve been called to when we are bringing the Gospel to the society.
What’s the good of helping a city and our neighbors in the city with a million temporary helps if we don’t do our part to help them find Christ and escape God’s wrath?

If you are a non-Christian and you are here tonight, make no mistake, that’s why we are here. That’s why we do what we do. Because we believe that the message that we are called to share is the message that truly has the power to save.

In another portion of the New Testament, one of the early church leaders said,

“I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.” (Romans 1:16)

I was talking to a guy in town during one of the recent festivals and he was talking about how he was going to a particular church, because they were interested in helping the city but they didn’t feel the need to push all of the “Jesus stuff” all the time. Those were his words.

You will not get that here. We believe that a Christ-less Christianity is no Christianity at all.

Now, onto selfishness, this will be brief, we will cover it again next week and most weeks really.

When we look at the reaction of Simon and his companions who wanted to make Jesus stay put we see a common human reaction. We are all quick to run from any struggle and pain and any trial. At times we will even quietly push it off onto someone else if we can get by with it without hurting our reputations.

But, when things get good for us, when things get easier, when we start feeling better, what do we do?

We cling. We cling to money, to power, to health and fitness, In church we cling to the people and the traditions that made us feel better. And we do whatever we can to keep a hold of the good feeling and the ease.
And we may share, if it doesn’t mean letting go. And if it doesn’t mean that we have to lose a noticeable amount of the good stuff or the great people.

The crowd says, No, no stay here. What if we get sick again, Jesus?
The disciples say, No, no, let’s all stay here, Jesus. What if they don’t like us in the next city?
We say, No, no, they don’t deserve the message if it means I’m going to have to go out of my comfort zone, or if our church releases some of the best people to leave and start a new work in an unreached part of the world (locally or across the globe).

We say, No, no, we can’t afford to be generous to them what if our money runs out?

Or, on point with our shortsightedness, we say, No, no, we can’t evangelize to them, they might not like us anymore.
But with all that said, Jesus, Son of God, did not banish Simon and His companions. He didn’t tell them they should be ashamed of themselves for their demands on Him. He said the most important thing, The REASON He came was to Go and to preach. To preach what? To preach the Gospel.

What they needed to hear is what we still need to hear today. We all need to hear for the first time or to be reminded again, that God created everything in the heavens and on the earth. Then in love He created us to rule over the creation and to enjoy it all to the praise and glory of God.

All things were created by Him and are sustained by him and as we enjoy the creation we are to give thanks to Him.

But we didn’t, from the first sin of Eve and “the fruit” to the sins that you and I have committed this week, we have all rebelled against the Holy God of the universe. And our sin demands justice.

Without someone taking on the punishment due to us, we are in line for the growing wrath of God.

BUT! God in His infinite mercy and grace sent His son, Jesus Christ to take the punishment for us on the cross and to conquer the sin and death that awaited us.

Now, the Bible says, if we repent and believe in Jesus and what He has done for us, we will be saved.

That’s the Good News. That is what Jesus came for. That is what draws us to Him and that is what we are sent to GO as missionaries to share with people with our words.

Let’s pray…