Mark 4:35-41 Take Jesus Just as He is June 23 rd /24 th, 2018 Grace and peace to you all from God our Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

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Katherine Blake
5 years ago
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1 Mark 4:35-41 Take Jesus Just as He is June 23 rd /24 th, 2018 Grace and peace to you all from God our Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. There are three questions I d like to cover in this sermon for day and these three questions are related to the sermon title you can see in your bulletin: Take Jesus just as he is. But before I give you those three questions, let me fill you in on why I chose the sermon title I did. The reason I chose this sermon title is because of what we find written in the Scriptures from Mark 4:36. Let me read that again for you: And leaving the crowd behind, they [the disciples] took him [Jesus] with them in the boat, just as he was. Those four words just as he was really got my imagination churning. At this moment in time during Jesus ministry how was he? He s been going from city to city preaching, teaching, healing the sick and the diseased (something we ll see more next week), exorcising demons from the possessed, and causing not little amount of controversy because of what he did and what he said. The disciples taking Jesus just as he was could be an act of compassion on their Lord who was completely exhausted. It s been one thing after another, day after day, person after person, so much need, so little time, and only one Jesus. So the disciples whisk him away onto a boat because Jesus wants to go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee for more ministry. Maybe the disciples taking Jesus just as he was could be an act of desperation. Maybe they took him just as he was so that no one in the crowd could take him, abduct him. Jesus, after all, had proven himself to be quite useful. In the hands of the wrong people, Jesus could make some greedy people very rich with his power to heal and exorcise the demonic, kind of like the woman we read about Acts 16:16-40 who told fortunes for and made her owners rich. And also, at this time in Israel s history, some of the Jewish people were longing for a charismatic leader who would kick out the Romans, start a Jewish revolt, and build up again the nation of Israel from the ashes. Or maybe the disciples took Jesus just as he was 1

2 which simply meant just as he was. Jesus wanted to go, so they took him. There was no time to eat, no time to change clothes, no time for small chat and pointless conversation, and certainly no time to rest. So the disciples took Jesus just as he was. For us modern day disciples, and to finally get to my 3 questions, we get to take Jesus just as he is. So what I want to do now is speak on (1) how do we take Jesus just as he is ; (2) what happens when we take Jesus just as he is ; and (3) why we are take Jesus just as he is. First question: How do we take Jesus just as he is? For us to take Jesus just as he is means that we have Jesus onboard in our lives, and not as a shipmate but as a captain. He is the Lord the Lord of the Sabbath as we remember from Mark 2, and he is the Lord of all creation, as we see today at the end of Mark chapter 4. For Jesus to be our Lord, the Captain of our lives, this means that who he is and what he says has the most authority in our lives. All of you have many opinions about many things about the weather, about friendships, about how to raise children, about politics, about how things ought to be run in the church and that s all well and good. But how do your opinions square up with what Jesus says? When Jesus says to love your enemy how are you doing with that? When Jesus says to love him with all your heart, all your mind, all your soul, how are you doing with that? Is Jesus captain of all your life or only a part of it? When Jesus says Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy...but lay up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys...where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matthew 6:19-21). In this statement Jesus is asking, How are you spending the wealth you ve been given? All on you? All on your family? What about the poor, the suffering, the hungry, your persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the world? How are you using the wealth the Father has entrusted you with? Or, when Jesus says, like he did at the beginning of Mark s gospel, repent and believe the good news, does your 2

3 heart break over your sin? Is repentance a daily part of your prayers? I hope it is. As Luther once said, Jesus doesn t forgive imaginary sinners, but those who recognize the depth of their sin and their infinite need for God. But also, does not your heart swell with so much gratitude and joy because of what Christ has done for sinners? Living for you, dying for you, rising from the dead for you how does that matter for you right now, this week? Again, how you take Jesus just as he is means that his presence, his word, is the absolute authority in your life on all matters of your life. He is the captain of your ship, not you. He calls the shots, not you. Second question: What happens when you take Jesus just as he is? What happens when Jesus is your captain? This is what happens, and you see it in our reading from Mark 4: Turbulence, stormy weather. The disciples were just fine until Jesus got on the boat. John Piper, retired pastor from Minnesota puts it this way: [Jesus] did not die to make this life easy for us or prosperous. He died to remove every obstacle to our everlasting joy in making much of him...if you follow Jesus only because he makes life easy now, it will look to the world as though you really love what they love, and Jesus just happens to provide it for you... 1 To follow Jesus, to have Jesus as your captain, to take Jesus just as he is means you will come into conflict, into stormy weather. Some of you know exactly what I m talking about. Your Christian conscience will consistently bother you because when you have Christ on the brain, when he is your captain, how you think about everything changes. You ll worry more and more about offending God with your words and actions. You have given up this or that sinful habit, addiction, action, view of the world, view of yourself because you want to be holy as God is holy. You ll strive more and more to please your heavenly Father not because you have to but because you want to. You ll worry more and more about the eternal security of those people you love who don t know Christ, who 1 John Piper, What Jesus Demands from the World, p. 71 3

4 have forgotten the sweetness of Christ, who have given up on Christ and his mercy. And because you worry about them and their eternal standing before judgement of God, this makes you all the more loving to them. But just because you are trying to be all the more loving doesn t mean you ll get the same sort of love in return. That s why Jesus promises you, Bless are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice, and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven... (Matthew 5:11-12). For 2000 years Jesus has been upsetting a person s conscience, people s families, upsetting marriages, upsetting cities and countries. And why is that? Because Jesus just as he is changes people from the inside out and changes and transform them to be like him, to be like Jesus. And when you think like Jesus, talk like Jesus, act like Jesus, love like Jesus, know that storms will come your way. This fallen world does not want a sin-bearing substitute as a Savior. No, in this fallen world everyone wants to be their own savior, their own captain, and in sense, their own god, determining what is right and wrong, what is true and good. And this brings us to our last question. Third question: Finally, why are we to take Jesus just as he is? If following him means storms and trials and tribulations; if taking Jesus just as he is as my captain, my Lord, my God means struggles and turbulence, then why bother? Why take Jesus just as he is? Well, because he s Jesus, and there s no other way. He is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one gets to the Father but through him (John 14:6). Or as Peter puts it in John 6:68 Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. You can take Jesus just as he is because he has proven himself to be a Captain who can be trusted, a Lord who can be obeyed, a Savior who can be savored, and God who can be worshipped and adored. Just as he calmed the raging sea for the disciples, so will he bring calm to the raging storms of our lives by his Spirit....through many 4

5 tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22 ) Paul once said. Jesus will bring the peace that surpasses all understanding. He will save, he will redeem, he will deliver, he will rescue because that s the kind of God he is. His life, death, resurrection, and ascension is tangible proof of the lengths to which the Father will go for you, his beloved children, in his Son. As Romans 8:28 puts it:...we know [WE KNOW!!!] that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. If you love Jesus you can know that all will be well; if not in this life then most definitely in the life to come. This means we need to have an eternal perspective on this life, on our current struggles and sufferings. The storms raging within our around us is a testimony that God is at work in us for his glory. He is making us holy. He will one day transform all creation. We give thanks when and if storms subside here and now, but our ultimate view is on the life hereafter. This is why you are called to take Jesus just as he is now because you will have Jesus just as he is forever. Unending love, unending joy, unending life, from the One who willingly gave his life, your Captain, who dove into to this world to save you from drowning in despair, drowning in sin, drowning in guilt, shame, and judgment. You are saved, you are rescued. People of God, never be afraid. With faith in Christ, by taking Jesus just as he is all will eternally be well. Amen. HoD: WOV # 784 You have come down to the Lakeshore 5

SERVICE OF HEALING October 23, 2013

SERVICE OF HEALING October 23, 2013 GATHERING We gather in the name of the Father, + the Son, and the Holy Spirit. HYMN Healer of Our Every Ill WOV 738 (blue) The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love