It's a Family Affair

Last week we kicked of a new series entitled “Lessons in Discipleship”. And while it is a new series, we are still in the Gospel of Mark. In our last series that led up to Easter we studied the end of Jesus’ ministry, but in this series we are going to study the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. And since we are studying the beginning of the book, I want to share some back ground information about Mark’s Gospel. Let’s begin with the theme of the book. Now I want to make sure we understand what I mean when I say, the “theme” of the gospel. Here is a good, simply definition of a theme as it relates to literature.

A theme is a universal idea, lesson, or message explored throughout a work of literature.

So the theme of a book is a lesson or message explored throughout a work of literature, and this certainly applies to books of the Bible. But not only that, it applies to the Bible as a whole. What is the theme of the entire Bible? It’s Jesus. Listen to what Jesus says to the Pharisees in John chapter 5.

John 5:39 NKJV

39 You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.

You see the religious authorities were searching the scriptures with a legalistic outlook. They were studying the OT law trying to determine exactly what works needed to be done to earn eternal life, and Jesus says no. No, you think you have eternal life through good works, but the scriptures are all pointing to me. Look what He tells them in the next verse.

John 5:40 NKJV

40 But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.

Jesus says, “But you are not willing to come to Me”. In John’s Gospel, coming to Jesus is a metaphor for believing in Him. Simply put, Jesus is telling the Jewish religious leaders that they were missing the theme of entire OT. In effect, He is saying to them, you are missing the point. You think it is all about keeping the law, but it is all about Me.

Hopefully, this helps us to understand what it means when we talk about books of the Bible having a theme. We could also, put it this way. Every book of the Bible has a purpose, or a recurring subject that the book emphasizes. When we talk about the Gospel of Mark the theme is all about discipleship. In other words, a recurring theme throughout Mark is discipleship, and this Gospel places a heavy emphasis on suffering in the life of the disciple. In short, Mark’s Gospel pictures the life of the disciple as a difficult. In other words, Mark emphasizes the high cost of discipleship.

OK, another extremely important piece of information that needs to be considered as we begin studying a book of the Bible is the original audience. Who a particular book was written to, helps us determine the theme or purpose of that book. In the case of Mark’s gospel, there is strong evidence to support that Mark was written to believers who were being persecuted for following Christ. According to early Church history it was most likely written to believers in Rome that were suffering. So, it makes complete sense that Mark would emphasize discipleship and the suffering that it involves, since he was writing to believers who were suffering.

Let me give you another example. Take for instance the Gospel of John. We know for a fact, that John’s Gospel was written to unbelievers. Now because John was written to unbelievers, the theme of His Gospel is all about how a person receives eternal life. Of course we know that a person receives eternal life simply by believing in Jesus for that life. In fact, the Greek word translated believe occurs right at 100 times in John’s Gospel. So, we would say that the theme of John’s Gospel is believing in Jesus to receive eternal life. In fact, John says this at the end of the book.

John 20:30–31 NKJV

30 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.

Here is the major takeaway. If you want to know how to evangelize a person go to John’s gospel. If you want to study discipleship and what it means to follow Christ go to Mark’s Gospel. I know this seems like common sense, but most people don’t follow these steps. We must keep Bible verses in their context and consider who the original audience was when we try to determine what verses mean.

OK enough said. Let’s talk about to today’s lesson. In this lesson I want to talk about how discipleship impacts a family. In other words, I want us to see that when one person in the family embarks on the pathway of discipleship it impacts the entire family. I can speak from experience, and I’ll elaborate on this later, but in whatever capacity I have served the Lord over the past 15 years it has required my entire family’s support and it has required my family to make their own sacrifices. In fact, I will go ahead and tell you that without Erin being on board with God’s calling on my life none of this would be possible. There is more responsibility for her around the house. There are hours on end that I am in my office writing and researching. We don’t get to do weekend getaways like other couples. But this is the pathway of discipleship, and it takes both of us being on board to make it work. Both of us.

And in today’s passage of scripture we are going to see the same thing. So turn with me if you will to Mark chapter 1 verse 29. Again, Mark chapter 1 and we will read verses 29-31.

Mark 1:29–31 NKJV

29 Now as soon as they had come out of the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 But Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick with a fever, and they told Him about her at once. 31 So He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and immediately the fever left her. And she served them.

The first thing we read is that they had just come out of the Synagogue. We also know it was the Sabbath because the verses leading up this tell us so, and we know that while they were in the synagogue Jesus was teaching, and He also cast out a demon. So, the word about Jesus is spreading let wild fire. In fact, as soon as this Sabbath is over the next verses tell us they the town brought Jesus, “all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed”. In other words, Jesus is about to get mobbed by the whole town. But sandwiched in between these public situations we have a private scene at Peter’s house. And notice what verse 30 says, “But Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick with a fever, and they told Him about her at once.” Now, verse 29 tells us it was “the house of Simon and Andrew”, and then there is the mention of Peter’s mother-in-law. This leads me to believe that Peter’s mother-in-law lives with them. Maybe she was a widow. I don’t think the Bible tells us. In any event, it appears that Peter, his wife, her mother, and Andrew all live in the same house in Capernaum. Now there is a nice discipleship lesson tucked into these verses that I don’t want us to miss. Let’s take a closer look at verse 31 for a moment.

Mark 1:31 NKJV

31 So He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and immediately the fever left her. And she served them.

Now, I believe that this women was seriously ill. Luke’s Gospel adds the detail that her fever was high. But notice what this verse tells us. Mark records, “immediately the fever left her. And she served them”. This is amazing to me. Not only does Jesus heal this woman of her fever, but there are no lingering after effects. Think about the last time you were really sick with the flu. Even after you survive the high fever, the body aches, and the coughing it still takes several days for our bodies to get back to 100%. That’s because the virus takes a toll on our bodies. Even after the virus is gone we are exhausted and weak, but that isn’t what happened here. No, Jesus took her by the hand, lifted her up, and immediately the fever left. Then look what happens next. “And she served them”. This woman goes from laying in bed with a high fever to completely healed after Jesus took her by the hand. There were no after effects. None. Jesus has complete authority over this sickness.

Now here is another interesting tidbit. The verb served in the Greek is in the imperfect tense. This indicates continued action. So, it means that she was serving them or kept on serving them. This is a beautiful picture of discipleship. Pay attention here because I don’t want you to miss this. The account of Peter’s mother-in-law, whose name we don’t even know, teaches us that any believer can effectively serve the Lord in the power that God supplies. And it teaches us that we can serve the Lord in any situation. Here is a woman at home in bed sick, and after a touch from Jesus she gets the honor of serving Him in the most intimate setting and in the most personal way. Can you imagine serving dinner to Lord of all glory in your home? This women’s Creator just miraculously healed her of a serious illness, and now she gets the privilege of serving Him a meal, and it says she kept on serving. You see Church, this is discipleship. The lesson here is that the most seemingly insignificant believers can serve the Lord in any situation, as long as they depend on God’s power to do so. This woman is able to serve in the healing power of the Lord. We are able to serve God through the power of the Holy Spirit that lives inside each of us.

Here is something else I want us to consider. Do you think this woman was thinking that she would be serving the Messiah in her home a few weeks before this? Of course not. Please listen to me on this because I have experienced this. If you will faithfully follow the Lord on the pathway of discipleship, if you continue in the word, and you regularly meet with other believers, God will use you. Listen, if you told me 10 years ago that I would be up here on Sunday mornings, I would have laughed in your face. I never in a million years thought this day would come, just like this woman could ever have imagined the Messiah, the Holy One of Israel would be dining in her home.

But this is how God works. He uses the people that the world sees as insignificant. Paul says in 1 Corinthians,

1 Corinthians 1:27 NKJV

27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;

We had a good discussion during our Wed night Bible study. We were talking about the Jewish people being astonished when they heard Jesus’ teaching. The verse we were looking at comes from the passage we read at the beginning of our service which says, “He entered the synagogue and taught. And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught as one having authority...” (Mk. 1:21-22). That word astonished in the Greek is a strong word. It means to be or become astounded to such a degree as to nearly lose one’s mental composure. Simply put, Jesus teaching was blowing peoples minds. And the question that I asked the group was have you ever been astonished by the Lord’s teaching? Have you ever had your mind blown by what the Bible teaches? Now I don’t have time to list the examples I gave on Wed, but here is where I going with this. This verse in 1 Corinthians blows my mind. It really does. It blows my mind that God uses the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise. It blows my mind, I’m astonished, that God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty.

You see, God uses the broken things, he takes people off the trash heap, He finds the most unlikely to succeed, and He accomplishes mighty works through people that the world has no use for. In fact, the disciples themselves are perfect examples. Jesus’ disciples weren’t educated men. They were fishermen. Can you imagine how the Jewish religious authorities viewed them? They had the finest educations, they had the most coveted positions of power, honor, and authority in Jewish society. We might say the religious leaders were the creme of the crop. Undoubtedly, they were groomed from birth for their sacred role in the Jewish religious system. And here comes Jesus, a poor carpenter’s son, followed by a ragtag group of lowly fishermen. I find this astonishing. It blows my mind. I have to show you some verses that prove this.

The passage I want to read comes from Acts chapter 4, and the disciples had been arrested after healing a cripple and preaching that Jesus had been raised from the dead. Well, they end up getting brought before the Scribes, Elders, and even the High Priest, and the Jews want to know they how they were able to perform this miracle. So, Picture this, these men are standing before all the Jewish big wigs, and listen to what Peter says.

Acts 4:10–12 NKJV

10 let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. 11 This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ 12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Now that is boldness. That is God using the weak things of the world to shame the wise. That is everyday ordinary men that have tapped into the resurrection power of the Lord Jesus Christ. And look at the Jews reaction.

Acts 4:13 NKJV

13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.

It says, they perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. That is another word in Greek that means astonished. They were astonished by the disciples, and they realized that they had been with Jesus.Now let me get to my point before I get to far down this rabbit trail. This is a powerful truth. God uses people just like you and just like me to accomplish His will. Isn’t that awesome. He doesn’t look at our level of education. He doesn’t look at our status in the community. He doesn’t look at our physical abilities or attributes. He looks at the heart. The Lord uses people whose heart is devoted to Him. The Lord uses believers that are willing to give up the pleasures of this life in order to serve Him.

Legacy, I want this to be us. I want God to use this tiny church in Dallas GA to accomplish mighty things, and I believe with all my heart that He will. But we have to participate in the process. We have to be willing to pick up our Bibles and learn. We have to be willing to put aside our self-interests and invest our time in the lives of our brothers. In other words, we have to deny ourselves, pick up our crosses and follow after Him. This is discipleship. Legacy, lets do it. As a body of believers let’s see what God can accomplish through this tiny portion of the body of Christ.

God uses, fishermen. God uses tax collectors. God uses sinners that come to repentance. I can’t tell you how often I look at 1 Corinthians 1:27.

1 Corinthians 1:27 NKJV

27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;

I recall this verse to my mind and say. Thank you God for using the weak and foolish things of the world. I thank God that even though I am the chief sinner, God will still allow me to serve Him. It is astonishing. Its mind blowing. God uses, the weak, the humble, the uneducated, and the unable, in order that His power will be clearly seen. And as we see in today’s text. God uses a sick, fever ridden mother-in-law and enables her to serve. Discipleship is open to all believers who are willing to pay the cost. My prayer is that every person in this room will answer the Lord’s call of discipleship.

Now. I have to admit most of what I just said was not in my sermon outline as I started writing it this week. What can I say, I’m a rabbit chaser. So, now let’s get back to what was in my sermon outline. And that is talking about the effects of discipleship on the family. Now to do this I want to talk about Peter’s wife. Now Peter wife isn’t mentioned in the the passage we looked at this morning, only her mother is, but she does get mentioned by Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 9.

1 Corinthians 9:5 NKJV

5 Do we have no right to take along a believing wife, as do also the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?

Now without getting into the context, I just want to point out that Paul says point blank that Peter’s wife was traveling with Him. You see, Peter wasn’t the only one that sacrificed, his wife did too. She would have been without Peter during the years that He was following the Lord, and then after that Paul indicated that His wife was traveling with him. How difficult was that road? I don’t think we can understand how difficult it was. We know that Peter was eventually arrested, but look what early church history teaches about his wife.

Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible His Background

Peter, along with the other married apostles, often took his wife with him on his missionary journeys. Later tradition discusses his children and states that Peter was present at the martyrdom of his wife (Eusebius).

Early church history says, Peter was present at the martyrdom of his wife. How mind blowing is that. And of course church tradition teaches that Peter was crucified upside down (at his request) because he didn’t feel he was worthy to die the same death as the Lord. I don’t even know what to say. But after researching this just a little bit I am even more convinced that I was before. The pathway of discipleship is a family affair. When God calls the husband, He calls the wife. I want to challenge every wife and every mother in this audience to be like Peter’s wife. Be the wife that is willing to follow her husband through the thick and thin. Be the wife that is willing to give up some of those weekend plans so your husband can study, teach, serve, or whatever it is God is calling him to do. Peter and his wife both gave all for the love of their Savior. They gave their lives. What are you willing to give? Are you weekends too precious? Is your money too precious? Is your life too precious?

I will say this. In my personal experience in ministry work over the past 14 or 15 years, I have never seen a man stay the course if his wife wasn’t on board. I have never seen it. The demands of ministry are difficult and time consuming, and if the wife isn’t willing to put in the time with the husband it just falls apart. The path of discipleship is a family affair. I’m encouraging you as strongly as I know how. Start on the pathway of discipleship together.

Now I can’t get on this subject without giving my wife a big thank you. Erin has been on this path with me the entire way. She has stood by my side and encouraged me without fail. In fact, she has been telling me to quite my job and go to seminary for years. She’s been screaming in my ear for years that this was my calling, but I’m a little slow on the uptake sometimes. Thank you God for being patient with me.

Now I don’t have time to tell you all the ways she helps me, but I want to share a few things that are pretty comical. I think everybody knows how terrified I am when it comes to public speaking. Well, in the early years of teaching Sunday school, I would prepare my lesson, and I would make Erin sit through a rehearsal of the lesson on Saturday night. And this wasn’t just an every once in a while thing. She sat through my Sunday school lessons every Saturday night for at least 8 years, maybe longer. And if I wasn’t happy with the way it went, I’d go change somethings, and we would do it again. This was our Saturday night ritual for years of our marriage. I would ask her discussion questions all the time, the first time I gave my testimony I don’t know how many times it made her sit through it, but it was too many to count. It was the same way the first few times I preached on Sunday morning. She would have to listen to my sermon over and over and over again, including 7am the morning of. And now as my responsibilities for the Church have grown, so have hers, and she does it in lock step with me. I couldn’t possibly handle all of the responsibilities of this interim pastor position without her. So Erin, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I couldn’t have done this without you. This pathway for us has truly been a family affair, and God has blessed us beyond anything we could imagine or deserve.

OK, so that was a challenge for the wives, but I also want to challenge the husbands in this room. Far too often I see the wives as the one who want to walk the pathway of discipleship. Far too often I see the wives being the ones who are leading the charge to get the family to church on Sunday mornings. Far too often, it is the wives who are studying, growing, and acting as the spiritual head of the household. Husbands this should not be the case. You should, be in your Bibles with your wives. You should be leading the charge to get to church. You should be looking for ways for your family to serve. No husband in this room should be keeping your family from getting to church every Sunday and walking the pathway of discipleship. I can’t tell you how negativity that will impact not only your wife, but your kids. If church and Bible study aren’t important to you, do you think it is going to be important to your kids. I can assure it will won’t. Husbands and wives walking the pathway of discipleship together will shape their children’s attitude toward following the Lord. If families only make it to church on Christmas and Easter, what will the next generation do? Discipleship is a family affair.

Let me make one final point as we work to close. Look at the impact Peter’s calling had on his family. His mother and law was miraculously healing and began serving. Peter’s wife lived without him much of the time Jesus walked the earth. Then she faithfully followed on the pathway of discipleship, until she was martyred for the faith, as Peter watched. The cost of discipleship is high but so are the rewards. The Lord told His disciples that they would sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. What an eternal reward. We don’t know what Peter’s wife’s rewards will be, but I guarantee you they will be great. Can you imagine the honor that will be bestowed upon her in the Lord’s eternal kingdom? I think it is beyond our comprehension. All of us as believers will have our lives evaluated at Christ’s judgment seat to determine our faithfulness during this life. We are going to be judged alongside of the heroes of the faith, with heroes like Peter’s wife. What are we going to say in that day. Lord, I was just so busy with work? Lord, I needed to provide for my family and rest on Sunday’s. Lord, I just couldn’t give up the drinking. We won’t say any of those things. For in that moment we will be free of sin and we will know that we wasted our lives. Don’t do that. Come together as a family. Commit to the pathway of discipleship, and let each one of us be found faithful at the Lord’s return. Let us be among the faithful who will hear, “Well done good and faithful servant. You were faithful with a few things, now I will make you ruler over many things. Enter in the joy of the Lord. Legacy, we have an incredible opportunity sitting in front of us. The county is exploding with growth. We have this amazing campus. What will we do with it. Will we give it our all, and watch God do unimaginable things through us, or will we keep living for ourselves and waste it? The time is now. Let’s answer the call of discipleship as individual families and as one family as part of the body of Christ. Let’s pray.