Who is Jesus? How do we know? What is it about this man, what is it about the stories about him that we find so fascinating?
Over the next few weeks we’ll be searching out the answers those questions by looking at just one particular source: The Gospel of Mark.
Now, “Why Mark?” you may be asking. Why focus in on just one of the Gospels? I mean, if you’ve read one Gospel, you’ve read them all, right? Because after all, they just tell the same stories about Jesus . . . there’s no need to talk about just one Gospel.
So, that’s true, eh? If you know one Gospel you know them all? Think you know Mark? Let’s put it to a little test. Without opening your Bibles, answer the following questions. You can mark the answer down in your interactive sermon sheet.
True or False: The Gospel of Mark is a letter written to a specific person.--Luke
True or False: The Gospel of Mark was intended for private study.
True or False: The Gospel of Mark was written by one of the Apostles.
True or False: The Gospel of Mark opens up with an account of Jesus’ birth.—Matthew, Luke
True or False: According to the Gospel of Mark, Jesus’ earthly father was a carpenter by trade.—not mentioned at all
True or False: All Twelve of the Apostles are featured prominently in the Gospel of Mark.—All twelve names are only mentioned once
True or False: In the Gospel of Mark, great crowds of people follow Jesus and put their faith in Him.—most people greatly misunderstand Him
True or False: In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus’ last words on the cross are, “It is finished!”—Eloi, Eloi . . .
True or False: The Gospel of Mark concludes with Jesus’ triumphant resurrection from the dead.—This is difficult (and yes, tricky!), but in actuality there’s good evidence that the resurrection account, vs 9-19, were not written by Mark at all.
Okay, time’s up, quiz over, put down your pencils and let’s grade this! They are ALL false. That’s right . . . every single question is false. Really!
See, there’s a reason why we have four Gospels; they each give us a little different picture of who Jesus is. We need each of the four Gospels in order to understand Christ more fully. By focusing in on Mark over the next few weeks we hope to uncover some of the unique riches that this Gospel has to offer.
Why do we need to study the Gospel of Mark? One of my seminary professors once said that the Gospel of Mark is possibly the most significant writing in the history of Western literature. Why? Because it deals with the basic issues of Christianity. In Mark 4:41 a group of Disciples, first terrified because of a great storm and then even more terrified that Jesus has silenced the wind and the waves with just a word, asks, “Who is this man?” They ask the fundamental question of the Gospel of Mark. Who is Jesus Christ?
We need to study Mark because Mark deals with the basic issues of discipleship. In Mark 9:24 a frustrated father, desperate for healing for his son, cries out to Jesus, “Lord, I believe! Help me in my unbelief!” What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus? How do I live as a follower of this amazing, one-of-a-kind man?
Before we start digging right into the text, though, let’s begin this week by understanding the book as a whole. It’s always a good idea to have some understanding of what you’re getting yourself into before you jump right in, so let’s first go into a bit of the background of this Gospel. We’re going to move pretty fast, so stay alert and jot down some notes. You can always ask questions later if you missed something.
To begin with, who’s this “Mark” guy? He doesn’t sign his name anywhere, so how are we supposed to know who he is? There’s about four different “Marks” that show up in the New Testament. One is a traveling companion of the Apostle Paul. In Colossians there is a Mark listed as a cousin of Barnabas. Another is a man known by Timothy. And then in Acts 12:12 we have a man named John but who is also called Mark. But in the end, not a single one of the Scriptures says that any of these Marks wrote a Gospel.
However, the early church fathers were pretty consistent in their agreement that the author of Mark was a man who hung around with Peter, who listened to Peter’s stories of Jesus, who listened to Peter’s preaching, and then set down to write an account of Jesus’ life. And though we’ll never have 100% hard evidence, I tend to favor John Mark of Acts 12:12 as being that man
2nd item: Mark wrote his account of Jesus with a specific audience in mind. As you read through the book you’ll notices that Mark is writing first to people who are already Christian, they are already believers. They know and are familiar with the basic story of Jesus Christ and they understand basic Christian themes and concepts, such as persecution and the work of the Holy Spirit, for instance, but they didn’t know much of anything about Jewish customs. They knew the Greek language and were fairly well versed in Latin, but were very weak on Hebrew and Aramaic. And so, if we put all this together, we get a picture of Mark’s audience; Mark is writing to a group of Greek-speaking Gentile believers that could possibly be living in Rome.
Now, the point of that little exercise is so that you can imagine yourself as that person. You’ve heard of the Jews but don’t know anything about their habits. You understand that Jesus Himself was a Jew, but that He is also Savior of the Gentiles, of people like you. You’re doing your best to trust in Christ, but still you tend to have some doubts in your mind. And even though you believe in Christ for your salvation, when the alarm clock goes off in the morning and you pull on your toga and head to the public baths you’re still not quite sure what it means to be called a “Christian.”
That’s you; that’s who Mark is writing to. And Mark has just one point that he’s trying to drive home. At the end of the day, Mark just wants you to know who Jesus is and what it means to follow Him. In Rick Warren’s words, he just wants you to know Jesus a little more and love Him a little better.
Who is Jesus? How do we know? Mark understands that there is more to Jesus than we could possibly even begin to understand. Trying to describe Jesus with words is like trying to grasp the wind, it’s like trying to explain how beautiful your wife is. It’s something you know . . . but try and put it into words? It’s just too big.
So Mark tells us who Jesus is not by writing volumes of Christology, but by showing us what Christ came to do. Mark’s Gospel is a Gospel of action. Jesus is always going somewhere, He is always doing something. The word “immediately” is big for Mark! Immediately Jesus went from there . . . immediately Jesus answered . . . immediately Jesus made them get into a boat . . . and immediately the rooster crowed.
As we walk with Jesus through the first 10 chapters of Mark as we circle the Sea of Galilee, we see Him demonstrating His power over Satan by casting out demons. We feel Him reach out in compassion to heal the sick. We hear Him challenge the traditions of man and the established religious system. And we observe His frustration at those who’s hardened hearts will not let them believe in Him and be freed.
We sit with Him as He feeds five thousand people from a five small loaves of bread and a few pieces of fish, and we gather up twelve baskets from the leftovers . . . but we do not truly understand what it meant. In terror, we rouse Him from His slumber so that He can save us from the storm . . . and yet we’re utterly mystified when He actually does it. We mutter to ourselves when Jesus speaks in the code of a parable, but even when He explains it to us we’re still not sure what He said.
Even as we begin the trip with Him to Jerusalem we are mystified and frightened. Why is He going to the city? Won’t He be killed? What will become of us? How can He protect us if He’s dead? How can we follow a man whom we don’t understand?
With the crowds we shout His Hosannas. With the Pharisees we feel the sting of His rebuke. At the home of Simon the Leper we anoint His head with perfume in preparation for His death. With the Twelve we receive His body and blood at the Last Supper. And with Peter we deny Him three times.
At the cross we watch from a distance. And at the tomb we tremble, bewildered and afraid, wondering what the empty tomb could possibly mean.
Who is Jesus? How do we know? R.T. France says, “To understand who Jesus is, for Mark, is primarily to understand what he has come to do, how he fits into the ongoing story of God’s dealing with his people . . .” We know who Jesus is by coming into contact with Him through the Gospel of Mark, by seeing what He does and allowing Him to break into our dull, dry, daily routine.
The Gospel of “is about how twelve ordinary men met Jesus and entered into a new dimension of living.”(France, pg 28) The Gospel of Mark is about Jesus breaking into our lives and about us trying to make sense out of One who defies explanation.
Who is Jesus and what does it mean to follow Him? Just like Mark, I’m not going to give you any easy answers. You’re going to have to listen to the whole story in order to understand it. And we’ll continue the story next week.
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Confirmation, not Graduation
Today I want to try and accomplish a bit of a difficult trick with the sermon: I want to speak to everyone in the church but at the same time really speak just to the confirmands. So you two listen up—this is for you! The rest of you, listen up! This is for you, too.
All year long in catechism class I think I’ve really been trying to get at just three main things. Three things, and if you guys can really understand, if you can really remember these three things then I think we’ve accomplished what we set out to do.
The first thing that you need to keep in mind is that we’ve got a great, big, wonderful, awesome God who is able to do anything far beyond what we would expect or be able to see. We know this, because we can see Him working in our lives. We’ve shared stories over the past year about what He’s done for us.
We know God has this awesome power because we read about it in the Scriptures. The Old Testament reading from today—Deuteronomy 6:4-9 4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.—that comes from a time when the children of Israel were about ready to cross over into the Promised Land. They had seen with their own eyes what God could do. They had seen Him defeat entire armies, they had seen how He had provided food for them for 40 years, and a few of them had even seen how God had saved them through water, when He parted the Red Sea as they escaped the slavery of Egypt.
This is the God who is working in your lives today. He has saved you through water—not by parting the Red Sea but by giving you baptism—freeing you from the slavery of sin. He has worked in your lives through His word as you received instruction about Him; not just in catechism but in your homes, in the years you spent in Sunday School. Even the times that you’ve been able to share His word with someone who needed it, God has been working in you.
And you’ve grown in Him. Obviously you’ve grown physically since your birth, Amen? But you’ve grown spiritually, as well. I can see that even just over our past year together. And why have you grown? Because you’ve received His pure, wholesome Word. His word is like pure, healthy milk; it’s something that’s essential for good health not just when you’re little, but also when you’re older. We never outgrow the need for pure milk. Like Peter says in 1 Peter 2:2-3, “2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”
Because you’re growing up in your salvation, you also need to know the second thing I need to tell you today: God has no grandchildren. There is never been a person alive that could say God is their grandpa.
That may sound odd, but it simply means that you cannot be a part of God’s family because of the faith of your parents. Yes, your parents brought you to the waters of baptism when you were just a ittle-wittle baby, they made promises for you when you could not speak . . . but today and from now on you must speak for yourselves. Today you say for yourself that this is your faith, that this is your belief, that this is your church . . . and that God is your God.
Again, from today’s Epistle lesson: Romans 8:14-17 14 because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons (and yes, daughters) of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship—that means that God has adopted us you as His children—And it is by the Spirit that we cry, "Abba, Father." 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.
Confirmation is not graduation, it is a rite of passage. You are not being released from responsibility, but instead you are moving into adulthood. Adults have responsibility for themselves and for others. That is why from this point on you are will be members of the church in your own right. You will not be members just because their parents are, but because you yourself have chosen to be.
The third and final thing I need to tell you is that you need to continue to grow in Christ. I said before that you’ll continue to need milk, and that’s true, but Hebrews 5:13-14 also tells us that “13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”
It’s kind of funny the way that works, because becoming mature is entirely dependent upon both of the two things that I’ve already told you. See, because you’re saying this is your faith, because you’re becoming an adult, you have a responsibility to do the things that will bring you growth in Christ. Not too long from now there will be a day when no one will be waking you up to take you to church, no one’s going to send you to bed early on Saturday night because we’ve got church in the morning. No one’s going to check and make sure you said your prayers or read your Bible.
You’re an adult, you’re a child of God, and it’s up to you to do the things that children of God do. You’re going to have to make an effort to stay close to God, and let me tell you you’ll be glad you did, because it’s a rough old world without Him.
But the reason you’re going to be able to grow in Christ is not because you chose Him, not because you are becoming an adult, but because He is able to cause you to grow! God has chosen you as His children, He has chosen you as His priests. As He hung on the cross He was thinking of Sam, He was thinking of Kate. As He told His disciples to go to the ends of the world with His message, He was thinking of where He would send you.
You’re going to hit hard times. It’s not always easy to walk the road God has put before us. Every adult who’s been confirmed as a teenager can name members of their confirmation class who promised to remain faithful to our Lord, to conform their whole lives to His Word and to make faithful use of the Word and Sacraments . . . but who no longer attend church anywhere. It’s hard, being an adult. And there’s going to come times when you’re not sure which way to turn and you’re not sure you can distinguish good from evil anymore, and you’re going to be tempted to turn away from God and His word and go your own way.
But when those times come, I want you to remember something: I want you to remember that God’s been with you throughout your entire life. I want you to remember that there’s never been a time that He’s abandoned you. And I want you to remember that He loves you, and that those hard times are just His way of growing you in Christ.
We have a need to be constantly refreshed through encountering God in His church. I myself am only here because I know my sin, I know my heart . . . and I don’t like what I see. I need God’s presence in my life, and He gives that to me through His church. You, too, are going to need His presence in your lives continually.
Sam, Katie . . . remember that God can do anything far beyond what you need or expect. Remember that you are His very own child. And remember to continue to grow in Him throughout the rest of your earthly life. The journey that began with your parents bringing you to baptism is now yours to walk as one with the rest of us. Philippians 1:6 May He who began a good work in you carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
All year long in catechism class I think I’ve really been trying to get at just three main things. Three things, and if you guys can really understand, if you can really remember these three things then I think we’ve accomplished what we set out to do.
The first thing that you need to keep in mind is that we’ve got a great, big, wonderful, awesome God who is able to do anything far beyond what we would expect or be able to see. We know this, because we can see Him working in our lives. We’ve shared stories over the past year about what He’s done for us.
We know God has this awesome power because we read about it in the Scriptures. The Old Testament reading from today—Deuteronomy 6:4-9 4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.—that comes from a time when the children of Israel were about ready to cross over into the Promised Land. They had seen with their own eyes what God could do. They had seen Him defeat entire armies, they had seen how He had provided food for them for 40 years, and a few of them had even seen how God had saved them through water, when He parted the Red Sea as they escaped the slavery of Egypt.
This is the God who is working in your lives today. He has saved you through water—not by parting the Red Sea but by giving you baptism—freeing you from the slavery of sin. He has worked in your lives through His word as you received instruction about Him; not just in catechism but in your homes, in the years you spent in Sunday School. Even the times that you’ve been able to share His word with someone who needed it, God has been working in you.
And you’ve grown in Him. Obviously you’ve grown physically since your birth, Amen? But you’ve grown spiritually, as well. I can see that even just over our past year together. And why have you grown? Because you’ve received His pure, wholesome Word. His word is like pure, healthy milk; it’s something that’s essential for good health not just when you’re little, but also when you’re older. We never outgrow the need for pure milk. Like Peter says in 1 Peter 2:2-3, “2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”
Because you’re growing up in your salvation, you also need to know the second thing I need to tell you today: God has no grandchildren. There is never been a person alive that could say God is their grandpa.
That may sound odd, but it simply means that you cannot be a part of God’s family because of the faith of your parents. Yes, your parents brought you to the waters of baptism when you were just a ittle-wittle baby, they made promises for you when you could not speak . . . but today and from now on you must speak for yourselves. Today you say for yourself that this is your faith, that this is your belief, that this is your church . . . and that God is your God.
Again, from today’s Epistle lesson: Romans 8:14-17 14 because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons (and yes, daughters) of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship—that means that God has adopted us you as His children—And it is by the Spirit that we cry, "Abba, Father." 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.
Confirmation is not graduation, it is a rite of passage. You are not being released from responsibility, but instead you are moving into adulthood. Adults have responsibility for themselves and for others. That is why from this point on you are will be members of the church in your own right. You will not be members just because their parents are, but because you yourself have chosen to be.
The third and final thing I need to tell you is that you need to continue to grow in Christ. I said before that you’ll continue to need milk, and that’s true, but Hebrews 5:13-14 also tells us that “13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”
It’s kind of funny the way that works, because becoming mature is entirely dependent upon both of the two things that I’ve already told you. See, because you’re saying this is your faith, because you’re becoming an adult, you have a responsibility to do the things that will bring you growth in Christ. Not too long from now there will be a day when no one will be waking you up to take you to church, no one’s going to send you to bed early on Saturday night because we’ve got church in the morning. No one’s going to check and make sure you said your prayers or read your Bible.
You’re an adult, you’re a child of God, and it’s up to you to do the things that children of God do. You’re going to have to make an effort to stay close to God, and let me tell you you’ll be glad you did, because it’s a rough old world without Him.
But the reason you’re going to be able to grow in Christ is not because you chose Him, not because you are becoming an adult, but because He is able to cause you to grow! God has chosen you as His children, He has chosen you as His priests. As He hung on the cross He was thinking of Sam, He was thinking of Kate. As He told His disciples to go to the ends of the world with His message, He was thinking of where He would send you.
You’re going to hit hard times. It’s not always easy to walk the road God has put before us. Every adult who’s been confirmed as a teenager can name members of their confirmation class who promised to remain faithful to our Lord, to conform their whole lives to His Word and to make faithful use of the Word and Sacraments . . . but who no longer attend church anywhere. It’s hard, being an adult. And there’s going to come times when you’re not sure which way to turn and you’re not sure you can distinguish good from evil anymore, and you’re going to be tempted to turn away from God and His word and go your own way.
But when those times come, I want you to remember something: I want you to remember that God’s been with you throughout your entire life. I want you to remember that there’s never been a time that He’s abandoned you. And I want you to remember that He loves you, and that those hard times are just His way of growing you in Christ.
We have a need to be constantly refreshed through encountering God in His church. I myself am only here because I know my sin, I know my heart . . . and I don’t like what I see. I need God’s presence in my life, and He gives that to me through His church. You, too, are going to need His presence in your lives continually.
Sam, Katie . . . remember that God can do anything far beyond what you need or expect. Remember that you are His very own child. And remember to continue to grow in Him throughout the rest of your earthly life. The journey that began with your parents bringing you to baptism is now yours to walk as one with the rest of us. Philippians 1:6 May He who began a good work in you carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
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