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...