1.16.2022 - How to and how not to respond to God's Kingdom

January 16, 2022 - How to (and how not to) respond to God's Kingdom (9am: say hi to online service!!! NOT AT 11:)) This year at the Vineyard, we are camping out in the book of Mark. Mark is the earliest of the biographies of Jesus found in the New Testament. This is a rich part of the Bible. When our 3rd graders at the Vineyard start reading the Bible, this is the first book we invite them to read... and it's great for adults too! Mark's gospel is unique in a few ways, which makes this study together so intriguing. First - Mark is the action gospel. There is actually very little of Jesus' "teaching" in Mark. Instead, we learn about Jesus by seeing what he did & how people responded to him. ● Right along with that... Mark's gospel is fast-paced. It goes from one story to the next, and often includes the word "immediately" or the phrase "at once" as a bridge from story to story. Another unique thing about Mark is... instead of giving us some background to Jesus' birth and early life (Like the gospels of Matthew and Luke do) Mark starts at the beginning of Jesus' public ministry. In Mark 1, we read this: Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15"The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!" (Mark 1:14-15) So, right from the very beginning, Mark's emphasis is this: Jesus is a King with a Kingdom. And each of us has to decide how we're going to respond. ● How will we respond when we encounter Jesus as the King? ● And how will we respond to the challenge of God's Kingdom? In today's message, we're going to hit on a number of items related to these themes... But to start out, maybe it's helpful to clarify - what are we even talking about when we use the phrase: the Kingdom of God? What is that? The kingdom of God is God's rule and reign, brought about through the person of Jesus, to bring healing and hope to the whole world. Here's a definition I like: God's Kingdom is the realm in which God's will is done - it's where God gets his way. Now don't let your imagination go wild here, and start thinking that God is the equivalent of a pouty pre-schooler. No, when God gets his way, it's more wonderful and beautiful than we could ever imagine. When God's will is done - it's part of everything wrong being set right again. It's an upside down kingdom where the ones who think they have the most to offer actually have the least to offer and are the most ignorant. The least important and most shamed are God's pride and joy, and yet he loves us all the same. God's kingdom isn't about palaces, gold, and people waiting on you hand and foot. Ruling in God's kingdom is characterized by surrendering our possessions, serving rather than being served, and looking out for the best interests of others, sometimes at our own expense. And in our passage for today, we see the kingdom of God at work, through the person of Jesus, and we see that folks have many different responses to this kingdom. That's great! So... why don't you pull out a Bible and let's dive into Mark 6. In the Bibles here in the auditorium, you can find that on page 686. As we read a chunk of this chapter, here are a couple questions to have in mind. ● First - Where do you see the Kingdom of God in this passage? ○ As I've been reading this passage over the past few weeks, I've sometimes imagined "The kingdom of God" being like another character in the story. Where does the Kingdom show up? ● Second - how do the different people in the stories react? Their reactions are going to tell us a lot about how we want to and don't want to respond ourselves! 1 Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. 2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. "Where did this man get these things?" they asked. "What's this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? 3 Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him. 4 Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home." 5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 He was amazed at their lack of faith. Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. 7 Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits. 8 These were his instructions: "Take nothing for the journey except a staff - no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. 9 Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. 10 Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. 11 And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them." 12 They went out and preached that people should repent. 13 They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them. 14 King Herod heard about this, for Jesus' name had become well known. Some were saying, "John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him." 15 Others said, "He is Elijah." And still others claimed, "He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago." 16 But when Herod heard this, he said, "John, whom I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!" 17 For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, whom he had married. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." 19 So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, 20 because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him. 21 Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22 When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests. The king said to the girl, "Ask me for anything you want, and I'll give it to you." 23 And he promised her with an oath, "Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom." 24 She went out and said to her mother, "What shall I ask for?" "The head of John the Baptist," she answered. 25 At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: "I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter." 26 The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. 27 So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John's head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, 28 and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. 29 On hearing of this, John's disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb. (Back to SLIDE, add bullet point when we finish reading the passage... ● How will we respond when we are challenged by the Kingdom of God?) As we look at this passage and see people interacting with Jesus and his followers, they are unknowingly encountering the kingdom of God. The people in Jesus' hometown, Herod, Heriodias, the disciples: they all encountered God's kingdom and had to react. We see them respond in good ways and bad. We all have a choice about what we do when we encounter God's kingdom. We can be our own king, we can serve ourselves, look out for number one, pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. Or, as it says in Matthew 16:25, we can find our life by losing it. In John 15:13, we find that "greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends." Saying yes to following Jesus, finding our life by losing it, laying down our life for others sounds really great and noble... but it can be really difficult to actually do! Okay - First... let's consider some Ways not to respond to God's Kingdom The hometown crowds were offended Look back at the beginning of today's passage. Buzz was already spreading in the region that Jesus had miraculous powers. As Jesus began teaching in the synagogue, people were astonished and they didn't know what to make of him. ● Who does this guy think he is? Isn't this the carpenter? ● Aren't his brothers and sisters right here among us? Isn't this Mary's son? To our ears, Jesus being called "Mary's son" sounds like no big deal, but in that deeply patriarchal society... that was a back-handed way of calling Jesus a bastard. Without the understanding of the miraculous nature of Mary conceiving by the power of the Holy Spirit... all the people of their hometown had to work with was their own math. And so, we read at the end of v.3, they took offense at him. The Greek word used here has the same root as the word scandal. The crowds cried "scandal" when they tried to make sense of who Jesus was and what he was doing. Whatever ideas they had about hearing from or receiving something from God... it wasn't going to come from this "home-town boy born out of wedlock." ● Jesus, his message, his ministry didn't fit what the crowds already thought. And so... many in the crowd rejected Jesus and took offense at him. That same kind of thing can happen to us. We can take offense when we come into contact with Jesus and the Kingdom of God. ● Here's the deal: We like being in control. We're comfortable being the ones in charge of our own lives & we can get defensive when that is challenged. ● We can also have strong pre-judgements about what we're open to hearing from God about and what we are not. ○ "God, it's okay if you want to convict me about my lack of patience... but don't try to challenge me about how I spend my money." ● Or maybe you're really open to God talking to you about your sexual identity or your behavior, but you're very closed off to God asking you to forgive a friend that hurt you deeply. ● Ugh, forgiveness. See, about a decade ago, I had a wonderful friend. We'd been through so much together, been at each other's sides, been in each other's weddings, all the things you do for your closest friends. And one day, I was so excited to tell her I was pregnant with our first kid. ● We met at Starbucks and as we started to talk, things seemed to shift and she seemed more distant as our conversation went on. After that day, we had a few text exchanges, but for some reason that to this day I don't understand... our friendship was over. I've tried to rationalize it over the years, tried to make sense of things from my limited perspective, but I really can't. ● And this wrecked me guys, so much so that ten years later thinking about it still puts my stomach in knots. I have no idea what happened that day that caused our friendship to end. I probably never will. I have had to forgive her over and over again. I had to forgive her again this week as we were preparing this message. I didn't want this to come back up this week, it happened 10 years ago, seriously God why is it coming up again? Thanks for sharing that Becca.... That is such a good illustration of the struggles that all of us find ourselves in at different points in life. ● What we want.... is to be people that can take in Jesus' challenges... even when they pointedly confront the "mini-kingdoms of self" that we have constructed. ● But holy cow, that is hard. It's way easier to take offense when we are challenged. Isn't that an interesting phrase... to "take offense." ● Maybe we don't realize the choice we have in these situations... that we don't have to "take" every offense that comes our way - whether that in the context of our relationship with God, or in relationships with other people. Next - The hometown crowds were doubtful Again, these folks knew Jesus, they'd grown up with him. They knew him as Mary's son, as the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon. They were offended at what he was proclaiming. And, offense can lead to doubt. In verse 6, we see that "Jesus was amazed at their lack of faith." As these Galileans looked back... they saw Jesus as the ordinary guy they grew up with, from any ordinary family, doing an ordinary job. There's no way this added up to him being the awaited king, the Messiah that was bringing God's kingdom. They doubted... literally: they were "un-faith-ful." Now we read these stories, and we can think: "how did these jokers miss it?" Here's something to consider - maybe a way to cut them some slack: God's people had been waiting for a rescuer for hundreds of years. The message Jesus brought and the things he did were radical. And they didn't have all the scriptures we have today to paint the complete picture of Jesus as the savior. ● In the moment, they couldn't see what was happening. ● And maybe they couldn't see it because they were conditioned to ignore it. Disney famously invented colors called "Go Away Green" and "blending blue": These bland colors were specifically designed so your eyes can ignore certain buildings, areas or trash cans while you're at Disney World. They are engineered so our eyes will glance right past them. Jesus' hometown painted him in these colors. He was so camouflage in his ordinary-ness, in their paradox of how they had seen and experienced him that they couldn't recognize him as the son of God. When we're not sure about something - Doubt is a pretty natural reaction. ● Think about it: Are there people in your life that you can't imagine God using because they just seem so ordinary? ● Are you missing miracles around you - because they've been painted in "go away green"? (pause) We'll come back to this passage in a few weeks, but later on in Mark 9, Jesus meets a man whose son has been demonized for years. The father says to Jesus, "if you can do anything, please help." Jesus says "Everything is possible for one who believes." I love how the man replies, "I believe, help my unbelief." This is such a great way to respond in the midst of our doubts. Doubt will come. But we can make the choice to move forward, even with those doubts. Another way we shouldn't respond to the kingdom of God is to nurse a grudge when we don't get our way. So, we see that... Herodias was resentful V.19: "So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him." That is such a punchy line. She "nursed" a grudge. It makes me think again of what we said earlier about being offended. You can either choose to rehearse an offense or you can release the offense. Powerful. Yeah that's exactly right, Brian. Starting in verse 14, we find an earthly king, Herod, sitting on a throne in a palace, with lots of gold and servants, telling people what to do & getting anything he wants. Including his own brother's wife. Herod marries Heriodias. And John the Baptist, Jesus' cousin, a man known for making the way for the son of God, says, no, that's not ok. You can't just marry your brother's wife! And that seems to be in conflict with what Heriodias wants. She's frustrated and is on the lookout for a chance to kill him. When we nurse a grudge, what fruit comes from that? For Heriodias, nursing and watering her grudge meant waiting for a chance to have John killed. In quite an intense way, she utilizes her daughter and has John's head delivered on a platter. This is resentment fully manifested. Coming face to face with the kingdom of God means we are forced to confront the sin in our lives. Sometimes, we'll respond beautifully to that, we'll repent... we'll ask for forgiveness. But other times, we might respond like Heriodias - with resentment! Hopefully it won't lead to murder, but maybe it leads to imaginging that we're physically hurting someone. Or we look for a way to get revenge on the coworker who called us out in the meeting about a mistake we made. Offense can snowball, right? Sometimes we know something is wrong but we double down, blameshift & fight back instead of embracing our need to change. Next example in today's passage - Herod was conflicted and lacked courage ● Look again at V.20 Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him. The Greek word used at near the end of v. 20 literally means "perplexed." Herod was perplexed about what to do with John the Baptist. On one hand... Herod had a respect for John & even was interested in what he was teaching. And yet, Herod wasn't willing to embrace John's message on a deep enough level to be changed by it. ● Pause for a moment: can this dynamic also be true for us at different times? We come to church, we hear a good message, but we are largely unwilling to change the direction of our lives? ○ That's something to watch for in yourself. So - Herod was conflicted, and he lacked courage. ● Herod felt pressure from his wife and feared what his guests would say if he didn't follow through with killing John the Baptist. To go back on his word would make him appear as a weak and double-minded leader. And so, Herod has stuck. He didn't want to hurt John, but he also didn't want to look like a fool. Listen to how theologian NT Wright translates verses 26-27: The king was distraught. But his oaths on the one hand, and his guests on the other, meant he hadn't the guts to refuse her. So he sent a jailer straight away with orders to bring John's head. He went and beheaded him in the prison.... (Mark 6:26-27 NTE) Here's a question: Is there anything in your life currently... where you know the right thing to do, but you haven't had the guts to do it? ● Is there a difficult conversation that you've been avoiding, but you know you need to? That's something I had to face again recently ● Maybe God's been challenging you about the media and the entertainment that you are taking in and the effect that is having on your soul - you know you need to make some changes, but you haven't taken that step yet. ● Or do you have a habit that is on the cusp of becoming an addiction? And you know the needed step is to let others in on your struggle, but it hasn't happened yet. ● Again - do you have some situation... where you know the right thing to do, but you haven't had the guts to do it yet? Any of those items would be great things to get prayer about today, and to receive God's help. Can we go on a bit of a rabbit trail before we switch gears to the last part of the message? This whole thing about having the guts to do the right thing can sometimes be the most difficult when we're around the people who have known us the longest. Here's what's interesting in what we're looking at today: the major conflicts in this passage both happened "at home." In Jesus' backyard of Galilee, and in Herod's palace. ● When we interact with our families or we're back in settings from our childhood - those can be the most difficult places to have the courage to do the right thing, specifically if who we are now is different from how they knew us then. We can get stuck by their perception of us and based on how they interact with and respond to us... we become who they think we are, who we used to be. That is really intriguing... and think about this contrast: Herod caved to those pressures... but Jesus didn't. Two very different kinds of kings. We've talked about ways not to respond to the kingdom of God: in offense, doubt, resentment and cowardice. Now that we see what not to do, let's talk about.... 3. Ways to respond to God's Kingdom A. First, we see this modeled in the disciples. They were obedient V.6-7 Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits. As I've studied this passage recently, a question I've been pondering is this: How much did the disciples know before they got sent out to heal people and cast out demons? How much??? Not very much! And it even seems like Jesus was very specific in limiting what they had to work with... he said: "Take nothing for the journey except a staff-no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. Here's a big take-aways for me today: I don't have to fully understand to obey ● You don't have to fully understand to obey. ● Lots of times - obedience comes first, then understanding. The disciples didn't know a lot... but they made the choice to obey. I think that same thing can happen for us. When there's an opportunity to obey, sometimes, (well really most of the time for me!) God only seems to give a small piece of the puzzle. We have a sense we're invited to talk to the lady in a store, or someone we haven't thought of in awhile pops into our head and we decide to text him. Or we're at church and we have a feeling we're being invited to serve in some capacity. It's amazing how, even when we don't know the full picture, God is up to something in those moments. We get a chance to pray with someone. Someone struggling with loneliness feels seen and cared for. We are filled up as we pour ourselves out cleaning the church building, serving kids, filling coffee or helping at the food shelp. Looking back at the disciples... what fueled their response of obedience? They didn't have much information. What they did have was relationship with Jesus. Out of a foundation of intimacy and dependency, they stepped out. Even with a limited view and experience of Jesus, the bits they had seen gave them the courage to trust and obey. And let's be real: this is what we're all terrified of, right? This is many of our worst nightmares with following Jesus. If I say yes, if I actually obey, Jesus will make me become a missionary and move halfway across the world to somewhere like Burkina Faso in West Africa. If we believe God loves us, if we even have a mustard seed of faith built in intimacy and dependency, we can trust that no matter where he sends us, (whether somewhere crazy around the world or more likely right down the road at our workplace) he will give us everything we need. Here's the final response we see in today's passage: ● Some in the crowds were open Think back to some things we touched on earlier... Many in Galilee were astonished by Jesus and they took offense. Many in Jesus' hometown were astonished and they got stuck in their unbelief. ● But there were also some in the crowds that were astonished and yet they were open. Maybe they were still riddled with doubt... but they opened up (with whatever faith they had) and they received what Jesus had to give them. And as v.5 says:Jesus laid his hands on sick people & healed them. Is there a place in your heart that's closed off to God, that he is inviting you to open up about? Maybe you've asked for healing that hasn't come or you don't have hope that you could actually break free from the addiction in your life. ● Today God might be inviting you to a "what if" moment. ● What if I could experience more of God's kingdom in my life right now? I can imagine a similar situation with the disciples, when they were sent out by Jesus. These were very ordinary men, and a number of them were pretty young. Guys like Peter, Andrew, James and John probably still stunk of fish guts. And yet people were open to receiving from them. The crowds listened & responded. The disciples anointed sick people with oil and healed them, and freed many from demonic influence. Yeah, powerful stuff can happen when we get past our pride, and we open up to receiving what God has for us - even as it often comes through very ordinary people. Consider this... in a few moments, folks on our prayer ministry team will be coming up front and will be available to pray with you. These are great people... but we're a very ordinary bunch. The same thing is true about our small group leaders: fantastic people, but we're not likely to show up on the cover of a magazine for "who's who" of powerful people. ● You might wonder... is anything really going to happen if I go up for prayer, or if I join a small group? You gotta understand - it's not about these folks up front. It's about God working through them. If you can take steps to open up, I believe God will meet you in some powerful ways. As we prepare for ministry time.. Let's take stock of what we've talked about today. Everyone of us is going to experience the challenge of God's kingdom in our lives. When that happens, how will we respond? And as you reflect back on the message this morning... what has God highlighted most to you? You might even turn one or two of the things we've talked about today into simple prayers: God, when I'm challenged... ● I don't want to get offended - I don't want to get stuck in doubt ● I don't want to slip into bitterness and resentment (pause) ● God instead, I want to have courage. I want to be open. ● I want to step forward in obedience. ● And as we talk about ways to respond and not to respond to the kingdom of God, let's consider that many times, we are responding multiple ways at the same time. ○ We're doubting AND we have faith: I believe, help my unbelief ○ We only see a small puzzle piece, we're unsure what the picture actually is AND we want to obey ○ We have some things we feel ok about God confronting in us AND others we wanna store away out of sight in a junk drawer ○ ● God getting his way and not us is something we are confronted with a lot. So, as we head into ministry time, let's take some time to consider how we can respond right here, right now. Have everyone stand... into ministry time. -What we consume and the fruit of that