Mark Sermon Week 6

Intro/Welcome

Opening Question.

What do we do when God doesn’t meet our expectations?

When he doesn’t fit the mold we have created for him.

We live in a day when you can customize just about anything

You can customize your google browser

your facebook page/instagram

You can customize your value mean at Mcdonalds.

You can order pretty much anything you want and have delivered via prime in two day.

You can order a car now from you phone just the way you want it and have it delivered to your phone.

We are even beginning to customize our babies!

We live in an age when you can customize just about anything

But you can’t customize God

A CUSTOMIZABLE GOD

Before I had met the one true God, I had fashioned a God of my own choosing.

He was a god that allows us to do anything we wanted

he was a god who wanted to meet all of my desires

but it was up to me to bring them to fruition

and with enough, thought, meditation or manifestation I could bring it in to being

If it didn’t happen, the problem was on me, was with me.

It turned out to be a poor god

Because at the time I met Jesus 14 years ago, I had all the boxes checked:

house, car, girlfriend, 55” tv, career, high paying job.

but it wasn’t enough.

The god I had manufactured couldn’t touch the deepest parts of who I was.

Some of you know that same God, you’ve tried it and it doesn’t work

some of you may be trying it right now

The true God cannot be controlled, contained or commanded.

the truth is we fear a God we can’t control

A god that doesn’t conform to our standards, to our categories.

If this is you I invite you to come meet the God of the Bible, his name is Jesus

and he does what we would not do

and with Him he brings something radically new.

are you tired of the old way of doing things?

don’t you long for something new.

This is Jesus

he is bringing something new

and he does what we would not do.

Bible

We are continuing in our gospel of Mark series today

we’ll be in Mark 2:13-22 .

and we are going to see a Jesus who doesn’t conform to our notions.

doesn’t fit the mold we create for him.

and Praise God that he doesn’t.

Welcome

I want to welcome you here today if it is your first time

if you are joining us online, just checking us out

My name is Justin, one of the Pastors here today

I can’t wait to see what Jesus might have for you today.

This Jesus who does what we would not do, and with Him brings something radically new.

Let me pray now for His Power and Presence among us.

Pray

pray for power and presence, word and spirit amongst us.

New Wine Skins

We open up today and Jesus is going to be asked some questions about rituals, rules, and regulations.

It is good to ask questions.

Mark 2:18 (CSB)

18 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. People came and asked him, “Why do John’s disciples and the Pharisees’ disciples fast, but your disciples do not fast?”

Why were John’s Disciples fasting?

perhaps b/c he had been arrested and was in prison

Fasting was a normal part of Jewish life

every year they would fast on the day of atonement.

What is fasting?

Excursus on fasting.

Fasting is to go without something like food for a period of time for a particular reason.

Throughout the OT, fasting is associated with a mournful attitude of importuning God to aid the supplicant.Reasons for fasting:

Reasons for fasting:

fasted as a result of personal loss,

sometimes as an expression of repentance,

sometimes as preparation for prayer,

and sometimes merely as a meritorious act.

In times of emergency, the people fasted to persuade God to spare them from impending calamity (Jgs 20:26; 1 Sm 7:6; 1 Kgs 21:9; 2 Chr 20:3; Jer 36:6, 9).

Individuals fasted in the hope that God would liberate them from trouble (2 Sm 12:16–20; 1 Kgs 21:27; Pss 35:13; 69:10).

By Jesus’s time fasting had become merely symbolic, a way of ‘appearing’ pious before others.

A way to look good.

Pharisees fasted every monday and thursday

Now, here at One Hope we may not treat fasting this way, but there are other things we may treat this way.

has reading your Bible just become a way to ‘appear’ to be devoted to God?

has your prayer life?

your attendance at Church or at your community group?

We can do this sort of thing with just about anything.

Jesus answer

“There is something new here”

he gives them three pictures to understand

Who he is

What he has come to do

Bridegroom

Mark 2:19–20 (CSB)

19 Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot fast while the groom is with them, can they? As long as they have the groom with them, they cannot fast. 20 But the time will come when the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day.

He’s really pointing to himself here as the Bridegroom

They don’t realize who he is

You don’t mourn at a wedding

you don’t throw a party at a funeral

This would be inappropriate

They day will come when you will mourn for the groom will be taken away, alluding to his arrest and crucifixion

But the first thing he says is

Understand who it is that stands before you (amongst you)

I am the groom, you are the Bride!

This is taken directly from the prophets:

Again the question of ‘who is this person?’ lingers.

Hosea 2:19–20 (CSB)

19 I will take you to be my wife forever. I will take you to be my wife in righteousness, justice, love, and compassion. 20 I will take you to be my wife in faithfulness, and you will know the Lord.

Isaiah 62:5 (CSB)

5 For as a young man marries a young woman, so your sons will marry you; and as a groom rejoices over his bride, so your God will rejoice over you.

God is our redeemer

He is our husband

He says ‘recognize’ who it is that stands among you,

this question of Who is Jesus lingers.

Some fasted in order to be in the presence of God, where here Jesus is, God in the flesh, his disciples are already in his presence.

New Garments & New Wineskins

Mark 2:21–22 (CSB)

21 No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new patch pulls away from the old cloth, and a worse tear is made. 22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost as well as the skins. No, new wine is put into fresh wineskins.”

Garments

What happens when you wash a new shirt?

it shrinks right?

So if you take a brand new piece of cloth to patch up an old whole, what’s going to happen?

It’s going to tear and it will be worse.

Rather you need something totally new — the new will not mix with the old.

He has not come to patch up an old system but to establish a new or rather to fulfill the old.

He is not simply a reformer of the old, but one who will transform it.

Wineskins

Similarly

if you put new wine in and old wineskin it will burst.

Why?

because as wine ferments it expands

and old wineskin has already been stretched to its limit

if you fill it full and the wine ferments — it will burst open

No you need new wine skins for that new wine.

What is Jesus saying?

He’s saying something new has come

something than cannot be contained by previous understandings or categories.

such as a crucified messiah

2. A Spirit Filled People.

Jesus died for sin, but rose to give us a new life

a new heart that contains the spirit of the living God

to change us, transform us

This is the new, what the old cannot contain

The forgiveness of Sin

The Holy Spirit that lives within

Sin is forgiven

The holy Spirit is given

This is a way of illustrating that the Kingdom of God has come

something new is here, the old has passes away, the new has come.

And it comes in a way that nobody expected

and it welcomes in people that nobody respected.

The old testament method of dealing with sin will be completely fulfilled, so much that it would burst open

sin and the law could not contain the grace that now reigns (Rom 5)

It is the way of

mercy not mandates, love not legalism, relationship not ritual, rules and regulations.

Now Mark is such a great storyteller that he has already shown us an illustration of this

in the calling of Matthew the tax collector

In fact, much of Jesus’ ministry is a physical demonstration of the spiritual realities of the gospel

he does things that we would not do

becuase he is bringing something new

and praise God that he does.

let’s look at the calling of Levi

The Calling of Levi (Matthew)

Mark 2:13–14 (CSB)

13 Jesus went out again beside the sea. The whole crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14 Then, passing by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, “Follow me,” and he got up and followed him.

Matthew 9:9 (CSB)

9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, “Follow me,” and he got up and followed him.

Who was Matthew (levi)

A tax collector

a traitor to his people

collaborated with the Roman Empire. As the occupying political force in the Jewish land of Palestine, Rome and all who collaborated with Rome were despised by pious Jews.

and exploiter

Toll collectors were renowned for their dishonesty and extortion.

They habitually collected more than they were due, did not always post up the regulations, and made false valuations and accusations (see Luke 3:12–13).

Illustration: Who is despised?

Is there one person you cant think of that if Jesus were to go and save them you would say “not them”, anybody but them?

who is despised among us?

racists, pimps, extortionists, abusers, sex traffickers

They don’t deserve it!

John Newton — slave ship captain

He does what we would not do, he does not conform to our expectations

Why Tax collecting?

What would have compelled Matthew to take on this profession?

What it greed?

Had he been outcast and despised by others? So he figured if i’m going to be despised I might as well enjoy life

He likely hated himself for what he was doing.

some of you struggle with hating yourself

self-contempt

you think God would never come to you

Jesus would never save you

nobody else likes you, you don’t even like yourself — how could God take delight in you?

Ah, but something new has come.

There is no one that is beyond the miraculous means of God’s mercy and love.

not even the despised tax collector

and certainly not you, no matter how much you despise yourself.

Listen to me: God loves you. God calls for you. God is here right now for you.

will you come to him, open your arms.

The love of God that was poured out on the cross

that you might KNOW that God loves you

Eating and drinking with Sinners

Matthew followed Him.

not only that, Jesus threw a party at Matthews house.

Mark 2:15 (CSB)

15 While he was reclining at the table in Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who were following him.

what a great evangelistic strategy

throw a party, hang out with sinners — those who haven’t followed Jesus yet.

be like Jesus to them

show and share Jesus with them.

Illustration: Alex Crawford’s block party

How are we ever going to show and share God’s love to people if we don’t spend any time with them.

doing normal things like eating and drinking.

Something new has come, a new power, a new reason

This is just who Jesus was

and he is frequently eating and drinking with sinners and gentiles

so much that he got accused of being a drunkard and a glutton.

Matthew 11:19 (CSB)

19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”

What comes of this?

people come to know Jesus, to experience Jesus

Thing are going pretty well until the pharisees show up

those who think they understand who God is and how he would act

but Jesus doesn’t meet their expectations

He does what we wouldn’t do

becuase something new has come.

The Scribes and Pharisees

Mark 2:16 (CSB)

16 When the scribes who were Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

ok, why is this such a big deal?

Tax collectors and sinners conveys the Pharisaic perspective that both groups disregard the Law of Moses (on the Pharisees, see note on John 1:24).

According to Pharisaic interpretation, Jesus is to keep himself “clean” from such people (see Lev. 10:10; 12:1–15:33). Jesus pursues a third path: personal purity and the fellowship of mercy (see also note on Luke 5:30).

In Judaism, a scrupulous Pharisee would not eat at the home of a common Israelite since he could not be sure that the food was ceremonially clean or that it had been properly tithed (m. Demai 2:2).

He especially would not dine with a known sinner or a despised tax collector. The Pharisees expect Jesus, a rabbi, to act in this same exclusive manner. Instead, Jesus goes out of his way to associate with sinners.

Jesus does what they would not do

In other words, Jesus does more than preach repentance to sinners; he befriends them.

dining was a form of personal and social acceptance

Those who live in modern, Western society with comparatively few social distinctions have difficulty realizing just how scandalous it was for Jesus to associate with outcasts. In Semitic society table fellowship was one of the most intimate expressions of friendship.

blinded by their own self-righteousness.

pharisees appalled at this — not the last time

opposition begins to build

they could not contain this new way of the gospel

it was tearing them apart

it was bursting through their understanding of God and of the law

They couldn’t see Jesus

they couldn’t see the kingdom

they couldn’t see what God was doing

Why?

becuase the relied on their own understanding of God

they hardened their hearts to what God was clearly doing in front of them.

and in their hearts they hated Jesus.

Isn’t this what we do?

we don’t have categories for God

so we retreat behind out own ability to understand

But God’s ways are not our ways

his ways are hight than our ways (Isa 55)

Isaiah 55:8 (CSB)

8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways.” This is the Lord’s declaration.

Jesus Response

Mark 2:17 (CSB)

17 When Jesus heard this, he told them, “It is not those who are well who need a doctor, but those who are sick. I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Matthew’s version adds:

Matthew 9:13 (CSB)

13 Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Hosea 6:6 (NIV)

6 For I desire mercy (hesed), not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.

Luke clarifies sinners to repentance

Luke 5:32 (CSB)

32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

Jesus reveals the heart of God

Reveals his mission.

Why is Jesus hanging out with sinners?

becuase he loves them.

there is nobody beyond the reach of God’s miraculous means of mercy

Closing

What do you do when God doesn’t meet your expectations?

we don’t demand he mold to us, we mold to Him

When you can’t customize God

Matthews

Who are the Matthews in your life?

Are you a Matthew?

Pharisees

Who are the pharisees in your life?

Secular pharisees — pride of intellect

that they might keep control.

Are you the pharisee?

Jesus Close

Jesus came to seek and save the lost

the great physician to heal the sick

to call sinners to repentance to experience this new way of life

of peace, of freedom, of joy and power of the kingdom

Thank God,

that he does what we would not do.

Will you join him

Let’s Pray