Pastor Sam Huff preached Mark 4:30-41. He said that the power of Jesus’ mission is the presence of Jesus with his people. Lector: Lindsey Blair
Pastor Sam Huff preached Mark 4:30-41. He said that the power of Jesus’ mission is the presence of Jesus with his people.
Lector: Lindsey Blair
INTRODUCTION
Story of Brooks being born… Fear began to swirl around me and waves of doubt began to crash over me. (Did I…What if…Why did they let me take this thing home? Do I have what it takes?
Not an unfamiliar thought to us…new job, challenging relationship, new diet or workout, etc.
Define the mission of the Kingdom of God. “Telling and showing others that the Kingdom of God welcomes all people who repent and believe in the good news of Jesus.” When it comes to the mission of God, all of us have some fear and doubt about our participation in that mission.
Transition - Once we can see that we are in the boat, filled with doubt, and hear Jesus’ words to us, then we are ready to really talk about the mission of the Kingdom of God. These verses show us two factors to the mission of God’s Kingdom: The Power and the Pattern.
THE POWER OF THE MISSION
Everyone one of these parables in this passage illustrate some aspect of the mission of God’s Kingdom. The central image is a seed in the ground that grows. Last week, we learned that the seed is the word of God, the good news of the Kingdom. This seed is catholic, abundant, and potent.
Thus far, in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus has shown power over the spiritual world (demons, unclean spirits), body (sickness and disease), and sin. Now we see Jesus display his power over nature itself when he calms the wind and waves. If he can do that to such a fierce force of nature, then surely Jesus has the power to take an unnoticeable seed and turn it into a flourishing life.
We can’t look at what Jesus does to the wind and waves and not see what Jesus does to the seed. The power of Jesus’ mission is Jesus himself. So as we participate in the mission of God, this means the power is not in your words, your debate skills, your intelligence, your strategy, or your tenure as a Christian. Your power, just like the disciples in this boat, in the presence of Jesus in your life.
Main Idea - The power of Jesus’ mission is the presence of Jesus with his people.
The beginning of the Great Commission is “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me.” The end of the Great Commission is “I am with you always! Jesus is in the boat with us, calming our fears and doubts. The burden is lifted in that the mission of God is not dependent on some quantifiable or qualifiable aspect, but the very presence of Jesus in our life.
Transition - If you have encountered the saving work of King Jesus in your life…then you have a powerful story to tell. Which leads us to the second reality this passage shows us regarding the mission of God – the Pattern.
THE PATTERN OF THE MISSION
We want to see it, we want to explain it, and we want it now. But this mission of the Kingdom of God flips that on its head. It is unnoticeable, unexplainable, and not immediate.
But these three parables in verses 21 to 32 give us the pattern for how we must operate as we participate in the mission. The first thing we do is…sow.
Sow (21-23) – verse 14, “The sower sows the word.” (talked about last week – line in the water)
Verses 21-22 And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light.
The lamp gives light and the farmer sows seed. Therefore, the Christian lives out and shares who Jesus is and what Jesus has done in their life.
By using the illustration of the lamp, Jesus is teaching us that sowing is not an end in itself. He is saying that you are the light by which the good news of King Jesus and his Kingdom come to light. The farmer doesn’t sow seed just for sake of it. Its because they want to see it grow and come to life.
Quote Matthew 5:14-16 – you are the light of the world…let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and praise your father in heaven. We sow not as an end itself, but so that your neighbor, coworker, child, family member will praise Jesus.
So we sow…why? Because we want the hidden to be made known, we want the secret to come into the light, we want the seed to grow and find life. We want to see Jesus praised.
But when it comes to sowing, we need to take a second to talk about the opposition that Jesus mentions. Verses 15-19 —Satan, tribulation and persecution, cares of the world, deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things. Sometimes we can get hung up on the fact that there is such opposition. These things can rouse fear and doubt in us.
Its important to note that the opposition is to the seed, but not opposition to sowing. We can’t control the opposition; we can’t control what is happening in someone’s soul, but we can keep sowing.
Transition - We can keep speaking about the love of Jesus and showing the love of Jesus. Which leads us to the next step in the pattern, we wait.
Wait (26-27)
Verses 26-27 And he said, “The Kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how.”
He sleeps and rises night and day is shows us that it (not a Chic-Fil-A drive-thru) takes time. Any farmer can tell you that this is simply a reality of planting crops.
Embrace both the time and the mystery (he knows not how it grows). This is everything our culture is opposed to. This is one thing the iPhone can’t do for you or anyone else. There is no App or technology or AI that can be created that can do what Jesus does to the human soul. It simply takes time and so often we just have no idea what is happening. We just have to…wait.
Transition - But this passage shows us that there is one more reality to the pattern. The waiting is not the end. But amidst the waiting, at the same time, we are trusting the power of God. Therefore, we sow, we wait, but we also expect.
Expect (28-29)
Verses 28-29 “The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
Do we see it? There is the seed being sown, there is time and mystery as the seed is in the soil, but then…there is harvest! There is seed, there is time, and there is harvest.
The next parable paints us a picture of this. The Parable of the Mustard Seed is the culmination of the previous parables: Verses 30-32 And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall use for it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”
God can take a tiny seed and bring it to life so that other life can find safety and refuge in its branches. In the same way that God has the power to take a tiny seed and have it become flourishing life, so he can take a dead heart and bring it to life.
He can take a life far from God and bring it near to God. He can take a soul rebellious to God and bring it in relationship with God to work to bring about the goodness of God, to speak the truth of God, and to show the beauty of God.
It is what is unexplainable that one day makes it beautiful, it is what is not immediate that one day makes it incredibly powerful. And what once was unnoticeable will one day become undeniable.
CONCLUSION
Proof? Think about your own life.
Baptisms are dramas to the power and pattern of the mission of the Kingdom of God.
As we wait and expect, what do we do? WE PRAY!
Yet here we are in the boat, consumed by the wind and waves. But we have seen the mission of God’s Kingdom at work in our own lives and the lives of so many others. We have seen what happens when someone sows, waits, and expects. So, the question should not be “Do I have what it takes”, but rather “Is Jesus in the boat?” (Pause, then pray)
PRAY
Conclude with the Lord’s Prayer