Worship is Reverent Adoration not Affectionate Apathy

English Standard Version Chapter 6

45 Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. 47 And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. 48 And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, 50 for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” 51 And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, 52 for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.

Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret

53 When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore. 54 And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized him 55 and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was. 56 And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.

Intro:

As a kid I loved spending the summers in Oklahoma with my grandparents.

I loved being out in the country with Grandma and Grandpa Dugas;

getting to shoot guns with grandpa, roaming around the pastures and forest, eating Grandma’s cooking, watching grandpa do woodworking.

I loved going to Mamoo and Pawpaw’s as well. I loved camping and shooting fireworks, riding the 4-wheeler

I loved watching John Wayne and Clint Eastwood movies, playing in the jungle that was their backyard

My grandparents were fun to be around and they were very loving to me and so I really enjoyed be around them all the time

and I always missed them when I went back home

There was one thing I did not like about staying with Mamoo and Pawpaw though

every Tuesday we would have to drive up to Ponca City from Stillwater, about an hour drive each way

and visit Granny, Pawpaw’s mom

Mamoo and Pawpaw also didn’t like going and didn’t bother keeping that a secret

But, Granny was alone up there and needed to be checked in on each week

I loved being with my grandparents because they were so wonderful to me and I tried to do all I could to show them I loved them and appreciated them

however, with Granny it was a different story

She just was not fun

her house was boring, the drive to her house was boring, everyone was miserable

and Granny was pretty surly and didn’t know how to keep her negative comments to herself

For Pawpaw’s sake and the fact that Granny was family I would be kind to her

however, my kindness was short of genuine

I didn’t dislike Granny, but I didn’t like her either

I had an affectionate apathy toward her

I would go through the motions of being a good great-grandson while I was at her house, of doing my familial duty, but outside of this nothing

With my grandparents I had an affectionate adoration, but with Granny it was affectionate apathy

As Christians, when God only gets our attention and energy when we are going through the motions, doing our religious duty

when worshipping Him on Sunday, when our daily prayer time and bible study are all going through the motions, fulfilling our religious obligations then we are giving God affectionate apathy

when we leave Him out of the rest of our lives and don’t have a deep and genuine appreciation for Him we are not reverent adorers like we should be

When in your life do you find yourself living in affectionate apathy toward God and when do you reverently adore Him?

How could your life be transformed for the better if you were more of a reverent adorer?

Exegesis:

Jesus and His disciples have finished feeding the people and likely themselves now

Jesus now sends His disciples away once again

while the disciples depart Jesus also sends the crowd away

it took hours to feed all of those people supper so it is now getting extremely late and the people are probably fully willing to cooperate with Jesus’ dismissal

It is like after midnight and Jesus has been teaching and serving all day, one would think He’d at least take a nap or something

Once everyone is gone, He still doesn’t stop

He goes and spends time with God, His Father in prayer

The most refreshing and fulfilling thing Jesus can do at that moment is to spend genuine time with God

Jesus finishes praying and sets out to meet His disciples

theyve already been on the water so the least sensible way of reconnecting with them is to try to catch up with them out on the water

However, this is exactly what Jesus does

Being God, you’d think He’d just appear where they were or to Bethsaida where He sent them

Kind of like getting beamed up in Star Trek or apparating in Harry Potter

or being taken in a whirlwind like Elijah or carried by the Spirit like Philip to use a biblical analogy

Jesus decides, instead to walk on water, which is pretty cool too

Along the way Jesus sees that the disciples are really struggling against a strong headwind

now they dont seem to be in mortal danger like the last time they encountered a storm on the water

but they are having a bad go at it

The way the next phrase is translated in English doesn’t quite capture Jesus’ intention properly, it just doesn’t translate literally very well

the idea behind this phrase in the Greek is that Jesus wanted to pass by them

in other words, He wanted them to see Him walking on water so they could see another picture of His deity, to have more evidence that He was God

only God could walk on water, and on very choppy water nonetheless

When the disciples see Him they are terrified

they think He is an actual ghost or a sea demon, it was a common belief among the Jews that demons lived in the sea, an idea that was probably reinforced when the legion of demons drove those 2,000 pigs into the sea

Jesus knows what they are thinking and feeling and He commands them to have courage and not be afraid that it is Him

There is something significant that is again lost in the English translation and its the fact that in Greek He says

ἐγώ εἰμι, which literally mean I, I am.

Who else identified themselves as I am?

Yahweh right?

Yahweh told Moses I am that I am, tell them I am sent you

In fact, in the Septuigant, the Hebrew Bible translated into Greek used in ancient times,

When Yahweh says this to Moses He says ἐγώ εἰμι

Jesus is very much on purpose calling Himself Yahweh

He is demonstrated in word and deed that He is in fact God

He is literally walking the walk and talking the talk

Jesus further demonstrates His power by calming the winds and seas without so much as speaking word

Last week the disciples kept missing who Jesus was

this time they miss Him even more embarassingly

He has just done all of this, and do they respond in reverent adoration?

Mark tells us they respond this way:

λίαν περισσός ἐξίστημι- exceedingly, beyond confused

They see all of this and are exceedingly beyond confused

I want to ask these guys: what are you confused about?

Jesus is God, it’s literally that simple

Mark tells us that the disciples missed Jesus’ power and divinity when He fed the 5,000 as well;

and that their hearts are hardened

What Mark is saying here is that their hearts were closed-minded or blind

The chapter then closes out with Jesus in Gennesaret serving the people once more

go to Gennesaret; people immediately recognize Jesus and word spreads through whole region and people come from all over; people are bringing their sick to be healed; everywhere He goes people are coming to Him for healing and believe even touching His garment will make them well like the woman with the bleeding

I am; solitude with God; lack of faith; prayer; Who is Jesus; Knowing God

πωρόω- blind, close minded, cause difficulty understanding or comprehending

- ghost

People hear about Him all over the region and everyone who can is bringing their sick and infirmed to Jesus to be healed

λίαν περισσός ἐξίστημι- exceedingly, beyond confused/unable to make sense of the situation/ out of one's mind

They thought Jesus was a phantasm, a ghost, perhaps even a sea demon, since it was believed that demons dwelt in such places.; Jesus demonstrates divinity in walking on water; declaring I am; healing; JEsus intended to walk by to demonstrate HIs Deity, rather than wanted to pass without helping

people are believing that what happened with the woman who had the presistent bleeding will work for them too

they only need to touch the edge of His garment and they will be healed

and Mark tells us that everyone who touched Him was healed

These sort of mass healings go even further to demonstrate that Jesus was truly God

that there was no way He was merely a prophet or a rabbi

that He could not be demon possessed and doing Satan’s bidding

no Jesus was absolutely the only Begotten Son of God

Orthopraxy:

Just like in last week’s passage the disciples completely miss who Jesus is

When we see the disciples behave this way it is tempting to think:

HOw can they be so thick? If I were there it’d be different. If I saw these things my faith would be so strong

Most of us are probably better off than the disciples were at this point

we have a better concept of who Jesus is and a greater understanding His character

we don’t wrestle with the idea that Jesus is the Savior and Son of God

that He came to die and pay for sins and rise again to give us eternal life if we believe in Him as Savior

its not a problem for us to accept that Jesus is God ands doing all of these incredible miracles

However, how well is this sinking in?

how deep does our knowledge and understanding, our experience of Jesus go?

if you want to answer that well then look at your life

How connected to Jesus does your life show you to be?

How well are His attribute, His traits coming through you?

If we have a deep relationship with Christ, if we know and experience Him deeply, if we are delighting in Him and living to glorify Him then our lives should show it clearly

much of the time; however, they don’t because there are roadblocks to us knowing and experiencing Him as we should

what difficulties or obstacles do we have in understanding who Jesus is?

Prayer and Scripture are fundamental to knowing and understanding Christ

how much time are you spending in each of these everyday?

Are you engaging these well or is it more like a chore or routine?

prayer and Scripture are not there to increase our knowledge and help us get the things we want in life

they should be empty rituals, religious obligations

God doesn’t command us to meditate on the Bible and pray because He wants to see how well we obey Him

they’re not divine chores that we do to get our allowance

these are meant to transform who we are

to change our thinking, our lifestyle, our hope, our trust, our desires, our very identity

they are there to give us a richer and more fulfilling relationship with God

they are tools to equip us to draws other to God through the Gospel and discipleship

they are direct lines of communication with the God who created all things and saved us from our sins

They are conversations with our Papa and our King

however, we often do not think of them this way

we’re too distracted and busy to give God this sort of attention

He’s gracious and forgiving so it’ll be alright if my heart isn’t fully in these things

God will understand

I just don’t have much time for these things

I have all this work to do, people to meet with, projects to finish, a family and home to take care of, I need to unwind from all of my work stress, etc.

we can make excuses all day long and we have no idea what we are missing out on

all of the fears, insecurities, lingering hurts, festering anger and resentment, changes we can’t deal with

all of the brokenness that exists in our lives that we cannot get past is a result of our hearts not being properly connected to God

Think of it this way:

if you built your dream house, with all the best technology, appliances and other comforts you could desire

but you never connected the house to sewer or septic, to well or city water, or any source of electricity what do you have?

you have something that resembles what you want but is not at all what you want

the house is intolerably hot in the summer and cold in the winter

it smells awful because the toilet dont flush

you can’t cook, wash dishes, take a shower, brush your teeth

there’s no internet or tv, no light to read by

you can’t see at all at night so you’re constantly tripping and stumbling about

the house is pretty much useless; in fact, because it’s not properly climate controlled the appliances and house itself start to fall apart before long

it has all these features that you wanted, but they do nothing for you because there is nothing to power them

in the same way we can try to build what we believe is the good life

but if we are not connected to God it’ll look nice at certain times and during certain seasons, but in reality it is broken

anything we incorporate into our lives that is not connected to God will not deliver what we want it to

this is the essence of selfish kingdom building

just as a house needs to be properly connected to utilities and everything in the house properly connected as well

so our lives and every aspect of them need to be properly connected to Christ

for this to happen; however, we need to be daily getting to know Jesus better

Y’all come to church regularly, I assume most of you pray and study the Bible daily

So, How well Is who Jesus is sinking in for you?

If people were to look at every aspect of your life outside of church what would they find?

would they be able to tell you are a Christian?

What kind of Christian would they say you are?

Would they say you're devoted, compassionate, passionate about what you believe

would they say you seem like you truly love Jesus?

Who would people say Jesus is if they were told you are His representative?

or would they be surprised to hear you’re a Christian?

Would they say they know you are one, but don’t seem very involved in that?

would they call you a hypocrite?

Would anyone desire to have a connection to God or faith in Him like yours?

Would anyone be compelled to get to know more about Jesus because you seem to adore Him and respect Him above anyone or anything else?

Let’s make it a little easier on ourselves

What about if they looked at us while we are at church

Would they see us as being excited to worship our God?

would we look like we are here to honor our Lord and King?

Would they see while we are here that we adore Jesus and have a passion to praise and serve Him?

Would they see us worshipping together and see how engaged, genuine and passionate we are and want to be a part of that

would watching us worship together make people want to come back, want to be a part of our church family?

Will people see reverent adoration or affectionate apathy?

Now, this isn’s to say that we either have reverent adoration or affectionate apathy

think of this as a spectrum or a contiuum

each of us are going to be at different points between reverent adoration and affectionate apathy

and at different times we will be closer to one or the other

where are you on that continuum?

how do you become a reverent adorer of Jesus

You have to better know and experience who Jesus is

The very foundation of this is the Gospel

how well do you grasp and Believe the Gospel?

Jesus paid for our sins and our Savior- what does this tell you about Him?

we know the answers: He is gracious, merciful, loving, kind, powerful, 100% God and 100% percent man

how much has that sunk in though?

In this life it will not fully sink in because our human minds just cannot fully comprehend, but we can continually be growing in this

We have to understand just how big our sin is

The pride that is in all of us wants to minimize the magnitude of our sins against God

we compare ourselves to other who look worse to us and think we’re not so bad

We don’t have a big enough view of God and His righteousness

If we fully understood how holy God truly is we would be crushed by the shame of even the sin that seems to us as the most insignificant

we need to have a bigger view of our sin and of God if we hope to be reverent adorers

This doesn’t mean we all need to go through life feeling as guilty and ashamed as possible

quite the opposite

Jesus took all of the guilt and shame that we deserved upon Himself when He was nailed to the cross

none of it is attributed to us

however, understanding our sin and God’s holiness and righteousness properly increases our gratefulness for what He has done

it is just like the parable of the debtors in Luke 7.36-50

one man owed a small amount and another a huge amount and both were forgiven of their debts

who loved their creditor more, the one with the small debt or the one with the huge one?

Obviously the one with the huge one

we are all the person with the huge debt and the more we comprehend this the better we will understand and appreciate Jesus and His Gospel

Jesus tries to reveal Himself and connect with us outside of the Gospel as well

Who is Jesus showing you who He is in your prayers, bible-study and through other believers?

What is Jesus doing in your life that shows you who He is?

Are these things sinking in?

do you walk away from prayer and bible study feeling more connected to Jesus or like you understand Him better

do you walk away delighting in Him more and having a greater desire to bring Him glory?

The good things you have and accomplish in life, do you ascribe these to Jesus or to yourself?

how do you tell if they are sinking in?

Why or why not?

Jesus is constantly revealing more of Himself to us if we are paying attention

in every prayer, in every Bible passage, in every worship song, in every church service, in every good thing we have or happens to us, even in the bad things that happen to us

Jesus is trying to show us who He is and the good He has for us

but we have to be paying attention and seeking Him

What is your attitude during worship?

who does your life say Jesus is?

How do we move from affectionate indifference to reverent adoration?

First you have to want to

If you don’t want to I assure you that you should

not because of a religious obligation, but because Christ has done unfathomable amounts of good for you

and because the life that results from living in reverent adoration is so much more fulfilling, more peaceful, more secure, more meaningful

wouldn’t you like more stability, less fear, less anger and resentment, more love, for each day to feel like it mattered and you mattered, like life has a point and it’s a good one, excited for each day instead of dreading each day?

this is what a life of closeness with God offers and much more

The apostle Paul puts it better than anyone in

English Standard Version Chapter 3

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

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

Unity in the Body of Christ

A life of reverent adoration offers more than we can ask or imagine

it is not a life of material wealthy and prosperity

but of spiritual wealth and prosperity, which is far more enjoyable and beneficial and as you grow in this you will understand that reality more and more

So if you don’t have the desire ask God for the desire

if you have the desire then chase after it with all you have

in prayer, bible study, worship, time spent with other believers, time spent by yourself, time out in nature, be seeking to see more of who God is and all that He has done for you

remind yourself daily of blessings you have received throughout your life, things you have to be thankful for

live this out through genuine worship and service to Christ

live it out by building Christ’s kingdom and doing His will

tell others how amazing He is and what great things He has done for you through His Gospel and out of His love

seek the true good life through reverent adoration of Christ