Bob’s Blog

Celebration: Christ-empowered living provides for Jesus-followers the extraordinary power to stand again as the resurrection miracle enables them to fully gain stability and security.

This Lenten message series has focused upon the transformed life from the Gospel of Mark. We’ve learned that Lent is not about drudgery; it’s about drama—the drama of bonding with Christ on the
Calvary road toward a spiritually empowered encounter with God. It is a three-act drama of remembrance, release, and renewal. The Christian life is about Christ at work in the Jesus-follower. The Holy Spirit lives inside all Jesus-followers and causes them to be set apart for God’s use. The Holy Spirit empowers Jesus-followers for righteous living. The Christ—empowered life is more than seriousness and solemnity. Like faith itself, it’s a journey from sacrifice to celebration—an adventure beyond the ordinary!

 

It’s a marvelous story about an executive in a high rise office building in Los Angeles. He had a 7 foot fluorescent light that had burnt out. But in the office building only the janitors could replace the lighting and the cost was $20. In his mind this was excessive. So he decided he would replace it himself. He went to a lighting outlet near his home and bought the proper fluorescent tube and got up early the next day, drove his car into town, caught the Metrolink into the city and, carrying the 7 foot fluorescent tube all the way, sneaked in through the foyer before anyone else was there except the security guard. Then he replaced the tube. He took the old tube, placed it up against the wall behind his desk chair so no one would see it, and for the rest of the day he pondered how he would get the burnt out tube past the janitors.
Finally he had an idea. He had seen a construction site near where he had boarded the Metrolink, so he would stay late, sneak out of the building carrying the burned out tube and, toting it on the Metrolink, get off at his stop, but instead of going to his car, he’d take the tube to that construction site and put it in their dumpster.So he called his wife and told her he would be working late. He waited until well after six o’clock and successfully sneaked through the lobby holding the fluorescent tube vertically, and finally sat down on the Metrolink. That’s when some odd events overtook him. An amazing thing began to occur. As the subway began to fill up, more and more people came and held onto that fluorescent light as if it were a crutch for support. Finally, when he reached his destination there were six people hanging onto his light tube and he had a better idea. When his stop arrived, he simply got up and walked out . . . leaving those six people holding onto his fluorescent light as if it were a crutch.

 

The question of Easter is what are we holding on to? Our minds begin to play with this story and take it further. We may wonder: what happened at the end of the line? We can picture a man or woman suddenly discovering that they are left holding a burnt out fluorescent light tube and not a support after all, and we wonder what they did with it.Or a more unpleasant state of affairs might be that the Metrolink car came to a sudden stop and those who were holding the burned out tube dramatically discovered that what they thought was a source of security and stability was neither. We don’t like to think about that scenario. The potential for tragedy is too great. But it was like that tragic state of affairs on the first Easter morning, before Jesus’ followers knew that Jesus was raised from the dead. Early on the first day of the week, as the sun rose over Jerusalem, a small party of women made their way up a hillside toward a newly-hewn tomb. A frightened band of Jewish outcasts hid in an upper room. Mark gives the account of Christ’s resurrection.  

 

BEGINNINGS MEET ENDINGS—MARK 16:1-8 ¹ When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. ² Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb ³ and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” ⁴ But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. ⁵ As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. ⁶ “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. ⁷ But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’ ” ⁸ Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

 

As the women approached the tomb of Jesus Christ to anoint his body, the stone had been rolled back, and the King of Glory had already strode forth from the grave—mighty in battle the Victory over sin and death.

 

Mark records in verse 1: When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body.

 

Mary Magdalene, who tradition tells us had seven demons cast out by this man Jesus of Nazareth, had clung to him in life as her source of personal strength and security. Now he was dead. The emptiness of her grief must have been immense. The other Mary, described as the mother of James, is our Lord’s mother. She had heard the prophecy that a sword would pierce her heart. But surely she could not have imagined this: her child dying on a cross, and in true Semitic fashion, her life had been tied to her eldest son’s; here too, her emptiness must have been great indeed. What could these women—Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, along with Salome—really hold on to that Easter morning?What about the situation that the disciples were facing? We’re told that they were behind locked doors for fear of their lives. Peter, the impetuous, whose friendship with Jesus of Nazareth seemed a sure ticket to the kingdom of God, was now vacant of soul except for his fears and shame. James and John, the so-called sons of thunder who desired career advancement beyond their wildest imaginings, now faced the void of an unknown future.

 

What could the disciples hold on to as well? In likeness to the women and the disciples, what about us on this Easter morning? Have we ever been left holding thin air (a burned out light tube) when we thought we had something really solid in hand? There is another great word picture to help us understand the contrast between the futility of our own means of stability, and the support experienced in the power of the resurrection.

 

Resurrection = the Greek term for resurrection, anastasis, literally means, “to stand again.”

 

This is the powerful effect of the resurrection in the life of every Jesus-follower. This power enables us to hold on to the truth of Easter in such a way that it gives us the security and stability we need to stand again, every day. Satan, the Evil One, is a great bully. He engages us in his age-old battle. Daily he attempts to wrestle us to the ground.

• Perhaps there are women or men here today who have placed their hopes for a safe secure future on their relationships only to be wrestled to the ground, left alone — like Mary Magdalene.
• Maybe there are parents here who have lived their lives around and through a child only to be wrestled to the ground, profoundly disappointed and left grieving in the wings — like Mary, the mother of our Lord.
• There could be men and women here who tied their career aspirations to a friendship which they then betrayed, or which then betrayed them — like Peter, James, and John — and you’ve been wrestled to the ground, left holding an empty present and the fear of an unknown future.

There could be men and women here who have placed their faith in living with a sound, physical body and mind only to hear the news of a debilitating disease—and you’ve been wrestled to the ground, left clinging to the latest doctor’s diagnosis and treatment. But who among us hasn’t been wrestled to the ground by Satan, left holding a burned out light tube when we thought what we had hold of was safe and secure? A man facing bankruptcy stated to me recently that he “stared the devil in the eye.” We’ve all stared the devil in the eye. Have we faced our own powerlessness?

 

A gifted pastor, Chaplain John Vannorsdall writes…God raised Jesus from the dead, why didn’t God fix him up? Why scars? Why the print of nails that you could feel with your fingers? Can it be that the gospel words are saying to us in our waiting: ‘You will not see Jesus Christ unless you see the wounds’? Somehow we must understand that the resurrected Christ is forever the wounded Christ. Living, but never fixed up. Not bound by death, yet scarred for eternity. The deaf have a sign for Jesus. Quickly they make this sign many times during their worship: the middle finger of each hand is placed into the palm of the other. Jesus, the one with wounded hands. And when they touch the place, they remember. They hear the name in their own flesh.

 

To all who know emptiness and grief and worry and despair, Mark writes in verse 4: But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.The apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:17, 20 writes… ¹⁷ And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins… ²⁰ But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

 

And if God raised Christ, we believe he will raise us also. God will raise us every day. As the same sin knocks us to the ground, God’s power is at work in us enabling us to stand again. And God will raise us for eternity. Even after death, we will stand again.

 

If we understand this, it will radically change the way we live. That’s why we must tell our own resurrection stories. This is why we must, like the women at the tomb, in the midst of trembling, shout the truth with joy into the Easter morning (see Matthew 28:8). This truth is: “Don’t be alarmed, You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here.” There is power and rejoicing in this truth.

 

Karl Barth (May 10, 1886–December 10, 1968) (pronounced Bart) was the most influential Reformed Christian theologian since John Calvin. Barth in his writing, Dogmatics in Outline, says…the Easter message tells us that our enemies, sin, the curse, and death, are beaten. Ultimately they can no longer start mischief. They still behave as though the game was not decided, the battle not fought; we must still reckon with them, but fundamentally we must cease to fear them any more. Regarding the sting of sin and death:

•  In the past— the penalty through sin has been paid
•  In the present—the power over sin is available
•  In the future—the presence of sin will be wiped away

 

No guilt in life, no fear in death: this is “the power of Christ in me!” The Easter question is: What are we holding on to . . . for life, security and forever?

 

* - A group of botanists went on an expedition into a hard-to-reach location in the Alps, searching for new varieties of flowers. One day as a scientist looked through his binoculars, he saw a beautiful, rare species growing at the bottom of a deep ravine. To reach it, someone would have to be lowered into that gorge. Noticing a local youngster standing nearby, the man asked him if he would help them get the flower. The boy was told that he could hold onto a rope that would be tied around his waist and the men would then lower him to the floor of the canyon. Excited yet apprehensive about the adventure, the youngster peered thoughtfully into the chasm. “Wait,” he said, “I’ll be back,” and off he dashed. When he returned, he was accompanied by an older man. Approaching the head botanist, the boy said, “I’ll go over the cliff now and get the flower for you, but this man must hold onto the rope. He’s my dad!” When Jesus Christ came into the world to die for our sins, he was willing to go over the cliff and into a deep chasm of our sin because he knew that he could hold on to the rope held by his heavenly Father. And Jesus was resurrected so that we might be lifted out of that chasm with the power to stand again.

 

… they [the women] saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.

 

What are we holding on to this Easter? Where have we been wrestled to the ground by Satan?

 

The little boy knew that he needed to hold on because his dad ultimately held on to him. When we have stared the devil in the eye; when we’ve been wrestled to the ground by Satan, can there be any doubt to whom we hold on to, helping us to stand again? Today is Easter and we know what one thing we can hold on to that won’t betray us: it’s God who alone is God, the Creator, Savior, and Sanctifier.

• If we’re waiting for something to hold on to that is worth building our lives on–this is the right place and the Risen One comes to meet us here.  “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them”  –Matthew 18:20.
• If we’re looking for something to hold on to that will carry us through our season of emptiness–this is the right time and Jesus is the right one.  I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation –2 Corinthians 6:2. 
• If we have experienced disarray, divorce, personal health or job loss, if we’re wading through a night of despair or loneliness—we turn to the right person and Christ alone can roll the stone away, and open the very gates of heaven.“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name given under heaven by which we must be saved” –Acts 4:12.

 

Paul writes in Romans 6:4…“We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”

 

This Easter season, yes, there is death at work in us. But there is also life at work in us—the life of Christ. Every day, God reaches down and resurrects us from the grip of death. For each of us, we wrestle differently with Satan. And every day, God exerts that same power that he used to resurrect Christ from the grip of death. It gives us the power to stand again. Since we’ve seen what God did in Christ, we can be confident of what God will continue to do in us. As we have lived the forty-days of adventure from Lent to Easter with them, they have taught us much about the journey from sacrifice to celebration. Here at last is something to hold on to: a Risen Savior and Lord who promises us that we too shall live forever. We tell ourselves we have the power to stand again!

 

Prayer for Easter SundayChrist-empowered Savior: by whose power tragedy becomes triumph, we seek you not among the dead but among the living. We rejoice today because the tomb is empty, the stone rolled away, and the Easter miracle accomplished. When we thought the adventure of following you was over, you surprised us with the good news that it was just beginning. You did not leave us without hope; you fought the battle against death and despair until the victory was won. Now we need not be afraid, for through your resurrection, we have the power to stand again. No matter how dark the night, no matter how hard the struggle or ominous the foe, we are more than conquerors through you who loved us. Thank you for proving that nothing is impossible for you, for kindling the fires of resurrection and renewal in the ashes of defeat. We want to be pilgrims on the resurrection road, the same road that the women walked on their way to an encounter with you as our risen Christ. We surrender everything to you that is dead within us—our stillborn dreams, our unhealed wounds, our besetting anxieties. You are the Savior of new beginnings. Set before us some high challenge that will force us to rely on your power to stand again, the power at work in us to do far more abundantly than all we can ask or imagine. Focus our thoughts, not on what we cannot do because of our limitations, but on what you want to do in and thought us by your Spirit. May we live in the light of Easter’s dawn, and may there always be room for an alleluia in our hearts! Amen.

 

* - Alternate IllustrationThe 3-year old felt secure in his father’s arms as Dad stood in the middle of the pool. But Dad, with confidence, began walking slowly toward the deep end, gently chanting, “Deeper and deeper and deeper,” as the water rose higher and higher on the child. The boy’s face registered increasing degrees of panic, as he held all the more tightly to his father, who, of course, easily touched the bottom. Had the little boy been able to analyze his situation, he’d have realized there was no reason for increased anxiety. The water’s depth in ANY part of the pool was over his head. Even in the shallowest part, had he not been held up, he’d have drowned. His safety anywhere in that pool depended on Dad. At various points in our lives, all of us feel we’re getting “out of our depth” — problems abound, an estranged relationship, a lost job, health of a loved one diminishes, someone dies. Our temptation is to panic, for we feel we’ve lost control. Yet, as with the child in the pool, the truth is we’ve never been in control over the most valuable things of life. Easter announces the truth that we’ve always been held up by the grace of God, our Father, and that does not change. God is never out of his depth, and therefore we’re safe when we’re “going deeper” than we’ve ever been. Who are we holding on to this Easter? In spite of the depth, we can “go deeper” in life as we hold on more tightly to God this Easter.

Service: Christ-empowered living provides for Jesus-followers the surprising power to attain greatness not by social success but through exercising a humble spirit of servanthood. 

 

This Lenten message series continues to focus upon the transformed life from the Gospel of Mark.  Lent is not about drudgery; it’s about drama—the drama of bonding with Christ on the Calvary road toward a spiritually empowered encounter with God.  It is a three-act drama of remembrance, release, and renewal.  The Christian life is about Christ at work in the Jesus-follower.  The Holy Spirit lives inside all Jesus-followers and causes them to be set apart for God’s use.  The Holy Spirit empowers Jesus-followers for righteous living.  The Christ—empowered life is more than seriousness and solemnity. Like faith itself, it’s a journey from sacrifice to celebration—an adventure beyond the ordinary!

We’ve been immersed in “March Madness”!  The NCAA Men’s Basketball Champion will be crowned tomorrow evening.  We even have a local team in the Final Four: UCLA.  So here are some terms that may evoke strong emotions in us: rivalry, assertiveness, competition, comparison, first place, victor, and winner.  How we feel about those words most likely depends on our self-image and how we measure true greatness in our society.  If we see ourselves as winners, we probably admire the qualities they represent.  They might make us feel proud, satisfied, and a bit superior if we’re convinced that rugged individualism, survival of the fittest, and self-determination are important virtues and necessary components of all achievers.  We view television programs entitled “Survivor,” “The Amazing Race,” and “American Idol.”  However, if we see ourselves as runner-ups, or losers, such words may make us feel threatened, inferior, and exposed.  We feel cheated, ill-equipped to succeed in life like the winners do.  We might as well identify with a television program entitled “Lost.”  We might also feel resentful of society’s cruel system of rewarding the powerful with even more possessions, prestige, and power at the expense of the little people in society.

The technical phrase for this phenomenon is social stratification—“a stacking process that ranks us according to predetermined standards.  The word stratification comes from the field of geology, where it refers to layers of rock formations.  Social stratification is like a social staircase and is seen in every area of life.  There is a cultural ladder system whereby all citizens know exactly where they are slotted with regard to social class.

Can we imagine being a camp counselor for a dozen robust, adolescent boys?  For three years, without a break?  Or how would we like to be a Boy Scout leader for a group of virile young men, all competing for the highest awards during a three-year Jamboree?  It couldn’t have been a whole lot different for Jesus.  We tend to think of Jesus’ twelve disciples as a contented band of aesthetically and religiously oriented graduated choir boys, romping over the hills of Galilee and occasionally going to the big city—all the while overflowing with a  spirit of peace, harmony, and mutual love and admiration.  It wasn’t that way at all!

We will discover in the text of this message, how Jesus uses an event with his disciples to address the issue of social stratification.  Some of us would give anything to be able to step back in time when Jesus casts his shadow on earth.  How great it must have been to sit back as one of the Twelve and soak up all those truths Jesus practically lives out.  They must have really learned how to serve, to give of themselves.  Right?  Wrong! 

SERVICE MEETS SENSATION —MARK 10:35-45
³⁵ Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”  ³⁶ “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.  ³⁷ They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.” ³⁸ “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”  ³⁹ “We can,” they answered.  Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, ⁴⁰ but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”
⁴¹ When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. ⁴² Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. ⁴³ Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ⁴⁴ and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. ⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Mark continues to demonstrate an action-oriented Jesus.  In these verses Jesus edifies his disputing disciples with a hands-on lesson in servanthood.  James and John implore Jesus to give them the places of honor at his right and left in his kingdom.  Matthew reports that Salome, the good Jewish Mother of James and John, makes the request for her boys. But either way, “When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John.”  Jesus gives the Twelve a short exercise on kingdom leadership, stating that greatness is directly related to service, not celebrity status; to responsibility, not selected privilege.  In effect, Jesus says, we are not saved to be a sensation; we are saved to serve!
Seeking Spiritual Stratification

When Jesus speaks to his immediate followers about kingdom leadership and servanthood, there are several observations we might make about spiritual stratification, particularly as it applies to discipleship and the attaining of greatness. 

Let’s observe a few insights:

1.  The request

³⁵ Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”  ³⁶ “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.  ³⁷ They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”

James and John dream of high positions in Christ’s coming kingdom so they make a request to Jesus that they may sit at the right and left of Jesus in glory.  It’s clear from Mark’s use of the word “then” that this incident follows immediately after Jesus’ prediction of his death.  Something else is clear too of this request.  The disciples, especially James and John, don’t really “hear” Jesus—because their thoughts are filled with plans for their own future. Such an open-ended request is presumptuous under any circumstances, but Jesus is willing to listen. 

The request is similar to children coming to their parents asking them to do for them whatever they ask.  Like Jesus, most wise parents will respond by asking, “What do you want us to do for you?”   Before they grant the request, they will want to know the nature of the request.  Wise parents will not allow a wish to their children that in some way they will not be able to grant.  Perhaps even refraining from allowing a request that they know will not be needful or productive for their children. It would be like young children asking for a $150 pair of basketball shoes at Christmas so they can soar like Koby Bryant. Or it may be like teenagers asking for a Lamborghini for their first car on their 16^th birthday. All too often as Jesus-followers this is what happens to us.  We’re so busy with our own thoughts and dreams that we simply don’t listen, care or ask for things that are really needful and best for us.
A lust for greatness lurks behind the request of James and John.  Jesus has a right to be impatient or angry with them, but instead, he recognizes their progress in open questions and inch-by-inch understanding.  James and John are thinking about social stratification—the Jewish standard of rank—when they ask for seats on the right and the left hand of the reigning Jesus.  Although their brotherly request assumes that either James or John would be satisfied with either seat, the fact is that a fierce battle would rage following the granting of the request because the right-hand seat is the place of highest honor.  There is an old saying: God pickles the proud and preserves the foolish!
The first important insight is: self-ambition directs us to foolish desires.
2.  The restriction
³⁸ “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”  ³⁹ “We can,” they answered.  Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, ⁴⁰ but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”

Jesus responds to James and John by saying they don’t know what they are asking.  Jesus does not deny the standard of rank as a measure of greatness in the kingdom of God.  However, Jesus does not have the authority to allow this request.  Jesus leaves the prerogative for positioning to God, the Father.  Without diluting his deity in the slightest, Jesus takes himself out of the decision because he is too close to the situation. 

As a father of three terrific daughters and papa of five fabulous grandkids I have no favorites.  Perhaps my kids and grandkids may beg to differ. But each is fully loved and each is uniquely great.  Someone with a more objective viewpoint would have to judge their qualities and rank them in order.  It is equally unfair to expect that Jesus will rank order under a social stratification the disciples whom he loves and in whom he sees differing qualities of greatness.

Jesus also bases his positioning, however, on the participation of the disciples in sharing the cup of his suffering (Mark 14:32-36), and being submerged in the baptism of his death (Luke 12:50).  It is a devastating experience to share the cup of suffering and the baptism of death.  Yet James and John say they are able to go through it with Jesus.  Little do they realize what they are saying, for in later years they will indeed have their share of the cup and baptism. James will be the first of the disciples to be martyred (Acts 12:1-1) and John will experience great persecution through exile (Revelation 1:9).  Jesus knows that their request is motivated by earthly wisdom, not heavenly wisdom.

The second important insight is: self-seeking blinds us to the sacred.

3.  The resentment
⁴¹ When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John.

Word leaks out that James and John are conspiring for the top positions in the coming kingdom.  A power struggle threatens to destroy all the work that Jesus is doing to weld the Twelve into a unified, working body.  This false sense of attaining greatness arouses the anger of the other disciples and brings disunity to the group.  No doubt the other disciples are unhappy because they had not thought of asking first! 

There was laid a small circle of poison around a hill of stinging ants. Thinking the tiny granules of poison were food, the ants began to pick them up and carry them throughout the colony. As time progressed hundreds of the stinging ants were carrying the poison down into their hill. There was a hole in the circle of poison. Some of the poison was moving the opposite way–away from the hill. Some smaller, non-stinging ants had found this “food” and were stealing it from their ant neighbors. Thinking they were getting the other ants’ treasure, they unwittingly poisoned themselves. When we see someone with more than we have, we must beware. The hunger to beg, borrow, or steal our way into what is theirs may poison us spiritually.  Resentment, even destruction, usually follows closely behind covetousness—a desire to seek after what others want.  

There is no way the other disciples are going to give up the top spots in the kingdom without a fight.  They get downright ticked off that maybe James and John might get the glory they want.  Does this “glory seeking” sound familiar to us?  We squabble among ourselves as Jesus-followers when we find out that somebody else is asking for more prestige through the standard of rank. 

The third important insight is:  self-rank causes us to dream of fame in the midst of our shame.

4.  The reflection
⁴² Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. ⁴³ Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ⁴⁴ and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. ⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus now pulls the Twelve aside and spells out the sharp contrast between his philosophy and the world system in which they live.  Jesus explains to them this truth: a standard of rank leads to a standard of rule.  Jesus needs to nip the rebellion in the bud.  Jesus talks to them about the standard of rule which the Gentiles use to determine greatness.  Touching on the tender spot of his disciples who have been ground under the heel of Roman oppression, Jesus reminds them of the Gentile rulers who “lord it over” them.  Jesus’ point is well taken.  The disciples know that they have fallen victim to the same corrupting power that they personally suffer from the Romans, and they want none of it.

In our secular system there are distinct levels of authority.  In government there is our president, his cabinet, and a large body of selected leaders who have privileges the common citizen does not possess.  In the military there are the officers and the enlisted with ranks within each.  In sports there are coaches and players.  In the business world there are corporation heads and lines of authority between managers and personnel. In the church there are pastors, leaders, and congregation.  According to Jesus, this isn’t so.  In God’s family there is to be one great body of Jesus-followers: servants.  In fact, the way to the top in the kingdom is humbly beginning at the bottom.

Jesus is in the ministry of upsetting all the accepted standards of the world.  Categorically rejecting the standards of rank and rule, he establishes servanthood as his standard of greatness.  By rank, a servant is last of all.  In rule, a servant has none.  Jesus gives them a new standard to live by.  The disciples must not seek to attain greatness through the social stratification of rank and rule, but through service.  Jesus says, “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.” 

“Servant” in our English New Testament usually represents the Greek doulos (bondslave). Sometimes it means diakonos (deacon or minister); this is strictly accurate, for doulos and diakonos are synonyms. Both words denote those servants who are not at their own disposal, but are their master’s purchased property. Bought to serve their master’s needs, to be at his beck and call every moment, the servants’ sole business is to do as they are told. Christian service therefore means, first and foremost, living out a servant relationship to one’s Savior (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). True service unites community, while self-righteous service separates.

Richard Foster in his best-selling classic, Celebration of Discipline, speaks candidly concerning the “discipline of true service”:

Self-righteous service comes through human effort. True service comes from a relationship with the divine God deep inside.
Self-righteous service is impressed with the “big deal.” True service finds it almost impossible to distinguish the small from the large service.
Self-righteous service requires external rewards. True service rests contented in hiddenness.
Self-righteous service is highly concerned about results. True service is free of the need to calculate results.
Self-righteous service picks and chooses whom to serve. True service is indiscriminate in its ministry.
Self-righteous service is affected by moods and whims. True service ministers simply and faithfully because there is a need.
Self-righteous service is temporary. True service is a life-style.
Self-righteous service is without sensitivity. It insists on meeting the need even when to do so would be destructive. True service can withhold the service as freely as perform it.
Let’s note the following example between self-righteous service and true service. In the spring of 1883 two young men graduated from medical school. The two differed from one another in both appearance and ambition. Ben was short and stocky. Will was tall and thin. Ben dreamed of practicing medicine on the East Coast. Will wanted to work in a rural community. Ben begged his friend to go to New York where they could both make a fortune. Will refused. His friend called him foolish for wanting to practice medicine in the Midwest. “But,” Will said, “I want first of all to be a great surgeon…the very best, if I have the ability.” Years later the wealthy and powerful came from around the world to be treated by Will at his clinic…the Mayo Clinic.

Jesus explains to his disciples that greatness in his kingdom isn’t found in high position, but in servanthood.  Kingdom leadership is granted only for the purpose of serving, not for personal aggrandizement. If we want to become truly great, we set aside thoughts of ourselves, and think first of others.  Jesus does not intend to establish a new hierarchy by inverting the social ladder (stratification).  Jesus dismantles hierarchies altogether in the simple form of service.  Serving others is not to be viewed as a stepping-stone to greater power and position.

The fourth important insight is: stepping-stone service is out of step with our Lord.
Reflecting the Servant Image
Achieving the corporate culture of the kingdom of God is more demanding of its servants.  Because the goals of the kingdom are eternal and so very special, greatness of servanthood cannot be judged by the world’s standards.  Service in the kingdom of God is not attained through professional status, economic success, or natural ability.  It is exercised through a humble, self-less spirit of servanthood.  There are characteristics in the life of Jesus related to servant image.  Paul shares three categories in Philippians 2:5-8…
⁵ In your relationships with one another, have the same attitude of mind Christ Jesus had: ⁶ Who, being in very nature God,  did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; ⁷ rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a human being, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!
1.  Absolute Honesty.  Jesus openly does not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage.  He takes on our dispositions!
2.  Transparent Humanity.  Jesus voluntarily makes himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  He takes on our expositions!
3.  Genuine Humility.  Jesus willingly humbles imself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross.  He takes on our inhibitions!

In Jesus we as Jesus-followers stand on level ground.  This is one reason why regular observance of the Lord’s Supper is so important within the church body.  Whenever we examine ourselves in light of Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf, we are called to the cross and to the level living it implies.  Calvary was a hill and the cross was its pinnacle, but the ground at the foot of that cross was level and still is, so all who are there are brothers and sisters. 

The Lord’s Supper is an equalizer, a reminder that we are members of one flock led by one Shepherd who commands a unity that allows for no people-imposed distinctions.  The words of Jesus set before us the commitment to service. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” A ransom is the price paid to release a slave from bondage.  Jesus often tells his disciples that he must die, but here he tells them why—to redeem all people from the bondage of sin and death.  The disciples think that as long as Jesus is alive, he can save them.  But Jesus reveals that only his death will save them and the world.  So Jesus wants to know today if we identify with his death.  He calls us and asks us to become his servants.  “Deal or No Deal?”

Let’s ask ourselves some closing questions as we focus on the level ground of service:
·         How do we look for ways to minister to others’ needs, rather than our own?
·         How do we appreciate others’ work, realizing that we’re not above any job?
·         How do we take the initiative when we see something needs to be done?
This Lenten season, however restricted by society’s stratification of rank and rule, we tell ourselves that through the power of Christ’s indwelling presence; we can uphold the standard of service.  We have the power to attain greatness.  That greatness is in the form of servanthood.  As we live the forty-days of adventure from Lent to Easter with them, they have much to teach us about the journey from sacrifice to celebration.  We tell ourselves we can attain greatness!
Prayer for the Fifth Sunday in Lent
Christ-empowered Savior: You have brought us to this time and place on our journey of faith.  When we were wandering far from you in our worldy attempts to attain greatness, enslaved by our darker passions, you gave us an example of servanthood.  Confidence in your desire to ransom the lost, you gave us the courage to take steps toward true service.  No matter how much is yet unresolved in our lives, no matter how many loose ends still dangle, we are learning to rest in your presence.  Because all things begin with you, we can let go of our need to be in control.  In the midst of rank and rule, we can turn over our lives to your care and keeping, knowing you have given us the gift of grace in Jesus Christ.  You have brought us this far by faith.  As we serve a broken world, take us farther still.  Help us grow beyond our unhealthy dependencies and incriminating inconsistencies that bind our spirit.  Remind us that growth occurs not through increased power, but through deeper surrender in service to you.  May we learn that any experience can serve a good purpose if we trust you in the midst of it.  Therefore, help us to look out for the needs of others rather than our own.  Empower us to take the initiative when we see something that needs to be done.  Let us not forget to thank you for each role we have been given to play.  Show us that we are not to be served, but to serve. Amen.

Vision: Christ-empowered living provides for Jesus-followers the astonishing power to see anew as they expectantly wait and receive a second touch healing from God.

 

This Lenten message series continues to focus upon the transformed life from the Gospel of Mark. Lent is not about drudgery; it’s about drama—the drama of bonding with Christ on the Calvary road toward a spiritually empowered encounter with God. It is a three-act drama of remembrance, release, and renewal. The Christian life is about Christ at work in the Jesus-follower. The Holy Spirit lives inside all Jesus-followers and causes them to be set apart for God’s use. The Holy Spirit empowers Jesus-followers for righteous living. The Christ—empowered life is more than seriousness and solemnity. Like faith itself, it’s a journey from sacrifice to celebration—an adventure beyond the ordinary!

There are times when we sense that we are raising a generation who is unwilling to work for and wait for the important things in life. The reason why we sense this is because we see in our generation an unwillingness to wait as well. Perhaps we are the product of our culture in this regard. The technologies of western culture certainly influence how we view life. And they have certainly made life at the beginning of the twenty-first century significantly different than at any other time in history.

What has happened to “time”? Perhaps the following illustration will be helpful:

When as a child I laughed and wept, time crept.

When as a youth I dreamed and talked, time walked.

When I became a full grown man, time ran.

And later as I older grew, time flew.

Soon I shall find while traveling on, time gone.

Our technology has fostered upon us what may be called an “instant age.” Today, we are able to have what we want in short order. From instant coffee, to instant-on TV’s, to microwave ovens that cook our food in minutes, to laser printers and copiers, to a variety of other conveniences, we have come to expect not simply to have what we want, but to have it now. To have to wait for things has become a burden to many of us. And if it has become a burden to us, it will be intolerable to younger generations.

Now this is unfortunate, because generally, the best things in life take time. Our relationships are like that. In order to have a meaningful and lasting relationship, we must spend time building that relationship. We can’t get to know someone overnight. We must invest the time if we would reap the dividends. Other important things, like education for our career and skill in the creative arts also take time to be done right. Faith can be like that as well. Not all of us have instant faith. Sometimes faith must grow. But it certainly is a faith worth nurturing and worth anticipating.

God always deals with his people on the basis of faith. And that means we do not always get what we need from God instantly. Sometimes things come gradually as our faith grows. But that’s OK. Sometimes it takes patience to see what God will provide. This too is OK.

There is a saying that goes like this: “patience is a virtue, possess it if you can. Found seldom in a woman, never in a man!”Men pray for patience and we want it now!

We will see in the text of this message, how the blind man of Bethsaida received his sight through the second touch of the Savior’s hand. What he got he did not get instantly. But he did get it. It came, not all at once, but gradually. He needed not merely a first touch, but a second touch. We also need the first and second touch. Sometimes, we must come to God again and again. The encouraging news is that God is a God of the Second Touch.

SPIT MEETS SPECTACLE —MARK 8:22-26

²² They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. ²³ He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?” ²⁴ He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.” ²⁵ Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. ²⁶ Jesus sent him home, saying, “Don’t even go into the village.”

Mark continues to demonstrate an action-oriented Jesus. The incident of the blind man of Bethsaida is only recorded by Mark. It is a wonderful story of how God deals differently with different people. It is the story of healing. But unlike many of Jesus’ healings, this one did not occur instantly. There is a process involved in this healing. This story communicates to us an essential truth that God deals with each of us on the basis of what we need. Just as we are not all stamped out of the same mold, so God’s miracles do not come in “cookie-cutter fashion.” Just as we are not a mechanical system, so God does not deal with us with a scheme. God meets each of us personally, where we are, and deals with us as individuals.

Receiving a Second Touch

When Jesus comes to Bethsaida, he is met by a group of people with a blind man in tow. These people want to see the blind man healed. But perhaps they may want to see this miracle worker perform, more than they have a desire to see a blind man healed. And so they begin to ask Jesus to touch him. What we see here are the expectations of people, as those expectations relate to God and his work. No doubt, the people expect a first touch miracle. However, Jesus gives the blind man a second touch healing. It’s a focus on faith.

Let’s observe here the process of faith Jesus leads this blind man through in order to restore his sight.

1. We see the uniqueness of Jesus’ compassion

²³ He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village.

Blindness was, and still is, one of the great curses of the East. It was caused partly by ophthalmia [acute conjunctivitis, an inflammation of the eyes], and partly by the harsh glare of the sun. It was greatly aggravated by the fact that people knew nothing of hygiene and of cleanliness. It was common to see a person with matter-encrusted eyes on which the flies persistently settled. Naturally this carried the infection far and wide, and blindness was a plague.

Jesus takes the blind man out of the crowd and out of the city that he might be alone with him. Jesus is sensitive to this man’s dilemma. If this blind man would suddenly be given back his vision among the crowd, there would have flashed upon his newly-seeing eyes hundreds of people and things, and dazzling colors, so that he would have been completely bewildered. Jesus also knows this man’s faith. It would be far better if he could be taken to a place where the thrill of seeing would break less suddenly upon this man, physically and spiritually.

That is always the focus of what God does in our lives. God is not only interested in our physical needs, but also our spiritual needs. God is excited by our faith. God acts on the basis of our faith. What concerns Jesus is the faith of the blind man. God is far more interested in developing faith in us than he is in our physical healing. Jesus is willing to heal this blind man, but he is more interested in developing faith in him.

Every great doctor and every great teacher have one outstanding characteristic. The great doctor is able to enter into the very mind and heart of the patient; the doctor understands the patient’s fears and hopes; the doctor literally sympathizes—suffers—with the patient. The great teacher enters into the very mind of the scholar. That is why Jesus is so supremely great. He can enter into the mind and heart of the people whom he seeks to help. Jesus has the gift of compassion, because he can think with their thoughts and feel with their feelings. May God extend to us this Christlike gift.

2. We see the matchlessness of Jesus’ methods

²³ …When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?” ²⁵ Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes.

The ancient world believed in the healing power of spittle. The belief is not so strange when we remember that it is a first instinct to put a cut or burned finger in our mouth to ease the pain. Of course the blind man knew this remedy and Jesus uses a method of curing him which the blind man can understand.

Jesus is wise, but common in the use of his healing methods. Jesus does not begin with words and methods that are far above the heads of simple people. Jesus speaks to them and acts on them in ways that even simple minds can grasp and understand. There have been times when the need to be logical is accounted a virtue and a sign of greatness. Jesus has the still superior greatness—the greatness which even a simple mind can grasp.

Most of us today are considered well-balanced and simple-minded. However, do we realize that one in every four Americans is unbalanced? Personally, think of your three closest friends. If they seem OK, you’re the one!

In Jesus’ healing methods, he is committed to staying in contact with us until we come to the place where we can receive the fulfillment of all he wants to do in our lives. He doesn’t deal with all of us in the same way. He doesn’t use the same methods and the same means. But Jesus does touch all of us by his power. Some of us have experienced dramatic identifiable conversions. We can identify the very hour and minute we were saved. We can tell what pew we were sitting in and what verse of what song we were singing when God spoke to us. Others, however, do not share such a dramatic conversion. Some, in fact, who were raised in Christian homes, cannot even tell you in what month they trusted Jesus. It was a process of taking one step after another closer to the Savior until those steps became a true conversion to Jesus Christ. The important thing is not that we were all converted the same way. The important thing is that we all experienced conversion. What is important today is that we know that we have surrendered our lives to Jesus no matter what method it takes to accept God’s gift of salvation.

3. We see the distinctiveness of Jesus’ miracle

²³ …Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?” ²⁴ He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.” ²⁵ Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.

A sixth-grader gave the following description of a miracle. “A miracle is something extraordinary that happens without any strings attached.” It’s true; all miracles are instituted by God with no strings attached. Three Greek words are translated “miracle”: dynamis, “powers;” terata, “wonders;” and semeia, “signs.” A miracle is an action of God or his messenger that runs counter to observed processes of nature. The miracles of Jesus are central to understanding who he is, and to validating his claims as the conquering and suffering servant of God. Some modern theologians have tried to take the miracles out of the Bible in order to make its message “understandable” to the modern mind. But the message of the Bible is still and will always represent a great miracle.

This miracle is distinctive—it is the only miracle which can be said to have happened gradually. Jesus’ miracles usually happen suddenly and completely. In this miracle the blind man’s sight comes back in stages. This doesn’t suggest that it is too difficult for Jesus. Possibly Jesus wants to show his disciples that some healing would be gradual rather than instantaneous or to demonstrate that spiritual truth is not always perceived clearly at first. Before Jesus left, however, the blind man was healed completely—his sight fully restored.

We know by reading the Gospels that Jesus heals at least three blind men differently. In one case, he touches the blind man and he is healed. In a second, he spits on the ground, and makes mud and puts the mud on the blind man’s eyes and he is healed. In this case from Mark, he spits directly into the blind man’s eyes and he is healed. Now let’s suppose these three blind men meet one day and begin comparing notes. If they are like some Jesus-followers today, their sharing will degenerate into an argument over the proper method of being healed from blindness. And because each has experienced a different method, they will probably be polarized into three distinct sects.

Out of that meeting will emerge the “touchites,” the “mudites,” and the “spitites.” And three new movements will be born. But they really miss the point. Sometimes we miss the point on equally trivial grounds. Jesus’ healing is distinctive no matter what the methods. The point is that we receive what God is trying to do in our lives. However God ministers this to us. We know this: that Jesus is interested in giving each of us what we need. Whether it comes instantly or takes a period of time, we submit to God. We trust God in the midst of our circumstances. God is working in them and through them to grow our faith. And as we trust God more fully, our faith will be fulfilled as God’s grace is applied to our lives.

There is symbolic truth here for Jesus-followers that deals with Christ-empowered living. It centers upon spiritual maturity. Jesus’ healing is unique, matchless and distinctive. No one sees all God’s truth all at once. Our salvation is instantaneous due to the completed work of Christ on the cross. But our sanctification is a progression of growing into the likeness of the person of Christ. We still have to grow in grace because the discovery of the riches of Christ are inexhaustible. We still need to see what it means to go on growing in grace, learning more and more about the infinite wonder and beauty of Christ.

Seeing God in All Things

The way we see things that happen in our lives have a great effect on our state of being. Seeing God in all things is healthy vision. If God is our hope, our salvation, our security, our peace, then God must be the one who has charge of everything.

Jesus said in Matthew 6:22-23…

 

“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. ²³ But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness.”

If our eye is “single”, (Kings James Version), leaving no room to consider anyone or anything other than God being in control, we have the power to see anew. We have the perception to identify our true source of light with healthy hearts.

SingleVISION Living =

“the capacity to see clearly what God wants us to do, and to see the world from his point of view.”

The Greek word for healthy here implies generous. The Greek word for unhealthy here implies stingy. So this spiritual insight can be easily clouded by an unhealthy eye. Self-serving desires, interests, and goals block that spiritual vision. Serving God is the best way to restore it. A “healthy” or “single”eye is one that is generously fixed on God.

A little boy flying in a commercial airplane was sitting in the seat next to a lady who was shredding her Kleenex, trembling with worry and fear. “Little boy,” she asked, “How can you be so calm as we fly through this storm? Aren’t you terrified?” “No,” the boy responded as he played with his toy airplane. “How can you be so calm in a situation like this?” The boy stopped flying his toy plane and looked her straight in the eye and said, “I’m not worried. You see, my dad is the pilot.” That’s Single VISION living!

Who’s flying our plane? Without SingleVISION it is not even possible to experience Christ-empowered living as the words of Jesus command.

When it comes to Single VISION living people fit into one of four vision levels:

Wanderers: those who never see it

Followers: those who see it but never pursue it on their own

Achievers: those who see it and pursue it

Leaders: those who see it, pursue it and help others see it

Vision from the world is self-oriented and focuses on “what we can get.” Vision from God is people-oriented and focuses on “what can we give.” G. Campbell Morgan, the great preacher and teacher, wrote concerning the need for Jesus-followers to develop vision from God by waiting upon God:

“Waiting for God is not laziness. Waiting for God is not going to sleep. Waiting for God is not the abandonment of effort. Waiting for God means, first, activity under command; second, readiness for any new command that may come; third, the ability to do nothing until the command is given.”

Just as the blind man of Bethsaida had to wait for his “second touch” from Jesus, we as Jesus-followers need to wait for our “second touch” from God. It’s SingleVISION—seeing God in all things.

What are the qualities of SingleVISION?

1. Eagerness in activity under command. God continually seeks us—just as Jesus, upon the begging of the people, seeks to heal the blind man. We need to perceive the command of God so any activity we seek to accomplish for Jesus is seeing God in the midst of it.

2. Readiness for any new command.God desires for us to be receptive to any new command in our lives—just as Jesus, with intention and purpose, gives instruction to the blind man. We need to perceive any new command of God as a second touch in our lives.

3. Willingness to act when the command is given.God expectantly works his thoughts and his ways in us—just as Jesus, with methodical precision, sequentially heals the blind man. We need to perceive God’s ways and act upon them when God commands.

In all of our learning experiences, there is a time when the various pieces of listening, talking, reading, memorizing, and practicing come together. Learning a foreign language is an example. We begin with the “Argh” stage! We become technicians in the language—vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar, and culture meaning. This is the hard part. But then we experience the “Aha” stage! All of the pieces converge together so we move from the tedious technician stage to the budding artist stage. One of the practical ways we can be transformed from the “Argh” stage to the “Aha” stage, keeping our focus for SingleVISION living, is through a “Spiritual De-tox”. Just as the human body needs to be cleansed from toxic waste, our spiritual vision needs to be cleansed as well through the visitation of God’s Spirit. [See this exercise at the end of the message.]

We allow Jesus to minister to us from the “Argh” stage to the “Aha” stage. We come and keep coming, and we don’t ever quit coming. Jesus says, “…do you see anything? (Mark 8:23). Jesus is the God of the “Second Touch”! Blindness no longer deprives us of color and light, of the freedom to walk without stumbling, of the ability to match a friendly voice with a familiar face.

Calvin Miller, in his book entitled, an Owners Manual for the Unfinished Soul, writes…There is no doubt that Jesus is the Great Physician. But he is a specialist in all fields: I have experienced his renovation work on my entire values system, and I know him for a heart surgeon. After he healed my heart, he touched my eyes with new vision, and I saw him as an eye surgeon.

Of Blindness and Light

“A scalpel, Nurse, and steady now; our fingers must not show their fright. My knife must cut away the dark—restore the blessed hope of light.

Adjust the clamp; I need more room; mop the water from my brow. More anesthetic, Orderly; prepare the sterile forceps now.

The doctor’s hand clasps sure the blade. His wrists are firm; His fingers play a steady, ‘delicado’ hope, and lay the lancet on the eye.

None at all stand near me, please, to jar my hand or touch the bed. Even interns, please step back, and leave me room about the head.

The lancet makes the feather cut; syringes draw the red aside; The forceps lift the cataract and lay it on the culture slide.

O blessed is the Surgeon who ends this endless night By bandaging the blinded to restore them to their sight!

Even so the Great Physician cuts away the blinding part, Lifts your soul to see his love, turns the light on in your heart!” — Calvin Miller.

Let’s ask ourselves some closing questions as we identify our source of light:

How have we come to Jesus to receive his touch?

How is Jesus making us whole?

How are we coming back to Jesus to receive a second touch?

This Lenten season, however hindered by soul’s blindness, we tell ourselves that through the power of Christ’s indwelling presence; we can practice SingleVISION and discover for ourselves how God is always working in all things for our good and according to his purpose. We have the power to see anew. As we live the forty-days of adventure from Lent to Easter with them, they have much to teach us about the journey from sacrifice to celebration. We tell ourselves we have SingleVISION to see anew!

 

20-Minute Spiritual De-tox

 

One of the practical ways we can experience the power of Christ in us is through Single VISION living. The power to see anew comes through a “Spiritual De-tox”. Just as the human body needs to be cleansed from toxic waste, our spiritual vision needs to be cleansed as well from harmful thoughts and desires through the visitation of the Spirit. We can experience a visitation of the Spirit while seeking God alone. It’s a matter of waiting on God and giving him time to speak.

 

We can participate in the following simple exercise at home or outside at a park, etc. It’s a good starting point if we want to connect with God. It’s nothing fancy; and anyone can do it. Bring with you a Bible, Pen, a Journal for writing, and a portable CD player or iPod. We can find a moment once a week for twenty-minutes to experience SingleVISION living.

 

Instructions:

 

1. Seclude yourself in a quiet place (5 minutes).

Get comfortable. Then close your eyes and do nothing. Don’t go through your prayer list (that’s for another time), don’t think about dinner, work, or the family. Just close your eyes and be quiet. Still your thoughts and concentrate on God. Think about God’s peace and God’s love, and just bask in it.

 

2. Listen to a worship song on a CD or on your iPod (5 minutes).

Just let the song minister to you, with no agenda. Enjoy God’s presence.

 

3. Pick a short passage of Scripture (3 minutes).

Just meditate on a few verses from one passage [for example, Proverbs 3:5-6; Isaiah 40:28-31; Matthew 11:28-30; Romans 8:28-30]. Read those verses over and over, asking God to speak to you through one of the phrases in the passage. This will take a few minutes of contemplation.

 

4. Ask God to give you a phrase (5 minutes).

When God has given you a phrase, close your eyes for five more minutes and simply ask the Lord to direct you as to how that speaks to you; how it might apply to your life.

 

5. Write down what God tells you (2 minutes).

Turn your journal entry into a prayer for your life that week.

 

This exercise is nothing fancy. But the challenge is to try it one day a week, and see what happens. Expect a vistitation of the Spirit. Expect SingleVISION living!

Prayer for the Fourth Sunday in Lent

Christ-empowered Savior: Even when the eyes of our souls are blind because we have lacked the faith to open them, we are held in your embrace. You never let us go. You never turn us away from your touch. Although we cannot see you, we hear your voice in our inner spirits. In spite of the sound and fury of the world that rings constantly in our ears, in spite of the clamor of many competing distractions, your voice breaks through. It is a gentle voice, soft yet persistent, understanding yet challenging, that comforts us when we are disturbed, and disturbs us when we are comfortable. Penetrate our defenses and speak to us anew. Come as the wind that refreshes, the rain that cleanses, the fire that refines. We lay bare before you the best and worst of ourselves. Part of us yearn to know you, to do your will. Another part of us resists you. It wants to be left alone—alone to enjoy the pleasures of its addictions, to savor the rewards of its compromises, to bask in the smugness of its pride. We bring both parts of us into your presence. Heal the blindness of our souls, that, in seeing you as you are, we might become whole. Remind us beyond the darkness of life’s many crosses, lies the radiance of Easter’s dawn. Open our eyes to see this dawn even now. Place your scalpel of compassion upon our eyes that we may have single vision. Even perform a second touch of healing in our lives today! Amen.

Renewal: Christ-empowered living provides for Jesus-followers the unconventional power to welcome newness as they actively search for new ways to carry out God’s ministry.

 

This Lenten message series is centered upon the transformed life from the Gospel of Mark. Lent is not about drudgery; it’s about drama—the drama of bonding with Christ on the Calvary road toward a spiritually empowered encounter with God. It is a three-act drama of remembrance, release, and renewal. The Christian life is about Christ at work in the Jesus-follower. The Holy Spirit lives inside all Jesus-followers and causes them to be set apart for God’s use. The Holy Spirit empowers Jesus-followers for righteous living. The Christ—empowered life is more than seriousness and solemnity. Like faith itself, it’s a journey from sacrifice to celebration—an adventure beyond the ordinary!

Most of us have accepted that continual change is now the norm in our environment. It seems that old saying is true: “The only thing that’s constant these days is change.” There is a lot of talk about “change”—how important it is, how we should alter the way we do to things at work, at home, at church and in our personal lives in order to be more effective. Sometimes we even hear how it is essential to change even if just for change’s sake. In the church, the home, and in the workplace change is important. However, we should be more interested in the process of change and what the implications of change actually represent.

We exist within contradiction. On the one hand, we need stability and perform well when we feel secure and established in our personal and professional lives. On the other hand, we can become stagnant, complacent and uncreative when we shy away from change or when we find we simply cannot cope with it. How can we bring these two ideas together so that we can rest easier and deal better with change?

One way is to look at how limiting patterns, bad habits and preconceived attitudes get in the way of our being able to incorporate change into our lives when it happens. We cannot usually predict when change will happen, but we can be better equipped to deal with it when it does. We can look at these limitations we all put on ourselves and how they hold us back from being open to change. One of the key limitations listed above is preconceived attitudes.

The clerk of Abbington Presbytery, outside of Philadelphia, approximately 100 years ago gave these 5 kinds of attitudes that influence change:

1. Early innovators (3 %), run with new ideas 2. Early adaptors (13 %), influenced by the early innovators but are not initiators 3. Slow majority (34%), the herd-followers 4. Reluctant majority (34%), change over time 5. Antagonistic (16%), they will never change

The majority of leaders today are being nibbled at by the antagonists. They focus on 16%–the minority opinion. But we must understand in dealing with attitudes that influence change this truth: “each of us guards a gate of change that can only be unlocked from the inside. We cannot open the gate of another, either by argument or by emotional appeal.”
– Marilyn Ferguson, Educator and Writer.

Jesus Christ faces in his ministry the antagonists. These antagonists (the minority opinion) are represented by the teachers of the law, particularly the Pharisees. So Jesus comes this Lenten season to offer us the power to welcome newness into our lives and to break away from antagonistic attitudes. We might say that this time of Lent, moving from sacrifice to celebration, enables us to release our antagonistic attitudes and walk with Jesus in new ways—to experience change; the spirit of renewal in our lives and ministries. Renewal speaks to Jesus-followers. We have to be new, before we can experience renewal.

Renewal has been described in the following ways:

God’s sovereign work that releases his people into the fullness of his blessings.

breathing the breath of God.

God purifying his church.

a people saturated with God.

the inrush of the Spirit into a body that threatens to become a corpse.

The outstanding feature of renewal is that suddenly, without warning, God is present and people are brought face to face with God’s holiness and their sin. Biblical renewal—the changing toward new ways—is supremely Christ-empowered. We can only think rightly about renewal when we think rightly about Christ’s central place in that renewal.

RENEWAL MEETS RIGIDITY—MARK 2:13-22

¹³ Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. ¹⁴ As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him. ¹⁵ While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. ¹⁶ When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ¹⁷ On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

¹⁸ Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?” ¹⁹ Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. ²⁰ But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast. ²¹“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If they do, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. ²² And people do not pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”

Mark continues to demonstrate an action-oriented Jesus. Jesus shakes the taproot of Jewish theology when he proceeds to serve the people, this time to a ministry of hope to a hated man and a hopeless class. Once the pot of controversy begins to boil, every meeting between Jesus and the Pharisees turns up the heat. Jesus uses the images of a wedding, a garment, and wineskins to illustrate that the Good News of the Gospel, which is the ministry of love and joy, cannot be contained within the old forms of religion.

Facing Stuffed Shirt Religion

Jesus faces the Pharisees and their legalistic attitudes head on. The Pharisees constantly try to trap Jesus. They are more concerned with their own appearance of holiness than with helping people, with criticism than encouragement, with outward respectability than practical help. Jesus encounters the dead weight of old religious systems and forms that must be left behind.

In contrast to the two great commands of Christ: “to Love God and to love your neighbor as yourself,” the Pharisees had developed a system of 613 laws, 365 negative commands and 248 positive laws…By the time Christ came it had produced a heartless, cold, and arrogant brand of righteousness. As such, it contains at least ten tragic flaws. (1) New laws continually need to be invented for new situations. (2) Accountability to God is replaced by accountability to people. (3) It reduces a person’s ability to personally discern. (4) It creates a judgmental spirit. (5) The Pharisees confuse personal preferences with divine law. (6) It produces inconsistencies. (7) It creates a false standard of righteousness. (8) It becomes a burden to the Jews. (9) It is strictly external. (10) It is rejected by Christ.

We think that the “Pharisees” have all died out today. However, we’ll find many of them around as they reflect the same attitudes of the first-century Pharisees.

Jesus encounters two antagonistic attitudes of the Pharisees:

1. The Pharisees’ religion is “critical” and “loveless”

¹⁵ While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. ¹⁶ When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ¹⁷ On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

When Levi (also known as Matthew) yields himself to Jesus, he invites him to his house. Naturally, having discovered Jesus for himself, he wishes his friends to share his great discovery—and his friends are like himself. Jesus gladly accepts that invitation; and these outcasts of society seek his company. Nothing could better show the difference between Jesus and the Pharisees and orthodox good people of the day. They are not the kind of people whose company a sinner would have sought.

 

Interesting, Jesus calls Levi (Matthew), and shortly afterwards is eating a meal at his house with many of his friends. I wonder how that happened. It’s what we could call “Hospitality Evangelism”, or an “Evangelistic Supper Meeting.” Levi invited his colleagues, his fellow IRS agents, so to speak. He was a wealthy home owner; he had room enough to have a number of guests; this is an interesting use of wealth. Levi invited those who were despised by the Jewish leaders. Why were they despised? Because they represented the Romans. The Jews were upset because they had to pay taxes to foreigners, the “Gentiles”.

 

But in this context there is also a clear distinction drawn between those who kept the law and those whom the Pharisees called the people of the land. The people of the land were the common ones who did not observe all the rules and the regulations of conventional Pharisaic piety. Thus, the word “sinner” had a double significance. It did mean a person who broke the moral law; but it also meant a person who did not observe the scribal law. By going to Levi’s house and sitting at his table and fellowshipping with his friends Jesus was defying the orthodox conventions of his day by eating with “sinners.”

The Pharisee’s question to the disciples “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” is critical and loveless. They imply the following attitude: “Don’t go where there are worldly people, or you may get led astray or even lose your faith. Keep clear of sinners at all costs!”Jesus’ response to the Pharisees “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” is favorable and loving. The Pharisees see problem people.

However, Jesus sees people with problems. Jesus is saying that the world is full of people with problems who need help. “Sinners” are the very ones who need the Savior. Jesus wins Levi and is out to win more. Every true Jesus-follower wants people to experience and to share Jesus’ love.

2. The Pharisees religion is “correct” and “joyless”

¹⁸ Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?” ¹⁹ Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. ²⁰ But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast. ²¹“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If they do, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. ²² And people do not pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”

Jesus employs the images of a wedding, a garment, and wineskins to illustrate that the Good News of the Gospel is the ministry of joy. Jesus knows that he is coming with a message which is startlingly new, and he also knows that his way of life is starkly different from that of the orthodox rabbinic teacher. He also knows how difficult it is for the minds of people to accept and to entertain new truth; and here he uses three illustrations to show how necessary it is to have an adventurous mind and a receptive spirit.

When I was getting married my Dad said, “Bob, you have the choice either to be right or happy.” You know, I’m a happy guy! If we want to be correct, it may destroy our joy.

Jesus often used vivid pictures to tell the Pharisees why their minds were closed to new ways. No one has ever had such a gift as Jesus for discovery and the use of inviting illustrations. Jesus often found in the simple things of a wedding, a garment, and a wineskin pathways and pointers to God. Illustrations that tell us the characteristic Christian attitude to life is joy. The discovery and company of Christ is the key to happiness.

The Pharisee’s question “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?” is correct and joyless. They put on their best long faces and think that others ought to do the same. They wear their stiff clothes, showily carry their religious prayer books, and solemnly go to their early service in the Temple or morning meeting in the Synagogue. And when they get there—it’s often like a funeral. They no doubt smile grimly at each other as they settle in their seats. Jesus’ threefold response to the Pharisees—the wedding feast, the garment, and wineskins—is accepting and joyful. The Pharisees believe that righteousness comes from respectably keeping rituals.

However, Jesus believes that holiness and righteousness come from the nurturing of relationships and encouraging those in need. Jesus wants his followers to be joyful as if attending a wedding. They enjoy the Lord, they are happy, they sing; they are as beautiful as wearing new garments; and as lively as new wine. They blow off the dull old ways sky-high! The celebration of the new that Jesus brings won’t fit with the old. In fact, it ends up destroying the old. Every true Jesus-follower wants people to experience Jesus’ joy.

Tradition is the living faith of those now dead. Traditionalism is the dead faith of those still living.Jaroslav Pelikan, The Vindication of Tradition.

There’s a humorous story of a devout Christian who had a cat. He used to spend several minutes each day at prayer and meditation in his bedroom. He read a portion of Scripture and a devotional book, followed by a period of silent meditation and prayer. As time went on his prayers became longer and more intense. He came to cherish this quiet time in his bedroom, but his cat came to like it, too. She would cozy up to him, purr loudly, and rub her furry body against him. This interrupted the man’s prayer time, so he put a collar around the cat’s neck and tied her to the bedpost whenever he wanted to be undisturbed while at prayer. This didn’t seem to upset the cat, and it meant that the man could meditate without interruption. Over the years, the daughter of this devout Christian had noted how much his devotional time had meant to him. When she began to establish some routines and patterns with her own family, she decided she should do as her father had done. Dutifully she, too, tied her cat to the bedpost and then proceeded to her devotions. But time moved faster in her generation and she couldn’t spend as much time at prayer as did her father. The day came when her son grew up and wanted to make sure that he preserved some of the family traditions which had meant so much to his mother and his grandfather. But the pace of life had quickened all the more and there simply was no time for such elaborate devotional proceedings. So he eliminated the time for meditation, Bible reading, and prayer. But in order to carry on the religious tradition, each day while he was dressing he tied the family cat to the bedpost. Thus, forms become more important than the faith they are meant to convey.

It seems that old ways in the form of traditionalism can be paralyzing. They can keep us as Jesus-followers from change, from stretching ourselves and opening ourselves to new approaches to faith and life. Tragically, they can close the door on God’s Spirit which hinders us from receiving renewal. By rejecting new ministry opportunities and new ways of doing old ministries, old ways can give the impression that God’s spirit moved only in the past, that God is no longer alive and active in our world today. Nothing can choke the heart and soul out of walking with God like legalism. Rigidity is the most certain sign that the spiritual disciplines have spoiled. The disciplined person is the person who can live appropriately in life.

Richard J. Foster who wrote the book Celebration of Discipline, invites us to consider the story of Hans the tailor. Because of his reputation, an influential entrepreneur visiting the city ordered a tailor-made suit. But when he came to pick up his suit, the customer found that one sleeve twisted that way and the other this way; one shoulder bulged out and the caved in. He pulled and managed to make his body fit. As he returned home on the bus, another passenger noticed his odd appearance and asked if Hans the tailor had made the suit. Receiving an affirmative reply, the man remarked, “Amazing! I knew that Hans was a good tailor, but I had no idea he could make a suit fit so perfectly someone as deformed as you.”

Often that is just what we do in the church. We get some idea of what the Christian faith should look like: then we push and shove people in to the most grotesque configurations until they fit wonderfully! That is death. It is a rigid legalism which destroys the soul.

Jesus eating with sinners in a party setting just doesn’t fit into the old picture of the righteous being the ones who are close to God, that proper repentance requires fasting and mourning. How many churches have been split apart when something new is introduced? A new organizational structure? New forms of worship? Sometimes “new” is introduced just for novelty’s sake, but much more frequently, it is introduced so that those who are, perhaps most in need of Jesus’ call, might hear it in a way they will understand and to which they can respond. Is our church committed to inviting the sinners to meet and eat with Jesus, or are we trying to preserve the old, comfortable ways of doing things?

However, there are many celebrations waiting today for Jesus-followers who will allow renewal to rid them of this rigid legalism. Though in some places the numbers of church members are declining, the number of people seeking to grow spiritually is increasing at a rapid pace. We who have continued to worship, to share our God-given talents in the ministries of Christ’s church and to carry on its traditions also need to be open to change in ourselves and in the church. In this way the old forms can be filled with the new life of the Spirit which is available to us in a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

Choosing Spirit-led Renewal

We can choose to react or be proactive toward change and renewal. God can use changes to renew us, build character in us, test or prove us, humble us, and get our attention. How we accept, deny, or otherwise react to the change or changes before us is entirely up to each Jesus-follower. Through this process, God reveals his strength, his character, his love and joy for us, and the fact that he is God. But the choice is ours.

Sign on a T-shirt: “Change is good — You go first!” That’s as good an indication as any that many of us tend to resist change, even though we know it is good for us. A good number of us are comfortable with the known and uncomfortable with the unknown. Some, however, seek renewal and welcome its challenges. They have discovered some strategies that make it easier to cope with change.

Issac Newton in the First Law of Motion states, “everything continues in a state of rest unless it is compelled to change by forces impressed upon it.”

Jesus-followers who are compelled to change by forces impressed upon them remain open to Spirit-led renewal by adhering to at least three key strategies:

1. Be centered on God

Renewal ignites our lives when we are ready to get back to oneness with God by disciplining ourselves to the basics. We are willing to center down with God in study of his Word, prayer, and witness. The goal of the early Christian spiritualists was not to discover something new, but to end their amnesia, to get back to something they had always known, their oneness with God. They called this “anamnesis,” the end of forgetting.

If we would watch a master martial artist, a champion sprinter, or a great soprano, under pressure they do not attempt to add something new, something more. Rather they reach back to what is deep and constant for them — what the martial artist would call her “ground” or “base.” In dealing with change, we can be flexible, rapid, and welcoming to new things only when we have the strongest possible connection to that which is deep and constant — our values, our traditions, and our oneness with God.

2. Be sensitive to the Spirit

Renewal ignites our lives when we are ready to get alongside God by being sensitive to the leading of the Spirit of God. Christianity is an intimate, growing relationship with God through his Son and Spirit. It is not a set of doctrines to believe, habits to practice, or sins to avoid. Every activity that the Spirit of God commands is intended to enhance God’s relationship of love and joy with his people.

No matter how much information we have about a complex change, we cannot predict its outcome. But there is something we can do by gathering enough information and analyzing it: we can determine which of the “initial conditions” are important to the outcome. A landing airplane has little sensitivity to whether the runway is asphalt or concrete, but a lot of sensitivity to the presence of ice on the wings or wind shear in the descent path. The Holy Spirit can give us that kind of discernment—sensitivity to complex change in our spiritual lives.

3. Be reoriented in Christ

Renewal ignites our lives when we are ready to accept the emergence of God’s will through challenging and changing circumstances. Our lives are complex. It seems that everything that should change stays the same, and everything that should stay the same changes.

God rarely does something exactly as we think he will. Our problem is that we try to second-guess God by thinking that we know what God is planning to do. We have a natural tendency to find our “comfort zone” and then position ourselves firmly in place. We cannot remain in our comfort zones and become followers of Jesus. We must be prepared for Christ to reveal himself to us in dimensions that will change our lives.

No ant knows how to make an anthill. The anthill “emerges” from the much simpler interactions of the ants. No one decides which way the stock market will go. Its activity emerges from millions of decisions made by stockholders. A church’s leaders make the decisions, yet the church’s actual behavior can surprise its leaders. The church can seem to resist its leaders, even when it doesn’t seem that anyone in particular is resisting. As John Holland of the University of Michigan puts it, “the control of a complex adaptive system tends to be highly dispersed.” Only by allowing Christ to reorient us can we face the emerging challenges of today’s complex life.

We’ve learned that change is the one constant in our lives. Jobs, homes, cars, clothes, appearance and possessions all change. Health, hope and happiness. Philosophy, politics and beliefs. Morals, ethics and values. Even friends, families, spouses and/or lovers change. The world keeps changing, and so do we. Life is full of transitions and as we age, our lives and roles change, too. Before we know it, we’ve moved from youth to middle age to our “golden years.” There are so many things in life that change and not always what we want or the way we want.

A businessman told the story of a warehouse property he was selling. The building had been empty for months and needed repairs. Vandals had damaged doors, smashed the windows, and strewn trash around the interior. As he showed a prospective buyer the property, he took pains to say that he would replace the broken windows, bring in a crew to correct any damage, clean out the garbage, and basically bring the building up to code. “Forget about the repairs,” the buyer said. “When I buy this place, I’m going to build something completely different. I don’t want the building; I want the site.”

Compared with the renovation God has in mind, our efforts to improve our own lives are as trivial as sweeping a warehouse slated for the wrecking ball. When we become God’s, the old life is over and he makes things new. God gives us the power to welcome newness. The one thing we can rely on is God’s grace and love for us. God is always there and always provides for us renewal with the love, support and strength to deal with life. Jesus says, it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners”– Mark 2:17. Even when we need renovation, “act sickly” or behave in the most un-Christian manner, God remains there for us. Sometimes, in the wee small hours of a restless night, we wonder aloud, could God really love us? And the answer always comes back. “Yes.” Incredible as it might sound to us, we are loved!

Let’s ask ourselves some closing questions:

How open are we to changes in the way our church carries out its ministries?

What changes are needed for the “new wine” of God’s Spirit to be renewed in us?

How can we change so that we are more open to the pouring out of God’s Spirit?

This Lenten season, however distraught by constant change, we tell ourselves that through the power of Christ’s indwelling presence; we can search for new ways to carry out the ministries of proclamation, teaching and healing to nurture bodies, minds, and spirits. We have the power to welcome newness. As we live the forty-days of adventure from Lent to Easter with them, they have much to teach us about the journey from sacrifice to celebration. We tell ourselves we can experience renewal by welcoming newness!

Prayer for the Third Sunday in Lent

Christ-empowered Savior: You are from everlasting to evelasting, the same yesterday, today, and forever, we center ourselves in you. In the midst of a changing world, you are the morning light and the evening shade. In your presence we see life not only as it is, but as it could be. You remind us that we were created not to be rigid in old ways, but to be renewed in your Spirit. May the inrush of your Spirit be infused in our bodies that threaten to become corpses. Especially when change is hard, and the temptation to remain rigid is strong, lift up our eyes to you and remind us where our help comes from. Keep us walking the Lenten road of faith as we welcome newness in our lives. Set us free to be open to the kinds of change in our lives and our church that will allow your Spirit to flow freely among us and through us. Guard us from legalistic attitudes that hinder your Spirit’s power in us. May we remember that you loved us so much in death that you offered us a crown of life, and may that life deepen and grow in us today and every day. Lord, set our hearts on fire with your love and your joy! Amen.

Surrender: Christ-empowered living provides for Jesus-followers the incredible power to overcome busyness as they realistically surrender their frantic lifestyles to devoted service and solitude.  

This Lenten message series is centered upon the transformed life from the Gospel of Mark.  Lent is not about drudgery; it’s about drama—the drama of bonding with Christ on the Calvary road toward a spiritually empowered encounter with God.  It is a three-act drama of remembrance, release, and renewal.  The Christian life is about Christ at work in the Jesus-follower.  The Holy Spirit lives inside all Jesus-followers and causes them to be set apart for God’s use.  The Holy Spirit empowers Jesus-followers for righteous living.  The Christ—empowered life is more than seriousness and solemnity. Like faith itself, it’s a journey from sacrifice to celebration—an adventure beyond the ordinary!
Time hasn’t changed.  There are still 24 hours every day, 168 hours every week, and 8,760 hours every year.  The numbers were the same a generation ago, a century ago, a millennium ago.  And the numbers for the twenty-first century are the same as they were for the twentieth.  But the way people use those hours is significantly altering the way we live. Busyness is a by-product of our high-tech, low-touch world. 

Ever wish we could step out of the whirlwind of commitments and take time to be alone or with family or friends? Are we weary of juggling schedules and having our kids or grandkids eating fast food while we drive them to the next event? Do we have so many overlapping commitments that we have to prioritize the extra curricular activities? Whatever happened to uncluttered and uncomplicated lives? 
Maybe every generation asks these same questions.  However, not every generation has had to deal with pressures like we are facing today.  This frantic lifestyle even has a huge impact upon Jesus-followers as well.  The way we use the time allotted to us is even significantly altering the way we lead the church.

 There are basically six characteristics of the busy lifestyle prevalent today in our culture:
 1.  Can’t relax.  It’s hard to develop relationships because our schedules don’t allow much time to cultivate friendships.  It’s not that we don’t relax; it’s that we can’t relax.  What some would describe as resourcefulness is just a cover-up for restlessness.  We’re not bad, just too busy.

2.  Can’t enjoy life.  Life is always filled with sound.  Between the ipods, compact discs and televisions blaring, it’s hard to get a thought in edge-wise.  We can’t enjoy quiet; we are intimidated by silence.  As our hearts cry out for rest, we answer back with entertainment.  Noise is the Valium that helps us cope with inner restlessness.

3.  Never feel satisfied.  We have everything money can buy, but tragically, we are never satisfied.  We aren’t satisfied with what we have, where we live, or what we represent.  Contentment is always around the corner.  We are robbed of rest, because we have failed to see that satisfaction is a choice.

4.  An absence of absolutes.  The only thing we can be certain of is uncertainty.  We display an astonishing lack of permanence in our culture.  Our lives represent a collection of unfinished projects, cluttered with unneeded items bought on impulse and in bad need of repair.  We are restless because we live for the immediate at the expense of the permanent.

5.  Misguided servanthood.  We are a people who do things for others, but we are by and large unhappy.  We do good things for the wrong reasons. We need to hear the compliments in order to convince ourselves that we are valuable.  Our struggle for approval makes us tired. We are denied rest by our inordinate need to be liked.

6.  World class over-achievers.  We don’t know how to rest because we don’t know how to lose.  Ours is a love affair with winning.  We are happy only when we are succeeding.  But because success is only temporary, we push ourselves from one victory to the next.  We are a people with much pride and little joy.  Success all too often wins over significance.

Well, which of these six characteristics of a hurried lifestyle do we personally identify with in handling our busyness?   Even Jesus-followers are tempted to live a busy lifestyle due to the conditioning we receive from the constant pressure of our culture.  We are a society that highly values a hurried lifestyle.  We are pushed by the media, education, workplace, school, and church to speed up our lives at the expense of genuine calm.

I have been thinking a lot lately about the possibility of forming a support group or 12-step program for people who are just too busy. We could call it “Busyholics Anonymous.” Let’s think about it – there are 12 step programs for shopping, alcohol, drugs, and thugs but not one for being too busy. Why is that? Busyness is something that this society approves of – even wholeheartedly endorses. It is a like a badge of honor if we run around all day telling everyone how busy we are, if we work 12 hours per day, if we don’t have time to spend with loved ones, and if we fall into bed exhausted every night, only to wake up and do it all again!  Our work weeks from gone from an average of 40 to 47 hours—for many, 47 hours is just scratching the surface.

Now don’t get me wrong here – I know that we live in hectic times; however while ministering as a pastor with Jesus-followers I can tell you that we bring a lot of this on ourselves. Is it really necessary to work all of those hours? I mean, our desks will never be cleaned off, that is why it is called Work.  Staying late every night is not going to make it disappear; if that were the case we wouldn’t need to keep staying late every night.

The Busyholic pattern also pertains to social situations. Do we find ourselves saying yes to every single invitation and then resenting the fact that we have no time to ourselves or family? We need to think carefully before saying yes to things; it is perfectly acceptable to ask if we can get back to someone. We must really think if that is how we wish to spend our precious God-given time.  

We are so bombarded every day by faxes, emails, and voice mails that we are a society living on adrenalin. We actually do not know how to relax anymore. Adrenalin is what enables people to perform extraordinary feats under desperate conditions. Some people actually get a rush of adrenalin when they are getting ready to check their email. That response used to be reserved for fight-or-flight situations with extreme danger; email doesn’t qualify as one of those. People have actually damaged their adrenal glands by living in this constant state of rush.

So how do we receive the power to overcome the “busyholic” lifestyle?  We need to stop and look at the life of Jesus Christ.  Jesus in the midst of his full ministry schedule of preaching, teaching and healing never separates words and actions, body and soul, and heaven and earth.

SERVITUDE MEETS SOLITUDE—MARK 1:29-39

29 As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. 30 Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about her. 31 So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.  32 That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. 33 The whole town gathered at the door, 34 and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.

35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 36 Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37 and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”  38 Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” 39 So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.
Mark continues to demonstrate an action-oriented Jesus.  Jesus moves from the public ministry of the synagogue to the private setting of a home.  It doesn’t take long for the people to hear the news of Jesus healing all sorts of diseases.  It is increasingly clear that a unique individual has appeared.  This public demand draws Jesus to an expectant and consistent private time of devotion with his heavenly Father.

Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing

The crowds begin to build up; more and more demands are made on Jesus’ time.  Yet there is still only 24 hours in each day.  What does Jesus do?  Jesus concentrates on things that are really important, and doesn’t bother with the rest.  Many Jesus-followers need to cut out of our lives things that are not actually helping God’s work.  We have made ourselves so busy that we have no time for things that really count.

Eric Hoffer says that “the feeling of being hurried is not usually the result of living a full life and having no time. It is, on the contrary, born of a vague fear that we are wasting our life. When we do not do the one thing we ought to do, we have no time for anything else–we are the busiest people in the world.” We need to beware of the busyness of a busy life.

Jesus’ example of public healing and personal huddling with God shows us three ways to overcome the busyness:

1.  Jesus is not too busy for someone in need
29 As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. 30 Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about her. 31 So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them. 

The crowds can wait; here is someone who desperately needs Jesus’ help.  Jesus does not need the great crowd of the synagogue to exert his power; he is just as prepared to heal in the little circle of a small home.  Jesus is never too tired to help; the needs of others take precedence over his own desire for rest.  No sooner as Peter’s mother-in law is healed than she begins to attend to the needs of others.  She uses her recovered health for renewed service.

Adoniram Judson, American Baptist missionary to Burma, sweated out Burma’s heat for 18 years without a furlough, six years without a convert. Enduring torture and imprisonment, he admitted that he never saw a ship sail without wanting to jump on board and go home. When his wife’s health broke and he put her on a homebound vessel in the knowledge he would not see her for two full years, he confided to his diary: “If we could find some quiet resting place on earth where we could spend the rest of our days in peace. . .” But he steadied himself with this remarkable postscript: “Life is short. Millions of Burmese are perishing. I am almost the only person on earth who has attained their language to communicate salvation. . .” 

Jesus gives Jesus-followers today the power to overcome busyness by helping us so that we may help others.  We must never become too busy to help others in need.  The proper motivation for service is that we are saved to serve.  The experiences we have learned in our relationship with God must equip us for renewed service to others.  Are we running on the right fuel?  How available are we to help someone in need?

2. Jesus is not too busy for his Father’s service

32 That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. 33 The whole town gathered at the door, 34 and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.
The time is late evening when people bring to Jesus those who need healing.  Yet, even at the end of a hectic day, Jesus makes times to be about his Father’s work.  He did not make the mistake of crowding out his Father’s work with other insignificant things.  Jesus heals in the synagogue, he heals in the home of friends, and now he heals in the street.  Jesus recognizes the claim of everyone.

A.T. Pierson writes in The Truth, Whatever is done for God, without respect of its comparative character as related to other acts, is service, and only that is service. Service is, comprehensively speaking, doing the will of God. He is the object. All is for Him, for His sake, as unto the Lord, not as unto people. Hence, even the humblest act of the humblest disciple acquires a certain divine quality by its being done with reference to Him.  The supreme test of service is this: ‘For whom am I doing this?’ Much that we call service to Christ is not such at all….If we are doing this for Christ, we shall not care for human reward or even recognition. Our work must again be tested by three propositions: Is it work from God, as given us to do from Him; for God, as finding in Him its secret of power; and with God, as only a part of His work in which we engage as co-workers with Him.”

Jesus gives Jesus-followers today the power to overcome busyness by helping us concentrate on God’s service.  We don’t push aside our service for Jesus to fill up our schedules and relationships with our personal agendas.  We go to God, not in the day of misfortune, but in a time where we through loving service remember his care every day of our lives.  We are shaped to serve.  Are we serving in the area of our giftedness? How available are we to be in the Father’s service?
3. Jesus is not too busy for thought and prayer

35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 36 Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37 and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”  38 Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” 39 So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.
Very early in the morning is the only time in his crowded life when Jesus can count on being alone and undisturbed.  The busier his ministry, the more essential his times of quiet become.  Jesus knows that he cannot live without a vital relationship with his heavenly Father.  If he is going to be forever giving out, he must be at least sometimes taking in.  If he is going to spend himself for others, he must ever and again summon spiritual reinforcements.  Jesus knows that he cannot live without prayer with his Father.

From the devotional guide, Our Daily Bread, comes the following illustration.  In a letter to his friends, hymn writer Wendell P. Loveless related this story: One evening a speaker who was visiting the United States wanted to make a telephone call. He entered a phone booth, but found it to be different from those in his own country. It was beginning to get dark, so he had difficulty finding the number in the directory. He noticed that there was a light in the ceiling, but he didn’t know how to turn it on. As he tried again to find the number in the fading twilight, a passerby noted his plight and said, “Sir, if you want to turn the light on, you have to shut the door.” To the visitor’s amazement and satisfaction, when he closed the door, the booth was filled with light. He soon located the number and completed the call. In a similar way, when we draw aside in a quiet place to pray, we must block out our busy world and open our hearts to the Father. Our darkened world of disappointments and trials will then be illuminated. We will enter into communion with God, we will sense His presence, and we will be assured of His provision for us. Our Lord often went to be alone with the Heavenly Father. Sometimes it was after a busy day of preaching and healing.

Jesus gives Jesus-followers today the power to overcome busyness by helping us spend quality time in devotion to God.  We give God the opportunity to feed our hearts, souls, and minds.  We give God the best time of our day—whether it is morning, afternoon, or evening.  If we are going to meet others in ministry, we must first meet God.  If prayer is necessary for Jesus, then prayer is top priority for us.  Devotion spent with God is self-care. It will never do our work for us; what it will do is to strengthen us for work which must be done.  Are we committed to self-care? How available are we to spend time with God in thought and prayer?

Another example of not being too busy for thought and prayer is told concerning the early African converts to Christianity who were earnest and regular in private devotions. Each one reportedly had a separate spot in the thicket where he would pour out his heart to God. Over time the paths to these places became well worn. As a result, if one of these believers began to neglect prayer, it was soon apparent to the others. They would kindly remind the negligent one, “Brother, the grass grows on your path.”  Brothers and sisters, does the grass grow on our paths?

Into Our Lives

So we admit that we’re busy people! We wear our busyness as a status symbol, as if somehow it’s a gauge to how successful, giving, or sincere we are. At the same time we’re conflicted, knowing something isn’t right.

Learning from Jesus won’t happen by accident, and countering the effects of the “busyholic” lifestyle requires a deliberate plan.  Since “keeping the main thing the main thing” begins by orderly learning from Jesus, let’s look at some specific things that we can do to begin the process of making God’s daily service and solitude a part of our schedule.

There is power to overcome the “busyholic” lifestyle.  Here’s how we can start regaining balance and perspective.

1. We recommit ourselves to our top priorities.  We Focus on Jesus, honor our spouse, nurture our family. We pay attention to our relational health. We put first things first. We nurture our relationship with God and others. We set aside time for ourselves, family and friends. We say and do the important things—“I love you” and “I’m sorry”—to one another.

2. We reveal ourselves openly before God.  Sometimes we’re so fixated on our current situation that we walk right into a pole! When we admit our perspective is tweaked, we can change. We all want a good conscience. That comes by confession of sin. The root problem for us is sin. It plays out in tainted perspectives—seeing ourselves as someone’s victim, as indispensable, or seeing others who are really our allies as our enemies.  We practice 1 John 1:9.  “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

3. We rely on one another. Galatians 6:2 speaks of “carrying each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Those are overloads to our system. But when we do this, we fulfill the law of Christ—that of loving one another. Do we ever take the checkers at the grocery store up on their offer of help getting to the car? Are we able to say, “Yes, I need help. I can’t do it all”?

4. We rest in Jesus. Jesus is our Good Shepherd, and he knows us and cares for us. We can cast our every care on him.  We simply come to Jesus in Matthew 11:28-30.  “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

A caution—we don’t use any of this as an excuse to disengage from responsibility. We bear our normal loads. We get a grip on our perspective. We find balance in our lives. We recognize our place and where God wants to use our gifts. We focus on Jesus—not on a frantic pace of life.

When many of us were children, a parent enrolled us in music lessons.  Perhaps it was lessons on piano, guitar, or a musical instrument.  Coming from a Salvation Army family, my parents wanted me to be musical.  So lessons were required.  My mother enrolled me in piano lessons at age 10.  Now, many youngsters excel at the keyboard.  Not me. Spending thirty-minutes every afternoon tethered to a piano bench instead of a park bench was a torture just one level away from a root canal.  The metronome inspected each second with unfriendly slowness before it was allowed to pass.

Some of the music I learned to enjoy.  I hammered the staccatos.  I belabored the crescendos. The thundering finishes I kettle-drummed.  But there was one instruction in the music I could never obey to my teacher’s satisfaction. The rest—the zigzagged command to do nothing.  Nothing!  What sense does that make?  Why sit at the piano and pause when you can pound?  It didn’t make sense to me at age ten.  But now, a number of decades later, the words ring with wisdom—divine wisdom.

Finding balance and perspective brings us back into place with Lent.  By maintaining our vision as high as the cross of Christ, Lent confronts us with our busyness and challenges us to overcome it.  Meditating on the cross, we encounter Jesus’ example of absolute surrender.  Such surrender helps us find the balance between service and solitude.   It replaces our desires from harmful substances and lifestyles with a deeper yearning for spiritual wholeness.  The cross dramatizes this yearning.  It is the experience that God gives us to think about when our lives get frantic and frenzied.

Lent gives Jesus-followers the opportunity to get out of the fast lane of life.  In this message’s text, Jesus met unbelievers where they were—from the synagogue to the home, and into the streets.  He also met his heavenly Father in quietness.  According to one count, the gospels record 132 contacts that Jesus had with people.  6 were in the Temple, 4 in the synagogues and 122 were out with the people in the mainstream of life. Jesus says in Mark 1:17, “Come, follow me, and I will send you out to fish for people.” Jesus realized what many Jesus-followers today still don’t seem to understand. Those who fish need to get near water.  It’s time to surrender our schedules and relationships to Jesus.  It’s time to change our worlds for Christ!

We need to take an honest look at our schedules and relationships and reevaluate our commitments.  Let’s look at the inventory below. This is one of the most helpful evaluation tools for our lives and ministry that we could ever use.

• KEEP—what are we doing that is good and appropriate that we should keep doing?
• STOP—what are we doing that we need to stop doing?
• TUNE UP—what are we doing that needs to be brought into harmony?
• START—what are we not doing that we need to start doing?

This Lenten season, however busy or bored, we tell ourselves that through the power of Christ’s indwelling presence, we can overcome a “busyholic” lifestyle. We have the power to overcome busyness.  As we live the forty-days of adventure from Lent to Easter with them, they have much to teach us about the journey from sacrifice to celebration.  We tell ourselves we can surrender our busyness!

Prayer for the Second Sunday in Lent

Christ-empowered Savior: To whom can we go but you, when we need someone who understands us better than we know ourselves?  In your presence we feel welcome and wanted and whole.  You never treat us like strangers who don’t belong, but like honored guests.  When we are lost, you show us the way; when we are weak, you give us strength.  You often catch us unaware, even in the midst of our hurried lifestyles. Our faith is not deep enough or mature enough to keep pace with the demands of this life.  Therefore, we need to look for your unexpected gifts of grace.  We often miss them, or take them for granted.  And yet, even when we forget you in the fast lane of life, even when we put everything else first and you last, you continue to love us.  You call us beyond the ordinary and want more for us than the dreary monotony of the daily grind.  We hear your call when Jesus says, “Come, follow me!”  But we often lack the courage to respond, too busy for people in need, too busy for your Father’s work, too busy for thought and prayer.  In the silence of these moments, we seek an encounter with your Spirit.  We come waiting and needing to begin again, to choose, as if for the first time, your way, instead of the way of the world.  Give us the poser to overcome busyness.  Help us to leave behind our destructive habits and attitudes.  Lead us on, during these days of Lent, to nurture what is best and highest in ourselves by surrending to what is best and highest in you.  Amen.

Sacrifice: Christ-empowered living provides for Jesus-followers the remarkable power to endure hardship as they sacrificially face the wilderness times with resilience and not resistance.

This Lenten message series is centered upon the transformed life from the Gospel of Mark. Lent is not about drudgery; it’s about drama—the drama of bonding with Christ on the Calvary road toward a spiritually empowered encounter with God. It is a three-act drama of remembrance, release, and renewal. The Christian life is about Christ at work in the Jesus-follower. The Holy Spirit lives inside all Jesus-followers and causes them to be set apart for God’s use. The Holy Spirit empowers Jesus-followers for righteous living. The Christ—empowered life is more than seriousness and solemnity. Like faith itself, it’s a journey from sacrifice to celebration—an adventure beyond the ordinary!

The Action-Oriented Christ

Even though the Gospel of Mark is placed second among the four, it’s an ideal book for “entry-level” readers. Like a television drama, Mark’s Gospel portrays the life of Jesus in simple, straightforward, action-packed vignettes. In fact, action is the hallmark of the book: Jesus reveals himself in Mark’s Gospel more by what he does than by what he says.

If we like stories, we’ll love reading Mark. Mark heaps up scenes of an action-oriented Christ, going places and doing things. Some Jesus-followers are so focused on Jesus’ deity and glorious resurrection that they begin to ignore his humanity and suffering. As a result they expect to be spared suffering in this life and to quickly join Jesus in the glories of heaven. Mark’s gospel helps Jesus-followers accept sacrifice along with the celebration. The kingdom in its glory comes at the end of the path of suffering and service.

We don’t look alike. We don’t act alike. We don’t dress alike. We have different tastes in the food we eat, the books we read, the cars we drive, and the music we enjoy. We have dissimilar backgrounds, goals, and motivations. We work at different occupations, and we enjoy different hobbies. Some like rock climbing; some like Harleys. We ascribe to a variety of philosophies and differ over politics. We have our own unique convictions and persuasions on child-rearing and education. Our weights vary. Our heights vary. So does the color of our skin.

But there is one thing we all have in common: we all know what it means to face hardship. Suffering hardship is a universal language. Tears are the same for Jews or Muslims or Christians, for red and yellow, black and white, for children or adults or the elderly. When life hits us hard and our dreams fade, we may express our anquish in different ways, but each one of us knows the sting of pain and heartache, disease and disaster, trials and sufferings.

Years ago, Dr. Charles L. Feinberg, Dean from Talbot Seminary, said to a number of aspiring young ministers, “Preach to the suffering and you will never lack a congregation. There is a broken heart in every pew.” I was one of those aspiring seminary students. Truly, facing hardship is the common thread in all our garments.

Facing the hardships of life is likened to surviving in the wilderness. We’re told that one of the formulas for coping in the desert is: survival = knowledge + skill + will power.

Let’s take the following beginner wilderness survival test:
Beginner Wilderness Survival Test:
1. This student is (see PowerPoint slide): a. making a fire b. reading a compass c. drilling for oil
[a. making a fire – protection from the elements of hot and cold is essential.]
2. The cattail plant is used for: a. making string b. an excellent tea c. edible food source [c. edible food source. Honest!]
3. The desert solar still is: a. simple to construct b. unreliable c. an excellent water source [b. unreliable. Too much work, too little water.]
4. The best area to select your shelter site is: a. using a natural feature b. under a tree c. in a dry, sandy creek bed [a. using a natural feature. Cliffs, etc. are pre-made shelter areas.]
5. The best signaling method is: a. smoke from a fire b. a mirror c. a whistle [b. a mirror. Smoke can't be seen on some days as it may be too windy. Likewise for the whistle, wind can carry the sound away.].
6. For headache treatment use: a. charcoal b. oak leaves c. willow bark [c. willow bark. Nature’s plants contain many healing wonders.]
7. The best survival kit is: a. for sale at your local sporting goods store
b. one you plan and personalize for your needs
c. all you will require in an emergency [b. one you plan and personalize for your needs. Being prepared is the key.]
8. A high priority item to always carry with you is: a. a knife b. a book of matches c. a cell phone [a. a knife. A book of matches can get lost or wet and cell phones don't always work everywhere.]
OK, so how’d we do? If we missed even one of these questions (they were very basic), we ought to take a wilderness survival class! “We really need to Learn to Return!”
Wilderness Wanderings

One of the places where people face the hardships of the natural world is in the wilderness. Oh, we love the mountains, the beaches, and the country, but few people desire to live in the desert. The same is true for our spiritual lives. The hardships of walking with God most often take place in the wilderness wanderings where the climate is dry and the resources are desolate.

When I was serving as Minister of Camping for our Regional Churches, I was far out on a wilderness hike in the Arizona desert along with our Camping Director, Chuck Williams, of Tonto Rim Camp. We sat down in the meager shade of a large desert plant for lunch. As I was munching on a sandwich, a lizard darted up out of the sand and stared at me as if to say, “What are you doing here in my domain?” I sensed he might enjoy a bit of food so I tossed him a crust of bread. He took it and disappeared just as suddenly into the sand.

I asked Chuck, “How in the name of God can any creature survive out here? There is no water, no food and no shade from this murderous heat.” He laughed and said, “There is an adequate supply of all these things for the peculiar needs of these creatures. It is cool underground; the plants harbor moisture. There is a vast ecosystem at work here.” I was surprised as he explained the complex interplay of the environment.

When God places us in the wilderness, “we really need to learn to return.” For John the Baptist and for Jesus, the Gospel story begins with hardship. Both of them in our text find themselves sent by God into the desert.

THE MESSIAH MEETS THE MESSENGER
MARK 1:1-15
1 The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, [a][b] 2 as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way” [c]— 3 “a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ ” [d] 4 And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 6 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you with [e] water, but he will baptize you with [f] the Holy Spirit.”
9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
12 At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, 13 and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted [g] by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him. 14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
Footnotes:
a. Mark 1:1 Or Jesus Christ. Messiah (Hebrew) and Christ (Greek) both mean Anointed One.
b. Mark 1:1 Many manuscripts Messiah, the Son of God
c. Mark 1:2 Mal. 3:1
d. Mark 1:3 Isaiah 40:3
e. Mark 1:8 Or in
f. Mark 1:8 Or in
g. Mark 1:13 The Greek for tempted can also mean tested.
Mark opens his Gospel with a view of crowds streaming into the wilderness to be baptized by John the Baptist. A close-up shows John predicting the coming of the Messiah. Then Jesus appears, and John baptizes him. Dissolve to another wilderness setting, where Jesus endures a lonely vigil as Satan tests him, wild beasts agitate him, and angels attend him. Time passes, and arid wilderness gives way to seaside Galilee, where Jesus launches his ministry with an appeal for repentance.
One of the latest guides to wilderness adventure states the seven deadly enemies of the desert: (1) fear and anxiety; (2) cold and heat; (3) thirst; (4) boredom and loneliness; (5) fatigue; (6) hunger; and (7) pain and injury. No doubt, John the Baptist and Jesus had to face these enemies in the inauguration of their ministries.
Let’s see how John and Jesus handle hardship:
1. The wilderness pulpit
3 “a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ ” 4 And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
At first glance many people probably thought John was an odd fellow, an eccentric. He wore strange clothing. He lived a simple, secluded life in the wilderness. Eating off the land, he rummaged for wild honey common to the area as well as for protein-rich locusts, one of the few insects not forbidden by the ancient Jewish dietary laws.
The wilderness was John’s pulpit, and when people pressed him about who he was, he replied with the prophetic words from Isaiah 40:3… “a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’” His audience knew what those words meant. In ancient times, when a king came into a province, a herald would precede him, proclaiming, “Get ready! The King is coming!” So one of the ways that John was preparing the path for people to meet Jesus was to preach and baptize.
God gave John no easy life to live: his bed was rock and stone, his food and clothes were coarse. God also gave John no easy message to deliver: a call to national repentance, not a popular one at any time, either in the 1st century or 21st century. This message of repentance had no opening illustration. No alliterated points. No fluff. He delivered truth as simply as he lived his life. “Repent, turn away from sin toward God!”
2. The wilderness practice
9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” 12 At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, 13 and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him. 14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
Jesus entered the scene and caught John off guard by doing a surprising thing. When Jesus arrived, he deliberately stepped into the muddy waters of the Jordan, made his way toward John, and waited his turn to be baptized. When it was Jesus’ turn John balked because of his traditional understanding of the Messiah’s role. However, John was learning that Jesus would come first to identify with a sinful world. John had seen Jesus through the lens of his final act of judging people for their sin, not his intermediate act of rescuing people from their sin.
The wilderness was also Jesus’ practice. It was a hands-on learning laboratory. As soon as Jesus rose up from his baptism, the heavens opened up. John saw the Holy Spirit appear overhead in the form of a dove. To the Jewish mind, a dove was associated with sacrifice: rich people sacrificed bulls, while poor people used doves. In essence, Jesus was identifying with sinful people and the wilderness was the practice ground in which to prepare his ministry of sacrifice for all classes of society.
Thomas Carlyle says “our main business is not to see what lies dimly in the distance but to do what lies clearly at hand.” Noble Quran says “verily, after every hardship there is relief.”

During Lent, the Jesus who was obedient to God’s call summons us as Jesus-followers to a similar obedience. Before Jesus began his ministry, his faith led him into the wilderness, where he was tempted. Satan’s temptations were strong, and he was trying to get Jesus to live his way rather than God’s way.
Matthew and Luke record Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness with more detail. Satan’s temptations, according to other gospel writers, focus on three crucial dimensions: physical needs and desires; possessions and power; and pride and prestige. If Jesus had succumbed to these temptations in the wilderness, his ministry and mission on earth—to die for our sins and give us the opportunity to have eternal life—would have been lost.
So Jesus fasted in the wilderness for forty days. He learned what it was like to go without, to suffer, to feel weary and hungry, to handle his hardship. He learned what temptation was, and how to resist it. What company he had—the wild animals assailed him, but what comfort too— in his every need the angels attended him!
Like Jesus, alone, we seek support. Hungry, we seek nourishment.
Vulnerable, we seek openness. Cold, we seek the warmth of an inner resolve.
Empty, we seek vision. Human, we seek not to be different but to be ourselves,
not to find another world, but to live fully in ours.
Most of all, we pray for a gift to bring back to our people and our place.
Wilderness Resilience
Meeting Jesus made a huge difference for John the Baptist. Meeting Jesus can make all the difference for us as well. Do we feel drained? Are we facing adversity? Are we discouraged? How can we handle the hurt—endure hardship? It takes resilience.
Resilience = The remarkable capacity of individuals to withstand considerable hardship, to bounce back in the face of adversity, and to go on to live functional lives with a sense of well-being. Resilient people have the “capacity to be bent without breaking, and the capacity, once bent, to spring back.” –G.E. Vaillant in The Wisdom of the Ego.
Both John the Baptist and Jesus were resilient. So how do we become resilient? How can we handle the hardship? It’s a three step walk in the wilderness:
Step #1: We verify our experience
We verify our experience of hardship and get in touch with our pain, anger, and even sense of loss. We become open to the ways that God may want to shape us. God comes along to surprise us in the midst of our hardship. Like John, when he met the Messiah, he didn’t become resistant—he became resilient, and so can we!
Step #2: We clarify our resources
We clarify the resources that God provides for us to solidify his purpose and to withstand considerable hardship. For John, it was the full assurance of looking forward to the Messiah in the midst of living a hard life and preaching a hard message. For Jesus, it was allowing the angels to attend to his every need in the midst of the fasting from food and the thrashing from the animals!
Step #3: We simplify our ministry
We simplify our ministry as God comes along to change us. In the midst of allurements, this gives us the strength in taking responsibility for separating the precious from the worthless. Jesus’ struggle in the wilderness enabled him to see hardship pass. The dry desert gave way to a refreshing seaside, where Jesus launched his ministry with an appeal for repentance.
Let’s go back to my experience in the Arizona desert. It seems that people who live in an oasis have worldly success and material goods in abundance. However, sometimes they over value their position, status and power. They have difficulty understanding how people without these resources can not only survive but thrive. They do not see the desert resources of people with the resilience of character and sacrificial faith. They don’t understand the presence of God and the power of his hidden resources. So we build our lives around desert resources and we prepare for the hard day, the time of temptation.
This is the genius of Lent. By raising our vision as high as the cross of Christ, Lent confronts us with our shortcomings and challenges us to overcome them. Meditating on the cross, we encounter Jesus’ example of absolute sacrifice. Such sacrifice thwarts temptation’s power. It replaces our desires from harmful substances and lifestyles with a deeper yearning for spiritual wholeness. The cross dramatizes this yearning. It is the experience that God gives us to think about when temptation strikes.
Edward Hellman M.D., a board-certified orthopedic surgeon and a fellowship-trained spinal surgical specialist, says “I have learned that being a Christian does not mean that you will live a life free from hardship. It does not mean that everything is going to be free and easy and handed to you. Some of the best known Christians had to endure a tremendous amount of hardship in their lives. What being a Christian does mean is that you are not alone. Christians live in the world, but are not of the world. I have noted in my practice that patients with great faith seem to suffer less and recover better than those without, regardless of the physical ailment they have. Perhaps this is because of the hope of eternal life in heaven they have”.

If you are not saved, then no matter what your hardship is today, you should consider obtaining your salvation as your top priority. If you are saved, you can face any hardship with resilience—the internal joy and knowledge that the gift of eternal life in heaven has been bestowed upon you.
I have personally experienced scripture to be a source of joy and comfort, particularly in encountering the struggles that can occur in daily life. Some of my favorite scriptures for handling hardship are referenced below. When we are facing temptation and need the power to endure hardship, we go to God’s Word. We take the opportunity to read and meditate upon the following scriptures:
Matthew 19:26 James 1:2 Isaiah 41:10-13 Philippians 4:6-7 Romans 5:3-4 2 Corinthians 1:9 1 Peter 5:7 Matthew 11:28-29 Mark 12:29-31 Isaiah 26:4 Romans 8:17-18, 31 1 Corinthians 10:13 John 6:35 Romans 10:11 Isaiah 40:31 Deuteronomy 3:22 Genesis 26:24 Psalm 62:1-2 Proverbs 3:5-6 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 Romans 8:38-39 John 3:16 Ephesians 6:12-18 2 Corinthians 6:3-10 Philippians 4:13 Acts 14:22 John 8:31-32 1 Corinthians 10:31 Exodus 14:14 Psalm 23 James 1:12 2 Corinthians 12:10 Jeremiah 1:8 Jeremiah 17:7-8 Jeremiah 20:11 Isaiah 41:1-3

The Lenten season is all about following Christ without limits. If we’ve ever been to an auction sale, it’s important that we don’t scratch our nose or make any unnecessary movement at the wrong time. More importantly, it’s crucial that we make sure we know our upper limit price. That is an ingraining concept. The great danger for us, especially during times of hardship, is that we walk into the Christian life knowing clearly our upper limit price. Jesus does not allow us to set that limit. Jesus says, “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.” –Mark 8:35. Our calling is to a life of unconditional sacrifice, living in obedience even when the price is unknown.
We need to ask ourselves some candid questions that will help us define our upper limit price this Lenten season:
• How much hardship are we willing to suffer as a Jesus-follower?
• Are we prepared to sacrifice all our comforts to follow Jesus?
• Does Satan win easy victories over us?
• Are we resistant or resilient to God’s wilderness experience?
This Lenten season, whatever we’re going through, we tell ourselves that through the power of Christ’s indwelling presence we can handle the hardship. We have the power to endure hardship. Compared to what others have been through, we’re fortunate. We speak this to ourselves over and over, and it will help us get through the rough spots with a little more fortitude. As we live the forty-days of adventure from Lent to Easter with them, they have much to teach us about the journey from sacrifice to celebration. We tell ourselves we can handle the hardship!
Prayer for the First Sunday in Lent
Christ-empowered Savior: out of our darkness and into your light, out of our weakness and into your strength, out of our poverty and into your abundance, we come, O God, to you. On our Lenten journey we seek a faith that is more than words, more than good intentions, a faith that leads us not into temptation but delivers us from the evil one. We give thanks that, because of your grace in Jesus Christ through the cross of Calvary, you look beyond all that is fallen and fallible and flawed in us, and see our potential instead. You continually call us beyond ourselves. You call us beyond denial to repentence, beyond self-indulgence to sharing, beyond complacency to action. You challenge us to leave behind our inhibitions and fears, that we might walk in the freedom of your Spirit. You challenge us to face the times of testing, that we might receive the remarkable power to endure hardship. In spite of how ordinary we are, we thank you for embracing us as your children, for making us feel special, invited guests at the banqueting table of your love. We live these forty-days of expectation, O God of Hope. We want to see Jesus. Enter into the wilderness of our lives, we pray. Remind us that Jesus was tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. In bonding with him as he has bonded with us, let us hear your Word anew. Let that Word soften the hard places within us, deepen the shallow places, fill the empty places, that we may not be rich in things, but rich in faith, eagerly awaitng Easter’s dawn. Amen.