MESSAGE FOR SUNDAY, 2024/07/21
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Reading:
Mark 6:30-34; 53-56
Text:
Mark 6:34 “When Jesus landed He saw a large crowd, He had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So He began teaching them many things.”
Message:
In our reading today from Mark’s gospel we see the disciples returning from their preaching and ministry trip. It was a really good trip and they were keen to tell Jesus all about it, but they were also very tired. Now Jesus invites the disciples to rest which is a very important biblical invitation to God’s people. This also takes us back to the Old Testament where we are taught about the Sabbath which is a reminder to relax, retreat and refuel. You see the disciples were sent out, now they have come back tired and even Jesus was weary by the constant demands and the needs around Him. So Jesus called them to come to a quiet place and rest.
But accepting his invitation is crucial for our lives for us to live the abundant life he intends for us.
We, like the apostles, are not able to give from a place that is empty. We are not able to be present, fully present, to our families, our lives, our work, unless we can – for however long – be fully present to Jesus in a place that nourishes our very souls.
Our one task is to put this ahead of all the other things – to open ourselves up to hear his invitation, and respond with the space and the time to listen to his call to take our heavy laden lives, and offer it all to Jesus who will take it from us, even for just a little while. Listen to His voice, calling us into perfect peace, the kind that only He can give. “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.”
Now, at the start of verse 30, Mark tells us that Jesus’ disciples had returned to him and they were about to tell Jesus all about what had happened. However, there were so many people coming and going that they couldn’t even find time to eat, let alone debrief about the events of their missionary tour. So they headed off in the boat to try to find some time alone together. People worked out what was going on and they arrived at their destination ahead of Jesus and his disciples. When they got there, the place was already full of people waiting for Jesus. If that was you, what would you have done? Would you turn the boat around and look for another quiet place to be alone with your friends? Would you tell the crowds to go away and give you some time for yourself? Or would you lie down in the boat, pull a tarpaulin up over your head and hide until everyone went away?
I am constantly in awe of what Jesus did next. He didn’t run away to find some precious ‘me’ time. He didn’t get angry at the crowds, or hide and hope they would go away. Mark tells us that when Jesus saw the huge crowd, ‘he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd.’ Then he started teaching them. (verse 34)
The English word ‘çompassion’ doesn’t really do justice to Jesus’ reaction when he saw the crowds on the shore. The Greek word splagchnizomai describes something moving in the inner organs of Jesus’ body. A more modern English equivalent could be that Jesus’ ‘stomach turned’ at the scene in front of him, or it was a ‘gut-wrenching’ experience for him, or possibly even that Jesus’ heart broke for the people he saw. However we might try to describe it, when Jesus saw the crowd of people, something moved deep inside him that made him want to help them.
A lot has changed in the world in two thousand years, but the human condition is still pretty much the same. Most people are searching for something in our lives. We have problems or challenges that can make each day difficult. We might be experiencing physical or mental illnesses, relationship breakdowns, or financial difficulties. We might be struggling with questions about who we are, where we belong in the world, or what our purpose in life might be. Most of us have something we’re struggling with in life, and we tend to tell ourselves that we’ll be fine if we just try a bit harder, do a bit more, or work a bit smarter. The great myths of our post-modern culture is that if we could just find our way through the mess, or if we could just be mindful of where we are, then we’ll be OK.
That sounds a lot like sheep without a shepherd to me. We are all doing our own thing, going our own ways, looking for greener grass to somehow make life better, more complete, more peaceful, or more of something than it is right now. I wonder if Jesus still looks at us, sees us in our existential wandering like sheep without a shepherd, and if his stomach still turns with compassion for us.
But then also as they went ashore, he saw a great crowd and He had compassion for them. However, rest and relaxation were not as easy to come by as Jesus might have hoped. The crowds knew where to look for him and they arrived before he and the disciples arrived. The people who had trailed Jesus to this desired place of rest and quiet knew what they wanted; what they needed and they wouldn’t be put off or sent away. Their need was so great; the hunger they had for healing and for the power of God’s word were so intense that Jesus took pity on them. He simply didn’t have the heart to turn them away. So, while he knew what he and his disciples yearned for and really needed, He accepted the fact that the needs of the hungry and ill people around him were far greater than his need to rest. He responded with help and he called upon his disciples to do the same.
Most of us often think that God is love and that the Christian’s life is love, but we would do well to remember that without Jesus’ entrance into the world, the feeling of compassion would have not been exemplified for us to fully learn. ‘The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger and of great mercy (Ps 145:8).
Though rest was what Christ and His disciples craved, they were also aware that the message of healing and hope was in their sacred trust. It had to be shared with compassion towards those who carried the burdens of life, who were ill, in pain, in need and hungry for hope. Eventually there will be a time that we will need to pull away and reconnect. We see this in Jesus’ life how often He pulls away to refresh and recharge. But here we see that when a need confronted Him He would immediately in compassion reach out to the needy. We see in Mark’s gospel that the word compassion means a lot more than just having pity or empathy. Someone said and I quote, “Pity is something you can feel without getting involved personally. We see ourselves as better than those we see as pitiful.”
“Even when we define compassion as empathy more than just pity, there is still that feeling that we are somehow above or separate from the one with whom we empathize. When we talk about walking a mile in another’s shoes, we assume that those shoes are not as comfortable or attractive or as sturdy as our own shoes. When we empathize with someone else, it is clear that these are not our feelings. We only experience them temporarily. They still belong to the other person.”
Jesus really felt their needs in His bowels. This is the kind of compassion that suffers alongside. And in a way, the tired and worn down Jesus chooses to suffer alongside those who are tired and worn down by oppression, sin and illness. Jesus sacrifices his own need for rest, for the sake of others finding rest. The passage forces us to simultaneously believe in a God who calls us to rest, yet willingly gives up his own rest for others’. The only response to such a calling is “thanks be to God.”
When Jesus looked on these crowds of people who had chased him around the lake, he felt their pain, their confusion, their deep desire to know God in a way their scribes and teachers had never shown them. He felt their need to know God’s love for them. He suffered as they suffered, in the very core of his being. When Jesus looks at you and me, he has compassion for us, too. He feels our pain, our sorrow, our frustration, and our worry. He suffers with us in our broken relationships, our need to make ends meet, and our deep desire to be right with God. He sees us running around like sheep without a shepherd, and he calls us to walk with him, as he walks with us.
We see that the need for the rest could also be in the middle of the lake. When Jesus in verse 31 says, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” The middle of the lake is a place where Jesus and His disciples could be alone without the crowds. It was a time Jesus gave His disciples to rest from their ministry and to be alone with Him in the boat. So where is the place you could find rest for your souls?
So let us make some time daily to intentionally build a space with and a place to be present with God. It is at Worship here on a Sunday as we meet together we are refreshed that we may go out to serve Christ in the world and to partner Him in the world. When the disciples land the boat, more people are waiting for Jesus, eager to be healed by touching the fringe of his cloak. Karen Yust writes that our job as the church is to be “the fringe of Christ’s cloak” to the world. We may think that means scurrying around, trying to meet every single need that comes to our attention, but that kind of activity doesn’t really offer compassion to anyone. It looks more like sheep without a shepherd, who race ahead of Jesus, instead of following him.
That kind of activity keeps us from having real compassion for those Christ calls us to reach. And it keeps us from staying connected to Jesus himself. To be the fringe of Christ’s cloak, we have to be touching Jesus ourselves. To offer healing to others, we have to allow them to touch us. This is what true compassion means. It isn’t pity that says, “Gee, that’s too bad, wish I could help but I can’t be bothered right now.” It isn’t even empathy that says, “Here’s a handout that I know won’t solve your problem, but it will help me feel better about myself”. True compassion means letting ourselves be touched, so that we can be Christ’s healing touch in the world, even if it only means being the fringe of Christ’s cloak.
At the end of a long day or a busy week, it’s easy to see people who want more from us as a nuisance or a bother. Our natural reaction can be to tell people to leave us alone, to look for some ‘me’ time, or to want to hide until it all goes away. What if we were able to see each other as Jesus sees us, as sheep without a shepherd, as people who have good intentions but really no clear idea of where we’re going or what we’re doing, and to find compassion for each other?
Whatever is happening in our lives, this story tells me that Jesus looks at each of us with gut-wrenching compassion, and he teaches us a better way of life. Maybe we need to stop for a bit, recognize that for our best of efforts, we’re all a little lost, and listen with fresh ears to the teachings of Jesus.
MESSAGE FOR SUNDAY, 2024/07/14
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Reading:
Ephesians 1:3-14
Text:
Ephesians 1:3 – 4: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight”
Message
Paul begins his letter with praise to Almighty God for the sovereign grace by which He gives sinful people a new position in Christ. Paul is excited about the gospel of Jesus. See how many times the words “In Christ” and “In Him” appear in this passage; at least ten times. We see that every blessing that we have from God comes to us in connection with Christ. God already blessed us and if you put your faith in Jesus Christ and accept Him as your Saviour and Lord you are sovereignly, abundantly and eternally blessed. Tom Julien writes, “Some seek blessings and miss Christ. Others seek Him and find both.” If you accept Jesus as your Saviour you are richly blessed beyond measure. We may not always feel blessed especially in trying times. But that does not change the fact that you are blessed. You can be blessed and stressed at the same time. And the only way to deal with some stressful situations is to remind yourself that you are blessed in spite of the stress. John Ortman JR gives us wise advice when he wrote;
When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings – name them one by one
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.
How do we respond to God’s blessings to us in Christ? We ought to praise Him. We ought to praise Him for all that He has done for us because we did not deserve it. We praise Him because He created us, gave us life. (Psalm 103:3) ; “Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” God is our Sovereign Creator. He also has redeemed us. God so loved us that He gave us His only Son to pay the penalty of our sins and to adopt us as His children.
So we worship and praise our God for all that He is and does for us. That’s why we sing the hymn “Come Thou fount of every blessing” realizing that all our blessings come from God. In Christ we are blessed for it is through Christ that God blesses us as Paul says every spiritual blessing is ours in Christ. Every blessing that we have from God comes to us in connection with Christ. In Christ we have these blessings, whether in the past, the present, or the future. We see that Jesus is the only way to the blessings of God. We read in 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation. The old has passed away, behold the new has come.” We see that our blessing in Christ is sufficient. Romans 8:32 says “He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things.” So if we are in Christ we already have full access to the blessings of God, His peace, joy and His love. Notice God does not promise to meet all of our needs but will meet all your needs. Paul also says that God chose us in Christ before the creation of the world.
Notice this: It says that God chose us in Christ, when? “Before the foundation of the world.” Before the foundation of the world! That, my friends, is truly the eternal past! Before God laid the foundation of the world, before the act of creation, God already had in mind to choose you! To choose you for himself, that you would be holy and blameless before him. That you would belong to him. God graciously chose us to be his people long before we did any choosing about it.
God chose us to belong to Him ahead of time. God chose us for one reason only because He loves us. God didn’t choose you because you’re a good person. I’m sure you’re a good person, but your sin makes you not a good person, and yet God loves you anyway. He didn’t choose you because you can contribute something to help Him win. He didn’t even choose you because He saw something in you that He could use if only He gave you a little training. It doesn’t get any clearer than this: He loves you. That’s why He chose you. There is nothing we can do to earn His love. We are all sinners. We act out against doing what God says not to do and not doing what He tells us to do. He still loves us and chooses us because He is love not because we are loveable.
In Christ we have “redemption through His blood the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding (verses 7-8) The redemption and forgiveness that is given to us comes according to the measure of the riches of His through the forgiveness obtain for you through His death, which is the greatest display of God’s love, you are chosen, and you remain chosen by God. Nothing can ever undo what Christ has done for you. Through the forgiveness obtained for you through His death, which is the greatest display of God’s love, you are chosen, and you remain chosen by God. Nothing can ever undo what Christ has done for you. The result of this is redemption which means we have been released from the burden of sin, the curse of death and bondage to the devil. By the holy precious blood of Christ, that payment he paid which you could never pay. “The forgiveness of our trespasses.” All the ways you have transgressed against God’s commandments, gone where you should not have gone, whether in thought, word, or deed, the wrong things you have done, the right things you have failed to do – that whole dirty, stinking mess has been washed away by the blood of Christ, removed from you and sent far away, never to return. That is forgiveness. “According to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us.” Grace. That means it’s all a free gift, you don’t do anything to deserve it – you can’t – God just is rich and gracious toward us, that’s how he rolls. Think of grace like this: G R A C E, God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.
In verses 9-12 we see the mysterious will of God. In verse 10 see “to bring all things in heaven earth together”. Part of what belongs to us under the riches of His grace is the knowledge of the mystery of His will, God’s great plan and purpose which was once hidden but is now revealed to us in Jesus. That … He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth; in Him: God’s ultimate plan is to bring together – to ultimately resolve – all things in Christ. The word for gather together has the idea of “to unite” or “to sum up”; it was used for the process of adding up a column of figures and putting the sum up at the top. Paul’s idea is that God will make all things “add up” at the end, and right now He is in the process of coming to that final sum.
Then in verses 13-14 we are sealed by the Holy Spirit. When God blesses us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, He seals His blessing with His Holy Spirit of promise. In verse 13 Paul says that after hearing the Word of truth and trusting in Christ we are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise. This seal cannot be broken. You were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise: Also essential in God’s work is the sealing work of the Holy Spirit. His presence in our lives acts as a seal which indicates ownership, and which is a guarantee of our inheritance.
God keeps a promise for His church in Christ. When God blesses us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, He seals His blessing with His Holy Spirit of promise. For hundreds of years before Paul wrote this letter, kings would write down their decrees. They would then seal the decree with a wax seal. The seal of the king signified four things. It signified security. When the king placed his seal on a document, it could not be broken. Even the king himself could not break it. It was the word of the King and could not be violated or revoked. It signified authenticity. Everyone that saw that seal instantly knew the decree was from the king, not from anyone else. Since the design was unique to the king, counterfeits were easily recognizable. It signified ownership. If the king placed his seal on a decree it showed people who it belonged to. The king would use his seal to mark land and property deeds. If it had his seal, it belonged to him – forever. Finally, it signified authority. A decree with the king’s seal on it was as good as if the king himself was standing there commanding it. That was the kind of seal Paul had in mind when he wrote this. In verse 13, Paul says that after hearing the Word of truth and trusting in Christ, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. Just like the king’s seal Paul was thinking about, God’s seal is one of a kind. It is instantly recognizable as His personal seal. The Holy Spirit’s seal cannot be broken. It cannot be violated or revoked. Counterfeits will quickly be found out.
The Holy Spirit’s seal means we belong to the king. We are His possession, and as His possession, the things we say and do should represent Him. When we do represent Him and speak His Word, we speak it with the same authority as if it came from His very own mouth. But not only does God bless us with the Holy Spirit of promise for a seal, He blesses us with the Holy Spirit of promise for a guarantee. When we are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ and sealed by His Holy Spirit, God guarantees us a place with Him eternal in the heavens. Paul put it this way in Philippians 1:6: “Being confident of this very thing, that he who hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of redemption.” God will finish what He starts in our lives. He’s promised it. He’s sealed it with His Holy Spirit of promise and He’s guaranteed it. Not for our glory – but as our passage says, “unto the praise of His glory.
Where are we today, what are we looking at? Are we caught up in our needs, and how much stuff we need to do, or some disappointment or hurt that you have gone through. I want to challenge us again today to turn our eyes upon Jesus. It is to praise God and give Him thanks for the blessings He has given us in Jesus Christ. Begin to count your blessings and name them one by one and see what the Lord has done for you.
Is it time you turn your eyes upon Jesus again this morning? Is it time you praised God and thanked Him for His blessings He’s given you in Jesus Christ? Do you need to praise Him for His plan for us in Christ? For us in Christ? For His provision for us in Christ? For His purpose for us in Christ? And for His promise for us in Christ? Jesus has a plan, provision, purpose, and promise for us today – all we have to do to turn our eyes upon Jesus to look in His wonderful face and the things of the earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.
MESSAGE FOR SUNDAY, 2024/07/07
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Reading:
2 Corinthians 12:2-10
Text:
2 Corinthians 12:9 “But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
Message:
These verses from 7-10 are such a different way to think and live. To be content with weaknesses, hardships, calamities, insults and persecutions, how is that possible? His promise, on the surface, is a little ridiculous – weaknesses, Paul says, are good. In fact, that’s about what he will boast about. He even goes so far as to add in the thorn in his side, persecutions and hardships to the list. It doesn’t make much sense, does it? Why on earth would we want to tell others about those places in our lives where we are imperfect? It goes against the very grain of our culture, which tells us to conceal our weaknesses, not boast about them. Focus on our strengths, minimize our shortcomings. After all, that would make us incredibly vulnerable, open to criticism, and frankly, less likely to succeed. Consider taking Paul’s advice on your next job interview. Go in and lay out all of your weaknesses, boast about the skills you lack. Probably won’t get you very far. So what is Paul getting at; there are many today who present a gospel of strength. God doesn’t want you to be weak. In fact, God will take away all your weaknesses, that is, if you have enough of or the right kind of “faith”. But this doesn’t match the Scriptures, which teach us that God does allow us to be weak and that God wants us to have his strength in the midst of our weaknesses.
To understand it we have to look more closely at what this weakness about which Paul boasts actually is. Karl Barth describes it this way, “what is his weakness? Simply what remains of his Christian existence after it is stripped of the religious experience of which he could boast for good reason and in truth, but that means insults, hardships, persecutions, calamities for Christ’s sake (v.10). There he sees the power of Christ dwelling in him; there he knows himself to be strong; there is what he boasts about.” For Paul, boasting about weakness is an entry point into boasting about God. Rather than taking an “I can do it all myself” attitude, allowing himself to be weak means that he is open to receiving help from someone far more powerful and strong – Jesus Christ. In essence, it is Paul getting out of the way of himself, out of the way of pride, so that God’s strength can be seen more clearly (see verse 9). In this text, he presents humility almost as hyperbole as one way of getting there.
He wants people to see his godly life and his proclamation of the gospel message of Jesus. He’s not there to wow them with his godly life and his faithful proclamation of God’s word. How many times do we see people today who claim to be Christians who do not do this! They want to set themselves up as special and distinct so they tell stories of visions and dreams that they claim were given to them by God so that you will be impressed and listen to them. Please notice that Paul says that he does not do this. He does not use such things to get people to listen to him, even though he had all kinds of experiences that he could have shared. Personal experiences and testimonies are not the point. His faithful life and his faithful proclamation of the gospel is what people are supposed to see and listen to only. This is what Paul did for the Corinthians.
Notice the purpose to the suffering that Paul is experiencing. “So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations” and “to keep me from becoming conceited” is the purpose of God (12.7). Now we need to see the two angles regarding what Paul is going through. This thorn in his flesh is a messenger of Satan that is tormenting him. Satan uses trials, suffering, and difficulties to torment us. Satan uses these things to harass us and trouble us. This is exactly what we see in the book of Job. Satan is using suffering to torment Job so that he will turn his faith away from the Lord. Job is afflicted so that it would be revealed that Job serves God for nothing.
But please notice that this is not God’s purpose. God is not tormenting Paul. God is not harassing Job. God has another purpose by which He allows suffering to happen in the world. Paul says that for him, because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations he received, this thorn in the flesh was given to him so that he would not exalt himself or become conceited. God used this so that humility would be maintained. A message we consistently see in the scriptures is that God allows suffering purposefully. God allows suffering so that His purpose and good would be fulfilled in us. Satan uses suffering to torment us, harass us, and attempt to destroy us.
Rather than rely on our own, which we know is limited, we rely on God’s which we know is infinite. In order to fully understand what God’s love and grace is all about, we have to get out of our own ways. To be “powerless” and “weak”, if you will, like Paul. We must do so with care, for there are some tempting and common traps that we can fall into if we take this boasting in weakness business too far. You all probably know someone in your life who always has to “one up” any story you tell. Good or bad, this person always seems to have had a life experience that’s just a touch more extreme than your story. If you have, for example, a physical weakness, such as back pain, this individual immediately jumps in with a story about how she threw out her back once, and it was ten times worse than what you had experienced. This certainly boasting in weakness, but it’s not what Paul is talking about.
For Paul, the boasting is only a means of entry, a way of reminding ourselves who is really in charge in the world – God. So don’t get caught up in naming or proclaiming your weaknesses either. It’s not about you, after all. Instead, get caught up in inviting God into those places in your life. Boasting in weakness means flinging the doors to our weak places open and making space for God to work within us. Because when we get out of our own way, checking pride at the door, we are better able to dwell with Christ in an honest relationship that truly makes us strong.
We see here that God uses the thorns in our lives to display His power to sustain us and to use us. And God is working in all kinds of ways through those thorny ways that we do not often see. Eric Saunders once said “If there’s more than one way for God to use a thorn and there’s more than one way for you to pray about a thorn”.
So we pray trusting that God is sovereign over everything in the world, in everything in our lives including thorns in our lives whatever those may be and in the lives of others. So we pray like Paul, “Please Lord remove this thorn”. We ask that knowing God has the power to do it, we trust in your wisdom and love for us. Once we have our laundry list of imperfections, we can fall into the trap of using them as a cop-out for not acting in the world. We can say “oh, I’m weak. I can’t possibly do that. It’s just not in my skill set.” Eventually with this pattern, we wind up not doing anything at all. God doesn’t promise to swoop in where we are weak and just fix things for us. I can’t simply say “I am a really slow runner and tire out quickly,” and then expect the Holy Spirit to do its thing and suddenly help me run a marathon.
I love what Morgan Freeman said in the movie “Evan Almighty.” If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him opportunities to be courageous? So when we admit our weakness (our thorns), He does not simply come and patch things up, rather God gives us the opportunity to work on them, promising love and support through the Holy Spirit and through others so that we can with God’s help be made strong. Our strength comes from God, who made heaven and earth, and each one of us in God’s own image. God has promised to continue to strengthen us in all we say and in all we do. God doesn’t promise that it will be easy, doesn’t assure us that we won’t be weak. Rather, God promises to be with us even in our weakness. And I believe God surrounds us with a great cloud of witnesses to help make that possible. Through Christ, we are assured that none of us have to endure hardship alone. Suffering is neither God’s design nor the end result.
We see that God does not always take the thorn away. As Paul prayed about the thorn in his flesh, the Lord did not take the thorn away. God does answer prayer – healing our bodies, delivering us from difficult circumstances and providing for our needs. But, God doesn’t rescue us from all weakness. Rather – God wants us to rely on his strength in our weakness. Rather than always delivering us he calls us to learn to depend on him. But note what the Lord said to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”(2 Cor 12:9). What was God’s answer? “My grace is sufficient for you”. God has given us sufficient grace to endure. Notice the answer is not that suffering would be removed. Rather, God has given sufficient grace so that we are able to endure. Do we believe this? We have what we need for this life. We have what we need to endure, excel, and flourish as disciples of Christ. We have God’s grace to cope with the weaknesses that are not removed. It’s hard to rely on someone else when we’re weak, but this is what God calls us to do. We want to be independent; self-sufficient. Sometimes we have pride thinking that we can do all that we need, that we don’t need anyone else. But in times of weakness we have to accept help and especially from God.
As the Lord said to Paul in verse 9 – “My grace is … for you…” Now the whole phrase is, “sufficient for you” but I want to emphasize that last phrase, “for you.” Just as God’s grace was “for Paul” so it is “for us”. When we’re weak God’s help is there for us to receive. And so we need to set aside our pride and accept this support that God gives; we need to ask for it in prayer. When we accept our weakness, in that we know that God has chosen not to take it away, or at least not yet, then we can lean in and fully rely on the Lord.
Then in the rest of verse 9 we see that God says “For my power is made perfect in weakness”. When we accept our weakness, in that we know that God has chosen not to take it away, or at least not yet, then we can lean in and fully rely on the Lord. And it’s when we’re relying on God’s strength that we’re truly strong, for it’s God’s strength working through us, not the strength of our own flesh. Do you see the paradox here – we have to be weak to be truly strong? As Paul says in verse 10, “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” And when we are weak, but God is strong in and through us, so that we remain faithful in our weakness and God even works through us in amazing ways – this brings glory to his name, because its clear that it’s not us, but God at work. If God’s grace is sufficient for Paul it is sufficient for us as well. There may be times when it feels like it is not sufficient. But by faith we have to know God will get us through. So we keep receiving the help God gives and we move forward. Day by day we receive help, encouragement and the strength we need to move forward.
God’s power is made perfect through our weaknesses. It is when we are out of strength that we finally depend on God most. Suffering is to burn away our pride, self-confidence, and independence. Therefore we embrace the suffering given to us because we have been given God’s grace which is sufficient to endure and is necessary for the growth of our faith. God always takes weak people to show his strength because those weak people depend on God. Moses is an exiled shepherd who becomes the deliverer of God’s people out of Egypt. David is an insignificant shepherd who becomes king of Israel and father of the King of Kings. It is in our weaknesses that allows God’s power to be put on display. We gladly express and exult in our weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest on us. Because of this I am able to be content in the midst of suffering, pain, weaknesses, hardships, persecutions, and the like because when I am weak, then I am strong.
As we look at verse 10 Paul says “That’s why for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, insults, in hardships, in persecution in difficulties. For when I am weak then I am strong.” I need these things so that I will depend on God. If God did not allow us to experience these failures, sufferings, and difficulties, we would never rely on God. We would continue to think how great we are and how much we are in control over our lives. It is in our weaknesses and frailty that we surrender our will to God. The only way I have made it through the trials and pains in my life has been by the power of God. I did not have the power to make it through and did not think I would make it through. But God gave me the strength at the right time. He sent me people to come to my aid and help me at the right time. Therefore, I will be content, delighted and take pleasure in my weaknesses and sufferings because I know that God is at work in me so that his power is on display.
God’s reply is simple, “my grace is sufficient”. That grace comes from Jesus Christ, who conquers all. By grace, God sent Christ into the world, to walk with us, to strengthen us and show us how to live, to heal us, and most importantly, to save us. Elsewhere Paul writes to the Philippians “I can do all things through him who strengthens me ” (Philippians 4:13). This is what makes us strong – not anything we do or don’t do, but God’s grace alone it is a gift, ready and waiting for each one of us, if we can be so bold, so crazy, so ridiculously counter-cultural, to be like Paul and boast in our weaknesses, getting out of our own way so that Christ may dwell more fully within us and work for transformation and reconciliation in our lives and in the world. When we are grounded not in our own egos and agendas but in truly seeking to embody our Savior, it is then where we will find the power and strength to live into our calling as followers of Jesus.
MESSAGE FOR SUNDAY, 2024/06/30
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Reading:
Mark 5:21-43
Text:
Mark 5:34 He said to her, ‘Daughter your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.
Message
So often in Mark’s gospel we see that there are sandwich passages like our reading today. This is when Mark begins to tell one story … then he pauses that story to tell another story … and then he returns to the first story and concludes it. So one story is split between the beginning and the end, like two pieces of bread, and the other story is in the middle, like the meat of the sandwich. And in this format, the middle story is often meant to help us interpret the outer story that has been split.
Let us begin with the first story.
I Jairus’ sick daughter
Jairus’ daughter was sick even to the point of dying. Jairus had heard of this new teacher named Jesus who healed the sick. So as fast as he could he ran to find Jesus. Even though leaders of the synagogue were not supposed to believe in charismatic prophets like Jesus, even though it would look bad on his social resume to be seen with Jesus he went. Every parent’s nightmare is to have a desperately sick child. This was the nightmare that Jairus and his wife lived. Even though Jairus was a prominent leader of the synagogue, no doubt a very faithful and religious man, their little girl was sick. He was desperate. Desperate enough to turn to Jesus. What do I mean by that? Well, it is important to remember that the leaders of the synagogue have already had many run-ins with Jesus. In fact, when Jesus dared to heal someone in a synagogue on the Sabbath, some of the leaders had already begun to plot to kill Jesus. And here is one of those same leaders coming up to Jesus in view of everyone, falling at his feet, and begging Jesus to heal his daughter.
In the eyes of the world, especially in the eyes of the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, Jesus was nothing more than a dangerous troublemaker. But Jairus, through the eyes of faith, and desperation, saw something quite different. Jesus was his daughter’s only hope for life. And so, Jairus summoned his courage, and risked his reputation and livelihood, in order to approach Jesus and beg him to heal his daughter.
When we are desperate, we can easily become discouraged. But when we are desperate and trust in Jesus, we can show tremendous courage.
Jairus was a desperate man. His daughter was dying. But Jairus also believed that Jesus could heal his daughter. And so, with the whole community watching, Jairus approached this troublemaker from Nazareth, and fell at his feet, and begged for a miracle.
Jesus agreed to see her and they took off. But then as Jairus looked back Jesus was standing there in the crowd. We can almost hear him thinking, “What was with this Jesus. He says someone touched him! Of course if someone touched him there must be a hundred people here. I don’t care who touched him, my daughter is dying.” I imagine in desperation Jairus may have even grabbed one of the disciples by the collar and said, “You light a fire under that teacher of yours and get him moving or my daughter is going to die!” But before they could get Jesus moving again Jairus’ friends arrived with the news. “Your daughter is dead. Don’t bother with this rabbi any more. It’s too late.” One can imagine the rage that welled up in Jairus. “I am a leader in the synagogue and this would-be rabbi wastes his time on some unclean woman.”
II The Bleeding woman
On his way to help the little girl, Jesus was interrupted by a woman who had been hemorrhaging for 12 years. She was desperate. She had “endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse.” This poor woman had been sick for twelve long years. She had been to every doctor around. Spent all her money on treatments that did no good. She was out of options. This woman suffered physically. She had been bleeding for 12 years. It was a persistent form of suffering. The consequences and distress were real in her life. Then it had religious consequences. She was not allowed into the temple because she was considered ceremonially unclean. She was not allowed to touch anybody and nobody was to touch her otherwise they would become ceremonially unclean as well. And we see also that she had spent all that she had on doctors but no healing.
Now we can understand how intense her desire to be healed was because she was at the end of her rope.
Is this not where we often find ourselves at the end of the rope? We have tried all things but nothing seems to truly help. We sometimes get momentary relief but the root of the problem remains. We have faced various afflictions physically, emotionally, economically and socially. We are desperate and our need is great. The Bible tells us that this woman had heard of Jesus and that she took it upon herself to touch his cloak so that she could be healed. And when you think about it, this was a bold act. She was unclean. What would people say? What would they do if she touched the Holy Rabbi? He might rebuke her. The crowd might stone her. But she reached out to Jesus anyway. This was a desperate act of faith by a desperate woman. Jesus was not late. He was right on time. God’s time (KAIROS). If Jesus had come any earlier she would not have been ready to take the chance she took. She would not have been ready to make that leap of faith. To take a chance on further ridicule and death on the belief that Jesus could heal her. When Jesus found her he said, “Your faith has made you well.” Because Jesus came when he did and not a day sooner this woman was able to step out in faith. And because she stepped out in faith she was healed.
So, she found him in the crowd, touched his cloak, and was immediately healed. She was healed, but Jesus wanted more for her. He wanted her to be restored to her community. So, Jesus stopped, turned to the crowd and asked, “who touched me?” The woman summoned her courage, and came to Jesus in fear and trembling and fell down before him. She need not have feared.
Jesus looked at her with love, called her daughter (the only time in the gospels that he did that); he claimed her as God’s own child. And he gave her peace. “Your faith has made you well” he said; “Go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
And this is, to me, what is powerful about her story. This poor, desperate woman found more than just healing that day. She was restored to her community. And she was given peace. The peace which his world cannot give. The peace which only comes from Jesus.
We see here just how great Jesus’ power is. And so, by healing this woman, in just a moment, with just a touch, Jesus not only showed that His power was categorically different from the efforts of the physicians she had seen … he also showed that his power was categorically different from any religious efforts carried out by human beings. We also see how that power can be accessed. It was the power of Jesus that healed the woman. But faith was the channel through which she accessed that power. In verse 27 we are told the woman “had heard reports about Jesus” of how Jesus healed and touched unclean and He Himself did not become unclean (he healed lepers).
What an affliction … what sin or brokenness in your life … do you need to bring to Jesus in humble faith this morning? In what area of your life do you need to follow this woman’s example? What we see in our text is that Jesus has the power to heal the desperate. He has divine power, to do what only God can do, so that where all other helps fall short, he is able to help and heal. But it’s not just that Jesus possesses this power. It’s also that he truly makes it available to us. He doesn’t require us to earn access to his strength. He doesn’t demand a bribe. We don’t need special status in the world to gain access. But his power is made available to all who come to him in faith.
When Jesus asks who touched me, it reminds us, once again, that we do not have a God who is far off, detached from our experiences and sufferings. We have a God who became one of us, who voluntarily experienced our human limitations. Which means that whatever struggles you are going through, he understands – not just in an abstract theoretical sense, but in a lived personal experiential sense. That is one important aspect of Jesus’s nature we see displayed in this story.
III Jairus daughter has died
And as we heard, Jesus went with Jairus to heal his daughter. But before they got to his house, his daughter had died. It was too late to heal her, in the eyes of the world. But in Jesus’ eyes, it wasn’t too late at all. “Why do you make a commotion and weep?” he asked the crowd who was there. “The child is not dead but sleeping.”
“If he had just come when I told him to, she wouldn’t be dead now!” But before Jairus could put his rage into words Jesus reached out to him and said, “Do not fear, only believe.” The mourners must have thought, “Why is Jesus coming” He is too late to heal the girl.” But Jesus took the girl’s hand and said, “Little girl, get up!” And she stood up and began to walk and they were all amazed.
See, the good news of the gospel this morning, is that no matter how “bad” the timing may seem to our eyes, Jesus is never late! He has perfect timing … God’s timing. Whatever is happening in your life, know that Jesus is there. God knows what it is. You may have suffered a tremendous loss. You may be facing tests or illness or the illness or death of a loved one. There may be family issues or relationship issues with which you are dealing; there may be financial struggles, struggles at work or school that seem unending, decisions that need to be made. The list could go on. I don’t know, but this I do know that Jesus is never late. We may think he should have healed whatever is hurting us years ago or that he should fix the situation that is troubling us or answer that prayer right now. Or we might wish that he would tell us what to do now, in a clear booming voice from heaven, or had prevented the estrangement in a relationship. Or we may think he should have healed the sickness before the patient died. Or we may think he should have prevented the illness altogether. But Jesus knows when the time is right. Just trust in him. Give him your pains and your troubles. And have faith that when the time is right he will be there with power to heal and to give new life. It may not come at the time or even in the way we expect, but it will come by His grace.
If there is a situation in your life with which you are struggling right now, that you need the Lord to touch and make whole or give you peace, I’m going to invite you to just come and bring it to the Lord, lay it at his feet.
Death seems so final in the eyes of the world. As Martin Luther put it in a sermon on this text, “It is easier for Christ to awaken someone from death than for us to arouse someone from sleep.” Think of that. For the Lord, death is nothing more than sleep. We don’t need to fear death. We fall asleep in the Lord, and the next thing we know, we are awakened by the Lord. That’s what He promises to us all.
And to show us that he can fulfill this promise, Jesus goes with Jairus to his house, takes his little girl by the hand, and raises her to life. Jesus has the power to make the sick well; and he even has the power to bring the dead to life. And one day, all will be made well; and all will be made alive in Jesus. He went to the cross to make this sick world well, and to bring this dying world to life. Just as he brought this little girl to life.
By the way, did you notice that after Jesus raises the little girl, he tells those who were with her to give her something to eat? He invites them to take part in this miracle, just as he did in another famous miracle, the raising of Lazarus, when he invited those around Lazarus to unbind him and let him go.
Why did Jesus do this? Because he wants us to participate in the work of bringing his kingdom to our world. He wants us to help this sick, dying world. He wants us to reach out to those the world deems unclean. He wants us to participate in the healing that he came to bring, and to share the hope that we have in him, so all the world would not fear, but believe.
MESSAGE FOR SUNDAY, 2024/06/23
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Reading:
Mark 4:35-41
Text:
Mark 4:38 Jesus was in the storm sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke Him and said to Him, ‘Teacher, don’t you care if we drown.’
Message:
Today we come to a familiar story that makes us ask an important question: “Who do we believe God to be? And also how does our understanding of who God is impact the way we respond to difficult seasons in life? While we profess a high view of God and of His power and goodness, we may be tempted to view our situations and respond with worry and fear. We may determine that God is negligent or uncaring. The story of Jesus calming the storm is a story about the revelation of Jesus as God. In addition we have the reminder that He can be trusted. Like the disciples we must consider whether we will respond to the situations of our lives with faith in God or with fear of our situations.
The Scriptures do not promise that Jesus will calm every storm. The main point of this passage is that Jesus is God. He has power over the wind and the waves and He is in fact God in flesh. By extension, because Jesus is God we can trust Him and choose to live in faith in Him rather than fear, regardless of the situations of our lives.
The Sea of Galilee is a beautiful sea. You can go out on it on beautiful days and enjoy it. But then all out of a sudden a life threatening storm could hit. One minute things are calm and quiet then the next minute a raging storm hits threatening to capsize your boat. It was beautiful that day, but storms can come along quite suddenly. And I think that many of the storms that face us in life – the physical, emotional, and spiritual storms – are like that. One minute, life is going along quite smoothly. Quietly, calmly, routinely. And the next minute, quite suddenly and out of the blue, something happens which throws our life into complete and total chaos.
We all face these kinds of storms. There’s simply no way to get through life without them. You might be facing one of these storms today. I may or may not know about it. It may be raging within, and threatening to overwhelm you with doubt or despair. If that is the case, and even if it’s not, there is much that we can learn from this powerful story in Mark’s Gospel.
We all face Storms
In his book ‘Letter to a Man in a Fire’, cancer survivor Reynolds Price responds to a letter from a young medical student named Jim, who has developed life-threatening cancer. In his letter to Reynolds Price, Jim writes, “I want to believe in a God who cares … because I may meet him sooner than I had expected. I think I am at the point where I can accept the existence of God … but I can’t yet believe God cares about me.” (Reynolds Price, Letter to a Man in a Fire (New York: Scribner, 1999), 25.)
As Jim faced his cancer he could have taken these words from the disciples when they cried out to the Lord, “Teacher don’t you care if we drown?” It is evening and the disciples are in the boat with Jesus. They are crossing the Sea of Galilee when a great storm arises. The boat is beaten by the wind and the waves; it is filling with water and ready to sink. All the while, Jesus is asleep in the stern untroubled by the storm, indifferent to their peril and unperturbed by their fear. These words could also be our words as well. How true. These storms are inevitable. Even faithful Christians are not immune from them. In a very famous book by the Christian psychologist, M. Scott Peck, his opening words are these:
“Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it.”
Storms of all sorts are inevitable. So if you are facing a storm today, know that you are not alone. We all must face rough weather in our lives. Life is difficult. There are lots of storms in life. Some are our fault. Most are not. We must anticipate rough weather. Because life is difficult. Storms are unavoidable.
But there is one storm, I believe, that is the most difficult of them all. At the end of the day, there is really only one kind of storm that is truly frightening. And it can be summed up in the disciples’ question to Jesus, when they woke him up as the storm raged around them. Their question is this:
“Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
Isn’t that the worst storm of them all? To wonder whether God really cares? Because if we know that God cares about us, then we can face any other storm in life. But what if God doesn’t care? Then is there any storm that we can survive.
We often join these disciples in this fear, for we too recognize the signs of a threatening storm, such as a bad report from our annual physical, a difficult job evaluation, turmoil in relationships. We often feel like little David standing before the giant Goliath. Think of how often we come up against a bully on the playground or in the workplace or in the courtroom or in the doctor’s office. At those times we know what it is like to be small, powerless, and on the bottom. We know what it is like to be exposed to the power wielded by another who is larger, richer or more armored than we.
Augustine says of this:
When you have to listen to abuse, that means you are being buffeted by the wind. When your anger is aroused, you are being tossed by the waves. So when the winds blow and the waves mount high, the boat is in danger, your heart is imperiled, your heart is taking a battering. On hearing yourself insulted, you long to retaliate; but the joy of revenge brings with it another kind of misfortune – shipwreck. Why is this? Because Christ is asleep in you. What do I mean? I mean you have forgotten His presence. Rouse him, then; remember him, let him keep watch within you, pay heed to him. We may wonder if Jesus is asleep on the job. The universe does not always seem to deal us a fair hand. Some people just seem to have it worse than others. And when we are dealt something challenging, we can wonder why. And wonder whether God even cares about us, then every storm can seem overwhelming. But if we truly believe that God cares for us, then there is no storm that is too great for us to handle.
In the face of all these things, the Christian faith declares that God does care for each one of us. The Creator of the heavens and the earth knows us by name and loves us. We are a part of the created world. When we consider this vast universe and our small place in it, it is an astonishing claim to say that God knows our needs and provides for us like a loving father or mother.
What we need is faith
Living without faith only works well when the seas of life are calm. Anyone of us can live on our own just fine when life is going smoothly. When the seas of life are calm, we don’t need our faith. We can live just fine without it. But what happens when life gets difficult? When the storm hits? That is when our faith is needed. But here’s the thing about faith: It is not something that we can just put in our pocket and have handy when we need it. It is more like a muscle that needs to be used to stay strong. Our daily prayer, bible reading, and weekly worship, are all ways to keep our faith-muscle strong. When gymnasts want to win the gold medal at the Olympics they need to have practiced every move a thousand times. When the storms of life hit we can go back to the prayers, the scriptures, the worship that we have done when the weather was calm, so that we can find strength to endure the storm.
Storms don’t worry Jesus. He’s right there with us during them, but he’s perfectly calm about them. He isn’t terrified; he isn’t impatient; he isn’t worried. In fact, he’s so calm, he’s asleep. To us, he seems to be asleep at the switch. We wonder why on earth he doesn’t get up and do something. We start to wonder whether He even knows the trouble we’re in, whether he cares. Whether he even can do anything about it. Like the disciples, we believe he’s there. In the disciples’ case they could actually see him lying there asleep. We don’t have that luxury. We believe he’s there, but most of the time he seems just as asleep as he was during that Psalm 44:23-24: “Awake, Lord! Why do you sleep? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever. Why do you hide your face and forget our misery and oppression?”
Maybe that’s why Mark included this story. The not-so-obvious lesson is that Jesus was just as much in control, and the disciples were just as safe in his hands, while he was asleep as while he was awake. Most of the time, life seems like a relentless voyage from one storm to the next. At least it does for me, and I expect it’s the same for you. One thing I’ve learned about myself is that during storms I’m usually as scared just like Jesus’ disciples were.
But I’m also learning that I can take heart in knowing that Jesus isn’t scared, and he isn’t depressed. He might be asleep, or he might not be, but either way, like the song says, “He’s got the whole world in his hands.” Even if he doesn’t wake up and quiet the storm, I’m safe with him. And if he does wake up and quiet the storm, he’s probably going to say. “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” Even though he sleeps, our faith leads us to trust that Christ is with us on the boat, and with us in the storm. He may seem to be sleeping on the job, so to speak, but he is still with us. Christ is in the boat with us. And in his good time he helps. And this brings me to one more lesson. It seems that Christ is not just on the boat, asleep. He can also be woken up. Our faith and our prayers can wake Jesus up. When the disciples found themselves in the midst of that terrible storm, when they struggled with doubt, and wondered whether Jesus even cared about them, they still managed to do one remarkable thing: They woke Jesus up.
Think about it. The waves were beating into the boat. In fact, the boat was already being swamped, according to the story. They must have been doing everything imaginable to keep that boat from capsizing or sinking. And yet, in the midst of all that, someone thought of waking Jesus up.
Trusting God’s loving care enables us to experience God in the midst of our suffering. This is the struggle the disciples face in the boat. They feel alone and abandoned by the one in whom they have put their trust. The story is recorded to reassure us that Jesus is with us in our suffering even when we cannot immediately see him or recognize him.
In Jesus God has come to us in our suffering and pain, in our to be human, in our fear and anxiety, and in our doubt and uncertainty. Jesus put off deity and put on humanity. He became one of us – one with us – one for us. God is with us. When the terrified disciples call out to Jesus, He answers them by calming the world and stilling the sea. Through the storm we are held by the love of the one whom even the wind and waves obey.
When the significance of this story strikes us, for it is so much more than the fact that Christ commands all to be quiet and still amidst the chaos. It is the acknowledgment that just as the Kingdom of God indwells Christ like a seed waiting to sprout … so this Christ sleeps within each of us .. rousing himself to respond to the intensity of our cries that we cannot stand it any more – we cannot bear it on our own any more – that like the disciples, we have exhausted all of our resources and need help beyond our abilities. This is also when we realize that we are allies of little David, who used not only his wits, but his faith in God to triumph over Goliath. These stories teach us that for those who trust in God there is a way when it seems there is no way. Then comes the fear of amazement and awe as we stop; to consider the mighty ways that Jesus responds.
Frederick Buechner has said:
Christ sleeps in the deepest selves of all of us, and whatever we do in whatever time we have left, wherever we go, may we in whatever way we can call on him as the fishermen did in their boat to come awake within us and to give us courage, to give us hope, to show us, each one, our way. May he be with us especially when the winds go mad and the waves run wild, as they will for all of us before we’re done, so that even in their midst we may find peace … we may find Christ.
Call upon Christ, for yourself, for your family, for your church, and for our world. And he will answer, in his own good time. He is with us, always, and he will not allow us to perish in the storm. One day, all of the storms of life will end. The sea will be peaceful and calm forevermore. Until then, we can count on storms. Life will continue to be difficult. But through it all, we can hold onto this one amazing truth: that Jesus cares for us so much, he is willing to get in the boat with us. He is willing to die for us. To perish, so that we do not have to. His answer to the disciples’ question, “Do you not care?” Is always yes. Jesus cares, and that is all that matters. It is what gives us peace in the midst of any storm.
The lessons we learn from the story is that Jesus has power over the storms of life, experiences them alongside of us, loves us, saves us from them and wants us to trust Him more than we do.
MESSAGE FOR SUNDAY, 2024/06/16
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Reading:
Mark 4:26-34
Text:
Mark 4:26-28 “He also said, ‘This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain – first the stalk then the head, then the full kernel in the head.’
Message:
As I prepared for today’s message I read a challenging bit that a minister shared with his people when he thought of the question “Does preaching do any good?” When I look at how many lives are not changed based on what I’ve preached, I can all-too-easily conclude that sermons are a waste of time. What do you think? But the real question isn’t what we may think, but what Jesus thinks. In our Gospel reading for today, Jesus says, ‘That’s not your concern!’ For He says, ‘The Kingdom of God sprouts and grows on its own.'(Mark 4:28).
Yes, Jesus in His usual style puts us all in our place, especially this preacher who wants to see God’s Kingdom grow in the way he wants to see it grow! That’s because I, like every Christian, also have a sinful nature that wants to manage God. I want God’s Kingdom to sprout and grow in my own way, time, and choosing. But Jesus simply says that God’s kingdom ‘produces by itself.’ So how does the Kingdom of God grow? It happens in its own way. Jesus says in our text today. His parables are a metaphor for the way God works in our lives. It’s meant to be an encouragement and to offer hope.
Our lives are like a garden that has been planted with seeds. And you know how that works. It takes time. And a lot happens underground, hidden within the soil of our lives. There’s a lot of waiting. And then one day something sprouts and begins to grow, “first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head.” We are always in process, living into our completion.
In Jesus’ day the farmer would walk out and by hand sow the seed that was in a bag tied to his waist. He would scatter the seed and in a parable earlier in this chapter we read today we see that some of the seed fell on a hard pathway and did not sprout or grow. So some hear the Word but it does not penetrate their hearts or lives. Some fall on rocky ground. They grow but it does not enter deep enough and the word just fades out of their lives and then the seed falls on the ground and begins to grow but the weeds smothers it so we allow the things of the world to crowd the things of God out of our lives. The other seed falls on good soil and produces a great harvest so we allow the Word of God to grow in our lives changing and transforming our lives.
Then Jesus gets to today’s parables. Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seed on the ground.” Did you notice the sower isn’t anxious when it comes to sowing the seed? He doesn’t test the soil. He does not try to find out how receptive the soil will be or its potential yield. He simply scatters the seed. He does not worry where the seed will land. He does not try to find out how receptive the soil will be or its potential yield. He simply scatters the seed. He does not worry where the seed will land. The seed is the Word, who is Jesus, the Word made Flesh. The soil is the hearts of people. Now we get a picture of how God manages His kingdom in the world. He scatters the Word of Christ, not worrying if it lands on productive soil, rocks, weeds, or hard pavement. And then the Word, Jesus through the Holy Spirit, creates faith when and where He wills. If we took this parable seriously, we would sow the Word of Christ recklessly, without concern for where it lands. We would tell others of Jesus, not worrying who hears it. If they are ‘ready’ to hear it, or how they will respond. We would simply sow the seed of Christ’s Word.
The kingdom of God is growing in our midst, even today. Jesus assures us of that. And it is growing within us, too. The seed of God’s word has been planted, and it is growing. It is to be accepted in faith. The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and sleep and rise night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows, but they do not know how. We do not know how the kingdom of God grows, but do we know how to scatter the seed – widely, lavishly, with love and persistence and faith. We scatter and plant the seeds of God’s love in Jesus, and we trust God to help those seeds sprout and grow. But it takes a while, doesn’t it? When we plant a seed, it is hidden. We can’t see it. We have to wait for the seed to become the plant or tree that it is meant to be. That takes patience, persistence, and faith. It takes being able to embrace the mystery of it all. We don’t have to know how it works to believe that it does. So, too, with all that Jesus would have us do.
So these parables are optimistic parables. These parables emphasize the confidence that Jesus has in His Word. The Word sown is all that is needed, it takes care of itself. It is full of life and power. It also engenders confidence in our Lord what He begins in us, He will complete, the future is in His hands. Phil 1:6 “And I am sure that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion.” The seed must be planted. Commit it unreservedly to God. Do all we can to leave the results to God. We can’t hold onto the seed feverishly in our hands and expect it to grow. We must put the seed in the resourceful soil of God’s power. I am so thankful that God gave us this promise when we share Jesus, our responsibility is not to bring the growth, that is salvation. This comes from God through the Holy Spirit. Our responsibility is simply to throw out the seed and leave the results to God. I am confident that nothing will return unto God empty.
It is God who brings the harvest. We can begin to share what God has done for us and in us. When the pastor preaches Jesus into the ear and hearts of his listeners, he scatters the seed of the Word. You also scatter the seed when you bring Jesus to someone through what you say. You scatter the seed when you tell someone else about the hope that is in you. you scatter the seed when you point someone , to the Supper of Jesus’ Body and blood, and to the forgiveness of sins.
So, how does the Word work? Jesus says “it produces all by itself. The sower sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows, although he doesn’t know how.” You just sow the seed. The Kingdom produces by itself, in God’s own way and time. Jesus says, “All by itself the soil produces a crop – first the stalk, then the head, and then the full head of grain.”
But when we look around, we don’t see the growth we expect. It looks as if the Word of God isn’t changing people’s lives. To that Jesus says, “that’s not your concern. Don’t let what you see replace your walk of faith. The Kingdom of God will sprout and grow according to my timetable.” So what does that mean? It means that we do what God has given us to do – but we leave the results to God. That would be a horrible business model, but it’s the right one for Christ’s Church.
“It is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground,” Jesus says. And I wonder, who are those someones in your life? Who has scattered seeds on the ground of your life? And what were those seeds? Who are the people that have loved and encouraged you, offered wisdom and guidance for your life, spoke difficult truths that changed your life? Who are the ones that gave you hope, stood by you, helped you find yourself? In what ways did he or she offer you a place to put down roots, find stability, and get your life in order? Who has awakened you and opened your eyes to see the world, others, and yourself differently? Who has inspired and mentored you? Who has called forth from you more than you thought you had? In what ways did someone grow you up and call you into your better self?
And what if you and I are to be seed scatters in the lives of others, for the life of the world? Have you ever forgiven and reconciled with another, or asked someone’s forgiveness? When have you put another’s interest before your own? Who have you encouraged, loved, reached out to in compassion? When have you sat with someone in his or her grief and said, “I’ll be here for you?” When have you spoken out and worked for justice? When have you shared with someone else the seed that you are? In what way are you doing that today?
What barren ground is waiting to be seeded and planted with your life, gifts, passions, presence, and concerns? Maybe it’s the barren ground of violence, poverty. Maybe it’s the barren ground of loneliness, fear, or despair. Maybe it’s the barren ground of grief, pain, or heartbreak. How might you scatter seeds in those places and a thousand others like them?
Jesus then says to us the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, the smallest of all the seeds and grows to become the greatest of all shrubs and all the birds of the air can make its nest in its shade.
Could this little mustard seed be Jesus himself? Just a carpenter’s kid, who grew up in a small out-of-the way town, who went about the countryside teaching about the kingdom using strange parables about seeds, and then died on a cross, planted like a seed in the ground.
As Jesus himself said before he died, “unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” (John 12:24). Could Jesus be the mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds, who would eventually grow to be the greatest of all shrubs, providing shelter for all? He was more like a mustard plant. But the mustard seed planted by Jesus during his short time on earth continues to grow, and it is not finished growing. Jesus planted the seed, and sent the Holy Spirit to nurture it, and it continues to grow.
God’s kingdom continues to grow on this earth, in ways that are sometimes mysterious, and sometimes majestic. And the church’s mission, our mission, as John Calvin reminds us, is to “make the invisible kingdom visible in our midst.” That is our task, to make the invisible kingdom of God visible to the world. So that they may see its mystery and majesty, and be filled with awe.
This mustard plant began by Jesus, that blesses the world in ways that we can barely imagine, and it is our job to help the world see it. To help the world see that the kingdom of God, which Jesus came to teach us about, is the greatest, most majestic tree in all creation, offering shade and rest to all.
Make the invisible kingdom of God visible, through our words and our actions. So that the world can stand in awe of the majestic and mysterious kingdom of God.
But also know this: For a plant to grow, the seed must die. For if the seed doesn’t die, then a plant won’t grow from the remains of the seed. In John’s Gospel, Jesus said, “I assure you: Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it produces a large crop”. (John 12:24). Jesus was pointing to His own death. For He is the promised Seed of Abraham, the Seed through whom all nations would be blessed. He had to die and be buried like a seed in the ground. If Jesus hadn’t died, there would be no fruit, no forgiveness, no life, and no salvation.
The seed must die to fulfill its purpose. You also need to die. Every day, the implanted Word is to have its way with you. You die to sin and self, so you may rise to new life in Jesus. Dying and rising are the way of the seed; they are the way of Christ and His Kingdom. You not only scatter the seed, you are also a seed that dies to live. You and I may ask, “Does it do any good to scatter the seed?” Jesus answers, ‘Yes, but leave the results to me.” Your seed bags are full of the good word of Jesus Himself. So scatter that Word. Scatter it fearlessly and recklessly. And know the seed will grow and produce a crop in God’s own way and time, all by itself, just as it has in you.
I want to end with a beautiful bit that I read about a little girl. A little girl loved the Lord and longed to share the message of Christ to those on the mission field. She contributed a penny to a missionary to help in the work of evangelizing the people of Burma. The missionary was so touched by the little girl’s response that he decided to do the most he could with that little penny. After careful thought, he bought a gospel tract and personally gave it to a young chieftain. The chieftain would not admit that he could not read, yet he burned with a desire to know the contents of the leaflet. He traveled 250 miles to find someone who would read it to him. After hearing the gospel message, it was not long after that this young chief made a profession of faith in Christ. Returning to his people, he told them what the Lord had done for him. Later he invited missionaries to come and share Jesus with the village. Many tribesmen accepted the good news and were converted. All this and probably more resulted from one dedicated penny given in Christ’s name by a little girl who gave from her heart.