The Kingdom Belongs to these
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
Jeff & Kristin Update....
A number of years ago there is a pastor named Kevin Myers…And he is the pastor of the largest Wesleyan Church in the country, something like 15,000 people. He asked every district to send one pastor to his church in Atlanta 4 times a year for 2 years. Kevin poured into us…It was great and amazing...
One of the things that he said to us and now I say it to almost every young pastor and I have even said it here a few times is this
“You know that verse, Taste and see that the Lord is Good? “
“Well, only you and God know when you take the stage to teach the Bible if you want others to taste and see that the Lord is good or if you are good.”
WOW…that gets at the heart of a very simple lesson about life and about pastoring
It’s not about you
Its about Jesus
That is both a simple lesson and a deeply profound lesson
Its a tiny shift, but its a tempting and easy shift to make
And I feel like when we deeply internalize that lesson then we will actually learn the way of Jesus in the kingdom
I feel like this is the lessons that the disciples need to learn and the lesson that we need to learn today
Its been a little while since we have looked back to this but the Gospel of Mark starts really with a declaration from Jesus
It is found in Mark 1:15
“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
What Jesus is saying is that my rule and reign..is here...
and in order to accept my rule and reign in your life then you have to repent and believe that Jesus is God and the very best person to lead your life..
This is what the good news of Jesus is
That he brings a new kingdom! A new kind of governance in your life
This is the good news
Everything Jesus has done in mark has been an extension of good news
Healing the sick
Casting demons out of people
Walking on water
Calming storms
Jesus is constantly flipping the script on his world…He is valuing gentiles! people who are not Jews! this is a scandal
But yet, somehow the kingdom of God that Jesus is ushering in is bigger than
People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.
The disciples of Jesus revealed something really impotrant with this interaction with Jesus
The disciples rebuked the people who were bringing kids to Jesus...
Look we have to understand that still at this point the disciples have an idea that Jesus is going to be a political king.
Children are powerless in society
So the disciples, probably eager to set up Jesus’ kingdom just have no time for children who wield no political power
These kids are just not going to get Jesus where he needs to go
They have nothing to offer Jesus
So they rebuke the parents and the kids and try to get them out of Jesus’ ministry
This reveals something really impotrant about the disciples and the danger that we face all the time:
The disciples attitude continues to be formed by societal standards rather than by Jesus
The disciples attitude continues to be formed by societal standards rather than by Jesus
Ouch…Right?
I mean this is us. We live in the world and so many times our attitudes are shaped by what society says is truth rather than by what Jesus says
Thats an easy thing to slip into...
I mean in a world of 24 hour news cycles, relentless posts on facebook
Our education system is constantly pushing a new morality…a new standard for society to live up to
our kids and we ourselves are just bombarded with a societal standard that is not Jesus’ standard
So the disciples here are picture of people who are on their own agenda
They have their own vision for who Jesus is and should be...
But instead Jesus again shocks their sensibilities and says Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them for the kingdom belongs to them
So Jesus says that we all have to enter the kingdom like the kids…so what does that look like?
To “receive the kingdom” like a child is to live in total dependance on Jesus
To “receive the kingdom” like a child is to live in total dependance on Jesus
My kids are starting to get to the age where they contribute more around the house.
They can take the trash out
The girls wash the dishes
But for a long time…It’s just a good thing they were cute...
There is a reason why kids are a tax deduction…They are dependent on you for everything
In my house we simply say that they are on the payroll...
To receive the kingdom like a child means that you come with nothing to offer, only to receive...
I am not saying that kids have nothing to offer…These kids had nothing to offer politically
Only their dependance
And this is what we have to learn from Kids...
And then I love that Jesus blessed the children.
We don’t know exactly what Jesus said when he blessed them, but we do know that at every Sabbath dinner parents bless their children and this is what they say:
Jesus blessed the children:
The Jewish New Testament Commentary (Mark, Chapter 10)
“God make you like Efrayim and M’nasheh,” the sons of Joseph and grandsons of Jacob; and to his daughters he says, “God make you like Sarah, Rivkah, Rachel and Leah,” the wives of the Patriarchs. Then, placing his hand on the child’s head, he pronounces the Aaronic Benediction (Numbers 6:24–26):
The Lord bless you and keep you!
The Lord make his face shine on you!
The Lord lift up his face on you and give you shalom [peace]!
Jesus’ kingdom is a complete reversal to everything in their culture and nothing shows that more than this blessing:
I mean for Jesus to honor children would have been a seismic shift in any culture:
There is a budding field of study where Psychologist and historians mesh up into something called Psycohistorians…One of these people is a man by the name of Lloyd deMouse and he wrote a book that was extremely eye opening called “the emotional life of nations & the history of childhood”
So these books are about the connection between child rearing and the way that history has unfolded...
His whole premise is imagine a world where over half of the children are seveley abused by the standards of which we would call abuse today
In this history of childhood he listed the things that were common of every culture in disciplining children....he is just a small list of tools
Whips of all kinds
Cat - no nine tails
Shovels
Canes
Iron and wooden rods
bundles of sticks
whips made of small chains called disciplines
And flappers (what they used in schools, a paddle with round holes in it made to make blisters)
Now not in Jewish culture but in the greek culture, infanticide was totally normal
So what we have to understand is that Jesus welcoming children to his kingdom is a totally radical shift in the culture
The very next story in Mark 10 is the story of a rich man who comes to Jesus and asks what good things he has to do to enter the kingdom of heaven...
Now if you want a more detailed sermon on this then go back to a series we did this past November called “Enough” where broke this story down and did an entire sermon on it...
The twitter version is that this rich young man wants to enter the kingdom by his own status and merit...
He is the opposite of a dependent child
He is an independent adult…He has achieved financial freedom…But by the evidence that he even asked this question, his financial freedom doesn’t lead to spiritual freedom
I mean with this man it actually looks like he is going to enter the kingdom....He runs up to Jesus and falls on his knees…Some of you might remember this is a theme in Mark…people run up to Jesus and fall prostrate on their knees before Jesus as an act of worship
But this man’s worship of Jesus stops when he finds out that what Jesus calls him to is not to celebrate his independence but to declare his dependance on Jesus…and he goes away sad
I think Peter and Mark wanted you to compare these stories...
They would have left an impression on the disciples
I want you to just see one interaction in this story and it is not between the rich man and Jesus…it is the disciples:
Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”
The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
Jesus calls his disciples children! why is this so key?
Because he is reminding them of what they are supposed to be like in his kingdom...
He just publically said that Kids were the example we had to follow...
They probably would have loved if Jesus said…If you want to get into my kingdom…you have to act more like Peter or Matthew or James or John....But he bypassed them and said to act more like the children
So Jesus addresses his disciples as children.
and he says how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom…Not impossible by the way, just hard
Anything that causes disciples to forget their poverty and childlikeness before God and that prevents them from following Jesus Christ—this, too, is a camel before the eye of a needle.
So the very next story that we have in Mark…Is that Jesus predicts his death a third time
But the disciples are not getting it
Last week we covered the transfiguration…On the mountain top
One of the things that we didn’t cover is that after that experience this happened on the way home
Jesus predicted his death again but on the road home the disciples had an argument
They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.
That’s awkward
Any of our concerns for greatness will always push us toward independence rather than dependance
Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
He took a little child whom he placed among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”
I mean Jesus told them they have to be like children and then just a chapter later when they were confronted with children, the disciples didn’t welcome the children and they pushed the children out!
Come on disciples!
So we didn’t read this interaction last week but it all culminates this week with this next story
Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”
“What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.
They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”
“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”
“We can,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”
When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
So when Jesus says, what do you want me to do for you, it really makes the motives of the disciples plain!
The disciples are asking for impotrant seats in the kingdom…You know secretary of defense, Vice president
So really all of the stories in this section are really causing the disciples to question everything
The very next story is about a guy named Bartimaeus....And Jesus asked the same question to him, “What do you want me to do for you”
his answer was I want to see! Heal my blindness
The point is that:
Bartimaeus asks for faith and the disciples ask for fame (Mk 10:37;51)
Bartimaeus asks for faith and the disciples ask for fame (Mk 10:37;51)
In this section the children and the blind can see that Jesus is the messiah and the disciples are blind to it
Sometimes I feel like this is us…Have you ever heard the expression, “familiarity breeds contempt.” ?
Like the disciples who are close to Jesus forget what its all about…But those who are on the outside of the discipleship circle totally get it!
We in the church all too often can be so familiar with coming to church and doing church and serving in church that we lose sight of being like children and just coming to Jesus out of our own dependance!.
See the very next story about Bartimaeus, shows this blind man who is healed by Jesus and then he is healed by Jesus
The last verse of chapter 10 says about Bartimaeus
“Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.
Bartimaeus wanted to followJesus, the disciples wanted to sit with him in glory. (Mk 10:37;52)
Bartimaeus wanted to followJesus, the disciples wanted to sit with him in glory. (Mk 10:37;52)
Jesus but we are blind to what he really wants from us because we think about things like church policies, governance, structure
We have selfish motives and maybe we want power and control that we don’t see Jesus for who he really is
Maybe we see him as a means to an end?
Maybe we sometimes see him as our sidekick?
as the one who is going to catapult us to the good life?
Motive matters
Motive matters
See all of these stories around this very popular encounter where the disciples ask for power reinforce to us that our motives matter!
I have to tell you a quick story last week I preached on the transfiguration
I talked about how the whole thing is about the love of God and how we can hang our hat on the fact that we are dearly beloved children of God
I sat down and just knew that maybe that sermon was for you…But it was 100% for me…I didn’t know it until I said it...
So I have a guy in my life that is a spiritual director and who helps me process what God is doing in my life
So the next day I meet with him and I tell him about this sermon and how God convicted me through what I was preaching
And he says ok....so if you were to ask for something of Jesus right now what would you ask for?
My response was that I was thinking about the next couple of series and I wanted God to give me clarity on what I will be teaching on like mid-summer
And my spiritual director says…I didn't ask what you wanted God to do for your church I asked, what you want God to do for you...
See if I am not careful as someone who has been in ministry for 20 years…I can slip into treating God as the sermon genie...
As the God who assists me in my work
as the God who slips in an idea here and there
But my spiritual director said “stop” lets just go to God in silence
So I immediately closed my eyes and no sooner did I close my eyes did I get this distinct impression from God...
The phrase that came to mind was “rest in my love” Just be like a kid basking in the love of their father
So I did…I took the whole day off…Other than visiting Jeff and Kristin…and I went and sat with a bible and just prayed
and I realized that I was treating God like the sermon fairy and that if I would just come to him like a child in complete dependance, he would give me more sermon material than I could ever handle.
See the lesson I learned was nuanced....Because I strive to follow Jesus every day, I also can slip really easy into trying to use God as a utilitarian tool, as a means to an end, to serve my agenda…And there is no better way to mock God than trying to use him for your agenda...
So that day I just sat at Land Park and repented and just tried to sit at the feet of Jesus like a kid…And it was the best thing that I could have done with my day!
How we approach God and what we approach him for matters
Check your motives!
Am I coming to Jesus to sit as his feet like a child or, am I coming to Jesus to get him on my agenda?
Am I coming to Jesus to sit as his feet like a child or, am I coming to Jesus to get him on my agenda?
Jesus absolutely flips everyones ideas of power and prestige on their heads all the way through Mark 10...
His kingdom is absolutely different than anything else that anyone could imagine
In this section we learn this:
Real power in God’s economy is giving yourself away.
Real power in God’s economy is giving yourself away.
Real power in God’s economy comes from sitting at the feet of Jesus
Real power in God’s economy comes from sitting at the feet of Jesus
We often come to Jesus with a self-serving agenda, but Jesus is always sacrificing
Everything here preaches one point! Its is all pointing to the horrible reality that its not about you!
That we need to come to Jesus as a dependent…with our hands out
That our own works wont save us
No matter how much wealth we have the more we get just makes us more independent of Jesus and less dependent on him
taste and see that the Lord is Good
Maybe you have slipped into the easy to get into category of taste and see that I am good
Maybe you today have financial independence but no spiritual independence
Maybe today you are treating God as if he is some kind of Gene who is there when you need him
Maybe your just like one of those people who have been around church and Jesus for so long that you have simply lost the fire of what it means to follow Jesus and you just need to come to him like a child and sit at his feet....
This next moment is for you
Let’s pray