Normally I am not interested in reality shows.   I find they are a waste of time and usually promote values I have no interest in.  Yet I find that for the last 3 seasons I have been drawn to the The Biggest Loser.  I am certain that a great part of my interest has to do with the fact that I have struggled with my weight for many years.  Just 3 years ago I decided it was time to do something about my enormous 355 pound body.  Through prayer, diet, exercise I lost over 120 pounds.  Over this last few years I have run several 1/2 marathons as well as completed a full marathon last year.  My road to recovery has not been easy but it has been a road that many face.  Hence my journey has made me more aware of those who struggle with their weight.  Just for fun I thought I would share some thoughts of the good & bad I have found in the Biggest Loser TV show.  Let’s start with the good.

The Biggest Loser is one of the more inspiring shows on television.  It takes broken people(in this case obese people) and helps them get on to the road to recovery.  Or maybe a better way to say this is that this show redeems them.  Now I do not want to confuse what Jesus has done on the cross with how people regain their health.   I know that there is a difference but here is the similarity.  Just as redemption gives us life back from the dead so our health when we take charge of it helps us to regain a huge part of our physical life.  Just by making certain health changes contestants on the show are able to do things physically they never imagined, they are able to get rid of pills that are causing them harm, and over all they have a better out look on life.

Possibly the greatest aspect of the show is that we are reminded that it is never to late to make changes in our lives.  This last years show is proof of this.  Several of the oldest participants on the show lost the most significant amounts of weight.  To see a man in his 60’s who had been obese for years drop half his weight was incredible.  Even the winner at 48 years of age beat out many of the young guns who were more athletic and who had more weight to lose.  Being that I am in my mid 40’s I am reminded it is never to late to make changes in my life.  Certainly there are more good things about this show but let me change gears now.

Certainly with all the good that comes from this show it would be hard to find something bad.  Well I don’t want to be a barrier of bad news but there are somethings about the show that are disturbing.  Probably the greatest problem with the show is the pseudo belief that our identity comes from how big or how fit we are.   Each week as I watched and even celebrated with people who lost their weight I also was disturbed by how much their identity was tied up in their size.  Their was talk about being made new or I will never be the same, or I got my life back.  I understand many of these statements and have even caught myself saying them from time to time as I lost my weight.  But the reality is that losing weight or gaining it does not make a person new.  Our identity and how we see ourselves must not come from the World’s standards but from Gods.  We are a new creation no matter what our size if we give our lives to Christ.   Sadly losing weight does not change the real person.  Certainly we can feel better about ourselves but if their is no change in our hearts than we are still the same people.

It is no secret, Americans are unhealthy.  Just look around you people are getting wider and sicker by the day.  Shows like the Biggest Loser” are a hit because Americans are trying to find answers to many of their healthy issues.  For the longest time I have believed that when it came to health it was really a matter of luck.  Some people were lucky and had no health problems and others were unlucky and had all kinds of health problems.   We have believed that diseases pick and chose people at random.  Spiritually speaking their are very few voices who seem to believe that health and diet are related to the spiritual.  We believe that God created a healthy World but once the fall came we basically had no more instructions on how to live our lives.  Sadly I believe we have done ourselves a disservice in the church by believing that God has nothing to say about health.   Not too long ago I believed this as well.  I believed that my health really had nothing to do with God.  But the more I try to understand God I have come to the realization that God is concerned about my health.  Matter of fact I believe that many of the health problems we face today are a result of not understanding one word.  Ownership.  Let me see if I can simplify this by sharing my personal journey.

3 years ago I had a little health crisis in my life.  I weighed nearly 355 lbs.  By all definitions I was obese.  I have nobody but myself to blame.  My eating was out of control.   To deal with my health problems I began to put myself on a diet.  I wanted to lose the weight so I could get in shape.  But the problem that haunted me was what was I going to do different this time that I had not done in the past.  I have tried many diets and have lost weight only to gain back the weight that I had lost.  Knowing that I needed help beyond myself I turned to God.  Oh it was not immediate nor deliberate turn but I kept seeking him more and more on this issue.   During this time God began to reveal something to me that I realized that was missing in my life.   I had been dieting for all the wrong reasons in the past.  Matter of fact when I looked at why I wanted to lose weight in the first place I realized how selfish my intention were and how they had nothing to do with God.  Why did I want to lose weight?  Well I could say that it was to be healthy, but that was still a selfish motive.  It was all about me.  What God revealed to me was something which we do not hear from many churches, if their are churches at all sharing this message.   So what has God shared with me.  It is that word:  Ownership

When I was 21 years of age I surrendered my life to Jesus.  I told him that my life was His.  He was my master.  Now some 23 years later I realized that I surrendered a lot of areas in my life but I did not give all to Him.  I still had ownership over my body.  Oh I knew that having sex outside of marriage defiled his temple but what about my health.  Did this have anything to do with God’s temple?  Here is the realization that I came to.  For many years I lost weight for me.  I wanted to be healthy, I wanted to look good, I wanted to be in shape, I wanted to do all these things for me.   But I never asked the question of what do you want for me God?  You see if my body really is God’s than I should be healthy not for me but because God wants a temple that is fit and shape to carry on his work.  Oh I know that we are in a fallen world and that our bodies will break down but many of us including myself are destroying God’s temple well before it would naturally break down. Ultimately we should do everything not for ourselves but for God.  If He is the true owner than I lose the weight not for my benefit but how it will benefit the kingdom.   Imagine if Christians decide to make God the owner of their bodies when it comes to their physical health,  this would make a major impact in the World.   Many health problems that are related to obesity would disappear.   Even those not related to Obesity would change because we would eat better and exercise more and live healthier and the whole time giving credit to the one who owned us.  Jesus.

I am certain that many of my readers are already objecting and thinking about all the freedom that we have in God’s grace to live like we want.  Well first and formost God’s grace does not allow us to live like we want.  It certainly covers our sins but God’s desire is for us to commit everything to Him.  Our health is part of everything.  God calls us to live disciplined lives.  When we are obedienent to Him God bestows blessings on us.  I am certain that if we give ownership of our health to God we will see a healthier and more vibrant church.  I would love to hear from you on this issue.  Let me hear your thoughts.  Thanks

In the course of some reading this afternoon in preparation for a blog post on Matthew 13, I read the following paragraphs from Capon’s wonderful book The Parables of the Kingdom.

These paragraphs speak to the untidy nature of the parables and strange nature of the God whose Kingdom is spoken of by Jesus. God, as it turns out, turns all of our notions about himself upside down and inside out. We do not get from him what we might expect, and he does not give to us as we might desire. Those who are first are last and those who are last are first.

It is this strange way of grace that keeps us anchored to him. It is his own strangeness that keeps us coming back to his well of grace. We know that even if all else fails, grace will not.

“In the eighteenth chapter of the Gospel of Luke, we find him addressing a group of people who are smugly content in their confidence that they are upstanding citizens—and who are convinced that anyone not exactly like themselves has no chance of making it into God’s guest register. So he tells them the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican. Note not only what an insulting story it is, but also how small the prospects are that his audience will ever be able to get past its details to its point. Far from being an illustrations that shines an understanding they already have on something they haven’t figured out, it is one that is guaranteed to pop every circuit break in their minds.

“God, Jesus informs them, is not the least bit interested in their wonderful lists of moral and religious accomplishments. Imagine the scene for a moment. You can almost hear the reaction forming in their minds: ‘What do you mean, God’s not interested? We have read the Scriptures—with particular attention to the commandments. We happen to know he is absolutely wild about fasting, tithing, and not committing adultery.’ But Jesus ignores them and presses the parable for all it’s worth. Not only is God going to take a dim view of all their high scores in the behaving competition; he is, in fact, going to bestow the gold medal on an out-and-out crook who just waltzes into the temple, stares at his shoelaces, and does nothing more than admit as much” (7).

So you can be reminded of what Jesus said that day and why Capon’s words are so important:

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.”

“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

The trouble with this parable is in the assumption that we know who Jesus is speaking to (’those who were confident in their own righteousness’) and the assigning of roles. This is exactly what we must not do with this parable. It’s too easy to do so. It’s too easy to know exactly who is the publican and who is the sinner and the minute we start assigning roles we have ceased being a player (either a publican or a tax-collector) and started being the one who justifies one and not the other (i.e., God). It is only God who justifies and therefore only God who can assign roles.

Jesus didn’t tell this parable to us so that we would take it upon ourselves to assign roles. He told it to us so that we would recognize the grace of God. What is amazing is that the grace of God was available to both the publican and the tax-collector, but one understood it and the other did not. That is, the publican thought he deserved it because of all his righteous acts; the tax-collector did not even though he begged for it on the slim chance that there might be some for him.

Those who are warped by the grace of God get this, sort of. These are the ones who come before God singing ‘nothing in my hands I bring simply to the cross I cling.’ They recognize that they are broke, broken, and full of brokenness. They recognize that before God they are empty and need everything. These ones fall on their faces saying, “God what do you have for me?”

Those untouched by grace do not get it. They are the ones who come before God with a laundry list of their accomplishments and gifts and achievements talking out loud to God and saying, “God what can I give to you?” They have to do this because, as people who have everything already, there is nothing left for God to give them. They don’t need his grace because they don’t want it. They don’t want his grace because they don’t need it.

So God turns upside down and inside out notions of who he is and what his kingdom is like. It’s certainly nothing like we might expect. His is a kingdom where it is far better to be broke than it is to be fixed, far better to be empty than filled, far better to be the sinner than the righteous.

With each passing day, grace becomes more and more alive to those who are willing to cast all of their life on Jesus who can and does what we can’t and won’t. Grace. A sweet word. A sweet sound.

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Father, I have no business coming before you. I have no business asking you for anything. Why would you want me, a disfigured and maimed sacrifice, to come into your Holiness? And yet…and yet…have you not made a way through Christ? Have you not invited me in to worship and pray and commune with you?

I don’t even know if you expect me to recognize that I am one and not the other. In all likelihood, I am the publican. I’d rather come before you with a list of accomplishments than a list of needs. I’d rather brag to you of all I have done than to be like Jesus and cast myself on your grace and cry out, “Give us this day, your will, your name, your kingdom, forgive us, lead us not.” I’d rather tell you about all the right things I did than all the wrong things. I’d rather take the focus off of you and your grace and redirect it to myself. I’d rather you not even look at that fellow over there who is in such obviously bad shape–why look at him and all his misery when you can look at me in all my perfection?

Am I not your type? Help me, by your grace, to see myself for who I am so that I will recognize that I need your grace. And, Father, pour out your grace in abundance. Spare me not, Abba. Spare not a drop, Papa. Spare not a drop.

Forgive me Father. This is all I can ask. Even though I am the Publican and I am, too ,the Tax-Collector. Have mercy on me, Father, a sinner. Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to the cross I cling. Have mercy.

Amen.

Do you remember the days when you called a business and actually talked to someone instead of a recording?  I can still remember them vividly.  Oh what a joy to be able to actually talk to a live person.  Oh I know I am getting old and bucking against the advancement of society.  I suppose my kids will do the same at some point when they get older and begin to scoff at the latest inventions.  Anyhow they have to wait because it is my time to speak.

I am always blown away by how we continue to advance in communication and ways in which we communicate.  Think about e-mail and it’s ability to communicate and send information all around the World in a matter of seconds, it is amazing.  When I first started using e-mail my first thought was how this could be a blessing to missionaries in sending and receiving information.  Of course we have advanced well beyond email now.  We can instant message and even facebook with old friends that we have not spoken to in years.

I suppose this is where I want to begin.  As much as I am amazed by our advancements within technology and especially in the area of communication, I am finding that our communication even though it is more it has actually become less.  No longer do we sit down to talk to someone in person.  We might IM them or send them a e-mail to save ourselves some time, but personal touch has disappeared.  I find it funny that many times we will not say a word to people at church but will bare our soul to the world wide web.  I understand the reasoning  behind this.  It is very easy to hide behind a keyboard.  But I believe that “facebook Christianity”  is really damaging to us spiritually.

In a day and age where the World seems more and more disoriented and broken the one thing we do not need is the ability to hide.  Now hopefully you hear me.  I am not opposed to such things as facebook or blogging or the Internet in general.  Actually I am excited about them.  Yet I am convinced that as a church we must have personal contact to make an impact for the Lord.  People do not need a recording of how to find Jesus they need to see Jesus in us.  Ministry will only be effective as we place our touch on people’s lives.  As I once told a friend, “please call me when you want to talk rather than e-mail.”

Just as pornography is a cheap imitation of the real thing that God has meant for good, I believe that our new ways of communication can be cheap imitations for something that can be a whole lot better.  Next time you have something important to say to someone let me encourage you to call them rather than e-mail or even better yet go and share a cup of coffee with them.   If your concern is time just think of how much time you would save by not sending them all that forwarded garbage you send.  And anyways doesn’t it say a lot more when someone cares enough to actually speak to you in person.  Yes the World is advancing.  And I am sure that automated voices will solve many of our problems, but oh how I yearn to hear a real voice from time to time.

I remember my first days in Bible College.  Wow was I on fire.  I had just recently given my life to Jesus Christ.  I had known the effects of sin.  My life was spiraling out of control and then when all hope was lost Jesus was right their.  So with a fire in my heart and a passion to save the World I entered Bible College.  I soaked up as much as I could.  I looked forward to the day that I could teach and preach at my first church.  And finally that day came.  I was hired.  Or as I would like to think, I was called in to ministry.  With a Bible  in my hand and a desire to do damage for the kingdom I strolled into my first church.  And since that day I have learned something about many churches.  They are filled with dead people.

I think it is time we start talking about the elephant that is in the room.  Many churches in America are dead.  Oh we have nice buildings and sing songs but let’s not kid ourselves we are dead.  Our churches are filled with people who are more concerned about their own comforts than the souls of lost people.  We are more concerned that we get our way rather than asking the question, “what is God’s way?”  Our board meetings are filled with a spirit, but it is neither holy nor convicting.   Many times we ask those who are newest in the church to change so as not to unsettle those who have been in the church the longest.  We become more concerned by what is played musically rather than if worship is taking place at all.  Oh I could go on but the truth is the truth and it is time for us to act upon it.  The church is dying because we have allowed Satan to take refuge in our churches.

And my dear preacher friends you probably could Amen me on this.  But let me say that we are part of the problem.  Every time we get down from the pulpit and get praises for our eloquent sermons and simply do nothing to stir the death that exist in our church we allow the disease to grow.   Maybe it is time to tell some of the little ole church ladies that they are wicked.  Call them out by name.  Let us approach weak-minded men who have no spiritual “balls” to repent of their unwillingness to lead their families.  Let us call the sin that really exist.  And as we call out the sin to the dead let us check our own hearts.  For many of us are dead.  But now is the time to wake up.  Now is the time to repent and allow the Lord Jesus Christ to move mightily in our lives.

I truly believe that the best days are ahead for the church.  But I also believe that the church we know today will not make an impact on our World.  It is time that we start a revolution in the church.  It is time to either wake the dead or it is time to move on.  But as a warning I have found that waking the dead is an impossible task.  I am not saying it cannot be done but I am convinced of this, it will not be done until repentance takes place.  God is good and he wants to save lost people.  He has saved me.  And for that I am eternally grateful.  I give praise to Him because I was on my way to Hell.  But today I am on my way to an eternity with Him.  I no longer plan to preach to the dead.  Send me to the dying but not to the dead.   I would love to hear from others.  Please make your voice heard.

Lord,

I see the sin that is all around me.  I can call it by name, I can identify it for what it is.   I see it clearly in others.  I even judge them for their wicked lifestyles.   I wonder why in the World would they continue to do the very things which are destroying them.  I holler form the pulpit,  I teach from the classroom and yet they do not listen.  Why do they continue to be drawn to a life which will lead to destruction.  Why would anyone play with the viper that will kill them.  Lord why would I want to play with the venom of this World.  As I look to others I realize that it is not them that needs fixed it is me.  Lord I thought that the older that I got the more years I spent with you it would seem easier.   I figured my sin would disappear or at least it would fade to the back.   But it stands right in front of me.  It is like a roadblock that I cannot move.  It haunts me down.  It slowly sucks the life out of me.  And I know this.  I know how destructive it is.  Why have taught many great lessons on its nature.  But why Lord am I so drawn by it?  Why do I drink the cup which kills the soul.  It is not like I don’t know.  I do know.  And I run full tilt towards it.  I bathe in its misery knowing full well.

Lord I am sick.  I am in need of the great physician.  I do not want to play games anymore.  I need you desperately.  The more I draw closer to you the more the evil ones fights for space in my life.  Lord I will not give up, I will not give in.  Each time I fall Lord pick me up.  I am sorry for I not only hurt myself I hurt you.  Lord cleanse my thoughts.  Change my actions.  Lord God I need you.  Today is the day of salvation.  Today is the day which I need your cleansing.  Today is the day I need your forgiveness.  Change my judgemental heart.  Move in a mighty way.  Lord you have defeated Satan at the cross.  He has no power except the power I continue to grant him.  May I grant him no longer.  May I shut the door on him.  May I call to the only one who truly loves me.

I will praise the Lord Jesus Christ because He truly knows my pains.  I will praise Him because He is the only one that can heal me.  The gods of this World glitter with a poison that only comes to destroy me.  Praise to you Lord for you come to give life and have come to give it abundantly.  Lord thank you for lifting up out of my filth.  Praise to you Lord Jesus for you know my heart better than I do.  Today I will declare his praises.  Today I will let the whole World know that you reign.  Praise the Lord and again I will praise Him.  Praise him for there is no condemnation for the one who has put his trust in the Lord.  Yes I have fallen time after time but you lift me up time after time.  Thank you Lord.  Thank you.

Many churches live in a state of defeat.  We mumble and grumble about our size about what we can and cannot do.  Sadly we miss out on opportunities to make an impact for the kingdom.  We have believed the lie that we can do effective ministry when we get to a certain point or size.  Yet God calls us to simply be faithful where we are at with what we have.  So with that said let me share with you how God is moving in an incredible way in our missions program.

Last year myself along with several other members from our church went to Liberia Africa.  At the time this was my third trip to Liberia.  On this trip we visited with Danny Buegar who was the pastor of the United Christian Church of Monrovia.  This is a church of 200 members.  Their church building was simply made of some bamboo and thatched roof.  During the rainy season the members would get wet during the service.  But really to know more about this church you need to know more about Liberia.

Liberia ended a 14 year civil war just a few years ago.  The war devastated the country.  Unemployment is a staggering 85%.  And even those who work do not make much.  A doctor makes about 5 dollars a day.  To say there is a health crisis would be an understatement.  Nearly the whole population struggles with Malaria.  Children under 5 have a 50/50 chance of survival.  To compound health issues most Liberians do not have access to clean drinking water.  Could things be worse?  The answer is yes.  Besides all the health problems, Liberia is a society of uneducated people.  Nearly 3/4 of the children do not attend school.  Spiritually Liberia has great needs.  In a country where brutality has been the norm there is a great need for the peace that can only come from Christ.  So that is some of the bad, but let me share some good.

For several years our church has helped out with some teaching and training teams and also have sent some supplies to Liberia to help the Liberian people.  A year ago  God was calling us to do more.  And so we went to prayer and asked God to use us.   And this is how He used us.

Our children had a VBS program in which they raised $8,000 to purchase three water systems to help clean water for Liberians.  Shortly after this event we decided that we wanted to send a team to Liberia that would be more than a few teachers.   We had been told by the Liberians that churches would send money to help them but very rarely would they send people.  And of those people who came they only sent a few men.  So we put together a team of 26 people.  Half of that group was women.  Knowing that the needs were great we decided first that we wanted to make sure that the Monrovia church would have a place where they could worship without getting wet.  We also wanted to build a building that could be used as a school for children and we wanted this building to be a place where training could take place for other churches throughout Liberia.  Besides the building we wanted to do more to help the people of Liberia.  We wanted to get more water systems that could go to different places around Liberia and bring a medical team to this desperate country.

So that is a little of what we wanted to do.  Let me share in just a nutshell what God provided and what He continues to do.  Over this last year God provided over $150,000 in money and supplies.   5 water systems were purchased.  Over $15,000 worth of tools were donated to help in the construction part of the church.  Literally thousands of dollars of medical supplies were given to help towards a medical clinic.  $30,000 was donated by individuals and churches to help towards the building project.  Thousands of dollars worth  of clothing, food, school books, VBS supplies, Bibles and Christian materials were donated and shipped to Liberia.  A shipping container was purchased to send all these supplies.

Besides all of these funds and supplies going to Liberia the team of 26 people had to raise $3,000 each to make this trip.  The team raised all their funds(some time when I have a chance I need to share how God provided in amazing ways.)  But let me share with you what the team was able to accomplish.  First we set up a medical clinic and saw in just 4 days over 600 Liberian people.  We  held a VBS which  had 400 children attend.  We held a woman’s conference that had over 100 women in attendance.  During our visit we set up 5 water systems plus trained those who would be providing the water.  Let me say that God was incredible.  And we thank and praise him for all he has done.

So where does this leave us?  Well we are still trying to finish the church/school building.  We believe that with $45,000 more we will have this building up and serving the people of Monrovia.  Right now all the foundation work is done.  Our trip has also left us with a hunger to do more for the kingdom of God.  We plan to send more medical teams in the future.  We also want to help with the local churches to plant more churches and to provide more water systems.  We believe that God has called us to be faithful and so we plan to dream big and see what God does.  We would love for others to team up with us and do something incredible for the Lord.    We would love to hear from you.   Maybe God has you reading this post for the very reason of going to Liberia with us or helping us financially finish the building.  Who knows but God has His plans.  All we have to do is be faithful and He will do the rest.

Lenten Study Notes
Mark 1-2

I have studied through Mark in depth five or six times and taught it in various situations at least four or five times. It is my favorite Gospel of the four perhaps because of it’s quick pace, literary value, and brutal honesty. The Gospel itself is marked (no pun) by the constant use of a small Greek phrase ‘kai euthus’, which means something like ‘and then’ or ‘immediately’ or ‘at once.’ The NIV, as do most translations, I noticed translates it differently so as to give the Gospel ‘flavor’ (although it appears that the NASB is fairly consistent in its use of ‘immediately’). This creates a sense of urgency in the Gospel as if Mark were always in a hurry to get us from one point to the next, never content to leave us lingering too long at one scene. In the overall picture, we know where Mark is in a hurry to get us and by the time we get to the crucifixion the pace has slowed (in my judgment) considerably. He wants us to drink deeply at this point.

I don’t know why Mark was in a hurry to get us through the story (as a whole). I do know that Mark starts his story of Jesus in Nazareth in Galilee (1:9) and that when the story ends, after the Resurrection, he instructs his people to go back to that very place (16:7) which I take as Mark’s way of saying something to the reader like: Go back and start the story all over again. Read it again! It becomes quite circular to the point that one might never stop reading the Gospel story Mark tells which by his estimation I gather would be just fine. We are to be engaged in the Gospel story and engaging it constantly, continuously, never stopping for a breath. I’m fairly certain that is Mark’s objective even if he doesn’t say so in so many words.

Mark tells us nothing of Jesus’ birth or childhood. He begins abruptly by announcing the appearance of John the Baptizer with a quote from Isaiah (and Malachi). There’s also another aspect of this Gospel that is intriguing and it is the first verse: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Now it could be that your Bible as put a footnote saying that ‘Son of God’ here is in ‘many’ manuscripts but not ‘all’ and thus ‘Son of God’ is either eliminated altogether, footnoted, or written in such a way as to suggest that the translators are uncertain as to whether to include it or not. I’m rather particular at this point, and I hope not too contradictory. At the end of Mark’s Gospel we encounter a similar problem: Do we take the short ending and stop at verse 8 or do we take the long ending and stop at verse 20? Well, here’s the thing. I like ‘Son of God’ included in 1:1 and I like ending the Gospel at 16:8 thus eliminating verses 9-20. It’s not the end of the world if you believe differently. Let me show you why by talking just about 1:1 and leaving 16:8 for another discusssion.

If ‘Son of God’ is included in 1:1 then we, the readers, know something about Jesus that those inside the story do not know. Namely, that this story we are reading is about Jesus Messiah, the Son of God. Inside the story, the characters never quite get this. Jesus won’t let demons talk about it (rightfully so!) and the disciples are often dense (so Peter). Jesus tells people to keep quiet about it and more than once does his best to escape detection. Thus has been born in Mark the so-called ‘Messianic Secret.’ So those of us reading the story, we are whispering things like ‘duh! It’s the Son of God. How can you miss that?’ when he calms a storm (4) or drives out a herd of demons (5) or feeds five-thousand (6) for example. But what we see, those inside the story miss or they are told to keep quiet or tell no one. Until…until chapter 15 where the most unlikely of all characters makes a startling announcement at a rather strange moment in the story.

Chapter 15 is the narrative of the crucifixion of Jesus and isn’t it interesting that the last human to speak in Mark’s Gospel (aside from the Jesus after his resurrection) is a Roman Centurion who was guarding the crucifixion. And do you know what he says? That’s right: “Surely, this man was the Son of God!” So it is not ironic at all then: Jesus doesn’t tell him to be quiet either, does he? This is the one time when it is alright for the ’secret’ to be out; that is, at the crucifixion. Jesus’ full Sonship is to be seen by us in the cross where he died.

I think this is most significant especially if the Gospel ends at verse 8 of chapter 16 where we read this: “They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.” Now we, the readers, are saying this: “It’s the Son of God! Say something! Say something!” And we wonder: If they said nothing, who will? Someone has to say something. Well, that’s all very preliminary to be sure, but there might be some homiletical thoughts in all that madness somewhere.

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Notes on Mark 1-2 (includes questions)

At this point, I will offer a brief comment or two on a couple of the pericopes in chapters 1 and 2 and follow up this section with some prayer thoughts.

1:1-8: Here I like The Message translation (vs 7-8): “As he preached he said, ‘The real action comes next: The star in this drama, to whom I’m a mere stagehand, will change your life. I’m baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a kingdom life. His baptism-a holy baptism by the Holy Spirit-will change you from the inside out.’” Jesus would change what it meant to be clean, what it meant to be pure, what it meant to be washed and baptized. He would give these things new meaning. John says essentially, ‘I can only get you wet. The one coming after me will totally undo your life.’

1:9-13: Jesus is baptized here and immediately (’kai euthus’) he is driven out into the desert where he is tried by the Satan. I wonder if we prepare people for baptism in this way, that is, by warning them ahead of time that once the Spirit gets a hold of them there’s no telling where he might drive them? Oh, and about the baptism of Jesus and the ‘voice from heaven’ and the ‘Spirit hovering like a dove,’ and the ‘Son in the water’…do you remember any other place in the Bible where the Spirit ‘hovered’ over the water and God spoke? (Genesis 1:1-2?) So what does this say about Jesus and the inauguration of the New heavens and new earth, new creation, new covenant? Also, see that word concerning the ‘heaven being torn open’? You know where else the Greek word for ‘torn open’ (’schizo’) appears? That’s right: The crucifixion chapter: 15:38: “The curtain of the temple was ‘torn’ (’schizo’) in two from top to bottom.” How might the baptism of Jesus be related to his crucifixion?

1:14-15: William Willimon notes, concerning Jesus’ sermon in Luke 4, his first sermon, something that fits well here too, “So one might have thought, but no-with Jesus, the attack begins in the very first sermon. Jesus, in his preaching, is a troublemaker who brings, not peace, but a sword.” (Conversations with Barth on Preaching, 197).

1:21-39: Anyone else find it ironic, or not, that the first place Jesus does a miracle in Mark’s Gospel is in the synagogue? In John, he turns water to wine at a wedding. In Mark, he drives a demon out of a synagogue. Jesus came to bind the strongman and rob his house so I don’t suppose it is odd at all that he begins by binding the strongman who sat in the midst of the worshipers. Perhaps we too need Jesus to do some house-cleaning. And judgment, wrote Peter elsewhere, begins with the household of God. As these verses continue, we see that Jesus continued to drive out demons from the midst of the people and the synagogues (1:39). It kind of makes one wonder if these demons in the midst of these places of worship were not disrupting the worship and stirring up the people so as to prevent them from hearing the Word of God spoken among them? Could we too be so blind and self-absorbed that we don’t even know there are demons among us? Or could we be so indifferent to their presence that we tolerate them among us? Or could it be that we are so weak and powerless that we believe we cannot do anything about their presence among us? Whatever the case, Jesus came among the people and began by driving out th demons from their midst. This says a lot to me about his work.

1:40-45: I love the statement, “I am willing.”

2:1-12: Again, short and sweet. I love this remark by the author of the book, “When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’” (2:5) He saw their faith. Hmm. Did his friends happen to recognize a connection between his physical condition and his spiritual condition? Is that why Jesus first forgave his sins? Do you think this might be true also in the life of someone we know? Do we know anyone who is physically undone and the only thing that might fix them is to bring them to Jesus so that he can forgive them their sins? Is there a connection between physical sickness and spiritual sickness?

2:13-28: If Jesus only came to ‘call the sinners’ and not the ‘righteous’ then it seems to me that before we can hear or answer his call we have to recognize that we are ’sinners.’ So long as we are convinced we are ‘righteous’ then we can be fairly well convinced that he did not come to call us. ‘Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ is an odd question. I wonder if these people weren’t just a wee bit jealous that he wasn’t eating with them? Maybe a better question would be, “Why are the tax collectors and sinners eating with him?” They go on to criticize his ‘fasting’ habits. Evidently, he is not fasting enough for their taste. And he is also criticized for not taking the Sabbath seriously enough to actually observe it. What we see here is something that perhaps we have lost a bit of in our quest to be the biggest church on the block: Jesus truly was concerned with people. So he eats with people who invite him to dinner and it makes no difference who they are. He refuses to ruin people by forcing them to observe old habits when a new time was upon them. And he refuses to elevate a ‘day’ above a person. “The Sabbath was made for people, not people for the Sabbath.” So they criticize him for eating with the wrong people, for not giving up food enough, and for eating on the wrong days. What sort of people have we become when we have sunk down to the point of criticizing when and if and how people eat? Jesus is pointing out that these people are missing the greater picture: People give rules value not the other way around. The observance of a practice must never become so strict that it prevents people from practicing it with joy. Note too, that chapter 2 begins and ends on the Sabbath as Jesus helps them understand exactly what the Sabbath is supposed to be: Liberating, freeing, full of rejoicing, and rejuvenation.

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Some Prayer Thoughts from Mark 1-2

We can pray for those who are baptized because they will invariably be driven into places by the Spirit that we cannot control. They will face all sorts of trials and struggles and tests. We can and should pray for their protection and strength. Many will give up, but it must not be because we have given up on them.

We can pray for Jesus to fill our nets as we go about fishing. We can pray that those who are called to follow will follow and leave behind whatever baggage that has weighed them down. Many still carry around nets. Jesus calls us to a life without a net.

We can pray that Jesus drive the demons out of our churches. They are there. They lurk. Open our eyes Lord, that we may no longer be indifferent to their presence.

We can pray that he will raise up a generation of pray-ers. (1:35). Isn’t it striking that Jesus, the Son of God who possesses power enough to drive out demons, survive a wilderness of trials, and preaches the Kingdom still must pray? We too must be people of prayer. Pray he raise up a generation of pray-ers.

Dare we pray that God would stretch out his hand and heal lepers, raise the dead, cause the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the mute to speak, the paralyzed to walk, and the demons to be gone? Is God’s hand too short to do this in our generation?

We can pray for more people to sit and eat meals with tax collectors and sinners. We can pray that more of us would be so attractive to others that tax collectors and sinners would invite us over to their house to eat and enjoy dinner. When was the last time a ’sinner’ invited you over to their house to eat food? Would you go? Make this a simple prayer this week: “Lord, let some sinner I know invite me over for dinner.” Do you know any ’sinners’? That might be a place to start too.

The bridegroom is not with us. Have you fasted recently? Maybe now is the time to fast?

When was the last time you took a break? A Sabbath? If Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath, a mere day of the week, then is there anything he is not Lord of? So examine yourself in the Lord: Is there any part of yourself that you have not submitted to His Lorship?

Finally, pray for Gospel preachers. Mark says that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the beginning of the Gospel. Then Jesus comes on the scene and starts preaching ‘The time has come. The Kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the Gospel!’ Lord prepare us to repent. Lord prepare us for the Kingdom come near. Lord prepare us to hear the Gospel. Lord prepare us to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom come near. May your will be done. May your Kingdom come. Let the Gospel be on our lips.

I hope these, admittedly, preliminary thoughts are helpful to you in your prayer life and your study of Mark’s Gospel. We learn a great deal about Jesus in these two fast-paced, whirlwind chapters. There’s much more to learn as Mark’s Gospel progresses.

It is the forgotten sin.  Maybe worst it is the forgotten sermon.  Yes, we have heard sermons about the evils of pornography.  We know that God abhors homosexuality.   Countless times we have been reminded to read our bibles, spend time in prayer, love the unlovable, reach out to the lost and even tithe on a regular basis.  Yes these are all biblical ideas that need ot be shared from our pulpits.  Yet there is a message we have not only forgotten to preach, but I am convinced that we have forgotten it is even biblical.  How could it be biblical when so many of us are involved in it.  We sit at its table and pay homage daily.  We spend more time in this sin than we do in prayer each day.  Its effects have been devastating on society.  So what is this forgotten sermon?  It is simply this:  Gluttony.

So seriously now, when is the last time you have heard a good sermon on gluttony?  When is the last time you have been in a bible study where gluttony has been taught?  Maybe for some it has been never.  Andy why would it be taught?  The church is no different than the World we live in.  We are outspoken when aids kills people because of a sinful lifestyle.  We will speak out about those who are killing themselves through the abuse of alcohol and drugs.  But what about the abuse of food?  When is the last time you have heard a good sermon about disciplining the body and not abusing it with food?  My guess is that most have not.  Words like gluttony are no longer in our vocabulary.  Practises like fasting and denying ourselves are  rituals of days long ago.

I pray that you understand where I am coming from.  I do not come to you as one who has it all together.  I come as one who has struggled with gluttony all of my life.  I have seen its effect on my mind, body and soul.  I am a fellow struggler.  It would be easy not to even mention this.  But I  can not be silent when the Bible is clear.  I must speak when the Bible speaks. I must speak even when I have not mastered it.  I must make certain that gluttony is not the forgotten sermon.

Father,

I have been wrong.  Certainly this is not a surprise to you.  My sin is believing that I could change the World through politics rather than through you.  I am opposed to abortion.  It crawls under my skin to think about gay rights.  I am not a supporter of our president.  The list could go on.  But the truth keeps hitting me in the face.  My calling in life is not to change the political arena as much as it is to proclaim Christ.  Lord, I have not been faithful in this area.   And for this I ask for your forgiveness.

Certainly you are not opposed to those in government that do right.  You want us to stand for the widows and orphans.  And this we must do.  But to believe that this will happen through political means is as ludicrous as believing that I can save myself.  If I have learned anything it is this:  I am powerless to change anyone including myself.  Hearts will not change because of law.   Thousands of years and the cross of Christ proves that the only change that will come is when people surrender to your Lordship.

Father this is my prayer.  I want to see the unborn in this World.  I want to see those confused in a homosexual lifestyle find peace in you.  Lord I want to see the World change.  So it is to this end that I will work.  No longer focusing on the politics of this life but to point people to you.  You alone Lord will change this World.  You alone will change a scared pregnant mothers heart.  Only you Lord will help a confused person see who they really are in you.  Today I lift up Jesus.  Today I want stand for you.  Today, I am no longer a political activist but a disciple of Jesus.