The Pandemic - 2 ½ Years Later

Mark 2:18-22 - 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?”

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.  But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.

“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse.  And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”

 

March 2020, when the pandemic caused a worldwide shutdown, seems like such a long time ago.  As I take a few minutes to try and remember how things were back then, it is difficult.  If someone back in January 2020 described to me in detail all that was going to happen over the next year and half, I would have thought they were certifiably crazy.  What’s more, the pandemic and the fallout from it continues.  What is clear is that we are still in the midst of humongous shifts in our world that we can’t even begin to predict how we will live on the other side of all these changes.   We have some hints, but I’m sure we’re in for even more surprises.

 

Faced with all of this uncertainty, how do we cope? It seems that everything is different.  Schools are different.  Work is different in almost every sector of society.  Church is different. I know my tendency is to try and hold on to the familiar – routines, ways of doing things, activities that provide comfort.  There is nothing inherently wrong with that, but I know intuitively that many of those old ways of doing and being will cease to provide the comfort they once did (if they haven’t already).  I have heard many authors, preachers, and teachers use Jesus’s sayings above about patches and wineskins to try and caution me about this tendency for old structures not being able to support the new ways of being, but Jesus’s words have never hit me harder than they are now. 

 

I don’t know much at all about this “new wine” being poured out right now, but I know my “old wineskins” won’t hold it.  I see some epic wine spills coming and there is already a mess on the floor.  I have no tools to describe what our lives will be like even six months from now, because I’m too busy looking for new tools to handle what is happening right now.  As I re-read the last few sentences, it seems a bit over-dramatic for a pragmatist like me, but it does describe my current experience.  From conversations I’ve had lately, I know I’m not alone.

 

There is good news in all this.  God is still good and Jesus is still Lord.  A lot of things have and will change, but I know that God is still good and Jesus is still Lord.  I know that because I’ve experienced God’s sweet goodness many times over the past two years. Many of those moments of goodness have come from exchanges I have had with you all.  Some have come from exchanges with people I didn’t know before the pandemic started.  I’ve been reminded that Jesus is still Lord because I’ve watched needed resources seemingly appear out of thin air.  I’ve gotten solutions dropped in my lap to address a problem I didn’t even realize I had yet. Yes, we will have to find new wineskins (and clean up all the messes) in order to make it in the future, but our good God/Lord Jesus will be with us. 

 

Prayer:  Lord, help us to breathe when we feel out of control and unable to face the future.  May we feel your Sweet, Sweet Spirit in that breath.  May we trust in your goodness and Lordship. Amen

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for first responders, recovery/rescue teams, engineers, and other disaster response professionals as they try to get in and begin their work in southwest Florida in the wake of utter devastation of Hurricane Ian. 

 

Song:  Just Be Held – Casting Crowns

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s53R3aj5pfc

The Roller Coaster

 

We take a break from our series on the book of Mark to address the situation in Florida right now.

 

1 Corinthians 13:8-13 - Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.  For we know in part and we prophesy in part,  but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

 

This week has been quite an emotional roller coaster.  It began while, in the midst of dealing with my truck breaking down, I was summoned to Jacksonville with my brother (who has been battling cancer for the last 8-9 months) being admitted to the ICU with the family being told that he might not survive.  Over the next few days, he fought hard and pulled through.  He continues to improve as I write this and all the McCreazies are immensely thankful to God for that.  While that was all unfolding, Hurricane Ian was moving off the mainland of Cuba and taking aim at Florida.  Ian ended up making landfall among the barrier islands of southwest Florida yesterday.  One of those islands, Pine Island, is where I served my last church before moving to Hernando just over a year ago. 

The early reports from the island are heartbreaking.  The bridge to the mainland is washed away, many treasured landmarks are gone, and countless homes and business are completely destroyed.  There are unconfirmed reports of many deaths and I fear that we haven’t heard the worst yet.   Even inland, in Cape Coral and Fort Myers, the videos and reports are catastrophic.

 My son and his girlfriend were in Fort Myers just hours before the storm hit and thankfully were able to make it to our home in Hernando around midday yesterday.  Hernando has been largely unaffected by the storm while it is currently passing over Orlando where my oldest daughter is and is projected to move toward Jacksonville where the rest of my family is over the next day or two.    

So, I find myself filled with this insane mixture of emotions.  I am so grateful for the improvement my brother’s condition, though he still has mountains of adversity ahead of him.  I am so relieved my son and his girlfriend arrived safely at our home.  I have mixed feelings about Hernando being largely untouched by Ian because I know people that I dearly love have not been so fortunate.  Further, not knowing about how so many more people I love are doing right now is a heavy burden.  And finally, I find myself feeling a bit silly for sharing my concerns because I am safe, healthy, and not in danger. I feel a bit schizophrenic at the moment. 

Pulling up from all of this to gain a wider perspective, the underlying reason for all these competing emotions is the web of strong relationships in my life.  My fears, worries, praises, fits of gratitude, grief, moments of relief mixed with awe, and all the other emotions I have difficulty naming stem directly from the love I have for so many people and the love so many people have for me.  Such is the way in which God has blessed me and so many of you.    So I’ll take it and thank God for all of it, even the parts that hurt.  The alternative is being completely isolated, alone, caring for nothing and no one other than myself.  I want no part of that. 

So today and the coming days, I’ll pray for all those I love in need, being sure to mix all my petitions with praise and thanksgiving.  I will look for tangible ways for me (and those I lead) to help those who are devastated and facing the unknown.  I will hug my loved ones tighter and reach out to people that haven’t heard from me in a while.  Somewhere in all of that, my truck will get fixed too.  Life and love goes on.  The roller coaster ride continues. Praise be to God for all of it.

 

Question:  What is the connection between the positive and/or negative emotions you are experiencing right now and your relationships with people you love?

 

Prayer:  God, thank you for all of it – the good, the bad, the ugly, the painful, the joyful and everything else.  Help me embrace all of it as an opportunity to love well and serve the greater good.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray a little more for all the people that tug at your emotions right now.

 

Song:  Stubborn Love – The Lumineers

This song came to mind while I was writing the above.  It obviously was written about a romantic relationship, but I think a lot of what is said applies to what I was talking about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGewQB3mDv4

The Revolution Begins

 

Mark 2:13-17 - Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them.  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.

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. 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?”

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.”

 

“The church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints.” 

This is a quote that I’ve heard all my life, and often, it is invoked when one speaks of the above passage.  An updated version of the pithy saying replaces “museum” with “harbor.”  Either way, the saying is intended to remind those within the church that the church has a mission that mirrors Jesus’s own mission to reach out to those who are not already inside the fold of the Christian community.   `Though I am generally not a fan of reducing scriptural truth to pithy sayings, I do have to admit the effectiveness of this saying making the intended point. Further, it is a point that has continually needed to be made for as long as I have been a part of it. 

 If you have ever had the misfortune of being present with a crowd of people who you mostly didn’t know, who talked about things you don’t readily understand, and who make very little effort to help you understand and feel included, then you know what’s it’s like to attend far too many Christian churches.  As uncomfortable as that situation may be today, it was even worse in Jesus’s time.  We see this in the religious leaders’ reaction to Jesus.  They are objecting on the basis of Jewish law that looked down upon Jews dining with those who don’t follow Jewish traditions and laws. 

To be fair, there is a kernel of truth in the teachers’ concern.  There should be a difference between the way Christians live and the way those who haven’t made such commitments do.  Jesus Himself called people to live differently.  The revolution in Jesus’s teaching here is that living that way should not isolate you from those who live differently.  In fact, Jesus’s assertion here is that there is no way we can help people see the value of living differently if they never see someone living that way themselves. 

But there is something even more revolutionary going on here.  Jesus is not just changing the way God’s people interact with those outside the community.  He is recruiting people from outside the community to become leaders of the community.  This would have been unthinkable in Jewish circles.  And worse yet, it’s not just run of the mill “sinners” Jesus is recruiting; it is the “worst of the worst” – tax collectors.  We will talk about this issue later in Mark, but we have to point it out now.

All of this begs the following questions that deserves honest answers.

 

Question:  Who is genuinely welcome (meaning who would you actively invite to your dinner table?  Are there people that you would not accept an invitation to go eat with if you were asked? How do you feel about being led by someone considered the “worst of sinners?”

 

Prayer:  Jesus, show us our attitudes towards those who live differently from us that we may see the ways our attitudes are not like Yours.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for God to bless people you know who don’t ever attend church.

 

Song:  Jesus, Friend of Sinners – Casting Crowns

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJXIugwiN7Q

The Connection Between Healing & Forgiveness

 Before I begin the devotional, a quick program note...

More often lately, I feel like I'm in the position of having to apologize for missing a day on these posts.  This is because my implicit promise to all of you is that I would publish these devotionals five days a week.  While that remains my goal, I do want to stipulate that sometimes I will not be able to make good on that and I will miss a day.  I'm working at giving myself some grace when that happens and not feeling pressure to use my off-days to make up posts I miss.  I'm asking you to give me that grace as well.  I thank you in advance.


Mark 2:1-12 - A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home.  They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them.  Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them.  Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on.  When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things?  Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’?  But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man,  “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.”  He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
 
This is not just another healing story.  There are several places in this gospel where Mark says something to the effect, “and Jesus healed many people.”  But it’s important to pay attention when we encounter a healing story with all the details, for the details hold truth that Mark is trying to point out. 
So in this remarkable story, Jesus is speaking to a house so jammed full of people that no one can get in or out.  So the four men carrying the paralyzed man realize that the only way they are going to get to Jesus is to lower their friend through the roof.  They do just that, and as they do, Jesus says something very peculiar.  Or maybe to be more precise, he DOESN’T say what we would expect in this case.  He doesn’t say, “you’re healed,” to the paralyzed man. 
Instead, “he says, “your sins are forgiven.”    
This ruffles some feathers, but we’ll come back to that in a minute.  Why would Jesus forgive the sins of a man in need of healing?  Could it be that the healing the man needed would come from first being freed from the guilt that had literally paralyzed him?  I have read of many people who have been healed of physical ailments and diseases after finding a way to reconcile and redeem the mistakes of the past.  In some cases, it was the afflicted person finally being released from the guilt of the past.  In other cases, it was the afflicted that found a way to forgive something in the past that seemed impossible to forgive before.  In both types of situations, the spiritual healing of the past led to physical healing in the present. 
Back to the ruffled feathers.  The religious leaders present at this event take issue with Jesus’s authority to forgive sins.  Their objection that only God can forgive sins is valid.  Jesus knows this and He addresses it by something else only God can do – He heals the paralyzed man.   More accurately, he tells the man that has already received healing to get up and walk. 
The crowd responds by saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
By “this,” they don’t mean the healing of someone.  For they have already seen Jesus heal many before this day.  The reason the house is packed full of people is that Jesus has already gained a huge following by healing many people.  What the crowd is amazed by is not the healing, but that the healing that came through the forgiveness of sins.
Here’s something even more amazing.  We have this same power when we forgive.  Sometimes, the brokenness of the past literally takes up residence in our bodies, sometimes even festering into diseases and/or other physical maladies.  Let me be clear;  I am in no way willing to claim that all illness and physical brokenness can be traced to unforgiveness.  But I have simply seen cases where this is the case.  Mark is telling us about one such instance today.  So when we are able to let go and forgive, it has the potential to bring restoration and health beyond just our spirit and emotions.
 
Question:  Is it possible that brokenness in your past has taken up residence in your body?
 
Prayer:  Jesus, sometimes we know in our heads that you have offered us forgiveness, but for whatever reason, we have not been able to accept that gracious gift.    Help us let go and allow the healing to begin.  Help us share the healing power of forgiveness with each other.
 
Prayer Focus:  Pray for the people of Cuba who are right now experiencing a dangerous hurricane.
 
Song:  Set Me Free – Casting Crowns
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2HwtWLokSc

“Secret Healing?”

Mark 1:40-45, The Message - A leper came to him, begging on his knees, “If you want to, you can cleanse me.”

Deeply moved, Jesus put out his hand, touched him, and said, “I want to. Be clean.” Then and there the leprosy was gone, his skin smooth and healthy. Jesus dismissed him with strict orders: “Say nothing to anyone. Take the offering for cleansing that Moses prescribed and present yourself to the priest. This will validate your healing to the people.” But as soon as the man was out of earshot, he told everyone he met what had happened, spreading the news all over town. So Jesus kept to out-of-the-way places, no longer able to move freely in and out of the city. But people found him, and came from all over.

 

As I said yesterday, we had more to talk about with this passage.  Jesus, after cleansing the man of leprosy, instructs him no to tell anyone.  I want to say a little something about this now, because it touches an issue that much ado has been made by scholars over the years.  In more than a few places in the gospels, Jesus instructs people to not tell others about His miracles or about who He is (Messiah).  Whole books have been written about the “Messianic Secret.” 

 

Mark, in his matter of fact way, explains Jesus’s secrecy.  Because the man did not follow Jesus’s instruction and promptly told everyone, Jesus was no longer able to move about the city freely because the crowds mobbed him.  Jesus saw the potential for this problem to develop and sought to minimize it.  To me, the scholarly debate is largely much ado about nothing.  The simplest explanation tends to be the most likely. 

 

Jesus didn’t want his ministry to be about what He could do for others (miracles, healings, etc).   He was announcing the arrival of the Kingdom of God.  The miracles could actually be a distraction to that and Jesus is trying to avoid that.  We should too.

 

Question:  What draws you to the person of Jesus?

 

Prayer:  Lord, you have done so much for us, but what you have done for us is not the main point.  Help us turn our hearts, thoughts, words and life toward your Kingdom. Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for eyes to see evidence of the Kingdom of God around you.

 

Song:  Whisper – Jason Upton

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eD_xQNhBlfM

“If’s It’s Not Too Much Trouble, God…”

Mark 1:40-45, The Message - A leper came to him, begging on his knees, “If you want to, you can cleanse me.”

Deeply moved, Jesus put out his hand, touched him, and said, “I want to. Be clean.” Then and there the leprosy was gone, his skin smooth and healthy. Jesus dismissed him with strict orders: “Say nothing to anyone. Take the offering for cleansing that Moses prescribed and present yourself to the priest. This will validate your healing to the people.” But as soon as the man was out of earshot, he told everyone he met what had happened, spreading the news all over town. So Jesus kept to out-of-the-way places, no longer able to move freely in and out of the city. But people found him, and came from all over.

 

  As a pastor, I have on a few occasions had people who, even though they needed something from me or to ask a question, have been almost apologetic in asking for my attention.  I like to think I’m very approachable (and many have told me that as well), but nevertheless, the people I referred to seemed to have the idea that I either don’t have time for them or really they wonder if I would even want to spare some time for them.  It pains me that anyone would ever get such ideas, but it does give me some insight into this leper approaching Jesus for help.  He is convinced that Jesus can heal him, yet he is skeptical that Jesus would want to do so.  It’s obvious that Jesus is pained by the man’s reluctance and immediately allays his fear and heals him.

 

  I’m glad that only a few people that I’m aware of were reluctant to “bother” me for help.  But I have had many more conversations with people who felt like this leper did approaching Jesus.  So many struggle with the thought that God would want to have anything to do them, much less pay them significant attention.  If I’m honest, I’ve had such thoughts myself at times.  Shame, a sense of unworthiness, and/or doubts about the character of God can all factor into such reluctance.    

 

  The leper had even more substantial reasons to doubt Jesus would grant his request.  The prevailing belief in Jesus’s day was that if you had leprosy, you were cursed by God.  That’s why Jesus sent the man to the priest.  It was only a priest that was authorized to confirm that the leprosy was gone and thus, God’s curse had been removed.  So, as a leper, it is completely understandable that this man would doubt that a prophet/rabbi/Son of God would want to grant his request.  So Jesus is not JUST healing here; He is also teaching all who were present about the true character of God.  Jesus states plainly that He wishes to heal the man and immediately commands the affliction to be gone.  God’s character is one that seeks to heal, not condemn.  I need to hear that and I’m guessing I’m not the only one.

 

  I wish there were a way to instantly remove all the self-imposed obstacles to approaching God with our needs confidently.  I’m not aware of such a remedy. However, see this leper’s bravery.  He had those doubts and/or fears, yet he addresses Jesus anyway.  He’s honest about his need, but he’s also honest about his doubt.  Such bravery and honesty is almost always required in situation.  If we wait until we’re confident in God’s willingness to hear and respond to us, we may never ask.  If we wait for all doubt/fear to disappear, we will be waiting forever.  Be brave. Be honest.  And do so right now.  We will talk about this passage some more tomorrow, but don’t wait until then to ask God for what you need. Do it today.

 

Question:  What are you reluctant to ask God for?  Why? 

 

Prayer:  Lord I know you are able to _____________ for me.  Sometimes, I struggle with the idea that you are willing.  I ask you to _______________ even in the midst of my doubts. Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for teachers that you know today.

 

Song:  How Can It Be? – Lauren Daigle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wt5X91ciE6Y&t=24s

Saying Yes Sometimes Means Saying No

Mark 1:35-39 - 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.  Simon and his companions went to look for him,  and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”

Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.”  So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.

 

 Jesus has just been up late the preceding night healing folks in Simon Peter’s home village.  The next morning, awakening early, He senses the need to spend some time alone, so he walks off to do just that.  This short account establishes for us what will be a pattern in the life of ministry of Jesus.  He engages fully with the needs of people for a time, then he withdraws to be alone to refresh and renew His commitment to engage again.  Jesus makes rest and renewal a priority as a essential part of being in mission. 

 

Also in this short account, we see Jesus making the decision to move on to the next town even though the people are looking for Him to stay and take care of more of their needs.  This could be interpreted in many different ways (some of them even negative) but Jesus Himself states the reason; my mission is to visit as many towns /synagogues as possible to announce that the Kingdom of God has arrived.  It would be tempting to stay where He is already loved and needed, but Jesus presses on to complete his appointed work, even though doing so will undoubtedly be disappointing to many. 

 

These four short verses have a lot to say about following a calling.  Staying committed to a mission requires being also committed to taking care of yourself AND being clear enough about what needs to be done that you are willing to say “no” to the expectations of others.  If this is true of Jesus, how much more true would it be for us?

 

Questions:  What is one step that you need to take to take better care of yourself so that you can be better prepared to do the good work that is yours to do?  Do others’ expectations of you ever get in the way of doing that good work?

 

Prayer:  Holy Spirit, help us see our limitations clearly enough that we are aware of how to take good care of ourselves physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  Make it obvious what You have called us to do and the decisions we need to make to follow that calling.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for staff members of churches you are affiliated with today.  If you are not affiliated with a church,  pray for people you know who work for or are volunteers at a non-profit you know.

 

Song:  Be Still – The Fray

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nUuBjz4Vhc

Let the Healing Begin

Mark 1: 29-34 - As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about her.  So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.

That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed.  The whole town gathered at the door, 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. 

 

After having a promising start to his public ministry, Jesus and his new disciples go to the home of Simon (Peter) and Andrew. Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed sick, so Jesus went in to see her.  He heals her sickness and evidently the word spreads quickly.  Soon the entire town is at the door with all the sick and demon-afflicted.  Jesus graciously heals them all.  He drives out all the demons.  The authority Jesus publicly established at the synagogue is demonstrated in a more private setting.  The point made here is that Jesus heals not because it shows His authority (though it definitely does that?); he heals because is moved with compassion for those sick and tormented.

 

In the New Testament, it is fairly common to come across those afflicted by demons.  Unless you consider all the the horror-genre films of our present culture, this “demon talk” causes a disconnect with us in the twenty-first century.  But that need not be the case.  Mental illness was not a term used in the first century.  The fields of psychology and psychiatry will not be founded for another fifteen-hundred years.  Mental illness is the term that we generally use to describe the same people in those New Testament stories.  Though I do not deny the existence of evil spirits that torment humans, this is not the norm.  That is why I use the term heal above to address both the sick and tormented that Jesus encountered in this passage. 

 

Truth be told, most of us human beings have our “demons.”  We find ourselves mentally tormented by thoughts and feelings that we can’t seem to control, much less cast out ourselves.  The bridge between these kinds of passages and our own time is that in Jesus’s compassion, He wants to heal us as well. 

 

Question:  How would describe the “demons” that torment you?  Do you believe that Jesus can deliver you?

 

Prayer:  Jesus cast out  and silence our demons – all that torments us spiritually, mentally, and emotionally  - all that keeps us from the life that is truly life that you want for us.  Heal us and those we love by Your authority.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for those you know that struggle with mental illness.

 

Song:  Heal – Tom Odell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prsRiVTKqYg

“As One w/ Authority”

Mark 1:21-28 - They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach.  The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.  Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out,  “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”

“Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!”  The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek. The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him.”  News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.

 

This is Jesus’s public synagogue teaching debut in the book of Mark and he makes a big splash.  Like the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show in 1964, people immediately realize they are experiencing something brand new.  They describe their surprise because Jesus teaches “as one with authority.”  You see, before Jesus, the Rabbi’s, scribes, and other spiritual leaders speak from the authority of what has been written by others, namely what we now call the Old testament and the many Rabbinical Writings written about the Old Testament scriptures.  Jesus may reference those documents, but He speaks as one who has His own innate authority that matches and even exceeds those of the scriptures.   He then demonstrates this unique authority by commanding demons to “hush” and come out of the man they had possessed.  Shockingly, the demons obey.  The people are amazed by this because they have never encountered it before.  It is as if God is speaking directly to them and commanding demons in that very room.  It seems like that because that is exactly what is happening. 

 

This text raises a monumental issue for the Judeo-Christian tradition that is still being wrestled with today.  Do the teachings of Jesus have more authority than that of the Old Testament?  Hundreds of very long books have been written that attempt to answer that question.  I have read several of them over the years, but I do not aspire to answer the question definitely.  I have a personal conviction and I simply share it with you here.  I believe Jesus’s teachings do deserve primary consideration within the scriptures contained in the Old and New Testaments. 

 

I believe this for at least a couple of pretty unscholarly reasons.  Nevertheless, they are reasons.  First, Jesus Himself seems to think that His authority is greater than what was written before.  In several places within the Gospels, Jesus quotes scripture and then personally supplants it.  Often, it goes something like this; “You have heard it said …,” (fill in the blank with a known scriptural quotation), “but I say . . ..”  Jesus goes on to introduce a new teaching that supercedes or changes the previous scriptural teaching.  My second reason is that if I believe Jesus to be God in the flesh, than it makes sense that what He says carries more authority than what someone else wrote about their experience of what God said.  If I hear my brother relay something to me that my Dad said, but then I personally hear my Dad say something different on the same issue, I tend to trust the first person experience over the hearsay. 

 

I like the illustration that Adam Hamilton uses to support the same idea.  He says that the teachings and commands of Jesus serve as a filter or “colander” to sift through the whole of the scriptural writings.  This by no means invalidates the Old Testament or the other New testament authors, but all of that should be interpreted in the light of the revelation of Jesus.  As Hamilton himself states, "It is Jesus who serves as the final Word by which other words of scripture are to be judged."  (p. 177, Making Sense of the Bible)

 

Jesus is my scriptural colander.  You don’t have to agree with me, but I do invite you to think about it. 

 

Question:  We all pick and choose “our favorite scriptures.” On what basis do you decide what your favorite scriptures are?

 

Prayer:  God, I thank you for becoming a human being and speaking your Word directly to us.  May your teachings guide all that we do and how we live. Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for God to bless people you have a hard time agreeing with today.  I know it’s hard, but do it anyway. 

 

Song:  The B-I-B-L-E – Kids Worship

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8qgSZsL6k0

Recovering "Disciple"

 

Mark 1:16-20 - As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.  “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”  At once they left their nets and followed him.

When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets.  Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

 

Why do Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John all immediately drop their whole lives to follow Jesus full-time with a simple, “come, follow me” from the Rabbi?  Lots of commentators confidently put forth many answers that make sense, but the reality is we can’t be sure.  Only the person that drops everything to follow Jesus could give a definitive reason or reasons for making such a life-changing move.  My guess is that if we were able to go back in time and interview these four men, we would get four different answers as to their particular reason(s).

 

We know from the letters of John that Andrew and probably Peter were followers of John the Baptist.  Obviously, John the Baptist was all about preparing his followers to follow the “one who would come after [him].”  When John identifies Jesus as that “One,” it makes a lot of sense that they would be an easier “yes” to Jesus’s invitation.  Though we are not given any such backstory for James and John, the specific language Mark uses to describe the encounter suggests Jesus already knew them before He calls them to be His disciples.  Mark is not describing some mystical encounter where Jesus asks total strangers to follow them and the strangers, as if put into some hypnotic trance, drop everything and follow Him for the next three years of their lives.  A prior relationship is assumed.

 

The other issue we must be aware of is what a momentous honor it was to be ask to become the disciples of a popular Rabbi.  The word that in English is translated “disciple” is “talmidum” and it has a much deeper meaning than someone who simply follows a teacher around for a specified amount of time.  When a Rabbi chooses a Talmidum, the Rabbi is choosing someone who he thinks can eventually take over his role.  What Jesus is saying to these four men, and the other eight that come after, is that they can become influential spiritual teachers themselves.  The faith and wisdom Jesus represents can be the faith and wisdom that the Talmidum will represent themselves.  It is an invitation to become a person of influence and impact beyond just themselves.

 

The invitation to become disciples of Jesus is still that huge.  It is the call to live for something bigger than yourself.  All of us may not become famous teachers, but the life you’ve been called to live is for the benefit of others and the growing influence of the Kingdom of God.  A disciple is more than an admirer or someone cherishes Jesus the same way you cherish your favorite actor or celebrity.  A disciple is someone who leaves important stuff behind to place their time, talent, and treasure in service to Jesus’s mission.  Jesus’s mission becomes the disciple’s mission. 

 

To be frank, Jesus doesn’t have an abundance of disciples (defined in this way) today.  Among the billions that would call themselves Christians, only the smallest fraction have really swapped their own aspirations for those of Jesus.  But Jesus’s call to all of us remains the same nonetheless. 

 

Question:  What have you left behind to follow Jesus?  What do need to leave behind?

 

Prayer:  Jesus, help us clearly understand Your specific call on my time, talent, and treasure.  Help me see steps I can take today to become more like You and more invested in Your mission.  

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for those who struggling with what to do with their lives right now.

 

Song:  For the Sake of the World – Bethel Music

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9oqi86yS3g

This is Changing Everything

Mark 1:14-15 - After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.  “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

 

We are only 15 short verses into Mark and already, prophets foretelling the coming of the Messiah have been quoted. John the Baptist’s ministry begins and ends.  Jesus is baptized, anointed by God the Father, and then spends forty days in the desert.  John is put in prison and Jesus first message is preached.  Mark is definitely an author committed to using as few words as possible!  No wonder people generally like the other three gospels better – they have a lot more juicy details!

 

However, what this economy of words does for us is give us the gospel of Jesus in outline form.  Almost every paragraph is a headline.  Today the headline is this:

 

“The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

 

It has been at least a few hundred years since the last Old Testament Prophet has spoken.  Israel lives under the thumb of the Romans.  Most of the Israelites lived in poverty and oppressive taxation.  Place yourself in that position.  Imagine living in those circumstances.  Don’t read any further until you have taken a mental field-trip to first-century Galilee. 

 

Then imagine some preacher walking out of the desert and announcing that the Kingdom of God has arrived.  He is not saying that the Kingdom is coming.  He is saying that the Kingdom is already here.  He invites you to turn from (repent) your way of life and believe that what he has just announced is actually true.  Would you believe Him?

 

I’m an avid Tampa Bay Rays baseball fan.  I have an app on my phone that sends me updates from the Rays’ games so that while the game is going on, I can get quick updates when runs are scored, someone makes an amazing catch, or some other significant moment during the game.  This is fun for me when I’m not watching the game.  However, when you’re watching a game on TV, there is enough of a delay between when the home run is actually hit in the stadium to the moment that you see it happen on TV that the app can actually notify you on your phone before you see it.  The other day, I got a notification, looked down at my phone and read that Ji-man Choi (one of my favorite players) had hit a home run.  I quickly look back up at the TV and watch the home run on the “live” TV broadcast.   I now tend not to look at my phone while I’m watching games.

 

Jesus is giving us that same kind of notification.  The Kingdom of God has arrived.  Only 15 verses into Mark, you might not have seen it yet, but it has happened.  If you turn from what you’re doing right now and pay attention, you will see it and believe it.  Mark is trying to get you and me, the readers to pay attention and look for the reality that has already happened.  We will re-visit this theme throughout the gospel, but for now, look up and see that it is true.  Our orientation is to be constantly looking for what God has already done.

 

Questions:  Do you actively look for signs that God’s Kingdom is active in the world? In your neighborhood?  In your family? In you?

 

Prayer:  God . . .often. . . when we look around, we see nothing but bad news.  Give us eyes to see the evidence that your Kingdom is here.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for me today.  No particular reason. I just know that I need people praying for me.  Come to think of it. . . you should ask people to pray for you today too.  We all need it.

 

Song:  Secret Kingdom - Newsboys

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIUHpvSkXOI

Is Your Blade Sharpened?

Mark 1:12-13 - At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.

 

It is assumed that Jesus was aware of his mission long before his ministry officially began.  However, with his baptism, his anointing by the Holy Spirit, and the verbal announcement of God the Father from the heavens, this mission has not been made public.    His public ministry is about to begin.  So what does Jesus do?  He withdraws into the dessert for forty days. 

It should be mentioned that 40 is a very significant number in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures.  It is mentioned nearly 150 times.  This number is usually associated with a time of testing, trial, and/or preparation.  Moses spent 40 days on Mount Sinai on two separate occasions.  Elijah fasted 40 days.  Jonah warned Nineveh for 40 days.  The Hebrews spent 40 years in the wilderness. Noah’s flooding rains lasted 40 days and nights.  The list goes on and on.  On purpose, Jesus evokes this “holy” number with the time he spent in the desert to begin his ministry. 

 

The time in the desert IS ministry.  It is not what happens BEFORE ministry.  It IS ministry. Purposeful time alone IS ministry.  Being sent somewhere by the Spirit IS ministry.  Addressing temptations IS ministry.  Being attended to by God IS ministry.  What Jesus does in the desert makes what he does after more effective and focused. 

 

We all a ministry/service to which we are called.  My question for all of us is this: does our ministry/service include the elements of spiritual direction, intentional solitude, addressing personal temptation, and submitting ourselves to God’s care a part of our service or are those things attended to “if we have time?”  Stephen Covey called these kinds of activities the habit of “sharpening the saw.” Using a saw with a dull blade takes exponentially more time to cut than one that has been sharpened.  The time spent sharpening the blade is way more than made up for by the shortened time it takes to cut.  Jesus’s service is “sharpened” by His time in the desert.  If Jesus needed to do that, how much more do we?  That takes me back to today essential question.

 

Question:  Does our ministry/service include the elements of spiritual direction, intentional solitude, addressing personal temptation, and submitting ourselves to God’s care a part of our service or are those things attended to “if we have time?”

 

Prayer:  Master Jesus, help us not to be so preoccupied with constant activity that we forget the activities/disciplines that drive our most effective service and remind us that our service is always to You.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Spend some time actively seeking God’s guidance on a specific issue in your life right now. 

 

Song:  Take Time to Be Holy – David & Steven Au

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WblkcQYxdp8

Holy Moments

Mark 1:9-11 - At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.  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.  And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

 

As we suggested a few days ago, Mark’s account of the life of Jesus tends to be much more simple and straightforward than the other gospels.  Often, Matthew and Luke will take a story from Mark, add more details, and sometimes even add some theological commentary.  Mark just tells the story.  His is a “just the facts” approach.  The story concerning Jesus’s baptism is a good example.

 

Mark reports that Jesus goes to the Jordan to be baptized by John.  There is none of the verbal exchange beforehand that takes place in where John objects to baptizing Jesus.  Matthew and Luke have good reasons for including that exchange, but Mark feels no need.  What Mark thinks is important is what happens after Jesus is baptized.  The skies open up, the Spirit descends upon Jesus, and a Voice from Heaven declares, ”You are my Son, whom I love; with You I am well pleased.”

 

This is the official consecration of Jesus’s ministry.  It is the hand-off from John to Jesus.  John’s preparing the way is completed.  The Jesus mission is launched by the Spirit anointing Jesus and God’s verbal blessing.  It is one of the few times we witness all three persons of the Trinity in the same moment.  Though Mark has no flair for the dramatic, this is a big holy moment.  As we’ll talk about tomorrow, Jesus obviously knows how big the moment is because of what He does next.

 

But as we are reading Mark’s simple “ho-hum” prose, the holiness of this event could easily be missed.  The truth about us humans is that we often miss such opportunities.  The holiness of what is happening right in front of us is lost on us because we aren’t really paying attention.  Though most of them don’t include the sky-splitting, Spirit-descending, “voice from heaven” kind of drama, God is always up to something all around us – even when we are sure that is not the case.  Today, look for it.  View what is happening right in front of you with an expectation of holiness.  Those who seek find (I think I’ve heard that somewhere before).  Be a seeker of holiness today and every day.

 

Question:  What is God up to in your neighborhood today?

 

Prayer:  Holy Spirit, show Yourself to us today in the seemingly mundane details of our life.  Help us experience your Holiness.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for those closest to you today and while you are doing that, be sure to make time to listen for God’s answers concerning them.

 

Song:  Holiness - Wayne Watson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guc5clkxaYA

Crazy John?

Mark 1:4-8 - And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  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.  John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.  And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.  I baptize you with[e] water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

 

As we said yesterday, Mark begins his gospel account with the announcement that the Messiah would be preceded by another messenger who will prepare the way.  Immediately after this announcement, we meet this messenger, John the Baptist, in the wilderness.  He is “preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”

 

This is not the baptism with which most modern-day Christians are familiar.   It is not an initiation rite.  There is no such thing as a “Christian” yet.  As we will learn throughout his gospel, Mark says plainly what he means.  This is a “baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”  To repent literally means “to turn away.”  John pleads with those who come to hear him to turn away from their sinful ways because the Messiah is coming.  John’s words come at the end of a very spiritually dry period of a few hundred years where no prophet’s voice is heard and God’s people have been oppressed my multiple empires.  The suggestion here is that people had fallen asleep spiritually.  John is the alarm bell piercing their slumber. 

 

Mark uses John’s clothing to point out that this clarion call is not coming from the comfortable religious establishment that quietly colludes with Rome.  No priest in Jerusalem would be caught dead wearing camel’s hair or leather.  Neither would they dine on the bugs and honey you could find in the wilderness.  This message comes from one who has himself repented of all the trappings of the religious establishment before he asks anyone else to repent.  John is the son of a priest, but he sheds the priestly signs of comfort and wealth.  His message is “do what I have done, because something amazing is about happen and you might just miss it.” 

 

It's a message that’s hard to hear even today.  We read about John and often picture him as “a crazy old man in the woods.” 

“Oh, that’s just John.  Pay no attention to him.” 

 

People dismissed John two thousand years ago and people still dismiss God’s messengers calling for change today.  They misunderstood John back then and they misunderstand still today.  John is not saying we need to change things;  He’s announcing that things are about to change whether we want them to or not.  We can prepare ourselves for that or we can miss what God is doing altogether. 

 

Question:   In what way is John’s message of “baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” a message for you today? For the church today?

 

Prayer:  Holy Spirit, show us the ways in which we have grown too comfortable and content in our faith.  Wake us up with the news of what you are about to do in us and in the world.

 

Song:  Song of Repentance – New Wine Worship

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iE4YYHr2SF8

The Gospel of Mark

Mark 1:1-3

The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:

“I will send my messenger ahead of you,

    who will prepare your way”—

“a voice of one calling in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord,

    make straight paths for him.’”

 

Today, we a begin a journey through the Gospel of Mark, the first to be written of the four gospel accounts we have in the New Testament.  John Mark, the traditionally agreed upon author, was an associate of the Apostle Paul and traveled with the Apostle Peter.  Papius, a first century church historian, asserts that Mark, a scribe, got the material for the gospel by collecting and recording Peter’s eyewitness accounts of the life of Jesus as they traveled together.  Mark took all the accounts and then organized them into straightforward story that has three basic sections:  (1) Jesus’s ministry in Galilee - chapters 1-8, (2) The journey from Galilee to Jerusalem – Chapters 8-10, and (3) In Jerusalem – chapters 11-16.  Mark heavily influences the writing of Matthew and Luke as the authors of those gospels use much of Mark’s material, sometimes even word for word.  90% of Mark’s material appears in Matthew and 50% appears in Luke. 

 

The phrase that Mark uses to introduce his Gospel is the only time in the entire account that Mark expresses his opinion about Jesus:

 

“The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:”

 

This is important because what Mark does in the rest of the Gospel is use all the eyewitness accounts he collected to convince his readers of the truth of his opening assertion.  Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah and He is the Son of God. 

 

After his opening, Mark quotes both Isaiah and Malachi to support the notion that the Messiah will be preceded by a messenger that will announce and “prepare the way” for the Messiah.  Tomorrow, we’ll find out who that messenger is, although I’m sure many of you already have a pretty good guess. 😉

 

For now though, I encourage us to consider the idea of preparing the way for the Lord as we begin our journey through arguably the most influential account of Jesus ever written.  Maybe you’ve read this gospel a dozen times before or maybe you’ve never read all the way through even once.  Regardless, this simple, direct, gospel has proven over and over through the last two centuries that we can encounter Jesus in powerful ways every time we read. 

 

Question:  Are you “prepared” to encounter Jesus is new ways?

 

Prayer:  God, prepare our hearts to receive Mark’s gospel as if we had never read any of it before.  Use this ancient text to warm and transform our hearts. Amen.

 

Song:  People Get Ready – Jeff Back & Rod Stewart

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yC_j_dzkaVE