Strength for Service

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (St. Matthew 28:18-20)

 

 

            “I don’t know how you do that.”

          That’s usually the reaction I receive after describing my pastoral labors. Now, it is not that I am particularly impressive; of course, I am merely fulfilling my responsibilities. But it is my responsibilities as a minister – teaching from the pulpit, witnessing on the street, serving beside the sick-bed and the death-bed – that often strike people, even professing Christians, as too demanding for them.

          They fail to understand two important facts, however: one, each Christian is called to bear witness to Christ (to “spread the Word”); and two, each Christian is called to serve others, whether the person beside you is struggling with sin or with serious illness. Surely my responsibilities as a teaching pastor fall under a special category within the church; but in a sense, I am your example and earthly shepherd as you do the same work I am called to do, albeit in a different manner and venue.

          The work of the ministry – proclaiming God’s Truth about Jesus, combating sin and evil, and ministering hope in the face of suffering – is too much for any of us to accomplish on his own. Thankfully, you and I learn in this morning’s lesson from St. Mark 1:21-34 about the authoritative power of Jesus, whom we serve: his authoritative power in teaching; his authoritative power over evil; and his authoritative power over suffering and the curse.

          And so it is Jesus’ authoritative power than enables you and me to minister his grace in a dark world.

 

          Our text informs us first that Jesus has authoritative power in proclaiming the Truth of God.

          After calling his first disciples, Jesus enters Capernaum, a city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, and begins teaching in the synagogue on the Sabbath. At this point you and I do well to note our Savior’s observance of the Sabbath – not according to the man-made rules imposed by the Jewish authorities of Jesus’ day but according to his Father’s perfect example and institution. Jesus not only suffered the penalty of your breaking God’s law; he also actively obeyed every jot and tittle of the law for you and thus gained your entrance to Glory. His observance of the Sabbath, as recorded by St. Mark, reminds you both of the majesty of Christ’s mission to save you and also of the seriousness of the Sabbath. Do not you and I mock our Savior when we trample on his Sabbath?

          Jesus, entering the synagogue, began to teach the people as would any respected rabbi (Jesus, you will recall, was referred to even by his detractors as “Rabbi” and therefore was invited to teach in the synagogues). Mark does not relate the content of Jesus’ teaching here, but he does convey the effect of Jesus’ teaching: his hearers were “astonished” and “amazed” at his manner and substance of teaching. He taught “as one having authority, and not as the scribes,” whose teaching had derivative authority as they continually appealed to rabbinic tradition in their instruction, and whose teaching lacked the heart and authenticity of Jesus’. The New Testament does not hold the scribes in a positive light, but here we see Jesus’ teaching standing apart from all other. Even his hearers noted the unusual and profound quality of Christ’s teaching when they asked, “What new teaching is this?” Of course, Christ’s teaching was based on his eternal Word and in a sense was not “novel,” but his teaching – coming as it did from the very mouth of God – marked a new and fuller (fullest) revelation from God. As each advancement in salvation history demanded a “new song” from the psalmist, the coming of the “Final Word” from the Father was a new, and fuller, revelation from the Lord.

          Jesus’ unprecedented authority as Teacher lay in three areas: his status as the eternal Word of the Father; the fact that he was the very fulfillment of the Old Testament (note his instruction to the disciples on the Emmaus Road on Easter afternoon, and also St. Luke’s record of Jesus’ teaching from Isaiah 61 in the synagogue); and the fact that Jesus as God is the Author of Scripture. The Gospel centers on him and is from him. The Apostles, whom the Spirit moved to write New Testament books, were chosen by him. St. John even tells us Jesus gave him the Revelation. Jesus’ teaching, in light of his divinity and his person and work as our Redeemer, clearly was amazing!

          His teaching literally “blew his hearers back” as if they had been hit with a blow. Now, I will offer you a meager analogy, but you’ll get the point: recently we celebrated St. Valentine’s Day, and you gentlemen know that Valentine’s is a feast day for chocolate. If you purchase nothing else for your beloved, purchase her chocolate! Several years ago, I was visiting with a friend from seminary who has a refined taste in chocolates, and we stopped by a chocolatier to purchase some of his favorites. “It’s the good kind,” he assured me, “the kind that stains your fingers.”

          I was, and remain, your average consumer of average chocolate, so when I took one bite into his gourmet chocolate, my eyes popped wide and my head shot back. This was the authentic article! I had never before tasted such chocolate – everything else was but a pale imitation.

          Jesus’ hearers were used to cold, uninspired and likely unbiblical sermons focused more on rabbinic tradition than on the Holy Word. When God Himself spoke to them, they were knocked backward spiritually. This is the power of the Lord Himself speaking to you and me in His living Word.

          We must ask, then: do my sermons proclaim the Lord Jesus and His Word, or do they obscure Him? Are you open to the Word, trusting in its power to transform you as the Spirit applies it to your heart by faith? And when you into the world as sheep among wolves, do you give a reason from the Word for the hope that is within you?

          Christ’s teaching – his Word – still amazes, convicts and changes sinners.

 

          We learn secondly that Jesus possesses authoritative power over evil, as evidenced in his interaction here with demons.

          As Jesus preached, an unclean spirit cried out to him as it literally overpowered a man and utilized his vocal chords. The Spirit reacted sharply to Christ’s holy teaching – even as Jesus told us that he was the Light of the world, and light and darkness cannot mix. Scripture also asserts that Christ has nothing to do with Belial, nor does what is clean have any truck with what is unclean. Even in Mark’s gospel we already have read of John the Baptist’s imprisonment – an early indication of the resistance of evil to Christ’s holy Word and mission. You and I know also that the old, sin nature in us still resists God’s Truth; yet by His power we are able to submit to Him. Still, in the demon’s cry we witness the reaction of evil to holiness.

          This evil spirit called Jesus’ name and spoke a title of respect for him – the “Holy One of God” – not out of reverence or belief but likely out of an attempt to control Christ. (It was thought that a spirit could control someone by calling the person’s name.) We are reminded of St. James’ warning about false claims to faith: you might say you believe (and doesn’t everyone in Greene County claim to believe on Jesus?), but even the devils assent to who Jesus is and even tremble at him. Respect and fear of Jesus do not comprise saving faith that lays hold of Christ as he is offered in the Gospel. Saving faith also involves trusting in him personally as your Redeemer, which the devils – and this demon – did not do. Examine your own claim to faith in Christ!

          Jesus silenced this demon, not wanting acclamation from the evil spirits nor wanting the people to be worked into a messianic fervor before his appointed hour of greatest suffering. Christ also directed this demon where to go. His power over evil reminds us that Jesus came to “destroy the works of the devil” and to make an open show of his enemies on the cross. By his death, Jesus destroyed the one who had the power of death, even Satan.

          Now, demons are real. Satan is real. (Do not obsess over them, but acknowledge their reality). Just as real is the sin nature that still inhabits you despite your conversion to Christ. And sin clearly operates in the world, which is your and my place of ministry. It is tempting to shrink from Gospel witness, from battling sin, from serving Jesus because of the power of evil within and without you and me.

          Today, Jesus reminds you: he, the Victor, is more powerful!

 

          We note thirdly that Jesus has authoritative power over the Curse, which encourages you and me as we minister in a hurting world.

          Jesus immediately went to Simon Peter’s house with his disciples, where Peter’s mother-in-law lay sick with a fever. He touched her and raised her up, because he immediately had healed her. The proof of her recovery? She straightway began to wait on them, as would have been the custom in that time.

          Observe the compassion and care of our Savior! Yes, in this church we have emphasized prayer for spiritual concerns; but it also is appropriate to pray for physical needs as well (“Give us this day our daily bread”). Jesus evidently had concern for people’s bodies and urgent needs, and so should you and I.

          Yet Jesus is painting a grander picture here, one of our spiritual life in him. You and I are dead spiritually; he speaks the word and we are raised to new life in him. Our service to him – the word in verse 31 is the same for “to minister” – is evidence of our new life. And your new life in this world, in which you employ your mind, body and emotions for his service, reaches full consummation in the world to come, where there is no sin and therefore no curse. This is the message of hope in Romans 8 and in Revelation 21 and 22, and Jesus vividly demonstrates that message in healing Peter’s mother-in-law – and in healing many others who came to him that Sabbath evening.

          Is sin the cause of suffering? In an ultimate sense, yes. Had Adam and Eve not sinned in Eden, our righteous God would not have had to punish us and this world with a curse, subjecting creation to futility. But be careful in a proximate sense of saying suffering is the result of sin. Your sin causes many woes, but it did not cause your sinus infection or asthma. And I have known many, many fine Christians whom the Lord blessed with the burden of an illness so that He might show His power and mercy in their lives.

          When Jesus comes again, he will remove all sin – forever. He therefore will remove the curse and make all things new. Suffering now, and then the crown: that is why he silenced the demons as his fame grew in those early days of ministry. If you suffer with him, you also will be glorified together with him. The healing of Peter’s mother-in-law is but a portrait, a foretaste, of what Jesus one day will usher in for his sheep.

 

          How do you do that? Well, you now know the minister’s secret.

          Seminary training is a blessing, but it will not produce changed lives around you. Learning and eloquence are most helpful, but they cannot defeat sin and wickedness in high places. Medicine is a gift from our merciful God, but it cannot wipe away all tears or bring true healing.

          The power rests in Jesus: in his Word, in his victory, in his healing touch, in his hope. Remember this, and you can minister for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.