Category Archives: sermons

The whole town gathered at his door

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Mark 1:32-34 (NIV)
That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. [33] The whole town gathered at the door, [34] and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.

His door?
The whole town gathered at his door?

It is a beautiful image–a crowd of people. Some have bunions or arthritis, others have problems with acne or depression. Some might be paralyzed, others deaf or blind. They would have had cancer, depression, disease.

In the course of a 24 hour period a man has a demonic outburst in church and then the whole town sees/hears/responds to Jesus healing power by trucking out their infirmities.

A very good thing.

Imagine if the story went like this–

They saw what Jesus did for the demon possessed man but they did not want their neighbors to know about their weaknesses, illness, and grief, so they stayed home. Pretended they didn’t have any problems. Died prematurely.

Welcome to the American Christianity. Sure, we have hand sanitizer and flu shots now….But the truth is you have to have the courage, honesty, and desperation to admit you have a problem if you want to get healed.

I have a problem. I do not trust easily anymore. I used to be very trusting. Too trusting, you could say. But then that trust was broken, not by one or two people but a lot of people and my children were hurt. I watch my children in pain.

The loneliness and grief can seem overwhelming. So every day I go to Jesus’ door and I wait for him to heal me.

And he does, thank God.

Sabbath healing

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Mark 1:29-34 (NIV)
As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. [30] Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told Jesus about her. [31] So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them. [32] That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. [33] The whole town gathered at the door, [34] and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.

I have always loved the story of Peter’s MIL getting healed and popping up to serve people. Just now I was reviewing the chronology of her healing and I thought–aha! even on the sabbath mamas gotta work.

Jesus gets in trouble for healing people on the sabbath. In an effort to keep the letter of the law they had made a day of celebration into a swampy mess.

Of course God can heal on the sabbath. It is the day of each week that should most resemble heaven.

But we know that rules were hindering that because Jesus gets ambushed by miracle seekers after the sabbath–after sundown they flocked to him.

I would too.

A whacky miracle

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Mark 1:23-28 (NIV)
Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, [24] “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” [25] “Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” [26] The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek. [27] The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him.” [28] News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.

I have heard that Beethoven added percussive elements to his fifth symphony because he was tired of people drifting off. Do not know if that is true, but I do know that a rousing case of demon possession will wake you up in church.

The first question: why is this guy in church, possessed? Wouldn’t you think the demon would have steered clear of Jesus?

Ultimately no one steers clear of him. He says we will all face him either in love or judgment.

I once saw something like this happen in a very large church outside DC. A man stood in the morning service (hundreds of affluent parishioners) and began shouting at the pastor.

He was ushered to the foyer and as he talked to the escorting deacons he began to take his clothes off at which point a man of action (former marine) put him in a headlock until EMS arrived.

Memorable. But this story is extraordinary.. Jesus makes the demon leave. He doesn’t need either a marine or EMS.

We watch too many horror movies when in truth real life is full of ordinary horror.

Demons do go to church and sometimes they appear to run the show–not with loud exclamations but with quiet joylessness, fear, envy, lust, and greed.

How does the story change if the man with the demon is just an ordinary guy? How about if he seems quiet and earnest and tends to participate in Sunday school? How about if the demon is just the spirit attached to fear, lust, or pride?

What do you want to be free from? And what do you want to be set free to do?

These questions shape our souls. The answers are of eternal significance.

You want a good teacher

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Mark 1:21-22 (NIV)
They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. [22] The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.

This was a home church in a hometown. This crowd knew Jesus’ people. They were at church.

Then this guy comes in and starts talking and whatever it is that he says astounds people.

Let’s face it: most of us doze our way through church. How many sermons do you remember?

But Jesus is memorable and his preaching is different.. Like he knows what he is talking about. Because he does.

It is not hard to have authority when you are the author.

Jesus is the author and the finisher
The beginning and the end.

He is the Man.

And if you want an idea of what he said? Check out Matthew 5-7.

Blessed are those who listen to Jesus
For they shall hear the voice of God.

The story to the bone

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Mark 1:16-20 (NIV)
As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. [17] “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” [18] At once they left their nets and followed him. [19] When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. [20] Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

Let me just put the modernist paraphrase on this–an itinerate carpenter sees some dudes with legit jobs and tells them to quit them for an unvarnished Ponzi scheme.

I once got in trouble for trying to rid a church of a Ponzi scheme…those were good times.

Today this sentence popped into my head–kindness is it’s own reward.. I thought, not really…. Avarice, power-mongering and Viagra are their own rewards.

Kindness is a discipline practiced with one eye trained on eternity.

Same with this story. Take 12 grown men with decent jobs and make them penniless outlaws for a quack story about Resurrection? That is bad economics.

That is Jesus. What He calls us to leave is as important as what He calls us to pursue.

He says–

leave your life to gain it

and

take up your cross and follow me…

If he is wrong we are fools. If he is right….
Run to Him.

Funny repent story

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Mark 1:15 (NIV)
“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”

Repent?

When I was 6 I played t-ball. I am left-handed so when I batted I faced 3rd base. Often in the adrenaline of the moment I would hit the ball a modest distance and run toward…3rd base.

Repent means change directions. Jesus is telling everyone who hears Him–change directions, you are going the wrong way.

All of us are going the opposite direction.

So he tells us to turn around and run the other way. Toward the Good News.

Jesus.
Home.

Mark 1:the kingdom near

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Mark 1:15 (NIV)
“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”

The time has come. Ah-ha!! That sounds good. Christmas! The kingdom ushered in.

Most of us assume that this kingdom thing would have been better if there had been some major trouncing of Romans, a bit more fire in the sky. As though we could handle that…Most of us panic if our wifi is down.

The kingdom of God is always near. People are mostly rank amateurs, cowards and failures, but there is the King, standing at the door of heaven saying come in, be here with Me.

Abide with Me now.

Mark: the superhero gospel

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My young son loves superheroes, none more than Batman. With a generous amount of fast forwarding through schmaltz, I have been watching the latest Batman movie. I keep thinking it is a star-studded bloated mess. I also think that there are few movies worth perishing for and that the disaster in Colorado is all the more tragic when the film is all soulless violence.

Mark, by contrast, is the superhero gospel. People often note how fast the narrative moves and how time and action drive the story.

Mark 1:13-15 (NIV)
and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him. [14] After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. [15] “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”

We are still in the first chapter and we ask these questions–
wild animals and angels?
John in chains?
And how near, exactly, this kingdom?

The King. The king is who you want to follow. All the way to the end of the only true superhero story that has ever mattered.

Mark 1: the rough road

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

Up too late. So what do I do? Resort to Bible study. It is legal, free, and happens to be at the heart of my search.

I don’t like to fast. I don’t like to talk about fasting (because I am not good at it). But here it is–Jesus, God, gets baptized by his cousin and pointed out as God and then spends 40 days fasting in the wilderness.

No fun.
For a long time…
No fun.

Why?

Jesus was baptized for the mirror opposite of my baptism. I was baptized to acknowledge my rightful deadliness, my death sentence, and the helplessness of my condition.

Jesus was baptized to be me through the stuff I can’t do or handle or be.

Sinless God becomes broken me.

It is like we change lives, coats, passports. His lets me into heaven and mine lets Him into hell.

Reason enough to fast. Reason enough to stay awake late at night, scanning the horizon for the face of my savior. My God. The Ransomer.

Mark 1: signs and wonders

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Mark 1:9-11 (NIV)
At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. [10] As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. [11] And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

Let’s face it. We are sheep. Easily led, gullible. Prone to follow the herd. We believe crazy stories.

How much more crazy does it get than God in the water, God in the shape of a dove, God speaking out loud?

Pretty crazy unless it really happened. Pretty crazy unless the God in question is omnipresent and omnipotent. Then it is just an ordinary day…

In the life of God with us.

If you comb the Bible looking for signs of Jesus you will find them everywhere–prophecy, songs, the histories all resonate with promises of a savior.

If you read just the early chapters of the gospels you get angels, miracle babies, special astronomers, and prophets all pointing to Jesus and saying, Hey! This kid is special.

It is impossible to believe this is a normal story. Either a great many people went to a great deal of trouble to lie (for nothing–there was no money or power in a dead carpenter).

Or the story is true.

And if it is true…

Jesus is a game changer. The God who saves.