The Gospel of Mark: Lives That Count

Text: Mark 9:41-50

Theme: In the Scripture passage which is our focus today, we hear Jesus discussing the importance of living lives that count. He reveals to us several ways in which we can live lives that count.

Date: 04/07/19 File name: GospelOfMark23.wpd ID Number:

Have you ever thought of how you would like to be remembered after you’ve gone home to be with the Lord? How would you like for the epitaph on your headstone to read?

Most grave markers today have little more than the essential information about a person – when they were born, when they died, and perhaps a short statement like, “Beloved spouse.” There was a time, however, when cemetery epitaphs actually described the deceased person’s life or character. Sometimes they are very creative and even humorous. The following are all real epitaphs.

In a cemetery in Ruidoso, New Mexico you’ll find a headstone that reads: “Hear lies Johnny Yeast. Pardon me for not rising.” In Uniontown, Pennsylvania is an epitaph to a accident victim: “Hear lies the body of Jonathan Blake. Stepped on the gas instead of the brake.” In Silver City, Nevada: “Hear lays Butch, We planted him in the raw. He was quick on the trigger, But slow on the draw.” In a Georgia cemetery is a tombstone that actually read, “I told you I was sick.” I really like one that can be found in a Nantucket, Massachusetts grave yard. It says, “Under the sod and under the trees, Lies the body of Jonathan Pease. He is not hear, there’s only the pod. Pease shelled out and went to God.” But my one of my all-time favorites has to be the marker of a man simply named “Wallace” in a cemetery in Ribbesford, England: “The children of Israel wanted bread, And the Lord sent the mana, Old clerk Wallace wanted a wife, And the Devil sent him Anna.”

Hopefully, we will have more positive statements used to describe our lives than these examples. All of us want our lives to count. We all desire to live purposeful, fulfilling years upon this earth.

In the Scripture passage which is our focus tonight, we hear Jesus discussing the importance of living lives that count. He reveals to us several ways in which our lives can make a difference.

I. LIVES THAT COUNT HAVE POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS

vv. 41-42 "For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as followers of Christ, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward. And whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea."

1. one important area in which our lives need to count is the area of our relationships with others

a. the truth about how believers are to treat one another is based on the principle the Lord expressed in Mark 9:37, “Whoever receives one child like this in my name receives me; and whoever receives me does not receive me, but Him who sent me.”

b. the point that Jesus makes is this: how one treats a believer is how one treats Christ, and how one treats Christ is how one treat God

2. in verses 41 and 42, Jesus speaks of two ways in which we can deal with people

a. we can be positive in our relationships with others, and selflessly encourage them

b. or we can be negative in our relationships with others, and selfishly manipulate them

A. ENCOURAGEMENT BUILDS POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS

1. In verse 41, Jesus speaks of someone giving you a cup of water to drink because you are a follower of Christ

a. this may seem like a such small thing to do, but it is a very important thing

ILLUS. Then, as now, Israel has regions that receive little water. Most of the country south of Beersheba is arid and known as the Negev Desert. The Judean wilderness where Jesus faced his 40 days of temptation is also inhospitable. In such places, offering water is not only an act of kindness, it means survival.

1) Jesus tells His disciples, “I solemnly declare ... one who does this shall not loose his reward”

2) Jesus therefore regards such a gift as one that is given to himself

2. it is a basic act of encouragement

a. the implication is that this cup of water is just what they need at just the right time

3. the bible exhorts us to mutual encouragement

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:11, NIV84)

a. you need encouragement

b. but you also ought to provide encouragement

1) indeed it is a basic biblical principle that the encouragement you receive is intended to equip you to minister similar encouragement to others

B. ALL OF US NEED ENCOURAGEMENT

ILLUS. There's an old fable that says the Devil once held a sale and offered all the tools of his trade to any of his fellow demons who would pay the price. The Devil’s tools were spread out on the table and each one labeled. There was hatred, malice, envy, despair. On another table sat sickness, sensuality, hedonism and debauchery. All these weapons were well-known to the devil’s associates. But off to one side, on a table all by itself, lay a harmless looking instrument marked discouragement. It was old and worn looking but it was priced far above all the rest. When asked the reason why, the Devil replied, "Because I can use this one so much more easily than the others. No one knows that it belongs to me, so with it I can open doors that are tightly bolted against the others. Once I get inside I can use any tool that suits me best."

1. discouragement is a fact of life

a. the question is, “When you see others in despair, are you an encourager or a discourager?”

1) when someone is down, do you help them up or give ‘em a good kick while they’re lying there?

2) when someone suggests a course of action do you promptly see all the difficulties which make it impossible, or do you see the possibilities which make it worth trying?

ILLUS. Michelle was in her late-twenties and had grown up in the church First Baptist Church of Adrian. One year, the nominating committee came to her and asked if she would head the social committee. She agreed and plunged right into the task. She was doing a great job. That is until Lucille, who had been head of the social committee the previous millennium, came to her and informed her that the way she was doing things was not the way they had always been done. Michelle declined to serve the next year in that position. I wonder why?

2. encouragement has the power to build positive relationships

a. it can even turn negative relationships around as we seek to affirm that we are for one another, and that we care about one another

b. how we treat others counts

1) and if our lives are to count, people must count

B. NONE OF US WANTS TO BE MANIPULATED

1. just as encouragement builds positive relationships, manipulation buries positive relationships

2. in vs. 42, Jesus warns us against causing another believer to stumble

a. it is an exhortation against selfishly manipulating people for our own purposes

3. we always have the choice of either seeking to build up one another or to tear down one another

a. the disciples had to make that choice

b. earlier in the chapter, we seem them arguing over who was the greatest among them

1) they were being prideful and exclusive, judgmental and manipulative

c. those kinds of attitudes always destroy relationships

4. we have the power to choose to liberate people into the freedom of being all God can make them, or to place unnecessary obstacles in their way, over which they may stumble and fall

a. those obstacles are usually placed there because of selfish, small-mindedness on our part

1) we can put stumbling blocks in the path of others by having an unforgiving spirit

2) by engaging in dishonest business transactions

3) by using crude and excoriating language

4) by participating in judgmental gossip

b. and Jesus indicates that putting a stumbling block in someone’s way is a very dangerous thing to do

1) in the case of one believer encouraging another, there is a reward

2) but in causing another believer to stumble, there is a condemnation

c. the stumbling blocks we place in front of other believers become millstones around our own necks

ILLUS. When Jesus refers to a millstone hung around someone's neck and that person being cast into the sea, He was using an illustration contemporary to His time. According to both Jewish and Pagan historians of the day, this was a common punishment. The millstone Jesus refers to is a donkey-drawn millstone — not the hand millstones commonly used in the homes of the day. It was not a pleasant way to go.

1) yet Jesus says that is a better fate than the fate which awaits those who causes another to stumble

d. people are just too important to be manipulated and led astray

5. if we are to live lives that count, we must develop healthy relationships that seek to minister ‘a cup of cold water’ to others

II. LIVES THAT COUNT ARE VICTORIOUS OVER SIN

“And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. 45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, 48 ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’” (Mark 9:43–48, ESV)

1. in case you don’t know it, this is considered one of the hard sayings of Jesus

a. just exactly what does Jesus means when he utters these words?

2. it should be apparent to all of us that sin destroys lives

a. that is the real point that Jesus is trying to make in this passage of Scripture

3. there has been much debate over the centuries if Jesus’ words are to be taken literally or figuratively

ILLUS. The history of Christianity has numerous accounts of those who mutilated themselves in obedience to this passage. Origen, a distinguished theologian and historian of the early church, was a teacher of grammar and rhetoric at an all-girls school. He had himself emasculated so as not to be tempted by any of his charges.

4. in my humble opinion Jesus is not encouraging people to chop off their arms or pluck out their eyes or lop off their feet in order to deal with sin

a. He is using graphic hyperbole to illustrate the devastating effects of sin, and God’s desire for radical purity in our lives by telling His listeners that it is better to be maimed in this life than to enter into hell physically whole

b. it’s not the flesh that’s the problem — it’s the mind

“The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45, ESV)

c. the lesson is this: Sin is a very destructive force, and must not be pampered – it must be “put to death”

“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” (Colossians 3:5, ESV)

A. BELIEVERS MUST DEAL RUTHLESSLY WITH SIN IN THEIR LIVES

ILLUS. One commentator wrote, “The hand may symbolize what we do; the foot, where we go; and the eye, what we see.” It reminds me of the children’s song that tells us, “Be careful little feet where you go; Be careful little hands what you do; Be careful little ears what you hear; For the Father up above is looking down below ... “

1. Jesus is teaching His disciples that if there are practices in our lives that drag us down, we must cut them off through self-denial and self-discipline

2. we must not only not cause our brother to stumble, we must not cause ourselves to stumble.

3. how we deal with others counts, and how we deal with ourselves counts

a. lastly, how we deal with our culture counts

III. LIVES THAT COUNT IMPACT SOCIETY

“For everyone will be salted with fire. 50 Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”” (Mark 9:49–50, ESV)

1. God desires for us to be salt and light in the culture in which we live

a. He wants us to impact our society for His Kingdom

2. but first, our lives need seasoning

a. in verse 49, Jesus speaks about being salted with fire

b. in verse 50, He speaks about salt and its value

1)what is He saying to us?

A. IMPACTING SOCIETY INVOLVES SACRIFICE

1. when He says, "for everyone will be salted with fire," He is speaking of the value of sacrifice and self-judgment

a. in Old Testament times, all the Temple sacrifices had to be accompanied by salt

1) salt speaks of sacrifice

2) fire speaks of judgment or testing

b. to be "salted with fire" means that we will be tested and tried in order to develop the character of Christ in us

2. this is the seasoning we need in order to put something of strength and value into our nature

a. it puts the saltiness into the salt of our lives

b. for the Christian, that's what trials and testings do for us

1) it makes us salty

ILLUS. History is replete with examples of individuals who, by the strength and force of their inner character, made a drastic difference in society. One such example is William Wilberforce, a tiny, almost elfish man, who by the strength of his character almost singlehandedly brought about the Slavery Emancipation Bill in England. He was salt to the British society. James Boswell wrote of him after he heard one of his speeches, "I saw a shrimp become a whale."

3. those who are salty make a difference in society

a. they season it

b. they preserve it

4. our lives should count for something because we stand for something

a. our very presence ought to raise the moral atmosphere of society

b. the salt of our life ought to have a healing and preserving influence

c. our lives can positively impact society – we can make a difference

In this passage of Scripture, Jesus is giving us several important ways in which we can live lives that count. He is basically saying three things to us today: He is saying how we treat others counts – we need to be encouragers. How we live counts – we can be victorious over sin. And who we are counts – How we treat others counts -- Our relationships can be positive. How we live counts -- our lives can impact society.