Covenant Identity: You are My Beloved

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Reading from the Gospel according to Mark.

The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God,

as it is written in Isaiah the prophet,

I will send my messenger ahead of you who will prepare your way,

a voice of one calling in the wilderness,

prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.

And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness,

preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him,

confessing their sins.

They were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

John wore clothing made of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist,

and he ate locusts and wild honey.

And this was his message.

After me comes the one more powerful than I,

the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.

I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

At that time, Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee

and was baptized by John in the Jordan.

Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water,

he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.

And a voice came from heaven,

You are my Son, whom I love, and you and I will be pleased.

At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness,

and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan.

He was with wild animals, and angels attended him.

After John was put in prison, Jesus went to Galilee,

proclaiming the good news of God.

The time has come, he said.

The kingdom of God will come near.

Repent and believe the good news.

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.

At once they left their nets and followed him.

When he had gone a little further,

he saw James, son of Zebedee,

and his brother John in a boat,

preparing their nets.

Without delay, he called them,

and they left their father Zebedee in the boat

with the hired men and followed him.

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark,

Jesus got up, left the house,

and went off to a solitary place where he prayed.

This is the gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ.

Thank you, Gail, for that reading.

Good morning, everyone.

My name is Andrew.

I'm one of the pastors here.

Merry Christmas.

I want to give a shout-out to the Thomases.

I believe this is Samuel Thomas' first Sunday at Christ Church.

So welcome, little one.

What's that, seven weeks?

Eight?

Eight weeks.

That's pretty good.

That's pretty good.

And I also want to give a shout-out to Amy,

no longer Amy Howe,

but Amy Ng and Jesse Ng,

who got married this past Friday.

They're not here right now.

They're enjoying their time away.

But yeah, a lot of exciting things going on in our church.

We, between Christmas and Easter,

open up one of the four Gospels,

and today we are in the Gospel of Mark,

so we'll open that up together.

But before we do that, will you pray with me?

Father, we ask that you would speak to us,

that your Spirit would be so present

and so palpable amongst us,

that we would hear from you

and that we'd be changed,

that your word would go forth

as the authoritative, powerful, compelling,

gentle word that it is,

and that we would behold your Son,

who is not just our King,

but our servant King,

who doesn't just wear a crown,

but a crown of thorns for us.

And would that change the way we live

as children of God?

And if there are those here today

who are not children of God,

we ask that you would make your Son

so compelling to them

and the way of life that he's presented to us

as this servant King.

And we pray that because of our existence here

as a church,

that people would be led

into deeper relationships with Christ,

who we believe is the glorious one.

In his name we pray.

Amen.

So like I said,

every year we get into the Gospels

between Christmas and Easter,

and this year we are in what

pretty much everyone in the early church believed

was the Gospel according to Mark.

Mark was someone who they believed

to actually sit at the feet of Peter

to hear his firsthand eyewitness account

and record it.

We believe that this is probably the shortest

and the earliest account.

So if you ever wondered

what Peter thought about Jesus,

this is probably it,

here in the Gospel of Mark.

Now the thing about the Gospels

is that they all tell the same story

about the same person,

but each of them has a distinct focus.

So for example,

in Matthew you have a lot of Jewish references,

you have a lot of prophecies fulfilled,

you have a genealogy that goes to Abraham

because Matthew's trying to show

that Jesus is the promised Messiah to Israel.

And then in Luke you have a genealogy

that goes all the way back to Adam,

and you have a very human Jesus.

You have a Jesus who's very dependent

on the Holy Spirit,

and this is because Luke is trying

to portray Jesus as a human,

truly the Son of Man.

Then in the Gospel of John,

what do you have?

Do you have a genealogy at all?

No, you don't.

You don't.

You have,

in the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with God,

and the Word was God.

The Word created everything,

and in Him was life and light for the world.

John is trying to show that Jesus is God.

He's divine.

But now Mark,

what's Mark about?

Mark again,

it's the shortest Gospel,

probably the earliest one.

And what I love about Mark,

and why it's probably shorter

than many of the others,

is that this is kind of like raw

and unfiltered,

less interpreted Jesus.

Less the teacher,

more the doer.

Shorter dialogues,

more action,

you know,

going from this to that to that scene.

No sermon on the mount,

no great high priestly prayer,

less theological explanation

and interpretation

of His teaching and ministry.

And just look at,

like,

all the ground we covered

right here in the first 20 verses

of Mark chapter 1, right?

Mark 1 · chapter mention

It's boom, boom, boom, boom, boom,

just keeps moving along.

And so Mark,

it points us not so much

to the messianic,

divine,

or human identities of Jesus,

but to the way He lived.

The way He lived,

particularly as a servant.

The way He lived as a servant.

Now this idea of Jesus as the way,

you know,

I grew up in the church,

I grew up,

there was never a time in my life

where I didn't know about Jesus,

because my parents taught me

about this Messiah God

who's the way,

the truth,

and the life.

I probably memorized that,

John 14,

as a kid in elementary school.

The way,

the truth,

and the life.

And it always made sense to me

how He's the truth, right?

Like,

Jesus teaches the truth,

He's God,

He teaches the truth about

who God is,

and how to live the right way,

and He's the life,

of course.

He's the author of life,

and He came to give,

you know,

resurrection,

eternal life.

But I always thought of the way,

Him as the way,

as He's kind of like the way

to the truth,

the way to the life.

And I never really gave much thought

to what it meant

that He was the way,

which is actually what

the early church called Christians

before they called Christians,

Christians, right?

But only these last couple years

have I come to realize

that He's not just the way

to the truth,

He's not just the way

to the life,

but He is a distinct way of truth.

He is a distinct way of life.

Like,

He's not just a door

that you walk through

to get to truth,

He's not just a door

you walk through

to get to life,

but He's a pattern.

He's a pattern.

Not just some example

of how to be good and moral,

but He's the very pattern

of how life was meant to be

for the children of God.

And I wonder

how many of us

also need to come

to that realization today

that Jesus isn't just

a truth to be accepted

in our heads

or an eternal life

to hope in with our hearts,

but a way of life

to be lived out

and worked out

with our hands.

This reminds me

of a conversation

I had a couple months ago.

It was during our

Explore God series.

We had a Q&A afterwards

and I was chatting

with someone

who's been here

in our church

for a few years now

exploring Jesus,

trying to understand

and decide whether

or not he wants

to trust in Jesus

and go all the way

and become a member

of the church.

And he said,

you know,

I really am drawn

to Jesus and His teachings.

I admire Him

and His values

and the way He lived

and I don't have

a plausible alternative

account for the empty tomb

and how such

an international movement

could have come about

from this mere

first century Jewish teacher

under Roman occupation.

But what do I do

if I still feel

like I still can't believe?

And so what I said

to Him was,

you know,

it sounds pretty much

like your head is there

and it even sounds

like your heart is there.

It seems like you

want to believe

but I also get it

that you're not there yet.

I totally get that.

But what if we tried

to not just engage

your head,

not just even your heart

but also your hands?

And I encouraged Him

not just to wrestle

with Jesus

and His claims

intellectually

or just to admire Him

in His heart

but to try,

actually try Jesus'

way of life on.

Like try living

Jesus' way,

doing what He did,

spending time

seeking nearness

with the Father,

spending time

in the Scriptures

meditating upon

the Word of God,

spending time

in prayer

and in solitude,

spending time

serving others

and sticking close

to a family

of believers,

a family of fellow

followers of Jesus.

You know,

see for many of us

like Western,

rationalistic,

enlightened people,

we have a tendency

to think that we need

to know that Christianity

is true in our heads

with certainty

before we let it come

into our embodied

way of life

or for maybe

we're more post-enlightened,

we're more romantic

Westerners,

we think we need

to feel it's true

in our hearts

before we let it

affect how we live.

But what if head,

heart,

and hands

are more integrally

related

than we think?

And what if we believe

and devote our lives to,

what if what we believe

and devote our lives to

isn't simply about cognition

or about feeling,

but actually it's informed

by the way

we live our lives?

What if our habits

and our patterns

of life

are not as neutral

as we think?

There's a reason

why we do the same thing

here every Sunday.

We have a pattern,

we have a liturgy,

a habit,

a way of worshiping

to form who we are

before God.

Our pattern of life

is just as important

as our thoughts

and emotions

maybe even more.

And I think we all

intuitively know this.

We're all looking

for a way of life

just as much as we're

looking for a truth

to believe in

with our heads

and an abundant life

to hope for

with our hearts.

Think about your

Instagram feed,

those of you

who use Instagram.

You don't just follow

mind and heart influencers,

you follow lifestyle influencers,

right?

How to be a better mom,

a better entrepreneur,

CEO, investor, athlete.

We're all looking

for ways to live

in this world

as our ideal selves.

That's why P90X

was such a hit, right?

P90X.

Anyone remember P90X?

All right,

thank you, Lori.

If I exercise

in this program

for 90 days,

I'll get ripped,

all right?

That's what P90X is.

90 days,

or if I follow Sean T,

right?

25 minutes a day,

I'll burn all my body fat,

right?

Or maybe for the ladies

in this room,

the bar method,

all right?

It's literally called

a method.

It's a way.

It's a way.

We're all looking

for a way,

a way to live

our best lives.

So here in Mark's gospel,

we are presented

not just with a Jesus

to believe in

with our heads,

or even a Jesus

to love with our hearts,

but a Jesus to follow

with our hands.

And not just as

some glorious

God-man king,

but as a suffering

servant.

A suffering servant.

That's why we're calling

the series

in Mark's gospel,

Deny Yourself

and Follow Me.

Deny Yourself

and Follow Me.

We're going after

discipleship this year,

2024.

Deny Yourself

and Follow Me

is what Jesus says.

It's our New Year's

challenge as a church.

Will we follow

the way of Jesus

even and especially

when it requires

that we deny

ourselves?

Now I know

that can sound

pretty dogmatic,

maybe fanatical,

fundamentalist,

just super religious,

right?

Deny Yourself.

Follow Jesus.

Like of course,

of course a preacher

is going to be up here

saying that, right?

Deny Myself.

Follow whatever

this preacher claims

to be divine.

It's the oldest trick

in the book.

But this is why

it's so important.

This is why it's so important

to remember Mark's emphasis

on Jesus the servant.

Jesus the servant.

You see,

because this idea

of denying ourselves

and following Jesus,

this isn't some kind

of religious power play.

See,

with a lot of other

religions,

deny yourself

and follow me

is kind of like

a two-step process

of lowering yourself

in order to honor

and venerate

like whatever

your divine deity is,

whatever is supreme

or superior.

But you see,

with Jesus,

even though he is

the ultimately

superior one,

he is God himself,

when he says

deny yourself

and follow me,

he's saying the same thing

with both those statements.

The two commands

are intimately connected

in an extremely unique way.

Like,

he's not saying

simply deny yourself

so you can follow me

as your supreme God.

But he's saying

to follow me

is to deny yourself

just as I denied myself

and took up a cross

for you.

See,

this is the utter

uniqueness of Jesus.

He's both God

and a servant,

both crowned

and crucified.

no other God

is like Jesus.

Every other God

who exists to serve

is nothing more

than a genie, really.

If your God exists

to serve you,

that's just a genie.

You're the God

in that story.

And every other God

who supposedly reigns

as most high

and supreme

just over all

the universe,

every one of those

kinds of God

has only ever existed

to be served

and not to serve.

But Jesus is different.

He's a servant king.

That was his way,

the way he chose

to be God with us

and the way he chose

to be a human

amongst us.

And Mark shows

this to us

in a wonderfully

unique way

right from the start.

Now let's look

at our text today,

Mark chapter one.

Now before Mark

demonstrates Jesus'

servanthood,

he makes very clear

from the beginning

that Jesus is the supreme.

He's the anointed

Messiah king of Israel.

Now he's even God.

Mark chapter one,

verse one,

the beginning of the good news

about Jesus,

the Messiah,

the son of God.

And again,

not just some generic

God and king

but the God and king

that the Hebrew prophets

of Yahweh

had foretold.

Verse two,

as it is written

in Isaiah the prophet,

I will send

my messenger

ahead of you

who will prepare

your way.

The way for who?

If you look that verse up

in the prophets,

it's the way

for Yahweh.

Verse three,

a voice of one

calling in the wilderness,

prepare the way

for the Lord.

The Lord is the one

he's preparing a way for.

Mark is saying

the prophets foretold

that a messenger,

a final prophet

would come

to prepare the way

for not just

the coming

of Messiah king

but the coming

of God himself.

The coming of God himself.

He's saying

this coming one

is God himself.

And the prophet here,

boom,

is in verse four,

John the Baptist.

John the Baptist

who came to prepare

the way for Jesus.

Look at verse four

with me.

And so John the Baptist

appeared in the wilderness

preaching a baptism

of repentance

for the forgiveness

of sins.

And there are a couple

details here

that I want you

to notice.

First,

where is this happening?

In the wilderness.

Now in the history

of Israel,

what has often happened

in the wilderness?

What was the wilderness?

The wilderness

was kind of like

an anti-Eden,

the place where

thorns and thistles grow.

It's a place

of water scarcity

and little vegetation.

Hard to live there.

It's also a place though

where what?

People encountered God.

Where people

were transformed by God.

It was part of

Abram's pilgrim journey.

It's the site

of Moses

and the burning bush.

It's where Israel

was led by God

in their wandering

for 40 years.

The wilderness

is where people

had to depend on God

for their daily bread

and even water

from rocks.

The place

where it was unmistakable

that their lives

absolutely depended

on Yahweh.

Now also look with me

at who is coming

to John

in the wilderness.

Verse 5.

The whole Judean

countryside

and all the people

of Jerusalem

went out to him

confessing their sins.

They were baptized

by him

in the Jordan River.

Alright,

so here's the picture.

Remember,

Judea and Jerusalem,

they were in the south.

These were the most

faithfully religious

Jewish people

and yet

they're still occupied.

They're occupied

by the Romans.

Jerusalem is far

from its former glory

under a son of David.

And so what's their

strategy at this point

to restore the kingdom

of Israel?

Their strategy

is to follow

the Pharisees'

moralistic,

legalistic,

self-salvation project

to obey enough

for God

to finally listen to them

and give them

their kingdom back.

And they're all

trying to do this.

They're wearing

their make Israel

great again hats

longing for the

old kingdom of David

and Solomon.

The old kingdom.

But what John is saying,

what John is saying

is that you were never

the great kingdom

that you thought you were.

This entire nation

needs to be born again.

This entire nation

needs to be cleansed.

Come back out

into the wilderness.

Go back through

the baptism

of the Jordan River

again

to prepare yourself

for the new

and better kingdom

to come.

And John is preaching

a baptism therefore

of repentance

and the forgiveness

of sins.

And notice it's not,

it's a baptism,

okay?

It's a baptism.

It's not a self-bathing

to cleanse themselves.

He's preaching

a baptism.

Like think about

that word.

We don't baptize

ourselves,

right?

We get baptized.

Baptized,

baptism is a passive

activity.

You know,

if you studied

the Old Testament law,

you'd know

that up to this point,

virtually every

Jewish cleansing ritual

for the forgiveness

of sins

was a self-cleansing

ritual.

You were to go

and bathe yourself.

But here,

John was saying,

no, you can't.

You can't cleanse yourself.

You're that filthy.

That's why I'm baptizing you

as a sign

that you actually need

a divine baptism,

verse eight,

a baptism in the Holy Spirit

from God Himself

to really get clean,

to really get right

before God.

John is saying,

you need God

to come to you,

to clean you,

to forgive you,

and what you need

to do in the meantime

is to turn to Him,

to repent,

to turn your whole self,

your whole life

toward Him

and His way.

So from verses one

to eight,

Mark is making very clear

that Jesus is God

and King.

He's the Messiah.

He's the coming Lord

that the prophets

had foretold.

He is the God

who needs to come

and cleanse Israel

once and for all

with His Holy Spirit.

And even as great

of a prophet

as John the Baptist is,

he says in verse seven

that he is unworthy

to even stoop down

and untie

this coming Lord's sandals.

The most menial,

most dishonorable task,

John the Baptist

is pleading with the people

to prepare for God Himself,

to make straight His paths.

And by the way,

this idea of making

straight paths,

right,

where are they?

They're in the ancient

Roman Empire, right?

Known for its Roman roads,

right?

But for the most part,

the roads were unpaved,

often not very well maintained,

and definitely not straight.

In fact,

in many ancient

Near Eastern records,

you have kings

complaining about

just the roundabout routes

that they had to take

to get to places.

And even some of them

feeling so self-important

that they demanded

that their slaves

and that their subjects

who served them

make straight paths

for them.

Make it easy for me

to get to where I need to go.

So John is saying,

hey,

there's an even greater king

coming,

more worthy

than any other

of a straight

and direct path,

because he is none other

than Yahweh Himself.

That's who he's saying

that Jesus is.

This is John's message.

God is coming.

God is coming,

and Mark doesn't want us

to miss that.

But now he's kind of

identified Jesus as God,

but then what happens

when God does come

into the picture

in verse 9,

in the person of Jesus.

Verse 9.

At that time,

Jesus came from Nazareth

in Galilee

and was baptized

by John in the Jordan.

So try to picture this.

John is baptizing

hundreds,

maybe thousands

of Jewish people.

Many probably

are named Jesus.

Yeshua is probably

a very common name,

right?

And then his cousin comes,

and in the eyes

of many onlookers,

he's just another guy

named Jesus

in this long line,

hoping to get baptized

in the Jordan River.

And what's worse

is he's from this hopeless

little town called

Nazareth,

all right?

So he comes to be baptized,

but then what happens

after this Jesus' baptism?

Something utterly unique

happens, right?

Of all the Yeshua's

that John baptizes

after this specific one,

verse 10,

heaven tears open.

The Spirit descends

upon him like a dove.

A voice from heaven

says,

You are my Son,

whom I love.

With you I am well.

Please,

what's going on here?

Well, this is no

ordinary baptism.

This is no

ordinary Yeshua.

Whereas every other

baptism was a baptism

of repentance

for the forgiveness

of sins,

a reminder of God's

divine displeasure

toward each individual's sin,

this baptism

of the sinless

Son of God

was the first baptism

of the Holy Spirit.

It was a divine

affirmation

of the Father's

unbridled pleasure

toward His beloved Son.

The heavens

literally tore open

as if the love

of the Father

could not be contained.

Burst out of heaven

onto earth,

the Holy Spirit

descending upon the Son.

But then look at

verse 11.

Look at what the Father

says to the Son again.

You are my Son,

whom I love.

With you I am well pleased.

Now if you are familiar

with the Old Testament,

actually take out

your blue Bibles

in your pews right now.

If you're familiar

with the Old Testament,

turn to Psalm chapter 2.

Psalms 2 · chapter mention

You'd know

that this word

spoken from the heavens

was actually

a combination

of two prophetic words

spoken by the psalmist

and then spoken

by Isaiah.

Look at Psalm chapter 2.

Psalms 2 · chapter mention

It's on page 431

in your pew Bibles.

Psalm chapter 2,

Psalms 2:7

verse 7.

The Lord's decree

says,

You are my Son.

Today I have become

your Father.

Ask me

and I will make

the nations

your inheritance.

If you heard these words

spoken from the heavens,

you would know

that this comes

from Psalm chapter 2.

Psalms 2 · chapter mention

You are my Son,

God is saying.

Ask me anything

and it's yours.

That's what he's saying

to Jesus

in this moment.

But also turn

to now

page 588,

Isaiah chapter 42.

Isaiah 42 · chapter mention

Isaiah chapter 42,

Isaiah 42:1

verse 1,

page 588.

And here

you have the prophet

saying,

Here is my

servant

whom I uphold,

my chosen one

in whom I delight.

I will put my spirit

on him.

Now do you hear that?

This combination

of prophecies here

spoken from the heavens

upon Jesus,

what does it mean?

His identity

is that of

a beloved son

and a spirit

empowered servant.

He's not just a son

but he's also

at the same time

a servant.

But a special servant.

He's not some slave

but he's a chosen

servant in whom

God delights

and puts his spirit.

And see again,

this is a super

defining moment

in the life

and ministry

of Jesus.

He is given

an utterly unique

identity and role.

This is,

though he is

in very nature God,

though this is

the coming of Yahweh,

the answer to

Israel's prayers

that God would

tear the heavens

and come down

to save them,

he is at the same time

a son beloved

by his father

and a servant

empowered

by his spirit.

And this is

just as profound

as the reality

that he is both

God and servant.

servant.

You know why?

Because it portrays

for us what a

perfect life

in relationship

with God

looks like.

Yes,

a life of submission

as servants

but always

at the same time

as sons

and as daughters,

as children

of the king.

It's not like

we have to be

faithful servants

first

to earn our place

in his house

and in his family.

No,

we serve as sons

and as sons

we serve.

This is the way

of Jesus.

Jesus served

as a beloved son.

No inferiority,

no shame,

all joy,

all pleasure,

all delight,

simply living

into his identity

as a son

and as a servant.

And at the same time,

Jesus was a son

with a mission, right?

He was a son

with a mission

and a purpose,

a distinct servant

calling something

to accomplish,

something to do,

not some spoiled,

you know,

silver spoon brat

solely existing

to consume

his father's inheritance.

He was constantly

serving people.

Even having been

proclaimed as God's

beloved son

with whom God

was already

well pleased,

he still lived

to serve.

You know,

I was finishing

my McShane Bible

reading plan

this year

in the Gospel of John

and I was struck.

I was struck

by how at the end

of his life,

Jesus is dead.

And even when

his disciples saw

their supposed

Messiah crucified,

like I would have

been pretty upset.

and I wouldn't have

really cared

about his body

or about his burial

or visiting his tomb.

Like the dude said

he was Messiah

and now he's dead.

So he's no use

to me anymore.

He actually lied.

He lied to us.

Forget that, right?

But what did so many

of his followers do

when it didn't make

any sense to them,

when they had no reason

to believe that he

was the Messiah anymore?

They risked their lives

to take care of his body.

They offered up

their own personal tombs.

They spent the time

to wrap his body

and apply the spices

and the oils.

Why would they do that?

Because even though

they didn't expect

the resurrection

and even though

they had little

to no reason

to still believe

he was the Messiah,

they could not

get away from the reality

that there was

something special.

There was something

absolutely lovely

and wonderful

about this man.

Something absolutely

compassionate

about his character,

right?

This sacrificial servant

that he was,

always putting others

before himself,

healing and liberating

left and right

no matter how deserving

or undeserving people

were,

exposing himself

to Gentiles

and unclean lepers

and even to death itself.

This is the kind

of child of God

he was.

He was a servant

and a son.

And when this clicks

for us,

this servant-son dynamic,

it changes everything.

It changes everything

about how we live.

Look what happens

to Jesus

as soon as he's declared

as beloved son

and spirit-filled servant.

Verse 12.

At once the Spirit

sent him out

into the wilderness

and he was in the wilderness

forty days

being tempted by Satan.

He was with the wild animals

and angels attended him.

He's going out,

he's being baptized,

this is a defining moment

of his life.

His Father says,

I love you.

He gives him

the most powerful thing

in the world,

the Holy Spirit

and then he's sent out

into the wilderness.

What's up with that?

How could a loving father

let his beloved son

and how could a Holy Spirit

lead his empowered servant

to be subjected

to Satan

and the wild animals

in the wilderness?

Well, it's precisely

as a beloved son

and spirit-filled servant,

no one else

could endure

the wilderness

but a spirit-filled servant

and a beloved son of God.

In fact,

it's only a beloved son

and spirit-filled servant

who could survive

such a wilderness experience.

Only someone

so assured

of the love

and provision

of his Father.

Only someone

so in tune

with God's Spirit

who could endure

those forty days,

depend on nothing

but God

and his angels

and overcome temptation

and show us

our fullest potential

as humans

depending on God

in our wilderness

circumstances.

Jesus did not live

by bread alone

but by every word

that proceeded

from the mouth of God

and those words were,

you are my son

whom I love.

With you I am well pleased

and he lived

by those words.

He lived by those words.

Those were the words

that sustained him

and gave him

what he needed

through all the most

intense moments

of his life.

And my question for us

going into 2024

Christ Church

is

has this word

become our

daily bread as well?

That we are

beloved sons

and daughters

that we are

spirit-filled

servants

of the King.

Does that give us

everything we need

to live for tomorrow?

You know,

whenever I read

about these words

spoken to Jesus

at his baptism

about his

beloved sonship,

I can't help

but think of

a story

Walter Isaacson

shares in his

biography of Steve Jobs.

In case you didn't know,

Steve Jobs was

adopted

and from an early age

his parents would often

be very intentional

about explaining to him

that he was adopted

and that that was

part of his story.

But one day

he was like six or seven

and he was sitting

on his lawn

and he was explaining

to the girl next door

that he was adopted

and you know,

she was younger,

she was just kind of curious

and she said,

oh,

so does that mean

that your parents

your real parents

didn't want you?

And Jobs said

that these words

struck him

like a lightning bolt

and he ran into the house

weeping and weeping,

crying,

and his loving parents

tried to console him

saying,

no, no,

but we,

you have to understand

we specifically chose

you,

we love you.

But these genuinely

loving parents,

these words from

his genuinely loving parents,

they never seem

to be enough.

And though Jobs

would deny it,

his closest friends

and colleagues

according to Isaacson

believe that this open wound

never really healed

and afflicted him

like all his life,

contributing to his

maniacal personality,

his reflexive cruelty,

his fierce independence,

his lust for control,

and even the abandonment

of his own child

because he just

couldn't be bothered

or distracted

from his apple empire

which was pretty much

an extension of himself,

right?

And I wonder

how many of us

can relate to Steve Jobs,

maybe feeling like

servants but not sons.

Always like we have to

try to prove ourselves,

earn our identity,

earn our place

in this or that family

or community.

And maybe we find

our servant selves

trying to treat others

as servants and slaves

just like Steve Jobs

treated his employees.

Less so out of a desire

to lead them

and honor God

and honor our neighbors

and be a blessing

to the world

and more so

just out of our insecurity.

But what if we believed

that we could be both

servants and sons

of the loving God

by uniting ourselves

to our big brother Jesus?

How might that change us?

How might that change

the world we live in

if we believed

that we were God's

beloved children

and filled with his delight,

the very spirit of his power

and his presence?

What kinds of wildernesses

might we enter

for the kingdom of God?

What kinds of wild animals

might we be willing to face?

You know,

if Mark was really writing this,

sitting at the feet

of Peter's teaching,

this was during

a very intense time

of Christian persecution

in Rome

with Christians being

literally thrown

to the wild animals.

Mark is reminding

his fellow brothers

and sisters

that Jesus gets it

just as they are being thrown

to the animals

in the Colosseum

for sport.

Jesus,

he was also

with the wild animals

and alone.

Following Jesus is hard

and it's dangerous

and it's costly.

But if we are beloved children

and empowered servants

of God in Christ,

we have what we need

to face what we face.

And not just

to face hardship,

but to thrive

in hardship

and to bear witness

to a better way

of life.

Like,

what kind of workplaces,

what kind of world

would we live in

if people walked

in the way of Jesus

as sons and servants

of an all-loving

and all-powerful God?

If we laid down

our rights

and submitted to God,

put others first,

led as servants

rather than lords?

And all the while

with confidence

that we had

a Heavenly Father

who loved us,

an unshakable inheritance

waiting for us

and the Holy Spirit's power

to do everything

that God had ordained

for us to do.

That's what it's like

to walk in the way

of Jesus.

It's to live

with the incredible confidence

of being loved by God

as His own child

and empowered

by His Spirit

to do everything

that God wants us to do.

It's taking the initiative

to exercise His authority

in the world,

in our workplaces,

in our relationships,

in our families

and neighborhoods,

inviting people

to follow us

in Jesus' life-giving ways.

You know,

after His wilderness experience,

having experienced God

see Him through,

Jesus then takes,

He picks up the mantle

from John the Baptist, right?

It says,

Jesus starts preaching

in verse 15,

the time has come,

the kingdom of God

has come near,

repent and believe

the good news.

And not only does He preach,

but He takes initiative

in His relationships.

You know,

in the Jewish tradition,

how it typically worked

was students would go

and they would pick

the rabbi

that they wanted to

sit under

and learn from.

The disciples would

pursue that rabbi,

ask,

can I join your school?

And then once admitted,

they would serve that rabbi

hand and foot

so that He could devote

His whole life

to teaching them

and they could receive

His instruction

and they could try

to live the way He did

to the best of their abilities.

But this is different, right?

Here,

we see Jesus

taking the initiative,

Jesus pursuing,

Jesus inviting

these disciples

to come and follow Him.

And I think what Jesus

is doing

is He's modeling

His alternative way

of relating to people.

Not pursuing people

to colonize them

and to oppress them

and to proselytize them,

but pursuing people

with love.

Pursuing people

as a servant.

Just as the Father

tore the heavens open

to speak a word

of affirmation

and welcome to Jesus,

so is Jesus speaking forth

His own words

of loving invitation

to these disciples,

to invite them,

to adopt them

into His own family.

He's generously drawing them

into something

far more wonderful

than they can imagine.

And sure,

they'll probably treat Him

much like a rabbi

and serve Him

so that they can focus

on His teachings,

but they're about to get

something far greater

than what they give

to their rabbi.

Now,

you might have found

this kind of strange

that these fishermen

at the end of this account

in verses like 18 to 20,

they left so much, right?

Just because Jesus called them.

They left their nets,

they left their boats,

their businesses,

their hired men.

James and John

were probably pretty successful

in their fishing business.

They left their father.

And Mark really doesn't

give any reason at all.

It's just like there's

this inherent power

and authority

to Jesus' words,

come, follow me,

and I will send you out

to fish for people.

Because honestly,

they clearly had no idea

what they were

getting themselves into

by following Jesus

and leaving their nets

behind, right?

But what we do know

is that at the end

of their lives,

all four of them,

Simon, Andrew,

James, and John,

they were totally glad

that they did.

And they counted it

the greatest honor

of their lives

to walk in the way

of Jesus.

And they even died

following Jesus

and walking in his way

as servants

and sons of God.

Because you know

what they discovered

in Jesus?

This coming God

and king

for whom they were

supposed to make

straight paths

for his arrival?

they found a king

who charted

his own path,

who charted

his own way.

Without conscribing,

you know,

forced laborers

or slaves

to make his arrival

smooth and easy,

Jesus took

a different way.

Born as a helpless baby,

lying in a manger

to a poor family

from Nazareth,

and the only straight road

that he walked

was from the cradle

to the cross.

The mighty Messiah,

the sovereign son,

did not turn to the left

or to the right,

but willingly went

directly to the cross

as our crucified king

and suffering servant,

sure of who he was

and what he was called

to do,

what he was meant to do.

And the world

we live in

has simultaneously

looked upon

this way of Jesus

both with tender admiration

and defiant disgust.

Having never seen

such a beautiful sacrifice,

and yet,

in our own sinful,

self-interested natures,

choosing more often

than not,

again and again,

not to serve,

but to be served.

But that's not

the way of Jesus.

Christchurch,

Jesus invites us.

He invites us

to deny ourselves

and to follow him,

to take up our crosses

into the wilderness

amongst the wild animals

and to fellowship

with him

as the servant,

son,

and savior

he chose to be

out of his own self

denying love for us.

He invites us

to enter into his

belovedness

as servants and sons

ourselves

for the good of our world

and for the glory of God.

Will you pray with me?

Lord, we ask that you would

give us what we need

to walk in your way,

to walk in the way

of the servant,

son,

Jesus,

to be his disciples

and to make disciples

of this servant king,

savior of the world.

Would we do so

to the glory of your name

and for the good

of our neighbors?

Would you heighten

our imagination,

our vision

of what this could look like

here in the Bay Area,

living the way Jesus lived

and bearing fruit

because of what you're doing

in us?

Would you do that here

in our church,

not because we deserve it,

but because you deserve it,

Lord.

In Jesus' name,

Amen.