"An Active Faith!" (Mark 2:1-12 part 1)

“An Active Faith!”

Falling in Love with Jesus…all over again! An epic journey through the Gospel of Mark (message #11)

Pastor Jerry Ingalls

March 27, 2011

Today we will be looking at the story of a miraculous healing found in Mark 2:1-12. We are going to focus on the healing narrative today and next week we will dive deeper into the first of five controversy narratives (Mark 2:6-10) that are tightly packaged by the evangelist Mark from Mark 2:1 – 3:6. Let’s focus in.

The word of God from Mark 2:1-5, 11-12 (NAU) for a message “An Active Faith!”, “When He had come back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard that He was at home. ² And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them. ³ And they came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four men. ⁴ Being unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and when they had dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying. ⁵ And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’ . . . ^{11 ‘}I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home.’ ¹² And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, ‘We have never seen anything like this.’” [Prayer]

What does it mean to live with “an active faith”?

Hebrews 11:1 defines faith for us, “Now faith [pistis] is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

Let’s learn from these four stretcher-bearers what it means to be a person with an active faith. First, A PERSON WITH AN ACTIVE FAITH KNOWS THE WAY TO GOD!

Our Scripture lesson in Mark 2:1-2 sets up the context for this story, “When He had come back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard that He was at home [it is widely attested that this is referring to Simon’s home referenced earlier in Mark 1:29]. And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word [logos] to them.”

Jesus has now returned to the city that He had left in quite the uproar with clamoring crowds wanting more and more from Him and He could only keep his return quiet for days, but once the word got out that Jesus of Nazareth was back at Simon’s house, the crowds returned in the same way they had come months earlier (Mark 1:29-39). Jesus is inside the house teaching the “word to them”. The word is the logos which points to the gospel of God through the person of Jesus Christ.

Here is the scene: there is Jesus in the house teaching with His disciples closest to Him attentive to His every word, with a pocket of Scribes close by as well also listening very attentively to His every word, but with a very different heart and motivation.

Imagine every square inch of the inside of the house is taken up by people who were healed by Jesus the last time He was in town. Then outside the door the crowds were building as people wanted to hear and see Jesus of Nazareth; to be healed by Him. People were most likely starting to bring their sick and demon-possessed nearby hoping there would be a repeat of that fateful night when Jesus had healed so many, but Jesus was focusing on why He came—preaching the word!

Imagine the scene: human waves of clamoring crowds and expectant seekers served as an obstacle to get this paralytic man to Jesus Christ. This paralytic man is considered by his own people as being cursed by God; separated from God; and he doesn’t know the way to God—the way is blocked to Jesus, the Son of God, who came to earth to remove the obstacle between humanity and God! Are there obstacles between you and God? Is it hard for you to pray, to understand the word of God, or to connect to the church (the family of God)?

The life of a person with active faith starts by having the primary obstacle removed between a person and God. That obstacle is sin and there is only one way to having the obstacle of sin removed so that you can know God. Romans 6:23 teaches, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Do you need healing and wholeness in your life? It starts by knowing the way to God is in a relationship with Jesus Christ through the forgiveness of sins.

The Gospel of John 14:6 states, “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’”

Have you accepted Jesus Christ as the way to God and entered into a personal relationship with God?

It starts there, but for us who know the way to God it cannot end there. A PERSON WITH AN ACTIVE FAITH BRINGS PEOPLE IN NEED TO JESUS CHRIST!

The story continues in Mark 2:3, “And they came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four men.” We are to engage faith by bringing other people to Jesus; this is what it means to have an active faith—to be a disciple is to be a stretcher-bearer for people in need. Are you a stretcher-bearer? Who are the people in your life who need to experience the love of Jesus Christ?

When you have tasted how sweet the love of God is through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, then you want to tell everyone you know about this great love. The Gospel of John 1:41-42 demonstrates the active faith of a disciple, “The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus.” There is no greater joy than to see a friend, a family member, a neighbor or co-worker experience healing and wholeness by walking with the Lord. These four men set out to do one thing—to bring this man who could not walk to Jesus Christ and their faith gave them confidence in what they hoped for and assurance of what they could not yet see.

They believed Jesus could restore their friend and they would see Him walk. Their active faith would not allow any obstacle from stopping them. And that is our third lesson: A PERSON WITH AN ACTIVE FAITH REMOVES THE OBSTACLES! The story continues in Mark 2:4, “Being unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and when they had dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying.”

These are determined men with a faith that believed what they could not yet see. It was this faith that gave them the creative solution to their problem. Jesus had layers and layers of people around Him, but these men would not let any obstacle prevent them from getting their friend to Jesus. They could not go in through the front door, so they carried their friend up the side stairs that went to the roof. The roof would have been easy to dig through and easy to repair afterwards as the roof was flat covered with hardened mud, straw, and brushwood with planks going down as support beams at 3 foot intervals. They dug through the roof and lowered the paralytic man down to Jesus. Can you imagine their confidence that spurred them to do this?

Today, there may not be human walls keeping people from experiencing the love of Jesus in today’s world, but there are still human obstacles that prevent people from knowing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Have we, the followers of Jesus Christ, become human obstacles to people coming to know Jesus Christ?

Let me ask this in a more personal way: Are there obstacles in your lifestyle that would prevent someone from coming to Jesus through your efforts?

Here are some famous quotes that we need to soberly hear and heed:

1. Mahatma Ghandi stated, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ. … If it weren't for Christians, I'd be a Christian.”

2. Philosopher Fredrick Nietzsche wrote, “I might believe in the Redeemer if His followers looked more Redeemed.”

3. An anointed evangelical pastor, Ray C. Stedman, stated, “It has always seemed unfair to me that many churches (and some individual Christians) keep careful records on how many converts they make to Christianity, but never keep any record of how many they drive away from Christ!”

4. Mark Twain wrote, “The church is always trying to get other people to reform; it might not be a bad idea to reform itself a little by way of example.”

This healing narrative captures the heart of being a minister of reconciliation—a stretcher-bearer for God! First, we have to know the way to God through faith in Jesus Christ. It starts with us being in right relationship with God before we can help anyone else. Second, we have to love people enough to intentionally bring those who do not know the way to God to Jesus Christ. God never intended for us to have a private passive faith all for ourselves; we are to share what He has given us!

Third, we need to remove any obstacles from our life to ensure that we do not become a stumbling block that prevents people from seeing Jesus in us. That is why discipleship is so important—we must become more and more like Jesus Christ so that our lives become a witness of who God is. This is an intentional process!

Paul stated in Romans 14:13, “Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister.” Paul again highlights the importance of our lifestyles in 2 Corinthians 6:3-4, “We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way…”

A disciple of Jesus Christ does not add obstacles to the path of other people to know God by making man-made rules that we can judge one another by, but rather a disciple of Jesus Christ removes obstacles so that people can know God through Jesus Christ. Don’t let obstacles stop you from fulfilling your life mission! What steps of discipleship are you willing to take so that you can be a minister of reconciliation in people’s lives?

Our lives become beacons of hope when we live out our faith and love God and love one another as Jesus taught us. It is amazing how many obstacles love removes when we live the way of Jesus Christ! And that leads us to this reality: A PERSON WITH AN ACTIVE FAITH SEES MIRACLES IN PEOPLE’S LIVES! Mark 2:5, 11-12 tells the end of the story, “And Jesus seeing their faith [pistis] said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’ . . . ‘I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home.’ And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, ‘We have never seen anything like this.’”

Whose faith did Jesus see? He saw the faith of the four people who carried the paralytic to Jesus. Who did Jesus heal? He healed a man whose faith we know nothing about because of the active faith of these four stretcher-bearers. A person with an active faith is assured of what he hopes for and certain of what he does not yet see. A person with an active faith sees miracles in people’s lives and there is no greater miracle than a transformed life in Jesus Christ!

Are you ready to join with me and be a stretcher-bearer for our community? It is possible when Christians—men and women with active faiths—work together to bring God’s miraculous power to their community. Watch this video: Show short video clip for An Appalachian Dawn at http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=9EB09FNU.

There are entire communities of broken people throughout our land who need to experience God. You are called to live an active faith; to be a stretcher-bearer.

Do you want to see our community transformed by the forgiveness of God and the healing power of Jesus Christ? Are you ready to live by faith? It’s time for Christians to unite in active faith and be stretcher-bearers!

"Moved with Compassion!" (Mark 1:40-45)

"Moved with Compassion!"

Falling in Love with Jesus…all over again! An epic journey through the Gospel of Mark (message #10)

Pastor Jerry Ingalls

March 20, 2011

The Word of God from Mark 1:40-45 (NAU), "And a leper came to Jesus, beseeching Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying, "If You are willing, You can make me clean." ⁴¹ Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, "I am willing; be cleansed." ⁴² Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. ⁴³ And He sternly warned him and immediately sent him away, ⁴⁴ and He said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them." ⁴⁵ But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news around, to such an extent that Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but stayed out in unpopulated areas; and they were coming to Him from everywhere." [Prayer]

The context of our Scripture lesson today is found in Mark 1:39, "And He went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching and casting out demons." After Jesus cast out demons and healed many who were sick in Capernaum, he left that city in order to fulfill the purpose He came--to preach the Gospel and usher in the Kingdom of God. He immediately took His disciples from His place of prayer and left on a preaching tour that would take months.

But, in today's story, we see again that His preaching ministry was being hindered by the clamoring crowds who are now coming from everywhere and preventing Him from publicly entering a city. The news is traveling well beyond one city, even one region, and people are coming from "Galilee and the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan" (Matthew 4:25). In this time period of Jesus' ministry Mark only tells one story--the healing of this man with leprosy. But the Gospel of Matthew has three chapters (Matthew 5-7) of Jesus' preaching in this time period--the heart of Jesus' teaching called the Sermon on the Mount.

Instead, Mark showcases only one healing; one healing that was not even an encounter initiated by Jesus--this was a situation that presented itself to Jesus Christ in the weeks, if not months, of His preaching tour in Galilee. Don't you wish we had a day to day journal of Jesus' life!?! And this just happens to be the healing that results in Jesus being essentially disallowed by the clamoring crowds from doing that which He left Galilee to do--preaching the Gospel!

Why would Mark focus on this story? I believe Mark focuses on this story because it highlights a core characteristic of Jesus Christ both as fully human and as fully God. The original Koine Greek word translated compassion in Mark 1:41 is splagchnizomai which literally means "to be moved as to one's bowels." To be moved with compassion is to be moved at the seat of love. Jesus is compassionate to the core of His being and we know that at the core of Jesus' being is the core of who God is--"God is love" (1 John 4:8)!

The dictionary defines compassion as, "a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering." This modern definition misses one key ingrediant that the ancient language captures and that is the seat of feeling. Why do you feel deep sympathy and sorrow for someone who is suffering? Why do you have a strong desire to alleviate the suffering? I believe the answer is found in who God is and how God demonstrates who He is to the world through His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is compassionate to the core of His being and we know that at the core of Jesus' being is the core of who God is--"God is love" (1 John 4:8)! To be moved with compassion is to be moved with the very essence of God who lives in you! Compassion is part of the DNA of a Christian because the living God lives in us through the Holy Spirit!

Let us learn from Jesus what it means to be moved with compassion in our own lives and as the body of Christ.

First, COMPASSION MOVES US TO MEET THE NEEDS OF OTHER PEOPLE!

Mark 1:40-42 begins the story, "And a leper came to Jesus, beseeching Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying, 'If You are willing, You can make me clean.' Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, 'I am willing; be cleansed.' Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed."

The Jewish people believed that God alone could heal leprosy so when Jesus healed this man of leprosy it was monumental! God was doing something new in their midst!

Jesus' declaration was through His response to the leper's declaration of faith. The leper was not challenging Jesus' willingness, but declaring with a desperate faith born out of his desperate situation that Jesus was God and He could heal his leprosy. How many of us came to know Jesus Christ in the midst of a desperate situation in our own life? Are you available to people in their desperate situations?

Let's learn what it meant to be a leper in Jewish culture to fully comprehend the magnitude of this Scripture. From Leviticus 13:45-46, "As for the leper who has the infection, his clothes shall be torn, and the hair of his head shall be uncovered, and he shall cover his mustache and cry, 'Unclean! Unclean!' He shall remain unclean all the days during which he has the infection; he is unclean. He shall live alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp."

This was a formal part of God's Law in ancient Judaism, but in our cultures today there are still people who are treated like lepers and are set on the fringes of society. Who are the lepers in our world? Do you respond to them as Jesus modeled for us? Are you willing to follow Jesus?

We are called to follow in the footsteps of our Master Jesus Christ. This is what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. God meets us in the brokenness of our own lives not because we deserve it, but because of who He is--God is love! As Christ-followers, we are then commanded to meet the needs of other people because of what God has done for us in our own lives.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 teaches, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."

How has God extended a healing hand to you in your life? Are you willing to extend a healing hand to other people in the midst of their suffering?

Show Japan video and lead in prayer.

Compassion moves us to action and we cannot simply meet the felt needs of someone without ministering to their greatest need of all--atonement for sin and reconciliation to God! COMPASSION MOVES US TO WITNESS TO JESUS CHRIST!

Our Scriptures lesson continues with Mark 1:43-44 stating, "And He sternly warned him and immediately sent him away, and He said to him, 'See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.'"

After meeting the felt need of this leper, Jesus then directs him to follow the procedures set forth by the Jewish Law so that the man who once was an outcast amongst his own people could rejoin his family and friends; his community. Under the Jewish Law, the priest would provide atonement for his sin and reconciliation to God! He would be allowed into the fellowship of God's chosen people!

Although our Scripture does not verify whether he man cleansed of leprosy did or did not obey this part of Jesus' instructions, we know that Jesus was moved with compassion to meet this man's greatest need for atonement and reconciliation as prescribed by the Law. Leviticus 14:20 prescribes, "The priest shall offer up the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. Thus the priest shall make atonement for him, and he will be clean."

Here is the good news of the Gospel; we no longer have to present ourselves to a priest to make sacrifices to atone for (pay for) our sins. Thank you Jesus for fulfilling the Law, including the priestly system and the sacrificial system! Hebrews 2:17 proclaims, "For this reason he [Jesus] had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people."

Jesus Christ died on the Cross and fulfilled every aspect of the Law. He did not discard the Law, but He fulfilled it and He is the One who reconciles people back to God because He became the final atoning sacrifice for all sin. He became the merciful and faithful high priest for all time. When we are moved with compassion to meet the felt needs of another person, we cannot stop there; we must witness to Jesus Christ who is the only One who can meet the deepest need of all people for atonement and reconciliation with God. Our vision at FBC is to be a house of reconciliation where every person who comes into contact with us (you and I, we are the church; the church is not a building, it's the people of God!) will not only experience reconciliation with God, but will then join with us in the ministry of reconciliation.

But it must start with our obedience to respond to the desperate situations and desperate people in our lives with compassion; to be ministers of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 teaches, "All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation."

Are you willing to serve as a minister of reconciliation by witnessing to how Jesus Christ met your deepest need and by inviting people into the community of God through faith?

Compassion means to be moved in your bowels, in the deepest place of who you are. It is in this deepest of places we must allow Jesus Christ to be Lord and invite the Holy Spirit to have power in our lives so that we will love like Jesus loved.

COMPASSION MOVES US TO LOVE LIKE JESUS LOVED! Mark 1:45, "But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news around, to such an extent that Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but stayed out in unpopulated areas; and they were coming to Him from everywhere."

Jesus Christ triumphantly put the needs of humanity before His own to the point that once again in this Scripture passage we see His healing of the leper (and his growing fame) preventing Him from entering any of the cities to continue His preaching tour of Galilee. When we are moved with compassion there is usually a cost to ourselves! Jesus paid a price!

In the same way, Jesus Christ went to the Cross and died a sinner's death, not because He was a sinner, but because He was moved with compassion at the desperate state of our souls. Jesus laid down His life for each of us because there was no other way for any of us to have our sins atoned for and be reconciled to God then through the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the Cross. Compassion (Love!) moved Jesus to pay our debt in full; He paid The Price! "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

The Bible teaches us as followers of Jesus Christ that we are to love like Jesus loved. 1 John 3:16 states, "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters."

Have you experienced the love of God through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? How do you love others?

Will you stop meeting the needs of other people if someone that you help takes advantage of your acts of compassion? What will it take (or what has it already taken) to harden your heart to other people's needs and to write certain people (or people groups) off? Are you willing to ask God for the grace to forgive and to reconcile? Pray.

At what cost was Jesus moved by compassion in the context of this passage and when He took all our sins on the Cross of Calvary? Are you willing to pay the price in your own life to meet the needs of other people? Respond.

"It's not about Success!" (Mark 1:35-39)

"It’s not about Success!"

Falling in Love with Jesus…all over again! An epic journey through the Gospel of Mark (message #9)

Pastor Jerry Ingalls

March 13, 2011

Let’s read together from Mark 1:35-39 (NAU) for a message entitled “It’s not about Success”. The Word of God, "In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there. ³⁶ Simon and his companions searched for Him; ³⁷ they found Him, and said to Him, "Everyone is looking for You." ³⁸ He said to them, "Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for." ³⁹ And He went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching and casting out the demons."

In the same way that this Scripture passage is a continuation from last week’s, so is this message. We continue to look at what it means to be a responsive person. First, A RESPONSIVE PERSON REMAINS CONNECTED TO GOD!

[show map] Mark 1:21-38 captures what is essentially a 24-hr period of time in Capernaum. Mark 1:39 summarizes a significant period of time as Jesus went into the synagogues throughout all Galilee. Josephus, a first century Jewish historian, described Galilee, “as a land of great villages” which were agricultural villages. He wrote, “The cities lie very thick and the very many villages that are here are everywhere so full of people, because of the richness of their soil, that the very least of them contained more than 15,000 inhabitants.” Mark 1:39 probably took months to accomplish and in this verse we see a great expansion of the will of God through Jesus Christ, but He first had to make the decision to leave Capernaum and the crowds who wanted more from Him.

Over the last 24 hours, Jesus has preached in the synagogue in Capernaum where He amazed the Jewish people with His authoritative teaching and His authority to cast out demons. He then went to eat and rest at Simon’s house where He healed Simon’s mother-in-law. And once the Sabbath was over (marked by the sun setting), Capernaum brought to Jesus all who were ill and those who were demon-possessed and Jesus healed many and cast out demons, demonstrating not only His availability and responsiveness to the people, but His authority over demons and sickness.

We don’t know when, but we assume sometime late into the night after what would have been like a city-wide revival filled with exorcisms and healings, Jesus and His disciples would go back to the house and get some sleep. That is where our Scripture lesson today picks it up. From Mark 1:35, "In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there." Can you imagine how tired Jesus must have been after healing so many people and casting out demons; after such a long and monumental day?

Why did Jesus get up in the early morning hours and seek a secluded place?

First, Jesus needed rest! Jesus of Nazareth was fully human. He was tired and needed rest just like any of us. I believe that Jesus would have been exhausted from the events of the previous 24 hours, but even more so He would have been conscious of the insistent cry of human need. He needed time of refreshment and restoration.

How do you find rest and restoration in the midst of the demands of your life? [pause] Jesus invites us to find rest in the Gospel of Matthew 11:28-30, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

In the same way that Jesus of Nazareth needed rest in the midst of ministry, so do we! Each of us needs times of rest and restoration and Jesus promises to meet this human need for refreshment and re-creation.

Second, Jesus sought direction from God the Father! This is a critical juncture in His earthly ministry. We are at the beginning of His proclamation of the Kingdom of God and already the depth of human brokenness and need, along with the deadly grip of demonic activity, were rampant in this city. Jesus went early in the morning to His Father to get direction. There was so much human pain and need in Capernaum, just like the human pain and need is overwhelming here in our own communities!

Jesus could have spent His entire earthly life reacting to need after need, but He would not have been intentional in fulfilling the mission He was sent to accomplish which was to demonstrate and proclaim the Kingdom of God. Jesus went to the Father so He could remain steadfast!

How do you seek day to day direction for your life in order to know what God would have you do in the midst of human need and demonic activity?

The answer is: focus through prayer. We cannot be so busy in our reactivity to the need around us that we do not spend time focused on God and asking Him what He has willed to do through us. A responsive life is a life connected to God! Listen to John 15:5, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

How is your vine time (your time with Jesus)? Is your focus on relationship with Jesus Christ or on bearing fruit (your productivity)?

Second, A RESPONSIVE PERSON DISCERNS GOD’S WILL FOR THEIR LIFE!

Jesus did not do everything that was asked of Him nor did He meet every physical need in the time and place He ministered, but He finished all the work the Father willed for Him to do (John 17:4). Mark 1:36-38 records, "Simon and his companions searched for Him; they found Him, and said to Him, 'Everyone is looking for You.' He said to them, 'Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for.'"

Simon and his companions woke up and already the crowds were gathering looking for Jesus; wanting more from Him. A miracle worker had come to town and they wanted more from Him. So, the disciples (acting more like rock star agents) went looking for Jesus the Rock Star. Here’s my own translation of what the disciples said to Jesus when they found Him, “What are you doing out here away from the people when you should be in the midst of the multitudes who are clamoring for more of you? You are a success; get back in there and keep it up!”

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we must be very careful about the word success in discerning the will of God. Many a godly person has departed from doing the will of God because they got wrapped up in being a rock star.

Jesus Christ, who is the Rock (not the Rock Star), must have gazed upon His chosen disciples with such compassion and mercy when He answered their plea in a way that shocks and horrifies church growth experts even to this day. Jesus did not let the clamoring for more or the complaining of the people distract Him from discerning and doing the will of God in His life.

Hit the fast forward button in Jesus’ ministry and you see Jesus having to deal with Simon, now called Peter, again who is still making the same mistake—Simon Peter is not properly discerning the will of God and therefore is living a reactive life in the flesh, rather than a responsive life led by the Spirit. From the Gospel of Matthew 16:23-26, "Jesus turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.’ Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?'"

From this passage, we have two major questions that present themselves to us if we are going to be people who are responsive, rather than reactive. First, Can you discern the difference between when God calls you to do something, rather than when people want you to do it or you just think it’s a good idea? Second, What is your price tag to do something other than the will of God in your life?

Let’s take a moment together and learn how we are to discern the will of God together because we (you or I) are not going to be able to live the responsive life until we are honest about what it takes to follow Jesus and do as He did— He lived a responsive life by knowing God’s will. From Romans 12:1-2, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."

There are three steps directly taken from this passage that results in the promise of Romans 12:2b which states, "Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."

Step #1: Be a "living sacrifice". We must stop crawling off the altar and the only way to do this is to die to our own definitions of self and success. We must die to self! What prevents you from dying to self?

Step #2: Stop being "conformed to the patterns of this world". We must eliminate the competing distractions from our lives. What worldly influences prevent you from knowing and doing the will of God in your life?

Step #3: "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Experience God through study, meditation, and memorization of God’s Word; seek intimacy and direction from God through prayer; be an active member of the church family (God speaks through His Spirit-filled children); and pay attention to how God is shaping the circumstances of your life (God’s providence). How are you experiencing God in your day to day life?

With so much need and so many people demanding of our time, what should we do about it once we do know what God’s will is for the remaining days of our lives?

That moves us to our final teaching point, A RESPONSIVE PERSON DEDICATES THEIR REMAINING DAYS TO NOTHING MORE AND NOTHING LESS THAN LIVING THE WILL OF GOD!

Mark 1:39 states, "And He went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching and casting out the demons."

We are now experiencing "Jesus [going throughout] Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel'" (Mark 1:14-15).

Jesus began in the one synagogue in Capernaum (Mark 1:21) and after one day, he departs to expand the ministry of preaching the gospel of God in word and deed to the synagogues throughout Galilee (Mark 1:39).

Jesus leaves from the place of prayer and with His disciples following He does not return to the clamoring crowds, but rather He sets His face toward the scorn of the Cross and everywhere He went He preached the Gospel of God. Jesus was not seduced by the success offered Him by the amazed people or gathering crowds. He stayed on mission! He did not turn His back or disregard the need of the people, rather He resolutely set out to do that which His Father willed for Him to do--to usher in the Kingdom of God and to bring His Father's will to earth as it is in heaven. As Jesus taught us how to pray (therefore, how to live!) in the Gospel of Matthew 6:9b-10, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

Have you dedicated yourself to bringing God's good, pleasing, and perfect will to earth?

How are you responding to situations and circumstances in your life, and in our world, to bring God’s good, pleasing, and perfect will to earth?

"A Responsive Person!" (Mark 1:29-34)

"A Responsive Person!"

Falling in Love with Jesus…all over again! An epic journey through the Gospel of Mark (message #8)

Pastor Jerry Ingalls

March 6, 2011

For a message entitled "A Responsive Person", the Word of God from Mark 1:29-34 (NAU), "And immediately after they came out of the synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. ³⁰ Now Simon's mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever; and immediately they spoke to Jesus about her. ³¹ And He came to her and raised her up, taking her by the hand, and the fever left her, and she waited on them. ³² When evening came, after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who were demon-possessed. ³³ And the whole city had gathered at the door. ³⁴ And He healed many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew who He was."

As I meditated upon this Scripture I was overwhelmed by Jesus' responsiveness and availability. Last week, we studied what happened in the Capernaum synagogue mentioned in Mark 1:29. Mark 1:21-28 discusses how Jesus astonished the Jewish men of the city by teaching the Scriptures as One with authority and He demonstrated that He has the authority to cast out evil spirits. And then His fame spread through the region.

As Jesus' fame grew so did the demand on His availability and the attack on His person. But Jesus remained focused and resolved to live a responsive life because He knew why He made the longest journey in history--from heaven to earth. His mission was to reconcile humanity to God through the Cross!

Jesus was able to be available to respond to situation after situation, need after need, because of His resolve to focus on why He came and to complete His mission. Mark 10:32 describes Jesus' focus to finish the purpose of His ministry on earth which culminated for Him at the Cross: “They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him.” Jesus knew what lay ahead of Him; He remained focused. Jesus did not live a reactive life being tossed here and there by his circumstances and situations like so many of us do today. Rather, Jesus lived a responsive life where He knew His life purpose and with that one purpose in mind, He responded to the situations and circumstances.

Like our own lives, Jesus had many temptations, demands upon His time, hardship, and more persecution than most of us could bear. But rather than let these situations and circumstances and challenges control and determine His life which is what a reactive person does, Jesus remained focused on His life mission-the Cross-and responded on the way! A responsive person has a destination in mind and remains focused! We are each on the way; are you focused on getting there?

Do you live a reactive life not certain of your purpose or do you live a responsive life knowing your personal mission? I would further add, if you don't know where you are going in this life, then how do you expect to get there? Do you have a personal mission statement? What keeps you on the way rather than continually being jerked to the left and right by all that comes at you?

Because we are disciples and we want to be more like our Master Jesus Christ, we too want to be responsive, rather than reactive, people. First, A RESPONSIVE PERSON SEES THE NEED AND MEETS THE NEED!

Our Scripture lesson takes us into the afternoon (Mark 1:29-31) of the Sabbath, “And immediately after they came out of the synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon's mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever; and immediately they spoke to Jesus about her. And He came to her and raised her up, taking her by the hand, and the fever left her, and she waited on them.”

From that morning synagogue experience we are now seeing the purpose for, and the fruit of, his fame. As soon as He got into the home of his four disciples, they asked for a personal favor. As disciples of Jesus Christ they trusted Jesus inside their home and they asked Him for their most personal need. Have you invited Jesus Christ into your home? Are you willing to share with Him and ask of Him your most personal needs? Jesus sees the need and He meets the need; He healed Simon's mother-in-law in the privacy of their own home.

There was no attention to be drawn by this miracle. This was Jesus' responsiveness to His disciple's because He cared about them and their needs; they were not men to be used for His purposes, salvation was for them too! They spent the Sabbath together as a family--Salvation had come to this home and they rested together! What is it like in your home after you worship Jesus on Sunday mornings? Does Salvation go home with you? Do you and your family find rest for your body, mind, and soul?

Turn to your neighbor and share a time when you personally experienced or witnessed Jesus seeing and meeting a need.

I want to read a story of the responsiveness of Jesus Christ from Luke 19:1-10, “Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.’ So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter, ‘He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.’ But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, ‘Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.’"

Jesus sees the need! He saw Zacchaeus up in the tree, who was so desperately desiring to catch a glimpse of Jesus that he was willing to climb a tree. Jesus responded to and met the need! Salvation came to His home and they had fellowship with one another.

In both stories, the healing of Simon's mother-in-law and the salvation of Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector, Jesus met their need and then they responded. We are dealing with the in-laws and the out-laws in these stories and to me this emphasizes that there is no one too far away from God to be reached by the grace of Jesus Christ! :)

*Here it is: once Jesus Christ has met your need, then immediately, you are changed for the purpose of meeting the needs of others! You are given eyes to see, feet to go, and hands to meet the need! You are given a testimony to share so salvation can come into another person's home! Simon's mother-in-law immediately started serving Jesus Christ and His disciples. Zacchaeus immediately confessed his sins and repents by not only making restitution (he pays back what he stole), but he demonstrates the way of Jesus by giving half of his possessions to the poor and He pays back four times what he had stolen. These are lives changed! We know they have been with Jesus because they now are living responsive lives that see the need and meet the need just like Jesus Christ! I do not believe it is possible, in God's economy, to remain the same once you have experienced the love and grace of Jesus Christ! How does Jesus’ responsiveness affect your desire and willingness to be responsive to other people’s needs? How has God’s love changed the way you live your life?

Today's Scripture lesson continues by taking us to the beginning of the next day once the sun sets (a Jewish day was from sunset to sunset). From this evening's activity we are going to learn a second aspect of being a responsive person. A RESPONSIVE PERSON IS AVAILABLE WHEREVER AND WHENEVER!

From Mark 1:32-24, “When evening came, after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who were demon-possessed. And the whole city had gathered at the door. And He healed many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew who He was.”

When the sun set on the Sabbath day, people from the area started bringing to Jesus the sick and demon-possessed (once again, we see a distinction between natural illness and supernatural demon possession). Jesus' fame had grown and with it the demand upon Him. What was Jesus Christ to do as the people brought such need to the very door of Simon's house where Salvation had entered? What will you do when your neighbors learn that Salvation has entered into your home? Are you available to be used by God to meet the needs of our communities? Do you put boundaries on your availability to God in terms of place or time? Why?

Jesus did what He came for; what His mission in life demanded of Him. Jesus responded to the overwhelming need by staying fully available and fully present in the moment and He healed those with illness and disease, and He cast out many demons.

Jesus had authority and He responded to the situation and so should we as those who have been called and authorized to carry on His life mission through our lives. We are ambassadors of Christ to this lost and dying world; we are ministers of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:17-20). This is our mission. It is our life focus to be available to how God would have us respond to situations as we are on our way! Are you available?

Listen to this powerful parable from Luke 10:30-35 taught by Jesus Christ, “In reply Jesus said: ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’”

Are you available? Are you accessible? Have you put up walls around your heart or life that would prevent you from knowing people enough to know their needs?

Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem to fulfill His life mission of dying on the Cross for all of humanity's sin!

Each of us are on our way to fulfill God's purpose for our lives, even if we don't have a geographical destination where we will hang upon a cross. We cannot die on the Cross to save anyone, that work was once and for all done, and is finished in Jesus Christ. But we have a destination nonetheless and that is to become fully mature (perfect) in Jesus Christ which demands that we must die to ourselves and carry our cross! Not one of us will be perfect until we stand face to face with Jesus Christ, but the overarching purpose of our lives is "to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death" (Philippians 3:10).

This means that we must let go of our own lives and learn how to walk in the Spirit of God. Christians are to be disciples of Jesus Christ and we have been called and authorized to continue the work that Jesus Christ began when He ushered in the Kingdom of God; to do what He did and to live like He lived! Mark 6:7 & 13 states, “Calling the Twelve to him, [Jesus] began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits. . . . They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.” Every situation is an opportunity to strive for the destination--to respond, but to stay on the way!

Jesus Christ has authorized you and is sending us to go out together! You have a choice: to live the reactive life or to live a responsive life! Which life will you live?

Who will God bring to you this week to respond to? Pray, be open to the leading of Holy Spirit, and respond.