Mark 7:1-9:29 - A Kingdom for All

Mon - 7:1-13; Tues - 7:14-23; Wed - 7:24-37; Thurs - 8:1-9:1; Fri - 9:2-29

The first section of the Gospel of Mark is focused on the identity of Jesus, “Who is this?” and the Kingdom that he proclaims has come near. With his Kingdom, comes a new ethic and way of living because the hope of the old ways has been fulfilled in him. We know who Jesus is and Mark invites us to laugh a bit at the pillars of the church, in their struggle to understand Jesus, in a way that invites us to examine ourselves for where we struggle to accept who Jesus is. For the readings this week, I will focus on the main points of King and Kingdom as we move into the opening readings of the central section of Mark’s Gospel.

Monday and Tuesday 7:1-23 – Jesus does not dismiss Jewish practices of ritual cleanliness per se but establishes a more important ethic of purity, “What comes out of a person’s heart is what makes them impure.” We tend to focus on the impurity of others, especially in our surrounding culture, but this short passage invites us into the heart of Jesus’s teachings in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5-7). Transformation of the heart brings about a purity that belongs in the Kingdom of God. Take a moment to read the list in 7:20-23. Which of these do we tend to dismiss as not being too big of a deal? Which ones do you struggle with the most? An additional thought to this passage: Jesus says that “nothing outside a person can defile them…” How far should Christians take this teaching when it comes to Kingdom ethics?

Wednesday, 7:24-37 – These two stories establish that the context Jesus is in is Gentile. This will be important for the first story in tomorrow’s reading. Up to this point, Jesus’s interactions with non-Jews has been limited. Jesus’s response to the woman can be read in as harsh (calling her a dog) or in a softer reading (there is order to who is fed first, but everyone eats). Either way, her persistence and faith are what prompts Jesus to heal her. When in your life have you been bold with God in prayer? Is it appropriate for you to be persistent when it appears God has said no? 

The major point here I believe is that Jesus is now opening the gates to Kingdom citizenship to the Gentile people. He then moves into the Decapolis where the formerly demon possessed man went to share is story in Mark 5:20. News of Jesus spread rapidly, not because of his self-promotion through his healing ministry but because he genuinely cared and had compassion for people, and they couldn’t help but share the good news of their encounter with Jesus. What is the best way for churches to make a name for themselves?  

Thursday, 8:1-9:1 – (8:1-21) It seems odd that there is an almost identical story of feeding a multitude. Within the context of Jesus being with the Gentiles, the focus of this story shifts in importance. The language Mark emphasizes echoes the words often remembered around the Lord’s Table (took bread, gave thanks, and broke it – 1 Cor 11:23-24). How many loaves this time? What does this number mean? Jesus in the next section asks these questions and gives the response “Do you still not understand?”

Seven is the number of perfection extended out to the Gentiles as a blessing from the one who has compassion for them. When Jesus brings perfection in his Kingdom, all will be welcome and made perfect at the table. Hear the echoes of Paul’s “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female…for we are all one in Christ” (Galatians 3:28). Who do you struggle to accept as your equal at the Lord’s Table? This may be hard to answer but allow the Spirit to examine you and reveal where you need to offer grace in the same way that grace has been offered to you.

“Do you not understand?” is the transitional question into this central narrative of Mark’s Gospel. This central section is framed by two healings: The Blind Man at Bethsaida (8:22-26) and Blind Bartimaeus (10:46-52). The first story acts as a lived parable where the blind man represents the followers of Jesus who can see but not quite clearly yet. As they continue in their walk with Jesus things become more and more clear. Peter becomes the example of this gradual coming of sight in the next section where he proclaims Jesus to be the Messiah. He has the right answer but the wrong interpretation of the answer. When you hold to your human concerns you try your best to shape Jesus into your own image and understanding. As we walk with Jesus through this central narrative we will learn what it means to have the concerns of God in the three times Jesus proclaims his death and resurrection and in turn calls us to take up our cross and follow him.

Friday, 9:2-29 – The transfiguration becomes the image to carry forward with us as we contemplate what it means to take up our cross. Sprinkled with imagery of Moses on Sinai (Exod 24, 33-34) and Daniel’s vision of the Ancient of Days (Dan 7:13-14), the transfiguration of Jesus points forward to his resurrection and in turn our own resurrection in Christ (Rev 6:11). Seeing Jesus glorified, God tells Peter, James, and John to listen to Jesus. This is certainly in reference to the teachings of Jesus where he “speaks plainly” about his death and resurrection. The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus is the narrative we are baptized into when we accept the call to follow Jesus. Will we have the concerns of man in our hearts or the concerns of God when it comes to our walk with Christ? This is the fundamental question that shapes how we respond to Jesus’s call for us to “take up our cross and follow him.” 

Mark 5:1-6:56 - A King with Authority

Readings from Mark – M-5:1-20; T-5:21-43; W-6:1-29; Th-6:30-44; F-6:45-56 

As we continue to wrestle with the question, “Who is this?” in this first section of Mark, I want to introduce a prayer practice. The practice involves praying with your imagination. God has given you a beautiful imagination. Allow it to take you into deeper places of prayer and reflection and bring you into a deeper call of following Jesus. To pray with your imagination you simply allow yourself to be part of the story and observe it from different points of view. I’ve provided some prompts for this practice for the first few readings this week. Feel free to reach out to me if you’d like to know more about this practice. 

Jesus is King. He has ultimate authority. Are we willing to relinquish the control we think we have in order to allow him to be in complete control? We see different people wrestling with who Jesus is as we see the narrative unfold. Allow these stories to challenge your understanding of who Jesus is and what it means to be his follower.

Monday, 5:1-20 – This is one of the most jarring stories in the Gospel. Allow your imagination to bring you into the story: You’ve been following Jesus for a few months now and you’re halfway out of the boat with you hear screaming. You turn to see a wild man with unnatural strength running right for the boat. He’s naked, bleeding, and now at the feet of your teacher. “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?!” You get back into the boat and watch from a safer distance. As this man talks about himself he seamlessly moves between the plural and the singular. You hear the full exchange and you are baffled by who this is who has invited you to follow him. This man is now clothed and in his right mind, pigs are in the sea, and the towns people are now terrified of your teacher because whatever power he has is greater than whatever tormented this man. Jesus, who apparently has ultimate authority, complied with their pleading, and got into the boat to leave their region. You were surprised when Jesus invited you to follow him and even more surprised at the cast of characters he’s invited along. You begin to adjust your emotions and prepare for this guy to join your ranks when he pleads with Jesus to let him join. Jesus takes a different approach here; he sends him with a mission to tell his story.

What terrifies you about Jesus?

Place yourself in the position of the sane man being sent: Where are you more sane because of Jesus? Are you able to tell that story to others? Take a moment to write your story down and share it with a trusted friend.

Tuesday, 5:21-43 – In the opening scene we have another person falling at the feet of Jesus (a sign of worship). This is another great story to allow your imagination to guide you into prayerful reflection. Here are some prompts for this prayer practice:

Jairus – You feel the desperation of your daughter’s sickness and looming death. You’ve come to the one person who seems to be able to do something about it and he doesn’t seem to move with the urgency you need. This impure woman stops him and takes his attention away from your urgent request. In the same moment when Jesus calls this impure woman “Daughter” and says her faith has healed her people from your house come and announce that your daughter is dead. How do you hear “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”? How do you feel as Jesus addresses the people in your house? How do you respond to their laughter? When have you laughed at the absurdity of what Jesus can do? Take a moment to feel the emotions of reconciliation and redemption Jesus brings to your house. This is what the Kingdom is all about. Where can you bring that redemption and reconciliation for others? 

The woman with the issue of bleeding – Take some of these same steps for entering the story from her perspective. What kind of faith does this take? You are impure because of your bleeding and not supposed to be near crowds of people. You risk making Jesus impure by touching him, even his clothes. What does it feel like when Jesus stops and asks who touched him? Take a moment to feel the emotions of the woman as she feels the disease leave her body and her faith celebrated. This is what the Kingdom is all about. Where can you bring that redemption and reconciliation for others?

One of the disciples – You’ve been following Jesus and seen him do incredible things in this short time. He just brought a legion of demons to its knees and cast them into pigs. He’s healed the sick. He speaks and teaches with an authority unheard of by anyone. You question his lack of urgency with Jairus and the absurdity of his question of who touched him. You’re invited to Jairus’s house and see him resuscitate a young girl and restore her to her family. Jesus has called you to follow him, to be like him, to do what he does. What is he going to require of you? He makes a lot of comments about faith and belief. Where do you struggle to have faith and belief? You’re following him to be part of his Kingdom movement. What will it look like for you to continue the work he is doing in whatever capacity you have to do it?

Wednesday, 6:1-29 – Staying in the same prayer practice with our imagination, allow yourself to ask the question “Who is this?” with each of these stories. Be a passive observer who is able to stand and observe the contrast in leadership between Jesus and Herod. Be in Jesus’s hometown as he provides remarkable teaching and miracles. What feelings do you have in how people respond to Jesus? How does it feel that Jesus couldn’t do any miracles because of their lack of faith? As Jesus begins to send out the twelve, what nervous excitement do you sense in them as they anticipate encountering impure spirits? You’ve been with Jesus for a while now. What kind of leader do you experience him to be? What is his character? How does he interact with others? How does he use his power and authority?

By contrast, Herod is nervous about the powers around him. He takes what and who he wants. He surrounds himself with people who can enhance his greatness. Mark flowers over the “dancing” that Herodias’s daughter does and leaves it to your imagination. Herod’s appetite is filled and he offers her whatever she would like. Because the lives of others are not precious to Herod he delivers John’s head on a platter. Hold these images of Herod in your mind as you reflect on who Jesus is in the previous passages and in the ones to come.

Thursday, 6:30-44 – Jesus finds a quiet place to finally rest but the crowds find out where he’s resting and flock to him. How does Jesus respond to this disruption? Jesus places his character as a king on full display in this passage. Place Jesus in contrast with Herod (and any number of modern political leaders today). What is his attitude toward the people? How does he respond? 

Place yourself in the position of this letters first hearers. Jesus is presented as the King of Kings who has greater power than Nero, who is killing your friends and wants to kill you. We’ve seen Jesus’s kingly identity on display with demons, disease, and nature in submission to him. When you look at the surrounding world, you feel lost and in need of direction. Hope wells up in you as you are reminded who the true king is. Then you get to this passage and you hear some very familiar words, “He gave thanks and broke the loaves…to distribute to the people” (v41). While feeling lost in this world, you are reminded that the one who invites you to the table, takes the bread, blesses it, breaks it, and distributes it. Jesus truly is the host, and you are gathered at his table. How will the Lord’s Supper bring you peace this week knowing that the King over all creation is the one who breaks the bread and gives it to you for nourishment?

Friday, 6:45-56– Throughout the Bible, God shows up and is present to people in different forms, often as an angelic being of sorts. The person’s natural response is fear and God’s response is almost always, “Do not be afraid.” I can’t help but wonder if this scene is invoking the imagery of God’s Spirit hovering over the waters in Genesis. “Who is this?” is the question we keep coming back to. This is the King who brought order to the creation and under his rule all things are at peace. Where do you find yourself straining at your oar? Are you willing to look up to the one who walks in peace?

Mark 2:18-4:41 - Who is This?

Readings from Mark – M - 2:18-28; T - 3:1-19; W - 3:20-35; Th - Mark 4:1-20; F - 4:21-41

The theme of the opening section of the Gospel of Mark (1:1-8:22) is “Who is Jesus?” You, the reader, have been given insider information but you are invited to evaluate your relationship with Jesus through watching the characters of these stories wrestle with who Jesus is. Jesus is God returning as King to reclaim his Kingdom, redeem it, and reconcile it for good. What kind of citizen are you called to be in his kingdom? What kind of King do we have? Mark’s Gospel invites us to follow Jesus along the way. This is a journey of transformation that brings us to the cross, through the cross, and into new creation. The journey is salvation where we continue in the process of relinquishing control of our lives and allow God to be the rightful king. Do we want to be made into the image of the King we see in scripture or will we keep trying to make Jesus into our own image? 

I love the final story in this week’s reading and want to begin there. When you get to this story at the end of the week, sit with it and all of the other readings up to this point. “Who is this?” is the question on the lips of those who just asked Jesus to wake up and do something. Asking God to “Wake up!” is a common theme in the Psalms (7:6; 35:23; 44:23; 59:5) and it is a prayer worth getting comfortable with. May we be so bold! When we ask God to awake, we realize that it is we who have been asleep all along. If we are honest with ourselves, we are more comfortable with the God who is asleep on the boat while we run around in chaos rather than being moved to awe struck fear and wonder at the God who has absolute authority. When we wake to our own sleepiness and realize God is fully in control we have to respond by relinquishing all control we think we have. If you want to be woke, you have to realize you’ve been asleep all along. 

“Who is this?”

Monday, Mark 2:18-28, Jesus announces that fasting is good for developing the discipline of expectation and connecting with the need for renewal. Fasting is the focus of the season of Lent. We are part of a broken creation still in need of redemption. He and his disciples do not fast because the anticipated has arrived! I once heard the Christian worship service likened to a funeral where we put on our funeral clothes, sing our funeral songs, because we are there to mourn the death of Jesus. I’ve been in a lot of churches where that wasn’t the feel but I’ve also been in a lot of churches where that was the best description for the experience. The season of Lent is to reconnect with the brokenness of the world but more so to reconnect us with the redemption and reconciliation brought about by Jesus’s resurrection. What about Jesus’s work of reconciliation in the world causes you to celebrate? Is celebration and joy a marker of your Christian walk? 

Tuesday, Mark 3:1-19, Jesus puts his authority on display by establishing a new Government, a New Israel if you will, by calling into existence a new representation of the twelve tribes. This section is dripping with imagery of God calling his people into existence. Many receive new names like Abram did (looking forward to new names in Rev 2:17). Jesus is being really bold in calling the twelve. The northern tribes were carried off and dispersed by the Assyrians and are now “lost tribes.” One of the expectations of the coming Messiah is that he would gather the tribes back together. Calling the twelve makes Jesus at least a “New Jacob” but perhaps he is going further. It is God who called the people of Israel to be his people. Jesus puts his authority as God and King on display early in his ministry. Read through the list of names slowly. Place the names of people from our congregation in this list. Don’t just list your friends. List those who are different from you. Do this in such a way that brings you into a place of prayer where you hear the voice of Jesus call you to follow him, calling your in your baptism, and calling you to join with those he has called to be part of this new government, this new project of Kingdom and renewal.

Wednesday, Mark 3:20-35, Jesus’s authority over the dark forces of the world is on full display. The work of the Holy Spirit through Jesus brings accusation. People do not like when something new comes along and their first reaction tends to lean toward eliminating it. When the people, even his own family, see that Jesus has authority over the dark forces of the world, they believe his is either out of his mind or from the darkness himself. The Holy Spirit is breathing new and fresh ways of doing things and Jesus has authority over the darkness. Throughout history, there have been Spirit led movements in the church, movements of renewal and change, but they are almost always met with hostility and accusation. There have also been movements in the church that were not led by the Spirit. God’s authority over the dark forces of the world is on full display in this passage. How do we know if movements of renewal are led by the Spirit? They move to fulfill the will of God. What is the will of God? Renewal of his creation back to its intended goodness. 

Thursday, Mark 4:1-20, the prophetic message of the return of the King is that God would bring a fresh harvest to the land. This new harvest would be the result of a fresh act, a renewal of the covenant.The people were excited for this harvest! But, Jesus issues a warning with the good news. Just because you are in a special position (God’s people, nation, etc.) doesn’t mean you will be part of what God is doing in the world. The church will continue to have new movements of renewal as it breathes the good news into an ever changing world. The warning this parable has for us today is that we have to make sure we are rooted deeply in the gospel and God’s mission for the church. As we follow Jesus in his Kingdom renewal movement, what rocks and birds (to borrow the parabolic metaphor) do you see in the church that keep us from being rooted in mission? Ask the Spirit to examine your life to reveal where soil needs to be cultivated in your own life. Where do you double down on tradition and comfort rather than allowing yourself to be moved by gospel and mission?

Friday, Mark 4:21-41, we find Jesus on a boat asleep in the middle of a storm. This passage becomes the focal point of the week. “Who is this?” Is the question in which we all return and examine ourselves with. Are we willing to call on Jesus to wake up and act? When he does act in our lives and in the church, are we ready to be in awe of who he is, the authority he has, and therefore change our lives to line up with what it looks like to follow the one true King? 

Mark 1:1-2:17 - The Kingdom is Near

3/2 - Wed – Mark 1:1-20

3/3 - Thur – Mark 1:21-45

3/4 - Fri – Mark 2:1-17

Imagine you wake up one morning and there is a full-page advertisement in the national newspaper (anyone remember newspapers?). You turn on the TV and the same ad is there also. Every site you look at on your phone has the same ad. It is the announcement of a new political candidate who is running for president. You’ve seen these before but this one catches your eye. The messaging is punchy. It brings together seemingly unrelated history in a way that is compelling. Finally, the color schemes lack the typical “Red, White, and Blue” though there are clear references to America’s core history. This seems to be a new kind of candidate indeed. 

John the Baptizer is out in the wilderness, connecting Israel with her past while pointing them to something new. He leans on two different images in the First Testament: God’s presence will return to his temple and the King (Messiah) will come and lead the people. John the Baptizer presents these two images in the one person of Jesus who will come and baptize them with the Holy Spirit. He calls his hearers to be prepared for this coming. This is a time of renewal. In the same way you would tidy up your house if you knew important guests were coming, John is calling everyone to tidy up their lives because God is coming to reclaim his throne. What kind of citizens will the King find when he returns? This message is intended for us as well. Jesus is coming. What kind of followers will he find when he arrives? 

John sets the scene for Jesus to begin his ministry. “The Kingdom has come near…” is the good news that he proclaims. The opening message about the good news proclaimed by Jesus, himself, is news of the Kingdom coming near. When we limit the gospel to what happens to our souls when we die, we look too narrowly at the gospel message and miss the depths of the good news Jesus brought. God is reclaiming his rightful place a King and bringing his presence back to his people. 

In the opening readings for this week, we see Jesus speak on his own authority, confront the cowering dark forces in the world, dine with tax collectors and sinners, and clashes with the religious leaders. Returning to the opening analogy about the politician, the media and political rivals would quickly be digging for dirt on this guy. Who does he spend time with? Where is he from? How does he speak? We see the same thing with Jesus. He is already on the scene as a person of interest and being evaluated based on who he spends time with. When questioned about his associations, Jesus replies, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” You might find a doctor who wants to make himself look good by filling his hospital with well people, but a doctor who wants to truly help people fills her hospital with sick people. To take this analogy further, she doesn’t leave them sick. 

Jesus meets people in their dirt and sin and invites them to follow him. He doesn’t begin with how they need to change (though sometimes that conversation is needed). He invites them to follow him because the journey is salvation. The journey is transformation. The journey is where healing happens.

Questions for reflection:

• Who would Jesus spend time with today that would turn heads and raise questions?

• Who do you associate with that causes others to raise questions? 

• Following Jesus means you are walking the journey from death to life, from sick to healthy. Are you able to articulate to others what parts of your life are healthier because of walking with Jesus?

We are called to meet people where they are and invite them to walk with Jesus. But first, we must have a visible walk with Jesus that demonstrates the transformative power of walking with him. Are we willing to submit to the King and be part of his Kingdom?

Following Jesus to the Cross - The Gospel of Mark

We will be in the Gospel of Mark throughout the season of Lent (March 2 – April 17). If you would like to read the Gospel with us every day, you can find our reading schedule here.

The Gospel of Mark received little to no attention in the first 600 years of Church history, only receiving two commentaries during that time. Many assumed it was simply a thrown together collection of short stories about Jesus. The Gospel of Mark has received a lot more attention over the last hundred years as we’ve better understood the writing styles of the ancient world and cultures. When reading any kind of written discourse, especially ancient texts, it is important to have some ideas about the context in which it was written. While the Gospel writers recorded the life and teachings of Jesus, they did not write them down for a few decades. These stories and teachings were passed along orally, and likely in short writings, from one Jesus community to another. 

The Gospel writers later constructed the stories into narratives in order to address concerns of the church in different contexts. They were doing more than simply telling us about the life of Jesus so we could then know how he died for our sins. Each Gospel writer goes into great detail to call their communities to a certain way of life in following Jesus. If you want to read more about this, I highly recommend N.T. Wright’s book How God Became King: the Forgotten Story of the Gospels.

Matthew wrote to a Jewish context and highlights many Jewish themes showing Jesus to be the fulfilment of who Israel was called to be and therefore who the church is called to be. Luke writes to a Greek audience and leans heavily on eyewitness accounts. He focuses largely on Jesus’s ministry to the marginalized, table fellowship, and how the church should handle their possessions. Neither of their birth stories about Jesus share common details. John, leaving out the birth of Jesus entirely, focuses on the divinity of Jesus and what it means for God himself to confront the dark powers of this world to reclaim his Good Creation. Mark neither has a birth narrative nor does he establish a preexistence the way John does. Mark writes to a Roman context and dives straight into the life and ministry of Jesus. 

I do not plan to get too technical throughout this study of Mark’s Gospel, but I will point out some important nuggets along the way. This week we will lay a framework for how to read Mark’s Gospel by trying to establish Mark’s intentions for writing it in the first place. Does this two thousand year old story have relevance for us today? 

Mark, aka John Mark, was a companion of Peter and likely received his information from Peter’s accounts. Some scholars believe Mark is the young man who runs away naked in Mark 14:51-52 (I just find that incredibly interesting). Mark likely wrote his gospel account to Roman Christians during the intense persecution of Christians under Nero’s reign in the mid-60’s. During this intense persecution it took great courage to be a follower of Christ. The question for those Sisters and Brothers of ours is whether Jesus was worth following when it was that difficult? The Jewish rebellion was likely in its early stages during this time and Mark warns his readers of the things to come in Mark 13 when Titus would walk into the Holy of Holies after conquering the Temple (Mark 13:14). 

Mark heavily leans on titles Nero claimed for himself and attribute them to Jesus as the true king. More than any other emperor before him, Nero promoted his own deification and encouraged the used of honorific titles “god,” “son of god,” “lord,” “savior,” and “benefactor.” Christians facing persecution could accept Nero as “Lord and Savior” or they could continue to follow Jesus Christ, their true “Lord and Savior,” to their death. Nero presents his coronation as “Good news,” but Mark begins his Gospel with, “The beginning of the good newsabout Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God…” 

Mark presents Jesus’s crucifixion as his coronation, his enthronement as King (we will unpack this more when we get there). Nero set out to conquer his subjects through violence and domination. Jesus conquered through non-violence and peace. As Jesus ascended the throne, it is the Roman Centurion who looks at the way Jesus died and said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!” (15:39). 

Throughout Mark’s Gospel, Christians are called to true discipleship. The theme of true discipleship dominates the narrative of the central section of the story (Mark 8:27-10:52). Are you willing to take up your cross and follow Jesus? This is a very real question for Mark’s persecuted Christian audience. 

The first section of the Gospel (1:1-8:26) focuses on who Jesus is. Mark gives insight to the reader on Jesus’s identity, and we get to watch the characters in the story wrestle with who Jesus is. This “messianic secret” builds up to Jesus looking at his followers and asking who people are saying that he is. Then the hard question comes in 8:29, “Who do you say that I am?” This is the question I want to wrestle with throughout our study of the Gospel of Mark. We have the Messiah we have but we often desire a different Messiah. 

• What does it mean to follow a Messiah who chooses to “lose” in order to “win”? 

• What does that mean for our life today and how we interact with a world that is increasingly antagonistic toward Christians? 

• Are we willing to follow Jesus on the path to the cross or are we going to fight tooth and nail to win whatever culture war we think we’re fighting? 

The last section of Mark’s Gospel (11-16) focuses on Jesus in Jerusalem and how he becomes King. Are we willing to follow this King and be citizens of his Kingdom? 

As you read Mark’s Gospel, pay attention to how everyone responds to Jesus: 

• Who gets it wrong? 

• Who gets it right? 

• Who are the examples of true discipleship? 

• What grace is shown in those whom you see failing to “do it right”? 

Step Toward the World - A Lesson from Jonah

Stepping toward the world begins with a clear sense of mission and purpose. Claims to certain ways of life, ideologies, possessions, and comforts get in the way of mission when they become our focus. When others threaten our sense of sense of security, we tend to fight tooth and nail to preserve that security. This is one of the mysteries of the Gospel for those who do not know Jesus: we are able to give up everything in this life because we have the one thing that really matters.

Here are a few examples:

Matthew 10:28 – Jesus is sending out the Twelve and tells them not to be afraid of the one who can only kill the body but cannot kill the soul. He then offers reassurance that those sent by God to step toward the world have great value to God and he will take care of them.

Matthew 13:44-46 – Jesus tells two parables where the person in the story sells everything to have the one thing that had value. How is this guy going to eat? Where will they find shelter? What really matters in this parable?

Philippians 3:4-14 – Paul lists his reasons for why he should have every confidence in the flesh but he considers them rubbish, trash, for the sake of Christ (v7). He then says that the more he knows Jesus the less things matter to him. They become mere tools for stepping toward the world for the sake of Jesus.

Philippians 4:10-13 – Paul then takes things further, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” This comes at the end of a list of the highs and lows of his life. What we see in Paul is one who has relinquished all things for the sake of stepping toward the world and sharing Christ. 

When you hold too tight to your stuff it will come in the way of stepping toward those who need to know Jesus. The mission of the Church, and of every Christian, is to take the good news of redemption, reconciliation, and restoration through Jesus to the world as a blessing. This is the mission of Israel, which they neglected.

God called his people to be a blessing to the world (Gen 12:1-3) and to be a Royal Priesthood and Holy Nation (Exodus 19:6; echoed in 1 Peter 2:9). Their form of government was clear: theocracy – God is King. But they rejected God as their king and wanted to be like the nations (1 Samuel 8). After warning the people of how a king will abuse them God relented and gave them a king, establishing a new form of government: theocratic monarchy – King represents God’s rule and is supposed to model God’s character. Their rejection of God as their true king continues as the theme of the entire Bible, beginning in the Garden through putting Jesus on the cross. The prophets of the First Testament continued to call Israel back to accepting God as their king and living as though they were his true Kingdom.

This sets the stage for one of my favorite books in the Bible: Jonah.

This is a short story you likely already have in your head. Don’t assume you already know the story. Read it again as though reading it for the first time. Here’s how I’d like you to try and read it though. Do not read it as history in the sense of “here’s what happened.” That actually isn’t the point. It is written as comedy. You’re invited to laugh at the ridiculousness of Jonah and how terrible he is. Jonah then becomes a mirror for God’s people to see themselves and their struggles. 

What in the story do you see as comedic? Here are a few hints:

• Jonah is literally trying to run from GOD.

• Pagan sailors are praying to their gods while the preacher is sleeping.

• Whole boat of sailors converted to worshipping GOD despite the preacher.

• God sends a water taxi as redemption. 

The other theme to pay attention to is “God provided.” Take note when you see this.

The meat of the story comes in chapter 4. Read this chapter a few times and wrestle with these questions:

• In what tone do you hear the characteristics of God being spoken in 4:1-3? 

• Why is Jonah angry in this chapter (it’s more than once)? 

• What point does God want us to hear in this book? 

• Jonah cares more about the vine than he does the Ninevites. What are your vines that you are holding too tightly? Who are your Ninevites that you could care less what happened to them? 

Step Toward One Another - United in Love

Taking a step toward one another means loosening my grip on being right about everything. I’ve made it my pursuit over the last twenty years to search after biblical and theological truth through higher education and serious study of the Bible. I’m continually reminded of Paul’s words in his first letter to the church in Corinth, “Knowledge puffs up but love builds up.” The Bible has been read, re read, debated, and even fought over for thousands of years. When people hear something they do not agree with, they jump to accusations questioning their sincerity of following Jesus and the Bible. They misquote scriptures like, “The truth will set you free,” while assuming the truth being talked about is what they believe in rather than Jesus. The other popular verse to quote is, “They surround themselves with those who will tell them what their itching ears want to hear,” again assuming they aren’t falling into the same issues! 

After my devotional last week, I received a lot of responses about the struggle of being in an echo chamber. We tend to nail down our beliefs and then never allow them to be questioned ever again. If someone challenges a conviction we have, we dismiss them and run them off. This is a sure way to make Jesus into our own image rather than continually going back to scripture to allow Jesus to make us into his image. Being open to someone else’s reading of scripture and worldview allows us to check our blind spots where we need to grow. You may not come to the same understanding they have but you can at least appreciate how they got there. 
The Restoration Movement, of which our church is a part, was intended to be a unity movement. I sat in a number of classes growing up highlighting how we were right and everyone else was wrong. It always struck me funny though we aren’t the only ones who have taken this kind of view at different times. There is a moto from early in our movement that needs reviving: “In essential, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, love/charity.”  

The question I have is this, what do you consider essential for us to unify in? I see Christians drawing lines in the sand on a lot of different issues. Lines of political affiliation. Lines of worship styles. Lines of worldview. Lines of how the gospel should be lived out. Etc. I want to be very careful not to draw lines where Jesus intends for there to be bridges. If your knee is bowed to Jesus, then I want to accept you as a Sister or a Brother. This doesn’t mean to that I don’t have strong convictions about interpretations of Scripture and theology. I just want to make sure I am having these conversations with others who want to love and serve a God who met us in our brokenness, setting aside his right to be right, so that we could become like him in his glory. If God can do that in Jesus Christ, then I can do that in my relationships with those who want to figure out how to best love God and neighbor. 

Stepping toward one another allows us to rub against one another in a way that allows iron to sharpen iron. If you are only stepping toward people who are “like minded” and think just like you then you are not iron sharpening iron. This kind of group think only leads to polarization and division. We need one another to deepen our understanding of God’s love. When we lean into God’s love between us rather than the conflict we perceive we will begin to understand the depth of God’s love.

Ephesians 3:14-21

14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

• How long is your list of “essentials” for Christian unity?

• What are Jesus’s essentials for Christian unity? 

“Love one another…they will know you are my disciples if you love one another.” – John 13:34-35

Don’t draw lines of fellowship where Jesus intended bridges.

Step Toward One Another - Model for Friendship

We live in a society that is fragmented with individualism. We gather in small tribes of people who echo what we think and believe and war against anyone who raises objection. The world continues to get more tense and divided. In this context, it is paramount for Christians to focus on belonging to one another. This king of belonging goes deeper than “being members of the same congregation.” Belonging to one another recognizes our oneness in Christ no matter what differences we have between us.

When Jesus called people to follow him, he called them into a community of believers who had to figure out how to do life together. He called them from different walks of life within the Jewish world. He then called them to follow him into “enemy territory” to befriend those who were “less than” in their eyes, making them equals. Jesus created a small community of followers who had only one thing in common: Jesus. When he’s about to depart and leave the ministry of transforming the world to them, he gives them this command:

John 15:9-17

9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.

We are called to be God’s embodiment of love for the world. Before we can even embody this love for the world, we must first learn to love well those who are bound together with us in Christ. We’ve privatized spirituality because it is easier that way. It is easy to feel spiritual on your own. When you are part of a community you have to deal with how annoying “the other” is. The more diverse the church is the more opportunities you have to be annoyed. You don’t like the youth minister or the preacher’s sermons are too long or two boring. The song service is too slow or not reverent enough. In the church, people divide over politics. They can’t see how a “God fearing Christian” could possibly support this or that party because of x, y, z associations with the party, all the while ignoring the shortcomings and unChristlikeness of their own party. The pandemic has highlighted divides between how people understand and accept science. Or camps over which science is better. We seek right information and knowledge rather than right action and unity with Sisters and Brother in the church. Hard conversations are avoided regarding the differences in experiences in this society because of race. When these conversations come up in churches, accusations are thrown around that they are motivated by politics, or they are trying to make others feel bad for the hard experiences they have had. 

Spiritual friendship should call us to “be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.”  Friendship calls us to open our ears and our hearts to receive the hardships of one another even when it makes us uncomfortable. As people, we tend to get critical and cranky when things don’t go our way. The Communion Table provides a place of confession for that crankiness. We don’t have a time of confession per se in our service, but we do have a time of Dwelling in the Word where we allow Scripture to interpret our lives and call us into a better way of living. 

I really like the idea of the church approaching the Lord’s Table to receive the Bread and Cup from the table. It is an act of “Stepping Toward” God (Father-Son-Spirit) that also is a step towards one another. We cannot all step toward the common table without recognizing that we have to also step toward one another. We all come to the one table, to partake of the one loaf, because there is one body of Christ that we are part of. As Paul says in 1 Cor. 10:17 – “Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf.”

When we take the one loaf together, we unite in our oneness and are able to celebrate the diversity that God brings to his table. Let us be people who really do show the world who Jesus is.

We see a model of friendship in Jesus Christ. God, the Father, Son, and Spirit, lives in unity of divine relationship. God stepped to where we are for the sake of relationship in Jesus Christ. In Jesus, we are invited to into that divine relationship through Christ. We are all bound together in this relationship. We move toward one another in the same way that God moved toward us in Jesus Christ. This is the heart of Philippians 2:1-11. 

When you look at your friendships in the church:

• Have you created an echo chamber of people who believe and think just like you and share your same view of things?

• When you do befriend someone who has different beliefs and views than you, are you looking to educate or fix them so they might know “truth”? 

• Who in your life helps you better see other’s viewpoints in a way that you can empathize even without fully understanding? 

Step Toward One Another - Spiritual Friendships

In 2022 we are “Walking together on the journey with Christ to be transformed into his image.” 

Part of the main focus of our theme this year is that the walk with Christ is walked together. While a walk with Jesus should always be personal, it is never individual. When Jesus invites followers to follow him, he invites them into a community of believers. Christianity has often become a privatized belief for the salvation of the individual. This view of Christianity does not hold up against the witness of scripture calling God’s people to come together as a diverse community of believers to stand as light together in a dark world. 

Part of the DNA since the founding of NoDa Church is that we would only meet together as a congregation on Sunday mornings with the expectation that our members would get together during the week. The emphasis here is that relationships together in smaller more intimate settings is at the core of who we want to be as a church. We are a small church, but we desire to get smaller. These smaller gatherings cultivate depth of spiritual relationships. As the author of Hebrews writes in chapter 10:

23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

This short passage out of Hebrews displays our “Steps” for the year and how they all connect together. Step toward God – “Hold unswervingly to the hope we profess…” Step toward one another – “Spur one another on…not giving up meeting together…encourage one another…” Step toward the world – “spur one another on toward love and good deeds…” 

When we walk together with Christ, we move toward God together to then move toward the world. Naturally, you will grow closer together as you focus more on the mission God has called us to as a Church. When churches do not have deep relationships and lose sight of their mission, they easily splinter and divide because each individual thinks that the church is about meeting their needs rather than equipping them for mission. Relationships take work and require getting out of our comforts to more toward mission. 

This Sunday, we are going to look at the necessity of Spiritual Friendships. Paul’s life demonstrates the necessity of having Spiritual Friendships. Barnabas stepped toward Paul when no one else would in Acts 9:19-31 and then sought him out to join him in his Kingdom work in Antioch in Acts 11:19-30. Throughout Paul’s ministry you see him list countless numbers of companions, co-ministers, and partners in the gospel. Everywhere he goes he cultivates Spiritual Friendships and with his churches he invites them to “Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ…” (1 Cor. 11:1; Phil 3:17). Barnabas did this for Paul and Paul in turn did this for others. 

Spiritual Friendships are mutually beneficial. While Paul invited others to follow his example, he was encouraged by the examples of those who walk with him. These relationships are essential for helping us come into a Christ-like transformation. The eye of a friend is a good mirror to examine yourself. They will help you see where you fall short but also help you see yourself as God sees you. These Spiritual Friendships take time and investment.

Who in your life (other than your spouse) encourages you to be more like Christ?

Who in your life (other than your spouse) do you encourage in their walk with Christ?

What step will you take this year toward cultivating these relationships?