The Process of Discipleship

You may be seated.

Good morning.

My name's Matthew Capone, and I'm the pastor here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church,

and it's my joy to bring God's Word to you today.

A special welcome if you're new or visiting with us.

We're glad that you're here, and we're glad that you're here not because we're trying to fill seats,

but because we're following Jesus together as one community.

And as we follow Jesus together, we become convinced there's no one so good.

They don't need God's grace.

And no one's so bad that they can't have it, which is why we come back week after week

to hear what God has to say to us in His Word, because we believe He has something to say to everyone.

We're continuing our series in the Gospel of Mark.

You'll remember that the Gospels tell the story of Jesus in His life and His death and His resurrection.

And over the last few weeks, we've been looking at this theme or topic of faith,

what it looks like to have faith versus unbelief.

And this morning, in a sense, we're continuing that theme as this passage presents to us the question

of how God changes us to make us look more and more like Jesus.

Maybe you're frustrated with growth in your life.

You feel like you should know more and do more and be more,

and you wonder why it's so slow and hard.

Maybe you're satisfied, and you don't think there's much that needs to be changed.

Maybe there's a little bit of polishing that needs to happen,

but for the most part, you consider yourself to be a finished product,

even though you might not say it out loud.

Either way, this passage speaks to our desire and confusion and frustration with change

as Jesus performs another healing.

And so I'm going to invite you to turn with me now to Mark 8, starting at verse 22.

You can turn in your worship guide.

You can turn on your phone.

You can turn in your Bible.

No matter where you turn, remember that this is God's Word.

And God tells us that His Word is more precious than gold, even the finest gold,

and it's sweeter than honey, even honey that comes straight from the honeycomb.

And so that's why we read now Mark 8, starting at verse 22.

And they came to Bethsaida, and some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him.

And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village.

And when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him,

Do you see anything?

Verse 24.

And he looked up and said, I see people, but they look like trees walking.

Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again, and he opened his eyes.

His sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.

And he sent him to his home, saying, Do not even enter the village.

I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's Word.

Our Father in Heaven, we thank you again that you are the ultimate example of a good father.

Father, you're the reason we know what a good father looks like,

and you're the reason we hurt when we see some fall short.

We thank you that like a good father, you speak to us.

You explain things to us.

You help us understand.

You coach us and direct us and guide us and correct us.

We ask that you would do that this morning by your Word,

that you would open it up to us.

You would clear our minds.

You'd soften our hearts, that you would speak to us in words that are simple enough for us to understand,

that we would see and believe everything that's written about you and your Word.

Most of all, we ask that you would help us to see Jesus,

and as we see him, you would change us.

We ask these things in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Amen.

So, right about now, I'm hitting my three-year anniversary of being a homeowner.

Technically, that happened in May, but I didn't move in until the very end of June,

so I'm coming up on that point, and it's actually going to be a record for me

because I've never lived anywhere longer than three years in specific residence as an adult,

so I'm looking to break that next month, coming up very quickly.

And as you may know, if you're a homeowner, I've become very familiar with Home Depot.

And there's one aisle on Home Depot that I'm pretty convinced I've spent more time on than any other aisle,

and that's where all the light bulbs are.

Because, of course, I have the challenge over three years.

Many lights go out, and so I have to show up to Home Depot taking with me the old, burnt-out light,

trying to read the labels on whatever it is that I'm replacing,

figuring out what's the highest wattage that I can go to.

Do I want soft white or daylight?

Which I don't even know what that means, so I just guess.

But there's also the different types of light bulbs that I have to choose between.

There's various lights in my house that are three-way lights,

so I have to make sure I have the right type or things will go wrong.

There's other lights where it doesn't matter. It's either on or off.

And then I have the—I haven't had many of these. I think I've had one, the dimmer light.

And it turns out you have to spy a special bulb for that.

You can't just throw anything in.

If you do, I believe you'll hear kind of a staticky sound.

Don't ask me how I know that.

There are two kinds of lights in a sense.

There's the on-off.

Once, they're either one way or the other.

And there's the dimmer. They exist in degrees.

And that's actually true for many things in our lives.

There are things that are only on and off.

So you are either an American citizen or you're not.

You are either married or you're not.

You are either a legal adult or a minor.

Either you have a degree or you don't.

Either you graduated or you didn't.

Either you're a Christian or you're not.

Either you're baptized or you are unbaptized.

These are things that don't exist in degrees.

You cannot be half married.

You cannot be sort of an American citizen.

There are other things in this life that exist in degrees.

So once you're married, you can grow in understanding and knowing and loving your spouse.

That's something that can change over time.

Maybe you can be half retired.

You've given up full-time work, but you have a part-time job now.

I've learned since being in a military community that you can have percentages assigned to your disability.

Maybe you're only 30% disabled.

Maybe you're 80% disabled.

Same thing can happen with ethnicity.

I have an Italian name, which I'm sure you could guess by my dark complexion.

But I'm actually only an eighth Italian.

And unless I do what my uncle did and marry an Italian, that's only going to get diluted over time.

In other words, there are stages to growth and understanding.

That's going to help us understand the problem that we come up against the challenge in this passage,

which is, why does Jesus' healing not work the first time?

Jesus has two stages as he addresses this man.

Stage 1, verses 23 and 24.

Jesus takes this blind man aside and he asks him,

Do you see anything?

And it turns out the healing sort of worked.

Verse 24, I see people, but they look like trees, walking.

So Jesus has to come back a second time because the first treatment apparently wasn't effective enough

and touch this man's eyes again.

Why is it that Jesus does not heal this man's eyes fully once and for all in one stage with one touch?

Is it because Jesus lacks power?

Is it because Jesus is new to this kind of treatment?

You know, he's experienced with casting out demons.

He's just not experienced with the spittle thing.

You notice in the second time he does it, he doesn't spit.

So maybe it was the spittle that got in the way.

Do you think that's the problem with what Jesus is doing here?

Maybe it's lack of experience, lack of power.

No.

No.

In Mark chapter 5, Jesus raised Jairus' daughter from the dead.

Mark 5 · chapter mention

This is so much easier and simpler than bringing someone who is dead and making them alive again.

The problem is not that Jesus is not powerful enough or experienced enough.

Jesus in this passage is using a physical healing to teach us a spiritual lesson.

Jesus is using a physical healing to teach a spiritual lesson.

Now, you might wonder if I'm just spiritualizing this passage because that makes it easy to preach.

And the answer is no.

We know based on the broader context of this section that this is what Jesus is doing.

Remember, we've seen this theme of seeing over and over again.

Jesus himself spiritualizes the idea of seeing in chapter 8, verse 18.

This was last week.

He said,

Having eyes do you not see and having ears do you not hear?

Jesus was not asking the disciples if they needed to get glasses.

He was asking them about their spiritual understanding.

And remember, they were blinded in a sense.

They had seen Jesus feed the 5,000.

They had seen him feed the 4,000.

And they were still worried about whether they would have enough to eat.

Jesus is saying,

Can't you see metaphorically the things that are right in front of you?

And now he gives us this healing to help us understand

what it looks like for God to change us,

to give us sight in this life.

It is not a coincidence that this passage comes immediately after

the story where Jesus asks about their sight.

What he is telling them,

what he is doing is giving them a lesson

that when it comes to spiritual sight,

when it comes to understanding God and his character,

when it comes to growing in our trust and love and affection for him,

it is a dimmer switch,

not an on and off switch.

It's a dimmer switch,

not an on and off switch.

We're going to have another example next week of this same problem.

Peter is going to confess Christ as the Messiah.

And then he's going to rebuke Jesus for talking about suffering.

It's a dimmer switch,

not an on and off switch.

Then Jesus comes as this model of humility, right?

And in chapter nine,

Jesus has been serving them this whole time

and they start having an argument about

who is going to be the greatest.

They see and they don't see.

Jesus tells them, chapter nine,

if anyone would be first,

he must be last of all and servant of all.

And then because they took that lesson to heart

and internalized it,

in chapter 10,

James and John request to sit at Jesus' left

and his right hand in the kingdom.

That was a joke.

They don't internalize it.

They don't understand it.

They don't get it.

Jesus has told them about humility

and in the next chapter,

they're showing off their pride.

The disciples see Jesus and they don't see Jesus.

They know Jesus and they don't know him.

They sort of get it and they also sort of do not get it.

Their vision is distorted.

We might say they see people,

but they look like trees walking.

They are growing slowly in their understanding.

The lesson is that true sight of Jesus

comes slowly and progressively.

True sight of Jesus comes slowly and progressively.

Chapter eight,

they don't understand that Jesus has come to suffer.

That appears to be a surprise for them.

Chapter 10,

Jesus has to help them understand

that he has come not to be served,

but to serve.

They don't understand that Jesus has not come

with an earthly political vision.

They don't understand that he hasn't come

for power and influence right now.

Seeing Jesus,

spiritual understanding,

knowing God comes gradually,

incompletely.

We're often confused.

We are like this man who experiences this healing.

We see in part,

but not in full.

We see outlines,

but not details.

Our vision and our sight

is not what we want.

The same thing is true for us.

We see Jesus,

but we don't see him.

Maybe you see Jesus as king,

but it's all about politics in the here and now.

Maybe it's not about primarily worshiping

and obeying and loving God,

but instead it's been shrunk

to these very specific public policy agendas

and political candidates.

That for you is the sum total

of what it means for Jesus to be king.

Maybe Jesus as provider,

and he is,

but you've forgotten that he blesses

for us to be a blessing,

that what he told Abraham is still true,

that we're meant to spread God's love

and goodness throughout the world.

Maybe you know that Jesus calls you,

but deep down you think that Jesus has called you

to more and greater power and influence.

But Jesus tells us

that he's called us to deny ourselves,

take up our cross,

and follow him.

We see him,

but we don't see him.

Without God's intervention,

we do not naturally understand

the upside down,

counterintuitive nature of Jesus

and his purposes

and his mission

and his kingdom.

We know the right words,

but we sing the wrong tune.

We know the right words,

but we sing the right tune,

sing the wrong tune.

Many people think

that Christianity

is sort of like

going under LASIK surgery.

You go,

you find an eye doctor,

they perform this operation on you,

maybe there's a little bit of waiting time,

but then you need no glasses.

Everything is as if

your vision was perfect.

And so you become a Christian

and some people teach this.

You expect to have this

just radical transformation

in every area of your life.

You no longer struggle with sin.

Things that were addictions for you

and habits that pulled you down

suddenly lose all power in your life.

Now don't hear what I'm not saying.

There are times when God does bring

true, radical, deep transformation

into people's lives.

And that is not

the normative expectation

of the Christian life.

Sanctification,

growing in holiness,

is a slow,

long-term,

lifelong process.

It is not LASIK surgery.

Becoming a Christian,

following Jesus,

is a long and slow

recovery and rehabilitation.

It is growing in our vision

and our sight

year by year,

day by day,

month by month.

It is understanding

more and more

over a long period of time.

Now there's a couple ways

to take this passage.

Some people take this

as a rebuke

from Jesus to the disciples.

He asked them in verse 18,

can't you see yet?

And now he gives them this picture

of someone who sees

but doesn't see.

Now we could take it in that way.

That's legitimate.

I don't know if I'd put it

as a rebuke

as much as a description

and an explanation.

You don't know

as much as you think you do.

You see people,

but they look like trees.

You have still

so far

to go.

There's also another way

to take this

which is as a word

of encouragement.

The disciples

are stumbling along.

They don't see

as much as they should.

They don't understand

as much as they need to.

Like us,

they're still figuring it out.

Like us,

they're still going

through a process.

Like us,

there are things

that they wish

that they knew

and understand

and believed

and practiced

more and more.

Jesus does not

give up on them.

Jesus has not

given up on us.

Our sight

is imperfect.

Our hope

is not in that

but the one

who heals it.

Our sight

is imperfect.

Our hope

is not in that

but in the one

who heals it.

there's a realistic

expectation here

for discipleship.

There's an encouragement

that even if

your understanding

is foggy,

Jesus

still pursues

and knows

and loves

and transforms you.

Jesus

is still

at work.

I've told you

many times

throughout Mark

the words

of one of my professors

which is this,

the disciples

got almost

everything wrong

and they got

one thing

right.

They kept

following

Jesus.

The disciples'

sight is foggy

and unclear

and mistaken

and they're

with

Jesus.

that reminds

us

that the news

of a slow

and long

recovery

is discouraging

unless there's

hope for healing.

The news

of a slow

and long

recovery

is discouraging

unless there's

a hope

for healing.

Thankfully

this passage

points out

not only

the fact

that our

vision is

incomplete

that we don't

understand

what we need

to but it

also shows

us

Jesus

here

as the

great

healer.

Look with

me

verse 23.

This man

has been

brought

by his

friends

and what

does

Jesus

do?

Similar

to the

previous

healing

he

takes

this

man

by the

hand.

It's a

Bible

trivia for

you.

When

is the

one

time

when

Jesus

starts

holding

hands

with

another

man?

This

is it.

Jesus

takes

him

by the

hand

by the

way

this is

common

practice

in the

Middle

East

and leads

him away

tenderly,

gently,

personally.

Just like

in the

previous

healing,

Jesus

takes

him to

a

private

place.

He's

not

putting

on a

show

for

other

people

to see

how

great

and how

powerful

he is.

He has

this

spitting

and touching

ritual

which is

similar to

what we

saw with

the man

who is

mute

and deaf.

He is

speaking

to this

man in

a way

that he

can

understand.

He's

communicating

in this

cultural

form

that will

help this

man know

what it

is that

Jesus

is doing.

He meets

this man

as an

individual

in real

time,

in real

space,

touching

him,

caring

about

him,

and meeting

him there

to bring

him healing

in his

sight.

Brothers

and sisters,

we need

miraculous

healing

and

intervention

to be

able to

understand

anything

of

spiritual

value

in this

life.

And

Jesus

comes

personally

and

specifically

and

individually

just like

he did

before.

Jesus

comes to

you

specifically,

individually,

clearly,

personally.

You

may have

noticed

on page

six,

excuse

me,

page

seven

of your

worship

guide.

I have

this quote

for you

on the

left.

Because

situations

and persons

come unscripted,

fluid,

and unpredictable,

Jesus engages

each person

and situation

in a

personalized

way.

It is

no truism

to say

that Jesus

really does

meet you

where you

are,

always.

Scripture

does the

same.

No

boilerplate,

the Holy

Spirit

makes

words

personal.

Jesus

comes

and meets

you

one-on-one

and gives

you sight

in the

same way

that he

did for

this man.

Jesus

has not

given up

on you

in the

midst

of your

confusion

and mistakes

and stumbling

around.

Jesus

has not

abandoned

you because

you can't

see everything

as

correctly

as you

should.

Instead,

Jesus

comes as

he did

as a

man on

this

earth

and he

meets

you

in the

midst

of your

sin

and confusion

and despair

and he

touches

you like

he touched

this man.

Romans

Romans 5:8

chapter 5

verse 8

tells us

that while

we were

still

sinners,

Christ

died for

us.

He

didn't

wait

until we

had

figured

everything

out

and fixed

ourselves

before he

showed up

on this

earth.

He

didn't

wait

until you

had

figured

everything

out

and fixed

yourself

before he

showed up

in your

life.

How is

it that we

change?

God

changes us

slowly,

gradually,

progressively

and he

changes us

by Jesus'

personal touch

in our

lives.

Change

is a

result of

a personal

relationship

with Jesus.

Change

is a

result of

God's

intimate

and personal

work in

your life.

As you

live your

life,

Jesus is

touching

your eyes

with

circumstances,

with

disappointments,

with

joys,

with

sufferings.

That's

one question

you can

ask as

you encounter

everything that

God presents

in your way

this week.

how is

this helping

my sight?

How is

God using

this to

help me

see clearly

little by

little,

step by

step?

Jesus

asks,

and we'll

close with

this,

this important

question in

verse 23,

the very

end,

do you

see anything?

do you

see anything?

That's the

question for

us from

this passage

this morning.

Do you

see anything?

The answer

is yes

and no.

We see,

but we don't

see.

We know,

but we don't

know.

Like the

disciples,

incomplete,

flawed,

confused.

Jesus,

healing,

restoring,

growing us

throughout our

lives.

we have

hope because

Jesus heals.

That's how we

respond to

him.

Who is

Jesus?

He is the

one who

comes and

changes little

by little

over time.

And so we

keep following

him.

Let's pray.

Our

Father in

heaven,

we thank

you for

the encouragement

of this

passage.

That no

matter our

mistakes,

our

failures,

our

misunderstandings,

you come

and you

meet us

where we

are in

our lives.

You

arrange

events and

circumstances

and people

to give us

the sight and

understanding

that we

need.

We ask

that you

would do

that this

week,

that you

would grow

our knowledge

of you,

that we

would see

Jesus

clearly more

and more.

We would

live in

light of

you and

your love

for us.

We ask

these things

in Jesus'

name.

Amen.

Amen.