Just Who Is This Jesus? - Mark 6:1-13 - Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

 

Mark 6:1-13 NIV

6 Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. ² When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.

“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? ³ Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

⁴ Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” ⁵ He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. ⁶ He was amazed at their lack of faith.

Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. ⁷ Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits.

⁸ These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. ⁹ Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. ¹⁰ Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. ¹¹ And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”

¹² They went out and preached that people should repent. ¹³ They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

Just Who Is This Jesus?

I have to admit, my first few readings of this Gospel passage left me disjointed. It was like I was reading two different accounts. First one of Jesus return home and the second of Jesus sending his disciples out into the world. I couldn’t seem to gather any connection between the two accounts, and to be honest, the two accounts didn’t strike me as having much meaning. But, as I studied more and more through the week, the message came through with meaning and depth. So, here goes. I hope you are blessed by God as I point to Jesus.

This was just the start of it all. No, not the first thing Jesus ever did, but it was a start. This is the beginning of Jesus ministry from his hometown of Nazareth out to all the world. This was not just a mere visit home to see family and friends. No, rather this was Jesus first stop on a much larger evangelism purpose.

This is Jesus’ return home; some say for the second time. Jesus left Nazareth as an individual and now returns as a rabbi with his followers. The hometown crowd saw Jesus as just a carpenter. Some say this word carpenter may have gone a little further. Maybe Jesus was like a tradesman, with skills in wood and metal, the maker of useful things for the common people. Maybe this thought goes a little deeper than we really see on the surface with Jesus the Creator, the Savior, the Reformer of you and I?

Anyway, the hometown crowd probably saw Jesus as just another sinful person like all of them, and us, are… like themselves. But that wasn’t the case. Sure, Jesus was one of them, but much much more. So, as Jesus returns to speak in the synagogue, with words of power, witness and wisdom; the people wonder… Who does Jesus think he is? And even more, they really don’t believe what they witness in Jesus words and actions.

As word had spread of Jesus’ healing miracles… think of the past couple of messages from “Pointing to Jesus.” The people of Jesus hometown rejected the accounts of Jesus healing. The people didn’t believe in Jesus even in the face of recent evidence of miracles of healing and his teaching. Faith was absent here in Jesus’ hometown, regarding just who Jesus really is.

Go back a couple of messages from my blog “Daily Reflections” and YouTube channel, “Pointing to Jesus,” and you will see how miracles are combined with faith. Faith freely given to us by God combined with God’s Word through Jesus, are both present in Jesus’ miracles. Miracles come with faith. Here, in Jesus’ hometown, the people are lacking faith in Jesus.

As Jesus taught in the synagogue of his hometown, He was giving the hometown people a sign, an epiphany or the revealing of God in Jesus.

But the hometown people are blinded. You can know the obvious and still miss the point. The hometown people saw Jesus, but, at the same time, didn’t see Jesus’ greatness and the deep meaning of His presence with them. The hometown crowd knew of Jesus outward origins but did not see Jesus inward truth. The hometown crowd saw the body and acts of Jesus at home, but miss the Spirit of Jesus. The hometown crowd was able to look at Jesus from what he was on earth, but not able to see the Spirit of Jesus.

The same thing happens to all of us. So, this passage of scripture begs you and me to look at Jesus a little deeper.

Don’t think your own impression of Jesus is too familiar. There is much you, or I, or even the hometown crowd, don’t know about Jesus, or anyone for that matter. Sometimes familiarity breeds blindness to what is deeper.

To the hometown crowd, Jesus was a “worker.” Jesus performed craftsman work that helped in everyday needs. But, going deeper, Jesus’ trade was moving from the obvious earthly activity, to salvation of ALL people from sin death and evil. And that’s a huge leap of faith. That’s a huge jump in change. 

With knowing Jesus as a tradesman, as a lower servant in the hometown, it was easy to listen to Jesus in the synagogue and become a “snob.”  This “snob” judgment attitude, happens all the time. It’s hard for people to believe that there is something deeper inside of someone they think they know so well. So, people tend to become a “snob” and reject the message.

Look at Paul. Paul was an intelligent person by all means, yet when his life changed and he became an evangelist for Jesus, Greek intellects saw Paul as a “babbler.” Come on! Really?

Back to Jesus in his hometown. So, what happens? Looking down their noses, the hometown crowd takes offense at Jesus message. What a scandal Jesus must be, he’s just a tradesman after all! This is apostasy! And the people fall away from Jesus’ message.

Here’s the great thing about Jesus though. In the face of this rejection, Jesus doesn’t make it personal. What a great lesson for each of us!

Jesus observes the reaction of the people and moves on to teach some more. Jesus knows that His work and mission are what is important. What is not important is the opinions of those who lack faith and don’t believe. That’s not to say the people who reject Jesus are not important, but rather their opinions of Jesus are not important. So, Jesus moves forward in witness and salvation.

What a personal lesson this can be for you and I when we are laughed at and condemned for our faith in Jesus, for our witness to what God has done in our lives and for our calling. Point to Jesus and keep on going.

And now this passage seems to go into part two, or something. We move on to what seems to be God’s great parade of witnesses that extends from this time in Jesus’ day to all time. And that parade begins with the great Go! Get on with it!

We just witness a lack of Faith of God in Jesus to move forward, as disciples, two by two to, “Faith” displayed to the world. You see, disciples are always sent out. Just like my childhood dream of Jesus coming to my door, Jesus asks, “Can Billy come out to play?”  Well… Go out to play! You don’t need anything to go out, just go!

In this going is the connection between, what I originally thought were two separate stories from Jesus. The first account is the hometown crowd WITHOUT faith. The second account is Jesus’ disciples going out into the world WITH faith in Jesus.

Don’t bog down God’s message of salvation with needing “stuff” first. Just GO! TELL! NOW! After all, Jesus sends you.

Jesus sends out the twelve, in this case, in pairs, so to speak. Jesus sends the disciples out to speak, teach repentance, cast out evil and heal the sick.

And while you are out playing, don’t get too comfortable. The disciple must be able to leave a place and move on the Gospel message of salvation. There’s that connection between what seemed to be two separate accounts. Jesus moved on from his hometown, he didn’t get all hurt about rejection. Likewise, as a disciple, move along. The call, the mission is, for Jesus’ disciples to spread the message of salvation.

This “dusting off of feet,” isn’t about quitting. A disciple doesn’t quit, if some refuse to believe the Gospel message… well then… OK… move along. This “Spreading the Gospel” isn’t about your own feelings of rejection or wanting to quit. Rely on God! It’s not about you!

After all, there are NEW doors to knock on and more places to play in this Kingdom of God we walk in with Jesus as we play.

So, there you have it. Who is Jesus? Jesus is God. Jesus is the miracle worker. Jesus is the Creator. And like Ezekiel, we too, can hear the call to stand up, to wake up. Why? Because Jesus asks us to come out and play. Jesus is sending his disciples out.

Have mercy on us Lord Jesus. In the midst of weakness and fear, may the power of Christ dwell in each and all of Jesus disciples as we go out to play and proclaim and point to what Jesus has done for all people… today… tomorrow… and forever. --- Amen

May God bless you this week as you go out.

I leave you with this YouTube video music on a passage from Isaiah’s calling

"Here I am Lord"

Maybe You? - Mark 5:21-43 - Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

 

Mark 5:21-43 NIV

²¹ When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. ²² Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. ²³ He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” ²⁴ So Jesus went with him.

A large crowd followed and pressed around him. ²⁵ And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. ²⁶ She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. ²⁷ When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, ²⁸ because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” ²⁹ Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

³⁰ At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

³¹ “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”

³² But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. ³³ Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. ³⁴ He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

³⁵ While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?”

³⁶ Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

³⁷ He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. ³⁸ When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. ³⁹ He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” ⁴⁰ But they laughed at him.

After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. ⁴¹ He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). ⁴² Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. ⁴³ He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Maybe You?

Most time, when I contemplate Scripture reading, it gets personal. God’s Word gets real personal most of the time. I read the passage and over time it works on me. At first, I don’t get it, for the most part, but as it sinks in, over time, I hear a message of grace and comfort, inside a law that points me, bids me, turns me around in my sin, to see the face of Jesus and to fall into his arms for healing.

This Gospel text is no different. Here are two miracles wrapped, one inside of another of bodily cures that pull me into Jesus’ realm of love and grace for me and for all people, to point us to something more. Something in this life, in this life of disease, illness, and death, to a life forever in resurrection with God.

Jesus has all authority over disease and death. We witness, in these two healings the outward proof of Jesus the Messiah. We see here, Jesus as God, Servant, Man, Creator, and Savior.

We also see, in these two miracles of healing, how these miracles are both accompanied by faith. The miracle does not generate faith, rather, faith is present as the miracle occurs. This faith that is present, is a gift freely given by God. Faith as a gift to all bringing us to believe.

Let’s look at the woman suffering from bleeding. Her healing does not come about by the touching of clothing. Jesus knows when she, or even we, reach out in need to touch Him. You see, Jesus knew the difference between the touch of the crowd around him and the woman’s touch. Jesus knows when we reach out to touch Him in our need of healing and salvation.

Yes, in both cases of healing, Jesus pays attention to individual needs. Jesus busts the schedule of His day for a person, an individual, for the bleeding woman, for Jairus, for Jairus’ daughter, for you and for me. Jesus busts His schedule. For you too, Jesus busts His schedule to bring healing, life, and resurrection. Even healing and life beyond this world of sin, disease, death, to a world we have yet to know.

Maybe you? Yes! Jesus’ agenda IS you!

Look at it. In place of death, the death of the woman bleeding and in place of the death of Jairus’ daughter, comes blessing. Even if we look at the life of Jesus, in the place of His own death comes resurrection and blessing and life eternal.

Jesus comes to us concerned for us, not himself.  Likewise, see, Jairus, he comes to Jesus concerned for the “other.” Jairus comes concerned for himself, for sure, but even more, for the life of his daughter. Ask yourself. Do you come to Jesus, concerned for the need of someone else? Should you? Maybe you?

And what about this “Faith” stuff. Witness and see Jairus’ open mind. Jairus comes to Jesus with an open mind, Jairus comes to Jesus with faith that Jesus can heal and give life. This is a faith that makes him fall on his knees before Jesus.

Jairus begs Jesus for a touch of Jesus’ healing hand upon his daughter. Jesus, laying on of hands changes the direction of things. Jesus’ touch changes the direction of things, here and now, and things forever. Jesus’ touch, spins us around, to look into His eyes and see God.

Jesus busts his schedule to touch us, to spin us around from this world to eternity.

So, my schedule can NEVER be more important than Jesus call to live life with Him, now and forever. Yes! When Jesus arrives at my door or your door, day after day, and bids “Can Billy come out to play?” --- or will you walk with Him this day --- the answer must and will always be, for me, Yes! Billy can come out to play! No matter what! Jesus seeks for us to bust our own schedules to come out to play and to serve God and to serve our neighbor and all those God gives to us each and every day. We come out to play and to walk this life with Jesus into eternity.

And when we walk our life and meet up with disease and death and pain and suffering and tests that go on and on; we, like the bleeding woman and Jairus and his daughter, first and foremost, must turn to Jesus for healing.

As we walk our life with Jesus we will suffer. But that’s not all there is. As we walk in this broken, diseased, sinful world we can still, spread the Gospel of Jesus salvation, so others may see Jesus first. We report about our life with Jesus, we witness our time in this world, so that, others may hear our story of Jesus healing and journey as we follow, or “come out to play” with Jesus. In Jesus IS hope.

The bleeding woman touch of faith, given to her by God, was sensed by Jesus. Jesus busted his daily schedule and healed her. Jesus sought an open confession from this bleeding woman. Perhaps Jesus wanted all to hear her confession that day. Perhaps Jesus wanted all those present to be open to reach out and to touch Him for healing. Healing with and from a faith that God gave to this woman and to all those present in that crowd. Why? That they may come to believe in Him and how He is saving them from way more than an illness of bleeding.

It is faith in Jesus that saved that bleeding woman. It wasn’t about the touching of the garment. And it’s not about our touch of Jesus that saves us. But it’s about the faith given to us to believe that there is life eternal in Jesus.

Jesus bids us, do not fear. Only believe. For death leads to resurrection and life forever.  Death is not the end. Witness Jesus dealing with his own death. Yes, Jesus suffered and died. It was not easy. It was horrible. Yet, there is and was more. God’s WORD come after and in and through death. God never reaches the “end of His rope,” so to speak. Never! We fear death for sure, but we really need not fear the power of death. We need to only believe in Jesus. And… that’s LIFE!

Jesus faced death. Jesus faced death for us, once and for all time and chased it away. Now hold on! I will die, no doubt, but the power of death and its finality has been chased away by Jesus.

Yea, right! And the crowds laugh at Jesus. Why? These people do not have faith. They choose to NOT believe. They choose to show no faith. Even any morsel of faith they have been given by God, they spit out in contempt and disgust for Jesus’ word of healing.

Yes, the Believer in Jesus will be laughed at. Expect it. Jesus was laughed at and the Believer will be too! Remember, the disciple is not above the Father.

See, in the face of laughter; Jesus brings healing and life. In the face of illness and death, Jesus takes your hand and the hand of Jairus’ daughter and says, “Arise!!!”

Faith is opposed to fear. “Rise up!” Resurrection brings victory over death and fear.

Astonished and amazed, we are overcome with resurrection life

Let Jesus bring life into your house. Let Jesus bring life into the temple of God given to you, your temple of death, and let Jesus raise you up to life in Him. Believe! Yes, believe, just as we proclaim in the Apostles Creed--- I believe in the resurrection! This is the faith that drives out fear. This is the faith brought to life from God that leads you to believe, in God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Faith that leads you out into the world God sets you in to love God and to love all those God gives to you each and every day.

And then… and then… see what happens with Jairus’ daughter? You too, just as Jesus did after his resurrection, will take in a feast of food. A feast of life-giving bread and wine. We will have a great feast of life to come.

Thanks be to God that He is eternally generous to us through His gift of Jesus. As we reach out to touch in faith, Jesus busted his schedule to love YOU! Joy truly comes in that great morning of Jesus resurrection from the dead. Joy will come to us as Jesus raises us up to new life in eternity with Him.

Miracles in the midst of illness, suffering and death. Yes, miracles from God in and through Jesus. Feel the touch of Jesus, today, tomorrow and forever! --- Amen

May God bless you today and always.

I leave you with this YouTube video of music…

You Raise Me Up – Josh Groban

You Raise Me Up

 "Rebekah at the Well" is a painting created by Judy Crowe

Mark 4:35-41 - The WORD Calms the Chaos - Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

Mark 4:35-41 NIV

³⁵ That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” ³⁶ Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. ³⁷ A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. ³⁸ Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

³⁹ He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

⁴⁰ He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

⁴¹ They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

The WORD Calms the Chaos

This IS a miracle! Jesus was crossing the Sea of Galilee and going towards Gentile territory. In the barrier, this Sea of Galilee, in between the Jews and the Gentiles, we have water. Water, soon to be stormy, chaotic water. And then, with the WORD, the water calms in the midst of the chaos of the lives of Jesus’ disciples.

Oh, how verse 35 reminds me of a dream I had of Jesus coming to visit my house on Washington St. in Sidney Ohio.

³⁵ That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 

Just a bit of the verse, floods back this memory of mine. Jesus asks for his disciples to go over to the other side. In my dream, Jesus bids me “Can Billy come out to play?”

I have since, attempted to live out this dream in my life, each and every day. I have evaluated my actions against this dream as they occur. I have failed and I have succeeded to hear Jesus’ call.  I have failed and I have succeeded to trust and obey. It’s been a mixed bag, for me.

Anyway, my point here, is that Jesus always bids us to go. Jesus bids us to follow, to trust in His direction. This discipleship of Jesus is a restless movement. It’s a mission to follow Jesus.

We must be ready to leave the crowd and walk the path Jesus calls us to walk. Can we walk to the cross of Jesus? “Can Billy come out to play!”

But look at Jesus demeanor.  Jesus is asleep! In the midst of the storm, Jesus sleeps! Jesus’ entire demeanor, displays a posture of trust in God.

But then, look at the disciples. Sure, we are perishing. But the WORD and Jesus far outreach human fears. The WORD proclaims to have faith and believe! Stop living in fear!

You see, fear is real! Fear can become panic! So, pray! But…

God does not share our fear and panic. In our prayer, forget about telling God about fear and panic. Rather…

In our prayer, allow God to speak His calm to us.

This calm is God’s POWER!

Jesus stills the storms of fear and panic. When your mind and life is churned up with the troubles we confront on all levels; turn and see the still, calm, waters of the love of Jesus. You see, this world and this life are in the hands of God. Turn back to God in your sinfulness, in your storms, in your pain, in your addiction, in your illness, in the midst of your death. Turn to God and rely and place your trust in Jesus. For, this stormy life is temporary. Life here and now, in this place, is temporary. Life with God, is permanent and forever. Turn to God and live. Trust in God and rely on Him.

 In verse 41 we read:

⁴¹ They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

Who is this, that the water obeys?

Genesis 1:2, 6-9 NIV

² Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

⁶ And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” ⁷ So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. ⁸ God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

⁹ And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so.

Job 38:8-11 NIV

⁸ “Who shut up the sea behind doors
    when it burst forth from the womb,
⁹ when I made the clouds its garment
    and wrapped it in thick darkness,
¹⁰ when I fixed limits for it
    and set its doors and bars in place,
¹¹ when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;
    here is where your proud waves halt’?

Isaiah 51:10 NIV

¹⁰ Was it not you who dried up the sea,
    the waters of the great deep,
who made a road in the depths of the sea
    so that the redeemed might cross over?

Jeremiah 5:22 NIV

²² Should you not fear me?” declares the Lord.
    “Should you not tremble in my presence?
I made the sand a boundary for the sea,
    an everlasting barrier it cannot cross.
The waves may roll, but they cannot prevail;
    they may roar, but they cannot cross it.

Who is this we ask? This IS God, the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. This IS God. This IS God the creator. This IS the God of your salvation.  Humble yourself in the presence of God’s awesome works of creation and love. Commend yourself to God, even when the going is tough.

Yes, in this trust and faith Billy comes out to play and to follow Jesus in trust. I’ll fall down day after day, but I have a friend that will pick me up, dust me off, and call me to continue on, today, tomorrow and forever. Thank you, Jesus!

How about you?

May God bless you today and always.

I leave you with a song my grand-daughter, Kaiya, liked as she attended a Week of Mission last week serving together with other youth. These kids followed Jesus out that door to play…

Reckless Love

Enjoy 

The Joy of the Sickle - Mark 4:26-34 - Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

 

Mark 4:26-34 NIV

²⁶ He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. ²⁷ Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. ²⁸ All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. ²⁹ As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”

³⁰ Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? ³¹ It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. ³² Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”

³³ With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. ³⁴ He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.

The Joy of the Sickle

Sometimes the Gospel message comes with some perfect timing. Sometimes the message moves me beyond myself to see God working. Sometimes I grow and don’t even realize the growth or even try to make growth happen.

Mysterious words, I know. The Kingdom of God grows rapidly. But it’s a slow strong growth. The Kingdom of God’s growth, to me, is a mystery. The Kingdom of God’s growth does not depend on human work or power. The work is all the work of God, not man or anything else.

Look back at the passage of Scripture. Once the “Seed” is planted, it is then that the Kingdom gets real! But the odd part is to realize that the Kingdom of God has always been here, it is here now, and yet the Kingdom will come to be fulfilled.  The Kingdom of God, is past, present, future and always. That’s something that is hard to grasp as a man.

In the Second Petition of the Lord’s Prayer, we say, “Thy kingdom come.”

Here is Luther’s Explanation from the Small Catechism…

What does this mean?

God’s kingdom comes indeed without our praying for it, but we ask in this prayer that it may come also to us.

When does this happen?

God’s kingdom comes when our heavenly Father gives us his Holy Spirit, so that by his grace we believe his holy Word and live a godly life on earth now and in heaven forever.

So, God’s kingdom comes without any works of my own. God freely gives me and all baptized the Holy Spirit so that by God’s grace… Grace freely given… we may believe God’s Word here on earth and in heaven forever.

Do you see it? It’s not my work or my faith that I conjure up a belief that leads me into God’s kingdom. It’s by God’s grace, freely given to me and God’s Word freely handed down that God brings and gives me belief. And there is that seed. That Seed of God in God’s Word. God’s Word made flesh in the form of God in Jesus, freely given to all mankind that we may believe.

The Kingdom comes from God not from mankind. God’s Kingdom WILL come, that’s for sure, but realize; mankind can do nothing to force the Kingdom of God to come. The coming of God’s Kingdom to you, to me, to all the world is both personal and corporate.  In the coming of the Kingdom of God, we must trust God, because our trust is in the grace of God, which we rely on.

Think about the creation. Man can not create. God creates. But, in God’s creation there is nothing automatic without God. God provides the faith we need in God to repent of our sinfulness. What sinfulness? Our sinfulness to attempt to assume control from God and even with God. God creates for us. God doesn’t need us to create for Him. God calls us to turn from our evil desires to become a god. God calls us to turn from ourselves and our selfish desires of power, prestige and control, to face God and repent and return to God’s love for us as His perfect creation. God calls us to repent and bear the fruit in which God intended for us to bring forth all along.

As you can see in verse 28 in the Gospel passage… the words of Jesus…

²⁸ All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 

Nature’s Laws are really God’s Laws. Growth happens by the power of God.

And we see that there are stages to growth for the Christian disciple. So, don’t try to push this growth with your own efforts. This growth is the work of the Holy Spirit, not you! Let the grain, the stalk, the head and the full kernel in the head happen. You don’t have any control of this happening anyway. Your life will grow at the Holy Spirit’s pace set just for you. Let God work in and through you. This is not your choice. This is the work of God.

And then! Look at verse 29!

 ²⁹ As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”

How cool is that! We often think of the sickle as something horrible about to happen. NO! Here the sickle is a wonderful, good happening. This is the JOY of the sickle. For with the sickle, God gathers the fruit. That’s the very fruit, that the Holy Spirit has brought to life in and through the disciple! God gathers a harvest of discipleship for God and for one another. Why?

Well, let’s turn to the mustard seed. Look! Everywhere the mustard seed of God is growing through the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Look at Paul’s life, at Luther’s life, the life of Christian disciples all over this world. From this seed of “Jesus,” this seed of the “Word,” this seed of the Kingdom of God comes abundant growth and fruit to spread the Gospel and love of God that God has shown through Jesus for all mankind.  The Gospel has spread and continues to spread, day after day after day after day!

So, what about the personal love of Jesus? Jesus cares about the corporate spread of the Gospel as well as the personal spread of the Gospel in the individual life of the disciple. Jesus also cares about the quality of your life. Jesus cares about the quality of the life of the disciple, of you. Jesus loves you on a personal level and gathers us all in and you in with that awesome sickle of joy to be with Him in His Kingdom, now and forever.

So, sow the seed, spread the Word, tell the Gospel to all those God gives to you each and every day. God wants you to be part of the harvest. The Kingdom WILL grow, and does grow, in you, and all over as well.

I yearn to be clothed in Christ, for God’s power changes things. Delight in the Law of the Harvest which leads us to Jesus our Savior, today, tomorrow, and forever!

Thanks be to God!

Please enjoy this hymn which spoke to me during the preparation of this message.

I, the Lord of Sea and Sky - Collin Raye

I, the Lord of Sea and Sky

God bless you this week and always… Bill

 

 

Divided or Unified? What Say You? - Mark 3:20-35 - Third Sunday after Pentecost

 

Mark 3:20-35 NIV

²⁰ Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. ²¹ When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”

²² And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.”

²³ So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? ²⁴ If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. ²⁵ If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. ²⁶ And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. ²⁷ In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house. ²⁸ Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, ²⁹ but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.”

³⁰ He said this because they were saying, “He has an impure spirit.”

³¹ Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. ³² A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”

³³ “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.

³⁴ Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! ³⁵ Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

Divided or Unified? What Say You?

As I prepared myself in the background material of this passage of Scripture and the words of Jesus; I was left perplexed, maybe confused, yet astounded at the message.

Several themes jumped out at me. Was this passage about the unpardonable sin? Perhaps this was about the suspicions and accusations against Jesus’ authority on religious matters. Or maybe this was about a clash of kingdoms, families and Satan.

Maybe these words just went beyond my understanding, but here goes…

People of Jesus day, and still today, for that matter; thought of Jesus as a religious maniac. I’m okay with this thought. I entertain the thought that Jesus was a religious maniac.  I aspire to be like Jesus in this enthusiasm of the Gospel of God. May I be passionate about God’s love for all mankind that the Gospel is spread through my words and actions. May I be connected to Jesus in this way.  Perhaps one or two will hear God’s grace in my words. Perhaps by “Pointing to Jesus,” someone else will look for themselves. Perhaps one person will dive into God’s Word and look and seek and be found in the looking and the seeking. Maybe, just maybe, one person will become a religious maniac as well. But I leave that movement to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in the life on that one other person.

It would be a compliment for a disciple of Jesus to be considered “mad” or “beside” or “out of their mind” for Jesus’ love and grace. To be willing to give ALL for God. And there have been saints past, present and I’m sure future, who fall into this category. Consider the disciples of Jesus, Paul, Francis of Assisi, and Martin Luther. There are way too many to name. May all of Jesus’ disciples be “out of their minds” for Christ.  Sometime this week look at a few of the Saints past and read their story as disciples of Jesus. Not to glorify them, but to see how they too were “out of their minds” for Jesus’ love and Gospel of forgiveness and everlasting life. I only hope to become some influence on the lives of those God gives to me each and every day, that people may not see me, but become curious and pulled in by God’s love given through Jesus’ acts in this world and in the world to come.

Let’s move on to this whole division theme next. First, Jesus’ power is NOT from Satan. Come on! Why would anyone think this? But some do. Jesus’ power has OTHER roots. We come to discover that Jesus IS God. Jesus IS God made flesh, sent by the Father into this fallen world to save ALL from sin, death and the devil. Jesus came and ascended back into heaven and rolled out in an astonishing way, the Holy Spirit into the life of this screwed up earthly church. One day this Church will be made the perfect bride for Jesus, but for now, we struggle, here in this place with sin.

So, when we look at this division; we see a division of evil and the good of God. How can good come from evil? The “world” says that is EASY! In the world the battle of thoughts that good comes from evil happens all around us. How many times has mankind gone to war hoping that something “good” would come from killing one another? How many times have we taken, perhaps stolen from one people to give to another, thinking something “good” is happening? How many lies have been told in the interest of making someone else think good of the person telling lies? Oh, and how many times have we justified slavery by thinking that it was good for the slave to have a job and home?

You see, evil produces evil. Even when we try to rationalize our “good” intentions. There IS a definite line between “real” good and “real” evil.

More on this division theme is brought out by the contrast of a kingdom divided against itself that cannot stand. Or a house divided against itself that cannot stand. Or even, Satan divided against himself cannot stand. So, the accusation of Jesus being possessed by a demon and driving out demons, makes no sense. This cannot stand.

Something happens in this division. As we witness the clash of kingdoms, the clash of families, and the clash of Satan verses God; discipleship grows. As the community of the division grows smaller and smaller, from kingdom, to family, to good and evil; there becomes a recognition that, in this division, we NEED God to save us from ourselves. So, we turn. We turn to God and seek His will and His way in our life. The church turns to God to seek His will and His way in the life of the church. And the Kingdom of God starts to unite under Jesus. It’s only through Jesus that we are saved from ourselves, and our own fatal divisions.

And there are some who will decide against God. This is the idea of the unpardonable sin. There are some who will be defiant to God. There are some who will reject God’s grace and love. There are some who will willfully NOT believe in what God has done for them in Jesus. That’s a choice that they are free to make. But God will always offer His alternative.

This idea of the unpardonable sin, bothers many believers. They pause and wonder, perhaps a better description is that they fear this sin. As disciples of Jesus, here in this place, we know that we sin. Have we slipped up and sinned in this way? Look at the words of Jesus from this passage above…

²⁸ Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, ²⁹ but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.”

Rest in God’s grace. In your very fear of having committed this sin, means you have not committed this sin. Turn to God and see His Grace and His love for you.

And finally, this theme of “Family.”  Jesus’ mother and brothers arrive on the scene. I hear the point as being that what binds the spiritual family, the family of God, is deeper than what binds a human family. God came to earth to bring us together under Jesus Christ. That’s a so much deeper bond than any kingdom or family could ever present. For Jesus is stronger than any “strong man” that may come to plunder God’s kingdom here or in eternity.

Don’t try to hide from God as you try to be a god to yourself. No, instead, cry out to God for forgiveness. As our sinful beings waste away, we must trust in God’s renewal and God’s gift of new life.  Good comes from good. Go and produce the “good” God has given for you to produce. Love, serve, and spread the Gospel of God’s love to and for all those God gives to you… today… tomorrow… and forever!

What say you?

May God bless you this week and always as you live out your call and God’s will in your life.

I leave you with this song that I used during my studies this week.

We Are the Body of Christ