The Meaning of the Kingdom

Good morning everyone, great to see you this morning and let me just say thank you for

those who are currently in the process of doing translation work for me and throughout

this service but also the enormous amount of work that happens in the background for

translation work so that we are prepared Sunday by Sunday.

I'm reticent to say it but it was astounding to sing that Mandarin song.

It in fact brought tears to my eyes for something that was a great song, theologically really

strong and expressing a real heart worship of God and yet it didn't originate from an

Anglo person.

I think that is fantastic for us as a church, for those of us who are kind of used to dominating

from the Anglo culture side of things to hear from brothers and sisters from other parts

of the world who are different from us.

It was referred to as a day that changed the world forever.

Tuesday 11th September 2001, there was a series of four coordinated suicide attacks by Al-Qaeda

upon the United States.

We know the outcome of it, 3,000 victims, 19 hijackers died on the attacks and it is infamously

remembered today as the worst terrorist atrocity in human history.

The overwhelming majority of the casualties were civilians including nationals from 70 different

countries.

And most of us can remember where we were in that moment when we heard that awful news

when it reached us for the first time.

I remember the moment vividly.

I was rousing from sleep and my alarm clock had gone off and it was the news and all I caught

in my half awake was the Twin Towers have collapsed.

And I remember thinking, that's not right.

I must have misheard that.

That's not possible.

And it was.

Many things changed in the world on that day.

One thing that particularly changed was it saw the rise in the West of the new atheism movement.

A rejection of God.

And many things changed on the day that Jesus arrived over 2,000 years ago.

It's the very first sentence of Mark as we looked at last week.

That the God who started history broke into history and everything changed.

Mark begins with the beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.

His style communicates, as I said last week, a sense of crisis.

The status quo has now been ruptured.

Mark wants us to see that this Jesus, as he did then, does now still calls for decisive action in our lives.

And that decisive action is in the very first words that he speaks.

Jesus speaks in Mark's gospel.

Repent and believe the good news.

That's what he calls from us.

And the good news is another way of saying gospel, which literally means news that brings joy.

And at the time of Mark, that word was used.

It meant history-making, life-altering, shaping news.

And that's what Christianity is.

It's life-altering news.

History-altering news.

And the history-altering news of Christianity is that Jesus has come to bring us back to our maker, our creator, our God.

He calls us to stop living lives as if we are the king of our lives.

And to come to him and to have our lives orbit around him.

Now, what we notice in the text today is that as soon as Jesus speaks about the kingdom of God,

he calls and he calls people to repent and believe.

He immediately starts choosing people to follow him.

Initially, there's this core group of 12 and a bunch of other followers.

And Mark records the first of these encounters from verse 16.

So come with me in the text.

As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake.

For they were fishermen.

Come, follow me, Jesus said.

And I will send you out to fish for people.

Now, what Jesus is doing here is somewhat unique in Jewish tradition.

In Jewish tradition, pupils used to choose their rabbis, not rabbis, their pupils.

And Mark is showing us that Jesus has a very different type of authority than your regular rabbi.

You can't have a relationship with Jesus unless he calls you to himself.

And there are two encounters here that are slightly different encounters.

When he calls Simon and Andrew to follow him in verse 17,

they leave their fishing nets and they follow him.

That is, they leave their vocation and they follow him.

Their livelihood and they follow him.

When he calls James and John, they leave their father behind in the boat.

That's the emphasis in that verse.

They leave their father behind in the boat.

These men, all of them who were called by Jesus in this moment,

they did fish again and they did relate to their parents again.

You can see that in the rest of Mark.

But what Jesus is saying here in this first calling of these disciples is drastic.

People with a heritage in traditional culture,

like generally from Eastern societies,

they get their identity from their family.

And so when Jesus says,

I want priority over your family,

leave your father behind,

he's saying something pretty drastic in that moment

for those in those traditions.

On the other hand,

in an individualistic culture like the West,

saying goodbye to your parents is not as big a deal.

But for Jesus to say,

I want priority over your career,

your vocation,

that's drastic.

And Jesus is saying here that knowing him,

loving him,

resembling him,

serving him,

must become the supreme passion of your life.

Everything else comes second.

Everything else comes second.

Now one of the things that changed in the Western world

as a result of September 11,

and apart from the rise of new atheism,

was the fear of fanaticism,

especially any kind of religious fanaticism.

There was a fear of Islamic fanaticism

prior to September 11,

but it expanded to even Christian fanaticism

in a growing secular culture.

And there's good reason for that fear.

Considerable violence is being carried out in this world

by highly religious people.

And even when you set aside that kind of religious fanaticism,

we aren't short of examples

of people who are very religious,

and yet at the same time,

they are condemning,

they are self-righteous,

and they are abusive.

All the sort of things that we seek to work hard against

here at St. Paul's.

And so most people,

particularly in the Western world,

would see religion as a spectrum of belief.

On one end,

are people who say they are religious,

but they don't really believe

or live out the fundamentals

of whatever it is,

the religion that they say they believe.

On the other end of the spectrum,

are the fanatics.

These are the people who are

too religious.

The people who kind of over-believe everything

and over-live their faith.

So you've got hypocrites at one end,

and you've got fanatics at the other end.

And many people think that the solution

to the hypocrites and the fanatics

is to meet in the middle.

Moderation in all things.

Moderation in everything.

We can sit comfortably with moderation.

Sort of.

And clearly,

Jesus hasn't heard about that option.

In Luke 14,

he says to a large crowd gathered,

in verses 26 and 27, Luke 14,

if anyone comes to me

and does not hate his father and mother,

wife and children,

brothers and sisters,

yes, even his own life,

such a person cannot be my disciple.

And whoever does not carry their cross

and follow me

cannot be my disciple.

Now that

doesn't sound moderate

at all.

Jesus says,

if anyone

comes to me,

he doesn't say,

all right,

all right,

look,

consensus here,

some of you can be moderate.

Some of you can be moderate

as my disciples,

but I really do need

a few good men

and a few good women

who are prepared to go all the way

with this discipleship thing.

I need the

rah-rah of the Marines

or so.

I need a few of those.

The rest of you can be moderate.

He says,

anyone,

anyone,

no double standards here,

no double standards at all.

If anyone wants to have anything

to do with Jesus,

you have to hate your father

and your mother,

your wife and your child,

your brother and sister,

even your own life.

He says,

otherwise you cannot be my disciple.

That's what it means

to follow Jesus.

Now,

that does seem a little bit

contradictory to Jesus

because

a little bit later on,

he says,

you can't even hate your enemy.

So what's he doing here?

Telling you you hate your family,

but don't hate your enemy.

What's his problem with family?

Until you realize that Jesus

isn't actually calling us

to hate actively,

but he's actually calling us

to hate comparatively.

He's calling his disciples

to follow him so fully,

so intensely,

so comprehensively,

so enduringly,

that every other

entachment in life

looks like hate

in comparison.

You see,

when we say to Jesus,

I'll obey you, Jesus,

if and when my career thrives,

or I'll obey you, Jesus,

if and when my health

is sorted out,

or if and when,

you know,

I raise the kids,

or I've paid off the house,

then the thing

that's on the other side

of that if and when,

that's your real master.

That's your real God.

That's your real Lord.

It is your functional king.

It is the goal of your life.

Anything that puts Jesus

to one side,

and when I achieve this,

Jesus,

then I'll do that,

then I'll follow you.

That is your real master.

That is your real Lord.

And Jesus says,

I will not be a means

to an end.

I will not be used.

When he calls us to follow him,

he alone must be the goal.

Now that sounds like fanaticism.

And it is,

if you don't understand

the difference between religion

and the Christian gospel.

Religion,

as I said last week,

is advice

on how you must live life

to earn your way to God.

And the job

of the adherent

to religion

is to follow the advice

to the best

of their ability.

And if you do,

you do follow it

faithfully

and completely,

you'll believe

that you will have

a connection

with that God.

You'll feel a connection

with that God

because of how you lived

and how you believed.

And this inevitably

leads to a feeling

of superiority

over

other people

who have

different living standards

and different belief.

And once you have

that position of pride,

it is a slippery slope.

When we feel

superior to people,

we tend to

distance ourselves

from people

and when we distance

ourselves from people,

we start to exclude them,

we start to hate them

and we start to

ultimately oppress them.

And there are

some Christians

and there are

some Christian groups

who are just like that.

But it's not

because they've

gone too far

with Jesus.

It's not because

they're too committed

to Jesus.

It's because they haven't

gone far enough

with Jesus.

It's because they haven't

gone all the way

with Jesus.

They aren't

as fanatically

humble

and sensitive

or as fanatically

understanding

and generous

as Jesus is.

They are treating

Christianity

as if it was

advice

instead of news.

You see,

the good news,

the Christian gospel

is not advice.

It is good news

that you don't

need to earn

your way to God

because Jesus

has done it

for you.

It's a gift

that we receive

because of the sheer,

may I say,

astounding grace

of God.

That's what it is.

It's the astounding

grace of God

as we just sang.

And when we grab

hold of that gift

and continue

to do so,

then the call

of Jesus

in our lives,

it won't lead

to fanaticism,

it won't lead

to moderation

and it won't lead

to hypocrisy.

The gospel

leads us

to passionately

make Jesus

our goal

and our priority.

It leads us

to the point

of humility

and service

of him

and humility

and service

towards every other person.

Our lives

revolve around Jesus.

Jesus doesn't

revolve around

our life.

The gospel

impact

on our lives

means that

when we meet

somebody

with a different

set of priorities,

a different faith,

we won't assume

that they are

inferior

and deserving

of our

persecution,

oppression

and condemnation.

Instead of

oppressing them,

we serve them.

That's the difference

the good news

makes.

Christianity

is about being

called to follow

the king.

It's not about

choosing to follow

advice.

It's not about

someone with

the power

and authority

to tell you

what needs

to be done.

It's about

someone with

the power

and authority

doing what

needs to be done

and then

offering it

to us

as good

news.

And Jesus

has that

authority.

As we saw

last week

at Jesus'

baptism,

there was a

display of

supernatural signs

which announced

his divine

authority.

And Jesus

calls on the

lives of

Simon,

Andrew,

James and

John.

When he calls

their life,

he has authority

to call

them.

They

followed him

without delay.

We see

that Jesus

has authority

over all

of life.

Mark uses

the word

authority

for the first

time in

verses 22

to 23.

They went

to Capernaum

and when

the Sabbath

came,

Jesus went

into the

synagogue

and began

to teach.

The people

were amazed

at his

teaching

because he

taught them

as one

who had

authority,

not as

the teachers

of the law.

Now the

word authority

means out

of the

original

stuff.

The word

stuff is

my, you

know,

version in

there.

Out of the

original

stuff.

It has

the same

origin as

the word

author,

the author

of life,

the maker

of life,

the one

who made

all stuff.

And Mark

means that

Jesus taught

about life

with original

authority.

Jesus didn't

simply clarify

something that

someone else

had already

said or

knew about.

He didn't

simply interpret

the Bible

in a way

that the

Jewish

authorities

hadn't

interpreted

the Bible.

It's like

he was the

original

source.

It's like

they sensed

with Jesus

that he

was explaining

the story

of their

lives as

if he

was the

one who

wrote the

story.

And

they

were

amazed

by it.

Because he

is the

author of

life.

He's the

king of

life.

You read

on and we

see that

Jesus'

authority

extends

even further.

Verse 23

to 27.

It just

takes his

authority to

the next

level.

We have

the voice

of the

Father

confirming the

identity of

Jesus at

his

baptism.

He is

his much

loved

son.

And now

we have a

different

voice.

And

anybody who

hates Jesus

in verse

26

likewise

confirms the

identity of

Jesus.

What do you

want with us

Jesus of

Nazareth?

Have you

come to

destroy us?

I know who

you are,

the Holy

One of

God.

evil

spirits who

love

darkness

recoil from

light.

And it's

very possible

to recognize

Jesus for

who he is

and yet

hate him

even the

more,

which is

what we

see here.

This man

wanted nothing

to do with

Jesus.

The demon

shriek was

full of

malevolent

aggression.

His opening

burst,

what do you

want with us

Jesus of

Nazareth?

was a

common Old

Testament

formula which

is roughly

equivalent to

you have no

business with

us yet.

Evil spirits

wanted to

say to

Jesus,

go away,

the time

has not

yet come,

go away.

And the

next phrase

which is

stated as a

question,

have you

come to

destroy us,

is actually,

in actual

fact,

a defiant

assertion.

You have

come to

destroy us.

You see,

this demon

realized the

menace of

Christ and

cried out

with an

instinctive

expression of

dread.

He wanted

Jesus to

disappear for

he knew that

Jesus would

in fact

destroy him.

But note

what he does

in verse 24,

it's his final

cry out.

This is

dramatic.

I know

who you

are,

the Holy

One of

God.

Now on

one level,

that appears

to be a

submissive

acknowledgement

of who

Jesus is,

but it's

in fact

a frantic

attempt to

bring the

Lord Jesus

under his

power.

power.

We know

that because

the idea

was widespread

at the

time that

the exact

knowledge of

the other's

name brought

mastery and

control over

them.

And that is

what this evil

spirit is

attempting to

do.

It's an

ill-informed

attempt to

control Jesus

just as

Satan had

attempted to

do in the

wilderness just

before this.

And Jesus,

rather than

submits to

the evil

spirit,

demands that

the man be

quiet,

literally be

muzzled,

and the

unclean

spirit come

out of

him.

The evil

spirit was

powerful enough

to control

this man,

but not

Jesus.

And he

did just

what Jesus

told him to

do in

that instant.

Jesus spoke

and this

evil spirit

obeyed.

See,

Jesus is

king over

the spiritual

realm.

He has an

unmatched

authority.

People were

starting to

notice it.

Wherever Jesus

went,

people were

amazed at

his teaching

and his

actions.

Even the

evil spirits

obey him.

Wherever he

went,

crowds were

forming.

Fuss was

being made

about Jesus.

And so

why did

Jesus tell

this evil

spirit,

be quiet?

And down

in verse

34,

it says,

he also

drove out

many demons,

but he

would not

let the

demons

speak because

they knew

who he

was.

Why do

that?

Why tell

them to be

quiet?

Is it just

an effort

to,

you know,

divine

crowd control?

Why doesn't

he take

advantage of

his incredible

popularity?

Why not

generate more

appeal to

who he is

and his

message?

That's what

I would

have done.

You know,

challenge me

evil spirit,

get out,

evil spirit

goes,

you know,

who's your

daddy?

I'd be

high-fiving and

chest-pumping

with the

disciples.

Till

everyone

thieves in

town.

That's what

I'd do.

Not

Jesus.

And the

key is

in verse

26.

The

impure

spirit

shook the

man

violently

and came

out of

him with

a shriek.

There's

one other

place in

Mark's

gospel

where that

sentence is

almost exactly

reproduced.

it's in

Mark 15

Mark 15:37

verse 37

and it

describes the

death of

Jesus

with a

loud cry.

Jesus

breathed

his last.

Literally,

his spirit

was

expelled.

What

Jesus knew

was that

the only

way that

he would

ever silence

the demons

was to

allow himself

to be

silenced.

The way

to

wield

his

true

authority

was not

to parade

it around

and brandish

it

but simply

to give

it up.

To give

it up.

No

convulsing,

no

struggling,

no

thrashing

but simply

to give

it up.

To steal

the spirits

he would

have to

give up

his

own.

His

wasn't

involuntarily

driven out,

it was

voluntarily

given up

and everything

in this

passage that

we see

is but

a skirmish

to prepare

for the

last and

great battle

that Jesus

was to win,

to utterly

destroy the

power of

sin and

death by

taking the

death and

the sin

that is

ours and

upon

himself.

Jesus

himself does

everything that

he calls

us to do

and so

when he

calls

James and

John to

leave their

father in

the boat,

he's already

left his

father's side

and his

father will

turn his

back on

him later.

Charles

Wesley captured

that thought

well in

the him

and can

it be,

he left

his father's

throne above

so free,

so infinite

his grace.

Later in

this gospel

he's going

to be ripped

from his

father's

presence on

the cross.

You see,

his kingship

is a

kingship over

sickness,

sin,

death,

oppression.

His

kingship is

not a

fanatic.

He doesn't

wield his

authority as

a fanatic

who seeks

to condemn

and oppress.

He doesn't

wield his

authority in

a totalitarian

way.

Jesus Christ's

kingship is

not designed

to crush.

It is the

ultimate

authority and

it's not

designed to

crush or

oppress.

His

authority is

wielded to

serve and

to restore.

take a

look at

verses 30

and 31

with me.

Simon's

mother-in-law

was in

bed with a

fever and

they immediately

told Jesus

about her.

And so he

went to her,

took her

hand,

he helped

her up and

the fever

left her and

she began to

wait on them.

She was sick

with a fever

and Jesus

came to her

still and

touched her

still and

then it

says he

helped her

up.

He

literally

raised her

and

everywhere in

Mark's

gospel when

someone is

healed,

the exact

same word

is used

everywhere,

right through

it,

every

encounter,

raised.

And it's

the exact

same word

which is

used to

describe the

resurrection

of Jesus.

In other

words,

when Jesus

demonstrates his

authority,

healing the

sick,

freeing the

captives,

casting out

demons,

it

resurrects,

it restores,

it brings

to life.

His

authority

isn't

oppressive,

it doesn't

subjugate,

it doesn't

crush,

it literally

breathes

new life,

a new

spirit

into.

His is

expelled and

he breathes

new life

into,

to heal,

to restore,

to set

free.

And when

we understand

the good

news and

submit to

the authority,

that's what

it does.

His authority

sets you

free.

It raises

you.

sets you

free to

serve as

we have

been served

by God.

Fanatical

serving of

God and

of others.

Notice

what Simon's

mother-in-law

does.

The fever

left her

and she

began to

wait on

them.

Now,

the skeptical

amongst us

might say,

well,

Jesus did

that because

he was

hungry and

he needed

someone to

cook the

meal.

Okay.

She began

to serve

them.

She wasn't

healed.

Notice what

doesn't say

that.

She wasn't

healed,

she wasn't

raised and

then went

about her

own business.

She got

up and

she served.

She gave

herself to

others.

She didn't

get raised

and then

go,

ah,

all those

things that

I wanted

to do

while I

was sick

and potentially

dying.

I didn't

my bucket

list,

I better

get on

and do

it.

She gave

herself to

others.

See,

when we

grasp the

good news

and we

submit to

the authority

of Jesus

and have

our lives

orbit around

Jesus,

it sets

us free

from all

other selfish

authorities that

crush us

and enslave

us.

you see,

Jesus'

authority

gives us

a new

set of

priorities,

a new

life of

service,

a life of

hospitality,

a life of

generosity,

a life of

community

building,

a life of

meeting the

needs of

others,

a life of

fanatical

humility and

grace.

That's what

it does.

and every

act of

uttered,

done in

the name

of

Christianity

that is

opposite to

that

is not

Christianity,

has nothing

to do with

Jesus and

it's not

done in

the name

of Jesus

at all.

A life of

fanatical

humility and

grace,

everything that

God created

and intended

for us to

be and do,

not because

we've got

something to

pay back or

because the

authority is

enslaving,

we do it

simply because

like Simon's

mother-in-law,

we have been

raised and

we now

can.

We now

can.